pastries-msg

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pastries-msg – 5/4/08

Medieval pastries. Recipes.

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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.

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Thank you,

Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous

Stefan at florilegium.org

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From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 17:55:13 -0400

Subject: Re: SC - Regional cooking

ND Wederstrandt wrote:

> What's a cuskynole?

A cuskynole is a kind of filled pastry: various fresh and dried fruits

mixed with chopped nuts are wrapped in what might be a pasta dough,

parboiled and then roasted on a gridiron. I suspect they would be

something like a cross between Fig Newtons and Chinese fried dumplings.

Recipe is in one of the 14th-century English prototypes of The Forme of

Cury, called Diversa Servicia. The language is pretty obscure when

compared to the more modern Forme of Cury, so even though there is a

diagram, I'm not sure how the filling is wrapped or sealed. I suspect

they are either done as square ravioli or as triangular turnovers, but

can't be sure.

Adamantius

From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>

Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 00:58:03 -0700 (PDT)

Subject: cuskynoles (was Re: SC - Regional cooking)

>As for me, it's those durned cuskynoles that I'm losing sleep over!

>Adamantius

The only recipe in the entire medieval corpus that comes with an

illustration, and he's still not happy with it.

The relevant part of my interpretation (from the Miscellany) is:

Roll out as two 12"x15" sheets. Cut each sheet into 10 6"x3" pieces. Spread

1 T of filling on one piece and put another piece over it, making a

sandwich of dough, filling, dough. Using the back of a thick knife, press

the edges together to seal them, then press along the lines shown in the

figure, giving a 6"x3" "cake" made up of fifteen miniature fruit filled

ravioli, joined at their edges. Boil about 4 minutes, then broil at a

medium distance from the burner about 4 minutes a side, watching to be sure

they do not burn.

That is at least consistent with the picture.

David/Cariadoc

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

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Date: Thu, 05 Jun 1997 09:00:04 -0400

Subject: Re: cuskynoles (was Re: SC - Regional cooking)

david friedman wrote:

> >As for me, it's those durned cuskynoles that I'm losing sleep over!

> >

> >Adamantius

> The only recipe in the entire medieval corpus that comes with an

> illustration, and he's still not happy with it.

Yeah, some people are never satisfied ; ).

> The relevant part of my interpretation (from the Miscellany) is:

> Roll out as two 12"x15" sheets. Cut each sheet into 10 6"x3" pieces. Spread

> 1 T of filling on one piece and put another piece over it, making a

> sandwich of dough, filling, dough. Using the back of a thick knife, press

> the edges together to seal them, then press along the lines shown in the

> figure, giving a 6"x3" "cake" made up of fifteen miniature fruit filled

> ravioli, joined at their edges. Boil about 4 minutes, then broil at a

> medium distance from the burner about 4 minutes a side, watching to be sure

> they do not burn.

> That is at least consistent with the picture.

That is pretty much what I figured on. The only problem is that the

recipe essentially forces you to indulge in a intuitive speculation: I

am quite familiar with how ravioli is made, but the problem is that the

diagram is really the only clue that the process is very similar. For

instance, no mention is made of a second piece of dough, either as a

12"x15" sheet or as a piece the size of your hand, as I believe the

recipe specifies. So, while they could be made like modern ravioli, they

could also be made as square turnovers 3" on a side, especially since

the recipe states , as well as I can recall, that each cake is a

portion. This could be interpreted as meaning that one piece of dough is

required for each.

Another possibility is that the instructions are given in the wrong

order (which happens occasionally elsewhere) and that the intent is for

the filling to be portioned out on the sheet of dough, then topped with

a second sheet, sealed around the filling, and then cut into portions

along the seals, if we want to take the ravioli comparison to its

logical conclusion.

Also, no mention is made of whether they are turned over in the roasting

process, so they could end up being along the lines of Chinese guo tie,

with one crisp side and one boiled side. I have made them with only one

crisp side and actually prefer them that way, although it's hard to tell

which is intended.

So no, in spite of the diagram, I'm not satisfied, and although your

interpretation makes sense, I think there are other avenues to explore,

which is what I've been doing, instead of (figuratively speaking)

sleeping.

Now if only we could thresh out the whole mosserouns yflorys issue, I

could die a happy man ; ).

Thanks very much for the description!

Adamantius

Date: Mon, 15 Sep 1997 07:54:28 -0400

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Subject: Re: SC - cream puff's

Kerry Romano wrote:

> So, I'm confused. Are cream puffs or at least the dough, period?

> Linneah

Technically choux paste is what is known as a panada with eggs, which

may have been eaten as some kind of pudding or porridge, since panadas

were originally bread-crumb-based (as the name suggests) porridges. The

idea of using flour instead of bread crumbs is probably at the tail end

of period, which may or may not have much relevance unless you were

thinking of boiling the stuff.

What we are pretty sure of is that baking a flour-based panada with eggs

so that it puffs up dramatically is apparently an eighteenth-century

innovation.

Puff pastry (as in laminated dough-butter amalgam), by the way, appears

to be period. Recipes appear in several English sources from the late

16th century on, and there are some earlier ambiguous recipes and

references to a pastry similar to it in some Andalusian and Spanish

sources, I believe, which seem to keep it pretty distinct from what we

call phyllo dough or barrak.

Summary: Choux paste or cream puff / eclair paste, which is really a

batter, is probably not period for practical purposes. Puff pastry dough

almost certainly is (I just found a reference to it in the Forme of

Cury, under the name Payn Puff).

Everything you never wanted to know about it...; )

Adamantius

Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 21:33:54 -0400

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Subject: Re: SC - pie beans?

Mark Harris wrote:

> What are *pie beans*? Are these some kind of special synthetic bean-like

> item made for this purpose? Or do you mean just use a pile of uncooked

> beans?

Pie beans are either any dried beans, or small aluminum pellets that are

made specifically for the purpose of putting into an empty pie shell to

help hold its shape, and hold its bottom down flat while it bakes, since

modern shortcrust pastry (which is what most piecrusts are today) has a

tendency to puff up a bit, and sometimes quite a lot, while baking, if

our friend gravity isn't kind to us. You can buy the aluminum ones (at

least I THINK they're aluminum) in the supermarket, a baking supply

store, or a five-and-dime. Regular beans come from the supermarket.

Either type is sometimes used in conjunction with an empty pie plate,

which you put inside your pie shell, and then weight down with the

beans.

> What was the medieval solution since they didn't use pie pans? Or was

> their pie dough different enough that it didn't puff up? Or did they

> not pre-cook the crust as in this redaction?

They did use pie pans, apparently, at least some of the time. The

frequent instruction is to make a coffin (a pie shell) in a trap (a pie

plate of some kind).

We're not too sure what their pie dough was like, as there are very few

period pastry recipes, especially in English, but based on its apparent

behavior, it was probably a variant on the hot-water-and lard pastry you

find English meat pies are generally made from, but often with the

addition of egg yolks, probably added during the kneading, to avoid

their being cooked by the hot lard and water. This type of pastry puffs

up a bit, but not as much as the types in which the shortening is rolled

or rubbed in, such as short crust or puff pastry, which have built-in

air pockets that are lovely places for steam to puff up the dough. Also

medieval pies were apparently baked longer, at somewhat lower

temperatures, that modern ones, so the effect would be less drastic.

Some recipes do call for the pie crust to be prebaked (they usually call

for the crust to be baked until it is hard), but many more do not. In

any case the recipes don't seem to allow for the pastry puffing up

unintentionally, so either it didn't happen, or the solution was so

obvious to period cooks it bore no mention. I honestly don't know which,

though.

Adamantius

Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 16:07:27 -0500

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

Subject: RE: SC - pickled fruit

>Bear wrote:

>>>I'll set up a rum pot this weekend in preparation for the holidays.

>This should make my fruit cakes and stollen even better.

>Could you share with us your recipe for stollen? And (just to stay on

>topic<g>) does anyone know the origin and age of same, or a similar period

>item?

>Caitlin, who loves stollen

I'll have to find the battered old recipe box, but I'll be happy to post

at least one of my stollen recipes. I have several, but two which I use

with any frequency.

There is a recipe for Banbury Cakes in Gervase Markham, The English

Hous-wife. While this is not stollen, it is a rich yeast bread of

similar composition and spicing. The chief difference is that the

Banbury Cake has the fruit kneaded into the dough and in my favorite

stollen, brown sugar and fruit are rolled in the center of three rolls

of dough and are braided.

If I can find it, I'll post that recipe also.

Bear

Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 21:32:40 -0500

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

Subject: SC - Banbury Cakes and Stollen

I haven't made the Banbury Cakes, but they look interesting. I think

there is a slightly different recipe in Elizabeth David's, English Bread

and Yeast Cookery. When I get around to experimenting, I'll use David's

redaction to compare to the one listed here.

The Banbury Cakes are closer to a recipe I have for Dresden Stollen,

than they are to this version of Weinachtsstollen. However, this is one

of the two versions I make with any regularity.

Banbury Cakes

Recipe By : Gervase Markham, The English Hous-wife

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

- -------- ------------ --------------------------------

3/4 cup light cream

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 package yeast

1/4 cup tepid water

2 egg

1 egg white

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon mace

4 1/2 cups flour, sifted

1/3 cup currants

3 tablespoons sugar, confectioner's

1 tablespoon milk

1 dash anise extract

1. In a saucepan, scald cream. Add butter, sugar and salt. Stir to

dissolve. Pour mixture into a large bowl and cool to lukewarm.

2. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water.

Lightly beat eggs and egg white together.

3. Add yeast, eggs, and spices to cream mixture.

4. In a large bowl, combine 4 cups of flour and currants, stirring

until currants are lightly coated.

5. Add flour and currants to cream mixture. Knead until dough is

smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary.

6. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a clean, moistened towel,

and set bowl in a warm place for dough to rise until doubled in bulk.

This will take about 1 1/2 hours.

7. Punch down dough; then knead it again for an additional few minutes.

8. Shape dough into 14-16 2 1/2-inch balls and place them on a greased

cookie sheet.

9. Cover "cakes" with a towel, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

10. Bake on a cookie sheet at 375 degrees about 25 minutes or until

tops are golden.

11. Remove cakes from cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack.

Optional: Mix confectioner's sugar, milk and anise extract

12. Frost with icing, if you wish.

Redaction by Sass, Lorna K.; To the Queen's Taste, pp. 114-115.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES : To make a very good Banbury Cake. Take four pounds of Currants,

and wash and picke them very cleane, and dry them in a cloth: then take

three egges and put away one yolke and beate them, and straine them with

good barme, putting thereto cloves, mace, cinamon and nutmegges: then

take a pinte of creame, and as much mornings milke and set it on the

fire until the cold bee taken away: then take flower and put in good

store of cold butter and suger. Then put in your egges, barme and meale

and worke them all together an houre or more: then save a part of the

past, and the rest breake in peeces and worke in your currants: which

done, mould your cake of what quantity you please: and then with that

past which hath not any currants cover it very thin both underneath and

aloft. And so bake it according to the bignesse.

From Gervase Markham, The English Hous-wife, as taken from Sass, Lorna

J., To the Queen's Taste; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976.

Weinachtsstollen (Christmas Bread)

Recipe By :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

- -------- ------------ --------------------------------

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup candied fruit

1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped

4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon yeast, dry active

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

2 egg

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon, ground

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup sugar, confectioner's

2 tablespoons water

If desired, soak fruit in rum or brandy for 1 hour.

Mix 1 cup flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a large bowl.

Warm milk and butter in a sauce pan to approximately 120 degrees F.

Beat milk into flour mixture.

Add eggs to the mixture and beat. While beating, add enough flour to

make a soft dough.

Knead dough for 5 to 10 minutes.

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl. Let rise until doubled (about 2

hours).

Punch down dough. Turn out on a lightly floured board.

Split dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle 5 x

18 inches. Do not roll too thin.

Brush melted butter onto each rectangle.

Mix cinnamon and nutmeg together. Sprinkle spice mix lightly onto the

buttered rectangles.

Sprinkle brown sugar onto the buttered rectangles.

Beginning about 1" in from the ends, place the fruit and nuts down the

center of the rectangles.

Fold the sides over the fruit filling, so that they overlap and press

the dough together to seal.

Place the three rolls on a greased baking sheet.

Press one end of the rolls together. Twist the rolls to form a braid.

Press the free ends together to finish the braid.

Brush the top of the loaf with melted butter.

Cover and let rise until doubled.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake until golden brown, approximately

25 minutes.

After the loaf is cool, glaze it.

Mix confectioner's sugar and water to make the glaze just before

spreading.

Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 09:48:21 -0500

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

Subject: SC - Zitronenkuchen der Fugger

While this recipe alleges to be from the Fugger family of medieval

bankers, there was no provenance or original text provided.

I have found that rolling the dough thin and baking it to a hard,

cracker-like shell produces a better end product. This was an accident

of my oven over heating. I have not tried to reproduce this accident in

my new oven.