seafood-msg – 2/10/14

Medieval non-fish seafood. Recipes. Oysters. Calamari, Squid, Cuttlefish,
Crawfish, Lobsters.

NOTE: See also the files: fish-msg, eels-msg, meat-smoked-msg, pickled-foods-msg,  drying-foods-msg, Shrympes-art, snails-msg, stockfish-msg, shrimp-msg.

************************************************************************
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
************************************************************************

Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1997 21:36:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: Uduido at aol.com
Subject: SC - Spondylis-finished-LONG

I am not posting Vehling's translation of 'Isicia  ex Spondylis' since I have
already done so but here is the 'perfected' redaction. I hope you enjoy. Any
comments either to the list or privately would be most welcome.

A DISH OF SCALLOPS
"Isicia Ex Spondylis'

A redaction by L. J. Spencer, Jr., copyright 09-14-97. 

Notes: In the following recipe I finally decided on a coarser wheat product
than the original experimental recipe used after reading several posts from
Adamantius and others on the SCA-Cooks list. If you do not use Caul or
another similar type of wrapping be sure to allow the batter to fry until it
is firm on one side as it is extremely tender and  difficult to turn it if
you try to do so to soon. The color should be 'well-browned'. Of course, if
you use the caul as intended in the original you will not have this problem.
The finished product looks very similar to small oblong pouches nice and
brown with a crispy outside covering. The interior is moist and sweet very
much like the sweetness of oysters. If you do not use  the caul the product
looks amazingly like fried oysters and could, with little imagination be
used as an illusion food to represent that product. I did not particularly
care for the base fish sauce but others may find it quite tasty. I garnished
it with fronds of reconstituted dry seeweed.

1 lb. scallops, lightly sauted in olive oil

COOKED WHEAT
- ---------------------------
1 cp. Wheatena
2  1/2 cps water
3/4 tsp. salt

3 lg. eggs
3/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Caul
Rish fish stock
Olive oil for frying

Minced cooked scallops very fine. 

In a non-stick saucepan, combine Wheatena, water, andd salt. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium low and cook until very thick, stirring to prevent
burning. (About 5-6 mins.) When it starts sticking to bottom immediately
remove from heat. Cool.

Combine wheat mixture, scallops, eggs and pepper thorouhly. Wrap a heaping
tblspful in a piece of caul. Repeat until all of the mixture is used. (Note:
If you are not using caul elliminate this step).

Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Lay croquettes in fat seam side ddown. Brown
and turn. Repeat until all are cooked. (IMPORTANT: If you are NOT using a
wrapping then drop by lg. tbspnfuls into hot oil). Drain on absorbent paper
or cloth.

To serve: place a couple of tblsps. of fish stock on plate and put 3
croquettes in center. These are also good without sauce and are very
flavorful at room temperature.

Servings: 12 (36 croquettes>3 per serving)


Date: Wed, 03 Dec 1997 11:43:55 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Help-Oysters

LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> Hi, list! :-) I seldom ask for advise but.....WHAT A DEAL! :-) Giant Markets
> are selling Select oysters and Standard for $3.99 a pint. A $5.00 discount!
> :-0 I LOVE oysters! Bought 2 pints to start. <chagrin>

> Any one have PERIOD recipes for oysters? Need original recipes. If they are
> in a Romance language I do not need a translation. :-). Any help would be
> much appreciated. The sooner the better. At 1 or 2 pints a day for the
> remainder of the sale, I figure that I have 3 days to play with oyster
> recipes. :-)

From Diversa Cibaria, Book I of the ever-faithful "Curye On Inglysch":

"62     To maken hoistreye. Nim hostrees & mak am zeo*en, & so**en do am out
of *e bro*; & wyte *e bro*. & so**en heuw am smale on an bord, & braye
heom in an morter, & so**en do am in *e bro* & do *erto milke of
alemauns, & lie hit wi* amydon. & let frien oygnons & mynsen heom by am
seoluen in oyle; & 3ef *ou nast none oyle, let seo*en heom in god milke
of alemaundes. & do *erto a poudre of gode spices, and colore hit wy*
saffroun."

There's a similar recipe in Taillevent, I believe, except without the
almond milk, and with toast crumbs, pea puree or water, and vinegar
added to the formula. Actually sounds better, to me, at least.

Also, you can check Apicius, which has a couple of oyster recipes, and
several oyster sauce recipes. Probably you'd be best off using the
recipes that call for the oysters to be cooked. Most of what the Romans
ate would likely have been frshly shucked, on the half shell, but the
guidelines for eating those only when alive get a little fuzzy where
shucked, packaged oysters are concerned.

Had some lovely fried oysters in real sweet-and-sour sauce in the
Chinatown Saturday. Real sweet-and-sour sauce being heavy on the mixed
ginger pickle, and easy on the weird flourescent orange baby-aspirin
flavoring that often is associated with this sauce.

Adamantius


Date: Thu, 4 Dec 1997 00:06:08 +0000
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Help-Oysters

And it came to pass on  2 Dec 97, that LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> Any one have PERIOD recipes for oysters? Need original recipes. If
> they are in a Romance language I do not need a translation. :-).

Here is a recipe from the "Libro de Guisados" (1529).  It appears to
be a list of cooking suggestions, rather than one single recipe:

COMO SE GUISAN LAS OSTIAS

Las ostias se comen fritas con aceite y su pimienta y azafran y sus
especias y zumo de naranja; y echadas en su escabeche con
sus hojas de laurel.  Y se comen asadas con su pimienta.  Y se comen
cocidas en su agua; y aceite, y especias sofreidos primero con su
cebolla and aceite en una sarten o la cebolla sola sofreida en la
sarten; y echada en la olla con su sabor de vinagre; y algunas buenas
yerbas.  Y se pueden guisar en cazuela con su agua y aceite y
especias y buenas yerbas con cebolla sofreida en su sarten; y echada
dentro, y su saborcico de vinagre.

And a quick translation for those who are not familiar with Spanish:

HOW OYSTERS ARE COOKED

Oysters are eated fried with oil and your pepper and saffron and
your spices and orange juice; and cast into your escabeche [a pickled
dish] with your laurel leaves.  And they are eaten fried with
your pepper.  And they are eaten cooked in your water; and oil, and
spices gently fried first with your onion and oil in a frying-pan or
the onion gently fried alone in the frying pan; and cast in the pot
with your taste of vinegar; and some good herbs.  And they can be
cooked in a cazuela [casserole dish] with your water and oil and
spices and good herbs with onion gently fried in your frying-pan; and
cast within, and your little taste of vinegar.

Hope this helps.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
mka Robin Carroll-Mann *** harper  at  idt.net


Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 16:08:37 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Odd question

> It recently (last  night) came up in conversation whether some form of
> calamari is period.  Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?
>
> Bogdan

Giacosa in A Taste of Ancient Rome interprets Esicia de lolligine (Apicius
43) as squid patties.  Vehling in his translation of Apicius refers to the
dish as Apicius 42 and uses cuttlefish.  So it's highly probable that squid
was prepared in Antiquity and would have been served in period, at least
along the Italian coast.

Looking at a couple of modern Italian cook books, the terms cuttlefish and
squid are used interchangeably, although I seem to remember them as two
different critters.

Bear


Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 19:42:17 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Calamari, squid, cuttlefish

TerryD at Health.State.OK.US writes:

<< Looking at a couple of modern Italian cook books, the terms cuttlefish and
 squid are used interchangeably, although I seem to remember them as two
 different critters. >>

Squid has longer tentacles and a paper thin clear internal shell. It can grow
to gargantuan proportions although commercial squid are relatively small.
Cuttlefish have short tentacles and contain an inner shell that is very hard
and calcified (e.g. see the cuttle bones at the pet shop). To all intent and
purposes , they are interchangable in the majority of recipes, SFAIK.
Finding cuttlefish in American markets is almost next to impossible.

Ras


Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 22:52:55 +0000
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Odd question

And it came to pass on  7 Feb 98, that jeffrey s heilveil wrote:

> It recently (last  night) came up in conversation whether some form
> of calamari is period.  Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?
>
> Bogdan

In (what else?) the 1529 "Libro de Guisados", there is a recipe which
includes squid.  Herewith a recipe which I have never redacted (and
don't intend to, 'cause I hate squid).

POTAJE DE CALAMARES Y JIBIAS
Pottage of Squid and Cuttlefish

The squid and cuttlefish must be well washed and clean, and after
gently frying them, but not entirely, and when they are almost half
cooked, take them out of the frying-pan and put them into a pot; and
then put with them blanched almonds and raisins and pine nuts; and
then take a few toasted almonds and pound them* and strain them**
with a little vinegar watered down with fish broth if you have it; if
not cast in a litle water so that it will not be too strong; and when
the raisins and the almonds have been slightly fried with the squid
and cuttlefish, take them and finish frying them; then cut them into
pieces and when this is done prepare dishes.

* In most recipes in the "Libro de Guisados" the instruction to
"pound" something specifies that it is to be done in a mortar.

** Literally "pass them", which in most other recipes is
followed by a phrase like "through a strainer" or "through a
cloth".

Hope this helps.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
mka Robin Carroll-Mann *** harper  at  idt.net


Date: Sat, 07 Feb 1998 23:24:46 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Calamari, squid, cuttlefish

> Squid has longer tentacles and a paper thin clear internal shell. It can grow
> to gargantuan proportions although commercial squid are relatively small.
> Cuttlefish have short tentacles and contain an inner shell that is very hard
> and calcified (e.g. see the cuttle bones at the pet shop). To all intent and
> purposes , they are interchangable in the majority of recipes, SFAIK. Finding
> cuttlefish in American markets is almost next to impossible.
>
> Ras

I think there's some kinda taxonomy action going on. Yes, the critters
that end up as fried calamari, etc., are different animals from
cuttlefish, but all cuttlefish are squid, IIRC, but not all squid are
cuttlefish. Cuttlefish also live in somewhat different environments
(depth, etc.) from your average little calamari squid, and swim with
their tentacles facing forward, using tail fins, rather than backward
with waterjet propulsion, as with loliga squid.

Taillevent includes a recipe for cuttlefish (# 143) in his section on
flat sea fish, which, oddly enough, also includes oysters, mussels, and
lobster. The dish is called seiche, IIRC, which is, I assume, simply
what the 14th-century Frenchman called cuttlefish. The fish is skinned
and broken up into pieces, which I gather means either cut with a knife,
or dismembered / torn apart by the tentacles. The pieces are fried in a
dry, ungreased frying pan without water, but with a generous coating of
salt in the pan (anyone who's pan-broiled a steak knows what that's all
about, I suspect). They're parcooked, i.e. until "done", stirred
frequently to prevent sticking and burning. The pieces are then wiped
dry, and presumably de-salted somewhat, on a cloth, coated with flour
(so far the only reference I've seen to coating fish before frying in
the entire French-English medieval recipe corpus) and fried in oil, with
onions added halfway through the frying of the cuttlefish, to keep them
from burning. The cuttlefish pieces and the onions slices, or whatever
form they take, are presumably drained from the oil and served with a
white garlic sauce made with vinegar.

It actually sounds pretty good, but then I am a confirmed calamari and
cuttlefish fiend. So, oddly enough, is my six-year-old son. I can
occasionally get barbecued cuttlefish in the Chinese grocery, hanging up
alongside the ducks, the spare ribs, etc. I've also seen them fresh /
raw in the same markets, and, now that I think about it, have a dried
one in my fridge, which involves considerable soaking in baking soda and
water to render palatable, not unlike the legendary lutefisk.

Which reminds me: last night I encountered, in the Korean grocery just a
few blocks from my home, dried, split, Alaskan pollack. They appeared to
have been split, threaded on stocks, and hung up in a cold wind. Apart
from being rather small, maybe ten inches long, they looked like they
would make a decent lutefisk fish. They seemed, at first glance, rather
expensive ($4.89 for maybe 12 ounces) but then I understand such fish
are only about 1/4 of their original weight when dried, which would mean
more like $1.63 per pound, soaked. I'll probably need to experiment with
both a modern lutefisk recipe and some period stockfih recipes... .

Adamantius


Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 18:40:09 -0500
From: dangilsp at intrepid.net (Dan Gillespie)
Subject: SC - calamari question

Hello from West Virginia:
        Sorry to be so slow in answering the question concerning the use of
calamari in period.  I don't have a direct answer....but there is a recipe
in the 1607 Libro de Cozina which calls for cuttlefish.  I am thinking of
using calamari to fudge on this one.  For those who may not know, cuttlefish
is a reltive of squid & octopi.  Usually the only part you see of it is the
cuttlefish bone in many bird cages.  I'll post the recipe later if anyone is
interested (being deliberately a spoon tease here).
                Take care,    Antoine
Dan Gillespie
dangilsp at intrepid.net
Dan_Gillespie at usgs.gov
Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA


Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 18:37:11 -0500
From: dangilsp at intrepid.net (Dan Gillespie)
Subject: SC - cuttlefish recipes

Hello from Sylvan Glen:
        Here's the cuttlefish recipes I promised from the 1607 Arte de
Cozina.  If anyone tries any of these, please let me know how the redaction
comes out.  Enjoy!
                        Antoine

Cap lxxj como se han de adereçar el pescado xibia.

Esta xibia es pescado como le(n)guados, y tiene el pescado muy bla(n)co, y
se haze ma(n)jar blanco del, y tiene mejor hebra que la gallina, y ta(n)
buen sabor, y se come cozido co(n) sal, vinagre, azeyte y pimie(n)ta, frito
co(n) mucha pimineta, y nara(n)ja y azeyte, porque es pescado fresco, y si
no lleva mucha pimie(n)ta y azeyte es muy dañoso; este pescado no se guarda
salado, ni seco, ha se de comer fresco, y se puede dar empanado con ajos, y
mucha especia, y azeyte es muy sabroso.

Chap 71 How to fix cuttlefish

This cuttlefish is a fish like the flounder, & has very white flesh & you
may make a blancmange from it, & it has a better grain/ fiber than the hen,
& it has a good flavor, & it is cooked with salt, vinegar, oil & pepper,
fried with a lot of pepper & orange & oil, because it is a fresh fish, & if
there is not put much pepper & oil it is very harmful; this fish is not kept
salted nor dried, it must be eaten fresh, & you may give it out breaded with
garlic & a lot of spices & oil, it is very tasty.

Dan Gillespie
dangilsp at intrepid.net
Dan_Gillespie at usgs.gov
Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA


Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 10:01:59 +0000
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - cuttlefish & kids

"Libro de Guisados" Spanish, 1529
POTAGE OF SQUID AND CUTTLEFISH

Squid and cuttlefish should be very well washed and clean, and after
gently frying them, and not completely, and when they are almost half
cooked, take them out of the frying-pan, and put them in a pot; and
then take blanched almonds and raisins and pine nuts; and then take a
few toasted almonds and strain them with a little vinegar watered
down with fish broth if you have any; if not, cast in a little water
so that it will not be very strong; and when the raisins and the
almonds are a little fried with the squid or the cuttlefish, take
them and finish gently frying them; however they must be cut into
pieces, and when this is done prepare dishes.

I hope your lady finds this of interest.

Brighid (who hates squid and would probably hate cuttlefish, too)

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
mka Robin Carroll-Mann *** harper  at  idt.net


Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 14:14:13 +0000 (GMT)
From: Daria Anne Rakowski <dar3 at st-andrews.ac.uk>
Subject: SC - Squid-Charter info

A colleague of mine here has found a reference to serving cuttle-fish in a
charter dated around 1216. (I could be a bit off) It was in a monastery in
Portugal where the hostelier served what appears to be the little beasties
cooked in their own ink. The problem was that these were highly
undesirable as a food stuff  (apparently) as the visiting abbott tried to
bribe his way out of eating it! There was a mention of it being smelly
too. Does anyone know if this methode of prep. would result in a fishy
smell or could they have been off? (I've never tried it)

Thanks, Coll


Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 10:20:12 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Squid-Charter info

<deleted>
> There was a mention of it being smelly
> too. Does anyone know if this methode of prep. would result in a fishy
> smell or could they have been off? (I've never tried it)
>
> Thanks, Coll

Squids use ammonia for buoyancy.  If they are not properly cleaned, you can
still taste the ammonia (as I found in a Chinese restaurant one night).  I
believe this is true of all cephalopods.

Bear


Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 18:03:41 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Squid-Charter info

In a message dated 2/19/98 9:15:33 AM Eastern Standard Time, dar3 at st-
andrews.ac.uk writes:

<<  It was in a monastery in
 Portugal where the hosteler served what appears to be the little beasts
 cooked in their own ink.  The problem was that these were highly
 undesirable as a food stuff (apparently) as the visiting abbott tried to
 bribe his way out of eating it!  There was a mention of it being smelly
 too.  Does anyone know if this method of prep. would result in a fishy
 smell or could they have been off? (I've never tried it)

 Thanks, Coll
  >>

Many recipes for both cuttlefish and squid call for the addition of their ink.
Since both creatures are sweet and succulent if fresh, I would suspect that
they were "slightly off" Personally I have never eaten either one where there
was any pronounced taste resembling fish.  They are essentially shell-less
mollusks.  Their natural flavor being more akin to scallops, oysters, mussels,
and what not.  Definitely NOT fish like.

Ras


Date: Wed, 5 Aug 1998 22:43:59 -0700
From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - do you have any ideas ?

From: Diamond <nordgate at worldnet.att.net>
> I will be doing a feast at the end of September and I need some ideas for
> scallops. nearly everything I have found has them cooked with ale. I would
> rather do something different.
>
> Arabella Silvana
> Arenal, Meridies

You could do them like Robert Mays shrimps, ie stewed gently! in orange
juice and white wine with nutmeg and pepper, and served with drawn butter
and more OJ. Be aware that Robert May does not suggest to do this with
scallops, only with shrimps.

Great care should be taken not to over cook, of course...
- --Anne-Marie, who had scallops for dinner last night. Yum!


Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 12:32:25 SAST-2
From: "Ian van Tets" <IVANTETS at botzoo.uct.ac.za>
Subject: SC - scallops and allergies

There's a recipe in Elisabeth Ayrton's The Cookery of England for
scallops as cooked by Elizabeth-commonly-known-as-Joan Cromwell, if
that's not too late period for you.  I think it was basically baked
scallops covered with breadcrumbs and dotted with butter.  FWIW, I
used this recipe at 12th Night for contrafacted scallops (saffron and
cheese-filled ravioli) in a fish course.

Cairistiona


Date: Sat, 08 Aug 1998 12:38:20 -0400
From: "Osburn-Day, Katherine" <katherine.osburn-day at lmco.com>
Subject: RE: SC - do you have any ideas ? (Scallops)

There is a scallop recipe in Le Menagier.  I can  look it up for you if
you're interested and can't find it.
Caterina


Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 17:14:11 -0400
From: Phil & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Crawfish Recipe Request

Cindy Renfrow wrote:
> There is also  a brief mention of crayfish in Le Menagier de Paris (Power,
> p. 272):
>
> "Crayfish cooked in water and wine and eaten with vinegar."

There's also a recipe for a meat tile of poultry or veal in Le Menagier, fried
meat braised in, or sauced with, I forget which offhand, a crayfish-flavored
almond-milk brewet, and garnished with the meat from the crayfish tails.

The above nota (re poaching and eating with vinegar) is more or less straight
from Taillevent. There's also a recipe for sauteed, stuffed crayfish in
Chiquart's Du Fait de Cuisine, involving taking the neat out of boiled
crayfish, chopping it with parsley and, I think, butter and vinegar, stuffing
it back into the shells and frying, stuffed side down, for a few minutes
before serving.

Adamantius
Østgardr, East


Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 21:49:01 -0400
From: Phil & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Two crayfish recipes

In response to a gentle's request for crayfish recipes, I mentioned and
described two from period French sources. Unfortunately, this is looking like
a stressful week and my I need my memory for other things, and, to be blunt,
mucked up the descriptions pretty badly.

Here they are again, in more or less their original form, albeit translated:

"A Tile of Meat (Tuile de Char). Take cooked crayfish and remove the flesh
from the tails; and the rest, to wit tails and carcase, must be brayed for a
very long time; and afterwardstake unpeeled almonds, and let them be shelled
and washed in hot water like peas, and let them be brayed with the shell in
what is abovesaid and with them bray breadcrumbs browned on the grill. Now you
should have capons, chickens and pullets broken all raw into quarters, or veal
broken into gobbets, and cooked, and with their sewe wherein they be cooking
you should moisten and dilute what you have brayed and thrn pass it through a
strainer; then bray the dregs left [in the strainer] once maore and strain
again; then add ginger, cinnamon, clove and long pepper, moistened with
verjuice without vinegar, and boil all together. Now let your meat be cooked
in pork's fat in gobbets or quarters, and serve it forth in bowls and pour
pottage over it and on the pottage, in each bowl, set four or five crayfish
tails, with powdered sugar over all."
        The Goodman of Paris (Le Menagier de Paris, ~1390), Eileen Power, 
translator
© 1928 Harcourt, Brace, New York

"68.    Again, Stuffed Crayfish: to instruct the person who will have to do thse
stuffed crayfish, see that he has a great quantity of crayfish, that he washes
them thoroughly, sets them to cook in good water with salt; when they have
cooked, take them out onto good clean work-tables. Take the largest ones for
stuffing and remove the big shells, clean them and set them aside in good
dishes; then take the necks and legs of those large crayfish and enough of the
others to stuff the number of crayfish he intends to stuff, and remove the
meat from inside them; in the necks and entrails that are there, then put them
on a good work-table and chop them up very fine and put it in a good dish.
Then he should see that he has very good parsley which has been cleaned,
washed and drained; he should chop it up very fine and mix it in with the
crayfish meat, with a little good white ginger and saffron to give it
colour.
Then get the crayfish shells which were set aside above, and put some of that
filling into one shell and place another one face down on it, and put each of
them like that one against the other. Then see that he has good clarified oil
and put them to fry in good clean pans; when they have fried, take them out
into fine dishes and sprinkle sugar on top of them. Then they are served up
when it is time."
        Maitre Chiquart Amiczo, 'Du Fait de Cuisine', 15th century, Terence
Scully translation, © 1986 Peter Lang Publishing, New York.

Adamantius
Østgardr, East


Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 20:52:49 -0500
From: vjarmstrong at aristotle.net (Valoise Armstrong)
Subject: Re: SC - Crawfish Recipe Request

Here's one from Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin (c. 1553, Augsburg)

48   To prepare crayfish

        Boil the crayfish well, remove the back and front shells and pound
them in a mortar. Take then a toasted Semmel [similar to a hard roll] and
put pea broth on it and strain it through a clean cloth or a fine-meshed
colander, and a little good wine. Salt it and temper it with good spices,
saffron, cinnamon, ginger and sugar. Take fat, stir flour into it and pour
the strained crayfish thereon and let it boil. After that sprinkle sugar
upon it. This is a good lordly dish.

Valoise


Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 16:19:55 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: Re: SC - Crawfish Recipe Request

>Would anyone be able to assist me in locating some period recipes for
>crawfish?
>
>Matheus de Troyes
>mka Brian Songy

Hello!  Here is the only mention of crayfish found in my book, "Take a
Thousand Eggs or More":

"Harleian MS. 279 - Dyuerse Bake Metis
xiij.  Vn Vyaunde furnez san[3] nom de chare.  Take flowre, Almaunde milke,
& Safroune, & make [th]er-of .iiij. tynez, & frye [th]i tynez in Oyle; nym
[th]en Almaundys, & draw [th]er-of mylke ry[3]t [th]ikke; nym mace[3],
Quybibe[3], & floure of Rys, Canelle, Galyngale; take [th]enne haddok,
Creue[3], Perchys, Tenche[3], & se[th]e; whan [th]ey ben sothyn, take
[th]in fyssche from [th]e bonys, & bray it ry[3]t smal with [th]in Spicerye
to-gederys, & make [th]er-of [th]in farsure.  Whan it is y-makyd, departe
it in .iiij. partyis, [th]at o partye whyte, [th]at o[th]er [3]elow, [th]e
[th]rydde grene, [th]e fer[th]e blak coloure with Fygys, Roysonys, an
Datys; take [th]e firste cours of [th]e Fyssche, of al [th]e .iiij. cours,
& ley on [th]in cyvey a-bouyn [th]in Fyssche, in .iiij. quarterys, as a
chekyr, as brode as [th]in cake, & caste a-bouyn Sugre of Alysaundre, &
[th]er-vppe-on [th]ine tyne.  Nym an-o[th]er cours, & ley on [th]i .iiij.
quarterys as brode as [th]in tyne, & [th]er-vppe-[on] [th]in Sugre.  Nym
[th]e [th]rydde cours of [th]in Fyssche, & ley on .iiij. quarterys, & caste
a-boue Sugre, & a tyne.  Nym [[th]e] .iiij. cours a-cordant to [th]in
o[th]er, a-[th]enched to-geder, an a-boue a hole as a rose, & cetera.

13.  Vn Vyaunde furnez san[3] nom de chare.  Take flour, Almond milk,  &
Saffron, & make thereof four pancakes, & fry thy pancakes in Oil; take then
Almonds, & draw thereof milk very thick; take maces, Cubebs, & flour of
Rice, Cinnamon, Galingale; take then haddock, Crayfish, Perch, Tench, &
seethe; when they are seethed, take thine fish from the bones, & bray it
very small with thine Spicery together, & make thereof thine stuffing.
When it is made, depart it in 4 parts, that one part white, that other
yellow, the third green, the fourth black color with Figs, Raisins, and
Dates; take the first layer of the Fish, of all the 4 layers, & lay on
thine stew above thine Fish, in 4 quarters, as a checker, as broad as thine
cake, & cast above Sugar of Alexandria, & thereup[on] thine pancake.  Take
another layer, & lay on thy 4 quarters as broad as thine pancake, &
thereupon thine Sugar. Take the third layer of thine Fish, & lay on 4
quarters, & cast above Sugar, & a pancake.  Take [the] 4th layer accordant
to thine other, contrived*  together, and above a hole as a rose,**  &
etcetera.

*? From O.E. a[th]encan (pron. a[th]enchan), to think, contrive, devise, etc.
** Perhaps this means that the top layer is to have a decorative hole cut
out in the shape of a rose."
(From "Take a Thousand Eggs or More," vol.2, p. 356, copyright 1997, Cindy
Renfrow.)

There is also  a brief mention of crayfish in Le Menagier de Paris (Power,
p. 272):

"Crayfish cooked in water and wine and eaten with vinegar."

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net
Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing
Recipes"
http://www.alcasoft.com/renfrow/


Date: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 07:16:23 -0500
From: "Philip W. Troy & Susan Troy" <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - meat days and fast days - MIXED?

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> > "And as at such a feast there could be some very high, puissant, noble,
> > venerable and honorable lords and ladies who do not eat meat, for these
> > there must be fish, marine and fresh-water, fresh and salt, in such manner
> > as one can get them.
> >
> > And as the sea-bream is king of the other sea fish, listed first is the
> > sea-bream, conger-eel, grey mullet, hake, sole, red mullet, dorade, plaice,
> > turbot, sea-crayfish...
>
> > Concerning fresh-water fish: big trout, big eels, lampreys, filleted char,
> > fillets of big pike, fillets of big carp, big perch, ferrés, pallés,
> > graylings, burbot, crayfish, and all other fish."
>
> Would this "sea-crayfish" be what we know as lobster?

Unlikely. What we call lobster (Homardus Americanus, IIRC) does get into the
Eastern Atlantic, but not in the concentration we find it in the Western Atlantic. The spiny lobster is found in the South Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and, I think, the Pacific (they lack the big front claws, and are the basis for most frozen lobster tails). But there are several less commercially viable (read "smaller") arthropods found in the Mediterranean that probably include what Mistress Elizabeth translates as sea-crayfish. Scully uses the word "lobster", but without the original French word, it could be almost anything, ranging
from langouste (spiny lobster), langoustine (a smaller version actually
classified in English as  a prawn or lobsterette, closely related to both the scampi and the Dublin Bay Prawn), slippershell lobster, squillfish, etc.

BTW, if I remember correctly, the father of the Red Count Amadeus of Savoy
(Chiquart's employer/patron, later Duke of Savoy, and later still, Pope) had bought (!) a county on the Mediterranean coast (either Nice or Marseilles, I forget which) so as to have local access to fresh fish, among other considerations.

Another BTW: Chiquart's employer, Amadeus, is one of those great lords who,
by choice, ate no meat, IIRC. Du Fait de Cuisine does give both meat and fish versions of the same dishes in comparable menus (part or all of the feast Chiquart is writing about falls on a fish day, so he may be including the information on the meat dishes just for the reader's information), but it seems extremely likely Amadeus had all the fish versions of the dishes described served to him, regardless of the day.

Adamantius
Østgardr, East


Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 00:28:03 -0500
From: "Philippa Alderton" <phlip at bright.net>
Subject: Re: SC - meat days and fast days - MIXED?

Stefan asks:
>Would this "sea-crayfish" be what we know as lobster?<

It should be more like the langustinos, or the South African Lobster tails
they sell- no big front claws like our Maine lobster.

Phlip


Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 10:34:09 -0400From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>Subject: Re: SC - Lobster - period?"Oughton, Karin (GEIS, Tirlan)" wrote:> One of the possibles is to do lobsters...> Are there any period sources I could be pointed at, have you got any> personal goodies?>From Diuersa Servicia, Book II of Curye On Inglysch, Ed. Hieatt andButler, Early English Text Society, Oxford University Press, 1985:"66.     For to make blomanger of fysch, tak a pound of rys. Les hem wel &wasch; & se)th) tyl (th)ey breste & lat hem kele; & do (th)ereto mylk ofto pound of almandys. Nym (th) perche or (th) lopuster & boyle yt, &kest sugur & salt also (th)erto, & serue yt forth."on the next page..."75.    For to mak a lopister, he schal be rostyd in his scalys in a oueno(th)er by (th) feer vnder a panne, and eten wy(th) veneger."As I recall, Taillevent suggests eating them with vinegar or verjuice.Roasted lobsters, BTW, are a bit of work to get out of the shell,compared to moist-cooked versions, but have a concentrated lobsterflavor that is impossible to reproduce or even describe. I like minewith a sauce made from butter, salt and pepper, and single-malt Scotch whiskey.Adamantius

Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 14:44:46 -0500
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - New to the list with questions

And it came to pass on 14 Nov 99,, that Jo Marie Friedel wrote:
> Are there any 14th C French recipes for shellfish (in particular,
> mussels and shrip/prawns)?  I see lots for fish and eels but have yet to
> run across any for shellfish.

Yes.  Scully, in _Early French Cookery_ (a book you might wish to look
at) has a recipe for mussels that comes out of the Viandier.  They're
cooked in water and vinegar with mint (optional).  Serve with vinegar,
green verjuice, or green garlic sauce.  Shrimp (also according to the
Viandier), are boiled in wine and water, with a little salt, and served with
vinegar.

>                         Tygre Marie

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 16:07:41 -0600
From: Magdalena <magdlena at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: SC - New to the list with questions

> Are there any 14th C French recipes for shellfish (in particular,
> mussels and shrip/prawns)?  I see lots for fish and eels but have yet to
> run across any for shellfish.

Since I have it open...  ;>  Platina is 15th century Italian.  He has recipes
for (book 10 On Cooking fish) for sea urchin, mollusks, oysters, mussels, purple
fish, murex and lobster, crab, caviar, octopus, cuttle-fish, squid, and other
strange beasties.  Oh, and fish.  ;>

- -Magdalena


Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 17:23:38 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - New to the list with questions

Jo Marie Friedel wrote:
> Are there any 14th C French recipes for shellfish (in particular,
> mussels and shrip/prawns)?  I see lots for fish and eels but have yet to
> run across any for shellfish.

Le Viandier de Taillevent has recipes for oysters and crayfish, if I
remember correctly. The oysters are made into a pottage, as I recall,
and the crayfish simply boiled and eaten with vinegar or verjuice (I
forget which) and possibly salt. I know there are 14th-century English
recipes for mussels in brewet, which call for the mussels and some
minced onion to be cooked in ale with saffron. Chiquart's Du Fait de
Cuisine, early 15th century French, has a recipe for stuffed crayfish
that I've always wanted to try: it involves lightly boiling the
crayfish, picking the meat out of the shells, and chopping it up with
vinegar and, I think, parsley, and the mixture is stuffed back into the
shells, and fried face-down (open-side down, that is) in oil until
brown. I'm working from memory here, bear with me.

Adamantius


Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 13:03:16 -0500
From: "Kappler, MMC Richard A." <KAPPLERR at swos.navy.mil>
Subject: SC - oyster pie

>Could you post this recipe (and a redaction if you have one) sometime? This
>sounds interesting.

Oyster Pie, Markham II, 125
Take of the greatest oysters drawn from the shells, and parboil them in
verjuice: then put them into a colander, and let all the moisture run from
them, till they be as dry as possible: then raise up the coffin of the pie,
and lay them in: then put to them good store of currants and fine powdered
sugar, with whole mace, whole cloves, whole cinnamon, and a nutmeg sliced,
dates cut, and a good store of sweet butter: then cover, and only leave a
vent hole: when it is baked, then draw it, and take white wine, and white
wine vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, and sweet butter, and melt it together; then
first trim the lid therewith, and candy it with sugar; then pour the rest in
at the vent hole, and shake it well, and so set it into the oven again for a
little space, and so serve it up, the dish edges trimmed with sugar.  Now
some use to put to this pie onions sliced and shred, but that is referred to
discretion, and to the pleasure of the taste.

From the Michael Best edition of Markham's _The English Housewife_,
McGill-Queens University Press, 1986, ISBN 0-7735-1103-2

I do not have a redaction yet as I have thus far been unable to find
verjiuce in my area and it is past the time of year for me to make my own.
Whenever I ask for it in a local market I get blank stares.  Plenty of
coffee syrup, no verjuice :-(

regards, Puck


Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 17:30:19 EST
From: Aldyth at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Seven Centuries of English Cooking

LrdRas at aol.com writes:
<<  It would be nice if the original recipe and the modern recipe being 
discussed  could be posted so the rest of us could understand what is being talked  about >>

The book is _Seven Centuries of English Cooking   A collection of Recipes.  
By Maxime de la Falaise  Edited by Arabella Boxer.  Published by Grove Press  
Printed in 10/92.  ISBN 0-8021-3296-0

Vyaunde de Cyprys in Lent:  (Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks)
Take Gode thikke mylke of Almaundys, & do it on a potte: & nyme the Fleysshe 
of fode Crabbys, &gode Samoun, & bray it smal, & tempere yt uppe with the 
forsayd mylke; boyle it, an Iye it with floure of Rys or Amyndoun, an make it 
chargeaunt; when it ys y-boylid, do ther-to whyte Sugre, a gode quantyte of 
whyte Vernage Pime, with the wyne, Pome-garnade.  When it is y-dressyd, straw 
a-boue the grayne of Pome-garnade.


Crab and Salmon Mould
serves 3-4
1/2 pound fresh crab meat, cooked
1/2 pound salmon, cooked
1 cup almond milk
2 TBS Rice flour
2 TBS White Wine    
2 TBS Sugar
Seeds from 1-2 pomegranates

Flake the crab meat and salmon, put them in a blender with the almond milk 
and puree.  Spoon into saucepan, heat gently and sprinkle in the flour.  Stir 
until thickened, and then add the wine and sugar.  Stir in the pomegranate 
seeds and season to taste with a little pepper and salt.  Chill in a wetted 
mould.  Turn out to serve.

Aldyth


Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 06:44:56 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Seven Centuries of English Cooking

LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> For example, the seafood should be, IMO, chopped very fine or mashed in a
> mortar. Liquefying it is a big stretch and would produce a far different
> texture than they were capable of producing at the time that this was
> originally written.

Probably true, but ultimately I'm not sure how much real difference it
will make. The original says to "bray it small", I believe, which
basically means to mash or puree, depending on how small you want it.
Reducing it to baby food or even a healthy shake isn't my idea of a good
time, but this book was written before the advent of the domestic
cuisinart and before the return of the mortar as a fashionable kitchen
gadget. It may be that it's understood that blender users have a bit of
control with pulse settings, just as they might with a food processor
today, but a finer puree may simply reflect the tastes of the year this
book was written (1973?).  In the end it gets thickened pretty
dramatically anyway.
 
Adamantius


Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2000 19:57:48 -0600
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: SC - Vyaunde de Cyprys in Lent (was: Seven Centuries of English Cooking)

At 3:40 PM -0500 1/25/00, Aldyth at aol.com wrote:
>...Two recipes caught my eye.  One was "Crab
>and Salmon Mould" which is taken from _Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books_
>the recipe reads "Vyaunde de Cyprys in Lent".  It bears little resemblance to
>Cindy Renfrows interpretation, believe me.  I would be glad to post all three
>recipes if you want.  I don't even see how Maxime's recipe would result in a
>molded thing.

Here is our version of this recipe from the Miscellany.

Vyaunde de Cyprys in Lent
  Two Fifteenth Century p. 28/57

Take good thick milk of almonds, and do it on a pot; nym the flesh of 
good crabs, and good salmon, and bray it small, and temper it up with 
the foresaid milk; boil it, and lye it with flour of rice or 
amyndoun, and make it chargeaunt; when it is yboiled, do thereto 
white sugar, a gode quantitie of white vernage pimes [apparently a 
wine like muscadine] with the wine, pomegranate. When it is ydressed, 
strew above the grains of pomegranate.

almond milk: (see p. 7)	
7 oz salmon	
4 t Rhine wine
2 oz blanched almonds	
2 T rice flour	
2 T pomegranate juice
1 c water	
3 T sugar	
pomegranate seeds
7 oz crabmeat

Make almond milk. Remove skin and bones from salmon, cut salmon and 
crab into cubes and shred with French chef's knife. Mix fish and 
almond milk and cook over medium heat; add sugar, wine, and 
pomegranate juice after 5 minutes; add rice flour after 11 minutes, 
cook, stirring, another minute, remove from heat and keep stirring 
another half minute. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook


Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2000 09:06:09 -0500From: "Siegfried Heydrich" <baronsig at peganet.com>Subject: Re: SC - Getting people to eat period food    A Frutti di Mar is just a generic term used to describe an antipastothat's made with seafood (usually whatever was available in the market orthe guys brought home on the boats), and there is no 'recipe' per se. It'smore a matter of 'whatcha got'.    A good Sicilian Frutti di Mar traditionally has ingredients that willmake most Americans power chunder on the spot. The octopus, squid, and conchare usually cut into small, bite sized pieces, marinaded or pickled, andthings like mussels, clams, or oysters were steamed lightly, then added tothe mixture still in the shell. You can find frozen conch in most seafoodstores, even up north.    Sieggy


Date: Thu, 08 Jun 2000 10:12:32 -0600 (MDT)
From: grasse at mscd.edu (Martina Grasse)
Subject: SC - Shrimp auf Rumpolts art

In the original these dishes are in Rumpolt's chapter on Krebs.  The woodcut 
shows a lobster, but if you look up Flusskrebs the translation is crawfish, 
so I used shrimp (because they were on sale, and I was bringing them to 
Caerthe's Cavalier Holiday picnic last Sunday, and I'm on a budget.) 

I will be cooking the feast (probably straight from Rumpolt) for Caerthe's 
Arts and Sciences competition in November, and have had requests to find a 
way to include at least one of these in one of the courses. (Yes, I  take 
requests.)

I do not have the transcribed German to hand (will do tonight) and I do not 
have the translation (see above for reason ;-) But I do remember what I did 
to re-create it,  and both these recipes tasted soo good I had to share 
(while we are on a Rumpolt kick.)

#16   400 year old fried shrimp ;-)
1/2 pound of large (25-30 per lb) raw shrimp
1/4 cup of flour
4oz butter
salt, pepper and powdered, dried ginger (to taste)

Rinse shrimp, peel (and devine) but leave the tail shell attached.
Salt and pepper the shrimp, then dust them with flour (enough to coat, but 
shake off any excess.)
In a heavy medium size skillet melt and heat the butter.
In the hot butter, fry the shrimp on both sides till golden brown and done, 
but don't overcook. I used high heat, the butter started to brown a little. 
The shrimp were done very quickly and picked up a little of that nutty brown 
butter flavor. Remove and drain the shrimp (on absorbent toweling) and while 
still hot dust them with the ginger (to taste.)  This is great hot and also 
very good cold. (I took it to a picnic to great reviews.)

#11  Shrimp with butter and verjuice
5 extra large raw shrimp (the 12-16 per lb. Size)
1 T butter
1 t verjuice
pepper
5 Oyster shells (deep half) (would make 1 dinner serving or 2-3 appetizers, 
increase as needed)

I did not have oyster shells to hand, so I used scallop shells.
Peel, tail, and devine your shrimp.  Place one shrimp (curled up) into deep 
end of each shell. Season with pepper (to taste,) then top with a dollop of 
butter (I think I used about 1/2 t per shrimp) and a few drops of verjuice.  
(OK, I gotta admit I had to cheat here... I do not have verjuice in my pantry 
yet, so I experimented, I did 2 with cider vinegar, 2 with balsamic vinegar, 
and one with red wine that was too sour for my tastes.)  The balsamic was the 
standout winner.
To cook I placed my 5 scallop shells (filled with their precious cargo) into 
my largest skillet, added water to the skillet (not enough to flow into the 
shells!) and placed a lid on it.  Then turned on the heat and let them steam 
away till they were cooked through (about 5 minutes.)  This was wonderfully 
rich, and looked very elegant hot from the pan, and they were still delicious 
and showy served room temperature the next day at the park.

I think you could use smaller shrimp and place 3-5 in each shell, thereby 
extending your shells (my biggest skillet only fit the 5 shells I own, and by 
placing multiples per shell I could have appetizers for 5 rather than seeming 
chintzy at only serving each person one shrimp, or having to do 3-5 batches 
so my guest would have to eat their appetizers in shifts;-)

Hope you enjoy, and as always, feedback appreciated.

Gwen-Catrin von Berlin


Date: Thu, 08 Jun 2000 21:06:27 -0600 (MDT)
From: grasse at mscd.edu (Martina Grasse)
Subject: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #2348 rumpolt shrimp

Here is transliteration and translation of the recipes I posted earlier.


# 11 Nim die Krebsschwa:entz/ thu sie mit Butter in Austernschalen/ pfeffers/
vnd thu ein wenig Agrastbru:eh darein/ las in den Austernschalen auffsieden/ 
gib es also warm auf ein Tisch

11 Take the crawfish tails/ put them with butter into oystershells/ pepper (them)/ and put a little verjuice therein/ let it simmer in the oystershells/ 
give it warm to the table.


#16
Wenn die Krebs klein seind/ so dreh das fo:erder am Schwantz herausz/ 
nim{m} die Oberschalen davon hinweg/ lasz die Schalen am Schwantz 
hengen/ pfeffers/ Saltzs vnd Mehls wol/ backs ausz der heiszen Butter/ gibs 
trucken also warm auff ein Tisch/ bestra:ew es mit einem Jngwer/ so ist es gut 
vnd wolgeschmack.

16
If the crawfish are small/ so twist the front away from the tail/ 
take the shells away/ (but) leave the shell attached at the tail/ 
pepper/ salt and flour (them) well/ bake (fry) them in the hot butter/ give 
dry and warm to a table/ sprinkle it with ginger/ so it is good 
and welltasting.

Gwen Cat von Berlin


Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 12:46:36 -0400
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Iscia ex Spondylis

> IIRC, I did this Apician recipe using scallops. However, my interpretation of
> the recipe was very different from what you describe. My was a patty (fritter
> like, IIRC).
>
> Could you post the translated recipe so I can be sure we are talking about
> the same recipe?
>
> Ras

My old standby, granted I have this from waaaaaaay back when all I had access to
was the Vehling:
[lightly] cook scallops remove the hard and objectionable parts, mince the meat
very fine, mix this with cooked spelt and eggs, season with pepper, [shape into croquettes and wrap] in caul, fry, underlay a rich fish sauce and serve as a delicious entree.

The shrimp is because I almost always have shrimp on hand, and I really like
shrimp, and I seem to remember back in our old discussions on the recipe that
spondylis was undecided.

I used the coarsegrained spelt because I just laid in my pennsic supply, and it
is a period roman grain.
I made the spelt into a really pastlike cream of wheat, thick enough to be fairly solid when cold. I pounded the shrimps in a small mortar [one of the 2 cup marble ones, that being what I have at home and doing a 2 person amount] then when they were a paste I glorped in the cream o'spelt and mixed it thoroughly, added egg and white pepper [being out of black, the penzeys run is next week] and fried in fat peeled off of the pork roast we did a few weeks ago and stashed in the freezer. There is not much difference, IMHO between round like meatballs, flat patties or any other form, as long as they are mouthful in size and don't fall apart when eaten with fingers ;-)

To whit:
1 cup cream o'spelt, cold [just sub in spelt semolina for the cream of wheat in a typical 3 serving batch]
8 oz shrimps, peeled and sightly cooked in water with a bit of worchestershire
sauce [my desired sub for garum]
4 whole medium eggs, beaten lightly
1 quarter tsp ground white pepper
3 tbsp pork lard

the sauce was fish sauce, wine, cumin, pepper and honey. I used some of the
poaching medium from teh shrimp boosted with a bit more of the worchestershire
sauce, and added preground cumin, white pepper and some barberone wine, tasted
and added just enough honey, in its capacity for augmenting flavor rather than
making it sweet. I simmered it down a bit to make it much less drippy, about a
one third reduction.

1 half cup poaching liquid
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 quarter cup barberonne
1 quarter tsp pepper
1 quarter tsp cumin
1 tsp honey

I plated it with the sauce on the side in dipping bowls. I know that Vehling said to underlay it with the sauce, but I prefer dipping.

margali


Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 10:12:34 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Iscia ex Spondylis

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> What are these "hard and objectionalble" parts on scallops? All the scallops
> I've seen were round disks about an inch in diameter and about half that
> thick, sometimes smaller sometimes larger depending upon whether they were
> from ocean or bay. These were firm, kind of like shrimp in firmness but
> I don't remember any "hard and objectionalble" parts. Or were these
> already removed from the ones I saw for sale at the seafood counter?

Very possibly, yes. Scallops are a fairly complex organism, and unless
you get them live, in the shell, in places like France or parts of Asia,
what you're getting and eating is the adductor muscle (the one that
holds the shells closed), which is really two muscles wrapped in a
medium-tough membrane. Once that membrane is removed, you have two
muscles, one being the larger, sweet, tender "tenderloin", the part
usually associated with scallops. The other is known in English as the
"strap", and it's much smaller, less sweet, and full of connective
tissue. All bivalves have adductor muscles, but for most edible species
the adductor is more like the strap than like the main adductor of a
scallop. Usually only culinary deviants like myself bother to eat and
enjoy the adductors of mussels, clams, and oysters.
 
> I may have to try this recipe sometime, when I'm feeling extravagent.
> Although as I remember there is a big difference in price between the
> bay and ocean scallops.

For what it's worth, Flower and Rosenbaum translate sphondylis as
mussels, and they're much cheaper than even bay scallops in most places.
I think the use of scallops is another Vehlingism, but looking at the
sauce and serving method, I suspect that something more powerfully
flavored than scallops might do well. 

Adamantius


Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 09:13:22 -0500
From: "Michael F. Gunter" <michael.gunter at fnc.fujitsu.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Iscia ex Spondylis

> What are these "hard and objectionalble" parts on scallops? All the scallops
> I've seen were round disks about an inch in diameter and about half that
> thick, sometimes smaller sometimes larger depending upon whether they were
> from ocean or bay.
> --
> Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra

What you get in the supermarket are scallops that have been deshelled, cleaned
and presented for your approval. The part you eat is basically a muscle that is
pretty much in the center of the animal. If you open a shell you will see this
pearly white chunk of meat in the middle of a bunch of typically icky shellfish
parts. You cut the white chunk out and discard the rest. There is usually a
rather hard and rubbery pinkish muscle attached to it that you sometimes
get in seafood shops. I think they leave it on as an indicator that it really is
scallop and not whitefish. Trim that off before you prepare the dish.

I hope that clarifies things.

Gunthar


Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 21:37:04 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Iscia ex Spondylis

"Michael F. Gunter" wrote: 
> There is usually a
> rather hard and rubbery pinkish muscle attached to it that you sometimes
> get in seafood shops. I think they leave it on as an indicator that it really 
> is scallop and not whitefish. Trim that off before you prepare the dish.

Sorry, I intended to mention this earlier today... whether the "strap"
is left on as a badge of authenticity I couldn't say, but the standard
rumor about faux scallops has always been, AFAIK, that they're punched
from skate wings. And while skate wings in their raw form could be said
to vaguely resemble scallops if skinned, boned, and cut into rounds with
a sort of cookie cutter, the deception would be immediately apparent
once the fish is cooked; the texture is entirely different, and a
less-than-fresh skate wing smells even worse, if such a thing is
imaginable, than a bad scallop. Skates being one of those deep-water,
ammonia-producing fish...
 
A.J. MacLane says in The Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery that the practice
is very widely known but almost never actually practiced. I have,
however, seen some kinda funky surimi/fish cake forms being sold as
scallops. 

Adamantius


Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 17:50:10 -0400
From: "Daniel Phelps" <phelpsd at gate.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Scallop

If you can find it the check out the following book, "The Scallop; Studies
of a shell and its influences on Humankind"  by eight authors, Edited by Ian
Cox, C.B.E., M.A. published in London by the "Shell" Transport and Trading
Company, Ltd. 1957,

Its got everything etymology, biology, symbology, iconology, heraldry, and
how to cook'em.

Daniel Raoul


Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 20:43:46 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - need calamari advice

Robin Carroll-Mann wrote: 
> I've eaten squid before, but never cooked it.  I was redacting a recipe
> from de Nola (which I will post soon) which called for the squid to be
> gently fried (sofrito), then cooked in an almond milk sauce.  I fried it on
> medium for 5 minutes, then simmered for 30 minutes, which seemed to
> be a time recommended by many recipes on the web.  The rings (cut
> from the body, not tentacles, if that matters) were edible, but not quite
> as tender as I would have liked.  Should I have cooked them longer?  I
> kept testing them throughout the 30 minutes, and could not cut them
> with the edge of my wooden spoon, so I kept simmering.  Incidently,
> cuttlefish is an alternative fish for this recipe, and I saw several recipes
> that suggested *it* be simmered for 40-45 minutes.

Squid and cuttlefish both seem to respond well to either a quick or a
slow cooking, but medium tends to be deadly. Not unlike tomatoes in this
respect. Squid should be cooked for less than five minutes, roughly, or
for an hour or so, according to most of the slow-cooked recipes I've
seen. Same for cuttlefish, which is similarly constructed, up to a
point, but generally much larger and meatier.

> So what's the deal here?  Should the squid be cooked longer?  Does
> cuttlefish require more time than squid?  (And how does it differ from its
> cousin?)  Can the two be cooked together without causing problems?

Probably you could cook cuttlefish for 10 minutes or so, and add squid
perhaps halfway through. I'm not sure, though, at what point you could
cut them with a wooden spoon. They are kind of crunchy by nature when
cooked, and while the texture does change with additional cooking, it
goes from being slightly rubbery, but kind of al dente, to being that
sort of deep rubber texture of a hard pencil eraser. Some people do find
this preferable, since it is more... yielding to the teeth, although
somewhat hard. Probably the closest thing I can liken it to is the firm
tenderness of, say, very hard hard-boiled eggs. I know there are some
Mediterranean squid and cuttlefish dishes that call for this type of
long braising, and the canned squid in sauce made from their ink is a
descendant of these.

My own preference is to saute the squid very quickly in a hot pan, then
add the sauce ingredients and just finish cooking the fish.
   
Adamantius


Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 23:11:39 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - need calamari advice

Alan mcdowell wrote:
> How the deuce does one clean calamari?  And is it good
> deep fried in a batter? I can obtain calamari both fresh and frozen but balked
> at all the 'eyes' and tentacles.  >laughing<
> Squeamishness from a big game hunter...go figure.

For larger squid, say, a body tube length of 6 inches or less: grasp
body tube in the non-dominant hand (if you are right-handed, grasp tube
in left hand), and the head/tentacle section in the other hand. Using
slow, steady tension, pull the head off the rest of the body, and most
of the entrails will come away with it.

Stick your finger into the body tube and scrape out any remaining
entrails, sand, if any, and make sure to loosen and remove the clear
plastic-y-looking bone. It looks like something in between a piece of
cellophane and a clear polished ladies' long fingernail, running pretty
much the length of the body.

For larger squid you'll want to remove the purplish skin; rubbing a
little coarse salt over the squid will help scrape it away, or just peel
it away with your fingers. You may want to pull off the tail fins --
these run along the rear half (actually the front half, when the squid
is swimming) of the body tube, and can be a bit tough, but are easily
removed by simply pulling them off. With smaller squid you may feel okay
about leaving the skin and fins in place, but skinning them makes for a
more attractive, white seafood.

Cut the tentacle/mouth section off the head, between the eyes and the
tentacles. You may or may not want to get insane and retreive the two
ink pouches from the entrail mass behind the head (these will be the
dark black masses which are clearly not eyes). The ink is good in tomato
sauces used to cook the squid, rolled into fresh pasta dough, and
various other uses, including, perhaps, calligrapher's ink. You may want
to clean and skin the tentacles with more coarse salt and a little
patience. It is the favorite part for most squid lovers, it seems, but
the larger suction cups on the tentacles can, on larger specimens, have
little suction cup bones made of the same stuff the backbone is made of,
in little rings fitting inside the suction cups. I just run my
fingernail along the inside of each tentacle to remove these, and don't
bother skinning anything but the body tubes.

Yes, they can be battered and fried, although I much prefer a simple
seasoned flour dusting for most European-style fried squid dishes,
including the basic Southern Italian calamari fritte marinara. My
favorite Asian-type fried squid dish involves either a dusting of rice
flour or a rice flour or wheat starch batter, frying it, and quickly
sauteeing it with roasted five-spice salt and chopped green chillies.

Most of the squid sold in the USA seems to be frozen, including the
stuff thawed and the  sold as fresh in the fish markets. Unlike a lot of
other seafoods, though, it seems to suffer relatively little from this
treatment. I find this odd because there are loliga squid swimming
visibly in the waters off New York City and Long Island, but we mostly
get frozen squid from Indonesia. You can, BTW, pay somewhat more premium
prices to get frozen and, theoretically, cleaned and skinned squid, and
it does indeed contain somewhat less, ounce for ounce, guts, skin, and
bones. It just is not entirely free of them. Usually it's a time-saver
and makes for a much more pleasant trash bag after cooking, but you
still have to give them a quick once-over.

Adamantius


Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 14:44:18 EDT
From: KallipygosRed at aol.com
Subject: SC - SC-Re Squid/Cook Times

From my wonderful non-member friend, Hols, and her great storehouse of 
knowledge on squid, octopus, etc. 

Lars

**Tell them that even two and a half minutes is too long for
multi-legged swimmy things.  The ideal way to cook octopus is to "blanch" it
by dunking it in boiling water three times.  After boiling in the name of
the Father, Son, etc, it can be cleaned and cooked as directed.-Holly**  


Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 15:45:47 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - SC-Re Squid/Cook Times

KallipygosRed at aol.com wrote:
> **Tell them that even two and a half minutes is too long for
> multi-legged swimmy things.  The ideal way to cook octopus is to "blanch" it
> by dunking it in boiling water three times.  After boiling in the name of
> the Father, Son, etc, it can be cleaned and cooked as directed.-Holly**

Certainly there are octopus that respond well to this kind of treatment,
and many that are too large and tough; it'll depend on what you normally
find in your area. I can see this method being effective with the small
baby octos, particularly ones taken fresh from the Aegean, but the
2-3-pounders often sold frozen may requre a bit more.

I suggest blanching them until you can skin them, and cooking them until
they're done, and avoid relying too heavily on the timer.

Adamantius


Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 23:41:01 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - need calamari advice

And it came to pass on 22 Aug 00,, that Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> You can, BTW, pay somewhat more premium prices to
> get frozen and, theoretically, cleaned and skinned squid, and it does
> indeed contain somewhat less, ounce for ounce, guts, skin, and bones. It
> just is not entirely free of them. Usually it's a time-saver and makes for
> a much more pleasant trash bag after cooking, but you still have to givce
> them a quick once-over.
> 
> Adamantius  

I got my squid -- frozen -- at a local Chinese grocery.  It was cleaned, 
except for a bit of the plastic-like spine inside, and was only $2.99/lb, 
as compared to the fresh, intact-with-eyes-and-everything squid at the 
fish counter for $2.69/lb.  The frozen calamari pieces in my local 
supermarket (mostly tentacle rings) are around $3.50/lb.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 23:31:30 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Period Restaurant?

And it came to pass on 23 Sep 00,, that Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> But as Phillipa states, there are indeed several
> recipes for oysters (mostly pottages as I recall), and some for lobsters
> (basic cooking and serving instructions, maybe not recipes per se) in the
> medieval English and French corpus, and probably other cultures as well.

Nola says that one cannot make perfect blancmange of fish without 
lobster (the other main ingredient is pandora).  Granado has several 
recipes for lobster, most of which involve mixing the chopped meat with 
other ingredients (lobster meatballs, stuffed lobster, etc.).  Villena in the 
_Arte de Cortar_ gives instructions for "carving" a lobster and removing 
its meat.

Platina says that lobsters are not good unless boiled alive, but then 
adds that one can also pry them open, pour in pepper sauce, and roast 
them on the grill.

> Adamantius

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 23:08:42 -0500
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: Re: SC - Spanish Lobster recipes?

And it came to pass on 16 Nov 00, , that E. Rain wrote:
> There is a small chance that I could get cheap/free Lobsters for my spanish
> banquet next spring, and I'm interested if any of you who are working with
> the various Spanish/Catalan/Portuguese texts have come across any recipes
> for lobster other than the one Bridget posted a while back from Granado "To
> Fry the Flesh of Crabs and Lobsters"/"Para freyr las pulpas de los
> Congrejos, y Langostas"

As I said in my previous post, Nola only has a recipe for 
blancmange.  Granado has several lobster/crab recipes other than 
that one I previously posted.  By way of summary, they are:

1. boiled, and served with oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt

2. boiled, then the meat removed and cooked in a pottage with oil, 
herbs, spices, and non-salty broth of some other fish.

3. lobster meat cut in pieces, then fried in oil with chopped onions, 
then add water, wine, verjuice, salt, and spices, served with 
chopped herbs and sweet spices

4. lobster meat cooked in wine or water, chopped, then fried in oil 
or butter, add verjuice and raisins and fish broth, simmer for 1/4 
hour, thicken with egg yolks or ground almonds or grated bread.

5. meatballs made of lobster meat with some salted eel, spices, 
raisins, sugar, oil or butter, mint, and marjoram.

6. stuffed - boiled, then the meat is removed and chopped, mixed 
with the ingredients in #5, or with grated cheese, eggs, and herbs.  
Put the mixture back in the shell, then fry or grill until cooked.

If any of those sound promising, let me know.  I don't have any of 
them translated, but I could do one or two, especially if you don't 
mind correct-but-sloppy.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 22:51:13 -0500
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: SC - Recipe: Spanish lobster

Here they are.  I snipped a section at the beginning where Granado 
is describing the critters.  Just keep in mind that he regards 
lobsters as a kind of crab, and refers to them accordingly.

Source: Diego Granado, _Libro del arte de Cozina_ (Spanish, 1599)
Translation: Brighid ni Chiarain (Robin Carroll-Mann)

De los Cangrejos, y Langostas
Of crabs and lobsters

[description of sea crabs and lobsters omitted]

The season for lobsters is the same as that for the Lion Crab.  Cook it in 
this manner: take the crabs, and for each one cover the hole in its tail.  
Put it in a vessel in which there is water and salt, or wine, pepper, 
vinegar, and salt.  And if the lobster has eggs, it is necessary that it 
should be well washed, because often they are full of sand, and being 
cooked, remove the shell of the tail, and the legs, and remove from them 
the nerve which they have in the tail, and serve them with pepper, 
vinegar, sweet oil, and salt on top.


Para cozer los sobredichos cangrejos de otra manera
To cook the above mentioned crabs in another manner

Take the flesh from the tail of the abovementioned crabs or lobsters, after 
cooking them in one of the abovementioned ways, cut it into little pieces, 
and make it into a pottage with oil, and herbs, spices, and broth of 
another fish which is not very salty, and some unripe grapes.  You can 
make it in another manner: after cutting the flesh into pieces, fry them in 
oil with chopped onions, adding water, wine, verjuice, and salt, and a 
good amount of spices, and finish cooking them.  At the end, before 
serving them, put some finely cut herbs on them, and serve them hot 
with sweet spices on top.


Para hazer escudilla de los cangrejos, y langostas
To make a dish of the crabs and lobsters

The lobster is always better than the other two kinds of crabs.  Take its 
flesh cooked in wine, or in water, and chop it finely with the knife, then 
fry it in oil, or with cowís butter, and a little broth from another fish, and a 
little verjuice, and raisins, and having boiled it for a quarter of an hour, 
thicken it with egg yolks, as is done with dishes of chopped meat.  In 
place of the eggs, you can put ground almonds, or grated bread, and in 
this manner you can give substance to all the abovementioned pottages.


Para hazer albondiguillas de los sobredichos cangrejos, y langostas
To make meatballs of the abovementioned crabs and lobsters

Take the flesh from the tail and the legs of the said fish, and chop it very 
finely while still raw, and for each pound of flesh, three ounces of the 
flesh of salted eels, without spines, adding common spices, raisins, a 
little sugar, oil or cowís butter, chopped mint, marjoram, and from this 
mixture make meatballs, and cook them, as we said of those made from 
pike.

[excerpt from the recipe for meatballs made from pike: make round little 
balls with your hand, and coat them with the finest flour, and put them in 
a pan in which there is oil or fat*, and cook them with fire below and 
above, turning them, and being dewy**, serve them hot with orange 
juice and sugar on top.]

*the word used is ìmantecaî, which can be either lard or butter.  Granado 
often says ìmanteca de puercoî 
or ìmanteca de vacasî, but here he does not specify.

** the word ìrociadasî means wet with dew, or by extension, sprinkled 
with moisture.  I am not sure how it applies here.


Para hazer la langosta rellena
To make stuffed lobster

Take the lobster, which is better and more tender than the ìAstrizoî 
[variety of crab], and cook it with water, and salt, and remove the flesh 
from the tail, and clean the body leaving the shell whole.  Chop the flesh 
finely, and make a mixture, like that of the meatballs, or if not, with the 
said chopped flesh, grated cheese, eggs, and herbs, and fill the shell with 
this mixture, and if there are two lobsters, put the stuffed shell in the 
empty one, and tie it, and fry it in oil, or cowís butter, and when it is 
cooked, serve it hot on plates with some sauce.  You can also roast it on 
the grill, but having only one lobster, save the belly which you removed 
from the shell, and when the shell is stuffed, with ingenuity put the belly 
in its place, putting a slice of bread on the part in front, and tie it with a 
thread of hemp, in such a way that the mixture cannot come out, and 
roast it on the grill, and serve it, as I have said, having untied the thread.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 15:06:09 -0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: SC - Scallop pie (OOP?)

Greetings all.  I just had to share this recipe with you all.  Mistress 
Margherita made this dish for last cooks guild and it is DELICIOUS.  She 
lists the site where the recipe comes from and it seems as though it could 
very well be peri-oid at least.  She ditched the suggested topping of mashed 
potatoes and used a crust.  This is now on my front line recipe list.
Olwen

>From: Weaver8002 at aol.com
>Lord Hans -
>here's my receipe from the last meeting.
>Margherita
>
>SCALLOP PIE
>
>8 x Large scallops*
>  300 ml Milk
>  2 x Salt and pepper
>  2 T Butter
>  1 T Flour
>  1/2 lb Mushrooms, sliced
>  4 T Med.sweet white wine
>  1 lb Fresh mashed potatoes
>
>* Or 4 scallops and an equal amount of any white fish.  Or more scallops,if
>you like.
>
>Clean the scallops and cut in half, then simmer in the milk for 15 minutes.
>Strain, reserving the liquid.  Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and stir in the
>flour, cook for about a minute, stirring, then add the milk
>gradually,stirring all the time to avoid lumps.  Seasonwith salt and pepper,
>add the sliced mushrooms and simmer for about 10 minuteslonger; then add the
>sherry or wine and finally the scallops.  When hot,transfer to an ovenproof
>dish and cover with mashed potatoes, making sure theycover the fish right
>to the edges.  Dot with the remaining butter and bake in a moderate
>oven,350F, for 20-30 minutes, or until the top is turning brown.
>
>  THE SITE THIS IS FROM IShttp://www.ibmpcug.co.uk/~owls/irishlst.htm
>
>First‚ loose the potatoes.  Use a piecrust instead.
>Added nutmeg.
>300 ML = 1 1/4 CUPS. I use a cup & a half.  I had12 – 15 scallops.


Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 23:57:49 -0400
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Oysters was  NOT OT: genetically  engineereed foods
From: Daniel Myers <doc at medievalcookery.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Wednesday, September 3, 2003, at 11:30 PM, Terry Decker wrote:
> How about oysters?  From Pliny, we know the Romans created oyster beds and
> practiced a form of aquaculture.  So what happened to them after the glory
> faded.  Do we have any recipes from within period?  Do we have any
> references?

Heaps!  How are these for a start ...

  From Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books:

Oystres en grauey. Take gode Mylke_of_Almaundys, an drawe it wyth Wyne
an gode Fysshe brothe, an sette it on the fyre, & let boyle; & caste
ther-to Clowes, Maces, Sugre an powder Gyngere, an a fewe parboylid
Oynonys y-mynsyd; than take fayre Oystrys, & parboyle hem in fayre
Water, & caste hem ther-to, an lete hem boyle to-gederys; & thanne
serue hem forth.

Oystrys in grauy bastard. Take grete Oystrys, an schale hem; an take
the water of the Oystrys, & ale, an brede y-straynid, an the water
also, an put it on a potte, an Gyngere, Sugre, Saffron, powder pepir,
and Salt, an let it boyle wyl; then put yn the Oystrys ther-to, and
dresse it forth.

Oystrys in bruette. Take an schene Oystrys, an kepe the water that
cometh of hem, an strayne it, an put it in a potte, & Ale ther-to, an a
lytil brede ther-to; put Gyngere, Canel, Pouder of Pepir ther-to,
Safroun an Salt; an whan it is y-now al-moste, putte on thin Oystrys:
loke that they ben wyl y-wasshe for the schullys: & than serue forth.

Oystres in grauey. Take almondes, and blanche hem, and grinde hem, and
drawe hem thorg a streynour wit wyne, and with goode fress brot into
gode mylke, and sette hit on the fire and lete boyle; and cast thereto
Maces, clowes, Sugur, pouder of Ginger, and faire parboyled oynons
myced; And then take faire oystres, and parboile hem togidre in faire
water; And then caste hem there-to, And lete hem boyle togidre til they
ben ynowe; and serue hem forth for gode potage.

Oystres in cevey. Take oystres and shell hem and put hem in a vessell,
(and the water that is within the oystres with-all;) And cast therto a
litul wyne, And sette hem over the fire, and parboyle hem; And then
take faire the oystres vppe of the brot, and put hem in a faire potte;
And take the same brot, and drawe hit thorg a streynour, and cast hit
in-to the oystres, And sette hit ouer the fire; And take a litull Of
the same brot ayen; and a litull wyne, and put hit yn a faire vessell,
and put there-to browne crustes and pouder canell, and draw hit thorg a
streynour; and myce oynons small, and fry hem in oyle or in butter, and
caste hem there-to, and sette ouer the fire. And whan the oystres
boyleth, caste the licoure there-to, and ceson hit vppe with pouder of
peper, salt, and a litel saffron, and cast there-to a litul vinegre,
that hit be poynant there-of in the sesenyng and browne also; And serue
hit fort for a gode potage.


  From Forme of Cury:

OYSTERS IN GRAVEY. XX.VI. I. Schyl Oysters and seeth hem in wyne and in
hare own broth. cole the broth thurgh a cloth. take almandes blaunched,
grynde hem and drawe hem up with the self broth. & alye it with flour
of Rys. and do the oysters therinne, cast in powdour of gyngur, sugur,
macys. seeth it not to stondyng and serue forth.

MUSKELS IN BREWET. XX.VI. II. Take muskels, pyke hem, seeth hem with
the owne broth, make a lyour of crustes & vynegur do in oynouns mynced.
& cast the muskels therto & seeth it. & do therto powdour with a lytel
salt & safron the samewise make of oysters.

OYSTERS IN CYNEE. XX.VI. III. Take Oysters parboile hem in her owne
broth, make a lyour of crustes of brede & drawe it up with the broth
and vynegur mynce oynouns & do therto with erbes. & cast the oysters
therinne. boile it. & do therto powdour fort & salt. & messe it forth.

XIV - FOR TO MAKE OYSTRYN IN BRUET. They schul be schallyd and ysod in
clene water grynd peper safroun bred and ale and temper it wyth Broth
do the Oystryn ther'ynne and boyle it and salt it and serve it forth.


  From Liber cure cocorum:

For to make potage of oysturs. Perboyle thyn oysturs and take hom oute.
Kepe welle thy bre with outen doute, And hakke hom on a borde full
smalle, And bray in a morter thou schalle. Do hom in hor owne brothe
for goode, Do mylke of almondes ther to by the rode, And lye hit up
with amydone, And frye smalle mynsud onyone In oyle, or sethe hom in
mylke thou schalle. Do powdur therto of spyces withalle, And coloure
hit thenne with safron gode. Hit is holden restoratyf fode.

Oystere in browet. Take and schole hom and sethe hom in clene water.
Grynde peper and safroun with brede and ale, temper hit Up with the
same brothe, and do the oysters ther in, and Let hit boyle and cast
salt therin and messe hit forthe.

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


Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 17:12:41 EST
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Subject: Re: Not OOP--serving shrimp (was Re: [Sca-cooks] OP: shrimps
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com writes:
<<In C. Anne Wilson's  _Food in Britain_, she talks about shrimp being eaten 
in period and that they were served with vinegar. But that's all that she 
says. How would one go about cooking and serving shrimp, for, say, a 13th 
c. feast? Or would this have been considered low-class and not served?>>

No, there are definitely recipes for shrimps, "lopisters", and similar items 
in period recipe manuscripts.  I know there is at least one in Take a Thousand 
Eggs.  They mostly just seem to be "boil and serve with vinegar".  Quite 
tasty, too - I did some for an intro to medieval food class that I did for local 
Girl Scout leaders.

Brangwayna


Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 08:30:51 EST
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Looking for Crab recipes
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

DeeWolff at aol.com writes:
<<Hi, I have stepped out of kitchener semi-retirement and am looking 
for crab recipes.
I am working on an "Everyman's"menu: specifically on the English Isles
(Cornwall, Ireland, Wales,Scotland, etc)>>

How about Crabbe or Lopster Boiled from Harleian MS 4016 (1450):
      Take a crabbe or a lopster, and stop him in the vente with on of hire
clees, and seth him in water, and no salt; or else stoppe him in the same maner,
and cast him in an oven, and bake him, and serve him forth cold.  And his
sauce is vinegre.

Can't get much simpler than that, although I don't quite get the "stop him in
the vent with one of her claws" instruction, and Cindy Renfrow doesn't list
that one in her phrase glossary at the back of Take a Thousand Eggs.

There's also, Vyaunde de cyprys in lente, from Harleain MS 279 (1430):
      Take good thikke mylke of Almaundys, do it on a potte; & nyme the
F(le)ysshe of gode Crabbys, and gode Samoun, & bray it smal, and tempere yt uppe
with the forsayd mylke; boyle it, and lye it with floure of Rys or Amyndoun, an
make it chargeaunt; when it ys y-boylid, do ther-to whyte Sugre, a gode
quantyte of whyte Vernage Pime3 with the wyne, Pome-garnade.  Whan it 
is y-dressyd, straw a-bove the grayne of Pome-garnade

Bit more involved, and more expensive as it involves both salmon and
pomegranites as well as the crab.

<<I especially need recipes with stretchers (pie/cakes) as to not 
destroy the budget (I also have pork and lamb on the menu)>>

Hmmm.  I find bean recipes to be great stretchers myself, as they are 
Cheap and a bag of dried beans makes a LOT of cooked food.

Brangwayna


Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 10:11:05 -0500
From: "Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Looking for Crab recipes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Also sprach DeeWolff at aol.com:
> In the Wedding Banquet Of HenryIV and Joan of Navarre (1404), there is a
> listing of "Crabbe au Creueys" in the fish courses. Does anyone know in what 
> manner these crabs are made ?
>
> Andrea

I would not be surprised to find that those are ecrevisses, or
crayfish. Probably boiled and served with vinegar...

Adamantius


Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 10:43:44 -0500
From: "Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Looking for Crab recipes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Also sprach DeeWolff at aol.com:
> So, Am I right in discovering that there a few crab recipes available 
> in period (2 that I know of)??
>
> Have we no crab cakes or in a coffin, or with rice?? I was hoping to do
> something other than the familiar...
>
> Andrea

There don't seem to be too many of them. You've got the Harleian MS
recipe (which basically says to boil them and serve with vinegar),
and one or two others, essentially identical. Then you've got the
dressed crab in the Proper Neue (or is it Neue Proper?) Boke of
Cokery, which involves picking the meat out of the shell, seasoning
it with vinegar, and maybe some butter (I forget, offhand), and
packing it back into the shell.

Chiquart has a stuffed crayfish tail which calls for the chopped,
cooked meat to be seasoned (vinegar?) and chopped parsley added,
stuffed back into two of the tail shells, like a sandwich, and fried
in oil. I'd be a little concerned about the lack of any binder to the
stuffing. Maybe you have to tie the shells together.

You said you were looking for something to bulk out the crab. I
think, if I were you, I'd do a blomanger of fish and just use
crabmeat, maybe garnishing with a smaller percentage of crab shells
so people know what they're getting into (Hint:
PRE...COOK..THE...RICE...!!!).

Are you thinking of doing blue crabs on the hoof, as it were, or just
getting hold of processed crabmeat?

Adamantius


Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 10:21:02 -0500
From: Daniel Myers <edouard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Looking for Crab recipes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Monday, January 12, 2004, at 10:08  AM, Olwen the Odd wrote:
>> How about this one?
>>
>> "Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books",  HARLEIAN MS. 279 (ab. 1430),
>> & HARL. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450)
>>
>> Vyaunde de cyprys in lente. Take gode thikke Mylke of Almaundys, & do
>> it on a potte; & nyme the Fleysshe of gode Crabbys, & gode Samoun, &
>> bray it smal, & tempere yt vppe with the forsayd mylke; boyle it, an
>> lye it with floure of Rys or Amyndoun, an make it chargeaunt; when it
>> ys y-boylid, do ther-to whyte Sugre, a gode quantyte of whyte Vernage
>> Pime with the wyne, Pome-garnade. Whan it is y-dressyd, straw a-boue
>> the grayne of Pome-garnade.
>
> This sounds good!  I am unclear about what the word "chargeaunt"
> means.  Anyone know?

"Chargeaunt" means thick, as compared to "Stonding" which shows up in
similar context and which I interpret to mean "like mostly set plaster".

- Doc
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
   Edouard Halidai  (Daniel Myers)


Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 22:45:44 -0700
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at jeffnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Frog legs
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> So, how is this coming along? I assume you haven't done this feast yet.
> Are you really going to serve frog legs at a feast? Aren't they rather
> expensive? They seem to be in restaurants. Or are you combining this with
> a children's activity and sending the kids down to the creek with nets?

Stranger things have happened, Stefan. There used to be a small Summits
event held at a site that was on one of the feeder creeks of the Umpqua
river. In the morning, someone would march down to the creek with the kids,
a couple of crawdad traps, and a little bait (not the kids!). Throw the
traps in, go watch the tourney. In the late afternoon, go back down, all of
the kids in tow, get the traps, and haul them in. They'd be put on to boil
while people were bringing their feast gear in, etc. I remember one year
they had fresh bread baked on the hearth of the fireplace (large open
shelter), fresh butter (most of the churning done by my oldest daughter),
assorted and sundry potluck contributions, and fresh crawfish. Oh man, it
was good! With the possible exception for my son, who had helped catch the
crawfish, and suddenly freaked out when faced with eating one! (Stephen was
about 5 at the time, so he can be forgiven! ;-)

'Lainie


Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:34:20 -0800
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Intro from new person and my first quest for
	the perfect recipe...
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> Back to my current dilemma of King Crab legs... how do i serve them if
> i want to prepare them period? Is there any dishes for shell fish or
> any other rich seafood that I can incorporate them?

Le Menagier has some lobster (or crayfish) recipes:

LOBSTER [or crayfish, same word (JH)] SOUP.  Put your lobsters on to
boil, and when they are boiled, let them be shelled as if they were
to be eaten, and remove the bad parts, then have almonds peeled and
ground, mixed with pea water passed through the sieve, and browned
bread or breadcrumbs moistened in pea water, ground and sieved, then
have ginger, cinnamon, grain and clove: grind and put all in a pot,
with a little vinegar and boil together, then pour into bowls, and in
each bowl should be put the lobsters fried in oil and other fried
fish.

Meat Tiles. Take cooked freshwater crayfish (also means
lobsters:trans.), and remove the meat from the tails: and the
surplus, that is to say the shells and body, grind for a very long
time; and after that, have unpeeled almonds, and let them be cleaned
and washed in hot water like peas, and with their skins let them be
ground up with what I have said, and with this grind bread crumbs
browned on the grill. Now you must have, cooked in water, in wine and
in salt, capons, chicks and hens cut raw into quarters, or veal cut
into pieces, and with the liquid from this cooking you must moisten
and mix that which you have ground up, then put through the sieve:
then ginger, cinnamon, clove and long pepper moistened with verjuice
without vinegar, then boil it all together.  Now your meat must be
cooked in pig fat in pieces or quarters, and arrange your meat in the
bowls and put the broth over it, and on the broth, in each bowl, four
or five lobster (or crayfish) tails and sugar sprinkled over them.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com


Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:29:45 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Crab recipe was Intro from new person and my
	first quest for the perfect recipe...
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

//To dresse a Crabe. Fyrste take awaye all the legges and the heades,
and then take all the fysh out of the shelle, and make the shell as
cleane as ye canne, and putte the meate into a dysche, and butter it
uppon a chafyng dysche of coles and putte therto synamon and suger and a
lytle vyneger, and when ye haue chafed it and seasoned it, then putte
the meate in the shelle agayne and bruse the heades, and set them upon
the dysche syde and serue it.

This can be found at
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/thomas.gloning/tx/bookecok.htm
The book that it is from is a favorite of mine. A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye
was first published in 1545. This is from the undated (circa 1557)  
edition.

I am not sure about trying to restuff all 10 pounds of the crab back
into the legs of the king crab, but maybe one or two could be done.

Johnnae llyn Lewis


Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 09:28:53 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Crab recipe was Intro from new person and my
	first quest for the perfect recipe...
To: grizly at mindspring.com, Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I wasn't sure about restuffing legs that had been frozen either.
But certainly the bodies would make great containers.
This jogged my memory as to where I had seen pictures of crab being
done. http://www.historicfood.com/Farced%20crab.htm
Ivan of course has Farced Crab up on his website. It's from Robert May.

Johnnae

-----Original Message-----
> <<<<//To dresse a Crabe. Fyrste take awaye all the legges and the heades,
> and then take all the fysh out of the shelle, and make the shell as
> cleane as ye canne, and putte the meate into a dysche, and butter it
> uppon a chafyng dysche of coles and putte therto synamon and suger and a
> lytle vyneger, and when ye haue chafed it and seasoned it, then putte
> the meate in the shelle agayne and bruse the heades, and set them upon
> the dysche syde and serue it.snipped
> I am not sure about trying to restuff all 10 pounds of the crab back
> into the legs of the king crab, but maybe one or two could be done.  Johnnae
> ****
> If you could find a King Crab back shell, this could be a really spectacular
> presentation.  Cleaned really well, it would make a decent sized serving
> dish/platter for the crab dyshe above.  Prolly need more than one  
> for the 10 pound cluster of legs if you use them all.
>
> niccolo difrancesco


Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:48:40 -0700
From: edoard at medievalcookery.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

-------- Original Message --------
From: Stefan li Rous 

<<< A quick search in the Florilegium does turn up a number of period  
recipes for scallops, but at the price of scallops I'm not sure I'd  
do the ones that have you mincing or grinding up the scallops. Might  
as well use a cheaper fish for that.

I wonder if scallops are another of those foods, like lobster, which  
have done a flip-flop from being poor people's food to being  
expensive delicacies for the more well off. >>>

It's hard to tell if it's a case of a change in preferences, or if they
lumped scallops in with other shellfish, or if they just didn't have
many ways of preparing scallops.

The cookbook search yields 3 period "recipes" for scallops out of 25
cookbooks.  Not much.  Interestingly enough, they're all French.

Scallops in gravy or cooked in water, with pepper and ginger.
[Enseignements]

SCALLOPS. Note that scallops which are heaped up and hold together in a
pile without scattering or leaving, and are red and of lively colour,
are fresh: and those which do not hold together and are separate and of
dull or dead colour, are from an old catch. Pick them out, then wash
thoroughly in two or three good hot waters, and then do it again in cold
water, then dry on a towel briefly at the fire, and fry in oil with
cooked onions, and then sprinkle with spices and eat with almost clear
leaves, wheat sprouts or sorrel sprouts or leaves of (all-heal?,
sainfoin?) or (wild chicory?, barberry?).
[Le Menagier de Paris]

Scallops. Pick them over well, scald and wash them, brown them in oil
with chopped onions and Spice Powder, and eat them with good White
Garlic [Sauce].
[Le Viandier de Taillevent]

Hmmm... I think I'll try that last one.

- Doc


Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:07:07 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I took a quick look for English recipes.
Most references in EEBO-TCP were to armoury and badges of office or to 
the badges of St. James of Compostella pilgrims.
Ashmole notes that the French Knights of the Order of St. Michael wore
them as in "having its Cape embroidered with Gold, and the border of the 
Robe interwoven with Scallops of Gold..."
Also scallops of lace are mentioned.
(Several mentions of scallops being listed among the shellfish to be
found in North America.)

Checked Florio's A vvorlde of wordes, 1598
where it reads:

    * Cappe, clokes, spanish clokes, or capes, all manner of shell-fish,
      as oysters, cockles, muscles, or scallops.
    * Cappelong?e, a kinde of long skallops or cockles.

      Testac?i animali,
    * all manner of hard shell fishes as oysters and scallops.

Randle Holme in The academy of armory includes them under heraldry but
also lists them under Bills of Fare
where they appear in a second course.
Other Bills of Fare for every Season in the Year, also how to set forth
Meat in Order accordingly.

12. Sturgeon, Collar of Beef, Turbut, Pickled Puffins, Scallops,
Cockles, Muscles, Sprawns, Shrimps, Crabs, Tortoise, Crawfish, Snails.
He also includes this mention for balts--

Balts, those to fry are compounded ,..... old Cheese, Sugar Currans,
made into paste: .... little Pasties, Toasts, Scallops and such like,
are made for Garnishing: see Ransoles.
Those are later defined as:
Ransoles, are kind of small Balls rolled up in fine Past made of these
compositions, Beet leaves beaten, Sweetbreads minced, Marrow, Herbs,
Raisins, Dates, Naple Bisket grated and made in a paste.

MED lists them under *scalop but the quotations listed are for the
device or design and not as food.*

OED list quotes as early as 14th century.

    * *C. 1440* /Promp. Parv./ 442/2 Scalop, fysche [/Winch. MS/. Scalap].
    * *1530* Palsgr. 265/2 Scaloppe a fysshe.
    * *1601* Holland /Pliny/ xi. li. I. 353 The great Scallops make a
      certaine noise as they shoot out of the water.

Ok here is a quote from a cookery book--
*1661* Rabisha /Cookery Dissected/ 125 First boyl your Scollups, then
take them out of the shells and wash them.

So there should be recipes in Rabisha.I looked but Rabish is not indexed
so it's not a quick look. (My edition is not the same as the one used by 
OED either.)
On the whole I suspect that they were included in recipes under the 
general term of shellfish and the like. The French with more access
to the famous scallops of Normandy might have developed more recipes.
One source I came across asserted that "France is by far the largest 
European outlet for scallops with over 100,000t consumed per year..."
so they remain as a major source there.

Johnnae


Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:49:19 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Oct 3, 2008, at 1:07 PM, Johnna Holloway wrote:

<<< I took a quick look for English recipes.
Most references in EEBO-TCP were to armoury and badges of office or  
to the badges of St. James of Compostella pilgrims.
Ashmole notes that the French Knights of the Order of St. Michael wore
them as in "having its Cape embroidered with Gold, and the border of  
the Robe interwoven with Scallops of Gold..."
Also scallops of lace are mentioned.
(Several mentions of scallops being listed among the shellfish to be
found in North America.) >>>

At the risk of overstating the obvious, it might be worth noting that  
in most of the US, what we actually are getting is the sliced or whole  
adductor muscle that has been carefully removed from the shellfish we  
know as the scallop. The entire beastie is edible, except for the  
shell, and the period recipes are presumably speaking of the whole  
animal, as are many recipes from outside the US...

Adamantius (who likes 'em seared with just a little Kosher salt in an  
almost-red-hot iron skillet)


Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2008 21:24:26 +0200
From: " Ana Vald?s " <agora158 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: ahrenshav at yahoo.com, "Cooks within the SCA"
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I have eaten the scallops in Santiago de Compostela, the place most related
to the scallops, the "shells" given to the pilgrims as a proof of their
pilgrimage. (I was a fake pilgrim, flew to Santiago as a part of an
International writer's crew). They are called "vieyras" and they are eaten
very simply, five minutes in the pan, a bit of parsley and a lot of butter and
garlic. And salt and peppar of course :)

Delicious!

Ana


Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2008 17:50:05 -0500
From: "Daniel & Elizabeth Phelps" <dephelps at embarqmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

If I might suggest a book, see if you can find "the Scallop, Studies of a 
shell and its influences on humankind."  Published in London by the Shell 
Transport and Trading Company 1957.  Eight Authors.  The chapters are Shell: 
a Word's Pedigree, The Living Scollop, A Symbol of Ancient Times, The Badge 
of St. James, The Cradle of Venus, Escollops in Armory, An Excursion into 
the Americas and The Scollop at the Table.

Daniel 


Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2008 18:10:36 -0400
From: "tudorpot at gmail.com" <tudorpot at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Oct 3, 2008, at 11:07 AM, S CLEMENGER wrote:
<<< I make scallops occasionally, but they're really expensive, this  
far inland. >>>

I have been surprised to find scallops and other seafood quite cheap  
at the Asian grocery stores in Toronto. If you have a large Asian  
community you might find a similar store with great ingredients.

Freda


Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2008 01:22:54 +0000 (GMT)
From: emilio szabo <emilio_szabo at yahoo.it>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Two recipes from Marx Rumpolt (may some kind soul translate them):

Von grossen Muscheln. 
Nimb die Muschel/wasch sie sauber au?/vnnd leg sie auff ein Ro?t/ 
vnnd brat sie/richt sie fein zu wie Austern/oder setz sie auff in 
Wasser/vnd gibs trucken auff ein Tisch mit Pfeffer 
vnd mit Saltz/oder mit saurer 
Dotterbrueh. 


Von kleinen schwartzen Muscheln. 
Setz sie auff in Wasser/vnd la? ein Sudt auffthun/so thun 
sie sich selber auff/wenn du sie wilt anrichten/so thu sie mit 
einem Faumloeffel herau?/richt sie in die Schuessel an/geu? 
ein saure Brueh/die mit Eyerdottern/Essig/frischer Butter/ 
vnd gruenen Kraeutern gemacht ist/darueber/so werden sie gut 
vnd wolgeschmack. 

I wonder, if all those beautiful 16th century fishbooks include culinary aspects:

The fishbook of Pierre Belon (1553) is online at:
http://imgbase-scd-ulp.u-strasbg.fr/displayimage.php?album=17&pos=1

Scallops are mentioned here, e.g.:
http://imgbase-scd-ulp.u-strasbg.fr/displayimage.php?album=17&pos=429

Then, there is Aldrovandi, in a late 1613 edition:
http://imgbase-scd-ulp.u-strasbg.fr/displayimage.php?album=265&pos=0

There is also Gesner:
http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?PPN479894493

The chapter on scallops:
http://gdz-srv1.sub.uni-goettingen.de/content/PPN479894493/800/0/00000282.jpg

Are there other early fishbooks online?

ES


Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2008 20:42:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Cat ." <tgrcat2001 at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Subject:  scallops
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

HI, Gwen Cat here, in her guise as Rumpolt pusher/generic kind soul.

<<< Von grossen Muscheln. 
Nimb die Muschel/wasch sie sauber au?/vnnd leg sie auff ein Ro?t/ 
vnnd brat sie/richt sie fein zu wie Austern/oder setz sie auff in 
Wasser/vnd gibs trucken auff ein Tisch mit Pfeffer 
vnd mit Saltz/oder mit saurer Dotterbrueh. >>>

Of large shells (shellfish maybe scallops)
take the shells/ wash them out clean/ and lay them on a rack
and roast them/ prepare them nicely like oysters, or set them to in
water/ and give (them) dry onto the table with pepper 
and with salt/ or with sour
yolkbroth

<<< Von kleinen schwartzen Muscheln. 
Setz sie auff in Wasser/vnd la? ein Sudt auffthun/so thun 
sie sich selber auff/wenn du sie wilt anrichten/so thu sie mit 
einem Faumloeffel herau?/richt sie in die Schuessel an/geu?
ein saure Brueh/die mit Eyerdottern/Essig/frischer Butter/ 
vnd gruenen Kraeutern gemacht ist/darueber/so werden sie gut 
vnd wolgeschmack. >>>

Of small black shells (I would guess mussles here)
Set them to in water/ and let them come to a boil/ so they 
open themselves up/ when you wish to prepare them/ so put (take) them
with a slotted spoon (I think) out/ put them in a bowl/ pour
a sour broth/ that is with eggyolks/ vinegar/ fresh butter/ 
and green herbs made/ thereover/ so they become good
and welltasting

Rough, on the fly, on my way to bed after 2 hours of making pawprint steppingstones out of concrete.

Purrrr
Catrin von Berlin called Gwen Cat
Scola Metallorum and Caerthe, Outlands


Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2008 11:03:20 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

-----Original Message-----
I know we are lucky out here in the PNW to have access to Seafood at
a much lower cost and fresher quality but it worth asking your Fish
Monger about getting in Fresh or Fresh Frozen Scallops with out the
chemical they soak them in.
The texture and taste are totally different.
Especially when searing them as the natural sugar of the scallop
comes out and caramelizes to a delicious sweet goodness. > > > > > > >

And the mositure released from the wet packed scallops will defeat the sear,
causing me to wayyyy overcook to get even a light crusting.

niccolo difrancesco


Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 07:50:23 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Apr 19, 2009, at 3:16 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 8:44 PM, S CLEMENGER <sclemenger at msn.com>  
wrote:

Should those be "wet" scallops, or dry ones? Or does it matter?
--Maire >>>

What are "dry" scallops? Are these actually dried scallop pieces  
which you have to rehydrate before using? Or are these actually  
something else, like the fake crabmeat?
==========

For US marketing, scallops are generally processed on board ship, and  
the only part that makes it to shore and your fish market, supermarket  
or local restaurant are the trimmed adductor muscle of a much larger  
and more complex shellfish. In most of the civilized world, as these  
things are measured, this is not the case.

Frequently, the scallop meat is treated with some chemical (exactly  
what escapes me) that causes them to absorb water, which allegedly  
keeps them fresh longer, improves their flavor and texture, and  
generally fights the good fight. Allegedly. In reality what it does is  
increase the weight of an item sold by the pound at the expense of  
flavor and texture. Such scallops are known as wet-packed or wet  
scallops. For some applications, such as sauteing and grilling, where  
the uncoated scallop is expected to brown, it's a lot more difficult  
to do this without overcooking it, because the scallop keeps leaking  
moisture all over the pan or grill, creating a blanket of steam and  
preventing the sweet meat from really touching the hot surface properly.

AFAIK, all frozen scallops are wet-packed. However, aficionados of  
fresh scallops prefer dry-packed scallops. They don't keep as well,  
and are sometimes a bit smaller, but of course it's nice to know when  
your fish is going bad, they taste better when fresh, and they respond  
better to those certain types of cooking.

<<< The only ones I remember seeing were frozen or fresh in plastic  
wrapped trays. Usually I see larger ones, inch and a half in  
diameter? which are sea scallops and smaller, cheaper ones about an  
inch in diameter called "bay scallops". >>>

Under the right circumstances, the best bay scallops, while generally  
smaller, are neither cheaper nor of any lesser quality (in fact the  
contrary) than sea scallops. Probably my first exposure to dry-packed  
scallops was on my ill-fated single day working at the Grand Central  
Oyster Bar, when the executive chef handed me a pan with a few sauteed  
bay scallops left in it after filling a plate, and said, "Here, taste  
that." I did, and asked why he had added so much honey to them, and if  
it was to facilitate browning. He said he had added salt and clarified  
butter; that's just what scallops taste like.

Adamantius


Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:54:43 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

<<< The only ones I remember seeing were frozen or fresh in plastic  wrapped 
trays. Usually I see larger ones, inch and a half in  diameter? which are 
sea scallops and smaller, cheaper ones about an  inch in diameter called 
"bay scallops".

Stefan >>>

It the "bay scallops" you saw were cheaper than the large scallops, then 
they were probably fakes punched out of the larger Atlantic scallops.  A 
true Bay scallop, Argopecten irridians, is a small scallop that grows in 
protected waters primarily along the Altantic coast and off shore islands. 
The species is in general decline, probably due to a decline in eel grass, 
and the US harvest has been strictly controlled for decades, thus the real 
Bay scallop is expensive.  It also has superior texture and a sweet flavor 
that make it worth the price.

Bear 


Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:42:13 +0200
From: Ana Vald?s <agora158 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I buy often scallops imported from the US or from Spain/France. The scallops
are from Galicia and they are called "vieyras" in Galician. In France they
are called "coquilles St Jacques", because the shell was given to the
pilgrims going to Santiago de Compostela in the Middle Ages, to pray at the
shrine of the apostle Jacob, who the legend says arrive to Galicia in a
raft, several hundred of years after he died in Judea.

It's very seldom they are sold fresh here. A cook gave me a good hint, when
you defreeze them put them over a piece of tissue or a sponge or thick paper,
to dry them out. In that way they lose their water before they hit the pan.

Ana
-- 
http://anavaldes.wordpress.com
http://passagenwerk.wordpress.com
http://caravia.stumbleupon.com
http://www.crusading.se
Gondolgatan 2 l tr
12832 Skarpn?ck
Sweden
tel +468-943288
mobil 4670-3213370


Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:44:43 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Apr 19, 2009, at 4:19 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
<<< Ohhhh!  Thank you. Once again, I asked what I thought was likely to  
be a simple, even a "why'd he ask that" kinda question, and learned  
a whole lot more.

Among other things this is a reminder that people outside the US may  
see things differently, because what they see is different. So for  
those outside the US, what do the scallops sold where you are look  
like? Are they not whitish, round disks of seafood flesh without  
really any markings or external texture? >>>

Well, if you look closely enough at those unmarked white disks, you'll  
actually see different shades from ivory to yellow to pinkish, and  
usually at least two distinct muscle structures (the main adductor  
muscle and the tougher "strap").

But in most countries outside the US (even though I don't live in any  
of them), I gather scallops come whole, either alive in the shell, or  
on ice on the half shell, but otherwise more or less anatomically  
correct. Like oysters, scallops have a flat shell on one side and a  
concave/convex half on the other side, so it behooves the fish market  
to conserve juices by storing it flat-side up, so that's the shell  
they normally remove, if they're doing it that way.

Where I live, they can be gotten in completely shelled form, on the  
hoof, as it were, and in opened shells. I don't often see them  
specifically advertised as dry-pack, but if they're in the shell, they  
probably are, and if alive, definitely.

<<< I guess I'm going to have to look closer at the scallops, even if I  
don't buy them, and see if I can find some of these "dry-packed"  
ones. I'm not sure how I would know which were packed how, since  
they are both likely to be in the plastic wrapped foam trays with  
the plastic warp. I assume both need to be frozen or refrigerated,  
so they will be in the refrigerator/freezer cases. >>>

Ideally, they'll be on a bed of ice, which keeps them colder than your  
fridge, or the market's, but not cold enough for ice crystals to form.  
If they're frozen, they are probably what is called IQF, which stands  
for Individually Quick Frozen, which involves dipping the beastie in  
an ultra-cold but agitated, not-quite-frozen-yet water bath, which  
freezes onto the surface, forming a protective glaze of ice before the  
actual piece of seafood freezes. It's done a lot with shrimp, too.

<<< Yes, "cheaper" doesn't equate to "cheap". I'll have to put them, and  
Huette's recipe on my "when I get a job" list. At Sam's they've been  
about $8/pound to $11/pound, bay to ocean, I think. That is with  
almost no waste, unlike say crawfish. >>>

Apart from the dread water weight loss, that is, and that can be  
significant, which is just one of the several reasons for throwing a  
fit about the wet-packed scallops. And, of course, another is that the  
liquid lost is a lot of the sugars that contribute to the flavor of  
the scallop, and also its capacity for browning.

<<< The few I've had I did consider rather bland, like most shrimp. >>>

Good, fresh scallops can appear almost shockingly sweet -- at least as  
much so as real, fresh lobster, say -- to one not used to them. I  
doubt it would be a problem for you or anyone else with sugar issues,  
but they do contain something like .7 grams of carbohydrates per  
ounce. As I said, I remember getting exceptionally fresh bay scallops  
at the Grand Central Oyster Bar, which is, as the name implies, an  
oyster bar and restaurant in New York's Grand Central Station (one  
whose cooking is just okay, nothing great, but whose seafood buyer is  
enough of a genius to regularly turn down job offers in the six  
figures to work for large Tokyo sushi chains) and thinking they were  
coated with honey. I wasn't kidding.

Adamantius


Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:12:46 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Here's a recipe from Le Menagier for them. Just in case anyone
wanted a medieval dish for them.
This is an excerpt from *Le Menagier de Paris*

(France, 1393 - Janet Hinson, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website 
<http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Menagier/Menagier.html>

SCALLOPS. Note that scallops which are heaped up and hold together in a 
pile without scattering or leaving, and are red and of lively colour, 
are fresh: and those which do not hold together and are separate and of 
dull or dead colour, are from an old catch. Pick them out, then wash 
thoroughly in two or three good hot waters, and then do it again in cold 
water, then dry on a towel briefly at the fire, and fry in oil with 
cooked onions, and then sprinkle with spices and eat with almost clear 
leaves, wheat sprouts or sorrel sprouts or leaves of (all-heal?, 
sainfoin?) or (wild chicory?, barberry?).

 *Le Viandier de Taillevent pretty much calls for the same.*
(France, ca. 1380 - James Prescott, trans.)
The original source can be found at James Prescott's website 
<http://www.telusplanet.net/public/prescotj/data/viandier/viandier1.html>

Scallops. Pick them over well, scald and wash them, brown them in oil 
with chopped onions and Spice Powder, and eat them with good White 
Garlic [Sauce].

/*Enseignements qui enseingnent a apareillier toutes manieres de viandes 
simply lists them as:
*/Scallops in gravy or cooked in water, with pepper and ginger.
Thanks to Doc for the indexing at medievalcookery.com that makes this so 
easy.

Johnnae


Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:00:24 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I suspect that the association of scallops and other shellfish with 
onions goes back a long way.
Here's a passage from 1562 that urges "muskels" and oysters be eaten in 
such a way. Scallopes are dismissed as being hard to digest as according to Galen, however.

"As for Lympetes, Cockels, Scallopes, as Galen sayth, they be hard of 
digestion. Muskels, and Oysters, would be wel boyled, rosted, or baked 
With Onions, wyne, Butter, Suger, Ginger, & Peper, or els they be wyndy, 
& Flegmatike:? 
<https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eebo;cc=eebo;q1=scallop%2A;op2=and;op3=and;rgn=div1;view=trgt;lvl=1;idno=A17156.0001.001;id=DLPS990;note=inline> 
cholorike stomackes may wel digest raw Oysters, but they haue cast manye 
one away, yet raw Oysters wil clense the raynes. Page 79
Bullein, William, d. 1576. Bulleins bulwarke of defence against all 
sicknesse 1562

Likewise the waters off Virginia have long been noted as a rich source 
of seafood.

By 1602 it was being reported

"Lobstars. Crabbes. Muscles. Wilks. Cockles. Scallops. Oisters." could 
be found in coastal waters of Virginia.

This from A briefe and true relation of the discouerie of the north part 
of Virginia being a most pleasant, fruitfull and commodious soile: made 
this present yeere 1602, by Captaine Bartholomew Gosnold. By Brereton, 
John, 1572-ca. 1619., Hayes, Edward, fl. 1602. published 1602

Johnnae
-----------------------
Interesting...both are fried with onions and some sort of spices.  The first 
recipe--I wonder if the "clear leaves" (whatever those are) or the wheat 
sprouts would have the same sort of tart flavor the sorrel would.  And a 
good garlic sauce (from the 2nd recipe) would be lovely....
Might have to try this....mmmmm.....seafood, nom, nom, nom......
--Maire
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Johnna 
*Le Viandier de Taillevent pretty much calls for the same.* > 
Scallops. Pick them over well, scald and wash them, brown them in oil
with chopped onions and Spice Powder, and eat them with good White
Garlic [Sauce].


Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:32:03 -0400
From: Audrey Bergeron-Morin <audreybmorin at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

<<< are from Galicia and they are called "vieyras" in Galician. In France they
are called "coquilles St Jacques", because the shell was given to the >>>

Coquilles St-Jacques and p?toncles are not the same animal, or at
least, are different cousins in the same mollusk family. Might be
cooked the same way, though, so the difference might be minimal in
reality.


Date: Tue, 5 May 2009 22:09:21 +0200
From: "Susanne Mayer" <susanne.mayer5 at chello.at>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] scallops
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Just to answer the various posts from Stefan, Adamantius and others:

Here in Austria you get them fresh in their shells.  Most of them still with 
the red corail (roe sack of the scallop) attached.
If they are not in the shells, you get them usually without the red corail. 
Just the white round part of muscle meat. In German they are also called 
Jakobsmuscheln (as they where given to Pilgrims going to Santiago de 
Compostela to St. Jacob's  shrine and we did find the empty shells on the 
beach in spain).

I prefer them in the shell, baked in an oven with butter mixed with herbs 
(lemon thyme, parsley,...) and breadcrumbs packed on top of the meat and a 
bowl of salad and some baguette.
I certainly will test the recipe from huette it does look really 
mouthwatering.

Regars Katharina
Drachenwald
Austria, Ad Flumen Caerulum


Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:51:45 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Seafood, was Re: Seljuk/Rumi/Sufi Cuisine

On Apr 29, 2010, at 12:32 PM, Elaine Koogler wrote:
<<< PS:  any clues as to how to clean mussels?  I need to trial cook a recipe
for a friend and it calls for mussels which I've never dealt with before.
Would I be ok using the frozen variety that are already cleaned?? >>>

Place live mussels in cold water to cover with about 1/3 cup Kosher or sea salt per gallon of water, leave to sit and purge (basically whatever they've eaten recently) for about 1/2 - 1 hour.

Scrub with a stiff brush as needed, removing anything stuck to the shells that you expect would otherwise come off during cooking. Barnacles or something, no, mud and sand, yes.

Pull off black seaweed-ey-looking siphon threads, a.k.a. the beard. They extend inside the shell; remove just before cooking by slowly pulling until they tear off. Don't cut them and leave the roots inside the shell. Cook immediately after removing beard.

Adamantius


Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:11:42 -0400
From: Audrey Bergeron-Morin <audreybmorin at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Seafood, was Re: Seljuk/Rumi/Sufi Cuisine

<<< For fresh, in the shell, mussels you need to make sure they are clean - put
them in clean cool water to let them get the sand out themselves. ?You'll
also need to remove the beard (that dark wire-y stuff that hangs off of
them) and brush them. >>>

If they're freshwater, you can do it this way (are fresh water mussels
eaten at all?). If they're saltwater, make sure to put a good amount
of salt in the water, otherwise they'll probably just stay shut and
won't get much cleaner than they were before you put them in water.


Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 07:30:16 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Soft Shell Crab

On May 10, 2010, at 4:44 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
<<< Has anyone spent any time looking through period crab recipes? >>>

There are a few crab recipes in medievalcookery.com.
Here's an assortment.
This is an excerpt from Gentyll manly Cokere (MS Pepys 1047)
(England, ca. 1500)
The original source can be found at James L. Matterer's website

To dyght A crabe. Take owte all yn the Crabe and lay hit yn a lityll  
vyneAgyr take And put A litell rede Wyne ther to and streyne all  
throwgh A streynner take pouder of gynger synamome and sugure and  
menge hem all togeder And put hym yn the shell And set hit on the fyre  
tyll he boyll and when hit ys boyled take hit of and cast pouder of  
synamome and sugure A pon and serue hit furth.

This is an excerpt from A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)
The original source can be found at MedievalCookery.com

To dight crabe or lopster tak crabe or lopster and stop hym at the  
vent with one of the litille clees and sethe hym in clene water or els  
stop hym in the same manner and cast hym in an ovene and let hym bak  
and serue it with venygar.

This is an excerpt from Ouverture de Cuisine
(France, 1604 - Daniel Myers, trans.)
The original source can be found at MedievalCookery.com

Stuffed Lobster or Crab. Take lobster or crab, & make them boil like  
little lobsters, then take all the meat out, without breaking at all  
the shells thereon, then chop all the meat, & put therein chopped  
marjoram, nutmeg & pepper, three or four egg yolks, & fry all in  
butter, & put them back into the shell thereon, & all the little legs  
fried in butter, & put together.

This is an excerpt from Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books
(England, 1430)
The original source can be found at the University of Michigan's  
"Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse"

Crabbe or Lopster boiled. Take a crabbe or a lopster, and stop him in  
the vente with on of hire clees, and seth him in water, and no salt;  
or elles stoppe him in the same maner, and cast him in an oven, and  
bake him, and serue him forth colde. And his sauce is vinegre.

Johnnae


Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 08:39:08 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Soft Shell Crab

On May 10, 2010, at 4:44 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
<<< Were soft shell crabs known and eaten that way in period? >>>

I haven't seen any reference to soft-shelled crabs in Europe. I suspect it's a matter of different water, different species, and different habits. I expect that European crabs do molt and spend some time in a soft-shelled state, but I'm not aware of, nor is there any special reason to believe, that they make themselves as easily catchable as their Western Atlantic counterparts. They may be migratory and molt once a year or something, and be inaccessible at that time. Not sure, but not only have I seen no evidence for the availability, or even knowledge of, soft-shelled crabs in the period European sources, I'm not aware of any modern European lore regarding them, other than something yummy you eat when in America. That's pretty telling, I suspect.

<<< I assume crabs molt the same way and probably at a similar time in Europe as well as North America. >>>

Not necessarily a safe assumption. The default classic European crab, unqualified by species name, is the French torteau, and more closely resembles a Dungeness crab of the American Pacific Coast, than a Western Atlantic blue crab. European crabs tend to be larger and rounder in shape. I have no idea if their molting habits are consistent with any increased ability to et at them in that state; nor, for that matter, is there any really compelling reason to think that such a large crab's version of a soft shell is as soft as the smallish blue crab.

That said, just as there are eighteenth-century recipes calling for a three-foot-long lobster, it may be that overfishing has driven down the size of a lot of these animals,  and maybe Chesapeake soft-shelled crabs were much larger a couple hundred years ago -- so who knows, right?

<<< A history of crab fishing in North America might also refer back to it being done in Europe.

What about crab cakes? >>>

I STR Chiquart has a recipe for fried, stuffed crayfish tails (chopped, seasoned, stuffed back into the tail shells and fried, open side down, IIRC). That's probably the  closest to a crab cake that I have seen. For actual crab dishes, I think there's a 17th century English presentation of crabmeat seasoned with butter and vinegar, and packed back into the shell for serving, but I don't think it's fried or otherwise recooked in a solid mass.

Adamantius


Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:35:57 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Medieval or Renaissance Crab Recipes

On Jul 25, 2010, at 4:28 PM, David Walddon wrote:
<<< I won 20 pounds of crab in an auction and I am going to cook it for  
Sept. Crown. Anyone have suggestions for recipes to try?
Eduardo >>>

This is an excerpt from A Noble Boke off Cookry
(England, 1468)
The original source can be found at MedievalCookery.com

To dight crabe or lopster tak crabe or lopster and stop hym at the  
vent with one of the litille clees and sethe hym in clene water or els  
stop hym in the same manner and cast hym in an ovene and let hym bak  
and serue it with venygar.

This is an excerpt from Ouverture de Cuisine
(France, 1604 - Daniel Myers, trans.)
The original source can be found at MedievalCookery.com

The same Lobster or Crab in pottage. Take all of the raw meat out, &  
cut into little pieces, & put to stew with white wine, fresh butter,  
ground nutmeg, a little pepper, chopped mint, or fresh citron cut into  
slices, & make it stew well, that it will be fat with butter, & put it  
when well cooked into little reumers, & serve so five or six to a plate.

There are others at medievalcookery.com

Johnnae


Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:10:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: wheezul at canby.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Medieval or Renaissance Crab Recipes

<<< I won 20 pounds of crab in an auction and I am going to cook it for Sept.
Crown. Anyone have suggestions for recipes to try?
Eduardo >>>

I went and read through my collection of 16th century German recipes and
the one I liked the best sounded like a crayfish quiche from
Kuchenmaysterey (1529).  I'm a total sucker for cheesey goodness.  It
isn't exactly crab, but Rontzier kind of list crabs and crayfish together
and there are similar preparations.  What I like about the recipe is that
it allows for interpretation in spicing by the cook.

Basically - torte crust, beaten eggs and grated cheese (or grated
lebkuchen) as filling which can be thinned with cream, then spiced,
salted, and saffron and parsley added.  Also one can use sage, "boley" or
other good herbs "ist alles gut" and then the crayfish.  Unfortunately it
doesn't say if you are to shell the crayfish, but it is in the midst of
several recipes and follows the one for the pastry where specific
instructions are given.

It's number 13 in chapter 1.  There are several intriguing stuffed recipes
too.

Katrine


Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:56:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: wheezul at canby.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Crawfish Torte

As I read through the florilegium, I noted that there weren't any crab
pastries listed.  So I decided to translate the crayfish torte recipe.

From Kuchenmaysterey, Part One, Chapter 13

Item to make a torte from crayfish.  Make a
torte dough / laid before in a pan that is greasy/
make a filling from eggs and grated cheese or grated
lebkuchen / [as] what you want in it / and mix it quite
well and not too thin / slide it into the crust[ed] pan. [If] it is
too thick / so mix it with good milkcream until
corrected / make up with spice and salt / saffron and
parsley.  You may take sage / pennyroyal / well-
chopped / [it] is all good / or other good spices / mix
the filling therewith / and press the crayfish in.  [If] you want pear
put therein / figs or sweet apples cut lengthwise /
and with the crayfish pressed therein / that is
good / put the lid on top of the crust[ed] pan / slide
fat thereon / set [it] over a small coal ember / and thereon
pass and pass red coals around it/ or rub the pan
around and around / and wait until [it] vents / of the steam
with fat / and when the top is brown / then has it had
enough / Set the torte shell thus wholly out
on a wide dish / and carry it forth / and make
then pices therefrom / and lay it for the guests as quite
courtly / this keeps well [made] from crayfish.

From reading the other 16th century German recipes, crayfish, lobster and
crab all seem to be treated in a similar manner.  Crayfish for the recipe
that preceeds this one are prepared by boiling and shelling.  Other
alternatives for pretreatment of the meat include boiling in salt water,
and various wine/vinegar/water mixes.  Anna Wecker says only the white
meat from the claws and tails are good to eat, and Rontzier says of sea
crabs that the meat can be boiled, hacked and used in any variety of
dishes that the cook might think of.  But I am unsure if this recipe is
implying that the crayfish is inserted whole or not.  I think maybe not.

The German without the diacritical marks:

Das xiii Capitel.

Item zu machen ein Torten von Krebsen / Mach ein Torten teyg
vor gelegt in ein pfann / die schmaltzig sey / mach ein fuel von geribnen
kess oder geribnen leckuchen was du wilt ir eins / vnd temperier es gar
wol / vnd nit zu duenn / schuet es in ein teygpfann. Ist es zu dick / so ve-
misch es mit guttem milchraum eben gerecht / machs ab mit wuertz
vnd saltz / saffran vnd peterlein.  Du magst nemen salvey / boley / wol
gehackt / ist alles gut / oder ander gut wuertz / temperier die fuel damit /
vnnd stoss die Krebs darein.  Wilt du Biren darein thun / feygen oder
suess oepffel lenglet geschniten / vnd mit den Krebsen darein gestossen /
das is gut / mach die deck uber die teygpfann / schuet schmaltz darauf
setz uber ein klei kolen glut / vnd ye bass vnd bass roesch kolen darumb /
oder reyb die pfann vmb vnd vmb / vnnd wardt auff den rauch / den
dempff mit schmaltz /vnnd wenn die deck braun wirdt / so hat es sein
genug.  Setz den teyghafen also gentzen auss inn ein weyte schuesseln /
vnd trag es fuer / Vnnd mach dann stueck darau? / vnnd leg den gesten
fuer gar hoeflich / da steet wol von Krebsen.

And with the marks:

Das xiii Capitel.

Item zu machen ein Torten von Krebsen / Mach ein Torten teyg
vor gelegt in ein pfann / die schmaltzig sey / mach ein f?l von geribnen
ke?oder geribnen leckuchen was du wilt ir eins / vnd temperier es gar
wol / vnd nit zu d?nn / sch?t es in ein teygpfann. Ist es zu dick / so ve-
misch es mit guttem milchraum eben gerecht / machs ab mit w?rtz
vnd saltz / saffran vnd peterlein.  Du magst nemen salvey / boley / wol
gehackt / ist alles gut / oder ander gut w?rtz / temperier die f?l damit /
vnnd sto? die Krebs darein.  Wilt du Biren darein thun / feygen oder
s?? ?pffel lenglet geschniten / vnd mit den Krebsen darein gestossen /
das is gut / mach die deck uber die teygpfann / sch?t schmaltz darauf
setz uber ein klei kolen glut / vnd ye ba? vnd ba? r?sch kolen darumb /
oder reyb die pfann vmb vnd vmb / vnnd wardt auff den rauch / den
dempff mit schmaltz /vnnd wenn die deck braun wirdt / so hat es sein
genug.  Setz den teyghafen also gentzen au? inn ein weyte sch?sseln /
vnd trag es f?r / Vnnd mach dann st?ck darau? / vnnd leg den gesten
f?r gar h?flich / da steet wol von Krebsen.

Katherine


Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2011 23:15:06 -0400
From: Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP any recipes? oyster

<<< I have a jar of uncooked, shelled oysters.  Any recommendations for
something tasty? >>>

You said OOP, but Rumpolt has several oyster recipes, some sound 
pretty modern, raw with salt and pepper, or roasted in the shells on 
a grill, but this one sounds like it might work

 Fried oysters sprinkled with flour/ and fried in a butter/ dress 
them on a dish/ pour sour lemon juice over it/ and give warm on a 
table/ when you will fry them/ then pepper and salt them.

Ranvaig


Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 02:07:24 -0400
From: Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP any recipes? oyster

<<< My first thought is to "dredge" the oysters in the flour so they are 
totally coated in flour. To me, "sprinkled" is just a sprinkling of 
flour across the top of the oysters. Nowhere near as much flour. Is 
the German that specific?  Or does "sprinkle" in English in recipes 
perhaps imply a greater amount of flour/salt/powder than I'm 
thinking it does? >>>

The German word is "bestraewt" which is what you do when you garnish 
with sugar or herbs; or add salt and pepper, but it could mean a 
heavier coating too.

Sharon


Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 18:01:02 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Aline Swynbrook <alineswynbrook at yahoo.com>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lobster in Period

Take a look at Alan Davidson's Mediterranean Seafood and North Atlantic Seafood.
The books discuss lobsters.

Johnnae

On Jan 15, 2014, at 4:56 PM, Aline Swynbrook <alineswynbrook at yahoo.com> wrote:
<<< I am currently working on a menu for an A&S entry and am trying to do some research on lobster in period.  Does anyone have any sources on which species might be correct?  I am finding documentation on Homarus Gammarus (common European lobster) from 1708, but haven't seen anything earlier.

Aline >>>


Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 17:13:21 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Aline Swynbrook" <alineswynbrook at yahoo.com>,	"Cooks within the
	SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lobster in Period

Formal binomial taxonomic description for H. gammarus (please note that 
genus is capitalized while species, sub-species and variants are not) dates 
from 1758 (Linneaus, Sytema Naturae).  The term lobster derives from the 
Latin, "locusta" meaning "locust" based on the physical similarity.  The 
general term can refer to any sea critter that resembles a lobster and in 
this usage is found in Old English.

There are a number of species in the family Nephropidae (lobsters), but the 
average size of members of the species and the species range (N. Atlantic to 
the Black Sea) of H. grammarus, suggest that it would be the most commonly 
available lobster in Medieval and Renaissance Europe.  The closely related 
New World species is H. americanus.  The other common, wide-spread lobster 
species in Europe is Nephrops norvegicus, commonly referred to a 
langoustines or scampi.  The recipe and it's origin would be of use in 
determining precisely what lobster is being referenced.

Bear


Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 17:25:36 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lobster in Period

<<< While it is slightly later that period Martha Washington's Book of Cookery 
has a pepper butter sauce for boiled shrimp that Karen Hess writes is a 
typical 17th century sauce.

Will check other texts.

Daniel >>>

I think the question is "what is meant by lobster in period?" and how do I 
document it.  However, here's a little earlier recipe (most likely for H. 
grammarus) than Martha Washington:

"Crabbe or Lopster boiled.   Take a crabbe or a lopster, and stop him in ?e 
vente with on hire clees, and seth him in water, and no salt; or elles 
stoppe him in ?e same maner, and cast him in an oven, and bake him, and 
serue him forth colde. And his sauce is vinegre. "

   Austin, Thomas. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Harleian MS. 279 & 
Harl. MS. 4016, with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1429, Laud MS. 553, & Douce 
MS 55. London: for The Early English Text Society by N. Tr?bner & Co., 1888.

You should also realize that lobster was poverty food in the U.S. from the 
early Colonial Period until well into the 20th Century, so Martha 
Washington's sauce would not have been served with lobster.

Bear


Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 19:52:29 -0500
From: Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com>
To: Aline Swynbrook <alineswynbrook at yahoo.com>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lobster in Period

<<< I am currently working on a menu for an A&S entry and am trying to 
do some research on lobster in period.  Does anyone have any sources 
on which species might be correct?  I am finding documentation on 
Homarus Gammarus (common European lobster) from 1708, but haven't 
seen anything earlier. >>>

Rumpolt has recipes for "MeerGrillen/ Gambarn"
Gamba modernly means prawn, but the picture looks more like a lobster 
including the big claws.

1.  Set on (the fire) in a water with pepper and salt/ and let simmer 
with it/ yet let it not simmer long/ because they are soon cooked/ 
give dry on a table with salt and pepper/ for one eats it together 
with the shell.  You can also well take to the fry/ and well 
gewelgt?? with pepper and salt/ because one must salt them well/ 
because they are already sweet.

2.  You might also well make them in (a sauce) with butter and pea 
broth/ and with green well tasting herbs nicely sour/ put a little 
ground ginger in it/ let simmer together/ and do not over salt it/ 
then it will be good and also well tasting.

Ranvaig


Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 19:28:05 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lobster in Period

<<< Rumpolt has recipes for "MeerGrillen/ Gambarn"
Gamba modernly means prawn, >>>

Sea cricket, eh?

I'll point out there is no taxonomic basis for how the term "prawn" is used. 
In fact, the Dublin Bay Prawn (AKA Norwegian Lobster, langoustine), Nephrops 
norvegicus, is a small lobster with equal size claws, reddish in color 
rather than the blue of the larger lobsters.  For that matter, I've 
encountered river shrimp with claws.  BTW, that first recipe sounds like a 
way to eat mudbugs.

Bear


Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 18:59:34 -0700
From: James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net>
To: Aline Swynbrook <alineswynbrook at yahoo.com>, 	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lobster in Period

"Viandier" (c 1395) and "Ouverture" (1604) have recipes that refer to 
sea crayfish, which is probably (but not 100% certainly) lobster.

Thorvald


Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 21:04:02 -0500 (EST)
From: "Daniel And elizabeth phelps " <dephelps at embarqmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lobster in Period

Apicius

Three recipe titles
Ius in locusta et cammari
Locustas assas sic facies
Locusta elixa cum cuminato
Aliter locusta
Locusta elixa
Aliter in locusta

Pliny has a short discourse on lobsters

Curye on Ingiysch
Recipe 75

The Viandier of Taillevent
Recipe 151 Escrevices de mer

Platina's On Right Pleasure and good health; Book 10 On Sea Lobster 

Also a lobster recipe in "the Sensible Cook", but it is probably 17th century. 

Daniel


Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 18:56:36 -0800
From: David Walddon <david at vastrepast.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Cc: Aline Swynbrook <alineswynbrook at yahoo.com>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lobster in Period

Martino, et. al 1465 Italy (lastly translated into English in 1598) has at least one lobster like recipe. 

Eduardo

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	seafood-msg	55