birds-recipes-msg - 11/23/16

Period bird recipes. Squabs, pheasants, quail.

NOTE: See also these files: chicken-msg, duck-goose-msg, fowls-a-birds-msg,  falconry-msg, p-falconry-bib, food-sources-msg, exotic-meats-msg.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 12:59:16 -0800 (PST)
From: "Mike C. Baker" <kihe at rocketmail.com>
Subject: SC - A Dozen Quail, No Bell Pepper, No Licorice/Anise

- ---"Alderton, Philippa" <phlip at morganco.net> wrote:
> I've got myself some quail, and I'd like to experiment with 
> them, as well as other foods. Any suggestions, folks? I 
> dislike bell peppers and black licorice flavored things, 
> although I love hot peppers. I will happily accept any and
> all sugestions, whether period or not, and with a dozen quail, 
> I can probably try several variants. 

Hot peppers tend to overwhelm the delicate flavor of quail. I
hesitate to even use much black pepper until at the table. Quail
should be savored for themselves, not the spice mix, IMHO.

Both of the following preparation methods (not quite recipes in the
modern sense...) seem to work best for three or more quail cooked in
the same manner, although occasionally with only a brace. (The gravy
needs at least three birds-worth of drippings to be worth it.)

My maternal grandmother I remember as usually adding sage to the
spice mix in both cases; the rancher's wife I worked for one summer
(pay&board, and pen-raised "exotics" for lunch an average of once a
week) stuck with salt and pepper most of the time.

Following recipes from memory (and darn it, I had a good lunch and
this is still making me hungry!)

   Baked Quail Over (Wild) Rice
Prepare wild rice (or blend) according to package directions or
standard method, replacing half or all of liquid with chicken broth
or other poultry stock. Remove from heat before all liquid absorbed
/ while rice still a little "crunchy". 

(If frozen, defrost and) Clean quail, rub well with butter, salt,
pepper, other spices to taste. Place half of rice and all liquid in
buttered baking dish, layer in the quail, arrange remainder of rice
to leave quail nested but not completely covered. Cover and bake
until done, remove cover and place under broiler about five minutes
(until upper surface of quail lightly browned/crisp). A little
powdered ginger or paprika sprinkled on each bird for color is nice.

    Fried Quail & Pan Gravy 
(Thaw and) clean quail (carefully removing all shot from huntsman's
catch, if taken wild). If you are one who normally removes the skin
before frying fowl, DON'T. (If you absolutely must, dredge and fry
the skins, *then* discard. Far better to leave on the bird and allow
each individual to remove and set aside on their plate, even when
dealing with health dictates.) Take flour, salt, pepper, thyme, and
ginger; mix well to form dredge. Beat one chicken egg very lightly.
Dredge quail through egg, then flour mixture, and pan fry in hot oil.
Remove excess oil from pan, make flour&milk gravy with drippings.

Serve hot from the pan. Some even add the quail back to the gravy,
but I prefer to have the gravy over cornbread stuffing (Stovetop
will do, I'm not that picky), bread, or biscuits. YUMMMM!

> Phlip

Amra
===
Pax ... Kihe / Adieu -- Amra / TTFN -- Mike
Kihe Blackeagle (the Dreamsinger Bard) / 
(al-Sayyid) Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra  /


Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 10:54:22 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - 2 squabs from 1 (longish)

Deanna.Knott at GSC.GTE.Com writes:
<<(Now you all are going to tell me CGH's are pigeons on steroids, right? ;-) >>

Nope. Cornish game hens are a modern breed of birds that are sent to market
when they reach about 2  to 2 and a half pounds resulting in a finished weight
of 18 to 22 ounces. I find them an exceptable substitute for 'small birds'in
period recipes when robins, starlings, pigeons are not to be found in field
or market. :-)

Ras


Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1998 12:38:53 -0500
From: "Philippa Alderton" <phlip at bright.net>
Subject: SC - Two Squabs made from one

>From Platina:

Book VI, #40.

Ex Solo Pipione Duo Fiunt

Piponiem sine aqua ita apposite deplumato, ne pellum frangas. Exenterato,
deinde cutem integram avertes, ac diriges. Directam optimo farcimine
replebis. Integer tum omnino videbitur. Verum pipionum hoc modo assum
frictum (fictum) elixum facies: assum semicoctum sale ac trito pane
asperges, inungesque leniter vitello ovi ut crustam pro cute faciat. Ubi
incoctus omnino fuerit, vehementi igni statim torreto quo coloratior fiat.
Inde convivis appones.

Translation:

Pluck a squab without water in such a careful way as not to break the skin.
Then, when it has been gutted, remove the entire skin and spread out. When
it is spread out, fill it with the best sausage. Then it will seem entirely
whole. You will have the real squab roasted, fried or boiled this way. When
it is half-cooked, sprinkle with salt and ground bread, and brush lightly
with egg yolk to make a crust instead of a skin. When it is wholly cooked,
toast it immediately over a hot fire so it becomes more colored. Then serve
it to your guests.

Phlip
Caer Frig
Barony of the Middle Marches
Middle Kingdom


Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 16:20:17 -0500
From: Ceridwen <ceridwen at ccgnv.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Pheasant recipe

> I just spent some time looking through the Miscellany and the Florilegium.
> I was looking for some recipes on how to cook game birds, pheasant in
> particular.
>
> Any period sources or recipes would be helpful.
>
> Avelina Keyes

In looking through His Grace's Collection, I found a few. I'm neither a
good nor patient typist, so will give you a couple to start with.

Ceridwen (ceridwen at ccgnv.net)

From "A Text on Portuguese Cooking from the Fifteenth Century"
"Tigelada de perdiz (pheasant casserole)
    Take an undercooked pheasant and cut it in pieces. Seperately, in a
casserole dish, make a sauce with oil or butter, diced onions, cloves,
pepper and saffron.
    Roll pheasant pieces in flour and then arrange in pan with the sauce.
Take vinegar mixed with water and add to the pan with the pheasant, till
half-full. Add salt to taste. Cook on a medium flame."

>From "A Noble Boke off Cookry ffor a Prynce Houssolde" (late 15th C.?)
    "Ffessand or Pertuche:
    To boile fessand or pertuche tak good brothe put there in your fessand or
pertuche and put ther to ale, flour pepper, canelle,guinger,and saffron and
boile it well and salt it and serve it forthe with pouder douce."


Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 01:31:17 -0500
From: "Philippa Alderton" <phlip at bright.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Pheasant recipe

The basic rule you need to understand about pheasant is that it is a very
dry/unfatty meat, so either wet cooking methods (stewing, braising) or
added fat when dry cooking (barding, larding, or simply laying fatback or
bacon over the bird) when roasting or baking are the most appropriate
methods of dealing with the bird.

In the meantime, enjoy- it's my favorite game bird ;-)

Phlip
Caer Frig
Barony of the Middle Marches
Middle Kingdom


Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 02:51:51 -0600
From: allilyn at juno.com (LYN M PARKINSON)
Subject: Re: SC - Pheasant recipe

Eleonora Maria Rosalia.  Freiwillig aufgesprungner Granat-Apffel. 
Hausmettel and 	kochrezepte von 1709.  (taken from a hand-written
recipe book of the 16th C.)
	(in Gerrman).  Working on translation.

The roast pheasant recipe says to lard the pheasant, cover with bacon,
and roast.  Serve warm with the the feathers in the wings.

A modern German cookbook cooks the bird at 350* for 30 minutes, first
rubbing the bird inside and out with butter, lemon juice and salt.  Cover
the bird with bacon.  After the 30 min., discard the bacon, turn up oven
to 400*, baste with chicken stock with spices and herbs, Roast for 30
minutes more.  The juices of the inner thigh should run clear and yellow.
 If not, roast for 5-10 minutes more, basting occasionlly.


Renfrow, Cindy.  Take a Thousand Eggs Or More.  A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes.  	Vol. 	I & II.  1991 Privately   printed.

In Vo. II, Pheasant roasted.  Let a pheasant bleed in the mouth, and let
him bleed to death; & pull him, and draw him, & cut away the neck by the
body, & the legs by the knee, & parboil him, & lard him, and put the
knees in the vent; and roast him, & raise him up, his legs & his wings,
as of a hen; & no sauce but salt.  

That's from Douce MS. 55.  Harleian MS. 4016 says his sauce is Sugar and
mustard.


Before finding the SCA, I used to do an oven braised pheasant, but
haven't had game for a while.  

Allison
allilyn at juno.com, Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, Pittsburgh, PA
Kingdom of Aethelmearc


Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 10:24:09 EST
From: kathleen.hogan at juno.com (Kathleen M Hogan)
Subject: Re: SC - Pheasant recipe

<Deanna.Knott at GSC.GTE.Com> writes:
>I just spent some time looking through the Miscellany and the
>Florilegium. I was looking for some recipes on how to cook game birds,
>pheasant in particular.

Sorry it took so long, but I had several and had to go find which disk
they were on, convert them, etc.  Finally, here they are:

Caitlin nicFhionghuin
House Oak & Thistle

   Small Birds in a Pie                England, 1378
      Yield: 4 servings

      1 lb (2 cups) minced pork
      2 ea Hard-boiled eggs; chopped
    1/2 c  Grated cheese
      1 ts Allspice
      1 tb Sugar
    1/8 ts Saffron
      1 ts Salt
      1 lb Pastry
      2 ea To 3 quail, cut in half (May substitute chicken)
      2 tb Butter
    1/2 c  Stock

  "Tartes of Flesh"  from _The Forme of Cury_, 1378

     Mix together the pork, eggs, cheese, sugar, and seasonings.  Line a
9" pie-dish with half of the pastry. Spread the mixture.  Brown the
pieces of fowl in butter and lay them on top. Pour in the stock. Cover
with a pastry lid and bake at 375f for 35 to 40 minutes.

  QUESTION: does "conynges"=rabbit?

 The original: " Take pork sodden and grind it small, take eggs boiled
hard and put thereto with cheese ground, take good powder and whole spice
sugar, safron, and salt and  do thereto make a coffin as to hold the same
and do this therein and  poant it with the small birds and conyngs
(rabbits?) and hew them in  small pieces and bake it as tofore
and serve it forth."

  From _The Forme of Cury_, 1378 Compiled and updated by Maxime
de la  Falaise in _Seven Centuries of English Cooking_ Grove Press,1992.

 Farsed Fesaunt - Pheasant Stuffed with Spiced Apples

  Mix basil, rosemary, thyme, and salt with the oats. Preheat oven to
  375 degrees F. Mix in dried apples and figs. Stir stock into oats and
  fruit. Stuff bird with mixture. Rub skin with butter. Bake at 375
  degrees F for 2 hours or until very tender. Grate apple peel and
  reserve. Remove core and discard. Chop or cut raw apple into small
  slivers and mix well with apple peel. Squeeze lemon juice onto apple
  to prevent its browning. Remove stuffing from bird. Mix in raw apples
  and serve immediately with warm fowl.

  From _Fabulous Feasts - Medieval Cookery and Ceremony_ by
Madeleine  Pelner Cosman   George Braziller, Inc.   1976, 1992 ISBN
  0-8076-0832-7

 Roast Pheasant
Yield: 6 servings

      2          Young pheasants
      2  tb     Unsalted butter
      2  sm    Shallots, peeled
      2  sl      Streaky bacon
                   Seasoned flour/dredging
                   Sea salt
 Fesaunt rost.  Lete a fesaunt blode in the mouth, and lete hym blede
to deth; & pulle hym, and draw hym, & kutt a-wey the necke by the
body, & the legges by the kne, and perbuille hym, and larde hym, and
putt the knese in the vent: and rost him, & reise hym vpp, hys legges
& hys wynges as off an henne; and no sauce butt salt.

 We are more humane than our ancestors where slaughtering
pheasants is concerned, but the preparation of the birds for plain
roasting is probably much  the same. Pre-heat the oven to
200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Put half the butter and a shallot inside each
pheasant and cover the breast with a  rasher of bacon. Wrap each bird
in a separate piece of foil. Then put  them side by side on a rack in a
roasting-tin and roast in the oven  for 30 minutes. Remove them from
the oven, take off the foil and dredge with seasoned flour, baste and
return to the oven for another 10 minutes, by which time they should
be golden-brown. Serve with coarse sea salt in small ramekins or egg
cups as a condiment or sauce.

  Flavouring for Game Birds:  Other 'sauces' were sometimes offered
with game birds.  One for pheasant consisted of white sugar with
mustard powder, blended with vinegar until semi-liquid.  Another, for
a roasted crane, was made by combining ground black pepper, ground
ginger, mustard powder, salt and vinegar.  A 'sauce' of minced  parsley
and onions with ground garlic and vinegar was suitable for  pigeons.

  All these and several others may have been ways of flavouring
leftovers or meat cooked for expediency--for example, needing
short-term preserving-- because the flesh was almost always minced
before the strong 'sauce' was mixed in.

  from The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black Chapter 6, "The Court
of  Richard II"


Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 18:54:33 -0500
From: Melanie Wilson <MelanieWilson at compuserve.com>
To: LIST SCA arts <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Doves & pigeons

Wood Pigeon----- Columba palumbus - the one that can make you ill if you
eat A LOT

Rock Dove-  Columba livia - the ancestor of the tame doves you are thinking
of, the ones in dove cotes, rock doves are cave nesters unlike most
species which is why they like dove cotes :)

Collared dove----- Streptopelia decaocto- to uk 1930s

Turtle dove ------ Streptopelia turtur- nice song they have, migrate to
Britain in April /May

Squab- young pigeon/dove bred for the table 4 weeks old- ie from the tame
variety

Anyway the Wood pigeons I spoke of are not the Tames Doves of which there
was mention, although related.

Did you know that pigeons (the French for the Anglo Saxon Dove BTW) produce
pigeon milk? similar to mammals milk.

Mel


Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 11:26:53 -0800
From: Kerri Canepa <kerric at pobox.alaska.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Seeking quail recipes

>Hi everyone,
>I have a source for quail (both birds and eggs).We would like to have quail
>at camping events this summer.  So, we are seeking recipes for the birds.

Can't help you with the quail recipes that are period but I ran across a
Moroccan Cornish Game Hen recipe that might work for you. Mind you, I haven't
tried it but it looks darned nummy.

Enjoy!

Cedrin
Princess Oertha

CORNISH GAME HENS STUFFED WITH COUSCOUS

4 cornish game hens
1 lb couscous
2 tbs vegetable oil (for the almonds)
1/2 lb blanched almonds
1/2 lb seedless raisins
2 tbs confectioners sugar
1 tbs ground cinnamon
1 tbs gournd ginger
1 generous pinch powdered saffron or 2 tbs saffron liquid
4 tbs butter, softened
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika

Steam the couscous once and transfer it to a large mixing bowl (NOTE: the
authors are assuming you are preparing couscous using a couscoussier. I believe
that if you are using the quick couscous, you cook it until it is just done).

Meanwhile, gently fry the almonds in a little oil until they are golden, then
crush or chop them coarsely. Place the raisins in a small bowl and cover with
boiling water. Leave them to soak for 10 minutes. The drain.

Add the almonds, raisins, confectioners sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and saffron to
the couscous and mix well. Stuff the game hens with the couscous and sew them up
(or cover the opening with a piece of foil).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a separate bowl, mix together the softened butter, crushed garlic, salt and
pepper, cumin and paparika to make a paste. Rub the paste all aover the game
hens. Place them in an ovenproof dish, adding a little water at the bottom of
the dish so the butter does not burn. Roast the game hens for about 45 minutes,
basting occasionally with the cooking juices.

If you have too much stuffing, heat it separately in the oven, in a dish covered
with foil.

Place the game hens on a large platter and serve the extra stuffing in a
separate bowl.


Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 19:44:28 -0400
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: SC - Bitterns

I didn't keep the messages from the Boar's Head thread, so I'm 
posting this separately.  I looked in _Take a Thousand Eggs_ to 
see how bitterns should be cooked.  The Harlein 4016 manuscript 
says a roasted bittern is to be treated like a crane, served with a 
sauce of ginger, vinegar, and mustard.  The Douce MS. 55 says 
"no sauce butt salt".

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2000 23:55:15 -0500
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: SC - Recipe: stewed turkey with fruit

As I've mentioned before, Granado (1599) has a few recipes for 
"pollos de las Indias", which AFAIK, is turkey.  Here's one.  It's out 
of the section on cooking for invalids, hence the reference to the 
doctor.


Para sudar, y estufar perdizes, y faysanes
To sweat, and to stew partridges and pheasants

Take the pheasant, or the partridge, which should not be old or 
rancid, and clean their insides, cutting off the head, and the feet, 
and pass it through boiling water, or through the coals; take a 
copper pot, well tinned, or of glazed earthenware, with a bone from 
a calf or cow made into pieces, which has marrow, which is done 
to give it flavor; put in enough water to cover it three fingers deep, 
with a splinter of whole cinnamon, and a good deal of salt, and a 
few pieces of quince, and prunes, and dried cherries; and make it 
boil with the cover very well sealed, but before sealing it, you can 
put in half a cup of wine of San Martin, or another which is good, 
with a little vinegar, and sugar, all according to the order which the 
doctor directs, and cook it over the coals, far from the flames.  In 
this manner you can also cook the pullet of the Indies, and our 
ordinary pullets, and any good bird.


Notes: "wine of San Martin" probably refers to wine from the 
vineyards of San Martin de Valdeiglesias, near Madrid.  It was very 
highly regarded in this period.  I have seen wine of San Martin 
called for in period recipes that suggest a sweet white as an 
alternative.  If quinces are no longer available, perhaps a tart apple 
like a Granny Smith will do?

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 21:33:52 -0500
From: Daniel Myers <edouard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] pigeons in the park
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Tuesday, December 30, 2003, at 01:14  AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Aren't there some period recipes for pigeon? :-)

Why yes, there are!  Muahahaha!


Forme of Cury:

"Peiouns Ytewed. XX.II. VIII. Take peions and stop hem with garlec
ypylled and with gode erbes ihewe. and do hem in an erthen pot. cast
þerto gode broth and whyte grece. Powdour fort. safroun verious & salt."

"CRUSTARDES OF FLESSH. XX.VII. XIIII. Take peiouns, chyens, and smale
briddes smyte hem in gobettes. & seeþ hem alle ifere in god broþ wiþ
veriaws do þerto safroun, make a crust in a trape. and pynche it. &
cowche þe flessh þerinne. & cast þerinne Raisouns coraunce. powdour
douce and salt. breke ayrenn and wrng hem thurgh a cloth & swyng þe
sewe of þe stewe þerwith and helde it uppon the flessh. couere it &
bake it wel. and serue it forth."


Liber cure cocorum:

"Peions istued. Take peions and hew hom in morselle smalle, Put hom in
a erþyn pot, þou shalle. Tke pilled garlek and herbys anon, Hack hom
smalle er þou more don. Put hom in þo pot, and þer to take Gode brothe
with wyte grece, þou no3t forsake. Do powdur þer to and gode verius,
Coloure hit with safron, and salt inow. Þou put in pote þese þynges
alle And stue þy peions þus þou schalle."

"Crustate of flesshe. Take peiuns and smalle chekuns with alle And oþer
smale bryddes, and hew hom smalle. And sethe hom alle togedur þoo In
brothe and in white grece, also In verius, and do þer to safroune.
Fyrst mae a fole trap þou mun, Pynche hym, cowche hym þy flesshe
þerby. Kast þerin raysyns of corouns forthy, And powder dowce and salt
gode won. Breke eyren and streyne hom thorowghe a clothe anone, And
swyng þy sewe þerwyth þenne, And helde hit onne þe flesshe  kenne, And
kover þy trap and hele hit wele, And serve hit forthe, Syr, at þe mele."


Le Menagier de Paris:

"Pigeons in pastry, heads and feet cut off, and two slices of bacon on
top: or roast, and lard them."  (pigeons are mentioned several other
timesin Menagier)


   A Proper newe Booke of Cokerye:

"To bake pygeons in short paest as you make to your baken apples.
Season youre pigeons with peper saffron cloues and mace, with vergis
and salte, then putte them into youre paeste, and so cloose them up,
nd bake them, they wyl bake in halfe an houre, then take them forthe,
and yf ye thinke theym drye, take a lyttle vergis and butter and put to
theim and serve theym."


How's that?

- Doc
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
   Edoard Halidai  (Daniel Myers)
   http://www.medievalcookery.com/


Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 10:38:33 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] pigeons and small birds
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On 7 Aug 2004, at 2:19, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> I've got a number of recipes for strawberries and bitter oranges, but I
> don't think I have too many for pigeons. So, does anyone have any
> period recipes for these? Their small size would seem to make them
> problematic at SCA feasts, but has anyone served these at a feast? Or
> served other small birds?

I saw that someone posted a recipe for doves.  I'm going to let you in 
on a secret: pigeons are doves.

No, really.  The "rats with feathers" that infest American city streets 
are also known as Rock Doves.  All doves and pigeons are members of the family
Columbidae.  The young of doves and pigeons are all called squabs.

So... you can legitimately use any recipe for doves.  De Nola has several
recipes for squabs, and some for wild pigeons/doves.

I have contemplated serving quail at a feast, but it didn't seem cost-effective.
The closest I've come so far is hard-boiled quail eggs.

Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom


Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 20:02:02 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler1 at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] A Challenge to Find a Dish
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

iasmin at comcast.net wrote:

> Every year, my laurel's SCA family hosts a dinner around  
> Thanksgiving time for all of her dependents and those of her  
> husband. The themes have varied from year to year, with topics  
> ranging far and wide from different countries to actual feast test  
> runs. This year's theme is a little different and I thought people  
> might find it an interesting challenge; I'd like to see what they  
> come up with.
>
> For an SCA "family" potluck, find a dish using these guidelines:
>
> -- The name of the dish must start with the first initial of your  
> first name or the first initial of your last name. You cannot use  
> your middle name if you have one.
>
> -- You must use your SCA name.
>
> -- You must make enough of this dish to feed 20 people.
>
> What's your dish?
>
> Iasmin de Cordoba, kicked out of the nest a few years back OL
>
>
OK....my SCA name is Minowara Kiritsubo...and, in true Japanese fashion,
my first name is the second in the order, and my "last name" is the
first. Going with "M" is no real problem...I did Mirausto at a feast a
year or so back:

*37. **Catalan-Style Mirausto** (**/The Neapolitan Recipe Collection/
(/Cuoco Napoletano)/*/ /by Terence Scully

In primo piglia pizoni o polastri ho caponi, conzali como se fa arosto,
he poneli a rostire nel spido; he quando son mezi cotti, caveli for a he
divideli in quarti, he ogni quarto in doi parti, he poneli in una
pignata; dapoi piglia amandole he pistale molto bene; poi piglia doi
fette di pane brusculato et quarto rossi de ova dura; poi pista ogni
cosa cum le amandole, he distempera cum uno pocho de acceto ho de brood,
he passa per la stamegna; da poi lo mette nela dita pignata sopra la
carne, giogendoli de bone specie, cioe, canella assai, zucaro asai; poi
mete la pignata supra le braxe he falla bullire per meza hora,
continuamente menando cum lo cughiaro; et quando sera cotto, manda
questo Mirausto a tavola in piatelli ho in scuteele, he fallo como el
colore gamellino.

Begin by getting pigeons or cockerels or capons, prepare them as for a
roast and set them to roast on a spit; when they are half cooked, take
them, and split each quarter in two, and put them into a pot; then get
almonds and grind them up thoroughly, and get two slice of toast and
four hard-boiled egg yolk and grind up all this with the almonds and
distemper it with a little vinegar or broth and strain it; then put it
into the pot on top of the meat, adding in good spices—that is, a good
lot of cinnamon and a good lot of sugar; then set the pot on the coals
and let it boil for half an hour, stirring constantly with a spoon; when
it is cooked, serve this Mirausto in dishes or in bowls, and give it a
cameline colour.

My redaction:

2 Chicken breasts/thighs
1 cup Almonds, ground
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 Hardboiled egg yolk
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sugar

Bake the chicken at 350º until it is about half done. Cut it into  
chunks.

While the chicken is cooking, grind the almonds. Add breadcrumbs and egg
yolks, and grind again. Add the broth and vinegar mixture, then the
cinnamon and sugar. Cook the chicken chunks in the sauce until the
chicken is fully cooked.

******]
Now, for Kiri, there's a problem...there are not that many recipes
around that start with "K"...but here goes. I used this one in an
oriental feast I cooked several years back...while I can't prove it's
period, I've run across similar things as we've been working on the
Ryori Monogotari...and I've found references to pickles of various sorts
from period Japan:

*Quick Turnip Pickles//*

<snip. See pickled-foods-msg – Stefan>

Kiri


Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 12:32:49 -0500
From: Daniel Myers <eduard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pheasants?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Nov 3, 2005, at 11:55 AM, eirenetz at comcast.net wrote:
> A lady over on another list (aotc) has come into a bunch of
> pheasant feathers, and is asking about uses in 14th-15th century
> clothing. She has located visual sources from the 16th century, so
> they were apparently available late in our period.
>
> The question is, when were they imported? I know that their
> presence in the US is due to importation from the Orient, thus my
> impression is that they are native to the Orient. Is there any
> evidence that they were in Europe earlier than the 16th century?
> Being a native of Kansas, I think of pheasants as food, as long as
> Granpa doesn't shoot them full of buckshot. I don't recall any
> recipes for pheasant in the corpus, but I haven't done anything
> like an exhaustive study. It could be that they had them, but they
> didn't eat them.
>
> What's the history in Europe?

A search through a small chunk of the corpus yields the following:

(link  ->  http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/search.pl?
term=pheasant&file=all )

Ein Buch von guter spise (Germany, ca. 1345 - Alia Atlas, trans.) – 1 reference
Du fait de cuisine (France, 1420 - Elizabeth Cook, trans.) – 2 references
Forme of Cury (England, 1390) - 2 references  (one titled "For To Boile Fesauntes")
The Good Housewife's Jewell (England, 1596) - 2 references
Das Kochbuch des Meisters Eberhard (Germany, 15th century - Giano
Balestriere, trans.) - 1 reference
Liber cure cocorum (England, 1430) - 2 references
Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco (Italy, 14th/15th c. - Louise
Smithson, trans.) - 1 reference
Le Menagier de Paris (France, 1393 - Janet Hinson, trans.) – 3 references
A Proper newe Booke of Cokerye (England, mid-16th c.) - 1 reference
Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430) - 5 references
Le Viandier de Taillevent (France, ca. 1380 - James Prescott, trans.)
- 2 references
Wel ende edelike spijse (Dutch, late 15th c. - Christianne Muusers,
trans.) - 1 reference

Looks pretty clear that pheasants were in England, France, Germany,
and Italy from at least the mid 14th century on.

- Doc


Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:44:10 -0600
From: "wyldrose" <wyldrose at tds.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] question on pigeon substitute

On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 1:12 PM, Pixel, Goddess and Queen <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com> wrote:
<<< And my next 12th Night-related question--is chicken dark meat an acceptable
substitute for pigeon? I have never eaten pigeon so I have no basis for
comparison.

Margaret FitzWilliam >>>

I have eaten pigeon, dove and the like (duck, grouse, quail, pheasant, etc) 
and squab is closer  to grouse, dove , or pheasant, (except not as dry, 
gamey, or chewy.  )Pigeon/squab  to not be very tender and slightly gamy (in 
my opinion).   Moist duck breast could be substituted as could dove, grouse, 
pheasant, etc...You could also use chicken thigh (de-boned).  Personally I 
disliked pigeon and would opt for the chicken thigh:)
                               Kay


Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:12:54 -0500
From: chawkswrth at aol.com
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] A Question

I have been a Birder even longer then I have been an SCA member, by about 20 years (ouch-that almost hurts-I am getting Old)

Starlings are an introduced Species in North America. They were unwittingly brought over by a person who wanted to have all of the birds Shakespeare mentioned in his writings. Said Person released them, thinking that they would stay close to a furnished food source and that the natural predators of the North America would control them.

Said Person did not know that our Birds of Prey found the new prey distasteful, and will only try to get one when they are close to starvation. Doves are so much better-and slower.

So, the next time a few thousand-strong flock flies overhead or overnights in your trees, doing what comes naturally, you can thank that person....

In Period, if I understand the stories correctly, boys were sent out to capture starlings and brought back to the cook for pies. they could also be tamed, hence the "four and twenty blackbirds" remark-trained birds in a baked crust that when they saw light, they began to sing. Now that would be a subtlety, for sure. 

Helen


Date: Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:29:10 -0600
From: "otsisto" <otsisto at socket.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Partridge

English, probably not period

Roast Partridge w/pears
1? oz butter
2 small partridges
1 tbsp olive oil
4 shallots, halved
2 pears, cored but not peeled
1 Tbs. sultanas
2 tsps. red currant jelly (or black currant, if preferred. red plum jelly
can be used to substitute for the red currant jelly)
add ground nutmeg to taste
1 1/4 cp. cider or pear juice. (wine can be used instead)
2 juniper berries, crushed
salt & black pepper to taste.

Instructions...

Preheat the oven to 200 C Gas 6. Rub ? oz butter over the breast of each
partridge. Season with salt and pepper then place in a roasting tin.
Heat the oil over a fierce heat and fry the shallot halves until they are
well browned all over and beginning to shorten. Set aside. Cut the bottom of
the pears so that they can sit upright in the pan, then score a thin line
around the fattest part of each pear through the skin only. Mix the sultanas
with the jelly, remaining butter and a sprinkling of nutmeg and pepper, then
stuff into the pears.

Stand the pears in a dish and pour the cider around them. Tuck in the pieces
of shallots and the juniper berries. Cover with a dome of foil and roast in
the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and raise the oven heat to 240 C,
Gas 9.

Put the partridges in the oven too and roast for 25-30 minutes, basting
frequently with their own juices and a spoonful or two from the pears. Check
the pears from time to time to make sure they don't overcook.
Serve the partridges surrounded by the pears and shallots. Strain the juices
from both dishes and mix to serve as a thin gravy, seasoning with salt and
pepper.


Date: Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:39:46 -0700
From: "Daniel Myers" <dmyers at medievalcookery.com>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Whole or In Parts: Was amounts of food per
	person

-------- Original Message --------
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I actually served a whole turkey to the head table last feast I did.  It was 
presented to the Baron who carved the bird and presented the meat to the 
Crown.  It was a bit of showmanship with my stag handled Solingen carving 
set to add a little more pizzaz.  The other tables were served cold sliced 
turkey ala Rumpolt.  There would have been too much wastage serving whole 
birds.  The kitchen staff and the servers picked the head table bird clean 
after it came off the table.
---------

If The Book of Kervynge (Wynkyn de Worde, 1508) is assumed to be
typical, large birds and such were often carved in the kitchen and then
reassembled to appear whole for serving.  Haven't tried it at a feast
yet, but it's on my to-do list.

- Doc


Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2016 12:24:35 -0400
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcarrollmann at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP - Unusual Meat

I've never cooked, them, but the ever-useful Medieval Cookery cookbook
search turns up a bunch of recipes for cranes:
http://www.medievalcookery.com/search/search.html?term=crane&file=all

Brighid ni Chiarain

On Tue, Oct 4, 2016 at 11:47 AM, Christine Seelye-King <
Chefchristy at kingstaste.com> wrote:
[snip]
I know I've seen some period recipes for big birds, is there one out there for crane?

Christianna


Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2016 14:27:04 -0400
From: Elise Fleming <alyskatharine at gmail.com>
To: sca-cooks <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Crane Cookery: Was OOP - Unusual Meat

Greetings! Petits Propos Culinaires (PPC), Issue 25, discusses crane 
cookery in some detail - 4 pages, in fact. The author Joop Witteveen, 
mentions that Apicius had six recipes, one for roasted and 5 for braised crane. Witteveen quotes, "...see that the head does not touch the water but is outside it. When the crane is cooked, wrap it in a warm cloth and pull the head; it will come off with the sinews, so that the bones remain. [This is necessary] because one cannot eat it with the sinews.

This following info is from Witteveen's article. Cooking takes place in 
2 stages: cooked in water with salt and dill; when the meat is stiff and firm it's dried, then cooked in oil and liquamen with oregano and 
coriander added. Defrutum added after a while for color. Sauce is sweet 
and sour, made from ground pepper, lavas, cumin, coriander, laser root, 
rue, carenum, honey, vinegar and cooking liquid, thickened with amylum. 
Apicius gives variations on this.

Continuing with Witteveen: First Italian recipes from the 14th century; 
bird now roasted, no longer braised in sauce. Still prepared in 2 
stages: boiled in water for a while, then spitted and roasted. Sauce is 
fried onions with wine, with saffron soaked in the wine. Then, seasoned 
with spices. Crane cut into pieces and briefly simmered in that sauce. 
Then, sauce thickened with roasted bread, soaked in crane's cooking liquid.

French preparation around 13090 was same as in Italy: dry-plucked, 
plunged into boiling water. Wings were then cut off (not the head and 
legs), spitted, roasted, and eaten with fine-grained salt, no sauce. No 
French recipes from the 15th C for crane. At the beginning of the 18th 
C, it was recommended to eat only young crane while soft and tender. 
When older, crane meat became hard and had to be hung a long time.

England: recipes are brief and to the point, which I (Alys) believe were cited in previous posts. In the 15th C, Witteveen notes info about 
killing and plucking a crane. No info on whether it was larded or basted during roasting from this time period. It was often served with sauce cameline. At the end of the 16th C, the sauce was "galandine" (which sounds similar to cameline).

In the Netherlands, the crane was prepared like herons, wild geese, 
partridges, female pheasants and was basted during roasting. In winter, 
it was served with a pepper sauce. (Witteveen gives the proportion of 
ingredients for this sauce, if you are interested.)

Rumpoldt (1581), Germany, doesn't give any recipes for crane but notes 
that it was a bird to be eaten.

Hope this adds some useful info!

Alys K.
-- 
Elise Fleming


Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2016 16:05:15 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Crane Cookery: Was OOP - Unusual Meat

We listed 10 Medieval recipes for crane and roast crane in the Concordance for English Recipes.
For some reason, Dutch recipes come to mind and those can be found here at http://www.coquinaria.nl/kooktekst/

You might also run a search on Sandhill crane recipes too and compare what is said about the modern birds. 
https://bestyummyrecipes.wordpress.com/sandhill-crane-nuggets/

We only have just over 800 pairs in the state here, so no hunting. In fact watching them flock in at sunset at the refuge just west of us here is a favorite autumn activity. 

Johnnae


Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2016 16:58:47 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Crane Cookery: Was OOP - Unusual Meat

<<< Sandhills are an endangered species in Meridies.

Magnus >>>

Not quite accurate.  The Cuban sandhill crane, the Mississippi sandhill 
crane, and the Florida sandhill crane are classed as endangered species 
federally.  The greater and lesser sandhill cranes are not.  To my 
knowledge, Alabama, Georgia and Florida do not have a hunting season for them.  Kentucky and Tennessee do.  So more correctly, hunting of sandhill cranes is prohibited in some parts of Meridies and not in others.

According to the Feds, most sandhill cranes are taken in the Central Flyway. Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming all have sandhill crane hunting seasons.  Only Nebraska does not.

Bear

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	birds-recipes-msg	Page 18 of 18