pickled-foods-msg – 04/1/08
Medieval pickled food. recipes. Pickled eggs, lemons, cheese, cucumbers, compost.
NOTE: See also the files: pickled-meats-msg, campfood-msg, food-storage-msg, canning-msg, drying-foods-msg, meat-smoked-msg, stockfish-msg, vinegar-msg, eggs-msg.
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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.
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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
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From: Aoife <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Keeping meat (was: one "pot" meal)
Date: 4 Sep 1996 20:22:54 GMT
Gracious gentles,
>> 3) soft cheese in oil. This sounds interesting. Can I just buy a soft
>> cheese and immurse it in oil?
>
>I bought a jar containing lots of balls of a soft white cheese in olive
>oil at a middle eastern grocery before this Pennsic, and it kept fine at
>Pennsic. I haven't experimented with producing it myself.
Aoife: Several years ago "Marinated Mozzerella" was the culinary rage.
Olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, blanched garlic, and spices of your
choice are briefly heated to kill any nasty bugs. When cooled, it is
poured over cubed mozzerella or other semi-soft cheese. It keeps several
weeks on the counter, several months or more in the 'fridge. I heartily
reccomend this....cheese is wonderful when preserved this way.
>David/Cariadoc
Aoife
liontamr at ptd.net
From: Aoife <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Keeping meat (was: one "pot" meal)
Date: 9 Sep 1996 16:51:47 GMT
Organization: ProLog - PenTeleData, Inc.
jeffs at bu.edu (Jeff Suzuki) wrote:
>I am currently running experiments on various means of pickling, and
>how long they will keep without refrigeration. Right now, I'm
>pickling various vegetables in the Japanese tsukemono fashion.
>
>First, a note: I've always seen the signs say "refrigerate after
>opening", and I've always _bought_ tsukemono refrigerated, but of
>course, in period, they wouldn't have had either. So I am assuming
>that, done properly, the tsukemono will keep for a while.
>
>Anyway, I'll post the results when I get them...
>
>Fujimoto
In Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery, (not THE Martha
Washington...Columbia university Press, New York, 1981)Editor Karen Hess
gives us some valuable advice: (Page 166-7, and regarding vegetables, but
equally true of meat) "Straight pickling brine requires about 6
tablespoons of salt per quart of water; if vinegar is added, far less is
required, perhaps 1 or 2 tablespoons will do. Pickles should be examined
occaisionally for mold; if there is as yet no sign of softening, all can
be set right by draining off the liquor, boiling it for 10 or 15 minutes,
rinsing off the pickles,and adding a new cold vinegar to the cooled
liquor in sufficient quantity to cover the pickles once again."
Please forgive my impertinence if this advice isn't going to a novice,
but....I reccomend you do further reading. In fact most old
household-type cookery books have excellent examples of pickling or
brining foods in recipes. BTW, do you have any japanese period cooking
sources? Please share.
The best source for period information is the horse's mouth....
Aoife
From: jeffs at bu.edu (Jeff Suzuki)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: food preservative report
Date: 25 Sep 1996 21:40:52 GMT
Organization: Boston University
All right, the science experiment has succeeded...
I experimented a bit with pickled vegetables in a Japanese vein
(tsukemono), a great accompaniment with rice (and --- eek! --- takai
if you buy them yourself). Here are the recipes (though they're also
on my web page: http://math.bu.edu/INDIVIDUAL/jeffs/index.html)
Cucumbers: three cucumbers, 2 cups water and 1/4 cup salt. Keep the
cucumbers covered, let sit for a week in the fridge. These kept about
a week at room temperature before mold started growing on them.
Chinese cabbage: rinse, separate leaves, and layer, liberally
sprinkling salt over each layer. Let sit about a week in the fridge,
weighted down (if you don't want to buy a tsukemono presser, at
$ridiculous, use a plate and a heavy weight). These have been sitting
out for about three weeks now, and are still fine.
Next month...miso pickles? We'll see...
Fujimoto
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com(Elise Fleming )
Newsgroups: rec.food.historic,rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Pickled Lemons
Date: 21 Jan 1997 01:14:34 GMT
L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net> writes:
>I am searching for a source (unredacted) that will have directions for
>making Pickled Lemons and the other sorts of things that might be
>strewn upon a grand Elizabethan Salad.
Robert May, _The Accomplisht Cook, 4th edition, 1678, has "To pickle
Lemons" and says simply "Boil them in water and salt, and put them up
with white-wine."
May also includes a number of things for "sallats" which would include
the grand sallat. You may want to search out a copy. Ditto for
Gervase Markham's _The English Housewife_, 1615, as edited by Michael
Best. This you might find in a library. He includes a number of salad
ideas including carving carrots into fantastic shapes and making
"strange sallats" with flowers composed of parts of vegetables. May
would be an excellent resource.
May also has "Of pickling sallats" where he says "...they are only
boiled, and then drained from the water, spread upon a table, and a
good store of salt thrown over them, then when they are thorough cold,
make a pickle with water, salt, and a little vinegar, and with the same
pot them up in close earthen pots, and serve them forth as occasion
shall serve."
Seems to me there was at least one other reference to pickled lemons
but I can't find it right now.
Elise/Alys
From: jkrissw at aol.com
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Pickled Lemons
Date: 21 Jan 1997 18:49:12 GMT
L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net> writes:
>I am searching for a source (unredacted) that will have directions for
>making Pickled Lemons and the other sorts of things that might be strewn
>upon a grand Elizabethan Salad. I have come across a recipe for *faking*
>pickled lemons, but as it requires you have the liquid from the pickled
>lemons to begin with, I am no farther forward. Failing a period recipe,
>I'm willing to work from a description or best guess.
Here's a recipe from Claudia Roden's "A Book of Middle Eastern Food" (not
necessarily period, but certainly traditional Egyptian):
"Scrub lemons well and slice them. Sprinkle the slices generously with
salt and leave for at least 24 hours on a large plate set at an angle or
in a collander. They will become soft and limp, and lose their
bitterness. Arrange the slices in layers in a glass jar, sprinkling a
little paprika between each layer." (Note, as paprika is late-period at
best, you might want to experiment with other spices - coriander,
cinnamon, etc.) "Cover with corn or nut oil. Sometimes olive oil is
used, but its taste is rather strong and may slightly overpower the
lemons. Close the jar tightly. After about 3 weeks, the lemons will be
ready to eat - soft, yellow, and a beautiful orange color."
I've also heard a version where the lemons were first boiled (whole, not
wedged) before being packed in salt. That recipe also called for using
some "fake saffron" (safflower).
Pickled lemons are quite interesting when used on a sandwich as one would
a "regular" pickle, adding a bite to almost any kind of meat sandwich.
The Egyptians use it to spice up a "bisterma" (middle-eastern cousin of
"pastrami", but more garlicy) sandwich.
Daveed of Granada, AoA, CHA
From the Barony of Lyondemere in fair Caid
mka J. Kriss White in smoggy L.A.
jkrissw at aol.com
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net>
Newsgroups: rec.food.historic,rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Pickled Lemons
Date: 22 Jan 1997 12:54:50 GMT
Organization: ProLog - PenTeleData, Inc.
Gracious Gentleperson,
Thanks for your input. This sounds interesting! I have also been
pointed in the direction of Robert May and Markham (later edition than
the one I own). In addition I have found (been pointed to)several recipes
for pickled lemon rinds using white wine and sugar (which was near to
what I was looking for). I have preserved oranges, and can guess from
that tasty experiment the procedure for pickling lemons whole. It's a
darn shame I may have to go out and buy yet more cookbooks. Last month my
cookbook shelf literally fell off the wall. Now I know better than to
trust my valuable tomes to mere nails, wood and brackets!
Actually this post went to both newsgroups at once. I indulge in both
sins (hopefully at the same time ;^D).
Your efforts may make it to the table at Aethelmearc's First Crown
Tournament. Thank-you.
Lady Aoife Finn (who was born in "Fair Caid", in the city of Angels, and
wishes she were there out of the snow right now).
From: jack at purr.demon.co.uk (Jack Campin)
Newsgroups: rec.food.historic,rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Pickled Lemons
Date: 23 Jan 1997 01:20:18 GMT
Organization: The Fluffiest Flat in Edinburgh
L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net> writes:
> I am searching for a source (unredacted) that will have directions for
> making Pickled Lemons and the other sorts of things that might be strewn
> upon a grand Elizabethan Salad.
Why not just buy them from a Middle Eastern food shop? Is the modern
Egyptian bottled kind all that different from what the Elizabethans used?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Campin jack at purr.demon.co.uk
T/L, 2 Haddington Place, Edinburgh EH7 4AE, Scotland (+44) 131 556 5272
From: cass <cass at telerama.lm.com>
Newsgroups: rec.food.historic,rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Pickled Lemons
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 08:00:42 +0000
Organization: Telerama Public Access Internet, Pittsburgh, PA
I have just put together a small booklet on Feasting and Fasting Foods
of Lent and Ramadan for a Food Fest weekend. Among the recipes I intend
to share are several Torshi recipes of Egypt.
I am an American but share my time between the US and Egypt. Torshi are
pickled vegetables. They include turnips, onions, cucumbers, carrots,
green hot peppers, olives, and lemons.
The Egyptian lemons are small ones, the size of a large walnut. They
are available int he United States. They are much more flavorful that
American lemons.
Lamoon Mikhalel
Pickled Lemons
50 small lemons for juice
4 T salt
3 T black peppercorns
7 T saffron
50 small yellow lemons
8-10 pickling jars
Squeeze the juice of 50 lemons and set aside. Combine salt, peppercorns
and saffron and set aside. WAsh remaining lemons. Cut almost in half,
leaving enought to keep them joined. Place a layer of lemons, sprinkle
salt mixture, add another layer, sprinkle salt mixture, and continue
until jar is filled. Pour enough juice to completely cover the lemons.
Seal the jar. Continue until finished. Allow to ferment for three to
four weeks.
There are two cookbooks you might me interested in
Egyptian Cooking by Samia Abdelnour. American University in Cairo Press
(available through Columbia University Press (new edition currently in press)
and
Flavors of Egypt by Susan Torgersen available through Trade Routes
Enterprises 518 Fourth Street Monessen, PA 15062. Price 20.00 plus 3 s&h
Now I am interested in the history of Torshi in Egypt. Any ideas?
Cassandra Vivian
From: "Joseph M. Carlin" <foodbks at shore.net>
Newsgroups: rec.food.historic,rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Pickled Lemons
Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 08:12:09 -0500
Organization: Food Heritage Press
Every Friday I go to Boston's Haymarket to buy a half-pound of olives
from one of the few Middle Eastern food stalls. Yesterday (Jan 24) they
had a five-gallon plastic bucket filled with pickled lemons. This was
the first time I had seen them in the mostly Italian food market.
From: charding at nwlink.com (Cathy Harding)
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 1997 18:52:14 -0800
Subject: Re: SC - SC Pickels
Master Ian Damebrigge of Wychwood wrote about a sweet pickle from
Curye on Inglish, p. 120-121
This is a wonderful sweet pickle. It is the one Cossette and I used in the
last feast we did. It was the Janeltis feast held in the honor of the
Dowager Princess of An Tir at the An Tir Kingdom Kingdom A&S Championship.
We put up about 24 jars of it. Because this was a visual as well as yummy
feast we did the Pears and green and red cabbage separately so that we
would have different colors on the plate and garnished it with fresh
violets and pansies (edible). It was a pickling extravaganza, and the
kitchen was quite sticky afterward!
We did it the weekend before the feast, it was part of the first course
which was all cold as we had the kitchen for a very limited time.
Maeve
From: "Philip W. Troy" <troy at asan.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 00:57:03 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - Pickles
linneah at erols.com wrote:
> Why haven't I seen more pickled things (veggies and meats) served at feasts?
> Is it because it takes too much planning or is there something else?
>
> Linneah
It might be just that people don't want to store the food for long
enough in advance for the process to be completed. I've had good sucess
with the composte recipe from The Forme of Cury. It's a sort of cooked
pickle/jam/chutney. A bit like Italian mustard fruits.
Adamantius
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net>
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 07:51:42 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: SC - Pickled Lemons-The Recipe-LONG
Maeve writes:
>Cosette the Nice and I just spent all day sunday putting up vegetables
>(pickled of course) which won't be ready until about september crown. Last
>fall we pickled more vegetables which we are eager to taste in May. Many
>pickled things take time to mature before they are ready to be served,
>sometimes months. This often doesn't fit in to the feast planning
>schedule.
>
>We are always looking for pickle recipes and other ways of preserving
>fruits and vegetables for later use. Anyone have any experience with this?
>
>Maeve
>charding at nwlink.com
OK. I can't resist showing off my new recipe, espescially since I trawled
all over the 'net begging for originals of the recipes I read about in a
third-hand source......Oh NO! It's the Pickled Lemons AGAIN!!!! The
copyright notice is for my protection. I may wish to write a cook-book one
day! The notice expressly forbids copying to another news group. Please note
this fact. It allows the use for Feasts and even for printing a menu/recipe
list, but only in an SCA context. As a point of interest, current law
provides that a recipe is sufficiently altered from an original if it
contains a 25 percent difference in ingredient contents and/or amounts, AND
the corresponding alteration in directions. Altering the directions with
different wording OR a slight alteration in ingredients is not sufficient to
avoid violation of copyright laws. Please accept my apologies for the
baldness and necessity of the copyright notice. Since we have taken the
honor of the SCA into a public forum, I feel it is necessary.
The ancient, non-copyright originals:
Preserved Oranges (technique lifted, but not all ingredients).
The Good Huswife's Jewel --T Dawson, 1596
A Lemon Salat from A Book of Fruits and Flowers, printed by Thos. Jenner,
London 1653 (author unknown). I followed the ingredients but not the technique!
The recipe is a compilation of the two, and can not be considered a primary
source redaction of a medieval recipe. I have bothered to include it on the
sca-cooks list because it's fabulous, and must be tried to be appreciated.
In the past I have read several recounts of salads which had lemons or
pickled lemons strewn upon them. This was my attempt to re-create those
pickled lemons. Not having been alive in the 16th-17th century, I don't know
if I have succeeded. However, every now and then, a cook get a single recipe
for which they are most proud. Right now, this is mine.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE:
The following recipe entitled "Pickled Lemons" is copyright L. Herr-Gelatt,
1997, also known as Lady Aoife Finn of Ynos Mon within the Society for
Creative Anachronism, Inc., (SCA), and may not be reproduced in part or in
whole without express permission of the author, except for the one-time
transmission originated by the author for the purposes of the newsgroup
"Sca-Cooks" and no other automated transmission, for storage in the Society
for Creative Anachronism, Inc. (SCA) Cooking Archive Files of Mark S. Harris
for research purposes, or to be used privately for the purpose of Historical
Meal Planning and Cooking within the structure of the SCA, Inc. In all
cases, full credit should be given to the author. At the date of
transmission, the Author can be reached at liontamr at ptd.net or at RR 1 Box
500F Honesdale PA 18431. This copyright notice must accompany all versions
of the recipe unless the author gives express permission to exclude it.
RECIPE:
Pickled Lemons
2 blemish-free lemons
Juice and zest of 1 lemon (no white)
1 cup white wine (sweet: Rhine wine is suggested)
1 c. sugar
1/3 cup white or flavored vinegar (I used home-made costmary/lemon verbena
vinegar)
Cut a small round hole in the 2 lemons the size of the end of your little
finger. Remove the round piece of peel. Insert a paring knife into the hole
and give it several twists to loosen and break the membranes. Insert little
finger and press gently against the flesh to try and loosen any pits. Remove
the pits that fall out, and reserve the draining lemon juice for syrup, below.
Gently bring to boil 1 quart of water in a suacepan. Lower lemons into the
pan and boil rapidly 5 minutes. Remove and drain. Repeat 3 more times with
fresh water (it is more efficient to have one pan heating while boiling in
another). If the lemon rind is espescially thick, 1-3 more boilings will be
necessary.
Drain them well, saving the liquid that pools beneath them.
In a separate saucepan combine remaining ingredients (and the drained lemon
juice from above). Bring to a boil to combine, and turn off heat. When
lemons have been boiled in the 4 changes of water, put them (drained) into
the wine-syrup mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer approx.
15 minutes or until syrup volume has reduced by 1/3-1/2. Cool. Remove lemon
zest and reserve for another use (it is now candied). To keep the lemons,
refrigerate lemons in syrup or can them in the syrup using normal heat
processing procedures.
Store in an airtight container. Slice lemons thinly or dice small and use
in salads or to garnish desserts. The liquid produced, in which the lemons
are to be stored, refrigerated, or canned in by heat processing, is
excellent, and can be used on it's own as a dressing for salad or added to
water or seltzer for a refreshing drink.
I welcome any comments about the above recipe.
Aoife
From: "James L. Matterer" <jmattere at weir.net>
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 11:49:41 -0700
Subject: Re: SC - SC Pickels
Cossette wrote:
>Why haven't I seen more pickled things (veggies and meats) served at >feasts? Is it because it takes too much planning or is there something >else?
>
>Linneah
Well, I've been making pickled dishes an integral part of every feast
I've done for the past several years. The most popular seems to be
English-style pickled eggs (which I usually make as part of a
Ploughman's Lunch, with pickled onions, bread, & cheese), but one of my
favorites is a dish called "Compost" which contains raisins, pears,
cabbage, walnuts, mustard seeds, anise seeds, white radishes... all