herb-mixes-msg - 12/14/06
Period herb mixes.
NOTE: See also the files: spice-mixes-msg, murri-msg. herbs-msg, herb-uses-msg, spreads-msg, sauces-msg, za-atar-msg, p-herbals-msg, gums-resins-msg.
************************************************************************
NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.
Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 19:42:52 -0500
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] herb mixtures
Barbara Wheaton has one that's from Liure
fort excellent de cuysine 1555.
It's in Savoring the Past.
Johnna Holloway Johnnae llyn Lewis
Huette von Ahrens wrote:
> One of my apprentices has asked me if there are
> period culinary herb mixtures, like "Bouquet
> garni" or "Italian herbs" that you will find in
> modern stores.
>
> The only one that I know of is Vertgay. Do any
> of you know of any other documentable herb
> mixtures?
>
> I am not asking about Powdre Douce or Powdre
> Fort, whice are spice mixtures. I would like
> those based on herbs, mostly.
>
> Huette
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 13:15:31 -0800 (PST)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] herb mixtures
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
I found a mention of it in Cindy Renfrew's
Glossary:
vertgay (French) =3D Bright green (the literal
meaning is 'gay green', referring to a mixture of
green herbs and saffron used to
colour a dish. Also 'yellowish green' or 'clear
green' (von Wartburg). (Viandier)
As you can see, the term is used in Viandier and
in Menagier de Paris. Thomas Scully talks about
it in his book on Viandier.
>From Menagier:
BROUET VERT D'OEUFS ET DE FROMAGE. Prenez percil
et un pou de frommage et de sauge et bien pou de
saffren, pain tremp=E9, et deffaites de pur=E9e de
pois ou d'eaue boulie, broyez et coulez: et aiez
broy=E9 gingembre deffait de vin, et mettez
boulir; puis mettez du frommage dedens et des
oeufs poch=E9s en eaue, et soit vert gay. - Item,
aucuns n'y mettent point de pain, mais en lieu de
pain convient lart.
>From Viandier:
BROUET VERTGAY. Cuisiez tel grain comme vous
vouldrez en vin et en eaue et en boullon de beuf,
et de lart pour luy donner goust, puis convient
bien frioler vostre grain; puis affinez
gingenbre, saffren, persil, ung pou de sauge qui
veult, et des moyeulx d'oeufz tous cruz, et du
pain tout
pass=E9 parmy l'estamine, deffait de vostre
boullon; et i fault ung pou de verjuz et de bon
froumage qui veult.
UNE FROIDE SAUGE. Prenez vostre poulaille et la
mettez cuire en eaue, puis la mettez reffroidier,
et puis broyez gingenbre, fleur de canelle,
grainne et girofle, sans couller, puis
broyez pain, persil, et sauge, et ung pou de
saffren en la verdeur, qui veult, pour estre
vertgay, et le coulez par l'estamine; et aucuns y
coullent des moyeulx d'oeufz cuis durs, et
deffaictes de vinaigre, et despeciez vostre
poulaille par moitti=E9e, par quartiers, ou par
membres, et mettez par platz, et la saulce
dessus. Et, se il y a eu des oeufs durs,
despeciez par morceaulx au coustel et non mie =E0
la main.
BROUET VERTGAY D'ANGUILLES ESCORCH=C9ES OU
ESCHAUD=C9ES.
Mettez cuire en vin et en eaue, et puis broyez
pain, persil, saffren bien pou, en la verdeur
pour le faire vertgay, et le destrempez de vostre
boullon, et puis broiez gingembre deffait
de vostre verjus, et tout boullez ensemble; et y
met-on de bon frommage despeci=E9 par bons
loppinetz quarrez, qui veult.
BROUET VERT D'OEFZ ET DE FROMMAGE.
Prenez persil et ung pou de sauge et bien pou de
saffren en la verdeur et pain tremp=E9, et
deffaictes de pur=E9e ou d'eaue boullie, et puis
gingenbre deffait de vin, et mettez boullir, puis
mettez le frommage dedans et les oeufz, quant ilz
seront pochez en eaue; et soit lyant vertgay; et
aucuns n'y mettent point de pain, mais y mettent
layt d'amendes.
The consistant ingredients are parsley and
saffron, but there are other green herbs used,
such as sage.
Johnnae previously mentioned that Barbara Wheaton
has an herb mixture in her book "Savoring the
Past". It is from a French cookbook printed in
1555. Unfortunately, while Wheaton does quote
the original recipe, she doesn't translate it. I
will
post the recipe here for you tomorrow, when I
have the book in front of me.
Huette
From: "Nancy Kiel" <nancy_kiel at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] herb mixtures
Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2003 16:53:32 -0500
Scully's translation of Chiquart describes a bouquet garni as sage, parsley,
hyssop and marjoram.
Nancy Kiel
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2005 14:38:43 -0600
From: Sue Clemenger <mooncat at in-tch.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Maire's herb blend....(relatively long)
To: "SCA Cooks' List" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Some time ago (beginning of August? Sometime in July?), I posted
something about my herb garden, and a period recipe for an herb blend
that I'd hoped to make sometime soon. Someone (Stefan?) asked for the
recipe/source if I ever happened to find my copy. Well, I did, and I
figured I'd post it this afternoon, since I'm pretty much stuck inside,
trying to not inhale the smoke out there.....
I do not have the actual book from which I took the recipe and
redaction, so I can't give the page number, but according to my notes,
it's from _Savoring the Past_ by Barbara Ketcham Wheaton (sp? my
handwriting sucks....) The recipe itself is French. My notes give the
original source as "Livre fort excellent de coysine (1555), ff 228r-v."
I'll type the original, first, and then give Barbara's redaction.
"Prenes persil effueille deux poignees mariolaine effueillee deux
pugnees et demje saulge demi poignee ysope autant sariette autant
sarpollet une poignee soulcye une poigness. Et quant cest pour faire
farce aulains y metient soulcye et peude Basilicque. Elle seruent a
tous potaigeaet les fault fair seicher enuiron la sainct Jehan
baptiste."
Wheaton's redaction:
"1 c. parsley
1/4 c. sage
1/4 c. winter savory
1/4 c. wild thyme
1 and 1/4 c. marjoram
1/4 c. hyssop
1/2 c. pot marigold (calendula) petals
2 T basil (optional)
On or about June 24th, pick the unsprayed herbs and pluck the leaves
from the stems. Pluck the outer petals of the pot marigolds. A soft
pastry brush is useful in dealing with the flower petals.
Dry the herbs in the sun of indoors fairly near a gentle fan. Measure,
mix, and store in a tightly closed container in a cool, dark, dry place.
The 'soulcye' in the original recipe is _Calendula officinalis_, the pot
marigold. It served in the Middle Ages and even later as a cheap
substitute for saffron, since it was (and is) easily grown in the home
garden. Our common marigolds, _Tagetes patula_ and _T. erecta_, were
introduced into European gardens at the end of the sixteenth century
from Mexico and are known, perversely, as French and African Marigolds."
I should note that those are Ketcham-Wheaton's assertions about pot
marigolds being used in the Middle Ages as a saffron substitute (not
something I've personally run across, but then, I'm not the food
research fiend that some of *you* are). I don't find it unreasonable,
though, since Calendula petals make a pretty good natural dye (shades of
yellow), and are food-safe. I also did not see anything in her book
about what recipes this might have been used with, although her original
source (not one with which I'm familiar, I'm afraid) might give more
details or references.
I've been able to grow all of the ingredients in my garden and herb
pots, and I'm in a part of the US that has some pretty severe weather
(hotter than Hades in the summer, nasty-cold in the winter, and
respectably low on the humidity scale), so I'd think that most of us
could probably do the same. My Calendula, though, didn't start blooming
until late July. And I've found that you can't just wait until you need
to deadhead the buggers (as with, say, the other kinds of marigolds,
which I also grow, and am saving for a dyeing project), as the petals
will fall off all on their own. So next year, I plan to grow a whole
bunch of them! And some hyssop and savory!
--Maire
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 08:38:34 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Maire's herb blend....(relatively long)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
I did an article a couple years back that included a number of these.
French and Italian Herb and Spice Mixtures.
http://home.comcast.net/~iasmin/mkcc/MKCCfiles/FrenchHerbSpiceMix.html
This was written for a general audience and I suggested that people
might want to experiment with them while grilling during the summer.
I thought that those not into medieval cookery might give them a try
that way.
Johnnae
Sue Clemenger wrote:
> Some time ago (beginning of August? Sometime in July?), I posted
> something about my herb garden, and a period recipe for an herb blend
> that I'd hoped to make sometime soon. Someone (Stefan?) asked for the
> recipe/source if I ever happened to find my copy. snipped
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 12:50:18 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Maire's herb blend....(relatively long)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
I suppose I ought to mention for clarity sake that Penzey's various
spice and herb blends start with one teaspoon per pound of meat.
Sprinkle or rub on the meat and cook or roast as desired. Those
Instructions ought to work for these mixtures too.
Johnnae
<the end>