chickpeas-msg - 4/6/13

Medieval chickpeas. Recipes.

NOTE: See also the files: peas-msg, beans-msg, fava-beans-msg, vegetables-msg, broths-msg, mashed-food-msg, MF-vegetarian-art, pea-soup-msg, soup-msg.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Thu, 7 May 1998 22:33:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: Stephen Bloch <sbloch at adl15.adelphi.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - pulentium

margali wrote:
> ... I do have a recipe for a chickpea puree based bread that is
> purported to be at least 180 years old...not in period but tasty if you
> like chick peas!

Here's one from 13th-century Andalusia.  I'm not sure whose translation
this is... might be mine....

"False" Isfiriyya (made from chick peas)

Mash some chick peas, take their shell out, and grind them into flour,
which you then put into a bowl with a bit of yeast and some egg, and
knead it together with its aromatic seasonings until it's thoroughly
mixed.  Fry it (as in the previous recipe) making it into thin cakes,
and make a sauce for them.

For comparison, here's the "previous recipe":

Simple Isfiriyya

Break however many eggs you like into a big pot and add some crumbled
yeast, in proportion to the number of eggs you have, and also some
pepper, coriander, saffron, cumin, and cinnamon.  Beat it all together,
and put it in a frying pan with oil over a moderate fire and make a
thin cake out of it, as described previously.

The recipe before THIS one calls for finely chopped meat mixed in;
roughly the same spices, and no further detailed instructions.

                                        mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
                                                 Stephen Bloch
                                           sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu


Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 12:47:00 -0600
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Bean Pie

At 12:42 PM -0500 11/10/99, Eric & Mary Ward wrote:
>I have just recently signed onto this listserv & am finding it very
>educational.  Now I have a request for the members of the list, if I
>may.
>
>I have been asked to make a 'bean pie' for a feast at our local
>Champions Event.
>I have found some recipes in modern cookbooks for it.
>What I would like to ask is:
>
>It has been requested as a dessert.  Would a bean pie be a dessert?
>Would it be considered 'period' & does anyone have a recipe?

Both of these are worked out recipes from the Miscellany

Torta from Red Chickpeas
Platina p. 142 (book 8)

Grind up red chickpeas that have been well cooked with their own
juice and with a little rosewater. When they have been ground, pass
them through a strainer into a bowl. Add a pound of almonds so ground
up that it is not a chore to pass them through the strainer, two
ounces of raisins, three or four figs ground up at the same time. And
besides this, add an ounce of pine kernels coarsely ground, and as
much sugar and rosewater as you need, and just so much cinnamon and
ginger; and blend. Put the mixture into a well-greased pan with the
pastry crust on the bottom. There are those who add starch or pike
eggs, so that this torta is more firm; when it is cooked, put it
almost above the fire to make it more colored. It should be thin and
sprinkled with sugar and rosewater.

1 15 oz can chickpeas, w/ liquid        1 oz pine nuts  (starch or pike eggs)
3/8 c water     1/2 c sugar     2 t more sugar
1 lb almonds    1/8 c rosewater a few drops more rosewater
2 oz raisins    1 t cinnamon    pastry for 2 9" pie crusts
4 figs  1/2 t ginger

Grind almonds finely, but not to dust. Chop pine nuts coarsely. Grind
chickpeas in a food processor with the liquid from the can, then
grind raisins and figs. Stir these and the sugar, rosewater, extra
water, cinnamon, and ginger together. The pie crust can be rolled out
and put on a 10"x15" cookie sheet or it can be made into two 9" pie
shells. The filling is spread on top; it will be thicker if made as
two pies. Mix extra sugar and rosewater together and sprinkle on top.
Bake 30 to 40 minutes for the cookie-sheet version, or 50-60 minutes
for the pie version, in a 375° oven until golden brown.

<snip of bean pie recipe - see beans-msg>

David Friedman
Professor of Law


Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 14:47:08 EDT
From: allilyn at juno.com
Subject: Re: SC - an interesting challenge...and its even about  medieval food! :)

Chiquart's chickpeas--vegan

76. Again syseros: and to give understanding to him who will prepare the
syseros let him take his chick-peas and pick them over grain by grain
such that there remains nothing but the chick-peas themselves, and then
wash them in three or four changes of lukewarm water and put them to
boil; and, being boiled, let him remove them from this water and put in
other fresh water and put back to boil and, being boiled put them to rest
in the said pot until the next day; and when the next day comes drain the
water off them and put in again other fresh water and put to boil with a
very little salt, almond oil, and parsley together with its roots well
picked over and cleaned -- and these roots should be scraped and very
well washed -- and a little sage. And do not put in anything else without
the doctor's order, and if he tells you to put in a little cinnamon and a
little verjuice to give it a little flavor, put them in; otherwise not.
[this differs from the following recipes by the addition of parsley,
parsley root, sage, and possibly cinnamon and verjuice]
	Using canned chick peas, drain, rinse, add fresh water, salt,
almond oil, and parsley, and parsley roots, sage.  Cinnamon and verjuice
may be added.  [possibly, if almond oil is not available, olive oil and
almond extract might be used.  If parsley roots are not available, a few
slices of parsnip will impart the ëearthyí flavor I associate with
roots.] APdeT

	This can be suggested to modern cooks who want to 'help with the
demo'.

Allison


Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 22:23:08 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Roasted Chickpeas?

Christine Seelye-King wrote:
> A friend recently sent me this recipe and asked me a question about it.  It
> calls for toasted chickpeas.  She has dried chickpeas, and wondered what to
> do with them.   Roasting the dried chickpeas and then grinding them into a
> flour?  Re-hydrating them and then toasting them?  She ultimately used
> sesame seeds instead and had them with her this weekend. They were very
> good, but we are still wondering about those garbanzos.
> Anyone?

All I can say is I've seen dry-roasted chick peas, more or less akin to
dry-roasted nuts, and the process seems to leave them more brittle, and
less tough (less likely to break teeth) than dried chick peas. Whether
they're made from dried peas or fresh, I don't know, but if it were me
I'd go looking for them in a Middle Eastern market or by mail order.

Adamantius


From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 12:50:51 EDT
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Roasting chickpeas?

The original of the recipe for "Chyches" in Forme of Cury begins thus:

"Take chiches and wrye hem in askes al nyght, other al a day, other lay hem
in hoot aymers"

Using the glossary in the book, this means, "Take chickpeas and cover them in
ashes all night, or all day, or lay them in hot embers",  in other words,
roasting them.

Would this be done using fresh chckpeas or dried?  How would one go about
doing this today?  I could see taking fresh (or canned and drained)
chickpeas, laying them in a shallow dish, and putting them in the oven, but
for how long?  what temperature?

Brangwayna Morgan


From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 14:10:55 EDT
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roasting chickpeas?
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

TerryD at Health.State.OK.US writes:
> What's the rest of the recipe?  It is a little difficult to determine
> context without it.
>
> That being said, I would suggest that this may be talking about roasting
> them in the pod.  I some other recipes where vegetables are roasted in
> embers, the outer layer which has been in contact with the ashes is removed
> before using.  This could be done easily with chickpeas in the pod, but
> might not be so easy with shelled chickpeas.
>
> I think I would stay clear of dry chickpeas as they might burn or pop.

Sorry, here' s the rest of the recipe.  I don't think they are in the pod, as
it says to wash them after roasting them, not shell them.

 Take chiches and wrye hem in askes al nyght, other al a day, other lay hem
in hoot aymers. At morowe, waische hem in clene water, and do hem ouere the
fire with clene water.  Seethe hem vp and do therto oyle, garlek hole,
safroun, powdour fort, and salt; seeth it and messe it forth.

Modern English:  Take chickpeas and cover them in ashes all night, or all
day, or lay them in hot embers.  In the morning, wash them in clean water and
do them over the fire with clean water.  Boil them up and do thereto oil,
whole garlic, saffron, powder fort, and salt; boil it and mess it forth.


It seem to me that you could take canned chickpeas, drain them and rinse them
well, and put them in a shallow dish to roast, but for how long?

Brangwayna Morgan


Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 11:43:50 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at efn.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roasting chickpeas?

>It seem to me that you could take canned chickpeas, drain them and rinse them
>well, and put them in a shallow dish to roast, but for how long?

But I think the chickpeas in the recipe have not been cooked, and the
canned ones are. I would think that would make a difference.

(This comes out similar to hummus, BTW. I've made it. Good stuff.)

'Lainie


Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 15:22:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Angus MacIomhair <angus at iamawitch.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roasting chickpeas?

<snip>
>It seem to me that you could take canned chickpeas, drain them and rinse them
>well, and put them in a shallow dish to roast, but for how long?
>
>Brangwayna Morgan

My local group did some chickpea roasting about a year ago.  IIRC they were roasted  at 150-175C for 15-20 minutes.  They got a little extra colour and they were slightly crisp on the surface but still moist on the inside.  A bit on the dry side but the nutty flavour was OK.  Ordinarily I'm not a big fan of chickpeas in any shape or form but I liked them roasted.

/Angus


From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roman recipes (pre-period? On topic :-p)
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 20:25:31 -0500

>I thought chick peas were the same as garbanzo beans.  Have I been laboring
>under a delusion all these years?   Anne S.

Chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing, Cicer arietinum.

Bear


From: "Sharon Gordon" <gordonse at one.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 18:09:33 -0400
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Fresh chick peas and growing chick peas

The best source of chick pea seeds that I know of is the US chick pea seed collection.  They have literally 100's of different ones.  In the early 1990's the list was over 80 pages long.

They even have some of the tiny chick peas that can be popped (avoid trying to pop and eat larger chick peas as they will break teeth).

To learn about growing chick peas and accessing the US collection, read the second edition of Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties by Carol Deppe.  She gives instructions and addresses.

To me the plants are very beautiful.  However the ones I have grown tend to have one to two chick peas per pod.  So shelling them out is a rather slow process.  On the other hand, the fresh ones cook a lot faster than the dried, so you gain something there.

The only place I have seen them growing in a garden open to the general public is in the Rodale Research gardens in Pennsylvania.  I don't know that they grow them every year, so you might check first.  Though if you love gardens, something else there will bring you joy even if there are no chick peas that year.

More than likely the place that collects them also has a place (or several) to grow them out so you might be able to see them that way too if one of them is near you.

Sharon
gordonse at one.net


Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:24:10 -0500
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Syseros?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Feb 23, 2009, at 2:13 PM, Jim and Andi Houston wrote:
<<< Anyone ever served syseros (from Chiqart, etc) at a feast? I have tested the recipe several times with my family but not with a wider audience (shame on me). I am thinking about serving syseros with pork pies for lunch, and I'm
afraid they're too weird. Self-doubt a week before the event! Aaaagh!

Madhavi >>>

I often serve the very similar red chickpea brodo from Le Menagier as  
a vegan dish.  I don't think it's too weird, and both meat-eaters and  
plant-eaters enjoy it.

What's the problem?

Adamantius


Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 22:46:41 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Olla podrida and family members vs. in-laws

<<< Chickpeas were brought to Cartagena by the Arabs where Spaniards readily 
accepted them while Romans scorned them. Suey >>>

I question the historical accuracy of this statement.  From archeological 
evidence, chickpeas were distributed across the Mediterranean between 7,500 
to 3,500 years ago.  Chickpeas were definitely being consumed in Greece and 
Italy by the Late bronze Age (2,000-1,500 BCE).  They were eaten both by the 
Carthaginians who established Cartagena in the 3rd Century BCE and the 
Romans who took the city in the 2nd Century BCE.  The Romans were aware of 
at least three different varieties of chickpea including the cicer punica or 
Carthaginian chickpea.  I don't think the Arabs had anything to do with 
introducing chickpeas into Cartagena or that the Romans scorned chickpeas, 
exempi gratia, cognomen Cicero.

Bear 


Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:54:31 -0700
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Mashed chickpea dish, was Book Question

Mashed chickpea dish, not really like modern hummus bi-tahini, since 
chickpeas are not mashed with anything oily.

ORIGINAL
from Kanz al-fawa'id fi tanwi al-mawa'id
(The Treasure-Trove of Things Delicious for the Diversification of 
the Table's Dishes)
Mamluk period - late 13th to early 16th, probably 14th c.

Cook the chickpeas in water, then mash them in a mortar to make a 
puree. Push the puree through a sieve for wheat, unless it is already 
fine enough, in which case this step is not necessary. Mix it then 
with wine vinegar, the pulp of pickled lemons, and cinnamon, pepper, 
ginger, parsley of the best quality, mint, and rue that have all been 
chopped and placed on the surface of a serving dish [zubdiyya]. 
Finally pour over a generous amount of oil of good quality
--
"Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 recipes"
by Lilia Zaouali
University of California Press, 2007
p. 65

URTATIM'S INTERPRETATION

-- one 1-lb cans chickpeas - ok, so maybe they're 15 oz. cans...
-- 1/4 c. wine vinegar, red or white, or to taste
(a blend of white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar with sherry 
vinegar would taste really nice, although it would not be 
historically accurate)
-- the pulp of one Moroccan salted lemon, or more to taste
(it is generally recommended in modern Moroccan cookbooks to rinse 
salted lemon first)
(if pulp doesn't add enough flavor, finely mince peel and add some to taste)
-- 1/2 tsp. powdered cinnamon
-- 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
-- 1/4 tsp. ground pepper
-- 2 Tb. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
-- 2 Tb. finely chopped mint
-- 2 tsp. finely chopped rue
(can't think of a good substitute - rue is a bit bitter and 
camphorous in flavor)
-- 3 Tb. high quality extra-virgin olive oil or *untoasted* sesame oil

1. Drain canned chickpeas well and rinse well (in a colander works 
well) (or soak dried chickpeas overnight in water to cover, drain, 
rinse, cook in water as necessary, then refrigerate until cool enough 
to handle, drain.)

2. Pushing chickpeas through a strainer will remove skins. Whirling 
chickpeas in a blender or food processor (as in step 3), however, 
will not. Therefore (if not pressing chickpeas through a strainer) 
remove skins from chickpeas by hand: gently rub a handful of 
chickpeas between your hands to slip off skins, then discard the 
skins. If you don't get every last bit of skin, don't worry about it.

3. Mash / puree the skinned chickpeas in a blender, food processor, 
or non-electric food mill.

4. In a bowl, gently and thoroughly mix mashed chickpeas with wine 
vinegar, lemon pulp, cinnamon, pepper, and ginger. Taste, adjust 
seasonings, maybe adding some minced salted lemon peel (i love salted 
lemon :-).

5. Sprinkle most of chopped parsley, mint, and rue (if using) evenly 
over the surface of the serving dish (especially around the edges). 
Arrange chickpea puree neatly and smoothly in center, slightly 
depressing the center, leaving a very slightly raised rim around the 
edge. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining herbs. Top with oil, swirled 
on artistically.

How it was eaten is not mentioned. It might have been scooped up on 
flat bread - since bread was the primary food of Arabic speaking 
countries, of Persia, and the Ottoman Empire, and accompanied every 
meal - or it may just have been eaten with a spoon or one's fingers 
(as i tend to eat modern hummus bi-tahini).
-- 
Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
the persona formerly known as Anahita


Date: Thu, 12 May 2011 16:49:40 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Looking for a recipe

How's about Brodo of Red Chickpeas (substituting whatever kind of chickpeas 
you got) from Martino.

Brodo of red chickpeas.

To make eight platefuls: take a libra and a half (1 libra = about 10 1/2 oz. 
(300 g.)) of chickpeas and wash them in hot water, drain them, the put them 
in a pot in which they will be cooked.  Add half an oncia (1 oncia = about 1 
oz.  (30 g.)) of flower (of wheat), a little good oil, a little salt and 
about 20 crushed peppercorns and a little ground cinnamon, then thoroughly 
mix all these things together with your hands.  Then add three measures of 
water, a little sage,
rosemary and parsley roots.  Boil until it is reduced to the quantity of 
eight platefuls.  And when they are nearly cooked pour in a little oil.  And 
if you prepare this soup for invalids, add neither oil nor spices.

Five cups of chickpeas will make enough for about 24 decent size servings. 
I used 4 Tbsp flour, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (very fresh), 40 peppercorns 
(you may need to add a little fresh ground pepper by taste while the soup 
cooks), 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp rubbed sage, 1 tsp crushed rosemary, 1 Tbsp 
parsley root sliced (or 3 Tbsp parsley leaf if you do not have or desire 
parsley root), 1 to 2 tsp salt (to taste).  Clean the chickpeas thoroughly 
and let them soak overnight.  Mix brodo as per the instructions above, cover 
with water and add sage, rosemary and parsley root.  Cook at a simmer until 
soft (about 3 hours or put it in a crockpot and let it simmer all day while 
you are at work).  Add water if necessary.  Add more oil and the salt late 
in the cooking, if you deem them necessary.

This makes a nice thick soup.  I've found that about half of any given group 
will like it, the other half won't, but adventurous eaters tend to run in 
the plus column.  If you have an electrical socket available, the soup can 
easily be kept warm in a crockpot.

Have fun at the potluck.  Wish I was there.

Bear

----- Original Message ----- 
<<< I want to bring something to a potluck on Saturday, but it probably has no
'facilities' so will need to be kept at temp in a cooler for several hours 
prior to serving.

I would prefer period, but dont care which period or nationality.

I am thinking perhaps something with chickpeas (NOT hummus), since I have a
couple of bags of dry in the pantry. (non-meat a plus, but TASTY a must :-)

Gwen Cat >>>


Date: Fri, 13 May 2011 11:01:55 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Brodo of Red Chickpeas

I made an ancient Greek chickpea dish for a feast which was surprisingly popular. Here's my interpretation to serve 80. Naturally it can be cut down for fewer.

Erebinthoi Knakosymmigeis : CHICKPEAS IN SAFFRON SAUCE

Original:
"And then chick-peas marinated in saffron, plump in their tender youth"

[Piloxenus, "The Dinner", quoted in Anthenaeus (circa 170-239 CE), "The Partying Professors"]

My interpretation:

A couple generous pinches of Saffron
a few Tb. Warm Water
3 giant cans Chickpeas
2 cups Olive Oil
Salt to taste, as garbanzos already salted
2 Tb. ground Cumin Seed
2 Tb. ground Coriander Seed
2 tsp. ground Black Pepper

1. Crumble saffron threads in a tablespoon or two of warm water. Let stand about 15 minutes.

2. Drain and rinse canned chickpeas and drain well again.

3. Put chickpeas in a pot with olive oil and a little water, stir well, and heat on medium fire, adjusting heat as needed so they don't burn.
Add saffron, coriander, cumin, and salt to taste and stir well.
Simmer until warm through, taste and adjust seasonings, adding more cumin and coriander seed, as needed.

4. Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTES:
Given the original comment the Greeks may well have used FRESH chickpeas, but they have only limited availability here in the spring. So i used canned and the dish tasted good.

There was some controversy among the scholars I read while researching this feast as to whether the Greeks would have used saffron, which is flavorful as well as colorful, or safflower, which adds color but no flavor. I know the Greeks had access to saffron so I chose to use it because it is tasty and a flavor I love.

These were surprisingly popular, considering what I have heard about how much people dislike chickpeas, and several people asked for the recipe.
--
Urtatim (that's urr-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita


Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:27:11 -0500 (EST)
From: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Cicera fracta, farinata

In researching gluten-free, grain-free period dishes for my Laurel to eat, I came across this entry from the Liber de coquina:

Item, aliter : accipe cicera fracta et pone ad decoquendum cum
oleo, pipere et safrano et cum caseo detruncato et ouis perditis et ouis
debatutis; uel aliter, cum ciceris fractis et perbullitis et, aqua bullitionis
eiecta, ponatur cepa frissa et bene confecta cum lardo uel oleo sicut dies
exigit.

This one seems to be two recipes for "broken" chickpeas. I know the "galettes of chickpeas" recipe on the Old Cooks page uses whole chickpeas, cooked and then mashed into a paste, and the paste is baked in an oiled dish. But I have been wondering if chickpea flour would be an acceptable substitute in a redaction of this recipe? Also, what kind of cheese are they calling for here in the first part of the recipe? Can't seem to find a translation of "detruncato." Google translate says "detruncato" means "beheaded," and I am not sure "beheaded cheese" is quite what the recipe is trying to say. Unless the intent is "cut up" cheese.

In looking up modern-day recipes using chickpea flour, I have found farinata (Genoese), socca (from Nice), and pannelle (Sicilian sort-of-falafel). I have been messing around with my own version of farinata. It's phenomenally easy to prepare because you don't have to cook and mash up chickpeas (though you have to let the batter sit for at least three hours and skim off the icky foam that develops). Chickpea flour is also pretty cheap. I just pour the batter in a dish, plop in other ingredients, generously pepper and salt it, and bake for 20 minutes.

So for your delectation:

Farinata with bacon, goat cheese, and caramelized onions

2 3/4 cups of chickpea flour
4 cups of cold water
one onion
half a rasher of bacon
1 small log of goat cheese (or half of a large log)
salt
pepper

Oven at 375F.

Put your flour into a large measuring cup and add the water; stir with a fork until water and flour are well blended, then cover the measuring cup and let sit for at least 3 hours.

Meanwhile, chop up your half-rasher of bacon into small pieces, fry the pieces until crisp, and set then aside to drain.

For the onion, either fry the thin slices in the bacon drippings, or use olive oil. Once the onions are caramelized, set them aside.

After three hours, you'll notice that the batter is all foamy and separated. Skim the foam from the top of the batter and then remix the batter. Pour the batter into a greased rectangular baking dish. The batter is thin, like pancake batter. Sprinkle the cooked bacon, the onions, and blobs of goat cheese on top of the batter. Dust with plenty of black pepper and a generous sprinkling of salt.

Stick the dish into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. It's done when the sides are just browned and the top is firm. You may want to broil it for another 10 minutes to get the top very browned, or not (I prefer not). 

Let it cool for a few minutes before cutting it up into squares. Can be served hot or lukewarm. Can be carried in the hand and eaten, making it a great dayboard or picnic food. You can make it totally vegan, with no cheese or bacon or eggs (just onions, saffron, salt, and pepper, or add vegetables such as finely chopped spinach or chard). Instead of goat cheese, you can use a fresh cheese like farmers' cheese. You can even use grated parmesan. 

My next version (for breakfasts this week) will feature turkey bacon, beaten eggs, goat cheese, artichoke hearts, and spinach. 

Adelisa


Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:44:10 -0500
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcarrollmann at gmail.com>
To: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>, 	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cicera fracta, farinata

I wonder if this isn't referring to split chickpeas.  As for the
cheese, I'm not a Latinist, but Googling found a site or two that
defined 'detruncato' as 'cut into pieces'.

Brighid ni Chiarain


Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2013 17:27:05 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
From: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Cicera fracta, maccu

Bonne said:
<<< I made farinata for my Genoese Yule feast, which i still need to write up.
I based it on a combination of a similiar recipe in the Miscellany,
modern farinata recipes, and an Indian dish which is much the same batter,
steamed instead of baked.

The writing up is rising up my to do list, but im not positive ill get to
it before the movers pack my computer. >>>

Since this is made from Chickpeas, would this be a good choice for those avoiding wheat flour? (Sorry, I can't think of the term for this right now)

Stefan
===========

I made a version of farinata based that was my reworking of the cicera fracta recipes for a baking contest. 

According to the judges, while an interesting concept, it was too far of a stretch to say cicera fracta could have been a farinata; it really should be interpreted as a porridge.

My version also suffered by having to be served cold. Hot and fresh out of the oven, it was amazing. Seems to be same with all versions of farinata, though - once it gets cold, it gets dense. But farinata could be a good bread-like dish at a feast for those with gluten intolerances and allergies.

I am planning to do cicera fracta as a porridge, though with a twist. There is a Sicilian fava bean porridge called "maccu" (itself based on a medieval Arab dish) and what people like to do with leftover maccu is let is chill overnight so it thickens, then slice it up and fry it into little cakes. I believe the cicera fracta porridge, cooked nice and thick, would behave the same way. Still need to try it, though.

What strikes me about cicera fracta and maccu as a porridge, compared with other later medieval porridges (like the Catalan ones) in Italy or medieval Arab pottages, is that the beans are cooked in water, not meat broth or almond milk.

Adelisa

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	chickpeas-msg	13 of 13