beer-in-food-msg – 5/3/20 Period recipes with beer or ales in them. NOTE: See also the files: beer-msg, ale-msg, brewing-msg, soup-msg, bread-msg, cider-msg, wine-msg, wine-cooking-msg, small-beer-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ From: jtn at cse.uconn.EDU (J. Terry Nutter) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Cooking with beer Date: 8 Nov 1994 23:47:46 -0500 Hi, all, Angharad ver' Rhuawn here, Angelica Paganelli writes: > Medieval recipes involving beer? I haven't made any great study of medieval > cookery (I have the usual secondary sources--Pleyn Delit, Fabulous Feasts, > etc.), but I've never seen any. Could be a social class thing. > PERHAPS people who cooked with beer didn't write down their recipes. > Perhaps people didn't cook with beer 'cause they didn't like the taste. > Perhaps people didn't cook with beer because it was considered a waste of > beer. > Perhaps the recipes out there, and I haven't seen them. Whatever happened to > the person who was redacting a German cookbook? Any recipes containing > beer in there? I don't know about the _Buch von Guter Speise_, but there are English recipes that call for ale (although not beer, to the best of my knowledge). It is not nearly so common as wine, but it is certainly not unknown. Glancing over my records on what recipes contain what, I found the following: From the last quarter of the 14th Century, I located seventeen recipes that call for ale, two of which are for braggot (hot spiced ale), but the other fifteen of which are "ordinary" recipes. That's about 3-4% of the recipes I have data on from that time. These are all from Hieatt and Butler's _Curye on Inglysch_. For the curious, the recipes (I have more or less regularized spellings; if you'd like spellings as they occur in the title of the recipe, and page number and recipe number citations, write me separately) calling for ale are, from Diuersa Servicia, Capons in Concy, Hens in Brouet, Hares in Cive, Hares in Talbots, Numbles, Brinews, Geese in Hochepot (as an alternative to wine), Soles in Brouet, Oysters in Brouet, and two recipes for Eels in Brouet; from Utilis Coquinario, Rapes and Mawmenny (the only mawmenny recipe of which I am aware that calls for ale); from Forme of Curye, Flaumpoints, Fritters of Parsnips, Skirrits and Apples, and one of the Braggot recipes; and from Goud Kokery, the other Braggot recipe. From the fifteenth century, in Hieatt's _An Ordinance of Pottage_, ale appears slightly more frequently (ten recipes, for about 5% of the collection), most often as an explicit alternative to wine. It appears as such an alternative in Chikeney, Cawdell, Charlet, Boiled Pevorade for Roasted Veal, Tarts of Flesh, Posset, and Cawdell of Almonds. Soppes includes ale without options; Boiled Perch calls optionally for ale, but not wine. I don't have very good data on Austin's collection (I barely got started entering it before other matters drew me away from the project; I hope to get back soon), but based on the first roughly thirty recipes, I found four (Bursews, Fillets in Galantyne, Ballock Broth, and Soppes Chamberlain) that call for ale. In the case of the fillets recipe, it is provided as an option to broth. In all other cases, it is simply listed as an ingredient. Wine was far more common than ale as an ingredient; but ale was certainly known. As for beer, my impression (although I am not expert on the history of brewing) is that I may be looking too early for grain-based beverages brewed with hops. -- Angharad/Terry Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 15:06:21 -0800 From: "James L. Matterer" Subject: Re: SC - Recipe Request upsxdls at Okstate.edu wrote: > All, a brewing friend of mine has moved into a wonderful new manor. He has > several crates of beer that need to be used soon. As a housewarming gift, I'm > putting together recipes that include beer as an ingredient. I have several > bread and soup recipes, but am interested any recipes anyone would like to > share. If the recipe is period, I'd appreciate the reference, otherwise, let > me know where it came from so I can correctly credit the source(s). Thanks > in advance. Oyle soppes - (onion & ale soup) from Harleian MS 4016: Oyle soppes. Take a good quantite of onyons, and myce hem, noyt to smale, & seth hem in faire water, And take hem vppe; and then take a good quantite of stale ale, as .iij. galons, And there-to take a pynte of goode oyle that is fraied, and cast the onyons there-to, And lete al boyle togidre a grete wile; and caste there-to Saffron and salt, And then put brede, in maner of brewes, and cast the licour there-on, and serue hit forth hote. My translation: Oil Sops. Take a good quantity of onions, and mince them, not to small, & boil them in fair water, And take them up; and then take a good quantity of stale ale, 3 gallons, And take a pint of good oil that is fried, and cast the onions in it, And let all boil together a great while; and cast into it Saffron & salt, And then put bread, in the manner of brews, and cast the liquid on, and serve it forth hot. Huen Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 10:09:25 -0500 From: "Nick Sasso" Subject: SC - Beer/Ale recipe. . . Flathonys This is a glorious recipe for a custard pie made with ale. We served it as part of a feast this last weekend and was received exceedingly well. Cariadoc also has a good version in his cookbook that can be found on-line at http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/desserts.html#19. Flathonys (Two 15th Century Cookery Books: Harleian MS. 279) Flathonys. Take mylke, and yolks of egges and ale, and draw hem thorgh a straynour, with white sugur or black; and melt faire butter, and put thereto salt, and make faire coffyns, and put hem into a Nowne till flei be a little hard; flen take a pile, and a dish fastened there-on, and fill fle coffyns therewith of the seid stuffs and late hem bake while. And Ven take hem oute and serue hem forthe, and caste Sugur ynough on hem. 5 egg yolks 3 Tbl melted butter 2/3 c. cream pinch salt * c. ale pastry shell (or coffin1) 1/3 c. sugar sugar to sprinkle on top. Prepare pastry/pie shell before beginning custard. Beat lightly the egg yolks, add milk and ale and whisk together till mixed. Add sugar, melted butter and salt. Combine and add to shell. Bake at 350F 30 minutes until set and crust golden. 1Coffins were very tough, almost inedible crusts made of flour and water. They were intended, it seems to be a holder for the filling rather than a part of the consumed tart. Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 13:19:56 -0800 From: david friedman Subject: Re: SC - Recipe Request Leanna of Sparrowhaven asked for beer recipes; here are a couple, both 15th c. English: Flathonys Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books p. 73/68 Take mylke, and yolkes of egges, and ale, and drawe hem thorgh a straynour, with white sugur or blak; And melt faire butter, and put thereto salt, and make faire coffyns, and put hem into a Nowne til thei be a litull hard; then take a pile, and a dissh fastned there-on, and fill the coffyns therewith of the seid stuffe and late hem bake a while. And then take hem oute, and serue hem forthe, and caste Sugur ynogh on hem. [end of original] 1/2 c milk 1/3 c ale 4 T butter 4 egg yolks 1/4 c sugar 1 t salt Bake a pie shell. Beat together milk, egg yolks, ale, sugar. Melt butter, add salt, beat into the liquid, trying to keep the butter from separating out (the hard part). Pour into the pie shell, bake at 350° about 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle on sugar (about 1 T) after the flathon is reasonably solid. Stwed Mutton Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books 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. [end of original; thorns replaced by th] 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. Elizabeth of Dendermonde/Betty Cook Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1999 14:24:32 +1100 From: WICKHAM Raymond Subject: SC - recipes with beer or ale 31. Ein spise von bonen (A food of beans) Siude grüene bonen, biz daz sie weich werden. so nim denne schoen brot und ein wenic pfeffers. dristunt als vil kümels mit ezzige und mit biere. mal daz zu sammene und tu dar zu saffran. und seige abe daz sode. und giuz dar uf daz gemalne. und saltz ez zu mazzen. und laz ez erwallen in dem condiment und gibz hin. Boil green beans (This probably refers to something like fava beans. These are not string beans. String beans are a New World food.) until they become soft. So take then fine bread and a little pepper. (Take) three times as much caraway with vinegar and with beer. Grind that together and add saffron thereto. And strain the broth and pour the color thereon and salt it to mass and let it boil in the condiment and give out. This recipe is from Ein Buch von guter spise And was translated by Alia Atlas akatlas at mit.edu Damocles Truhart Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1999 13:17:21 -0800 (PST) From: Huette von Subject: SC - Salmon recipe with beer Here is a recipe that I have used many times that covers two requests! >From Gervase Markham's The English Huswife: To seeth fresh Salmon. Take a little water, and as much Beere and Salt, and put thereto Parsley, Time, and Rosemarie, and let all thes boyle together; then put in your Salmon, and make your broth sharpe with some Vinigar. My redaction: 2 pounds salmon (either steaks or filets) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 can or 2 cups beer salt and pepper to taste 1/4 cup chopped parsley 2 tbsp thyme 2 tbsp rosemary 1 tbsp vinegar Put olive oil in heavy skillet and add salmon (cover both sides of salmon with olive oil). Add beer, then sprinkle on seasonings. Simmer for 10-15 min. (depending on thickness of the salmon). Add vinegar and simmer for 1 min. longer. For a feast, you can eliminate the skillet and use instead jelly-roll baking sheets (i.e. cookie sheets with a one inch high side all around). Place in the oven for 10-15 min. and you will get just the same effect. Huette Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1999 16:17:05 -0600 (CST) From: "Michael F. Gunter" Subject: Re: SC - Salmon recipe with beer > From Gervase Markham's The English Huswife: > > To seeth fresh Salmon. > > Take a little water, and as much Beere and Salt, > and put thereto Parsley, Time, and Rosemarie, and > let all thes boyle together; then put in your > Salmon, and make your broth sharpe with some > Vinigar. > > My redaction: It's a lovely period recipe but I do wonder about your redaction. Basically the period recipe is calling for making a rich broth of beer, herbs, salt and vinegar then poaching the fish. There's no oil or pepper mentioned and I do wonder about the use of even a high sided jelly roll pan to poach fish in. Please believe that I'm not flaming or attacking you but this is one of the simpler period recipes and do wonder how you came about with this redaction. Did you try it following Markham's recipe and find it lacking? > Huette Gunthar Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 22:18:30 -0400 From: Philip & Susan Troy Subject: Re: Let them eat fish! was Re: SC - Can medieval food beheart-smart? LrdRas at aol.com wrote: > ChannonM at aol.com writes: > << What do you think about a beer based batter for cod? >> > > I think it's great but I am unaware of any references to beer batter outside > of the current century. > > Ras At least not for fish. There are, I believe, fritter batters made with ale in period sources. Most fish appears from the recipes to have been fried uncoated, although a recipe in le Viandier says to fry (cuttlefish or squid? I forget) without any coating of flour, which suggests it was sometimes done. If you really want to be technical, fresh cod seems like a fairly unlikely choice, because most cod would have been caught in waters pretty far from the European mainland. Not all, but most. Much of the cod referred to in period sources would seem to be either salt or air-dried. On the other hand, it's (relatively) cheap, firm, white, and not too bony, so a fairly good choice for food nerds to have a go at if you're trying to get the piscophagially (is that a word?) challenged to eat something different. Adamantius Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 00:44:33 -0500 (EST) From: cclark at vicon.net Subject: Re: SC - Recipes with Beer and Ale? There are several of these in _Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book_. One is "court sops" (p. 62), made with slices of toast and a mixture of ale, sugar, and nutmeg. The toast is put in the liquid, and then it is cooked until dry. (I suppose that means until the cooking vessel is dry, not the toast.) Sprinkle with more sugar and nutmeg and let cool before serving. Looks almost like French toast. :-) Other recipes with ale include: fritters and pancakes (p. 74), a hot posset (p. 88), poached carp or trout (p. 110), and a big currant cake (p. 137). I recommend the cake, though it could do with a little salt in the dough (perhaps just omitted by accident), and will have to be scaled down for most ovens (for a modern oven, try using a large pizza pan). I haven't yet tried the others. There are also ale-batter fritters in earlier English sources (perhaps Forme of Curye?). Alex Clark/Henry of Maldon Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 08:55:35 EST From: RuddR at aol.com Subject: SC - Re: Recipes with Beer and Ale? CHYKONYS IN BRUETTE Chicken in Ale Sauce Take [an] Sethe Chykonys, & smyte hem to gobettys; (th)an take Pepir, Gyngere, an Brede y-grounde, & temper it vppe wyth (th)e self brothe, an with Ale; an coloure it with Safroun, an sethe an serue forth. Harleian MS 279 3 or 4 pounds chicken, cut into serving pieces. 2 T butter 3/4 C ale or beer 3/4 C broth from boiled chicken 1/2 tsp each pepper and powdered ginger 1/4 tsp saffron 1 C white bread crumbs Salt to taste 1. In a large pot or heavy frying pan, over medium heat, melt butter and brown the chicken well on all sides. 2. Add water to the pot, just covering the chicken, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for thirty minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and tender. Remove from heat. 3. With a basting nozzle or ladle, draw off 3/4 cup of the broth in the pot. 4. In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine broth, ale, and spices. Stir in bread crumbs, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes. 5. Arrange chicken pieces on a serving platter, and pour the sauce over them. Serves four to six. Rudd Rayfield From: "Decker, Terry D." To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Reference to 'stale' ale. Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 08:21:06 -0500 I think it may show up in To The King's Taste, but I'm far away from my copy. However, in Middle English, "stale" can mean settled or clear, probably from the Germanic "estal" meaning stand or standing place. So a "stale ale" is probably one which has been left standing to let the particles settle out. Bear > My group is having a small cooking session this weekend and > we're going for onion soup (orig. recipe from Harleian MS > 4016) among other things. The recipe calls for stale ale. > I remember reading that 'stale' often referred to old, mature > ale and not 'flat' as in modern english. (the ale would > probably have been flat anyway). However, I can't remember > where I read this and I've checked Heiatt's 'Curuye on > Inglysch' (sp?), Hagen's 'Anglo-Saxon Food...' and Renfrow's > 'A Sip Through Time' but not found it anywhere. > > Anyone out there who can provide a ref.? > /Angus MacIomhair, out of lurking once more. Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 10:45:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Angus To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: [Sca-cooks] onion soup result Thanks to all who offered comments on the onion soup or references to 'stale' ale. We ended up cooking the soup with 'Falcon Bayersk 2,8%' a lightly hopped beer. I don't know the exact BU value but 15-20 is probably a good guess. It was cooked for approx. 90 minutes and the result was good but a little salty since the person who salted the soup added salt by the teaspoons and didn't stir enough before tasting (she dumped the salt at one side of the pot and tasted from the opposite side). Two people who aren't members of the group attended and they seemed to like what was served. The main course was grilled fish with roasted chickpeas and various sauces. A few who had chicken instead of fish due to allergies made the allium ex amygdala sauce which was liked by everyone. /Angus MacIomhair Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 09:41:48 +0200 To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Reference to 'stale' ale. However, I can't remember where I read this and I've checked .' and Renfrow's 'A Sip Through Time' but not found it anywhere. > >/Angus MacIomhair, Hi! Right author, wrong book, if this is what you're thinking of. This is from Take a Thousand Eggs or More (vol 2, 2nd edition). Footnote: "The words stale and fryed can be interpreted in two different ways. The word stale, in conjunction with the word ale, can mean either clear (settled and clarified), or stale (no longer fresh). Fraid or fryid either means fried as in 'already used,' or cold, from Fr. froid. If we accept the definitions 'fried' oil and 'stale' ale, Oyle Soppys becomes a barely edible concoction of stale ale, re-used oil, and boiled onions - a dish fit for servants rather than for the high table. However, we cannot entirely dismiss this interpretation since it is quite evident, based on the many recipes for entrails and leftover bits and scraps in our collection, that our authors were frugal people. The hopless ale of this era, typically brewed in batches of a hogshead or more, spoiled quickly (hops acts as a preservative as well as a flavoring agent; see note Vol. 1, p. 155), and a soup that uses up stale ale and fried oil does make some sense in this context. Nonetheless, a soup which calls for clear ale would be much more pleasant, and would also explain the presence of expensive spices in this recipe." Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers xxxiij. Oyle Soppys. Take a gode quantyte of Oynonys, and mynse hem not to smale, an sethe in fayre Water: [th]an take hem vp, an take a gode quantite of Stale Ale, as .iij. galouns, an [th]er-to take a pynte of Oyle fryid, an caste [th]e Oynonys [th]er-to, an let boyle alle to-gederys a gode whyle; then caste [th]er-to Safroune, powder Pepyr, Sugre, an Salt, an serue forth alle hote as tostes, as in [th]e same maner for a Mawlard & of a capon, & hoc qu=E6re. 33. Oil Sops. Take a good quantity of Onions, and mince them not too small, and seethe in fair Water: then take them up, and take a good quantity of Stale Ale, as 3 gallons, and thereto take a pint of Oil fryed, and cast the Onions thereto, and let boil all together a good while; then cast thereto Saffron, powdered Pepper, Sugar, and Salt, and serve forth all hot as toasts, as in the same manner for a Mallard & of a capon, & see this= Harleian MS. 4016 130 Oyle soppes. Take a good quantite of oynons, and myce hem, no[3]t to smale, & seth hem in faire water, And take hem vppe; and then take a good quantite of stale ale, as .iij. galons, And there-to take a pynte of goode oyle that is fraied, and cast the oynons there-to, And lete al boyle togidre a grete [while]; and caste there-to Saffron and salt, And [th]en put brede, in maner of brewes, and cast the licour there-on, and serue hit forth hote. 130. Oil sops. Take a good quantity of onions, and mince them, not too small, & seethe them in fair water, And take them up; and then take a good quantity of stale ale, as three gallons, And thereto take a pint of good oil that is fraied, and cast the onions thereto, And let all boil together a great [while]; and cast thereto Saffron and salt, And then put bread, in maner of [sops for] broth, and cast the liquor thereon, and serve it forth hot. Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu cindy at thousandeggs.com Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing Recipes" http://www.thousandeggs.com Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2004 16:00:25 -0400 From: Jadwiga Zajaczkwa / Jenne Heise Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Boiling in Beer To: Cooks within the SCA > Also sprach PatrickLevesque: >> I was wondering, as I see a lot of recipes asking us to boil stuff in water, >> vinegar, wine, milk, whatever... But never in beer. >> >> So how early can we document recipes asking the reader to boil food in >> beer? >> >> Petru From Rufina's handout on Pennsic without a Cooler: Chykonys in Bruette (Harleian MS. 279 (Potage Dyvers), .lxxxxvj) "Take [an]Sethe Chykonys, & smyte hem to gobettys; than take Pepir, Gyngere, and Brede y-grounde, & tempere it vppe wyth the selfe brothe, an ith Ale; an coloure it with Safroun, and sethe an serue forth." -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 23:11:53 -0400 From: Johnna Holloway Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Ale broth was Boiling in Beer To: Cooks within the SCA > Also sprach Patrick Levesque: >> I was wondering, as I see a lot of recipes asking us to boil stuff in >> water, vinegar, wine, milk, whatever... But never in beer. >> >> So how early can we document recipes asking the reader to boil food >> in beer? >> >> Petru > > Off the top of my head, I can't quote anything, but I'm pretty sure > there are some 14th century English recipes that speak of boiling in > fine wort (mashed but unfermented ale) and in ale. > > Adamantius There's this of course in the Liber Cure Cocurum a Translation with Notes, by Cindy Renfrow... ale bre = aleberry (alebrey, alebery, alebrue, alemeat) = ale broth, a type of warm caudle. 132.... For sick men. Ale broth thus make you shall, With groats and saffron and good ale. Take boiled water with honey, I know, http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/lcc/parallel.html Johnnae Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 23:50:43 -0700 (PDT) From: Huette von Ahrens Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Boiling in Beer To: Cooks within the SCA Here is a recipe that is great and simple to make. Huette From Gervase Markham's The English Huswife: To seeth fresh Salmon. Take a little water, and as much Beere and Salt, and put thereto Parsley, Time, and Rosemarie, and let all thes boyle together; then put in your Salmon, and make your broth sharpe with some Vinigar. Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 17:35:45 +0100 (MET) From: "Kai D. Kalix" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Period gifts in jarsTo: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Lord Stefan wrote: > http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/beer-in-food-msg.html > > Of course I'd love to have any additinal ones if folks see that their > favorite period one is not listed in there. I do have redactions for the following (of cause, in german; I'll try to translate them asap) which I think are missing from the beer-in-food-msg (after glancing over it): Take and shell oysters, and keep the water that cometh of them and strain it, and put it in a pot, and ale thereto, and a little bread thereto; put ginger, canel, powder of pepper thereo, saffron and salt; and when it is enough almost, put on thine oysters: look that they been well y-washed for the shells: and then serve forth. Two Fifteenth Century Cookery-books, p. 23/56 Sooglagh Tullog Rissoles in Lent Take Figs & seethe them up i Ale; then take when they are tender, & bray them small in a Mortar; then take almonds, & shred them therto smal; take pears, & shred them thereto ; take dates, & shred them thereto & Haddock or Ling, that is well soaked & tease therto then make thine tuffing, & roll lehthwise in thisne hand& lay them in flour, then make thine batter with ale & Flour, & fry them up brown in Oil; right so, make round-like Fritters in the manner beforesaid, & fry them up, & that is called Ragons, & then serve them foth. Take a Thousand Eggs or More, a Collection of 15th Century Recipes, by Cindy Renfrow, pg. 71 Gebratene Quitten from Philippine Welserin Playce Ysod Madeleine Pelner, Fabulous Feasts To Stewe Stekes of Mutton Take a legge of mutton and cot it in small slices, and put it in a chafer, and put therto a pottell of ale, and scome it cleane then putte therto seven or eyghte onions thyn slyced, and after they have boyled one hour, putte therto a dyshe of swete butter, and so lette them boyle tyll they be tender, and then put therto a lyttel peper and salte. A Proper Newe Book of Cokerye, 1572 xvj. Fylettys en Galentyne Take fayre porke, þe fore quarter, an take of þe skyne; an put þe porke on a fayre spete, an rost it half y-now; þan take it of, an smye it in fayre pecys, & caste it on a fayre potte; þan take oynonys, and schrede hem, an pele hem (an pyle hem nowt to smale), an frye in a panne of fayre grece; þan caste hem in þe potte to þe porke; þan take gode broth of moton or of beef, an caste þe-to, an þan caste þer-to pouder pepyr, canel, clowys, an macys, an let hem boyle wyl to-gederys; þan tak fayre brede, an vynegre, an stepe þe brede with þe same brothe, an strayne it on blode, with ale, or ellys sawnderys, & salt, an lat hym boyle y-now an serue it forth. Harleian ms 279; Austin, Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks. kai Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 09:31:09 -0400 (GMT-04:00) From: Robin Carroll-Mann Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rotten meat and spices... (a few excerpts from Apicius) To: Cooks within the SCA -----Original Message----- From: David Friedman For the "overspicing" version, the earliest source I know is the introduction to _Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books_, written at the end of the nineteenth century. It's clear from context that the author is reacting not to the amount of spices, which he has no information on, but to the unfamiliar use of particular spices--I think to putting cinnamon in soup in the example he mentions. Anyone know of an earlier example? -- David/Cariadoc www.daviddfriedman.com _______________________________________________ Not an earlier example, but here is the relevant portion of the introduction you mentioned, which was written in 1888. "Many of the Recipes that are given here would astonish a modern Cook. Our forefathers, possibly from having stronger stomachs, fortified by outdoor life, evidently liked their dishes strongly seasoned and piquant, as the Cinnamon Soup on p. 59 shews. Pepper, Ginger, Cloves, Garlic, Cinnamon, Galingale, Vinegar, Verjuice, and Wine, appear constantly in dishes where we should little expect them; and even Ale was frequently used in Cookery. Wine is used in the recipe for Roast Partridge, on p. 78, and also, as seems more natural to us, in the Partridge Stews on pages 9 and 78: it is also used for Brawn in Poivrade on p. 71. Ale is introduced in the Bowres on p. 8, in the Sops Chamberlain on p. 11, and in the Mortrews de Chairon p. 71, and is even used in the Charlette on p. 17, though Milk is also one of the ingredients: both Ale and Wine appear in the Maumenny Royal, on p. 22. Ale is also used with the Tench in Bruet." http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/c/cme/cme-idx? type=HTML&rgn=DIV1&byte=3361621 Brighid ni Chiarain Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:06:22 -0700 (PDT) From: Huette von Ahrens Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] A pleasant Italian Fish recipe To: TomRVincent at yahoo.com, Cooks within the SCA Here is a period recipe that I have made at a banquet for 300. Even people who professed to hate salmon and fish said they liked this: From Gervase Markham's The English Huswife: To seeth fresh Salmon. Take a little water, and as much Beere and Salt, and put thereto Parsley, Time, and Rosemarie, and let all thes boyle together; then put in your Salmon, and make your broth sharpe with some Vinigar. I also make this for my family, although I simplify it down considerably. For them, I pour a can of beer into a deep frying pan and add the spices. When boiling, I put in the salmon, either steaks or fillets and then sprinkle with balsamic vinegar. It usually takes about 10 to 12 minutes to poach the salmon. Huette Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2006 15:41:13 -0700 From: Maggie MacDonald Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] period oion soups To: Cooks within the SCA At 02:27 PM 9/6/2006,Gretchen Beck said something like: > Why not try the oyle sops from the two-15th C cookery books; it can be > interpreted as an onion soup in a beer base: > > .xxxiij. Oyle Soppys.?Take a gode quantyte of Oynonys, an mynse hem not to > smale, an sethe in fayre Water: ?an take hem vp, an take a gode quantite of > Stale Ale, as .iij. galouns, an ?er-to take a pynte of Oyle fryid, an caste > ?e Oynonys ?er-to, an let boyle alle to-gederys a gode whyle; then caste > ?er-to Safroune, powder Pepyr, Sugre, an Salt, an serue forth alle hote as > tostes, [leaf 11.] as in ?e same maner for a Mawlard & of a capon, & hoc > qu?re.* I did that particular oil soppys for Caid 12th night 2006. It went over very very well. My biggest tip would be to seriously brown the onions in batches if you're making very large quantities. I had attempted to brown them by baking since I was doing a 20 lb bag of onions at one time, and it was less than successful. On the upside, this gives your local brewers a chance to shine by making you a brew to use in the soup. We used a very light ale, and it was just fantastic. This was also done on a very small scale with Guinness, and that was also pretty nice (though not every one appreciated the slight bitterness of guinness). Maggie MacD. Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2012 08:04:21 -0700 From: "Daniel Myers" To: "Cooks within the SCA" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking with Beer Here are the recipes using beer that I found on a quick search: - Doc ==== How to seeth Shrimps. Take halfe water and halfe beere or Ale, and some salt good and savery, and set it on the fire and faire scum it, and when it seetheth a full wallop, put in your Shrimpes faire washed, and seethe them with a quick fire, scum them very clean, and let them have but two walmes, then take them up with a scummer, and lay them upon a fair white cloth, and sprinkle a little white salt upon them. [A Book of Cookrye, (England, 1591)] ==== To bake Venison of Fallow Deere. Lay it in water and wash it very clean, then perboile it, if it be of the side, raise the skin of it: if it be of the haunch, presse it: season it with pepper and salt, take good store of Dre Suet, and mince it very fine, when you have minced it, beat it, then take flowre, butter and Egges and make your paste stiffe, then drive it out, and then put in your suet and Venison and close it, then take the yolk of an egge and a little beere, and wet it over, and let it bake foure houres, and then serve it in. [A Book of Cookrye, (England, 1591)] ==== How to make sops of Almain. Take white wine with Beere or Ale, and put crums of white bread, yolks of Egs sugar and sinamon, with Salt and saffron, strain these and boile them a little togither then cut white bread into your dishe, and put the pottage to it, and so serve it foorth. [A Book of Cookrye, (England, 1591)] ==== 31. Ein spise von bonen (A food of beans). Siude gr?ene bonen, biz daz sie weich werden. so nim denne schoen brot und ein wenic pfeffers. dristunt als vil k?mels mit ezzige und mit biere. mal daz zu sammene und tu dar zu saffran. und seige abe daz sode. und giuz dar uf daz gemalne. und saltz ez zu mazzen. und laz ez erwallen in dem condiment und gibz hin. Boil green beans (This probably refers to something like fava beans. These are not string beans. String beans are a New World food.) until they become soft. So take then fine bread and a little pepper. (Take) three times as much caraway with vinegar and with beer. Grind that together and add saffron thereto. And strain the broth and pour the color thereon and salt it to mass and let it boil in the condiment and give out. [Ein Buch von guter spise, (Germany, ca. 1345 - Alia Atlas, trans.)] ==== XCIIX - A good broth from salmon, sturgeon, pig's game or other. Take apples, red onion and sweet beer that doesn't taste of hops. Let it seethe with each other, so the apples and onion become soft. Take toasted bread, grate it with the apples and onion, put it through the sieve and give herbs thereto. [Koge Bog, (Denmark, 1616 - Martin Forest, trans.)] ==== 174 What to do to beer, so that it can be kept for a long time without becoming sour. First, broach the cask, let two pints or more drain off into a glazed pot. Take a handful of coriander seeds, make a small bundle out of them in a clean white cloth, but not too big, so that you will be able to put it into the top of the beer keg at the bunghole. Tie it closed with a string, leaving a long piece. After that lay the bundle with the coriander in the pot, set it on the fire, let it boil together for about as long as a hard-boiled egg, do not let it run over. Afterwards set the pot with the beer aside and let it fully cool. You should not cover it. After that bring clay from a potter which should not have been worked, knead salt into it and work them together, then it will be nice and soft. Next take three freshly laid eggs and throw them unopened into the beer from the top. After that hang the small bundle with the coriander seeds in it, also pour the beer from the pot into it, take a good handful of hops from a beer brewer and close up the top of the bunghole by spreading it with the hops. Afterwards set a small unglazed pot over it on top and plaster it up well along the rim. [Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin, (Germany, 16th century - V. Armstrong, trans.)] ==== BOUCHET. To make six sixths of bouchet, take six pints of fine sweet honey, and put it in a cauldron on the fire and boil it, and stir continually until it starts to grow, and you see that it is producing bubbles like small globules which burst, and as they burst emit a little smoke which is sort of dark: and then stir, and then add seven sixths of water and boil until it reduces to six sixths again, and keep stirring. And then put it in a tub to cool until it is just warm; and then strain it through a cloth bag, and then put it in a cask and add one chopine (half-litre) of beer-yeast, for it is this which makes it the most piquant, (and if you use bread yeast, however much you like the taste, the colour will be insipid), and cover it well and warmly to work. And if you want to make it very good, add an ounce of ginger, long pepper, grains of Paradise and cloves in equal amounts, except for the cloves of which there should be less, and put them in a cloth bag and throw in. And after two or three days, if the bouchet smells spicy enough and is strong enough, take out the spice-bag and squeeze it and put it in the next barrel you make. And thus you will be able to use these same spices three or four times. [Le Menagier de Paris, (France, 1393 - Janet Hinson, trans.)] ==== For the fillets of a Veale, smoored in a Frying-panne. CUt them as for Oliues: hacke them with the backe of a Knife: then cut Larde fine, and larde them, then put them in a Frying-pan with strong Beere or Ale, and frye them somewhat browne: then put them into a pinte of Claret Wine, and boyle them with a little Sinamon, Sugar and Ginger. [A NEVV BOOKE of Cookerie, (England, 1615)] ==== Carp in pottage. Take a carp well scaled & wash it, & cut it in four pieces, & take onions fried in butter, a salted lemon cut into slices, a nutmeg, a little ginger, marjoram & mint finely chopped, then put wine or verjuice & butter, & put it to stew well also with a little beer. [Ouverture de Cuisine, (France, 1604 - Daniel Myers, trans.)] Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 19:5:22 -0800 From: "David Friedman" To: Cooks within the SCA Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking with Beer At Tue, 06 Mar 2012 08:04:21 -0700, "Daniel Myers" wrote: > Here are the recipes using beer that I found on a quick search: You don't include flathonys--are you distinguishing between ale and beer? Flathonys Two Fifteenth Century p. 73 Take mylke, and yolkes of egges, and ale, and drawe hem thorgh a straynour, with white sugur or blak; And melt faire butter, and put thereto salt, and make faire coffyns, and put hem into a Nowne til thei be a litull hard; then take a pile, and a dissh fastned there-on, and fill the coffyns therewith of the seid stuffe and late hem bake a while. And then take hem oute, and serue hem forthe, and caste Sugur ynogh on hem. David/Cariadoc www.daviddfriedman.com daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/ From the fb "SCA Cooks" group: Nick Sasso 8/28/18 Flathonys Redaction by: maestro niccolo difrancesco (Nick Sasso) Serving Size: 8 Ingredients: 1 cup milk 5 egg yolks 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup dark ale or beer 1 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter -- melted 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar -- sprinkled on top (garnish) 1 pie crust (9 inch) Prebake pie shell, weighted, for 15 minutes at 425F. Remove crust and reduce oven to 350 degrees F. In saucepan, combine milk, sugar, ale and egg yolks. Heat gently over medium heat, stirring constantly until steam begins to rise off the surface. Stir in salt and melted butter with whisk. Pour into pie shell. Bake 10 to 15 until top just sets. Sprinkle sugar across top of tart and continue cooking until just set (it will continue to cook slightly after removing from the oven). Serve warm (or at room temperature if necessary). Yield: 1 pie Source: Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books From the fb "SCA Cooks" group: Sharon Ann Palmer To answer the original question, from Rumpolt: Suppen 27. Biersuppen mit Eierdottern süß gemacht/ vnd mit Butter auff sieden lassen/ machs gelb oder nicht/ vnd wenns aufgesotten hat/ so saltzs ein wenig. 27. Beer soup with egg yolks made sweet/ and with butter let come to a simmer/ make yellow or not/ and when it has simmered/ then salt it a little. Suppen 47. Nimm weiß Bier/ thu Kümel vnd Butter darein/ laß nur darmit warm werden/ vnd nicht auff sieden/ vnd wenn du es wilt anrichten/ so schneidt Rucken Brot darvnter/ vnd saltz es/ so ist es ein wol geschmackte Biersuppen. 47. Take white (or wheat??) beer/ put caraway and butter into it/ let only get hot/ and not come to a simmer/ and when you want to dress it/ then slice rye bread under it/ and salt it/ like this it is a well tasting Beer soup. Suppen 53. Nimm weiß Bier vnd süssen Rahm durcheinander/ vnd gute frische Butter/ laß darmit auff sieden/ vnd saltzs/ so ist es gut vnd auch wol geschmack. 53. Take white (or wheat??) beer and sweet cream together/ and good fresh butter/ let them simmer together/ and salt/ like this it is good and also well tasting. Suppen 7. Milchsuppen vnd verlorne Eier darein/ oder schlag Eier auff/ vnd laß sie durch ein Härin Tuch laufen/ vnd wenn die Milch mit der Butter seudt/ so zeuch die Eier fein langsam darein/ vnd laß nur ein wenig sieden/ richts darnach in ein Schüssel auff gebeht Schnitten von einem Weck/ so ist sie gut. 7. Milk soup and poached eggs in it/ or break eggs/ and let it run through a hair cloth/ and when the milk with the butter simmers/ so pour the eggs very slowly into it/ and let it simmer only a little while/ then dress in a dish on toasted slices of a weck bread/ like this it is good. Suppen 8. Nimm sauren Rahm/ vnd thu Butter darein/ laß darmit auff sieden/ so ist es gut vnd wol geschmack. 8. Take sour cream/ and put Butter into it/ let it simmer together/ it is good and well tasting like this. Suppen 9. Käßsuppen von einem Parmesankäß außgezogen/ die fein weiß ist/ den Käß mit Wasser gesotten/ oder halb Wasser vnd halb Erbeßbrüh/ ist gut vnd lieblich. 9. Cheese soup of a Parmesan cheese drawn/ that is very white/ boil the cheese with water/ or half water and half pea broth/ is good and lovely. Suppen 10. Zigersuppen mit Wasser vnd Butter lassen auff sieden/ seig es durch ein Sib/ vnd versaltz sie nicht. 10. Ricotta soup with water and Butter let simmer/ pour it through a sieve/ and do not over salt it. Ziger is soft, fresh cheese made with the buttermilk from making butter and the whey from making cheese, or made at home with vinegar and plain milk. Suppen 23. Nimm Bretzel/ vnd weich sie im Saltzwasser/ thu sie auff eine Schüssel/ vnd besträw sie mit schwartzen Rosein vnd Jngwer/ begeuß mit heisser Butter/ so ist es auch gut. Oder besträw es mit Parmesankäß/ vnd geuß heisse Butter darüber. 23. Take pretzels/ and soften them in salt water/ put them on a dish/ and sprinkle them with black raisins and ginger/ baste with hot butter/ like this it is also good. Or sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese/ and pour hot butter over it. Suppen 45. Nimm Zwibeln/ die geschelet sein/ schneidt sie fein breit vnd dünn/ setz sie mit Wasser zu/ vnd laß sieden/ nimm ein harten Käß/ der nicht faul ist/ vnd schneidt jn fein klein/ thu jhn in die Brüh/ darinn der Zwibel seudt/ thu gute Butter darein/ vnd laß auch mit sieden. vnd wenn du es wilt anrichten/ so schneidt von einem Weck fein dünn vnd breit/ richt die Brüh mit dem Käß darüber. Also essens die Vngerischen Herrn gern. 45. Take onions/ that are peeled/ cut them very wide and thin/ set them to (the fire) with water/ and let simmer/ take a hard cheese/ that is not spoiled and cut it very small/ put it into the broth/ where the onions simmered/ put good butter into it/ and let simmer together. And when you wish to dress it/ then slice of a weck bread very thin and wide/ arrange the broth with the cheese over it. The Hungarian lords enjoy eating like this. Suppen 46. Nimm ein neuwen Käß/ der vber Nacht gemacht ist/ vnd rür jhn ab mit saurem Rahm/ thu frische Butter darein/ vnd laß darmit auff sieden/ so zergehet der Käß. vnd wenn du wilt anrichten/ so nimm gebeht Schnitten Brot/ oder von Weck/ vnd geuß die Brüh darüber/ so ist es ein gute Vngerische Käßsuppen. 46. Take a new cheese/ that was made overnight/ and stir it with sour cream/ put fresh Butter into it/ and let simmer together/ the cheese melts like this. And when you will dress it/ then take toasted sliced Bread/ or of weck bread/ and pour the broth over it/ like this it is a good Hungarian cheese soup. Suppen 54. Mach ein Teig an mit einem Ei oder zwei/ vnd treib jn gar dünn auff/ walg jn fein vbereinander/ vnd mehls wol darzwischen/ schneidt jn fein klein/ nimm gute Erbeßbrüh/ Muscatenblüt vnd Butter darein/ setz auff Kolen/ vnd laß sieden/ zeuch die Nudel darein/ oder back sie in Butter. vnd wenn du sie wilt anrichten/ so richt es auff ein gebeht Schnitten Brot/ vnd sträw geriebenen Parmesankäß darüber/ begeuß mit heisser Butter/ vnd gibs warm auff ein Tisch/ so ist es ein gute Nudelsuppen. 54. Make a dough with an egg or two/ and drive it out very thin/ roll it up nicely over each other/ and flour it well between/ and cut very small/ take good pea broth/ mace and butter into it/ set on coals/ and let simmer/ pour the noodles into it or fry it in butter. And when you want to dress it/ arrange on a toasted sliced bread/ and strew grated Parmesan cheese over it/ baste with hot butter and give it warm on a table/ like this it is a good Noodle soup. Sharon Ann Palmer Also, the Erbeßbrüh or pea broth mentioned is probably the water from cooking dry peas, not fresh peas. Edited by Mark S. Harris beer-in-food-msg Page 2 of 20