soup-msg – 7/17/10

Medieval soups. Cooking soups at events. Recipes.

NOTE: See also the files: sops-msg, cheese-soups-msg, gazpacho-msg, stews-bruets-msg, broths-msg, thickening-msg, porridges-msg, mustard-soup-msg, onion-soups-msg.

KEYWORDS: period soup recipe pottage cooking heating

************************************************************************
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: ddfr at best.com (David Friedman)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca,alt.fairs.renaissance
Subject: Re: Soup for 100?
Date: 22 Mar 1996 03:19:17 GMT

> : 1) What size cauldrons/cookpots will I need? 

Warrent writes:

> If the soup is the main course I'd say they'll want a quart each, 
> otherwise maybe half of that.  So if NOT the main course:
> 
>         Cap = halfquart * 100 = 50 qt = (uhmmmm) 12.5 gallons!
>         Adding 100% for evaporation (unless you want to stand over
>         it and add hot water periodically), that's 25 gallons total.

We just had soup for dinner; two adults and two small children consumed
about a quart, plus some bread. So I would say a pint per person of a
reasonably thick soup should do for a main course, a cup per person if
there is another main course. And allowing an extra 100% for evaporation
loss also seems extreme. I would say about a 10 to 15 gallon pot should
dol--or several adding up to that. 

> : 2) Any suggestions as to good recipes? 

You can find some period soup recipes at
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/miscellany.html

> : 3) Any other suggestions you folks have, especially mistakes to avoid and 
> : useful equipment to have... 

You want some tool, possibly a metal hook, to lift a hot pot lid. If you
are using a single ten gallon pot, it is going to weigh nearly two hundred
pounds full, so if you want to be able to lift the pot onto or off of the
fire you will need something like a pole going through a handle, with a
person at each end of the pole. It is also going to be hard to get a
tripod strong enough to handle that big a pot. You may want a big trivet
to put it on instead--although I have no idea where you would get one that
big.

David/Cariadoc
-- 
ddfr at best.com


From: bisbetica at aol.com (Bisbetica)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca,alt.fairs.renaissance
Subject: Re: Soup for 100?
Date: 22 Mar 1996 12:10:09 -0500

Good luck with your endeavor.  I just finished a feast for one hundred
myself and am still recovering.  Things I have found very useful:  get
yourself a computer program such as Mangia or Micro kitchen companion. 
They take recipies and will calculate the ingredients for you up to 999
people.  This has been a big help to me.  Secondly, I have discovered a
broth mix that is meat free but tastes like its meat made counterparts. 
It is called George Washington's Brown or Yellow broth.  My vegetarian
friends love it and the meat lovers do'nt ever notice the difference.  You
just have to watch how salty it gets.  

Good Luck!  Katerina


From: hwt at igs.net (Henry Troup)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca,alt.fairs.renaissance
Subject: Re: Soup for 100?
Date: 25 Mar 1996 20:24:44 -0500

You'll need a lot of firewood or charcoal for a lot of soup.
Ideally, you'll need a full-time woodchopper person.
My experience with boiling massive qunatities has included
maple syrup the hard way.  It's astonishing how fast a
big fire consumes wood.

And if you're reheating soup, start early, bring it to the boil 
for safety.

Wood fires are maybe 30% efficient - and water has a huge
latent heat of boiling.  I haven't worked it out, but I
suspect that a pound weight of wood per pint of cold water
(to boiling) is about right - much like the pig roasting
rule - the fuel weights in the same as the pig.

Luck!
-- 
Henry Troup   hwt at igs.net    I am responsible for these opinions.  


From: cclark at vicon.net (C. Clark)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca,alt.fairs.renaissance
Subject: Re: Soup for 100?
Date: 26 Mar 1996 14:15:07 GMT
Organization: EMI Communications

In article <4j7h0s$7bs at host.igs.net>, hwt at igs.net says...
>And if you're reheating soup, start early, bring it to the boil 
>for safety.
 ...
>Henry Troup   hwt at igs.net    I am responsible for these opinions.  

For reheating soup, I would suggest using several smaller kettles. 
There's not much advantage to be gained from doing it all in one batch, 
unless much stirring is required or you have to fit it onto a limited 
number of cooking spaces and get it all ready at one time. In fact, I'm 
not sure I see the advantage of doing a single huge batch from scratch. 
This doesn't necessarily save much time and hardly insures that it will 
all be made even nearly the same (because some ingredients may settle to 
the bottom before serving).

And if you do want to reheat a single big kettle, there's no need to put 
it all in at once. You should have nearly the same amount of added heat 
(from the burner) in the pot after a given time period regardless of how 
much soup is in, unless you let it boil before it's all in the pot. Start 
with a quart or less, and then add more whenever it's about to boil. This 
way, you avoid the problem of keeping it for a long time at temperatures 
below 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

By the way (soup-related topic), my father knew someone who had a job at 
an Indian reservation. Conditions were bad, there were shortages of food 
(especially meat), wild dogs scavenging for any food not watched over, 
and most of the people in charge didn't care. Since this person was a 
rare exception who did seem to care, the inmates (oops, I mean Indians) 
invited him to a feast. There was a soup served at the feast that he 
liked, and he went back for seconds. As he helped himself, a nearby child 
innocently advised him: "Dig down deep! Puppy in the bottom!" Yum.

Henry of Maldon/Alex Clark	cclark at vicon.net


From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 10:46:15 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - Early 'Celtic

Melissa Martines wrote:
>      I was just wondering if anyone had any good primary sources for early
>      Celtic food?  (like 600 A.D.).  I'm working on a coronation feast menu
>      for some really early celts (English Celts, by the way).
> 
>      morgan
>      melissa.martines at corpfamily.com

There's not much out there in the Arthurian food department, that I know
of.  You will probably pretty much have to work with the earliest
recipes you can find for those foods that were available in the British
Isles at the time in question. This may or may not be especially
accurate.

Somewhere in the autobiography (Confessions?) of St. Colmkille (a.k.a.
Columba, founder of the monastery on Iona, among others), there is a
description of the Irish pottage called Brotchan Foltchep or Brotchan
Roy. As I say, it is a description, rather than a recipe. However, this
soup is still eaten in Ireland today, and given the list of ingredients,
there's no real reason it couldn't be more or less the same soup it was
in 597 C.E. Most Irish cookbooks have a recipe for it. Here's mine, for
what it's worth...
________________________________________________________________
Brotchan Foltchep

This soup probably started out as oatmeal porridge enriched with leeks
and milk, and has been eaten in Irish monasteries for about 1400 years
or more.

Serves 6

3 or 4 medium-size leeks, about 1 1/2 pounds
1/4 to 1/2 stick butter (1 - 2 ounces)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup raw, steel-cut porridge oats, like McAnn's
Parsley (flat Italian, chopped) for garnishing
salt and white pepper to taste

Wash the leeks well. They are usually muddy and sandy. Remove any
visible dirt or grit. Trim off the root ends and discard. Starting at
the white, root ends, slice the leeks thinly. Place in a deep bowl of
cold water, and rub the leeks between your hands, gently, to separate
the rings and encourage the last of the grit to sink to the bottom. Lift
the leek slices off the surface till the bowl has nothing left in it but
water and mud. Drain the leeks in a strainer and set aside.

In a large, deep saucepan, bring the stock and milk to a simmer. Stir in
the oats, bring almost to a boil, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until
the oats are done.

While the oats are simmering, melt the butter in a deep saute pan, over
low heat. Sweat the leeks for five or ten minutes, until they begin to
soften, but not brown. When the oats are about half done, add the leeks
and their butter to the pan of soup. The leeks and the oatmeal should be
done at the same time.

Take the pot off the heat, stir in the cream, and season with salt and
white pepper to taste. Garnish with the parsley.
_______________________________________________________________

Plenty of roast and boiled meats would have been eaten (what with a
herd-based economy and all). Ditto milk and cheeses. Watercress in some
form (probably cooked, though). 

Variations on the ham-and-cabbage soup-stew thing. Oh, and don't forget
the salmon.

Adamantius


Date: Tue, 02 Sep 1997 17:07:28 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - soups with a grain in it

rebecca tants wrote:
> So, I went through EVERY book I have this weekend and have been over
> and over the stuff online and can't find a soup for my sideboard
> this upcoming weekend.  I had thought something like a beef with barley
> would be nice, but not one of my books on english cooking between the 14's
> and the 16's lists any grain or starch in a soup other then breadcrumbs.
> 
> My parameters are
> 1) English if at ALL possible
> 2) Beef or Pork broth (allergy to poultry I'm avoiding)
> 3) Needs to sit on a sideboard all day
> 4) It's a fighting event - so it needs to be kind of filling/substantial
> 
> Any Ideas?  Am I looking in the wrong places?  (I checked the Miscellany,
> Pleyn Delite, The Good Housewife, Fabulous Feasts (ick), 7 centuries of
> english cooking, cookery in England, Take a THousand Eggs or more, etc.)
> 
> Has anyone seen documentation for something like this?

Gervase Markham has several pottages from the late 16th / early 17th
century (while the English Housewife is dated 1615, I believe, it's one
of his later works, and he had apparently been accused not of
plagiarizing someone else's work, but his own, from earlier works, so I
think he is acceptable for the tail end of late period). If I remember
correctly, at least one of the potttages in TEH contains oatmeal. I
think it's Boiled Meats Ordinary, but I could be wrong. I remember it as
a pottage of beef broth, cubed mutton or beef, herbs, and oats. Perhaps
the odd onion or two.

Adamantius 


Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 18:39:49 +0000
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - soups with a grain in it

And it came to pass on  2 Sep 97, that rebecca tants wrote:
 
> So, I went through EVERY book I have this weekend and have been over
> and over the stuff online and can't find a soup for my sideboard
> this upcoming weekend.  I had thought something like a beef with
> barley would be nice, but not one of my books on english cooking
> between the 14's and the 16's lists any grain or starch in a soup
> other then breadcrumbs.

Timidly delurking....

In Hieatt's _An Ordinance of Pottage_, there is a recipe for "Gruel 
enforsed", which is a thick soup-porridge based on a beef-pork broth. 
She says in her commentary that gruel usually meant oatmeal, but 
that it was sometimes made with barley, which is the grain she chose 
for the redaction.

Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom


Date: 3 Sep 1997 15:16:39 -0500
From: "Sue Wensel" <swensel at brandegee.lm.com>
Subject: SC - Re:Soups with a grain in it

Ruadh asks for a soup with a grain in it.  Adamantius points out that Markham
has several.  I just happened (for a change) to have some sources at work for
research I am doing in the evening.

Here goes:

_Of Boiled Meats Ordinary_ (I am not going to quote the recipe, just the
ingredients)

Mutton or Beef, Water, Violet leaves, Endive, Succory, Strawberry leaves,
Spiach, Langdebeef (anyone have any idea), marigold flowers (calendula, not
French marigold), Scallions, Parsley, Oatmeal (half as much as there are
herbs), 

_Pottage without the sight of herbs_

Same as above, but you chop the herbs and oatmeal and "with some of the warm
liquor in the pot strain it as hard as may be"

_Pottage without herbs_

Use the meat, beaten oatmeal, and onions

_Pottage with whole herbs_

Mutton, veal, or kid; Oatmeal; Lettuce; Spinach; Endive; Succory; Leaves of
Cauliflower (would this be instead of the white flower?); White cabbage --
insides; Onions; Salt; Verjuice

If you need more detail just let me know.

Derdiru


Date: Wed, 3 Sep 1997 22:26:15 +0000
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - soups with a grain in it

From _An Ordinance of Pottage_ by Constance B. Hieatt, Prospect 
Books, 1988

(This is from a 15th century English manuscript: Yale Beinecke MS 163)

Grewel enforsed

Take merybonys & fresch beef; make good gruell therof, than draw hem
throrow a streyner.  Take fayre porke, tendur sodyn; peke out the
bonys & the senowys & do awey the skyn.  Grynd hit smal yn a morter. 
Temper hit up with the same gruell that ys drawyn; make hit smothe. 
Let hit stond resonabely by the flesshe.  Sesyn hit up with salt &
saferyn, than sette hym by the fyre.  Lete hym boyle a lytyll, and
serve hym forthe.

Hieatt's redaction and comments are:

"Gruel" usually meant oatmeal, but it was sometimes made with barley,
an alternative which produces a pleasing variant of modern barley
broths.

In my adapted version, overleaf, I have included herbs as an optional
addition, since some other recipes suggest adding them.

Meat and Barley Soup

1 c. barley
1/2 lb. beef shin, 'cracked' by the butcher
2 c. cut-up cooked pork
generous pinch of saffron
1/2 tsp. salt

optional additions:
1 onion
2-3 TBS minced parsley
1/2 tsp. sage

Put the barley in a pan with the beef shin, onion (if used), saffron
and salt, cover with 6 cups of water and boil until the barley is very
soft (about an hour).  Drain the barley, reserving the broth and the
bone.  Cut any usable meat from the beef bone into pieces and put it
into a processor with the barley, pork chunks, and parsley and sage
(if used).  Add a little of the broth and process into a fairly
smooth, thick "porridge".  Stir this back into the rest of the broth. 
 If necessary to achieve the right consistency, add a little more
water.  Check seasoning and serve hot.

Harper *** Robin Carroll-Mann
harper  at  idt.net


Date: Fri, 12 Sep 1997 11:00:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: Uduido at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Soup stock-tip

Someone mentioned fatty items. If you leave your stock in a cool (read
refrigerated) place over night you can then remove the hardened fat from the
top the next day. This is a standard practice in the making of any meat based
stocks.

Lord Ras


Date: Thu, 06 Nov 1997 23:00:46 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #423

L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt wrote:
> >I respectfully submit that if cream of leek soup, slightly thickened
> >with oatmeal, has anything in common with mortrews, I suggest that the
> >redaction of either or both needs to be re-evaluated. Or are oats being
> >classified as a legume, thereby invoking the Ancient Prejudice of Aoife?
> 
> Well, I suppose we must have done something wrong then. The recipe used 2
> ozs. oatmeal, 1 pint of milk, and 1 lb. leeks. It stood like cold gelled
> oatmeal and was very bitter. Do you have a recipe that's period? 

Not as such. Documentation for the dish's existence in period doesn't
appear to include a recipe with ingredient quantities or proportons. It
sounds as if what you've made is fairly close to what Colmcille would
have eaten, but it should be possible to improve on what you had without
getting too far from the spirit of the thing.

This is pretty much my standard recipe, based loosely on Malachai
McCormick's "Irish Country Cooking":

3 or 4 medium-size leeks, about 1 1/2 pounds
1/4 to 1/2 stick butter (1 - 2 ounces)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup raw, steel-cut porridge oats, like McAnn's
Parsley (flat Italian, chopped) for garnishing
salt and white pepper to taste


Wash the leeks well. They are usually muddy and sandy. Remove any
visible dirt or grit. Trim off the root ends and discard. Starting at
the white, root ends, slice the leeks thinly. Place in a deep bowl of
cold water, and rub the leeks between your hands, gently, to separate
the rings and encourage the last of the grit to sink to the bottom. Lift
the leek slices off the surface till the bowl has nothing left in it but
water and mud. Drain the leeks in a strainer and set aside.

In a large, deep saucepan, bring the stock and milk to a simmer. Stir in
the oats, bring almost to a boil, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until
the oats are done.

While the oats are simmering, melt the butter in a deep saute pan, over
low heat. Sweat the leeks for five or ten minutes, until they begin to
soften. When the oats are about half done, add the leeks and their
butter to the pan of soup. The leeks and the oatmeal should be done at
the same time.

Take the pot off the heat, stir in the cream, and season with salt and
white pepper to taste. Garnish with the parsley.

Now, back to the real world (sort of). Possible reasons for bitterness
might include the most obvious cause, which is that too much of the dark
green of the leek was used. Slightly less likely, but still possible, is
that your oats had gone rancid. Whole porridge oats aren't always
defatted, and oats contain enzymes that can break down fats (hence the
oat bran craze of a few years back). Anyway, real oatmeal, as opposed to
the nasty flaky stuff, can become rancid quickly, which might result in
bitterness. Salt will cover this if it's not serious, but if it's really
bad, nothing will mask it, and you shouldn't be eating them anyway.

Now, if the oats and leeks have no trace of bitterness, you may find
that some might enjoy a slight zing to the soup. I find a dash of
Jameson's (preferably the 15-year old) is just the thing.

One more thing: this dish seems, when cooked in quantity, to be really
prone to burning. Adding the milk (heated) and cream at the end might
help with that...

Adamantius 


Date: Sat, 08 Nov 1997 23:47:21 -0600
From: Robert Beaulieu <robert.beaulieu at sympatico.ca>
Subject: SC - for recipe fans

liana_winsauer_at_con016p2 at dnrmail.state.il.us wrote:
>  here's my recipe for
>      quick and easy beef barley soup, er, bread spread:
> 
>      Liana's Beef Barley Barely Soup

>      1/2 to 1 cup pearl barley
>      1 can french onion soup mix
>      1 can cream of mushroom soup
>      1 can beef broth (preferrably low-salt)

>      mix all ingredients together, simmer for an hour or two, or cook in a
>      crock pot on LOW all day.  Use less barley for longer cooking times,
>      as it will continue to grow as long as it has liquid, eventually
>      taking over your whole kitchen.  Serve with or on bread.
> 
>      Liana Winsauer
>      liana_winsauer at dnrmail.state.il.us


Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 10:37:01 -0500 (EST)
From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject: Re: SC - for recipe fans

  >  here's my recipe for
  >      quick and easy beef barley soup, er, bread spread:

I dunno why this was forwarded from the Middle Kingdom list to the Cooks
list.  But just for fun, here is my followup:

       And as an apology for another no-fun posting, here's my recipe for 
       quick and easy beef barley soup, er, bread spread:

I frequently make barley soup....  A suggestion, if you will.  Start with
stock, and whatever ingredients you care to use. (I tend to cook from
scratch, I like it better.)  Saute whatever veggies you are going to use,
add the broth, and simmer for a VERY long time.  Once the flavor is
maximally into the broth, add the barley and let it expand and boil.  It
makes a richer soup.

I tend to use onions, garlic, mushrooms, and whatever else strikes my
fancy.  Herbs include black pepper, bay leaf, possibly sage, a sprinkle of
mustard, etcetera.  A tiny touch of dried parsley is nice.

	Tibor


Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 16:10:03 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Reposting Brotchan Foltchep Recipe...

Mark Harris wrote:

> For us uneducated masses, what is Brotchan Foltchep? I think you've
> mentioned it before. A stew? Soup? Recipe please.

Here it is...I think we've seen this one before. Loosely adapted from
Malachai McCormick's "Irish Country Cooking" (the best Irish cookbook
I've seen), but apparently of much greater antiquity, having been
mentioned and described in the writings of St. Colmcille, c. 597 C.E.
There's no telling how the original differs from this, though. I am
assuming that Colmcille's dish was a bit more austere.

Brotchan Foltchep, a.k.a. Brotchan Roy

Serves 6

3 or 4 medium-size leeks, about 1 1/2 pounds
1/4 to 1/2 stick butter (1 - 2 ounces)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup raw, steel-cut porridge oats, like McAnns
Parsley (flat Italian, chopped) for garnishing
salt and white pepper to taste

Wash the leeks well. They are usually muddy and sandy. Remove any
visible dirt or grit. Trim off the root ends and discard. Starting at
the white, root ends, slice the leeks thinly. Place in a deep bowl of
cold water, and rub the leeks between your hands, gently, to separate
the rings and encourage the last of the grit to sink to the bottom. Lift
the leek slices off the surface till the bowl has nothing left in it but
water and mud. Drain the leeks in a strainer and set aside.

In a large, deep saucepan, bring the stock and milk to a simmer. Stir in
the oats, bring almost to a boil, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until
the oats are done.

While the oats are simmering, melt the butter in a deep saute pan, over
low heat. Sweat the leeks for five or ten minutes, until they begin to
soften. When the oats are about half done, add the leeks and their
butter to the pan of soup. The leeks and the oatmeal should be done at
the same time.

Take the pot off the heat, stir in the cream, and season with salt and
white pepper to taste. Garnish with the parsley.

Adamantius


Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 19:14:46 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Reposting Brotchan Foltchep Recipe...

James and/or Nancy Gilly wrote:
> >Brotchan Foltchep, a.k.a. Brotchan Roy
> >
> >Serves 6

<blah blah blah>

> So at what point do you add the whiskey?  Along with the cream?  Directly
> into the serving dish?  At the table?

Just a few minutes before serving. You want it to have a fresh flavor,
but don't want enormous clouds of volatile alcohol fumes. At least, I
don't think you do... .

Last year, I served haggis at an event, and came out of the kitchen, and
spoke to the folks in the hall, describing how the haggis is now
traditionally escorted into the dining hall by pipers (a kazoo band),
flaming (a couple of lit sparklers inserted at strategic points) with a
fine malt whisky (Laphroaig, this time, of which I poured myself a
single shot, raised my glass in salute to the crowd, and went back into
the kitchen, clutching the bottle).

Adamantius


Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 11:38:01 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Stew/Soup.

At 10:22 AM -0800 12/17/97, Russell Gilman-Hunt wrote:
>I was wondering if anyone had a tasty redaction for a lentil stew/
>soup dish that they had tried for a group of people?

This is one of our standards, both for events and at home. From the
_Miscellany_.
- ---

Cooked Dish of Lentils
al-Andalusi p. C-5 (no. 377) (Good)

Wash lentils and put them to cook in a pot with sweet water, oil, pepper,
coriander and cut onion. When they are cooked throw in salt, a little
saffron and vinegar; break three eggs, leave for a while on the flame and
later retire the pot. Other times cook without onion. If you wish cook it
with Egyptian beans pricked into which have been given a boil. Or better
with dissolved yeast over a gentle fire. When the lentils begin to thicken
add good butter or sweet oil, bit by bit, alike until it gets absorbed,
until they are sufficiently cooked and have enough oil. Then retire it from
the flame and sprinkle with pepper.

1 1/2 c dried lentils = 10 oz   2 medium onions = 1/2 lb        (Egyptian
beans)
2 1/4 c water   3/4 t salt      (yeast)
1 1/2 T oil     12 threads saffron      4 T butter (or oil)
3/8 t pepper    2 T vinegar     more pepper
1 1/2 t coriander       4 eggs

Slice onions. Put lentils, water, oil, pepper, coriander and onion in a
pot, bring to a boil, and turn down to a bare simmer. Cook covered 50
minutes, stirring periodically. Add butter or oil and cook while stirring
for about 5 minutes. Add salt, saffron (crushed into 1 t water) and
vinegar, and bring back to a boil. Put eggs on top, cover pot and keep
lentils at a simmer; stir cautiously every few minutes in order to scrape
the bottom of the pot without stirring in the eggs. We find that if the
heat is off, the eggs don't cook; if the heat is up at medium, the eggs
cook, but the lentils start to stick to the pot. A larger quantity might
hold enough heat to cook the eggs without leaving it on the flame. When the
eggs are cooked, sprinkle with a little more pepper and serve. Makes 5 1/4
c.

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


Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 11:17:41 EST
From: Tyrca <Tyrca at aol.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Marrow Dishes: Osso Bucco

<<  with mustard or ("dessotra"....I couldn't find
 this word) & on top of the plates, cast parsley, because that looks nice &
 it is very good.
 Dan Gillespie >>

It may sound strange, but from the Porteguese I know, I think dessotra would
mean "some others" or "something else".  In the period you are working with,
Porteguese was barely recognized as a seperate language, and not just one of
the Spanish dialects.  It sounds like they add their favorite greens to wilt
at the end as they serve.

Tyrca


Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 00:34:45 -0500
From: David Friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Soups...

>I would be most interested in any info on period soups. My current research
>indicates that period soups/stews (or at least period recipes for the same are
>pretty much the meat-onion-spice combo with no extraneous vegies or other
>ingredients.
>
>Ras

Take a look at the soup section in the _Miscellany_. We have:

A Potage with Turnips
Platina pp. 117-118 (book 7)

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

Potage from Meat
 Platina p. 116 (book 7) (includes breadcrumbs, eggs, and cheese)

Potage of Beans Boiled
Curye on Inglysch p. 77 (Diuersa Servicia no. 81)

Green Broth of Eggs and Cheese
Menagier p. M-22

and others.

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


Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 22:46:14 +0000
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - [fwd]  Medieval pasta

The "Libro de Guisados" has a recipe for "Potaje de Fideos" which is
soup with pasta.  I do not know what medieval fideos were like;
modern Spanish dictionaries and cookbooks suggest vermicelli as the
closest match.  The recipe, BTW, calls for the fideos to be cooked in
well-salted chicken or mutton broth, along with a piece of sugar.
Milk is added to the broth (goat, sheep or almond), and the
omnipresent cinnamon-and-sugar are sprinkled on top before serving.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
mka Robin Carroll-Mann *** harper  at  idt.net


Date: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 20:47:36 EST
From: melc2newton at juno.com (Michael P Newton)
Subject: SC - my russian inn- a success

well, winter challenge has come and gone and my inn was quite well
received (the feast is another story, and so another post). I ended up
serving a borscht that was a clear soup, what a lovely red!, and three
types of turnovers- pork and vegetable (the most popular), cheese (which
was a little on the salty side, being a combo of feta and farmer's
cheese) and walnuts. For drinks, I served margaret's grape juice and
vinegar concoction previously posted on this list, and coffee (I know, I
know, <sigh>). My main problem is that I didn't make enough turnovers; if
I had known in advance how popular they were going to be I would have
made a lot more than 25 of each. The borsch was raved over by those brave
enough to try it, but it was a nice sunny day here in Oakheart (that's
Springfield, MO, for whoever wanted to know where we were all at) and not
a lot of people were interested in soup (now if we had a blizzard....)

the recipes all came from Festive Ukrainian Feasts, and are traditional
rather than period; although I did double check in the Domostroi to see
if they were at least period-oid.

Meatless Beet Soup
(Pisnyi borsch)
2 lbs beets
1 carrot
1 parsnip
1 turnip
2 celery ribs
2 medium onions
1 bay leaf
3-4 peppercorns
3 dried boletus or 1/2 lbs chopped mushrooms
1 quart of beet Kvas or 1 teaspoon sour salt (crystallized citric acid)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
2 tsp fresh chopped dill

Soak boletus overnight. Cook in a little water until tender. [I used the
button mushrooms so I skipped this step] Scrub beets and cut into
quarters. Cover with water and cook over low heat until tender, about 1
to 2 hours. Cool and pour off liquid [save this, you'll need it later].
slip off peels. [the fun part!] This may be done a day in advance.
Peel and cut up the other vegetables. Add bay leaf, peppercorns and
mushrooms to vegetables, with enough water to cover and cook in a large
non-aluminum pot over low heat until tender. Strain beet liquid into
vegetables. Shred beets and add. Simmer for about 10 minutes and strain
into a large pot. To keep broth clear, do not press the vegetables.[I
did, it wasn't, oh well]Add souring agent, mushroom liquid [if you did
the first step] pepper, and salt. Bring to a gentle boil then turn heat
low. Taste; the flavor should be tart, mellow, and full. For more
tartness[you should need this, to me, it was plenty tart - but then
growing up in the midwest may have something to do with that], add fresh
lemon juice or sour salt. Keeps well in refrigerator. Reheat gently; do
not overcook or the color will turn brown. Garnish with chopped dill.

Since this is getting long, I'll give the turnover recipes in another
post.


Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 16:35:31 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Remedies (was: SC - coffee/tea)--long

At 9:46 PM -0500 2/2/98, Angelique wrote:

>So I'm not talking from any period knowledge
>base, here, just assuming that a period young woman might have done the
>same, were she schooled in how to make those 'tisanes', for household
>healing (Also, some are for general health, and could reasonably be
>taken with each meal, or daily). (And maybe they didn't call them
>tisanes,- Grandma did) And while I cannot vouch for periodicity, as I
>will determine the ingredients myself, using what I know will work and
>considering what is on hand, (much as I figure my period counterpart
>would do)if you would care to let me know what kind of remedy/healing
>property you would like to invoke, I will prepare a recipe for you.
>I do realise that these would probably not be used for a feast, as the
>remedy offered would have to change for each individual, depending upon
>their condition, ...

This reminds me of my favorite period chicken soup recipe, from Chiquart.
Don't blame me for the style--I just translated it.

65. And to give understanding to him who will make the restorative let him
arrange that he has a fair and large double flask of glass, as strong as
can be found, and then let him wash and rinse it very well and carefully;
and, being well washed, let him set it on a wooden trencher or little board
and have it held on this strongly by cords and ties. And then let him
arrange that he has a large well-fattened capon or two according to the
quantity which he wants to make of the restorative and let him pluck,
clean, and wash it very well and then drain the water off it very well;
and, being well drained, chop it very fine, the meat and the bones also all
together, then put it into the said flask, and three ounces or so of good
rosewater and also as much of fair fresh water and a little bit of salt,
and an ounce or more of fine pearls which should be put in a very little
bag made of fair and clean cloth of strong silk or linen, and also very
good, virtuous, valiant and worthy precious stones, that is diamonds,
pearls, rubies, sapphires, turquoises, emeralds, coral, amber, jasper,
jacinth, chalcedonies(?), onyx, crystal, chalcedonies, smaragdus [emerald?
malachite?], sardonyx, sard, chrysolites [peridot?], beryls, topazes,
chrysoprase, and amethysts, and all other good and virtuous precious
stones-of all these only those ordered by the doctor; and let them be put
together in another little bag made of white and clean linen cloth, and
strong enough that it will never break so that the stones cannot mix with
the said capon meat; and also with sixty or eighty or more pieces of fine
gold, ducats and jewels and other pieces which should first be very well
washed in three or four changes of lukewarm water, and very well dried off
with the corner of a very fair, white, and clean linen cloth, and then each
of the gold coins should be folded into a cylinder(?) so that they can fit
through the neck of the aforesaid flask; and put them in carefully and
gently and so that they fall into the capon meat so that they do not break
the said flask, and then stop it very well so that no steam comes out. And,
this being done, arrange that there is a clear, fair, and clean pot large
enough that the said flask can easily be put into it, and let the neck of
the said flask be tied to two sticks, and let the said sticks be tied to
the said pot so that when the water in the said pot boils the waves and
boiling of the said water cannot make the said flask move, shake, or be
thrown out of the pot; and then fill the said pot with fair fresh water and
then put it on a fair fire of coals and let it cook continually; and also
arrange that next to it there is another pot full of fair water and let it
be boiling constantly so that as the pot in which is the said flask boils
it can always be refilled with the said boiling water, because one who put
fresh water in would break the flask, and all the work of what is being
made would be lost. And when the said restorative is well cooked let him
arrange that he has a small piece of good board and let him heat it very
well close to the fire, and when it is sufficiently dried and heated he
should also have a little cloth and heat it well also, and then put it
folded several times on the said hot board; and then gently take the  flask
out of the pot in which it is and set it onto the said hot cloth and board
and let it cool there until he can hold it comfortably without burning
himself. And when it is thus sufficiently cooled let him arrange that he
has a good, new, fair, and clean strainer which has never been used before
and let him put it over a fair gold dish and empty onto it his restorative
which is in the said flask; and if one does not want to empty it quickly
let him arrange that he has a fair and clean  little wooden hook and stick
it into the said flask and draw out what is inside; and when everything is
out let him take his little bags of pearls and precious stones and the
aforesaid gold pieces, and then squeeze and twist what is left strongly and
properly in the said strainer; and, being very well strained and caught in
the said gold dish, let him empty it again into a gold pan and then carry
it to the sick person who should receive it and use it according to the
doctor's orders.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook


Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 23:19:33 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Buckwheat-sca-cooks V1 #645

At 2:47 PM -0900 3/16/98, Anne M. Young wrote:
>Greetings, List, from one of your lurkers-
>I had to comment on the buckwheat topic. Having worked with unroasted
>buckwheat for russian kasha (which is generic for grain) but is made as a
>porrige of pilaf style grain dish, ...

Domostroi is an end-of-period russian household management book with a very
few recipes; it was translated by Carolyn Johnston Pouncy, Cornell
University Press: Ithaca 1994.  Here is one using kasha, with our version
out of the Miscellany.

Russian Cabbage and Greens
Domostroi  pp. 162-3

Chop cabbage, greens, or a mixture of both very fine, then wash them well.
Boil or steam them for a long time. On meat days, put in red meat, ham, or
a little pork fat; add cream or egg whites and warm the mixture. During a
fast, saturate the greens with a little broth, or add some fat and steam it
well. Add some groats, salt, and sour cabbage soup; then heat it. Cook
kasha the same way: steam it well with lard, oil, or herring in a broth.
[end of original]

Note:  the ingredient translated as "sour cabbage soup" turns up elsewhere
in the Domostroi in lists of things to brew: "For brewing beer, ale, or
sour cabbage soup, take malt or meal and hops. Beer from the first grade
makes good sour cabbage soup. You can make vinegar, too, from a good mash."
This suggests that it may really be something like alegar (beer vinegar).
We therefore substitute malt vinegar.

Version 1
 2 3/4 lb green cabbage (1 head)
3/4 lb turnip greens
3 c water
meat: 1 1/2 lb beef or lamb
6 egg whites
1 c dry buckwheat groats (kasha)
2 t salt
"sour cabbage soup": 4 t malt vinegar

Version 2
2 lb green cabbage (1 head)
5/8 lb mustard greens
2 1/2 c water
1 1/4 lb pork butt roast
1/2 c cream
4/3 c dry buckwheat groats (kasha)
1 1/2 t salt
"sour cabbage soup": 1 T malt vinegar

Chop cabbage and greens very fine.  Bring water to a boil, add cabbage and
greens and simmer 30-40 minutes covered.  Cut meat into bite-sized chunks.
Add meat and simmer another 25 minutes (this time probably depends on the
cut of meat).  Add groats, salt and vinegar, and cook another 15 minutes
uncovered on moderate heat, until the liquid is almost absorbed.  Stir in
egg whites or cream, heat for a minute or two, and remove from heat.

These are two possible interpretations of a recipe with lots of
alternatives.  In particular, it is not clear whether the groats, salt, and
"sour cabbage soup" belong only to the fast-day version or to both meat-day
and fast-day versions; we have assumed the latter.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook


Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 23:01:26 -0400
From: Bonne <oftraquair at hotmail.com>
Subject: SC - Mongolian food-not

Bogdan din Brasov's mongolian food query reminds me to follow up on one of the
first messages I posted to this list: a request for assistance with food to
sell for lunch at an event called “Cossacks,Mongols and Huns”.  When I
volunteered to cook, my mind had fixated on the word Cossacks and I related it
to Russia. My request here for food appropriate to the event title didn’t
really result in anything that quite fit my needs. Stefan probably directed me
to his files, but I was reading from work then and evidently didn't have time
to follow up on the mongolian files he directs Bogdan to. Or my cossack
fixation made me ignore them.  At any rate, my research took me as far as the
Durham county library.  I found there a number of books on Russian cooking.
Most were quite obviously recalling the food of the Czar’s in the 1800’s,
interesting, but not what I wanted. The only recipe noted as being Cossack at
some point in history involved far too much meat to fit my budget!

With time running short, I finally settled for “Black Bread Soup” from
“Classic Russian Cuisine”, by Alla Sacharow. It fit several of my
requirements: cheap, vegetarian, and being a warming stew that would be a good
seller at a fighting event outdoors in March. This stew falls into murky
non-documentation category of "the peasants had stewpots, so they _could_ have
cooked this".  Even at the time I'd learned better, but it was too late to
start over. The actual recipe follows, my variations  because of availability
and a big OOPS! are listed below.  I mutiplied out to serve 40, and only took
enough home for my family of 4 to have one bowlful each Sunday night.

Black Bread Soup
Sup iz chornovo khleba

For 4

2 carrots diced
6 stalks celery, cut in 1 inch pieces
1 parsley root, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon butter
1 quart water
salt, pepper
1/2 pound black bread, sliced, and dried or toasted
1/2 cup dried peas (green or yellow) soaked overnight
1 small black radish
1 carrot
2 stalks celery
6-8 stalks asparagus
1/4 spinach, chopped
1 bunch dill, chopped
1 leek, chopped (white part only)
1 bunch parsley, chopped

Boil  the peas 1 and 1/2 hour, mean while
saute 2 carrots, celery,parsley root and onion in  butter.  Add one quart
water, salt,pepper, and cook 1/2 hour
Add bread to soup pot and simmer an additional hour
Puree the vegetables and bread and return to pot , heat soup again
coarsely grate the radish, carrot and celery, cut asparagus into pieces
add all vegetables to soup with cooked peas.  Cook 10 more minutes
serve garnished with leeks and parsley

Variations,

I was told parsley root = parsnips and so used them.

I couldn’t find what black radish was, and so also added parsnip to the final
mix of vegetables, as well as the pureed broth.

Asparagus being too expensive for me to keep the serving price I needed, I
left it out. It's usually not to bad in March and I wanted to add a small
amount, but El Nino ruined the early crop according to the grocer.

Rather than garnishing with the leeks, I included them in the chopped veg.
Garnishing isn't really suitable to serving soup in cups by the listfield.

At the event soup pot simmered all day, being re-filled and brought to a hard
boil now and again, I prepped the soup the night before to the point of adding
the chopped vegetables, then chilled it in containers the same size as my
double boiler.  This kept the vegetables from cooking into a total mush before
serving.

OOPS!
I managed to leave the peas out of the soup served at the event. I discovered
this only upon returning home on Sunday to find them still soaking! I’d
thought the soup I was serving seemed  to be sticking less and had a little
less body than in my trial run, but the customers liked it fine. It was kind
of sweet, the peas might have balanced this.

Bonne


Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 19:14:22 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Will's- more recipes

Here are the few recipes my co-feastocrat at Will's Revenge, His Lordship
Thorstein,  was willing to share. :-) Sorry for the lack of documentation but
this isn't my work. Enjoy. They are wonderful. :-)

Green almond soup
ca 2 cups spinach (tightly packed down whole leaves about * lb. raw)
3-4 scallions, cut in pieces
2-3 sprigs parsley
6 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp. sugar
8 oz ground almonds

Bring the water to a boil, adding salt;  put in spinach and scallions and boil
about 4 minutes;  then add parsley, boil for a few more seconds, them
remove from the heat.  Drain, reserving the cooking water.  Chop the
vegetables very fine or put in a blender with the almonds and a little of the
reserved water, and blend.  Stir together the greens, almonds, and all of the
reserved water, adding the sugar, in the saucepan, and return to the stove.
Simmer together gently for about five minutes.  Serve hot or cold.

<snip of other recipes>


Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 19:18:51 -0500
From: allilyn at juno.com (LYN M PARKINSON)
Subject: Re: SC - Tartlettes.

I agree with His Grace's description.  What you come up with is a little
like the won ton soup--the ravioli/dumpling like thing floating in the
broth with bits of pork in it, too.  A German version is _Maultaschen_
[ox pockets].  This contains, in present day Stuttgart, spinach in the
broth, as well.  Chicken broth is preferred.

China           Won ton soup
Italy           Ravioles in broth
Germany         Maultaschan  (beef, not pork)  a number of similar
recipes in Granat Apfel, but none with pork
England         Tartlettes

[Jewish:        Kreplach        -meadhbh]

Allison


Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 00:37:11 -0400
From: "Philippa Alderton" <phlip at bright.net>
Subject: SC - Harvest Days in (near) Dayton, Ohio

I was heading out the door for my second favorite event of the year (my
first being the first week of Pennsic) and a message came over the Internet
that they would NOT be serving lunch. As it happened, I had a smoked ham,
about 6 1/2 lbs, so I figured I'd try to come up with something for lunch.
I packed my gas grill, a large pot, and e-mailed Lord Ras for suggestions.
While I was waiting, I went and looked in my Platina, and found a
suggestion- cook ham in orange juice, so with Lord Ras' suggestions, this
is what I came up with. It certainly wasn't period because of the
vegetables mixed with the meat, but I would consider it the peri-oid sort
of thing that a cook might throw together if unexpectedly asked to feed a
crowd on short notice, this time of year. The following is the message I
posted on the lunch table.

LUNCH

Bread

Sweet and Savory Ham and Cabbage Soup

$2.00 or Donation

If you're broke, eat anyway- no-one goes away from my table hungry.

Past expenses, all funds will go to Their Royal Majesties Travel Fund

from a Suggestion in Platina:

Soup- Water, orange juice, smoked ham, cabbage, onions, carrots, pepper,
garlic, cinnamon, cloves

The soup went over very well. Even though certain people managed to fish
out almost all the ham, the broth was good enough that people were coming
back for more in order to dip their bread. I deliberately did not serve
butter with the bread since not only is it not period, but I wanted them to
use the broth for dipping. The only complaint I got was second-hand from a
vegetarian who was used to a vegetarian option for lunch, but under the
circumstances, it went very well. If I do this again, hopefully with a bit
more notice, I will see that there's a vegetarian thing as well.

Meantime, anyone want to share stories and recipes about things they've
cobbled together in a hurry?

Phlip
Caer Frig
Barony of the Middle Marches
Middle Kingdom


Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 20:23:54 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - Biscotti, brodo of chickpeas, chard poree

I was off board at Namron Protectorate (Northern Ansteorra) this weekend,
helping some fellow cooks prepare a small celebratory dinner for the 10th
wedding anniversary of Baroness Gwyneth of Ramsey Mere.  I handled the
breads, producing cheese bread for casual snacking, and wheat bread, Tuscan
almond schiacciata and biscotti.  I also had the opportunity to make a soup
and a vegetable dish from The Medieval Kitchen.

I made the chickpea soup from Martino's Libro de arte coquinaria and the
chard poree from Le Menagier de Paris.  Both dishes were very well received.
The recipes follow.

Bear

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.

I didn't have red chickpeas, so I substituted dried yellow.  The soup was to
feed 24, so I cleaned and soaked 4 cups of chickpeas overnight.  Should I
prepare this again, I'll use 5 cups of chickpeas per 24 people.

I crushed about 25 peppercorns and stirred them, about 4 tablespoons of
flour, and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon into a 1/4 cup of olive oil.  I
drained the chickpeas and mixed them and the spiced oil in a large pot.  I
covered the chickpeas with water and brought it to a boil.  A gray-brown
scum formed on the surface and was skimmed off.  I had to add more pepper in
the cooking, so if I make this quatity again, I'll start with about 40
peppercorns.  The heat was set set to low and the soup simmered for about
two hours.

I added a teaspoon of rubbed sage, a teaspoon of rosemary needles crushed
into the pot and 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley (no root available).  Toward
the end of the cooking I added about a teaspoon and a half of salt for
seasoning.

The soup is rich and flavorful.  Everyone at the dinner tried it and the
majority found it to be excellent.  It reheats well.  I would be tempted to
use this recipe at a feast.  As I prepared it, the recipe makes just under a
gallon or one cup of soup per person.  Using 5 cups of chickpeas per 24
people insures that everyone will get fed without having to scrape the
bottom of the pot.

Chard poree.  A poree of chard that is washed then cut up and boiled will
stay greener than one that is first boiled, then chopped..  But it will stay
even greener if it is trimmed, washed, cut up, and soaked in two changes of
cold water, then, after drying it by handfuls, put it into the pot to boil
with broth, fat pork and mutton broth; when it has cooked a little and you
wish to serve it, top it with trimmed, washed and chopped parsley and a
little young fennel; bring it to the boil only once.

I took 4 bunches of red chard and cut the leaves from the stems.  I also cut
out some of the heavier veining in the leaves, but that was possible
excessive.  I washed the leaves in a collander and soaked them in cold
water.  I cut the leaves into strips and put them back in cold water.  When
I had finished, I drained the leaves and packed them in large ziplock bags
to take to the site.

My meat broth had gone bad, so I was stuck using beef boullion.  I sliced up
about six ounces of salt pork and added it to the boullion while I brought
it to a boil.  The mutton shank and the parsley didn't make it to the site.
No fennel bulb was locally available.  I did not add salt to the bouillon.

I brought the bouillon to a boil, then added the chard, having to wait as
the greens wilted and opened space in the pot.  After about 15 minutes, it
was ready to serve.

The people who like greens declared it superb.  The people who don't like
greens didn't eat it.  I don't particularly care for greens, but found the
dish edible.  Four bunches made about enough for 12 people.  Should I do
this again (my wife wants me to do it at home), I'll use meat broth,
although the bouillon made an acceptable substitute.  I will cut the salt
pork very fine so that any pieces of salt pork tangled in the greens will
not be noticeable.  I am considering how to reduce the fat for a friend who
is diabetic and likes greens.

I had to hold the dish for about 20 minutes and to me there was a noticeable
textural change although  it was still acceptable.  This dish should be
served immediately upon cooking.


Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 17:37:21 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Squash soup-recipe

uther at lcc.net writes:
<<  I would love the recipes for the...<snip>.... squash soup. >>

Pumpkin Soup (Squash)
Redaction copyright L. J. Spencer, Jr. 1998

Original from Le Viandier (VT XV 181). Translation taken from 'The Medieval
Kitchen"; O. Redon. F. Sabban, S. Serventi. Trranslated by E. Schneider.

Squash. For squash, peel them and cut them into slices. Remove the seeds if
there are any and cook them in water in a pan, then drain them and rinse in
cold water; squeeze them and chop them finely; mix with some beef broth and
other meat broth and add cow's milk, and mix half a dozen egg yolks, put
through a sieve, into the broth and milk; on fast days (use) the cooling
water
from (dried) peas, or almond milk, and butter.

6 cups Italian edible gourd, peeled and sliced (you may substitute zucchini)
2 cups beef broth
1 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup whole milk
6 egg yolks, beaten
Salt, to taste

Put gourd slices into a pan. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to
simmer. Simmer until gourd is fork tender but not mushy. Drain. Rinse in cold
water. Drain well carefully pressing out excess water.

Finely chop cooked gourd.

Bring broth to a boil. Add chopped gourd. Add milk, stirring continuously
while pouring. Reduce heat to low. Remove a small portion of the broth and mix
with egg yolks. Using a whisk, slowly pour yolks into gourd mixture.
Immediately remove from heat. Add salt to taste.

(NOTE: Garnish with whatever is at hand (e.g. chopped parsley or the unused
egg white which has been poached, rinsed, drained and choped)). Serve.


Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 01:56:16 -0500
From: Melanie Wilson <MelanieWilson at compuserve.com>
To: LIST SCA arts <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Mushroom Soup

Found this recipe from The Forme of Cury c1390:-

This is simple enough. Take as many mushrooms as required, clean, pare and
cut into small pieces. Put into a pan with shredded leek and plenty of good
broth. Colour and flavour with saffron and add spices to taste.

1lbs, mushrooms to 1 leek, to 2 pts broth, saffron 1 pinch, spices nutmeg,
mace, cinnamon, a touch of sugar ? this would be my interpretation of it.
I tend to use field or horse mushrooms for my soups, but as this mentiones
saffron for colour, they must of been using them early or another type, as
my mushroom soup tends to be almost black (I love it very tasty) but no
amount of saffron would colour it :)

Mel


Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 22:33:57 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - trencher history guesses

> -Poster: Jean Holtom <Snowfire at mail.snet.net>
> >  If the bread doesn't meet the specifications, it's a
> >sop.  Daily bread was used as a sop by all classes.  Sops were eaten, not
> >given away.
>
> Did "Sop" gave us "Supper" and "Soup" then?
>
> Elysant

As I understand it, a sop could be either a soup or the bread dipped in the
soup, although soup in this usage might mean drippings.  And I believe you
are correct that sop is the root of soup and supper.

Bear


Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 19:18:51 -0800
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 13:27:24 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Sour Cabbage Soup?

Regarding sour cabbage soup as an ingredient --

After a bell went off in my head, I went and looked for the relevant
passage in Paul Kovi's "Transylvanian Cuisine". It says:

"NOTE: Cibere, the fine cracked wheat or sour bran soup, has a
characteristic  and unique taste. It is also rich in various vitamins.
It is prepared in the following way, according to an ancient
Transylvaniahn recipe: in a large jar or clay pot (about 10 quarts),
combine 1 pound cracked wheat and 1/2 cup fresh corn. Add 1 slice of
brown bread, 2 or 3 slices of lemon, and one sour cherry tree twig (with
leaves). Add 5 quarts boiling water, stirring with a wooden spoon. Cover
jar or pot and keep in a warm place, being careful to stir it at least
two more times in the next 2 hours. After 24 hours, the cracked wheat
will become sour. Strain, pour into smaller jars, and keep in a cold
place for 8 days. Always retain a cupful of the mixture to use as a
fermentation starter for the next batch. "

Now, there's apparently a similar preparation of soured milk, which is
boiled until semi-solid and then stored in jars, used similarly to
flavor soups and stews. We needn't get into how "ancient" this recipe
is, with its use of what appears to be maize, etc.

Given that in both cases there appears to be some kind of lactobacilic
fermentation going on, as there is also with sauerkraut, which is also
fairly common in Rumanian cookery, and also given that modern Russian
Jews sometimes eat a soup called schav, which is nowadays often made
with sorrell, but which I have been told used to be made with cabbage, I
wonder if the cabbage version of schav is what the author of the
Domestroi is talking about. A friend of mine of Russian Jewish ancestry
disdainfully told me, "So my ancestors used to drink rancid sauerkraut
juice. Whaddaya want from me?"

Speculative, yes, but I wonder...

Adamantius


Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 16:03:06 -0500
From: Jenn/Yana <jdmiller2 at students.wisc.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - Domostroi Recipes

>Have you checked the original of the term that she translates as "sour
>cabbage soup?" In context, it sounds as though it might be alegar or
>something similar.
>
>David/Cariadoc

I thought you'd like to know that.  :)

The original term is "kislye shchi", which does literally translate to
"sour/fermented cabbage soup" (shchi).
****************************************************************************
Conjectures follow:

I am wondering if it (the sour cabbage soup) might just be the juice
leftover from making pickled cabbage/sauerkraut ("kislaia kapusta").  Maybe
"kislye shchi" is a term for the juice?  I don't know.  Maybe it is a soup
in and of itself like rassolnik.

As for alegar, there are modern Russian recipes for making soups that use
beer or kvas (lightly fermented mash beverage) as a base or use pickle
(various types) brine.

*Rassolnik (cucumber pickle and brine soup)
*Solyanka (a savory, tart soup/food in which sauerkraut or pickled
cucumbers are one of the main ingredients).

Modern recipes for shchi say that you can use sauerkraut instead of fresh
cabbage, but you have to drain the juice first.  Perhaps the Domostroi
recipe has you adding some sourness by pouring in some reserved juice?
*************************************************************************
Ilyana Barsova (Yana)  jdmiller2 at students.wisc.edu
http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~jdmiller2
Slavic Interest Group http://www.uwplatt.edu/~goldschp/slavic.html


Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 15:01:13 EST
From: Gerekr at aol.com
Subject: SC - Redon Winter Squash soup -- source info 

>From:  jessica at beattie.uct.ac.za (Jessica Tiffin)
>Phillipa Seton gave us:
>> *********Winter Squash or Pumpkin Soup**********
>> The Medieval Kitchen  ( Redon, Sabban, Serventi)
>> SQUASH.    For squash, Peel them and cut them into slices.  Remove the seeds
>> if there are any and cook them in water in a pan.  Then drain them and rinse
>> them in cold water.  Squeeze them and chop them finely.  Mix with some beef
>> and other meat broth and add cow's milk and mix half a dozen egg yolks. Put
>> through a seive into the broth and milk.  On fast days use the cooking water
>> from dried peas or almond milk and butter.
>>I'm not familiar with "The Medieval Kitchen" (it's on my wishlist):
>what is the primary source here, pretty please...?

Since I haven't seen another response...

Tracing back thru Redon, this is #181 from:
     Le Viandier de Guillaume Tirel dit Taillevent, edited by JeromePichon and Georges Vicaire.  Paris, 1892; reprinted  Genevam Skatkine, 1967.

From Redon's section of "Medieval texts" at the back of the book:CongordesPour congordes, peles les et deccopes par rouelles, et ostes la grainededans, s'il en ya, et les mettes pourbouilir en une poelle, et puis lespures, et mettes de l'eaue froide par dessus, et les espregnes et hachesbien menu; et puis les assembles avec boullon de beuf et d'autre char, ety mettes du lait de vache, et destrampes demy douzaine de moyeux d'oeufz,passes par l'estamine parmy le boullon avec le lait, et, au joursmaigrez, de puree de poys ou de lait d'amandes, et du beurre.(Redon & co. used almond milk & butter in their redaction)

Chimene


Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 16:31:51 -0500
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - bruette saake

> >We did bruette saake for Friday night dinner last A&S, and we blew
> >everyone away with it.  It was delicious, and we also had
> documentation for everything we served Friday evening.
>
> Recipes please...  It's definitely soup weather and chicken soup is
> the best of all.
> Prydwen

Well, I can't find the write up I did for the event, but here is the
recipe, with I think Cariadoc's redaction afterwards.  Read the "+" as a
thorn, or a "th" sound.
        Christianna

Bruette Saake
Two Fifteenth Century p. 27
Take Capoun, skalde hem, draw hem, smyte hem to gobettys, Waysshe hem, do
hem in a potte; + enne caste owt + e
potte, waysshe hem a-gen on + e potte, and caste + er-to half wyne half
Bro+ e; take Percely, Isope, Waysshe hem,
and hew hem smal, and putte on + e potte + er + e Fleysshe is; caste +
er-to Clowys, quybibes, Maces, Datys y-tallyd,
hol Safroune; do it ouer + e fyre; take Canelle, Gyngere, tempere + in
powajes with wyne; caste in-to + e potte Salt
+ er-to, hele it, and whan it is y-now, serue it forth.

about 3 lbs frying chicken
2 c wine 2 c broth
4 T fresh parsley 
1 1/2 T fresh hyssop
1/8 t cloves 
1/4 t cubebs measured whole then ground
1/2 t mace
1/4 c = 3 oz dates
15 threads saffron 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
2 t more wine
1/2 t salt

Cut chicken into separate joints, add broth and wine and set to boil.
Chop herbs and grind cubebs in a mortar; add herbs,
dates, cloves, cubebs, and mace and cook about 35 minutes uncovered. Mix
cinnamon and ginger with remaining wine, add
them and salt to chicken, cover and let simmer another 30 minutes. Should
be served with bread (or rice, although that is less appropriate for
15th-century England) to sop up the sauce.

Notes: One could also interpret "smyting to gobbetys" as taking the meat
off the bones and cutting up; my gobbets are the size
of the thigh or half the breast. I assume the parsley and hyssop are
intended to be fresh since they are being washed. Fresh
hyssop tastes somewhat like parsley but rather more bitter and spicier,
and I would suggest, if you can't get it, substituting
more fresh parsley rather than dried hyssop, which is pretty tasteless.


Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 11:48:21 EST
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Subject: SC - My redaction (well, mostly) of Hoggepot

If you are looking for a good chicken soup/stew recipe for these cold days, I
tried one last night that I found in Pleyn Delit.  The original is from Forme
of Curye, 1390.  This version is for goose, but the authors of Pleyn Delit
state that the earliest known version of this recipe uses chicken, so I
substituted (didn't have any goose available, anyway).

Here's the original:
Hoggepot
Take Gees and smyte hem on pecys.  Cast hem in a Pot; do therto half wine and
half water: and do thereto a gode quantitie of Oynons and erbest.  Set it
ouer the fyre and couer it fast.  Make a layor of brede and blode and ley it
therewith.  Do thereto powder fort and serue it forth.

or, translated:
Hodgepodge
Take geese, and cut them into pieces.  Put them in a pot with half wine and
half water, and add a good quantity of onions and herbs.  Set it over the
fire and cover tightly.  Make a layer of bread and blood and lay the meat and
broth over it (I think). Sprinkle with powder fort and serve.

I partially used the redaction from Pleyn Delit, and partially my own.  I
didn't have any suitable bread to serve it over, so I used the Pleyn Delit
redaction and thickened it with bread crumbs instead.

I took three chicken legs and three thighs, washed them, and put them in a
dutch oven covered with half water and half Sauvignon Blanc.  I added 4
medium sized onions, cut in half and then sliced, and, although the recipe
didn't call for it, about 7 mushrooms, sliced thick.  ( I like mushrooms, and
thought they would taste good with this.  I wouldn't put them in if I was
serving this for an event.)  I also put in about a tablespoon of dried
parsely, and about a teaspoon each of dried sage, thyme, and savory.  I
brought it to a boil, and then left it simmer for about 2 hours.

Just before we were ready to eat, I steeped about a cup of bread crumbs in
some of the broth, mixed it to a thick paste, and stirred it into the pot.  I
then added 1/4 teaspoon each of black pepper, ginger, and cinnamon (this is
one possible powder fort mixture) and salted it to taste.  It was very tasty,
and the meat was falling off the bones.  I pulled all the bones out before
storing the leftovers.

If I were making it again, I might choose to use boneless cuts of meat rather
than having to fish the bones out, but I'm sure the bones helped to make the
broth better.

Brangwayna Morgan


Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 13:25:14 -0500
From: Cindy Renfrow <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: SC - My redaction (well, mostly) of Hoggepot

<snip>
>  Make a layor of brede and blode and ley it
>therewith.  Do thereto powder fort and serue it forth.
>
<snip>  Make a layer of bread and blood and lay the meat and
>broth over it (I think). Sprinkle with powder fort and serve.
<snip>

Make a mixture of bread and blood and mix it therewith [to thicken the
broth].So, except for the omission of the blood, you did it according to
the recipe. :-)  It sounds yummy!

Note: If the blood is just added to the broth raw, it will clot & thicken
the broth, & will be a greyish color.  If, however, you use blood from
pan-drippings, or cook it in a skillet first to brown it, the blood will
add a lot of flavor & darken the color of the broth.

>If I were making it again, I might choose to use boneless cuts of meat rather
>than having to fish the bones out, but I'm sure the bones helped to make the
>broth better.

In addition to being up to 4x more expensive than the bone-in pieces, the
boneless cuts of chicken have very little flavor.

Cindy/Sincgiefu
cindy at thousandeggs.com


Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 21:53:50 EST
From: "N. Winter" <winterstar4 at hotmail.com>
Subject: SC - recipe - Venison soup

I found a very good recipe. I don't think the combination of ingredients are 
period but it's very tasty.
2 lbs venison (pork can be used)
3 cups water (I used 6 cups)
1 chopped onion
1 sliced parsnip
3 sliced carrots
1/2 rutabaga, peeled & cubed
1/2 cabbage head, cut in chunks
1/2 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
Brown meat & onions. Add the rest of ingredients and simmer 1-2 hours.

It was an easy one for over an open fire.

Magdalena Winter


Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 15:35:12 EST
From: Seton1355 at aol.com
Subject: SC - Green soup

Is this the one you mean?
P. Seton

Pleyn Delit
Constance B. Hieatt et al
Savory Green Soup

2 - 3 bunches of scallions          2 - 3 C chicken broth
2 lbs spinach               1/2 tsp sugar
fresh herbs                 pinch each of ground cardomon and coriander
3 eggs well beaten              1 T arrowroot dissolved in 1/4 C water

Wash and trim green onions, spinach, herbs.
Put into a kettle of boiling chicken broth and boil for 3 - 4 minutes.
Drain the vegetables, reserving the broth 
Puree the vegetables  in the food processor.
Return to the kettle with the reserved broth and simmer.
Make a paste from the arrowroot and the water, add to the beten eggs.
Stir this mixture into the soup over low heat until the soup is thickened.


Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2000 23:29:18 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Green soup

And it came to pass on 2 Apr 00,, that Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> The closest thing I can find in "Pleyn Delit" is the second pottage
> recipe, for Joutes of Almond Milk, taken from the Forme of Cury, late
> 14th-century English. I was mystified by, among other things, the lack of
> almonds, and the presence of arrowroot, which I thought was a New World
> food.

This appears to be "Chebolace" from the Form of Cury, which appears 
as recipe #23 "savory green soup" in the second ed. of _Pleyn Delit_.  
That edition calls for rice flour, not arrowroot, which Hieatt explains as 
her own addition to aid the eggs in thickening the broth.  The original 
recipe does not call for almonds or almond milk.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 02:35:05 EDT
From: CBlackwill at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Soup amounts

bsusan at corp.earthlink.net writes:
>  I am providing soup and salad for a feast, number of attendees still
>  unknown.  About how much soup would a portion be?  It is leek soup.
>  
>  Eleanor d'Aubrecicourt

This really depends on a few factors, such as a) how many dishes are going to 
be served with it? and b)where in the list it will be served.

For a main course soup, 8 - 10 ounces is a generous portion.  For anything 
else, it could be between 4 and 6, depending on the factors listed above.  
The best way to tell is to get an empty bowl and fill it with water until it 
"looks" like a good portion.  Then pour the water into a measuring device and 
see how much you have.

Balthazar of Blackmoor


Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 20:41:25 EDT
From: Seton1355 at aol.com
Subject: SC - Welcome Aethelwulf & a recipe

Greetings Aethelwulf,
I'm really glad you've chosen to stay with us. I have gotten a lot of useful 
advice and recipes and help from the good folks here so in that tradition let 
me pass on a wonderful soup recipe.  Even the mundanes I make it for love it!
YiS
Phillipa Seton 

Pleyn Delit
Constance B. Hieatt et al
**Savory Green Soup**

2 - 3 bunches of scallions  2 - 3 C chicken broth
2 lbs spinach               1/2 tsp sugar
fresh herbs                 pinch each of ground cardomon and coriander
3 eggs well beaten          1 T arrowroot dissolved in 1/4 C water

Wash and trim green onions, spinach, herbs.
Put into a kettle of boiling chicken broth and boil for 3 - 4 minutes.
Drain the vegetables, reserving the broth 
Puree the vegetables  in the food processor.
Return to the kettle with the reserved broth and simmer.
Make a paste from the arrowroot and the water, add to the beten eggs.
Stir this mixture into the soup over low heat until the soup is thickened.


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 Spinach-Parsley Almond Cream Soup

69a. And if it happens that the doctor does not want to give the said
green puree to the sick person, let the said spinach and parsley be
prepared well and properly as is said above up to when he puts them in
the pot, [wash and stem] then take very good almonds as are necessary to
him and let him clean, blanch, and wash them very well and put them to be
brayed in a mortar--and that should neither smell nor taste of garlic:
[Latin phrase having to do with the medical qualities of garlic and other
things]--and let him bray them very well and moisten them with fair fresh
water and pass them through a good and clean strainer; and make milk of
them and put it in a fair pot. Then let him put it to boil very gently on
a fair clear fire or good coals and put in a little bit of salt, and when
the said milk boils put in the said spinach and a little almond oil and
cook it well and properly. And when they are well cooked do as was said
above to let the doctor know.
[spinach/parsley almond-cream soup; necessary in this one to strain the
almonds.  Could cook the spinach and parsely with the whole almond milk,
strain results.  Roll spiced ërefuseí in pastry and bake, slice for
appetizers.  Will work as ëfinger foodí for a demo.] APdeT
í99.								
9. Again, for a blancmange divided into four colors all on one dish, that
is or, azure, gules, and argent: ...        use veggie broth, or pea
broth.  This would make one of the pretty dishes you are good at doing,
AM.
Regards,
Allison,     allilyn at juno.com


Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 17:18:57 -0700
From: "Jane M Tremaine" <vikinglord at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: RE: SC - I'm not proud....HELP!!!!!!!!!!

> Does anyone please have any gluten free recipes? I don't want to change
> the entire feast, just provide one or two gluten free dishes to replace what
> usually would be filled with the bread, oatcakes etc....
>
> -A'adeema

Try this lamb soup.

1 TBL of oil
2 1/2 lbs of lamb
10 cups water
1/2 small cabbage, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 large onion
1/2 large rutabaga, chopped
2 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
pinch of ground all spice.
One large lamb bone.

Boil the large lamb bone for several hours to pull out the marrow and
flavor.

Heat oil in a heavy large pot or Dutch Oven at a high heat.  All lamb meat
and cook untill a dark brown. Add all of the remaining engrediants and
simmer untill all vegies are tender and the soup is thick.  Remove bay
leaves, season with salt and pepper.

The orginal calls for barley.  I have made it both ways and it is yummy.

Jana


Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 02:16:50 +0200
From: TG <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: SC - German soup recipes 1569

For those of you with some command of 16th century German, there is a
new chapter with soup recipes of Balthasar Staindl's cookbook 1569
online:

http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gloning/std-supp.htm
or via: 
http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gloning
then choose 'Alte Kochb¸cher', E-Texte, Staindl: Suppen

Thomas


Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 09:46:53 EDT
From: ChannonM at aol.com
Subject: SC - Re: Easy period soups?

In a message dated 9/29/00 4:05:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time, HG writes:
> More generally, can anyone think 
>  of a period soup recipe that is easy and inexpensive to make, and 
>  would thus be a suitable replacement for a modern dehydrated chicken 
>  soup?

How's about "Kloken honer"

from an Early XIII Century Northern European Cookbook (from Cariadoc's 
Collection)

recipe 23
Broet of chicken
One should take an entire cheicken and cut it in two and let it cook in a pot 
without water on the coals. Then add to the broth chopped herbs of parsley, 
mint, pepper and lard and vinegar and salt.

I suspect that it is "and let it cook in a pot WITH water on the coals", 
considering there is no medium to cook it in first.

Hauviette


Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 11:25:05 -0400
From: "Ron Rispoli" <rispoli at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Easy period soups?

From: "david friedman" <ddfr at best.com>
> More generally, can anyone think
> of a period soup recipe that is easy and inexpensive to make, and
> would thus be a suitable replacement for a modern dehydrated chicken
> soup?

Its more periodiod than period but cheap, filling and nourishing.

Soupe aux Choux Paysanne

Cabbage soup Peasant Style

Clean and cut up 3 medium-sized turnips, 3 medium-sized carrots, and the
tender part of 1-2 leeks.  Cook them gently for a few minutes in 1 generous
tablespoon butter, stirring constantly.  Add 6 to 8 cups boiling water and
simmer slowly for about an hour, or until the vegatables are tender.  Add 1
small cabbage, finely chopped, to the soup, together with 1-2 cloves garlic,
finely chopped, and simmer for 30 minutes longer.  Mash the mixture well and
serve.


Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 11:27:56 -0700
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Easy period soups?

> gelatin. Does that ring any bells? More generally, can anyone think
> of a period soup recipe that is easy and inexpensive to make, and
> would thus be a suitable replacement for a modern dehydrated chicken
> soup?

Le Menagier has a little section on "unprepared soup," but I don't 
think any of the ones he gives would work for the purpose. I'm not 
sure whether any other period cookbooks have similar recipes or not. 
I was thinking about something where you either make something very 
concentrated or dried and then throw it into boiling water, or 
something where you make the broth on the spot in some easy way.

The first of the Menagier ones, for example, is:

"Have parsley and fry it in butter, then throw boiling water on it 
and make it boil: and add salt, and garnish as any soup."

That isn't much work, but I doubt that hungry fighters would find it 
very satisfactory.
- -- 
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/


Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 22:55:22 +0200
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Easy period soups?

See http://world.std.com/~ata/soup.htm and search results at
http://google.yahoo.com/bin/query?p=pocket+soup&hc=0&hs=0
for more old recipes for pocket soup.

BTW, the pea soup recipe in the Harl. MSS. can be cooked down to a
transportable paste & re-hydrated.

Cindy


Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2000 12:48:05 GMT
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Easy period soups?

Actually, if you use one of the unglazed clay cookers, you soak the pot 
first in water for about an hour.  Then you place your chicken, spices, 
onion, etc in the pot -with no water- cover it and cook.  There is plenty of 
broth in the pot when done.

olwen

>At 9:46 AM -0400 9/29/00, ChannonM at aol.com wrote:
>>In a message dated 9/29/00 4:05:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time, HG writes:
>>
>>>  More generally, can anyone think
>>>   of a period soup recipe that is easy and inexpensive to make, and
>>>   would thus be a suitable replacement for a modern dehydrated chicken
>>>   soup?
>>
>>How's about "Kloken honer"
>>
>>from an Early XIII CEntury Norther European Cookbook (from Cariadoc's
>>Collection)
>>
>>recipe 23
>>Broet of chicken
>>One should take an entire cheicken and cut it in two and let it cook in a 
>>pot without water on the coals. Then add to the broth chopped herbs of 
>>parsley, mint, pepper and lard and vinegar and salt.
>>
>>I suspect that it is "and let it cook in a pot WITH water on the coals",
>>considering there is no medium to cook it in first.
>
>On the with/without issue, is it possible that you are using a well
>closed pot and the chicken is cooking in its own juices, so to speak?
>--
>David/Cariadoc


From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2001 18:15:41 EDT
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] new to list... and looking for a dish
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

cdpratt at gatecom.com writes:
> So with that in mind, I'd like to ask for a few recipe suggestions.  I would
> like something that I can make in a crockpot friday morning, and leave in
> the pot while I'm at work all day, for the event friday.  It would also be
> great if the ingreadents were available at normal grocery stores.

Here is a good chicken soup/stew recipe that should work well in a crock pot.
  I found it in Pleyn Delit.  The original is from Forme of Curye, 1390.
This version is for goose, but the authors of Pleyn Delit state that the
earliest known version of this recipe uses chicken, so I substituted (didn't
have any goose available, anyway).

Here's the original:
Hoggepot
Take Gees and smyte hem on pecys.  Cast hem in a Pot; do therto half wine and
half water: and do thereto a gode quantitie of Oynons and erbest.  Set it
ouer the fyre and couer it fast.  Make a layor of brede and blode and ley it
therewith.  Do thereto powder fort and serue it forth.

or, translated:
Hodgepodge
Take geese, and cut them into pieces.  Put them in a pot with half wine and
half water, and add a good quantity of onions and herbs.  Set it over the
fire and cover tightly.  Make a layer of bread and blood and lay the meat and
broth over it (I think). Sprinkle with powder fort and serve.

I partially used the redaction from Pleyn Delit, and partially my own.  I
didn't have any suitable bread to serve it over, so I used the Pleyn Delit
redaction and thickened it with bread crumbs instead.

I took three chicken legs and three thighs, washed them, and put them in a
dutch oven covered with half water and half Sauvignon Blanc.  I added 4
medium sized onions, cut in half and then sliced.  I also put in about a
tablespoon of dried parsley, and about a teaspoon each of dried sage, thyme,
and savory.  I brought it to a boil, and then left it simmer for about 2
hours.

Just before we were ready to eat, I steeped about a cup of bread crumbs in
some of the broth, mixed it to a thick paste, and stirred it into the pot.  I
then added 1/4 teaspoon each of black pepper, ginger, and cinnamon (this is
one possible powder fort mixture) and salted it to taste.  It was very tasty,
and the meat was falling off the bones.  I pulled all the bones out before
storing the leftovers.

If I were making it again, I might choose to use boneless cuts of meat rather
than having to fish the bones out, but I'm sure the bones helped to make the
broth better.

Brangwayna Morgan


From: Philip Troy <troy at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] new to list... and looking for a dish
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2001 19:03:25 -0400

On Wednesday 24 October 2001 06:15, Bronwynmgn at aol.com wrote:
> it ouer the fyre and couer it fast.  Make a layor of brede and blode and
> ley it therewith.

<snip>

> fire and cover tightly.  Make a layer of bread and blood and lay the meat
> and broth over it (I think).

FWIW, I think the use of "layor" and "ley" are French-derived, and I don't
know how the English verb "lay" fits in with that. If you look at the modern
French "lier", meaning to bind, giving us sauces that are "fonds lie" or
thickened stocks, it makes an eerie kind of sense.

I think you're just supposed to thicken the sauce with bread and blood. Maybe
steep your breadcrumbs (toasted, I would suspect, as there's little point in
trying to keep a sauce containing blood a light color) in some of the broth
for a while, strain into the sauce, then add the blood (if using) off the
heat to keep it from becoming grainy.

Cheaters can, of course, omit the blood and simply use dark toast, sieved
liver, or any of a number of alternatives. ;  )

Adamantius


From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] new to list... and looking for a dish
Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 18:38:59 -0500

In this case I think the derivation is from the Middle English "leien" from
the Old English "lecgen."

Bear

>> it ouer the fyre and couer it fast.  Make a layor of brede and blode and
>> ley it therewith.
>
>FWIW, I think the use of "layor" and "ley" are French-derived, and I don't
>know how the English verb "lay" fits in with that. If you look at the
modern
>French "lier", meaning to bind, giving us sauces that are "fonds lie" or
>thickened stocks, it makes an eerie kind of sense.
>
>Adamantius


From: "Dan Phelps" <phelpsd at gate.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] soup correction
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 18:27:15 -0800

In response to:
> > Are there any nut soups which are period? Or would this have been
> > considered peasant food and thus not written down in the books we
> > have?

I wrote:
> Didn't find any looked in Apicius, Early French, and the Medieval Kitchen.

I didn;t find any chestnut soups, did find an almond-milk soup in Medieval
Kitchen, pps 65 & 66, and an almond leek sauce in Early French p. 132 which
can be done as a soup.

Daniel Raoul


Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 12:16:52 -0500 (EST)
From: Gretchen M Beck <grm+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org, sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] soup

Excerpts from internet.listserv.sca-cooks: 21-Nov-101 Re: [Sca-cooks]
soup by Stefan li Rous at texas.net
> Are there any nut soups which are period? Or would this have been
> considered peasant food and thus not written down in the books we
> have?

One of the various menus (perhaps the 2 15th C cookery books?) mentions
Almond soup.

toodles, margaret


From: ekscholar at aol.communard (EKScholar)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Date: 24 Mar 2004 04:05:44 GMT
Subject: as promised, duh redaction

Chicken Dumplings from Libellus de Arte Coquinnaria

When a friend gave me a copy of the Libellus de Arte Coquinaria I decided to
try my hand a producing edible food from a text only recipe with no
measurements.  After all, the worst that could happen was that I produced
something inedible, and I’ve done that before.  Luckily, the back yard is
nearby and I have a shovel.  I have cooked for feasts before, but usually from
other people’s redactions (Cariadoc’s Miscellany et al), or modern recipes
(19th century is modern, isn’t it?).

I selected a relatively easy recipe that turned out well, if only to judge by
the lack of leftovers in the trial run.

Source:
Libellus de Arte Coquinaria, An Early Northern Cookery Book, edited by Rudolf
Grewe and Constance B. Hiett

(excerpt from the book)
25. Chicken Dumplings (K20, Q21, D18)

Boil an old hen whole.  Take another raw hen and chop finely, and mix it with
bacon diced as small as peas and ground cumin; make this [mixture] into small
pieces.  Place them into the broth of the boiled hen, and add cumin, saffron,
wine, lard, salt, and egg yolks, to thicken it evenly.  This is called
“Chicken Dumplings.”

1    whole] whole, then dismember it 
2    bacon] pork meat 
2-4    make this … cumin] om KD
4    lard] pork fat
     thicken] thicken.  And one should boil that hen in all of this again D
4-5    This … dumplings] om 

    The textual note to this section of the recipe is of special significance.
It would seem that the K copyist’s eye slipped from one “cumin” to the
next – a common enough copyist’s error – and thus obscured the nature of
the dish.  And since K  represents the basis of MS D, D contains the same
omission.  If we did not have the Q reading, it would be difficult to see why
the dish is called by a term which means “dumplings” or “meatballs.”
This is another  dish for which were have not found close parallels elsewhere.
    The name of the recipe does not in Q. “Kloten” is spelled “kloken”
in MS D, but kloten (a Low German word, as noted in the Introduction) appears
to be correct, and related to English “clot,” German “Klotz,” meaning
lump, ball or dumpling.

#25 Chicken Dumplings (K20, Q21, D18)

ingredients -
for    1 (3-/1.2 lb) chicken (approx. 2-1/2 lb meat)
1/4 lb bacon, cut fine
1 tsp. Cumin
3-14 oz low sodium, low fat chicken broth
1/2 tsp cumin
6 threads saffron (approx.)
5 egg yolks (beaten)
1 tbs. white wine (approx,)

procedure - 
Debone & chop the chicken, either discarding the bones or adding them
(temporarily) to the broth.
Cut up the bacon & add most of it and the first cumin to the chicken meat.  Mix
well & make into walnut sized balls.
Clear the broth of any bones (use two cans of broth to start), and bring to a
boil.  Cook the dumplings a few at a time, putting the cooked dumplings in a
clean dish.
When the dumplings are all cooked, put them back in the broth, add the third
can put in the balance of the chopped bacon, saffron, wine, the second cumin,
and the egg yolks, (add some hot broth to the yolks before putting them into
the dumpling and broth mix, this ensures smoothness).
Stir as best you can.
Cook on low heat for a long time.
Salt to taste at table.

Notes - 
Use a meat grinder or food mill on the chicken or buy chicken pre-ground
Low-sodium/low-fat chicken broth was used to make the dish marginally
healthier, salt can be added, getting it out is hard.
trial 2 - Ground chicken is expensive as steak.  Meat grinder, food mill, or
pulled chicken.
Increasing the cumin to 1/2 tsp./1 lb chicken meat.
I could not taste the wine in the first attempt, increasing the wine to 1/2
cup/3 lbs chicken meat.
post-trial 2 note - needs more egg yolks?

copyright 2004 - the author (richild la gauchere) permission given to
reproduced providing original attribution left intact.


From: a5foil <a5foil at ix.netcom.com>
Date: April 1, 2004 9:44:42 PM CST
To: StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] fish soup

Stefan --

It's not a period recipe. I developed it for a 10th century living history
group, so it does use period ingredients and all that. For SCA I usually
serve it at Viking-themed events, though we also made it for Marinus
Investiture last November at the incoming Baroness' request.

Cynara

Aelfwynn's Famous Fish Soup

2 tablespoons salted butter
1 medium yellow onion -- 6 to 8 ounces
1/2 pound carrots
1/2 cup barley (about 4 ounces) -- rinsed and drained
 6 cups water
 1 Knorr fish bouillon cube
 1 1/2 pounds cod fillets -- cut into bite-sized pieces
 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
 freshly ground black pepper -- to taste
 dried dill weed -- to taste

Melt the butter in a 4-quart soup pot over medium heat. Peel the onion and
cut it into 1/2" dice. Scrub, core and dice the carrots. Add the vegetables
to the pan as they are ready, stirring after each addition. Add the rinsed
barley, stir well, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the water and the fish cube. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce
heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, or until the barley is
tender.

Bring the soup back to the boil and add the fish and salt. Cover, reduce
heat, and simmer until the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Season
to taste with additional kosher salt, black pepper and dill. Simmer 5 to 10
more minutes to blend flavors.

Yield: About 10 cups


Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 22:42:31 EDT
From: CLdyroz at aol.com
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: flue cure?
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

> Knowing what we know now about the medical advantages of various foods, what
> historical recipes for soups and salads do you think would help the most for
> warding off the flu?
>
> Sharon
> gordonse at one.net

Well, what little research I have done on the matter, seems that there is a
fruit soup that was good for those who were with fever-it is made up of
pomegranate juice, apple juice and some other juices, and sugar and almond milk. It makes up into a rather pink concoction...just remember to strain it first,
before serving <sheepish grin>

The vitamin C content alone is enough to cure whatever ails you!

Roz
  I wonder under what rock I buried that documentation....


Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 11:23:52 EST
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] soup recipe?
To: sca-cooks at anstorra.org

mysticgypsy1008 at yahoo.com writes:
<<I remember it was root type veggies in a veggie  broth>>

Possibly Rapes in Pottage, which is onions, and turnips, carrots, or
skirrits (sort of a water turnip, very hard to find) in "good broth", which many
people make as a vegetarian dish by using veggie broth.  I made it once with
chicken broth and it was even better :-)

Here's my version using veggie broth:

RAPES IN POTAGE
from Curye on Inglysch, English, 14th century
as  redacted by Duke Cariadoc of the Bow
and adapted by Lady Brangwayna Morgan

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

1 lb turnips, carrots, and parsnips mixed       
6 threads  saffron

powder douce: 
2 t sugar
2 cups  vegetable broth  
3/4 t  salt
3/8 t cinnamon
1/2 lb  onions
3/8 t ginger

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

Brangwayn


Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 18:32:31 -0800
From: Susan Fox <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cream of Turnip Soup
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On 11/14/05 3:02 PM, "Carolbarke at aol.com" <Carolbarke at aol.com> wrote:
> I would love to have a copy of this recipe, mentioned earlier as  
> being served at an event this past weekend.  Thanks!
>
> Aethelthryth
> Barony of South Downs

Your wish is my strong suggestion!

Cream of Turnip Soup
From CAID CORONATION FALL 2005, menu by Baroness Muiriath

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons butter
3 1/2 cups chopped leek
3/4 cup chopped shallots
4 cups diced peeled turnips
2 cups water
16 ounces chicken broth
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
chopped fresh chives

Directions:

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leek and
shallots; saute 4 minutes. Add turnips; saute 2 minutes. Stir in water and
broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 30 minutes or until  
turnips are tender.

Place one-third of turnip mixture in a blender; process until smooth. Pour
pureed mixture into a large bowl; repeat procedure with remaining turnip
mixture. Return turnip puree to pan; stir in milk and pepper. Cook until
thoroughly heated. Ladle into soup bowls; garnish with fresh chives, if
desired.

Posted by Selene Colfox


Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2006 17:27:40 -0400
From: Gretchen Beck <grm at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] period oion soups
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>,	SCA-Cooks
	maillist SCA-Cooks <SCA-Cooks at Ansteorra.org>

>  The standard answer  for my question about what soup to serve  has
> been "french onion"   Maybe I should just bow to the obvious. I was
> hoping to find something "new"

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.*

The soupes dorroy is also a possibility:

.xxx. Soupes dorroy.?Shere Oynonys, an frye hem in oyle; ?anne take Wyne,
an boyle with Oynonys, toste whyte Brede an do on a dysshe, an caste ? er-on
gode Almaunde Mylke, & temper it wyth wyne: ?anne do ?e dorry a-bowte, an
messe it forth.

toodles, margaret


Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2006 06:54:49 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My Next Feast
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

There is also an "herb" soup or pottage of greens that appears in  
Martino.

Pottage of Greens
Take some chard leaves and a little borage and boil in clear water
that is already boiling when you add them and finely chop with a knife.
Take a bit of parsley and raw mint and similarly chop with the other
herbs. They grind well in a mortar and add to some fatty broth in
a pot and simmer for a short while. If desired, you can add pepper.
Martino. The Art Of Cooking. Trans. Jeremy Parzen. 2005. p. 70-71.

Redacted versions appear in that book as well as in The Medieval  
Kitchen.

Johnnae

I happen to like Brodo of Chickpeas and Zanzarelli (a kind of egg drop soup)
both from Master Martino de Rossi.

Bear


Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 21:17:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: Helen Schultz <meisterin02 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cold soup recipe needed
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

   Here is one I found in Cindy Renfrew's "Take a Thousand Eggs or  
More" book, pagr 8-9 in Vol I of the 1994 printing...

   COLORED BROTH WITHOUT FIRE:

   Take four pounds of Almonds, & lay in Water over all, and blanch  
them, and on the morrow grind them right well, and draw thereof a  
thick milk: then take Rice, and wash them clean, and grind them well,  
& draw them up with the Milk through a strainer, and put it in a  
bowl, & part it in the vessel, and put it all white Sugar, and every  
vessel Cloves, Maces, Cubebs, & powedered Cinnamon; And let that one  
part be white, that other yellow,  & that other green with Parsleyn;  
and lay of each a slice in a dish , and look that Milk be mixed with  
wine, and the other with Red wine.

   Her redaction is as follows:

   1-1/2 c strained almond milk, made with water
   1/2 cup raw rice
   2 Tbsp sugar
   1/4 tsp clove powder
   1/4 tsp mace powder
   2 cubebs, ground
   1 tsp cinnamon
   pinch of Saffron
   2 Tbsp white wine
   1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
   2 Tbsp red wine

       Heat the almond milk to boiling in a 1-quart covered  
saucepan.  Add rice, cloves, mace, cubebs, and cinnamon.  Reduce  
heat, and cook until rice is soft (15-20 min).  Remove from heat.   
Process the mixture in a blender until smooth.

       Divide the mixture into 3 equal parts in 3 small mixing  
bowls.  Leave one part plain.  To the second part, add saffron and  
white whine, stir.  To the third part add parsley and red wine,  
stir.  Chill all three pats in the refrigerator for half an hour.   
When ready to serve, place a slice of each color in a small dish and  
serve cold.

   Doesn't really sound like a soup, from her redaction, nor from the  
original recipe, but it is called a broth <shrug>.  This is really  
more of a pudding, I think.

   She had another one just before this that is quite involved and  
actually sounds more like a sauce for veal rather than an actual soup.

   ~~ Meisterin Katarina Helene


Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 21:22:13 -0700
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at jeffnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cold soup recipe needed
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Well, it doesn't suggest it, but I'd bet this one could be served cold:

Perre
Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books

Take grene pesyn, and boile hem in a potte; And whan they ben
y-broke, drawe the broth a good quantite thorgh a streynour into a
potte, And sitte hit on the fire; and take oynons and parcelly, and
hewe hem small togidre, And caste hem thereto; And take pouder of
Canell and peper, and caste thereto, and lete boile; And take vynegur
and pouder of ginger, and caste thereto; And then take Saffron and
salte, a litull quantite, and caste thereto; And take faire peces of
paynmain, or elles of such tendur brede, and kutte hit yn fere
mosselles, and caste there-to; And then serue hit so forth.

I make it in camp frequently- it's easy to make and even
Vegan-friendly. Lots of onions. Yum!

'Lainie


Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:15:26 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Date for Spanish Garlic Soup?
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

There's a traditional Provencal recipe called "aigo bouido" that I found; it's also popular in Italy:

ingredients
17-20 cloves garlic
2 cloves
1 fresh sage leaf
generous pinch fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
5 sprigs parsley
3 egg yolks
4 tbsp olive oil
3 oz (60 g) grated Parmesan cheese
3 oz (60 g) grated Gruyere or Emmenthal cheese
salt and pepper

method
1. Separate the garlic cloves, detaching them from the base; do not peel them. Blanch them for 30 seconds in a saucepan of fast boiling unsalted water; drain, refresh under running cold water and peel. 

2. Put them in a large saucepan with 2 1/2 pints (1.4 litres) water, a large pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper, the cloves, sage leaf, thyme, bay leaf and parsley sprigs. 

3. Bring to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes; put through the vegetable mill with a fine-gauge sieving disc fitted; return this soup to the saucepan, add a little more salt if needed, heat to boiling point, and then turn off the heat. 

4. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl until they are smooth and creamy; continue beating as you gradually add the olive oil a little at a time. Gradually beat in about 4 fl oz (120 ml) of the hot soup, then reverse the procedure and gradually beat the contents of the bowl into the saucepan containing the hot soup. 

5. Make sure the liquid in the pan is no longer near boiling point. Serve with the mixed grated cheeses.

There was also a simpler one at About.com:

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
2-3 leaves of sage
A egg yolk
Several slices of toasted day-old bread
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more at table
Salt & pepper to taste
Preparation:

Set a quart (1 liter) of water to boil with the garlic, sage, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Let the mixture simmer for about 15 minutes. When the time's up, whisk the egg yolk in a soup tureen, fish out and discard the leaves of sage and the garlic, and stir the soup into the pot. Divvy the hot broth into bowls. Drizzle the slices of toasted bread with olive oil, lay them over the soup, and it's ready. 

Yield: 4 servings of garlic soup.

The name literally means, "Boiled water." Here's some interesting discussion on garlic soup, alluding to a version in ix-en-Provence that has orange peel, fennel, and cloves:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=7190

The addition of the orange peel, fennel, and cloves is interesting, elevating a peasant dish a little higher. But I haven't found a recipe for it yet ...

Gianotta/Adelisa


Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:33:29 -0700
From: edoard at medievalcookery.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Date for Spanish Garlic Soup?
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

From: Kean Gryffyth
<<< My Lady and I recently had dinner a small family run Spanish 
restaurant, where we had a simple garlic soup that seemed as if it might 
be a period recipe. It was a broth, probably beef, with crushed garlic, 
egg (seemed to be almost like egg drop soup in the way the egg was done) 
with dried bread chunks floated on top. Does anyone know of a period 
recipe for a soup like this? The soup was served hot, btw. >>>

I did the cookbook-search thing and the closest recipe I could find was
a sauce recipe from "Ein Buch von guter spise" (see below, just because
it looks interesting on its own).  None of the recipes from Anonymous
Andalusian even looked close.

I'll have to look more closely for soups with egg that don't have garlic
and see what's there.  I know of a French "green" soup I tried a while
back that did that egg-drop soup thing.  It tasted great, but there was
no way I could ever serve it to anyone - it looked like something
someone threw up.

This is an excerpt from Ein Buch von guter spise
(Germany, ca. 1345 - Alia Atlas, trans.)

49. Ein gut salse (A good sauce). Nim win und honigsaum. setze daz uf
daz fiur und laz ez sieden. und tu dar zu gestozzen ingeber me denne
pfeffers. stoz knobelauch. doch niht al zu vil und mach ez stark. und
r?erez mit eyer schinen. laz ez sieden biz daz ez br?nnien beginne.
diz sal man ezzen in kaldem wetere und heizzet swallenberges salse.

Take wine and honey. Set that on the fire and let it boil. And add
thereto pounded ginger more than pepper. Pound garlic, but not all too
much, and make it strong and give it impetus with eggwhites. Let it boil
until it begins to become brown. One should eat this in cold weather and
is called Swallenberg sauce.

- Doc


Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2010 11:24:16 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <kiridono at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pre-1600 recipes for "ancient grains"

Bogda Czorba- Wheat berry soup

2 pounds beef, lamb or chicken bones -- for broth (3 to 5)
1 1/3 pounds onion, garlic, celery, carrot--mixed for broth, 1/2-inch cubes
OR 2-3 tablespoons of good beef bouillon
10 2/3 cups water (or packaged beef stock if not making from scratch) (8 to
10)
1 1/3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup wheat berries, soaked overnight
1 1/3 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons additional if needed for flavor beef bouillon
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
vinegar to taste, salt and pepper as well.

1.    Roast beef bones on low for 1-2 hours with onion, garlic, celery,
carrot. Add water to cover and bring to a simmer for 35-45 minutes.

2.    Remove bones and add wheat berries, salt, pepper, bouillon and stir.
Simmer 1-2 hours adding stock as necessary to produce a thick pudding like
soup.

3.    Add back any meat that is available from the bones. Season with
vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

4.    Serve hot.

Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Notes:  Item Grain.  One boils wheat in a meat broth from mutton like a mues
(pudding) one calls it "bogda czorba" [transl. note: Turkish "Bogdhai" is
"wheat", "czorba" means "soup"]H.D.

Soup features prominently in Turkish cuisine, this one is no exception.
Traditionally this would be made with mutton but here I've chosen to use
beef as it is much more accessible to the average person. Of course you are
free to use mutton or lamb if you are able to find it readily.

Cuisine: Period Turkish

Categories: 2008 ME Feast, 2010 ME Feast, Periods soups & stews

Source: Channon Mondoux of Renaissance Cuisine--Celebration at the Sarayi
ebook

Evidently there are a couple of different kinds of wheatberries, so they
made need to soak a little longer.  Also, in making this for an event, I
used crockpots to cook it...which of course stretched the cooking time out
to all day.  And it worked very well.  I found that it needed more salt and
pepper and a little more vinegar...your taste may vary.  As the soup bones I
found didn't have much in the way of meat on them, I added some bottom round
cut into chunks where it says to add the meat back.  I also made sure I got
the marrow out of the bones...this added a lot of richness to the soup.

Kiri

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	soup-msg	Page 25 of 46