stews-bruets-msg – 1/15/12

Period stews and bruets. Potages. Recipes. 

NOTE: See also the files: broths-msg, cook-ovr-fire-msg, lamb-mutton-msg, soup-msg, venison-msg, exotic-meats-msg, meatballs-msg, rabbit-dishes-msg.

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                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: DDF2 at cornell.edu (David Friedman)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Feast Menus
Date: 16 Nov 1993 03:34:53 GMT
Organization: Cornell Law School

0005290822 at mcimail.COM (Robert A. Goff) wrote:
> Not that we've ever been sticklers for period documentation, but can anyone 
> describe how a period meat stew goes together? Was it common to cook meats 
> and vegetables together in something like we'd recognize as stew? 

The problem is that "stew" is not a very clearly defined category. Here are
some possible recipes from the Miscellany; I am not sure if any would fit
your requirements:

Jazariyyah
Ibn al-Mabrad p. 18 [15th c. eastern Islamic]

Meat is boiled with a little water. Carrots, garlic cloves and peeled
onions are put with it, then crushed garlic is put with it. Some people put
spinach with it also; some make it without spinach. Walnuts and parsley are
put in.

2 lb meat (lamb)	2 cloves crushed garlic	[1/2 t cinnamon]
4 carrots	2 c spinach	[1/4 t pepper]
6 whole garlic cloves (about .6 oz)	1/4 c walnuts	[1/4 t coriander]
4 small onions (5 ounces)	1/4 c parsley	[1/4 t salt]

Cut the lamb up small and put it in 1 1/2 c water with cinnamon, pepper,
coriander and salt. Simmer 10 minutes. Add carrots cut up, whole garlic
cloves, and small onions. Simmer 10 minutes. Add crushed garlic. Simmer 20
minutes. Add spinach. Simmer 10 minutes. Garnish with walnuts and parsley.
The spices are based on similar recipes in al-Bagdadi.

White Tharîdah of al Rashid
Translated by Charles Perry from a 9-10th c. Islamic collection. 

Take a chicken and joint it, or meat of a kid or lamb, and clean it and
throw it in a pot, and throw on it soaked chickpeas, clean oil, galingale,
cinnamon sticks, and a little salt. And when it boils, skim it. Take fresh
milk and strain it over the pot and throw in onion slices and boiled
carrots. And when it boils well, take peeled almonds and pound them fine.
Break over them five eggs and mix with wine vinegar. Then throw in the pot
and add coriander, a little pepper and a bit of cumin and arrange it and
leave on the fire, and serve, God willing.

2 3/4 lb lamb with bones	~5 c water or less	5 eggs
  or 2 1/2 lb chicken, cut up	1 T salt	1 1/2 T wine vinegar
2 15 oz cans chickpeas	1 c milk	1 t coriander
2 T olive oil	1 large onion (1 1/4 lbs)	1 3/4 t pepper
3/4 t galingale	9 carrots (1 1/4 lbs)	1 1/4 t cumin
1 oz stick cinnamon = 5 sticks	5 oz almonds = 1 c ground

Put meat or chicken, chickpeas (with liquid), oil, galingale, cinnamon
sticks and salt with as little water as will cover, boil 15 minutes.
Meanwhile boil carrots. Use large pot. Add milk, sliced onion, drained
carrots, boil another 15 minutes. Add fine ground almonds, eggs, and
vinegar and spices all mixed together. Add to boiling mixture. Cook another
five minutes, serve.

An alternative interpretation of the recipe omits the water, so that the
meat is cooked in the oil until partially cooked, then the milk, onions,
and carrots are added.

Labaniyyah
Ibn al-Mabrad p. 22  [15th c. Eastern Islamic]

Meat is boiled, then leeks are put in and yoghurt is dissolved and rice is
put with it. Some people put the yoghurt first, then the meat then the
rice.

3/4 lb boned lamb	2 leeks = 2 c sliced	(2 t cumin)
1 3/4 cup of water	1 1/4 c yogurt	(2 t coriander)
1/2 t salt	1 1/4 c rice	(1 t cinnamon)

Cut meat into bite-sized pieces. Boil meat for 15 minutes in water at low
heat, covered. Add leeks, yogurt and salt. Add rice and spices. Simmer
(again covered) until rice is done (about an hour). The spices are based on
similar recipes in al-Bagdadi.

Gharibah
Ibn al-Mabrad p. 21 [15th c. Eastern Islamic]

Meat is boiled, then you take off most of its broth and put with the
remainder vegetables such as onion, gourd and aubergine. You dissolve
yoghurt in what you took off and you put it with it. Then you garnish with
walnut and parsley.

3/4 lb meat (lamb) 	[1/2 t dry coriander]	3 lbs “gourd:”  squash
2 c water			[1/2 t+ salt]	1 lb eggplant 
[1 stick cinnamon]	1/2 c yogurt	1/2 c chopped walnuts
[1/4 t cumin]	3 onions =2 c chopped	2 T chopped parsley

Cut up the lamb small, removing most of the fat. Simmer it in water for
about 1/2 hour with the spices. Remove 1/2 of the broth, mix with yogurt.
Put the vegetables (cut up in small pieces) and the yogurt-broth mixture
back in the pot with the lamb. Simmer for 1 hour. Garnish with walnuts and
parsley. 

Note: the spicing is based on what is used in Al-Baghdadi for similar
dishes. The cookbook this recipe is from is very terse; cinnamon is never
mentioned, nor, I think, salt, and dry coriander only once. I assume they
are simply omitted in the recipe, and left to the cook's judgement. Note
that squash is new world, and is being used here as a substitute for the
period gourd--probably Lagonaria.

Here are two more (English 15th c.) that actually use the term "stew," but
that I suspect have less vegetable than you were thinking of:

Beef y-Stewed 
Two Fifteenth Century p. 6/52

Take faire beef of the ribs of the forequarters, and smite in fair pieces,
and wash the beef into a fair pot; then take the water that the beef was
sodden in, and strain it through a strainer and seethe the same water and
beef in a pot, and let them boil together; then take canel, cloves, maces,
grains of paradise, cubebs and onions y-minced, parsley and sage, and cast
thereto, and let them boil together; and then take a loaf of bread, and
stepe it with broth and vinegar, and then draw it through a strainer, and
let it be still; and when it is near enough, cast the liquor thereto, but
not too much, and then let boil once, and cast saffron thereto a quantity;
then take salt and vinegar, and cast thereto, and look that it be poynant
enough, and serve forth.

about 1 lb+ beef	1/4 t cloves	4 slices bread
3 medium onions	1 t sage 	pinch of saffron
1/4 c chopped parsley	1/4 t mace 	1 t salt 
1 bouillon cube	1/8 t whole grains of paradise (grind)	vinegar
1/2 t cinnamon 	1/8 t whole cubebs (grind)

Add fresh water to cover and bouillon, bring to a boil, add parsley, onion,
and spices. Simmer about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, put bread to soak in water
and broth from the meat. At the end of 45 minutes mush up the bread and add
that, the saffron and salt, bring to a boil and serve.


Stwed Mutton
Two Fifteenth Century p. 72

Take faire Mutton that hath ben roste, or elles Capons, or suche other
flessh, and mynce it faire; put hit into a possenet, or elles bitwen ii
siluer disshes; caste thereto faire parcely, And oynons small mynced; then
caste there-to wyn, and a litull vynegre or vergeous, pouder of peper,
Canel, salt and saffron, and lete it stue on the faire coles, And then
serue hit forthe; if he have no wyne ne vynegre, take Ale, Mustard, and A
quantite of vergeous, and do this in the stede of vyne or vinegre.

Wine Version
1 1/2 lb boned lamb	2 T vinegar 	1 t salt 
1/4 c parsley 	1 t pepper 	3 threads saffron 
2 medium onions (1 1/4 lb) 	1/2 t cinnamon 	about 1/2 c water
3/4 c wine 	

Beer Version
Substitute 1 c dark beer and 1/2 t ground mustard for the wine. Substitute
4 T of verjuice for the vinegar if you have it.

Roast the lamb (before boning) at 350° for about 1 hour, then chop it into
bite sized pieces. Chop onions fine. Combine all ingredients (and the
juices from roasting the lamb) in a covered stew pot; use enough water so
that there is just enough liquid to boil the meat in. Simmer it about 1/2
hour and serve it forth. It is good over rice.

And just to give you one to work out for yourself--the first recipe in Two
Fifteenth Century, which for some reason I do not have a worked out recipe
for, although I have done it.

Lange Wortys de chare.

Take beef and merowbones, and boil it in fair water; than take fair wortys
and wash him clean in water, and parboil him in clean water; than take him
up of the water after the first boiling, and cut the leaves at two or a
three, and cast him into the beef, and boil together: than take a loaf of
white bread and grate it, and cast it on the pot, an safron and salt, and
let it boil enough, and serve forth. (spelling modernized)

> Also, does anyone know of a period dish that would approximate a non- 
> meat stew for the vegetarians among us? From the same cuisine as the 
> meat dish?

A Muzawwara (Vegetarian Dish) Beneficial for Tertian Fevers and Acute
Fevers
Andalusian p. A-52 [13th c. Western Islamic]

Take boiled peeled lentils and wash in hot water several times; put in the
pot and add water without covering them; cook and then throw in pieces of
gourd, or the stems [ribs] of Swiss chard, or of lettuce and its tender
sprigs, or the flesh of cucumber or melon, and vinegar, coriander seed, a
little cumin, Chinese cinnamon, saffron and two ûqiyas of fresh oil;
balance with a little salt and cook. Taste, and if its flavor is pleasingly
balanced between sweet and sour, [good;] and if not, reinforce until it is
equalized, according to taste, and leave it to lose its heat until it is
cold and then serve.

2 c lentils 	1 1/2 t cinnamon	one of the following:	1 1/2 lb butternut
squash
5 c water	6 threads saffron		1 lb chard or beet leaves
1/4 c cider vinegar	1/4 c oil		1 lb lettuce
3/4 t ground coriander	1 t salt		2 8" cucumbers
3/4 t cumin			melon (?)

Boil lentils about 40 minutes until they start to get mushy. Add spices and
vinegar and oil. Add one of the vegetables; leafy vegetables should be torn
up, squash or cucumbers are cut into bite-sized pieces and cooked about
10-15 minutes before being added to lentils. Cook lettuce or chard version
for about 10 minutes, until leaves are soft. Cook squash or cucumber
version about 20 minutes. Be careful not to burn during the final cooking. 

Rapes in Potage [or Carrots or Parsnips]
Curye on Inglysch p. 99 (Forme of Cury no. 7)

Take rapus and make hem clene, and waissh hem clene; quarter hem; perboile
hem, take hem vp. Cast hem in a gode broth and see† hem; mynce oynouns and
cast †erto safroun and salt, and messe it forth with powdour douce. In the
self wise make of pastunakes and skyrwittes.

Note: rapes are turnips; pasternakes are either parsnips or carrots;
skirrets are, according to the OED, “a species of water parsnip, formerly
much cultivated in Europe for its esculent tubers.” We have never found
them available in the market.

1 lb turnips, carrots, or parsnips	6 threads saffron	powder douce:	2 t
sugar 
2 c chicken broth (canned, diluted)	 3/4 t salt		3/8 t cinnamon
1/2 lb onions			3/8 t ginger

Wash, peel, and quarter turnips (or cut into eighths if they are large),
cover with boiling water and parboil for 15 minutes. If you are using
carrots or parsnips, clean them and cut them up into large bite-sized
pieces and parboil 10 minutes. Mince onions. Drain turnips, carrots, or
parsnips, and put them with onions and chicken broth in a pot and bring to
a boil. Crush saffron into about 1 t of the broth and add seasonings to
potage. Cook another 15-20 minutes, until turnips or carrots are soft to a
fork and some of the liquid is boiled down.

> Brother Crimthann
> rgoff at mcimail.com

David/Cariadoc
DDF2 at Cornell.Edu


From: jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Feast Menus
Date: 17 Nov 1993 16:46:58 GMT

Greetings, all, from Angharad ver' Rhuawn.

Brother Crimthann asks,

>I'm thinking about doing an oudoor meal this summer at a remote site. The idea 
>that has us all excited is to serve stew in hollowed-out loaves of bread. It 
>would be a very basic meal, one or two courses, served in a camp setting. 
>Most everything would be prepared ahead of time and heated at the site using 
>campfires (if the Forest Service allows) or propane burners.
>
>Not that we've ever been sticklers for period documentation, but can anyone 
>describe how a period meat stew goes together? Was it common to cook meats 
>and vegetables together in something like we'd recognize as stew? 

Not really, in Europe.  Cariadoc has already posted with a
number of Islamic dishes, and a couple of European ones.
The following are some further notes, which apply most
directly to French and English cuisine of the 14th and
15th centuries.

In general, European dishes that are stew-like contain
meat (or fowl or fish), broth, thickener, onions, herbs, 
and spices.  There are a few recipes with greens.  I have 
not seen any for a meat stew with veggies on the order of 
carrots, turnips, etc.

-- Angharad/Terry


From: "James L. Matterer" <jmattere at weir.net>
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 21:45:42 -0700
Subject: SC - Cameline Meat Brewet

Greetings,
   In response to Derdriu's & Willem's request for a posting of A
Cameline Meat Brewet, here it is.
   Looking over the recipe, I think it might be fun to substitute red
wine for the water in the Cameline Sauce. I've never tried it, but I
think I'll have to now that I've thought of it. If anyone makes this
dish, please let me know what you think!

Master Ian

Cameline Meat Brewet
This cold meat dish comes from a reference in The Goodman of Paris,
which lists a Parisian feast of 1393 where there was served "a cameline
meat brewet - pieces of meat in a thin cinnamon sauce." Although it is
not known exactly how this particular dish was prepared, this recipe is
an approximation of how such a meat brewet may have been created. Curye
on Inglish describes two cold brewets, one without meat (p. 128) and one
with (p. 129).

2 lbs. beef, sliced into thin strips
1 tsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
Meat butter in pan, add meat and seasonings and saute until done. Drain
well and let cool. Place meat in a sealable container and add Cameline
Sauce to cover. Refrigerate for several days, agitating container once a
day. Remone from marinade and serve cold or at room temperature.
Serves 4 - 8.

Cameline Sauce
"Pound ginger, plenty of cinnamon, cardamon, mace, long pepper if you
wish, then squeeze out bread soaked in vinegar and strain it all
together and salt it just right." -  Le Viandier de Taillevent, from
Food in History, p. 219.

Unlike many sauces, this one is unboiled as per the description in Le
Viandier de Taillevent, p. 219: "Cameline sauce has cinnamon as its
predominant ingredient and is unboiled." Le Viandier also advises us
that not all sauces contained binding agents (p. 23-24). Bearing that in
mind, the bread crumbs have been left out of this version of the recipe.

1 c. each cider vinegar and water 
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each of ginger, cloves, mace, cardamon, pepper, and salt
Combine liquids, add spices and mix thoroughly with a wire whisk. Taste
for seasonings and adjust accordingly. Use immediately or refrigerate
for later use.


Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 16:15:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: Philip E Cutone <flip+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: SC - Beef stew

Here it is... this commign from a sheet i had at War practice.
wish more people showed up... i cooked a couple gallons of the stuff.
After offering hospitality to several neighbors, i still had near a
half gallon left.  mmm was it tasty (if i say so myself)

This is based on a 15c recipe "Beef y-Stewed" to be found in
Cariadoc's Miscellany--
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/miscellany.html. I've modified
the recipe quite a bit, but cooks of the time would have as well,
using whatever happened to be in season or on hand.  

Put a crock pot on the simmer setting and place into it:
    about 1 lb+ beef - cubed
    2 medium onions chopped as you like
    1/2 c chopped parsley
    2 bouillion cubes (or use beef stock to top off instead of water)
    1/4 t cloves (ground)
    1 t sage
    1/4 t mace
    *1/8 t whole grains of paradise (ground)
    *1/8 t whole cubebs (ground)
    **1/2 c barley
    **1/2 t cinnamon
    **1/2 t ginger
    **1/2 t rosemary
    **2-4 cloves garlic chopped

if you cannot find grains of paradise or cubebs, (as i couldn't) substitute:
    **(1/4 t ground white pepper)
    **(1/4 t ground black pepper)

*  did not use for lack of availability
** not mentioned in the original recipie

Add water to cover. Let simmer for several hours (at least till meat is cooked)
Check once an hour and add water to keep contents covered. dissolve:
    4-6 threads saffron

in a little of the broth (saffron is a very expensive, very strong
spice.  I would recommend about 4-6 threads, though some may find that
heavy) and add it to the stew. Add:
    a little crumbled bread to thicken
    vinegar to taste

I use a homemade vinegar made from honey, apple juice, water, a little
yeast and whatever critters happen to sour the brew.  If you don't
happen to have any contaminated cysers (smile) You can substitute a
3:1 mixture of apple vinegar and white wine/mead and perhaps a little honey.

The stew will require salt (unless, you perhaps use salted beef, which
will change the flavor some). I usually allow my guests to add their
own salt as they can always put more in, but cannot take it out.

If you do not have a crock pot, or you lack the time, you can cook it
on the stove in about an hour, but it will take more watching and the
barley might need some pre cooking.

The spice measurements are a guess. I cook on the fly, as suites my
taste of the day.  This combined with my earlier statment of "using
whatever happens to be in season" would sort of imply that the real
instructions for this recipe may be reduced to "Throw stuff together
and make a stew"  If this is how you have interpreted these
instructions, you've just found out my secret for cooking. The best
advice I can give is this: Experiment, find out what *you* like, taste
your dish at all stages of preperation, and don't sweat a mistake now
and again. If you are unsure of a flavor addition, separate out a few
spoonfuls and flavor that. By doing that, you don't risk ruining the
entire dish. 

Filip of the Marche


Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 16:36:47 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject: Re: SC - Beef stew

You know, like a lot of cooks, I cannot resist stirring the pot, so to
speak.
  
  Put a crock pot on the simmer setting and place into it:
      about 1 lb+ beef - cubed
      2 medium onions chopped as you like

I have found that it is WELL worth the time to brown the cubed meat and
onions prior to placing them in a crock pot.  They cook, but the crock pot
style of cookery doesn't add that beefy crust, or carmelize the onions.
Your mileage has varied.  (:-)

      1/2 c chopped parsley
      2 bouillion cubes (or use beef stock to top off instead of water)

Or, my favorite vice, red wine.

      **1/2 c barley

I have also added, modernly, a small amount of tapioca root as thickener.
It works, and the taste of tapioca actually compliments the meat.  (It's
easier than making a Yorkshire Pudding, too... :-)

Sounds really delightful.

I made, for years, a not particularly period lamb stew, similarly.  Brown
the lamb, carmelize the onions, pollute with lots of garlic.  Add to the pot
lentils, carrots, various spices and a bay leaf, and use half wine half
water to cook.  Serve when the smell drives you insane.  (I cooked this once
in a cube-style work environment, to take to an early potluck after work.
Everyone in the office was so nuts from the smell, they all went out for
lunch, and ate like pigs.  I was begged not to do that again, unless I
served it for lunch.)

Oh, if you over-water it during the cooking process, you can throw a handful
or two of rice in toward the end.  In half an hour, it thickens.

	Tibor


Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 23:26:30 -0500
From: Caitlin Cheannlaidir <caitlin at phosphor-ink.com>
Subject: SC - Bruet of Sarcynesse

Tak  at e lyre of  at e fresch buf & ket it al in pecis, & bred, & fry yt in
fresch gres.  Tak it vp & drye it, and do yt in a vessel wy at  wyn & sugur &
powdre of clowys.  Boyl yt togedere tyl  at e flesch hae drong  at e lycoure, &
tak almande mylk & quibibz, macis & clowys, and boyle hem togedere.  Tak  at e
flesch & do  at erto & messe it forth.

Redacted, in Pleyn Delit, as follows:

2-4 oz (at least 1/4 cup) ground almonds
1 cup water
2 lbs boneless stewing beef, cut into chunks
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (4 slices bread, finely ground)
1 t sugar
1/2 t ground cloves
1 C red wine
1 t ground cubebs, or 1/2 t each ground pepper and allspice
1 tsp ground mace
1 tsp salt

Her instructions (readers' digest version, it's past bedtime)

Draw up almond milk. Roll beef chunks in breadcrumbs and brown in fat or
oil on medium heat, turning, remove and drain when brown.  Put browned meat
in clean pot. Dissolve sugar and half cloves in wine, pour over meat.
Cover and simmer or bake 40 minutes, then uncover until most of sauce
evaporates.  Just before serving, add almond milk and remaining seasonings
over medium heat long enough to heat through.

A number of us have made this and we've noted that you generally have to
cook it for a lot longer than it calls for if it's to be tender.  So this
time I roasted the beef (very good beef) before hand, so it was already
done (rare) and tender.  I used burgundy for my "red wine" because we were
mulling wine and that's what was on hand.

It came out gray-pink and didn't really "dronk" the liquor at all, and I
wonder if that's due to the pre-roasting?

- --Caitlin Cheannlaidir
  caitlin at phosphor-ink.com


Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 09:23:48 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Re: Saracen Bruet

> From: PETERSR at spiegel.becltd.com (Peters, Rise J.)

> For example, I made Saracen Bruet this weekend using burgundy for my "red
> wine" and noticed two things:  first, the redaction I was using (Pleyn
> Delit) says to cook until the liquid is mostly absorbed, and that just
> didn't seem to be happening.  Second, the resulting sauce (after adding
> almond milk and spices) was a rather unappetizing pinkish gray color.

If the problems you mention seem to be reasonably universal among
several people who've used the redaction in Pleyn Delit, have you
considered that perhaps Hieatt and Butler's redaction may need a little
fine tuning? As this type of secondary source goes, H & B are pretty
good, and in fact among the best, but not without the occasional
slip-up. For example, their inclusion of breadcrumbs in their redaction
for sambuccade, which is mentioned nowhere in the original. The original
says something about making a crust in a trap, IIRC (it's a pie, more or
less), and then goes on to talk about putting the filling into the
crust. It doesn't say to put crusts into the filling, which appears to
be their interpretation. Then, of course, there are their views on the
use of "pens" in the roasting of poultry: equally whimsical, but
probably pretty clear to most experienced cooks, medieval scholars or
no.

As has been said elsewhere, foods designated as being Saracen in nature
always seem to include almonds in some form, and are usually red or, or
more properly, mahagony in color. If you've ever used red sandalwood in
cooking, you've seen the color they're aiming at. Not a blazing red, but
more like the color of an unpainted, cedar pencil. Reddish beige, I
guess. This shouldn't be too hard to achieve.

Possible solutions to your problem might be to experiment with different
diameter pans. The ratio of exposed surface area to internal volume is
what controls how fast the liquid will evaporate. If you are having
problems with the liquid being "drunk up" by the meat, etc., you might
try a wider pan, like a deep skillet or casserole. Another possibility
is to cook the meat on a higher heat, stirring frequently, at a full
boil for at least some of the cooking process. Ordinarily modern
culinary "wisdom" advises against this, as it tends to make meat fall
apart into little strings, but it's possible that this may be
intentional in this case. Consider the precipes that call for the meat
to be teased apart into shreds. Think in terms of things like Ropa
Vieja, which is a Latino pot roast dish made this way, and served in
shreds that look like old rags, hence the name.

In connection with the possibility for high-heat cooking, make sure to
get the meat good and brown before adding your red wine, etc. This will
help achieve a browner result. If you are using a good stewing cut like
chuck (which I would recommend over something more tender, because its
high connective tissue makes for a nicer texture in the finished sauce)
you should be able to get a really nice brown glaze over the meat, and
lining the pot, before adding the almond milk and other stuff. Obviously
there's a fine line between "good and brown" and burning. Essentially,
as I understand it, without looking at the recipe as I write, there are
three separate cooking processes: browning the meat, cooking it in wine,
and then cooking it again in almond milk, presumably for a shorter time.
The first two are pretty standard for almost any stew, except you need
to make sure the liquid is properly reduced, at more or less the same
time as the meat is mostly tender. The trick is in making it happen that
way. Then you add the almond milk and anything else that goes in at that
point, and finish cooking the meat while the almond milk cooks down a
bit, with the meat/wine glaze left over from the earlier cooking
process, turning into a somewhat thickish "cafe au lait"-colored sauce.
In other words, the color most medieval Europeans would think of in
connection with a Saracen's skin.

> The taste was fine and it all disappeared into hungry feasters, but I still
> feel like maybe something went wrong in the cooking process.

Cooking the dish in bulk at an event suggests to me you may have cooked
it in something like a big 40-quart stockpot. Too deep for the job, I'm
afraid. See the above maundering pontification for further info ;  ).

I suggest you look at a recipe for an Indian or Southeast Asian curry
that calls for coconut milk. That's probably pretty close to the
technique you need to use, the first cooking with wine, and the
different spices notwithstanding.

Adamantius


Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 23:34:14 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Saracen Bruet

Adamantius writes:

>As has been said elsewhere, foods designated as being Saracen in nature
>always seem to include almonds in some form, and are usually red or, or
>more properly, mahagony in color. If you've ever used red sandalwood in
>cooking, you've seen the color they're aiming at. Not a blazing red, but
>more like the color of an unpainted, cedar pencil. Reddish beige, I
>guess. This shouldn't be too hard to achieve.

My impression is that "saracen" recipes have almonds and/or sugar, not that
they are necessarily red; almonds and sugar, after all, were getting
imported from the south.  If you do the recipe discussed with white wine,
you get (if I remember correctly) a sort of tannish/whitish color.

For comparison, here is a related recipe, also English but 15th century.

Bruette Sareson

Take Almaundys, & draw a gode mylke & flowre of Rys, & Porke & Brawen of
Capoun y-sode, or Hennys smale y-ground, & boyle it y-fere, & do in-to †e
mylke; & than take pouder Gyngere, Sugre, & caste a-boue, and serue forth.

Elizabeth/Betty


Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 15:07:36 +0200
From: Jessica Tiffin <melesine at ilink.nis.za>
Subject: Re: SC - A Barley recipe

Charles Ragnar wrote:
>There is one in British Museum Cookbook - Amyndoun Seaw which I
>frequently make as a barley dish:
>Barley, milk, saffron, parsnips, carrots, spices, fruit, stew it all up.
>(More or less)

I have another barley recipe which I found on the web - it claims to be from
the British Museum Cookbook and to be 7th century English, and entails
cooking up chicken pieces with leeks and barley and herbs.  It's actually
one of my favourite medieval dishes - has that slightly vinegary flavour.
Wonderful.  But I don't have the original British Museum Cookbook, and would
love to know the original source of the recipe - anyone?  Sounds
substantially pre any of the standard sources - the BM presumably has secret
stashes of ancient manuscripts.

Hare, Rabbit, Veal or Chicken Stew with Herbs & Barley

Serves 6

In 7th century England, herbs were one of the few flavourings available to
cooks and were used heavily...

   * 50g (2oz) butter
   * 1 -1.5kg (2-3 lb) (depending on the amount of bone) of hare or rabbit
   * joints, stewing veal or chicken joints
   * 450g (1lb) washed and trimmed leeks, thickly sliced
   * 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
   * 175 g (6 oz) pot barley
   * 900 mL (30 fl oz, 3 3/4 cups) water
   * 3 generous tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
   * 2 bay leaves, salt, pepper
   * 15 fresh, roughly chopped sage leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried sage

Melt the butter in a heavy pan and fry the meat with the leeks and garlic
till the vegetables are slightly softened and the meat lightly browned. Add
the barley, water, vinegar, bay leaves and seasoning. bring the pot to the
boil, cover it and simmer gently for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or till the meat is
really tender and ready to fall from the bone. Add the sage and continue to
cook for several minutes. Adjust the seasoning to taste and serve in
bowls-- the barley will serve as a vegetable.

I'd include the URL for the original site, but I can't remember where it
was.  Definitely not the Miscellany, but perhaps one of those links on the
Ren Food page.

Now I'm drooling slightly.  Oh, well.

Melisant


Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 16:59:00 +1000
From: Robyn Probert <robyn.probert at lawpoint.com.au>
Subject: Re: SC - re:period recipes

TFCC = Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books

Beef Stew (no carrots though)
Beef y-stewed (TFCC)
Take fayre beef of the rybbes of the forequarters, an smyte in fayre pecys,
and wasche the beef in-to a fayre potte; than take the water that the beef
was sothin yn an strayne it thorw a straynowr, an sette the same water and
beef in a potte, an let hem boyle to-gederys; than take canel, clowes,
maces, graynys of parise, quibibes, an oynons y-mynced, perceli, an sawge,
an caste ther-to an let hem boyle to-gederys; an than take a lof of brede,
an stepe it with brothe an venegre, an than draw it thorw a straynoure, and
let it be stylle; an whan it is nere y-now, caste the lycour ther-to, but
nowt to moche, an than let boyle onys, an cast safroun ther-to a quantyte;
than take salt an venegre, and cast ther-to, an loke that it be poynant
y-now, a serue forth.

Rowan


Date: Mon, 3 Aug 1998 13:29:38 +1000
From: The Cheshire Cat <sianan at geocities.com>
Subject: SC - Pretending we're at Pennsic

I usually prepare this on cold winter days at tourneys.  We usually build a
fire to keep warm and to heat water over.  I cook this up in my big pot
hanging over the fire. ( I don't believe in much, but I do believe in being
warm and comfortable at tourneys)  You can use veal in this instead of the
mutton.

Veal or Mutton Stew
Curye on Inglysch

Take veel other[wise] motoun and smite it to gobettes.  Seethe it in gode
broth; cast therto erbes yhewe gode won, and a quantite of oynouns mynced,
powdour fort and safroun, and alye it with ayren and verious: but let it
not seeth after.

900g boneless stewing lamb or mutton
2 cups chicken stock
2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 Tbs chopped parsley
1 tsp each fresh rosemary, thyme and marjoram (use slightly less for dried
herbs)
1/4 tsp ground ginger, cumin and coriander
Salt to taste
1 cup white wine
2 eggs
2 Tbs lemon juice

Cut the meat into 5 cm cubes.  Put the stock into the pot and bring to a
boil.  Add the meat and bring back to the boil, skim if needed, then add
the onions, herbs, spices salt and wine.  Reduce the heat, cover the pan
and cook gently until the meat is cooked through and tender (1 - 1/2
hours).  Beat the eggs with the lemon juice until blended, then take the
pan off the heat and stir the egg mixture gradually into the stew to
thicken it slightly. Do NOT reboil after adding the eggs.

- -Sianan
******************************************************************************
Marina Denton
sianan at geocities.com


Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 11:55:28 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Medieval Ribs? Or Barbecue Beef?

Aoife gives a 15th c. recipe for Stewed Beef in Mistress Sincgefiu's (Cindy
Renfrow's) translation:

> "17 Stewed Beef. Take Ribs of fresh beef, And (if thou will) roast it till
> it is nigh enough; then put it in a fair small pot; cast thereto parsley
> and onions minced, raisins of Corinth, powdered pepper, cinnamon, cloves,
> sandalwood, saffron, and salt; then cast thereto wine and a little vinegar;
> set a lid on the pot, and let it boil soakingly on a fair charcoal till it
> is enough; then lay the flesh, in dishes, and the syrup thereupon, And
> serve it forth."
>
> It is my contention that this is a recipe for meat that has been roasted,
> then cooked  with liquid till it is fallen off the bone, then served with
> the sweet-spicy liquid it was cooked in. There is the possibility, however,
> that this is "Ribs" as we modernly know them, with a sweet-spicy red sauce
> rather than modern tomato-based barbecue sauce, since there is no directive
> to remove the bones or strain them from the sauce.

Here is a related recipe, also 15th-c. English. It lacks the currents and
the optional direction to roast the meat, uses just vinegar instead of wine
and vinegar, and thickens the sauce with bread. We have interpreted it as
meat off the bone in a thick sauce.

Beef y-Stewed
Two Fifteenth Century p. 6/52

Take faire beef of the ribs of the forequarters, and smite in fair pieces,
and wash the beef into a fair pot; then take the water that the beef was
sodden in, and strain it through a strainer and seethe the same water and
beef in a pot, and let them boil together; then take canel, cloves, maces,
grains of paradise, cubebs and onions y-minced, parsley and sage, and cast
thereto, and let them boil together; and then take a loaf of bread, and
stepe it with broth and vinegar, and then draw it through a strainer, and
let it be still; and when it is near enough, cast the liquor thereto, but
not too much, and then let boil once, and cast saffron thereto a quantity;
then take salt and vinegar, and cast thereto, and look that it be poynant
enough, and serve forth. [end of original; spelling modernized]

about 1 lb+ beef
3 medium onions
1/4 c chopped parsley
1 bouillon cube
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t mace
1 t sage
1/8 t whole grains of paradise (grind)
1/8 t whole cubebs (grind)
4 slices bread
pinch of saffron
1 t salt
2 T vinegar

Add fresh water to cover meat and bouillon cube, bring to a boil, add
parsley, onion, and spices. Simmer about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, put bread
to soak in water and broth from the meat. At the end of 45 minutes mush up
the bread and add that, the saffron and salt, and vinegar, bring to a boil
and serve.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook


Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 08:17:30 -0400
From: Phil & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Dinner for an Arthurian Idyll

Ron and Lori wrote:
> >A pottage of leeks with white leek sauce
>
> Ok, imay be asking a dumb question. Isn't Pottage the same as Soup. If so
> how do you serve soup with a white sauce. unless you mean a cream soup,
> which is not the understanding I had from the following recipe.
> Thorbjorn the Cook (looking confused-again)

Think of it in terms of a spoonable food, as opposed to a lechemeat which can
be sliced and eaten with the knife or one's fingers. In this case this is a
pottage of leeks (which could be a simply porrey of leeks boiled in water,
with maybe some ham) cooked and sauced with a white sauce traditionally eaten
over leeks (y'know, like shrimp with lobster sauce, which contains no lobster
but which is sometimes served over lobster?). What we have here is a bowl of
veggies cooked moderately soft, to facilitate being eaten with a spoon,
covered with a soupy sauce, based, if I remember correctly, on almond milk. It
could be cabbage or possibly sprouts, or any of a number of vegetables, but in
this case the pottage made with leek sauce also contains leeks.

Adamantius


Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 16:48:16 -0500
From: "Lenny Zimmermann" <zimmerml at kci1.com>
Subject: Re: Stew (was SC - period fruit pastries)

On Tue, 27 Apr 1999 10:32:06 -0700, david friedman wrote:
> Actually, I'm not sure beef stew is period. More precisely, I can't think
> of any non-Islamic period recipes that correspond to what modern people
> think of as "generic stew." There are dishes where the meat has been
> stewed, but I can't think of any where pieces of stewed meat are combined
> with substantial vegetables in a thick gravy or something similar. Perhaps
> someone else can offer examples.

I just happened to have a copy of Platina's "De honesta voluptate et
valetudine" with me and ran across the following in Book VII, item 34, "Dish
Made from Meat" (as translated in "Platina: On Right Pleasure and Good
Health", Mary Ella Milham, Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, Tempe,
Arizona, 1998):

"Cut up boiled lean meat finely, and when it has been cut up, cook it again
in rich broth for half an hour, first adding ground bread crust, a bit of
pepper, and a little saffron. When it has cooled a little, add beaten eggs,
ground cheese, parsley, marjoram, and finely chopped mint with a bit of
verjuice. Put these in the same pot, mixed and stirred at the same time,
stirring slowly with a spoon so as they do not stick together. The same can
even be done with livers and lung."

It sounds very much like that could be, effectively, a thick stew, depending
on how much broth you decide to create this with. The admonition to stir so
they do not stick together would, however, suggest a fairly thick dish. So
there is a possible example for you of stew from 1475, Venice, Italy.

I'm not sure if that helps or only further clouds the issue.

Honos Servio,
Lionardo Acquistapace, Bjornsborg, Ansteorra
(Lenny Zimmermann, San Antonio, TX)
zarlor at acm.org


Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 21:47:39 -0700
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: Stew (was SC - period fruit pastries)

At 4:48 PM -0500 4/27/99, Lenny Zimmermann wrote:
>On Tue, 27 Apr 1999 10:32:06 -0700, david friedman wrote:
>> Actually, I'm not sure beef stew is period. More precisely, I can't think
>> of any non-Islamic period recipes that correspond to what modern people
>> think of as "generic stew." There are dishes where the meat has been
>> stewed, but I can't think of any where pieces of stewed meat are combined
>> with substantial vegetables in a thick gravy or something similar. Perhaps
>> someone else can offer examples.
>
>I just happened to have a copy of Platina's "De honesta voluptate et
>valetudine" with me and ran across the following in Book VII, item 34, "Dish
>Made from Meat" (as translated in "Platina: On Right Pleasure and Good
>Health", Mary Ella Milham, Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, Tempe,
>Arizona, 1998):
>
>"Cut up boiled lean meat finely, and when it has been cut up, cook it again
>in rich broth for half an hour, first adding ground bread crust, a bit of
>pepper, and a little saffron. When it has cooled a little, add beaten eggs,
>ground cheese, parsley, marjoram, and finely chopped mint with a bit of
>verjuice. Put these in the same pot, mixed and stirred at the same time,
>stirring slowly with a spoon so as they do not stick together. The same can
>even be done with livers and lung."

I specified "with substantial vegetables."  Mint doesn't qualify.

Incidentally, you will find our worked out version of that recipe (from the
older translation) in the Miscellany under "Potage from Meat."

David/Cariadoc
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/


Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 20:34:16 -0700
From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: Re: Stew (was SC - period fruit pastries)

Howdy all from Anne-Marie

re: beef stew type units in period...

the only exmaples I've seen of meat stewed with veggies (other than the
onion/meat stuff ubiquitous throughout the medieval corpus) are the late
sources like Robert May, and Digby and friends.

Digby has the most modernly familiar one, stewing beef with carrots and
turnips, and even thickening with a roux. go figure! Now, you need to decide
for yourself if Digby is "period", I'm not touching that one! :)

Here's my version of the queen's hotchpot, a meat and veggie stew from Digby.
All rights reserved, no publication without permission, etc.

enjoy!
- --AM

The Queens Hotchpot. From her Escuyer de Cuisine, Mr. la Montague. (Digby, p144)
The Queen Mothers Hotchpot of Mutton is thus made. It is exceeding good of
fresh Beef also, for those whose stomachs can digest it. Cut a neck of Mutton,
crag-end and all into steaks (which you may beat if you will; but they will be
very tender without beating) and in the mean time prepare your water to boil in
a Posnet, (which must be of a convenient bigness to have water enough o cover
the meat, and serve all the stewing, it, without need to add any more to it and
yet no superfluous water at last. Put your meat into the boiling water, and
when you have scummed it clean, put into it a good handful of Parsley, and as
much of Sibboulets (young Onion, or Sives) chopped small, if you like to eat
them in substance; otherwise tied up in a bouquet, to throw them away, when the
have communicated to the water all their taste; some Pepper, three or four
Cloves, and a little Salt, and half a Limon first pared. These must stew or
boil simperingly, (covered) at least three or four hours (a good deal more, if
Beef) stirring it often, that it burns not too.  A good hour before you intend
to take it off, put some quartered Turnips to it, or if you like them, some
Carrots. A while after take a good lump of Household bread, bigger than your
fist, crust and crum, broil it upon a Gridiron, that it be thoroughly toasted;
scrape off the black burning on the out-side; then soak it thoroughly in
Vinegar, and put this lump of tost into your Posnet to stew with  it, which
before you serve it up, melt a good lump of Butter (as much as  a great egg)
till it grow red; then take it from the fire, and put to it a little fine
flower to thicken it (about a couple of spoonfulls) like thick pap. Stir them
very well together; then set them on the fire again, till it grow red, stirring
it all the while; then put to it a ladle-ful of the liquor of the pot, and let
them stew a while together to incorporate, stirring it always. Then pour this
to the whole substance in the Posnet to incorporate with the liquor, and so let
them stew a while together. Then pour it out of the Posnet  into your dish,
meat and all; for it will be so tender, it will not endure taking up piece by
piece with your hand. If you find the taste not quick enough, put into this
juyce of the half Limon you reserved. For I should have said, that when you put
in the herbs, you squeese in also the juyce of half a Limon (pared fro the
yellow rind, which else would make it bitter) and the pared an squeesed (half
the substance) into it afterwards. The last things (of Butter, Bread, Flower)
cause the liaison and thickening of the liquor. If this should not be enough,
you may also put a little gravy of mutton into it stirring it well when it is
in, lest it curdle in stewing; or you may put the yolk of an egg or two to
your liasion, of Butter, Flower and a ladleful of Broth.

For gravy of mutton, Rost a juycy leg o Mutton three quarter. Then gash it in
several places, and press out the juyce by a screw-press.

Our Version: (Serves 8)
5 cups water
2 lb. stew beef
1 lemon
1 cup fresh Italian parsley, minced
1/4 onion, minced
2 T fresh chives (optional)
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 lemon
2 turnips, cubed
2 carrots, cubed
1/4 loaf of bread
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
4 T butter
4 T flour

Put meat into a large pot with the water. Heat to a hard boil and remove any
scum that comes to the surface.
Add the parlsey, onion, chives, pepper, cloves, and salt. Peel the lemon,
making sure to remove all the white rind. Squish the juice into the stew, then
throw the peeled, squished lemon corpse into the pot.
Cover and return to a boil. Turn the heat down to a medium simmer and simmer
for three hours. Add the turnips and carrots. Return to a boil, cover and
continue to simmer.
Meanwhile, take the hunk of bread and toast well (350o oven for about 10
minutes), scrape off any black corners and soak in the vinegar.  Throw the hunk
of bread into the stew and continue to simmer until the crust separates, about
15 minutes. Remove and discard the crust.
In a large skillet, melt the remaining butter. Stir in the remaining flour and
stir until brown and bubbly. Add three ladles of stew broth and stir, making
sure there's no lumps.  Dump the resulting gravy into the stew, and boil
uncovered 15 minutes more, until thickened slightly.
Adjust salt and pepper as needed.


Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 09:04:38 -0400
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: SC - An Ordinary Potage

We did this one for the Friday night traveller's fare for our last
Midwinter Arts and Sciences.  We posted the documentation for this one
and for the Bruette Saake (from 2 15th Century), along with the Barley
Potttage we did, and everyone was blown away that Friday night's food was
1)delicious 2)documented 3) entered in the next day's competition!  Argue
that Digbie is out of period if you will, but this is definately Beef
Stew.
        Christianna

>From "The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt.
Opened: etc"  Pub. posthumously by his son, 1669.  Pg. 124
An Ordinary Potage

Take the fleshy and sinewy part of a leg of Beef, crag-ends of necks of
Veal and Mutton.  Put them in a ten quarts pot, and fill it up with water.
Begin to boil about six a clock in the Morning, to have your potage ready
by Noon.  When it is well skimmed, put in two or three large Onions in
quarters, and half a loaf (in one lump) of light French bread, or so much
of the bottom crust of a Venison Pasty; all which will be at length clean
dissolved in the broth.  In due time season it with Salt, a little
Pepper, and a very few Cloves.  Likewise at a fit distance, before it be
ended boiling, put in store of good herbs, as in Summer, Borrage,
Bugloss, Purslain, Sorel, Lettice, Endive, and what else you like; in
Winter, Beetes,  Endive, Parsley-roots, Cabbage, Carrots, whole Onions,
Leeks, and what you can get or like, with a little Sweet-marjoram and
exeeding  little Thyme.  Order it so that the broth be very strong and
good.  To which end you mnay after four hours (or three) boil a Hen or
Capon in it; light French-bread sliced, must be taken about noon, and
tosted a little before the fire, or crusts of crisp new French-bread; lay
it in a dish, and pour some of the broth upon it, and let it stew a while
upon a Chafing-dish.  Then pour in more Broth, and if you have a Fowl,
lay it upon the bread in the broth, and fillit up with broth, and lay the
herbs and roots all over and about it, and let it stew a little longer,
and serve it up covered, after you have squeesed some juyce of Orange or
Limon, or put some Verjuyce into it.  Or you may  beat two or three Eggs,
with part of the broth, and some Verjuyce, or juyce of Orange, and then
mingle it with the rest of the broth.

Barley Potage  (page 125)

Take half a pound of French-barley, and wash it in three or four
hot-waters; then tye it up in a course linnen-cloth and strike it five or
six blows against the table; for this will make it very tender.  Put it
into such a pot full of meat and water, as is said int he ordinary
potage, after it is skimmed; and season this with Salt, Spice, Marjoram,
and Thyme, as you did the other.  An hour before you take it from the
fire, put into it a pound of the best Raisins of the Sun well washed; at
such a distance of time, that they may be well plumped and tender, but
not boiled to mash.  When the broth is enough boiled and consumed, and
very strong, pour some of it upon sliced dry bread in a deep potage-dish,
or upon crusts, and let it stew a while.  Then pour on all the rest of
the broth, with the barley and Raisins, upon a Capon or Hen, or piece of
Mutton or Veal; and let it mittonner a while upon the Chafing-dish, then
serve it in.


Subject: Re: SC - For Submission to the Chronus
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 01:39:50 EDT
From: Mordonna22 at aol.com
To: stefan at texas.net

stefan at texas.net writes:
<<
 May I get a copy of the first for inclusion in the Florilegium?
  >>

From Mordonna's Kitchen
by Mordonna the Cook

From “ANCIENT COOKERY - From A MS. In The Library Of The Royal Society -
Arundel Collection, no. 344 p. 175 - 445” as found in A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks first compiled by Duke Cariadoc of the Bow and The
Duchessa Diana Alena with later additions by several hands. Sixth edition, volume I. Copyright 1991 by David Freidman.

This MS is dated 1740, and claims to be a copy of a MS from an early 15th
century text found in the Library of the Royal Society.

Stewet Beef to Potage.
p. 432-435, no. 306

Take faire ribbes of beeff, or elles take other gode beef, and smyte hit on
peces, and wash hit clene and do hit in a pot, and put therto a lytel watur, and a gode dele wyne and take onyons ynogh, and mynce hom, and do therto, and gode herbes, cut hem smal and put therto: and take bred stepet in brothe, and draw hit thurgh a streynour, and do hit therto, and coverr hit wel, and let hit wel sethe: and do therto poudre of cloves and maces, and colour wyth saunders: and in the settyngs down do therto a lytel vynegur medelet wyth pouder of canel;, and serve hit forthe, and do therto raisynges of Corance.

My translation:
Take fair ribs of beef, or else take other good beef, and smite it in pieces,
and wash it clean and do it in a pot, and put thereto a little water, and a good deal of wine; and take onions enough, and mince them, and do thereto, and good herbs, cut them small and put thereto; and take bread steeped in broth, and draw it through a strainer, and do it thereto, and cover it well,  and let it well seethe; and do thereto powder of cloves and mace, and color it with saunders; and in the setting down do thereto a little vinegar meddled with powder of
cinnamon, and serve it forth, and do thereto raisins of Corinth.

My redaction:
2 lbs. boneless round roast, cut into 1” pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
2 cups sweet red wine
1 large onion, chopped fine, or minced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped fine
4 slices wheat bread
1/4 cup beef broth or bouillon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1 teaspoon saunders powder (red sandalwood)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins

Wash beef, and place in a large Dutch oven or heavy saucepan.   Add salt, water, wine, onions, and parsley.  Process bread in food processor until ground fine, add broth.  Add to pot with beef.  Cover.  Let boil 30 to 45 minutes.  Add cloves, mace, saunders.  Remove from fire and add vinegar and cinnamon.  Serve with raisins sprinkled over the top.

Comments:
I added salt, although the original does not mention it, because many early recipes do not mention salt because “everybody knows you add salt.” and this savory dish would seem to need a bit of salt.   Next time I do it, I’ll probably add the raisins to the pot a few minutes before removing from heat.

end


Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 09:07:13 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - um, LONG:  Meat Brewets & the cooking of meat

lorix at trump.net.au writes:
<< For those who have made Bruet dishes, what was the consistency and presentation used? >>

Bruets vary considerable from one to another. For instance the Leek Bruet was
more like a thin cream soup with pieces of salt pork floating about in it
whereas the George Bruet (recipe to come) is basically parboiled then fried
chicken with a thick sauce poured over top. I don't think there is a specific
way bruets are made. Meat and sauce (thick or thin) would be the closest
description I could offer.

Ras


Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 09:47:51 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Recipe 5-Weekend of Wisdom

GEORGÉ BRUET (Parsley-laced Soup)
This dish was very well received with only one piece of chicken being uneaten
by a vegetarian. I had thought that the liver and blood might be a problem
but no one commented prior to service and there were only good things said
about the dish after service.
(from Le Manegier de Paris. Translation by Janet Hinson)
Redaction copyright 1999 L. J. Spencer, Jr.
Makes 8 servings.

ORIGINAL RECIPE: George Soup, Parsley-laced Soup. Take poultry cut into
quarters, veal, or whatever meat you wish cut into pieces, and put to boil
with bacon; and to one side have a pot, with, blood, finely minced onions
which you should cook or fry in it. Have also bread browned on the grill,
then moisten it with stock from your meat and wine, then grind ginger,
cinnamon, long pepper, saffron, clove and grain and the livers, and grind
them up so well that there is no need to sift them: and moisten with
verjuice, wine and vinegar. And when the spices are removed from the mortar,
grind your bread, and mix with what it was moistened with, and put it through
the sieve, and add spices and leafy parsley if you wish, all boiled with the
blood and the onions, and then fry your meat. And this soup should be brown
as blood and thick like 'soringe.'

Note that always you must grind the spices first; and with soups, you do not
sift the spices, and afterwards you grind and sieve the bread.

Note that this is only called parsley-laced soup when parsley is used, for as
one speaks of 'fringed with saffron,' in the same way one speaks of 'laced
with parsley'; and this is the manner in which cooks talk.

8 Chicken quarters
4 slices Bacon, diced
2 Chicken livers
2 Onions, finely minced
1 T Cooking fat (e.g. lard)
* cp. Blood
1 slice Bread, toasted dark
* cp. Chicken stock
* cp. Red Wine
* tsp. Long pepper, ground
* tsp. True cinnamon, ground
1/8 tsp. Cloves, ground
1 pinch Saffron, ground
* tsp. Grains of Paradise, ground
1 T Verjuice
1 T Red wine
1 T Wine Vinegar
* cp. Italian parsley (leaves only)
* tsp. Black pepper, ground
* cp. Lard

In a large pot, cover chicken and bacon with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce
heat to medium. Cook until chicken is tender but not falling apart or until
flesh turns white. Remove chicken from stock. Continue boiling the stock
until it is reduced by half.

In another pot, sauté onions in fat until transparent and tender. Whisk in
blood. Continue cooking on low.

Mash liver and put through a sieve.

Mash parsley.

Moisten bread in * cp. of stock and * cp. red wine.
Moisten long pepper, cinnamon, cloves, saffron, grains of paradise and black
pepper in 1 T red wine, verjuice and vinegar.

Mash bread mixture and force through a strainer.

Mix liver into onion mixture. Mix blood into liver mixture, stirring
continuously. Add parsley.  Mix in bread mixture and spice mixture. Simmer,
stirring continuously for 5 min.

Brown chicken in lard.

Serve chicken with sauce poured over top.

Ras


Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 19:34:37 -0600
From: Mike  Young <uther at lcc.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Cooking Champions of Ansteorra

I was thrilled to have been chosen to represent Ansteorra with a period
recipe at the Gulf War this year.  The new spices I received for this from
World Spice in Seattle I beleive made the big difference.  The stew was
really tasty.
Beef Stew
redacted by HL Gwyneth Blackrose

2 lbs. stew meat
1 large onion
8 cups water
1/2 tsp. grain of paradise, crushed
1/2 tsp. mace powder
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
15 cubebs, crushed
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1.c bread crumbs(I used a period bread recipe and made these)
3 tblsps. red wine vinegar
2 beef bouillon cubes
pinch of saffron

Brown meat and set aside.  Bring water, bouillon, spices and onion to a boil.
Cook until onions are somewhat transparent.  Soak bread in vinegar and
strain through a strainer, stirring into mixture.  Add beef and cook until
thick.  Serve hot.

Beef stew is a simple dish but I had never played with cubebs or grains of
paradise before so I did a lot of experimenting to get it the way I wanted it.
I used texts from "Take a Thousand Eggs" - Harleian MS. 279 and "Pleyn
Delit" Harleian MS. 4016 as sources.

What I really want to do at the War is do the cooking over an open fire.

gwyneth


Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 04:27:27 +0100
From: Thomas Gloning <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: SC - Beef Stew With Vegetables!!!

<< I want the recipe!!!!!!! >>

"De carnibus uero uaccinis uaporatas factas et in sodinga coctas
utendum, etiam et in iuscello, ut prius expromatas una unda
mittat, et sic in nitida aqua, quantum ratio poscit, coquantur, ut non
addatur aqua, et cum cocta fuerit caro, mittis acetum acerrimum quantum
media bucula, et mittis capita porrorum et puledium modicum,
apii radicis uel finiculum, et coquat in una hora, et sic addis mel
quantum medietatem de aceto uel quis dulcedinem habere uoluerit,
et sic coquat lento foco agetando ipsa olla frequenter manibus,
et bene ius cum carne ipsa temperetur, et sic teri: piper grana L,
costo et spicanardi per singula quantum medietatem solidi, et cariofili
quantum pinsat tremissis I. ista omnia simul trita bene in mortario
fictile addito uino modico, et cum bene tribulatum fuerit, mittis in
olla et agetas bene ita, ut, antequam tollatur de foco, modicum sentiat
et remittat in ius uirtutem suam. ubi tamen fuerit mel aut sapa uel
carenum,
unum de ipsis, sicut superius contenit, mittatur, et in bucculare
non coquat, sed in olla fictile meliorem saporem facit."
(Source: Anthimus: De observatione ciborum ad Theodoricum regem
Francorum epistula, ed. Eduard Liechtenhan, Berlin 1963, p. 4f., =
Corpus medicorum latinorum VIII/1)

Thomas


Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2000 22:55:25 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Beef Stew With Vegetables!!!

Thomas Gloning wrote: 
> (Source: Anthimus: De observatione ciborum ad Theodoricum regem
> Francorum epistula, ed. Eduard Liechtenhan, Berlin 1963, p. 4f., =
> Corpus medicorum latinorum VIII/1)
> 
> Thomas

May I ask a favor? In section 34, on afrutum or spumeum, what, besides
juice or broth, goes into the bottom of the pan? The Mark Grant
translation uses a MS that uses the word "hygrogario", which he
translates as "diluted fish sauce", presumably with water. I believe
another source uses the word "hydrogario", which really ought, I
believe, to be garum or liquamen diluted with water. Still other Latin
originals use "megroario", having apparently lost the "g" in "garum",
while others use egregario (suggesting garum mixed with vinegar, as
would be oxygarum, which also implies vinegar, as in oxymel). One
source, the one sent to me by HG Cariadoc, unfortunately lacks
attribution as to editorship, and IIRC it uses the word "oenogaro",
which would refer to garum diluted with wine.

Now, garum overall is mentioned twice in Anthimus; once it is mentioned
as being more or less prohibited (by Anthimus) as medically inadvisable,
and later it is mentioned in one sauce recipe, diluted with _something_. 

Do you have an opinion as to which word might appear in a hypothetical
Ur-text? I mean, I'm cooking this stuff, so I ought to have some idea...
;  ) .

Adamantius


Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 14:43:05 +0100
From: Thomas Gloning <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: SC - Beef Stew With Vegetables!!!

Adamantius asked me:
<< In section 34, on afrutum or spumeum [in Anthimus] ... Do you have an
opinion as to which word might appear in a hypothetical Ur-text? I mean,
I'm cooking this stuff, so I ought to have some idea... ;  ) . >>

Difficult question! Liechtenhan puts "in egrogario" in his text, thereby
following Karl Mras: Anthimus und andere lateinische ƒrzte im Lichte der
Sprachforschung. In: Wiener Studien 61/62 (1943-47) 98-117, here 116ff.)

The apparatus criticus mentions some variation in the codices, all these
word forms seem more or less corrupt:
- -- megroario (G = a St. Gallen codex from the 9th century)
- -- in egroario (A = a 17th century London codex, that is based on a 9th
century codex; P = a Paris codex from the 11th century)
- -- in egroao, with deleted "ri" (?) (H = a 10th century codex now in
Paris)
- -- in egrario l (l = a London codex from the 11th century)
- -- in egruario (g = another St. Gallen codex)

Thus, it seems that "in egrogario" is an emendation. Liechtenhan's Index
says: "egrogarium: i.q. hygrog·rion pro hydrog·rion Mras 116 ...". That
means, "hygrogarion" etc. does not appear in any of the old codices, but
is an attempt of a modern editor to give a reason for an emendation and
to make sense of the strange word forms of the codices. The version
"oenogarum" is an emendation that Valentin Rose (an important scholar of
dietetics) gave in his early 1870 edition. Thus, "oenogarum" too is an
attempt of this 19th century editior to make sense of the forms of the
codices.

The Thesaurus Linguae Latinae only mentions "egroarium" as a "vox dub.",
a doubtful word with the quotation from Anthimus.

In this case, it seems best to me to follow Liechtenhan and Mras. After
all, the recipe seems to be of Greek origin ("Afratus Graece ..."):
according to Liechtenhan's Index "afrutum" or "afrutus" goes back to
greek "aphroton".

Liechtenhan in his translation into German says: "in einem mit Wasser
zubereiteten Fischbrei". (If the latin text of Liechtenhan or his German
translation would be of help in the matter, let me know.) Not diluted
garum, but sort of a paste!

There is another aspect that might be important: later on in the recipe
there are alternatives mentioned: "tamen solimus et de pisce bono in
ipsa opera admiscere" (something like 'however, we also use to put good
fish into this dish'). "tamen" signifies a contrast. To make sense of
this passage I think we must assume either (1) that there is no fish in
the dish at all (the contrast being fish/no fish), or (2) that
egrogarium is made from fishes that are not so "good" or not so
expensive (the contrast being good and expensive/not so good and not so
expensive). -- The version (2) seems plausible to me.

"aphratum" is also mentioned in Isidor of Sevilla's chapter on dishes:
"Aphratum, quod Latine spumeum vocatur; aphrÚs enim Graece spuma
dicitur" (20.2.29), but there is nothing else mentioned that might be of
help.

Then, there is a passage in another early medical writer, Alexander
Trallianus, where the word "aphraton" is used in some connection with
fish, but there is dispute whether or not this passage has something to
do with the Anthimus-passage (Moriz Haupt, Opuscula III 587 says yes,
the people of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae say no). I won't touch this
question.

To sum up: the editors and philologist made some effort to make sense of
the somewhat corrupt word forms in the codices. The best proposal to me
seems "egrogarium" that seems to go back to greek "hygrog·rion" or
"hydrog·rion". And that seems to signifie something like a fish paste of
the not so expensive garum-fishes ("ein mit Wasser zubereiteter
Fischbrei"). According to AndrÈ, greek "g·ros (g·ron)" was used for the
fishes and the category of fish, that garum was made of. garum/liquamen
diluted with water would be much more liquid than a paste.

Have fun (and mistrust everything I say)!
I am very much looking forward to your report of the event,

Thomas


Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 16:46:44 -0400
From: "Barbara Sall" <socha at epix.net>
Subject: SC - Kid's recipes

I am not sure where I got this recipe.  A friend of mine had alot of period
cookbooks and I copied what sounded good to me.

Casserole of Pork
Serves 6 - 8
2 lbs boneless pork, cubed
1/2 cup smoked ham, diced
4 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons butter
2 cups  chicken stock
2 cups red wine
12 white onions
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 slice bread
1 Tablespoon vinegar

Put the stock, wine, onions and seasonings in a stock pot.  Toss the pork
and ham in the flour and brown in butter.  Add them to the stock mix.
Simmer for 1 1/2 hours over medium low heat.  Stir occasionally.  Remove the
onions and puree them.  Return them to the pot and cook for another 1/2
hour.  Soak the bread in vinegar, puree it and add to stew to thicken.  Cook
for 10 minutes more and serve.

I usually do not puree the onions and I decrust the bread.  I do recommend
that you decrease the amount of wine and vinegar.  How much I am not sure.
I have not experimented with it yet.  If I come up with any other recipes
that she likes, I will put them up under Kid's recipes.  How soon do you
need them?  Have fun.

Kirsten


Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 16:54:15 -0400
From: Patrick Levsque <pleves1 at po-box.mcgill.ca>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] need recipe
To: "Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>"
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

All right If you want something that can feed about 2 dozens, try this:

(from the Romanian cookbook, still in the Florilegium as well. A bit  
OOP, but who cares, it's yummy!)

Veal breast and ribs. Make veal breast stewed with meat stock, with lard
bits or butte, cloves, nutmeg, a little pepper, salt, a glass of white
wine, turnips chopped small, whole umbrella nuts, dry plums and dry
cherries.

This is basically a stew. It is added later in the book that you can
substitute beef for veal (therefore reducing the cost). I personnally
recommend cooking it on an open fire, with a good, fragrant wood (like apple
wood). You'll have to make sure the stew doesn't stick to the bottom and
burn. Substitute pine nuts for umbrella nuts and it will work just fine
(it's verysimilar - see previous discussion).


I don't give any proportions because, 1, people say I have no sense of
proportion :-)) and 2, I generally add the quantities I feel appropriate at
any given moment. You can fiddle with it anyway you want. Lots of nuts and
cherries is always good, though.

I served this for our Household at a camping event in June and it worked
very well.

Petru


Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 07:15:05 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
	<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] pottage?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Also sprach Stefan li Rous:
> So, what is a good definition of a "pottage"? What are the dividing
> lines between a pottage, a stew, a bruit, a porridge and a soup?

Oy! Always he wants the straight, simple answers to complicated
kvest... I mean questions.

The short answer is there are no dividing lines between those dishes
so named, or rather, the names have denoted increasingly broadened
sets over time, to the point where there's been considerable blurring
of the "lines" and overlapping of the categories.

Mostly what we can fall back on is the original, dictionary
definition of each word, as determined when the dictionary entries
were written and/or back-determined, if you know what I mean.

So. A pottage, depending on who you talk to, is either a dish cooked
in a pot, or a dish sufficiently liquid to drink (as in potable). You
eat it with a spoon. The Larousse Gastronomique defines a potee as
anything cooked in an earthenware pot, and I was taught that to the
French, a potage (with one "t") is a soup with a phase of thin to
semi-thick liquid with solids in it, anything from, say, minestrone
to New England Clam Chowder. In Middle English I'd say a pottage is
anything you eat with a spoon or drink, as opposed to something you
eat with a knife -- IOW, there is a clear distinction between
lechemeats and pottages, but just to make sure Stefan is confused,
roasts can be cut up and sauced or recooked to make pottages ;-).

A stew is pretty straightforward. With a surprisingly small number of
exceptions (i.e. bouillabaisse), stews are denoted by slow, gentle
cooking, usually of tough meats and wintry vegetables. Similar to
braising. The name appears to refer to a cooking method and, perhaps,
a related piece of equipment, the use of a fire whose temperature can
be kept low and burn slowly and long, later using a firebox called a
stove. Estouffade and etouffee are essentially stews, both in concept
and etymology.

A brewet? It's brewed, I guess. I'm not sure if the medieval
distinction between it and other slow-cooked liquid foods is any more
clear, but maybe it's a tradition derived from saying the same thing
in two different languages, which is something you run across a lot
in medieval England. Hieatt and Butler aren't much help; their
glossary in Curye On Inglysch says a brewet or a bruet is a broth, or
something cooked in it. OTOH, since broths are made by cooking things
in water, it has a dual nature as both a foundation and a by-product,
which makes the definition just a bit circular.

A porridge today denotes a grain-based dish, usually a moderately
thin gruelly stuff, at least when hot, but the name appears to
ultimately come down to leeks, from something like poree or poire in
French. In simpler terms, porrey is a leek soup, and by extension,
any of several soupy green vegetable dishes (I believe le Menagier
identifies spinach specifically as "a kind of porrey"). I suspect
that grains got added to porreys as a thickener, and over time became
the dominant ingredient.

Soups are dishes of liquidy stuff poured over sops of bread, usually,
but not always, toasted. Mostly they were (back in the days when sops
were involved) relatively thin, but as always, the exception
sometimes proves the rule.

So, as I said earlier in my rant on the blurred lines, all of the
above are pottages (but not necessarily potages ;-) ), and some are
soups, in addition to whatever else they may be.

Adamantius


Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 09:15:04 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] pottage, soup, et al
To: ooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Michael Dixon wrote:
> Stew refers to the cooking method, stewing, originally "bathe in a
 steam bath," from O.Fr. estuver "bathe, stew," (of uncertain origin,
> possibly from V.L. *extufare "evaporate" ).
>
> snipped
>
> Toki Redbeard

Stew isn't all that clear-cut--
stew stiu, sb.3 Sc. and north. [Of obscure etymology. The sense hstory
of stew  sb.2 and
the related vb. seems to exclude the possibility of connexion with those
words. From the similarity of sense, the word has been supposed to be
cognate with (M)Dutch, LG. stof, OHG. stoup (mod.G. staub), Da. stv,
dust; but the phonoogical possibility of this has not been shown. ]

It's meant things like:

Suffocating vapour, stench, or clouds of dust.

      1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 614 Sic ane stew raiss owth thame then Of
       aynding, bath of hors and men.

Stew at one time refered to the pond in which fish were kept--

in stew = OF. en estui, said of fish kept in confinement, to be ready
for the table.

      C. 1386 Chaucer Prol. 350 Ful many a fat partrich hadde he in
       Muwe, And many a Breem, and many a luce in Stuwe.

Avessel for boiling, a caldron. Obs.

      C. 1305 Land Cokaygne 109 Þe leuerokes.;Li/enticons/yogh.giftiþ
       adun to man is muþ Idi/enticons/yogh.gift in stu ful swiþe wel
       Pudrid wiþ gilofre and canel;

also it was  A heated room; a room with  fireplace.

      C. 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 601 Troylus..myght it se Thurgh out a
       lytel wyndowe in a stuwe, Ther he by-shet syn myd-nyght was [in] 
mewe.

The modern meaning in the noun sense may be 18th century---

A preparation of meat slowlyboiled in a stew-pan, generally containing
vegetables, rice, etc.

     1756 Mrs. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitl. Club) 252 They
       can dress..upon this stove, a roast, a boill, a fry, a stew and a
       bake.

As a verb--
stew, v.1 Obs. Also3 steowien. [Early ME. steowi, stewe (the compound
wiðstewe occurs C. 1175 Lamb. Hom. 15), perh. repr. OE. *steowan:-WGer.
*stawwjan (3 sing. *stawiþ), whence MLG., MHG. stöuwen, stauwen to
check, restrain, hinder, mod.G. stauen to dam up. ] trans. To chek,
restrain.

     C. 1205 Lay. 6266 And he sette stronge lawen to steowien his folke

also as a verb--

trans. To bathe in a hot bath or a vapour bath.

     * C. 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 69 Aftir þat stewe þe
       with stewynge couenableto þe tyme, for þat mekyl profytes;

2. Cooking.

a. trans. To boil slowly in a close vessel; to cook (meat, fruit, etc.)
in a liquid kept at the simmering-point.

     C. 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 14 Stue thy peions thus thou schalle.

Also

intr. Of mea, fruit, etc.: To undergo stewing; to be cooked by slow
boiling in a closed vessel. Also (of an infusion of tea, etc.), to
`stand' on the leaves, etc. Also transf., of the pot containing it.

     1594 Gd. Huswifes Handmaid Kitchin 1 Let them [Turneps, et.] stew
       till they be verie tender.

There are also some uses where as a verb it meant close up in a bed or
stink with sweat.
This was all from OED.

Johnna


Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 06:19:36 -0800 (PST)
From: Louise Smithson <helewyse at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Mace and Must Substitute
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

<snip>
Second, i noticed bottles of "grape molasses" next to the bottles of
"pomegranate molasses".
<snip>.
So, anyway, anyone needing must for Greco-Roman or other cuisine, try
your local Near Eastern market fo "grape molasses" - or just soak
raisins in water, squeeze 'em good, and use the liquid.


I have used the grape molasses sucessfully in feast situations to  
substitute for grape must, it adds a sweet grape flavor without the  
cost.  It isn't identical as it is far more concentrated than grape  
must and hasn't been aged.  But it makes a good substitute.  Add some  
to your pot roast next time you make some, it also goes great in beef  
or venison stews.  Here is a recipe from scappi for just that dish.

Beef stew in the German style. Recipe 12 Chapter 2 Scappi

Take the loin from a fat animal and take the part of the muscle from  
the shoulder and the fat with it. And clean it from the nerves and skin  
and wash it with wine, vinegar and water and put it into a stewing pot  
with pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. Add pieces of ham or  
pork jowl that aren’t rancid. Pass the wash liquid through a sieve and  
add it to the pot along with some grape must. After it has rested for  
four hours in this marinade cover the pot and seal it with pastry and  
let it cook very slowly for two hours. And when it is nearly cooked add  
raisins and cherries and let it finish cooking. When it is cooked it  
should be served hot with the same sauce above. One can also cook with  
this whole onions that have first been roasted on the grill or  
parboiled in water. In the same way you can prepare the tip of the  
breast and the shoulder and the leg of the said animal after you have  
cut it in more pieces. With this dish in the winter on can also cook  
quail, pheasant and other wild birds.


(Note: this recipe originally calls for beef as the meat, however the  
recipe for venison states that it may be cooked in whatever way is  
appropriate for beef).

Recipe

Ingredients

1 l venison round steak
1 teaspoon spice blend from Scappi (consists of cinnamon, cloves,  
nutmeg, ginger, grains of paradise, saffron and sugar)
1 teaspoon salt.
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup grape must
1 onion
1 ounce each currants and cherries

Method

Make the marinade by blending the spices and liquid ingredients. Put  
the venison to marinade for at least one hour. Meanwhile slice and  
parboil the onions. Put all ingredients except the dried fruit into a  
heavy bottomed pan and cook on a low flame for 1 1/2 hours. Add the  
dried fruit and cook for a further 10 minutes. Allow to cool in the  
juice then reduce the stock to thicken. Serve warm.


Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 20:14:09 EST
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Foods for Begining SCA Cooks
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

SilverR0se at aol.com writes:
<<Does anyone have any suggestions for good foods to introduce to  newbies?
The recipes must be able to be made the night before and served  room  
Temperature or cold. >>

I have successfully used "Drye Stewe for Beeff" for such a purpose.  It's
effectively pot roast, using wine as the liquid, and putting diced onions,
whole cloves, blade mace, and ground pepper on top of the meat while cooking.
Bloody easy to make.  It's from a 15th century English  manuscript known as
"Arundel".

Take a fair urthen pot, and lay hit well with splentes in the bothum that
the flessh neight hit not; then take rybbes of beef or faire leches, and  couche
hom above the splentes, and do therto onyons mynced, and clowes, and maces,
and pouder of pepur and wyn, and stop hit well that no eyre goo oute, and
sethe hit wyth esy fyre.

Brangwayna Morgan


Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 09:28:44 -0800
From: Susan Fox <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Foods for Begining SCA Cooks
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> This recipe sounds great, but what are "splentes"?
> Renata

Splints.  You put it pieces of wood in the pot to keep the meat from
actually touching the bottom and burning.  Modern equivalent could be
one of those steaming baskets.  Although come to think of it, a nice
citrus or stone-fruit wood, still green, might add something to the
flavor.  If you want to try it with fresh plum, orange or lemon branches
I can arrange that.

Selene C.


Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 12:37:33 EST
From: SilverR0se at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Foods for Begining SCA Cooks
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Ah, now it is clear why it is called a "Drye" stew! I appreciate your  
Offer of wood, but I will try it first in a steamer.

Renata ::not always brave when faced with a new recipe...::


Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 10:04:59 -0800
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Foods for Begining SCA Cooks
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

>> This recipe sounds great, but what are "splentes"?
>> Renata
>
> Splints.  You put it pieces of wood in the pot to keep the meat from
> actually touching the bottom and burning.  Modern equivalent could
> be one of those steaming baskets.  Although come to think of it, a
> nice citrus or stone-fruit wood, still green, might add something to
> the flavor.  If you want to try it with fresh plum, orange or lemon
> branches I can arrange that.

Plum is possible--I think we can be pretty sure that English cooks in
the 15th century didn't have ready access to orange or lemon branches.

What struck me about the recipe was that it sounded rather like capon
y-stewed, with beef substituted for poultry.

Also that it sounded good.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com


Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:57:08 -0400
From: Patrick Levesque <petruvoda at videotron.ca>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Dikabrika
To: "Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>"
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Decided to work from Perry's new translation of a Baghdad Cookery Book
tonight, and I happened to have all the ingredients for that dish. I don't
feel too comfortable copying the translation straight out (would Charles
Perry mind?), but it's easy to find in PPC #79 (ask Devra :-))

So here goes my interpretation:

1 pound veal cubes
1 leek
2 onions
1 handful of coarsely chopped fresh coriander
1 teaspoon powdered coriander seeds
9 ounces canned chickpeas (don¹t keep the dry stuff here as I rarely  
cook with them)
1/4 cup soy sauce (instead of murri, presumably; I have to venture in  
the Arab market one of these days to see if I can find real murri)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar.
Salt, pepper

It's actually a pretty straightforward recipe, although I adapted some of it,
and I don't know how much I would stray from period techniques in so  
doing.

Basically, I browned the veal cubes in olive oil, took them out, added the
onions and leeks for a couple of minutes, added back the meat, covered with
water and added the coriander (fresh and dry) and the chickpeas, as well as
salt and pepper.

Brought everything to a boil, added the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar.
Brought to a boil again, covered, and simmered for 90 minutes, with the last
20 minutes uncovered to boil down the sauce.

The text calls for some mixed spice near the end, which I didn't add, but I
believe a little bit of cardamom wouldn't be too bad in this case.

Once it has boiled down, the sauce is actually quite thick. This is really
unexpensive and easy to prepare, and would make a wonderful sideboard dish,
IMHO. It wasn't really sour (for a recipe that is in the 'sour dishes'
section) but then again, I didn't put in that much vinegar. Add more if
you're partial to the sharp taste. Go easy on the salt, though. It's salty
enough with the soy sauce.

Petru


Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:53:25 -0600
From: Michael Gunter <dookgunthar at hotmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Egredouce - i.e. Glop

Here is the version of Egredouce I made as part of my A&S project. Sorry that it isn't in modern recipe format, I'll try to simplify it a bit. Not putting in modern recipe format cost me a couple of points at the Gulf Wars A&S Champion competition.  :-)

Take Porke or Beef, whether the likey, & leche it thinne thwerte; then broyle it brouna litel, & then mynce it lyke Venyson; choppe it in sewe, then caste it in a potte & do ther-to Freyssh brothe; take Erbis, Onynonys, Percely & Sawge, & other gode erbis, then lye it vppe with brede; take Pepir & Safroun, pouder Canel, Vynegre, or Eysel Wyne, Brothe an Salt, & let yet boyle to-gederys, tylle they ben y-now, & than serue it forth rennyng.

My reading:
Take pork or beef, whichever you prefer, and slice it thin crosswise; then broil it brown a little, and then mince it like Venison; chop it in the drippings and then put it into a pot and add fresh broth (light chicken broth); take herbs, onions, parsley and sage and other good herbs, then thicken it with bread; take pepper and saffron, cinnamon, vinegar or else wine, broth and salt, and let it boil together, until they be cooked enough and then serve it forth hot.

I took sirloin steaks and broiled them while basting them with cinnamon and butter.  I had researched basting sauces for various meats and found beef to be basted with either plain water or cinnamon and butter. I used some of the drippings from to cook green peas in for another portion of my meal.

Once cooked I chopped up the meat and basting juices and added chicken broth. Then I added minced onions, parsley, sage, oregano, basil and rosemary and brought it to a boil. Then breadcrumbs were added with black pepper, cinnamon, saffron and red wine vinegar to taste. Then cooked it down a bit until everything kind of came together.

It was thick, gloppy, ugly and really tasty. I tried disguising it by topping with minced parsley but it didn't help much.

Gunthar 			  		 


Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:05:04 -0600
From: Michael Gunter <dookgunthar at hotmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Egredouce - i.e. Glop

<<< I'm getting the aigre part -- vinegar, but where's the douce? I think
this is the first egredouce I've ever seen that doesn't have a
sweetening agent... I believe most of the recipes I've seen have been
for sort of sweet-and-sour dried-fruit chutney sauce over fried fish or
meat. >>>

I fully agree and was rather confused about that as well.
The recipe comes from Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks p. 31/58

I keep wondering if this was a simple pottage and mis-titled.
I'd like to find the real name but I'll keep making it.

<<< Adamantius (away from his desk right now, but later) >>>

Gunthar 			  		 

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