tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79228428133639525742024-03-13T15:39:23.976-04:00Medieval CookeryDochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.comBlogger567125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-59032130355283559702023-04-06T12:00:00.001-04:002023-04-06T15:15:25.876-04:00Future-Proofing the Past?<div>Greetings,</div><div><br /></div><div>Over a year ago I had problems with the hosting service for MedievalCookery.com that caused the site to be overwritten with a an even older backup copy. This led me to move the site to a new host, and in the process many parts of the site were broken.</div><div><br /></div><div>To complicate matters, I've had health issues that brought much of my work to a screeching halt. I'm doing a lot better now, but that combined with the recent losses of some notable people in the medieval cooking community has given me a lot to think about.</div><div><br /></div><div>I started MedievalCookery.com over 20 years ago, and it has grown into what I hope is a useful resource for exploring and spreading information about medieval European cuisine. While I am still very interested in the subject and have been recently getting back into the research, I must admit to myself that I can no longer devote enough time and energy to keeping the site current.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's time for a change. So ... what to do?</div><div><br /></div><div>My goals in this are as follows:</div><div><br /></div><blockquote><div>1. Set up the site with a small, independent stream of income that is sufficient to pay for the web hosting. The amount needed is currently surprisingly small - about $100 per year. Affiliate links to sites like Amazon for recommended books can cover some of it, but there would need to be some other source. Possibly some kind of donation link. I very much would like to see all of the finances be open to public view.</div></blockquote><blockquote><div>2. Make changes to the site to make it easier for others in the medieval cooking community to contribute. More recipes created by site users, user-supplied links to medieval food paintings, recommended books, sources for hard to find spices, etc. While a lot of this could be handled by a handful of volunteers, it might be worth setting up something more like a wiki. Maybe also something like a forum? ... Dunno.</div></blockquote><blockquote><div>3. Set up some kind of group of volunteers to manage the technical aspects of the site and decide on future changes. I'm partial to Consensus decision making.</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>All of the above may lead to legal, financial, and ethical questions that would need to be answered. I am not a lawyer, financial analyst, or philosopher. Nor do I have the money to hire them.</div><div><br /></div><div>None of this is set in stone. I'd love to hear your thoughts.</div><div><br /></div><div>- Doc</div><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-34061347165978408962022-08-24T12:30:00.001-04:002022-08-24T12:30:00.197-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [12] Pease Soop<!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!--AddThis Button for Post END--><div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[12] Pease Soop. Boyle white pease as before, rubb them through a sieve, put to them stronge broath made of a Leg of Mutton or Beeff. Set them on the fire with some lemon peell, whole pepper, sume Nutmeg, and an Onion Stuck with cloves, Some sweet herbs. Then let them boyle together. Then take & cut the Onion and herbs, then put in some baccon & balls fryed & toasted braed in squar bitts, some buttered spinage & sorrel & Endiff, cut it it and give it a warme together, then serve it up.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div>I think this recipe qualifies as I referred to a recipe for pea "soop" in <a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_01091495408.html" target="_blank">an earlier post</a>, but it doesn't at all match this one.</div><div><br /></div><blockquote><div><i>To make green Peas Soop. Take half a bushel of the youngest Peas, divide the great from the small; boil the smallest in two quarts of Water, and the biggest in one quart: when they are well boiled, bruise the biggest, and when the thin is drained from it, boil the thick in as much cold Water as will cover at; then rub away the Skins, and take a little Spinage, Mint, Sorrel, Lettuce and Parsley, and a good quantity of Marigolds; wash, shred and boil these in half a pound of Butter, and drain the small Peas; save the Water, and mingle all together, and a spoonful of Pepper whole; then melt a quarter of a pound of Butter, and shake a little Flour into it, and let it boil; put the Liquor to the Butter, and mingle all well together, and let them boil up: so serve it with dry’d Bread.</i> [The Compleat Housewife (England, 1729)]</div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>In spite of the name, I think this recipe counts as YAVCRFPP.</p><p><br /></p><div>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- AddThis Button for Post BEGIN -->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-81376268425949356402022-08-22T12:30:00.001-04:002022-08-22T12:30:00.139-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [11] Pease Pottage<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[11] Pease Pottage. Take a knockle of veal, Or a hough of Beeff, & boyle your stock well & straine it & make your gravie very strong. Season it with Cloves, Mace & Nutmeg, and Onion & Race of Ginger, & some sweet herbs. To make the Ragour, take Pullets, forst-meat balls & Ragour them, and if noe pease, take Spinage & chop it small & boyle it. You must must not put the spinage in till you send it up, & then put it in the Dish with the dryed bread & then run that over it. Garnish it with tongues & serve it away.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>I am now going to just use the helpful abbreviation YAVCRFPP (Yet another very confused recipe for pea pottage). Beef broth with spices and chicken meatballs for the soup base, but it this has to be the first recipe for pea pottage I've ever seen that might not actually contain peas.</i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </div></div><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-80327575067981232242022-08-20T13:28:00.000-04:002022-08-20T13:28:27.945-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [10] Pease Pottage<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[10] Pease Pottage. When your Pease are boyled, Strain them & put them to boyle againe with some Parsley, Onions beeth [seethed?], Time, Mint, & Sorrell. Season it with peper, sault, & cloves, leting all boyle a quarter of an hour. Dish it up with a little Butter. Have ready some white bread dryed by the fire to put in the Dish. [M. Des Mastyr]</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The inclusion of mint, sorrel, and parsley in the recipe above suggests a connection to this recipe <a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_01091495408.html" target="_blank">which I mentioned earlier</a>.</i></div><div><br /></div><blockquote><div><i>To make green Peas Soop. Take half a bushel of the youngest Peas, divide the great from the small; boil the smallest in two quarts of Water, and the biggest in one quart: when they are well boiled, bruise the biggest, and when the thin is drained from it, boil the thick in as much cold Water as will cover at; then rub away the Skins, and take a little Spinage, Mint, Sorrel, Lettuce and Parsley, and a good quantity of Marigolds; wash, shred and boil these in half a pound of Butter, and drain the small Peas; save the Water, and mingle all together, and a spoonful of Pepper whole; then melt a quarter of a pound of Butter, and shake a little Flour into it, and let it boil; put the Liquor to the Butter, and mingle all well together, and let them boil up: so serve it with dry’d Bread.</i> [The Compleat Housewife (England, 1729)]</div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><i>However this connection seems tenuous as there is a similar recipe from much farther back with similar ingredients.</i></p><blockquote><p><i>Pease of all or the most of these forts, are either used when they are greene, and be a dish of meate for the table of the rich as well as the poore, yet every one observing his time, and the kinde: the fairest, sweetest, youngest, and earliest for the better sort, the later and meaner kindes for the meaner, who doe not give the deerest price: Or Being dry, they serve to boyle into a kinde of broth or pottage, wherein many doe put Tyme, Mints, Savory, or some other such hot herbes, to give it the better rellish, and is much used in Towne and Countrey in the Lent time, especially of the poorer sort of people. </i>[Paradisi in sole paradisus terrestris, J. Parkinson (London, 1629)]</p></blockquote><p> </p><div><div>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </div></div><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-18894575755798840072022-08-12T11:22:00.025-04:002022-08-20T13:27:50.176-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [9] Green Pease Pottage<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[9] Green Pease Pottage. Take 3 quarts of Green Pease, boyle 3 pints of them, & afterwards stamp them in a Morter, & put a quart of the broath they were boyled into the pease & stir them altogether & strain or press as the substanse of the pease may all goe through & leave only the hulls, so the Broath will goe thick. Then season it, puting it over the fire, with a pint of Renish Wine, & beaten Cloves & Mace & Nutmegs & 3 Anchovis. Then boyle some forstmeat balls in it & put some Crust of Manchet in it being well dryed, & fry into it Chibbles, Parsley, & Spinage, and the head of a hundred of Sparagrasse being boyled. You may put some Stronge broath in it & sweet breeds of veale, roast al Couple of Chickents, lay them in the Middle of the Dish. When you serve it up boyle a pint of Pease Green. Garnish the dishe with cut Oranges. You need not hacke the sweet herbs. Pinch the leaves of them & put them in a litle before you serve it up that they may be green. [note: Ant Morris]</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Another very confused recipe for pea pottage, this one having asparagus and sweetbreads. I don't have anything new to add at this point over the notes in <a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_01091495408.html" target="_blank">the previous peas pottage recipe</a>, but I may come back to it later.</i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </div><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-38532940943727327462022-08-10T11:23:00.058-04:002022-08-20T13:27:33.730-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [8] Pease Pottage The Spanish Way<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[p3]</div><div><br /></div><div>[8] Pease Pottage The Spanish Way. Put 2 quarts of Pease a-boyling in broath. Season them with Nutmeg, Sault, Onion, sweet herbs, peper, a litle bacon stuffed with cloves. Take a quantity of spinnage, pound it in a Morter, then strain it, then brown some butter very thick with flower, then put in the Juice of spinage, and boyle it very well. Then strain the Pease through a Sieve with some of the same liquor they were boyled in 2 hours, then soak therein a french Loafe. Put some whole pease in it, then take 3 or 4 cowcumbers, pare them, take out the seeds & dice the outside, & fry them in butter. When they are brown, Boyle them in the Pottage and Dish it up with the Loafe in the Midle & Squeeze one Orange on it. [note: Mrs. Baxter]</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>To be honest, I really don't know where to go with this recipe. It doesn't look much like any of <a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_01091495408.html" target="_blank">the pea pottage recipes I noted previously</a>.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>This recipe is essentially fried cucumbers, cooked in strained peas and spinach juice, served with </i><i>a loaf of bread stuffed with whole peas, and garnished with orange juice. I find it somewhat bewildering</i><i>.</i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </div><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-68156645659767126602022-08-08T12:30:00.010-04:002022-08-20T12:06:32.653-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [7] Pease Pottage<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[7] Pease Pottage. Take green pease being shelled & cleaned, put them in a Pickin [pipkin] of fair boyling watter. When they are boyled and tender, strain some of them to thicken the rest. Put to them a bundle of sweet herbs chops [chopped?], sault and butter being through boyled. Dish them & Serve them in a Deep Dish with Sault and Sippets about them.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>There are numerous recipes for pea soup in early European cookbooks, but there are two aspects of this one that are unusual. The first is the instruction to strain some of the peas to thicken the soup, and the other is the lack of additional ingredients such as onions or bacon. These differences significantly reduce the number of related recipes in other sources.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>While these two recipes from Arundel 334 do add bread and call for beef broth instead of water, they are still very similar to Williams':<br /></i><blockquote><i>Grene pesen (pease) to potage. Take yonge grene pesen, and sethe hom with gode broth of beef, and take parsell, sage, saveray, and ysope, and a lytel brede, and bray all this in a morter, and sume of the pesen therwyth, and tempur hit wyth the broth, and do hit in a pot to the other pesen, and let hit boyle togedur, and serve hit forth. </i>[Ancient Cookery [Arundel 334] (England, 1425), <i>as reproduced in</i> R. Warner's "Antiquitates culinariae" (1791)]</blockquote><blockquote><i>Grene pesen. Take grene pesen, and fethe hom with brothe of flesshe ; and take parfel, hyfope, and faveray, brayed with a lytel bred, and bray half the pesen withal, and streyne up al togeder, and al into the fame pot, do the remnant of the fame pesen, and let hom fethe; and serve hom forthe.</i> [Ancient Cookery [Arundel 334] (England, 1425), <i>as reproduced in</i> R. Warner's "Antiquitates culinariae" (1791)]</blockquote><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>Here's another, slightly later version that also includes bread, but doesn't call for broth:</i></p><blockquote><p><i>To mak yonge pessene tak pessen and par boille hem in water then gadar hem up and set the tone half upon the fyere with good brothe of beef and bray the remniant in a mortair withe parsley ysope and bred and draw it throughe a strener into a pot with the other pessen and boile it and salt it and serue it.</i> [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><i>And another even later that mentions serving the soup over sops:</i></p><blockquote><p><i>For White pease pottage.. Take a quart of white Pease or more & seeth them in faire water close, vntill they doe cast their huskes, the which cast away, as long as any wil come vp to the topp, and when they be gon, then put into the peaze two dishes of butter, and a little vergious, with pepper and salt, and a little fine powder of March, and so let it stand till you will occupy it, and the[n] serue it vpon sops. You may sée the Porpose and Seale in your Pease, seruing it forth two péeces in a dish.</i> [The Second part of the good Hus-wiues Iewell (England, 1597)]</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><i>Searching through the more recent sources yields this match:<br /></i></p><p></p><blockquote><i>To make green Peas Soop. Take half a bushel of the youngest Peas, divide the great from the small; boil the smallest in two quarts of Water, and the biggest in one quart: when they are well boiled, bruise the biggest, and when the thin is drained from it, boil the thick in as much cold Water as will cover at; then rub away the Skins, and take a little Spinage, Mint, Sorrel, Lettuce and Parsley, and a good quantity of Marigolds; wash, shred and boil these in half a pound of Butter, and drain the small Peas; save the Water, and mingle all together, and a spoonful of Pepper whole; then melt a quarter of a pound of Butter, and shake a little Flour into it, and let it boil; put the Liquor to the Butter, and mingle all well together, and let them boil up: so serve it with dry’d Bread. </i>[The Compleat Housewife (England, 1729)]</blockquote><p><br /></p><p><i>I'm starting to build a mental framework for early Welsh cookery and how it differs from that of England. The recipes so far seem to focus less on what could be considered "fancy" ingredients and tend to be more ... rustic? We'll see if that holds up as we progress through the book.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p></div><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-36719886426239551392022-08-06T13:18:00.003-04:002022-08-20T13:15:04.656-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - Bibliography<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[note that this page is still being updated]</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bibliography</b><br /><br /><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=ycw-AAAAcAAJ" target="_blank">Ancient Cookery</a> [Arundel 334], England, 1425</div><div><i><span> </span><span> </span>as reproduced in</i> R. Warner's "Antiquitates culinariae" (1791)</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65061" target="_blank">The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book</a>, F. Farmer, Boston, 1924</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://archive.org/details/smithcompleathousewife" target="_blank">The Compleat Housewife: or Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion</a>, England, 1729</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://archive.org/details/englandsnewestwa00howa" target="_blank">England's Newest Way in All Sorts of Cookery</a>, H. Howard, England, 1708</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.uni-giessen.de/fbz/fb05/germanistik/absprache/sprachverwendung/gloning/tx/lcc3.htm" target="_blank">Liber cure cocorum</a> [Sloane MS 1986], England, 1430</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.staff.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/1615murr.htm" target="_blank">A NEVV BOOKE of Cookerie</a>, J. Murrell, England, 1615</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/napier.txt" target="_blank">A Noble Boke off Cookry</a> [Holkham MSS 674], England, 1468</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7247391M/Paradisi_in_sole_paradisus_terrestris" target="_blank">Paradisi in sole paradisus terrestris</a>, J. Parkinson, England, 1629</div><div><i><span> </span><span> (reprinted in 1904)</span></i></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A69185.0001.001" target="_blank">The Second part of the good Hus-wiues Iewell</a>, T. Dawson, England, 1597</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.uni-giessen.de/fbz/fb05/germanistik/absprache/sprachverwendung/gloning/tx/harlkonk.htm" target="_blank">Thomas Awkbarow's Recipes</a> [MS Harley 5401], England, 15th c.</div><div> <i>(based on a concordance)</i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-16279192460998693452022-08-06T12:30:00.004-04:002022-08-20T12:05:48.408-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [6] Onion Pottage<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[6] Onion Pottage. Take a good store of sliced onions & fry them, then have ready a Pickin [pipkin] of Boyling Liquor over the fire. When the Liquor boyles put in the fryed Onions, butter & all, with peper and sault being to-all strewed together. Serve it on sops of french bread. [added later: or pine mollett]</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>This short recipe would be indistinguishable from the dozens of other recipes for cooked onions if it weren't for the instruction to fry the onions before boiling them. No doubt this is to give the onions (and the subsequent soup) some color. ... Now that I think about it, this could be a precursor recipe for <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017256-french-onion-soup" target="_blank">French Onion Soup</a>.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>There is a single, very similar English recipe in The Good Housewife's Jewell that is a close match for Williams':</i></div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote><i>A sop of Onions. Take and slice your Onions, & put them in a frying panne with a dish or two of sweete butter, and frie them together, then take a litle faire water and put into it salt and peper, and so frie them together a little more, then boile them in a lyttle Earthen pot, putting to it a lyttle water and sweet butter, &c. You may vse Spinnage in like maner.</i> [The Second part of the good Hus-wiues Iewell (England, 1597)]</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div><i>In spite of the small number of examples, this recipe dies seem to have survived the tests of time, as the following recipe from the 1920s shows:</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i></i><blockquote><i>Onion Soup. Wipe, peel, and slice five small onions; put in a frying pan and cook in enough butter to prevent burning (stirring constantly) until soft. To six cups stock, add onions and salt to taste. Cut stale bread in one-third-inch slices and remove crusts. Toast on both sides. Place in tureen, sprinkle with three tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, and pour soup over bread just before sending to table. </i>[The Boston School Cook Book, (Boston, 1924)]</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div><i>As for the little note at the end of the recipe, I haven't the slightest idea what "Pine Mollet" is.</i></div><div> </div><div><i>... I think I might make this soup later this week ...</i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </div><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-46244927145591406802022-08-03T12:30:00.067-04:002022-08-20T12:05:23.783-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [5] Pottage Loraine<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>[5] Pottage Loraine. Make a good stock of broath of Veale, & Mutton, & Beeff, boyle it well, season it with peper, salt, cloves, mace, some Orange [orage?] & sweet herbs. The gravie must be made thus, then take Cappons, or Pheasants, or Partridges & roast them. Open the skine of the breast, & take out the Brawny part. Mince it very small, & hash it in some of the broath. Season it & squeez in the Juice of a Lemon. Then Mince a sweet breed & passe some spinnage & sorrell in brown Butter with a slice of Bacon Gravie. Stove [toast?] sume sliced bread in a Dish with the broath, put in thy fowle, fill the Dish with the Gravie & herbs, put in the hash into the breast of the fowles, & Cast head it with Almonds beaten. Garnish the Dish with Sliced Lemon & scalded spinnage.<!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN--><div><script type="text/javascript">addthis_url='<data:post.url/>'; addthis_title='<data:post.title/>'; addthis_pub='doc_halidai';</script><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/addthis_widget.php?v=12" type="text/javascript"></script></div>
<!--AddThis Button for Post END--><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Much to my surprise, there's <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/2025-cream-of-carrot-soup-potage-lorraine" target="_blank">a modern recipe called "Pottage Lorraine"</a>. It's a stew of carrots, onion, and beans cooked in veal broth, with cream ... so really the veal broth is all they have in common.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>There's also a "<a href="https://recipeland.com/recipe/v/lorraine-soup-40969" target="_blank">Lorraine Soup</a>" recipe which calls for broth, minced chicken, almonds, and lemon juice, which are also in the Williams' recipe.</i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- AddThis Button for Post BEGIN -->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-48598490901066652152022-08-01T12:30:00.058-04:002022-08-20T12:05:01.954-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [4] Rice Pottage<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[4] Rice Pottage. Take a chop of a Neck of Mutton & putt it in the pott with some watter and a quarter of a Pint of Rice well pickt & washed, & when you find the Rice is tender put in a bundle of sweet herbs & a blade of Mace, a Nutmeg grated, 12 Chesnutts, & as many wallnuts pickt clean, boyle all these till they be tender. The broath must not be to thick. The wallnotts & Chesnutts must some be shred very small, & some grosser, when the pottage is well boyled take out the herbs & spice, & put it in a Ladle full of gravie. Season it with sault. Thou may put in the Brain & wings of Pateridges or Capon or Pulletts.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>This recipe seems a bit odd compared to older versions of rice pottage, as those are usually much simpler with fewer ingredients (e.g. rice boiled in broth, thickened with almond milk, and colored with saffron) . That said, it does have a lot in common with the following 17th century recipe:</i></div><p> </p><blockquote><div><i>To boyle Pidgeons with Rice, on the French fashion. Set them to boyle, and put into their bellyes sweet Hearbes, viz. Parsley, tops of young Time: and then put them into a Pipkin, with as much Mutton broth as will couer them, a piece of whole Mace, a little whole Pepper: boyle all these together vntill your Pidgeons be tender. Then take them off the fire, and scum off the fat cleane from the broth, with a spoone, for otherwise it wil make it to taste rancke. Put in a piece of sweet Butter: season it with Uergis, Nutmegge, and a little Sugar: thicken it with Ryce boyled in sweet Creame. Garnish your Dish with preserued Barberyes, and Skirret rootes, being boyld with Uergis and Butter.</i> [A NEVV BOOKE of Cookerie (England, 1615)]</div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><i>Both include mutton or mutton broth, "whole" mace, nutmeg, "sweet herbs", and some kind of game bird. The "sweet herbs" and whole/blade mace strongly suggests to me the recipes are connected -- though obviously not closely.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </p><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-90244569293898717052022-07-29T12:30:00.090-04:002022-08-20T12:07:25.880-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [3] Pottage of Oysters<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div>[p2]</div><div><br /></div><div>[3] Pottage of Oysters. Open the oysters carefully, save all the liquor, to a pint of Oysters & their Liquor take a pint of watter, a pint of hard wine, a pint of strong Gravie of Mutton, a whole onion, a race of ginger, a bundle of sweet herbs, a Nutmeg grated, & some Bruised peper, & sault, a few chips of bread, when it hath boyled a while, take out the Onion herbs & spice, thicken it with the yolk of an Egg & a litle more gravie of Mutton. Thou may scrape in a spoonfull of paremes and [parmesan] Cheese, & take some Other Oisters & fri them like fritters to garnish the dish & to lay alover [all over] the Pottage, if you have Crawfish it will make so much the Better.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>This is the last of the oyster recipes - at least for a bit. So far the one thing we can tell about Merryell Williams is that she (or someone she liked) really liked oysters, otherwise why would they be the subject of the first three recipes she copied into the book?</i></div><div><br /></div><div><i>We're on slightly stronger ground here that with the previous two as oyster pottage recipes aren't as uncommon. That said, the three recipes from the more common medieval sources aren't much like Williams'.</i></div><div><br /></div><blockquote><div><i>For to make potage of oysturs. Perboyle þyn oysturs and take hom oute. Kepe welle þy bre with outen doute, And hakke hom on a borde full smalle, And bray in a morter þou schalle. Do hom in hor owne brothe for goode, Do mylke of almondes þer to by þe rode, And lye hit up with amydone, And frye smalle mynsud onyone In oyle, or sethe hom in mylke þou schalle. Do powdur þerto of spyces withalle, And coloure hit þenne with safron gode. Hit is holden restoratyf fode. </i> ["Liber cure cocorum" / Sloane MS 1986 (England, 1430)]</div></blockquote><div><blockquote><i>To mak potage of oystirs parboile your oystirs and tak them up and kep the brothe then chap them smale upon a bord and bet them in a mortair then put them in ther own brothe agayne put ther to almond mylk alay it up with amydon and mynced onyons worte or in mylk sethe it and do it to good poudure and colour yt with saffron and serue it.</i> [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]</blockquote></div><div><blockquote><i>To make Potage of Ostyrs. Recipe ostyrs & perbole þam in fayr water, þan tak þam oute; þan schop þam small & bray þam in a morter; þan cast þam into þat same broth & put þerto almond mylk & amydon & myncyd onyons & bole all þise togydre; þan put in powdyr of gynger & colour it with saferon, & serof it forth. </i>["Thomas Awkbarow's Recipes" / MS Harley 5401 (England, 15th century)]</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Turning to the later sources I checked in the preceding recipes, the closest I could find were the following:</i></div><div><br /></div><blockquote><div><i>A Ragoo of Oysters. Put into your Stew-pan a quarter of a pound of Butter, let it boil, then take a quart of Oysters, strain them from their Liquor, and put them to the Butter; let them stew with a bit of Eschalot shred very fine, and some grated Nutmeg, and a little Salt; then beat the yolks of three or four Eggs with the Oyster-liquor and half a pound of Butter, and shake all very well together till 'tis thick, and serve it up with Sippets, and garnish with sliced Lemon. </i> [<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/smithcompleathousewife" target="_blank">The Compleat Housewife (England, 1729)</a>]</span></div></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>To make Sause for Wild-Fowl. Take half a Pint of Claret, a little Oyster- liquor, a little Gravy, and three or four Shalots; let it boil a quarter of an Hour, with a little Grated Bread, and put to it two Anchovies minced, and a little Butter, and shake it well together, and put it to your Fowl, being Roasted, and serve them up. </i> [<a href="https://archive.org/details/englandsnewestwa00howa" target="_blank">England's Newest Way in All Sorts of Cookery, H. Howard (1708)</a>]</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><i>Of course neither of these are quite what we're looking for. So far I'm not doing very well at finding predecessors for the recipes. We'll have to see what comes after the oysters.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </p><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-35242941414781782102022-07-25T12:30:00.005-04:002022-08-20T12:04:05.331-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [2] Oyster Sausages<div>Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</div><div>Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[2] Oyster Sausages. Take a quart of large Oysters & Parboyle them and then let it be Cold. Then chop them with sage and sweet herbs very fine, then grate the yolks of hard Eaggs, and 4 or 5 Anchovies & a litle grated bread, peper, nutmeg, and a few Cloves beaten very small then work it up together, with 2 pound of the best suet, shreded very fine.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Here we have another weird oyster recipe. The first thing I did was check </i>The Compleat Housewife<i>, but that would have just been too easy.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>There is a recipe for oyster sausages in </i>Modern Cookery for Private Families<i> (Eliza Acton, 1859), but it surprisingly calls for cayenne and does not include sage.</i></div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>OYSTER SAUSAGES. Beard, rinse well in their strained liquor, and mince but not finely, three dozens and a half of plump native oysters, and mix them with ten ounces of fine bread-crumbs, and ten of beef-suet chopped extremely small ; add a saltspoonful of salt, and one of pepper, or less than half the quantity of cayenne, twice as much pounded mace, and the third of a small nutmeg grated : moisten the whole with two unbeaten eggs, or with the yolks only of three, and a dessertspoonful of the whites. When these ingredients have been well worked together, and are perfectly blended, set the mixture in a cool place for two or three hours before it is used ; make it into the form of small sausages or sausage-cakes, flour and fry them in butter of a fine light brown; throw them into boiling water for three minutes, drain, and let them become cold, dip them into egg and bread-crumbs, and broil them gently until they are lightly coloured. A small bit should be cooked and tasted before the whole is put aside, that the seasoning may be heightened if required. The sausages thus made are extremely good : the lingers should be well floured in making them up.</blockquote><p> </p></div><div><i>I found several early and modern recipes for oyster sausages that were much simpler than the one above, but the majority of those were made for pork and oysters.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Most interestingly, I couldn't find any other recipes for oyster sausages that included sage. </i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </div><!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN-->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-43049312523901561872022-07-22T12:30:00.013-04:002022-08-20T12:04:25.002-04:00Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [1] Oyster LoavesIt's been a very long time since I've posted here - sorry about that. The past few years have been interesting for us all.<!--AddThis Button for Post BEGIN--><div><script type="text/javascript">addthis_url='<data:post.url/>'; addthis_title='<data:post.title/>'; addthis_pub='doc_halidai';</script><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/addthis_widget.php?v=12" type="text/javascript"></script></div>
<!--AddThis Button for Post END--><div><br /></div><div>Thanks to Johnna Holloway, I've learned of this late 17th century Welsh manuscript. It's not properly medieval in itself, but after skimming through the recipes I have the distinct impression that many of them were copied from a pre-1600 CE source. That suggests to me that it could be a very useful resource, especially given the scarcity of Welsh sources.</div><div><br /></div><div>With that in mind I'm starting a new project of transcribing the manuscript. I'll be posting entries for it here as often as I can, and eventually will make the transcription available for reading and searching on the website.</div><div><br /></div><div>----</div><div><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes</h2><div style="text-align: left;">Peniarth MS 513D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the <a href="https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/merryell-williamss-book-of-recipes" target="_blank">National Library of Wales website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.</div><div><br /></div><div>Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[p1]</div><div><br /></div><div>[1] Oyster Loaves. Take a dozen of good oysters & Clean them as usuall, then boyl them in their own liquor till they be enough to Pickle, then take a fair Sweet Breed of veal, and Boyle it in water till it be enough to be eaten, but rather under than over boylid, your oysters must be under done,. When the sweet Breeds and osters be thus boyled shred the Sweetbreed into small squares about the bigness of French bean, & take the finns from the osters and put em altogether and grate over them half a nutmeg or more, and sprinkle also over them two penny-worth of Capers shreed as small as Dust, & a reasonable quantity of Peper & Salt according to your Palat and let them stand by, then take a Quarter of a Bint [pint?] of Gravie that is good and stronge. And shred into it half a Midling Oster, and half an Anchovie, & put it over a Gentle fire, till the anchovie be disolved then strain the gravie from the Onion into a Sauce-pan, to which put a quarter of a pound of fresh butter & shack it about the pan till be Melted thick, & then put in your prepared Oysters & Sweet Breeds and Sturr them Gently together till they be well mixt & put them by till the loaves be fryed as followeth. Take 4 New French Rowles, & cut a peice Neatly out of the top of Each, No bigger than that your finger & thumb will jest goe in, & carefully take out all the crumbs as close as can, not to breake through the sides, when you thus ordered the Loaves, Gett a narrow Skellet barely wide enough for a loaffe to goe Cleverly in, & so turned, & putt into it a pound of fresh Butter without any watter and lett it boyle a litle, scuming it clean from the Butter-Milk, into the Boyling butter, put first one Rowle, And lett it take One or two turns Rounds, turning it that Each side may be fryed then take it up & lay it upon a plate to drain, the hole downwards & then put in another, till the Loaves be all fryed, & att last putt in the Bitts, that you cut out, and when they be Enough lay em to Drain, as the loaves. Then take your Loaves and fill them with your Oysters with a sweet-meat spoon, taking care that every part be full, & Close them with the piese, when you would Eat them, you must put them in an oven Moderatly hott for about a quarter of an hour themselves, Or with roasted fowles.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>While I stated in the introduction that many of the recipes in this book seem like they were copied from an earlier source, this is not one of those recipes. In fact, I couldn't find anything quite like this recipe in my usual collection of sources.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Oysters that are boiled and then pan-fried in butter? No problem!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Add in Sweetbreads that have been similarly treated? Sure ... wait, what?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Mix with gravy, anchovies, and onion juice? Uh ...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Stuff into rolls that have been hollowed out and fried in butter? ... I give up.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Both sweetbreads - and to a lesser degree, oysters - have fallen out of fashion in the past century or so. That means that even though I've come across a lot of recipes for them in early cookbooks, I'm not likely to cook them (my family of taste-testers only have so much patience). So I expected to find something at least vaguely close to this recipe.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Nope. There was nothing similar in the online medieval sources, so I turned to my collection of print books. Nothing there either.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>I finally found a clue to the origin of this recipe when I came across this one for an <a href="https://bakerrecipes.com/oyster-and-sweetbread-recipe/" target="_blank">oyster and sweetbread casserole</a>. It's attributed to </i>Recipes of Early America<i> by Helen Duprey, published in 1967 by Heirloom Publishing Co., New York.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>It appears that Helen Duprey was also known as Helen Duprey Bullock, and that some of (all?) the recipes in Recipes of Early America may have come from </i>The Williamsburg Art of Cookery<i>, printed for Colonial Williamsburg in 1938. That book includes the note: </i><br /><br /><blockquote>"Even as many of the recipes which it contains are taken or adapted from the first American cook book, which was printed at Williamsburg in 1742 by William Parks, so is this volume a typographical adaptation from Parks' The compleat housewife, or, Accomplish'd gentlewoman's companion." - A note to the reader, p. [275]</blockquote></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>There are multiple editions of </i>The Compleat Housewife: or Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion<i> available online - a source I've been only vaguely aware of up until now because I'm pretty strongly focused on pre-1600 sources. Sure enough, on page 10 of the <a href="https://archive.org/details/smithcompleathousewife" target="_blank">1729 edition</a> (printed in London) the following recipe is given:</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><blockquote>To Stew Oysters in French Rolls. Take a quart of large Oysters; wash them in their own Liquor, and strain it, and put them in it with a little Salt, some Pepper, Mace, and sliced Nutmeg; let the Oysters stew a little with all these things, and thicken them up with a great deal of Butter; then take six French Rolls, cut a piece off the top, and take out the Crum, and take your Oysters boiling hot, and fill the Rolls full, and set them near the fire on a Chafing-dish of Coals, and let them be hot through, and as the Liquor soaks in, fill them up with more, if you have 'em, or some hot Gravy: So serve them up instead of a Pudding.</blockquote></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>While there's no mention of sweetbreads, it's still pretty clearly the same recipe. An interesting side note here: the use of the word "em" near the end of that recipe is actually telling as it appears multiple times in the Merryell recipe (which I expanded from the common contraction, 'em).</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>[update: 23-7-2022]</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>While looking for versions of the subsequent recipe, I came across the recipe below:</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><div><i>61. Oyfler Loaves. Take French Rowls, cut a little hole on the Tops as big as half a Crown ^ then take out all the Crumb, but don’t break the Cruft off the Loaf: then stew some Oysters in their own Liquor, a blade of Mace, a little whole Pepper, Salt, Nutmeg and a little White-wine : skum it very well, and thicken it with a piece of Butter rowled up in Flour : then fill up the Rowls with it, and put on the piece again that you cut off: then put the Rowls in a Mazerene-dish, and melt Butter and pour it into them, let them in your Oven till crisp : let the Oven be as hot as for Orange-pudding. </i>[<a href="https://archive.org/details/englandsnewestwa00howa" target="_blank">England's Newest Way in All Sorts of Cookery</a>, H. Howard (1708)]</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2022/08/merryell-williams-book-of-recipes_6.html" target="_blank">Bibliography</a>] </div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- AddThis Button for Post BEGIN -->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-83794282952903654032019-11-08T12:30:00.000-05:002019-11-08T14:12:26.620-05:00Starting Points: The Great Cheering Syrup<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">This weekly feature shows the initial steps I go through for interpreting a medieval recipe.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span>I've been lax in posting lately, and as punishment the universe decided to push me outside of my comfort zone with this randomly selected recipe:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The Great Cheering Syrup: Way of Making It. Take half a ratl each of borage, mint, and citron leaves, cook them in water to cover until their strength comes out, then take the clean part and add it to a ratl of sugar. Then put in the bag: a spoonful each of aloe stems, Chinese rhubarb, Chinese cinnamon, cinnamon and clove flowers; pound all these coarsely, place them in a cloth, tie it well, and place it in the kettle, macerate it again and again until its substance passes out, and cook until [the liquid] takes the consistency of syrups. Take one û qiya with three of hot water. Benefits: It profits [preceding two words apparently supplied; in parentheses in printed Arabic text] weak stomachs, fortifies the liver and cheers the heart, digests foods, and lightens the constitution gently, God willing.</i> [An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook (Andalusia, 13th c. - Charles Perry, trans.)]</blockquote>
<br />
Andalusian, eh? I'm much more comfortable with French and English sources but I'll give it a shot.<br />
<br />
My understanding is that these kind of syrups were used for making beverages in the Arabic-speaking world and the instructions appear to confirm that - though it also sounds rather medicinal. Mix it with hot water? Are you supposed to drink it hot like tea? That's all putting the cart before the horse; we've got to make the stuff first.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqrHq8Rj7Nw/XcW90cONvaI/AAAAAAAADSg/IP9jhGQZWG8-Y_c4wzmnI7kYwS7Mg-pWACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/borage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="250" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqrHq8Rj7Nw/XcW90cONvaI/AAAAAAAADSg/IP9jhGQZWG8-Y_c4wzmnI7kYwS7Mg-pWACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/borage.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="borage" style="border: none; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; text-align: left;"><div class="copyright" style="color: #220022; font-size: 8pt; text-align: center;">
Borage - <em>Borago officinalis</em></div>
</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
First thing's first: what the heck is a <i>ratl</i>? <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/islamiceconomyuwo/weights-and-measurements/maghribnorth-africa/ratl" target="_blank">A little googling</a> tells me it was a unit of weight equal to about 437.5g (or 15.43 ounces ... which is just under a pound ... cool!). So that's a pound each of the following:<br /><br /><b>Borage </b>(<i>Borago officinalis</i>): A common garden plant across Europe. The leaves of borage were often used like spinach in pies and salads. It also has blue flowers that were used for color or decoration. So which do we use here, the leaves or flowers? If you can find it fresh I'd use whichever you can get (or both). I was going to try growing it this summer but never got around to planting the seeds. I think I have a package of the dried flowers somewhere in the depths of my pantry.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Mint </b>(genus <i>Mentha</i>): There are all sorts of mints out there. I like spearmint but my wife hates it. Go figure. I'd use whichever kind I can get fresh at the grocery.<br />
<br />
<b>Citron Leaves</b> (<i>Citrus medica</i>): Really?! I wasn't aware they had culinary use. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878450X16300014" target="_blank">Some googling</a> found another example so it makes sense. I have no idea where I'd get them but their strong, lemony essence would probably have a big impact on the syrup so I can't just skip it. I might be able to substitute some other kind of citrus leaves but they probably wouldn't be the same and they also wouldn't be any easier to find in Ohio. I'd have to put out the word to everyone I know from far off places.<br /><br />So that's three pounds of leaves in what would have to be a really big kettle, along with enough water to cover them. Then boil it all until ... I guess until the water tastes like you want it to. Then strain out all the leaves and add a pound of sugar and a "spoonful" (a tablespoon?) of each of the following:<br /><br /><b>Aloe stems</b> (<i>Aloe vera</i>): I'm guessing this should be fresh. I'm pretty sure I can get this locally. A tablespoon of this doesn't sound like much, but then I'm not sure how much aloe I want in my beverage anyway.<br /><br /><b>Chinese Rhubarb</b> (<i>Rheum palmatum</i>): Looking up this plant I found the root has a long history of medicinal use for all sorts of ailments. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheum_palmatum" target="_blank">It's Wikipedia page</a> also includes a health warning.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Pregnant women should avoid all intake of the plant since it may cause uterine stimulation. If taken for an extended amount of time, adverse effects include: "hypertrophy of the liver, thyroid, and stomach, as well as nausea, griping, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea."</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Though the root of the Chinese rhubarb is a key facet of herbal medicine, its leaves can actually be poisonous if consumed in large amounts due to the oxalic acid content. Patients with "arthritis, kidney problems, inflammatory bowel disease, or intestinal obstruction" should refrain from consumption.</i></blockquote>
<br />
I don't care what it tastes like or how it would affect my re-creation; I'm leaving this stuff out.<br />
<br />
Ok, the next two are interesting ...<br />
<br />
<b>Chinese cinnamon</b> (<i>Cinnamomum cassia</i>): The stuff that is sold as "Cinnamon" in the United States.<br />
<br />
<b>Cinnamon </b>(<i>Cinnamomum verum</i>): Real cinnamon, sometimes sold as "Ceylon Cinnamon" in the US.<br />
<br />This recipe is one of the rare examples that calls for both types of cinnamon. Most others will call for one or the other (or for just "cinnamon" with no real clue to which). They do taste different but I suspect a lot of people across medieval Europe couldn't tell them apart and were happy to use whatever they could get.<br /><br /><b>Clove flowers</b>: Oh bother. This is one of those tricky ones. <br /><br />They might mean clove pinks (<i>Dianthus caryophyllus</i>), otherwise known as carnations. Clove pinks have historically been used to treat things like upset stomach and fever. You can get these online in dried form - make sure you're getting ones that are meant for eating rather than for making soap or something. Otherwise they might have been sprayed with who knows what pesticides and such.<br /><br />Alternately they might mean the actual flowers from clove plants (<i>Syzygium aromaticum</i>), though that seems less likely to me than them using the dried flower buds from the same plant, which are called ... cloves.<br />
<br />
In this case I think I'd first try clove pinks. They have more of a history of medicinal use.<br /><br />So the aloe stems, cinnamon, cinnamon, and clove flowers all get smushed, tied up in cheesecloth, and dropped into the kettle. Then it's boil it some more (stirring and prodding the spice sachet from time to time to make sure the flavor gets out) until it all looks like a syrup.<br /><br />For the last step I finally found a reference that told me an <i>ûqiya</i> is 1/12 of a <i>ratl</i>. That makes it about 1.5 tablespoons. So it's 1 to 2 tablespoons in a quarter-cup of hot water. Sounds more like medicine to me than a beverage.<br />
<br />
If there's anyone out there reading this who has more experience with this kind of recipe, I'd love to hear your thoughts!<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- AddThis Button for Post BEGIN -->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-55560637240948171662019-10-14T12:30:00.000-04:002019-10-14T14:13:43.093-04:00Starting Points: Crane RostydThis weekly feature shows the initial steps I go through for interpreting a medieval recipe. Today's randomly selected recipe is the following:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Crane Rostyd. Take a crane blod as thu dedyst a swan draw hym at the went fold up hys leggys cut of his whyngys at the joynte nexte the body wend the necke a boute the spite put the bylle yn his breste & reyse the whinges & the legges as of a gose & yf thu shalt sauce hym mynse hym fyrst & sauce hym with poudyr of gynger mustard & venygger & salt & serve forth with the sauce & yf thu wilt thu may sauce hym with sauce sylito.</i> [Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany (England, 1460)]</blockquote>
<br />
<i>Yurgh!</i> I'm not sure I would cook a crane. Fortunately this is more of a mental exercise, though I suppose for the actual cooking part I could substitute a goose. But first let's get through the theoretical stuff.<br />
<br />
The first part says to bleed the crane the same way as a swan. The same source has specific instructions on the subject.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Cut a swan in the rofe of the mouth touward the brayn of the hede & let hym blede to deth & kepe the blod to colour the chaudon with or cut the necke & let hym dye then skald hym draw hym rost hym & serve hym forth.</i> [Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany (England, 1460)]</blockquote>
<br />
This process sounded really bizarre to me, but I've found modern references to it so it's probably still done in places. The Humane Slaughter Association has <a href="https://www.hsa.org.uk/other-methods/other-methods" target="_blank">this note on their website</a>: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Instruments that slice through a bird’s brain from inside the mouth should not be used as they are not effective, immediate or humane.</i></blockquote>
<br />
The next group of steps have to do with prepping the bird for roasting. The bird's organs are removed "at the went" (I assume that's "vent"), the legs are folded up, and the wings are removed. Then the bird is put on a spit with the neck wound around and tucked into the breast, and I assume the thing gets roasted here.<br />
<br />
I love recipes that forget to tell you to actually cook things. I found one for squash in a modern cookbook that specifically tells you to "cook it for half the time" and has no further instructions.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the rest of the recipe sounds like serving instructions. The wings and legs are raised ... I've seen this a number of times and I think it's to make a more impressive presentation. In this case it's a bit odd because we were told earlier to cut the wings off at the joint next to the body. I would probably just chalk this up to how medieval recipes can be formulaic.<br />
<br />
Next it says "if you're going to serve it in sauce, mince it first." It kind of makes sense, if you're going to serve it as a roast you keep it whole, but if you're going to serve it with sauce you chop it up.<br />
<br />
The recipe goes on to mention two sauces. The first is ginger, mustard, vinegar, and salt. While the instructions don't specify how to make it, I'd go with a bread-thickened sauce. I'd mix the spices with a quarter cup of vinegar and a cup of broth, then add in three or four pieces of bread and stir it until it's all mush. Then I'd strain out and discard the solids and heat the liquid in a saucepan until it thickens. This is a pretty standard technique for making sauces in 15th century England and France and makes for a beautifully smooth, and rather fool-proof, sauce.<br />
<br />
The other sauce mentioned is "sylito". I'm really glad the first sauce is there because I'm pretty stumped by this one. I can't find any medieval sauce by that name regardless of how I misspell it.<br />
<br />
There's a "Civero of Hare" in <i>An Anonymous Tuscan Cookery Book</i> (Italy, ~1400) which is made from the hare's lungs and liver. I've made <a href="http://medievalcookery.com/recipes/capon.html" target="_blank">a similar sauce for capon</a>, but it seems a bit of a stretch.<br />
<br />
It could be a really mangled spelling for gauncile (a garlic and milk sauce). That seems like an even bigger stretch.<br />
<br />
I also briefly considered the possibility that "sylito" is a spelling variation for "cilantro", but from what I can tell the word "cilantro" only dates back to the 19th century.<br />
<br />
So, setting the butchery aspects of this recipe aside, I would try a roast goose with the ginger and mustard sauce described above. Though to be honest I'd likely try the sauce out first with the dark meat from a chicken just to see how it tasted before spending the money on a goose.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- AddThis Button for Post BEGIN -->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-1606045146414820342019-09-30T12:30:00.000-04:002019-09-30T12:30:00.833-04:00Starting Points: Hen With HorseradishThis weekly feature shows the initial steps I go through for interpreting a medieval recipe. Today's randomly selected recipe is the following:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>LXXIX - Hen with horseradish. First boil the hen in clean water so that it's nicely tender and soft. Take the horseradish and cut it in small pieces or grate it on a grater. Pound a handful of peeled almond and add that. Then make this to taste, not too thin or thick. Then put baked simle slices on a plate. Put the hen over it and then put this horseradish over it.</i> [Koge Bog (Denmark, 1616 - Martin Forest, trans.)]</blockquote>
<br />
I haven't done a lot of recipes from Danish sources, but in general they seem to have more subdued spicing than what I've come to expect from medieval European cuisine. That isn't to say they don't have strong flavors - this recipe does call for horseradish after all - but they tend to use fewer spices. I suspect that this is related to Denmark's shift from Catholicism to Lutheranism in the early 16th century, paralleling England's change in both religion and cuisine.<br />
<br />
There's not much to this recipe - essentially just chicken and horseradish. The only other recipe I've found like it is this Hungarian one:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Hen with Lippa sauce. Remove the feathers, take out the insides and do what I told you. Boil the hen or the capon in cabbage soup. Grate some horseradish onto it, and once cooked, take it out of the fire, don't let it be too hot, for that will take the power of the horseradish. Once you put it into a plate, pour some sauce onto the horseradish. Hungarians like this dish. If you can, cook a fat hen or capon.</i> [The Prince of Transylvania's Court Cookbook (Hungary, 16th c.)]</blockquote>
<br />
The first step is pretty simple, boil a chicken. While the recipe just uses water I'd be inclined to take a tip from the Hungarian recipe and add some aromatics and salt. Plain boiled chicken is just plain sad. So, the chicken would go into a big pot with some carrots, onions, and celery and a teaspoon of salt and then I'd let it boil for an hour or so until the legs pull out easily.<br />
<br />
The next part of the recipe is a little odd. I'm ok with grating horseradish and grinding almonds, but "make this to taste, not too thin or thick" seems a bit nonsensical. Just how thin can a mix of two particulate solids be? It also sounds like it would be an unpleasantly grainy mixture. Given how gound almonds are most often used for making almond milk (or marzipan, but that's not helping) this section makes me thing they mean to make an almond-milk sauce flavored with horseradish.<br />
<br />
With this in mind I'd grind a cup of almonds, add a tablespoon or two of grated horseradish, mix it all with two cups of hot water, and then strain out all the solids. I'd then cook the liquid in a saucepan until it thickens a bit. Ok, I'd probably add some salt here too. A little salt helps just about everything.<br />
<br />
The serving instructions call for putting the chicken on top of some "simle" and pouring the sauce over it all. My assumption here is that "simle" is "simnel" - a loaf of bread made from fine, white flour (this morphed into a modern sort of cinnamon-raisin bread, but that's aside from things). Pouring soups and stews over slices of bread is pretty common in medieval cookbooks so it's a pretty safe bet. I'd cut the cooked chicken into pieces (or maybe shred it), put some into a bowl on top of a slice of bread (something like a dense, farmhouse white), and pour the sauce on top.<br />
<br />
Given that it's pretty much white on white on white, I'd likely garnish it with some parsley or something just for a bit of color.<br />
<br />
If I was really feeling brave (or bored) I'd make it exactly as written - as chicken on bread with a gritty paste on top. More likely though I'd let someone else do that part.<br />
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>199 To make Spanish pastries. First prepare a firm dough with eggs and fat and roll it out very thin, as long as the table, and sprinkle ground almonds and sugar, butter or fat over it and roll it up over itself like a sausage. Afterwards cut it in pieces and close up both ends. In this manner make one after the other and turn the underside to the top. And bake it in a smooth pan, with fat in the pan. And let it bake in a weak heat, with a hot cover over the top, and serve it cold.</i> [Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin (Germany, 16th century - V. Armstrong, trans.)]</blockquote>
<br />
Huh. Ok, I'll start off by stating that I haven't done much cooking of pastries. Still, I will give it a shot.<br />
<br />
A quick search for similar recipes yields ... nothing. Huh. This turns out to be a rather unique recipe. I don't have much access to Spanish sources though, so if it's really from Spain (and there's no guarantee of that just because of the name) then perhaps there are some variations there. Fortunately it's not a complicated recipe and the instructions seem pretty clear.<br />
<br />
The first part calls for making dough with eggs and fat. There's a contemporary short crust recipe from England like that <a href="http://www.medievalcookery.com/recipes/shortpaest.html" target="_blank">which I've used before</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>To make short paest for tarte. Take fyne floure and a cursey of fayre water and a dysche of swete butter and a lyttel saffron, and the yolckes of two egges and make it thynne and as tender as ye maye.</i> [A Proper New Booke of Cookery (England, 1575)]</blockquote>
<br />
With that in mind I'd mix 1 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 tsp. salt, and then cut in 4 Tbsp. butter and the yolks of 2 eggs. Once that forms fine crumbs I'd add water a little at a time until it all sticks together.<br />
<br />
I know that seems like a big jump. Sorry. I learned to make pie crusts from my grandmother and the method is pretty automatic for me. To get those proportions I would have started with the flour and fat ratios from the Better Homes cookbook for a single crust pie, added in the egg yolks, and then added more water or flour until the dough was right - still workable but not sticky.<br />
<br />
As an aside for anyone who has never made a pie crust with butter instead of shortening, the butter makes for a delicate dough and you have to be more careful working with it. That said it really tastes wonderful.<br />
<br />
With the dough made I would roll it out pretty thinly, spread it with softened butter ... or maybe melt butter and brush it on, and then sprinkle it with ground almonds and sugar. Then it would get rolled up, cut into pieces, crimp the ends, and then bake at 350°F until golden. I'd probably try for half-inch diameter rolls cut into maybe two-inch pieces.<br />
<br />
It would be very tempting to add a little cinnamon, almond-flavor, or rosewater to the filling, or maybe even use marzipan. As a possible time and labor saving measure on the second or third try with the recipe I'd see if it would work to mix up the filling separately and spread it on the sheets of dough.<br />
<br />
As it turns out, <a href="http://greneboke.com/recipes/spanishpastries.html" target="_blank">Kristen Wright has an interpretation of this recipe</a> and it looks like she ended up taking much the same route I did.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-82274500107385903962019-09-16T12:30:00.000-04:002019-09-16T12:30:03.041-04:00Starting Points: Stuffed CaponThis weekly feature shows the initial steps I go through for interpreting a medieval recipe. Today's randomly selected recipe is the following:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Stuffed capon. [Take] chickens boiled in water and wine. Make a stuffing of meat, eggs and herbs and put it in the body of the boiled chicken. Make a cooking liquid of pepper, saffron and other herbs, add enough wine and make it [into a] thin [sauce]. Pull it off [the fire] when it is done. [Wel ende edelike spijse (Dutch, late 15th c. - Christianne Muusers, trans.)]</blockquote>
<br />
This is a surprisingly unusual recipe. Stuffing birds seems to have been a thing, and the ingredients in the stuffing aren't that odd. The cooking method sounds a bit strange though. Is the capon cooked a second time after it's stuffed? It doesn't explicitly say to but multiple cookings are common in 15th century sources, especially where large pieces of meat are concerned. Meats are boiled and then roasted, or roasted and then pan-fried. Presumably this was to make sure everything got cooked all the way through.<br />
<br />
Then there's the "cooking liquid" - is it a sauce for serving or for basting the capon during the unstated second cooking?<br />
<br />
I found one similarly-titled (and very long) recipe from <i>Libro di cucina / Libro per cuoco</i> that is actually cooking a capon, chopping up the meat, adding other ingredients, and forming the mixture around the bones before cooking a second time - not quite what the Dutch recipe seemed to have in mind.<br />
<br />
The <i>Neapolitan Recipe Collection</i> has a recipe for stuffing that calls for a lot more ingredients:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Stuffing for a Capon. Get marjoram and parsley and grind them up; get one or two breasts of capons and grind them with the other; get a little Parmesan cheese, two egg yolks, cinnamon, pepper, saffron and ginger, with a little lardo or cured ham, and grind everything together; stuff the capon and set it to boil or to roast; make its glazing with egg yolks and rosewater. [<i>The Neapolitan Recipe Collection</i> (Italy, 15th c - T. Scully, trans.)]</blockquote>
<br />
Then there are these which sound a bit closer.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To fasse goos or capon tak parsly saige and isope suet and parboile it in freche brothe then tak it up and put ther to herd yolks of eggs hewene then tak grapes mynced onyons and pouder of ginger canelle peppur and salt and fers the goos or capon with it and rost them and serue them. [<i>A Noble Boke off Cookry</i> (England, 1468)]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Goce or Capon farced. Take parcill, Swynes grece, or suet of shepe, and parboyle hem in faire water and fressh boyling broth; And then take yolkes of eyeron hard y-sodde, and hew hem smale, with the herbes and the salte; and caste thereto pouder of Ginger, Peper, Canell, and salte, and Grapes in tyme of yere; And in other tyme, take oynons, and boile hem; and whan they ben yboiled ynowe with the herbes and with the suet, al thes togidre, then put all in the goos, or in the Capon; And then late him roste ynogh. [<i>Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books</i> (England, 1430)]</blockquote>
<br />
That last one is notable in that it calls for hard boiled eggs in the stuffing.<br />
<br />
So I'd start with boiling a capon in lightly salted water. If I can't get a capon then I'd use a chicken, though capons are much more tender (and expensive!). It should end up being just barely cooked through (to 165°F at the deepest part of the meat). Any more and it would start to fall apart.<br />
<br />
Then I'd make the stuffing from four chopped, hard boiled eggs, a half pound of browned sausage, parsley, sage, hyssop, and maybe some <a href="http://medievalcookery.com/recipes/douce.html" target="_blank">powder douce</a>. This would go into the capon and the capon would go into a roasting pan.<br />
<br />
For the sauce I'd go with <a href="http://medievalcookery.com/recipes/yellow.html" target="_blank">yellow pepper sauce</a> - it matches the ingredients pretty well. I'd baste the capon with that and cook the whole thing in an oven at 400° until it starts to brown on the outside. Since all the ingredients are cooked before the roasting step there's no worry about anything being unsafe.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure how it would turn out appearance-wise but it all should taste pretty good!<br />
<div>
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-9722455804205312262019-09-09T12:00:00.000-04:002019-09-09T13:34:56.663-04:00Starting Points: RoseeI haven't had a lot of time to work on medieval recipes lately, but I realized that the issue is more one of kitchen time than the actual research. So I've decided to try at least once a week to post something that is essentially the mental prep work I go through when trying out a recipe for the first time. This would serve me (and possibly now others) as a sort of starting point. The next step would be trial and error - sometimes I get it right after the first try and sometimes it takes more.<br />
<br />
To make things a bit more challenging, I'll be using the "Random Medieval Recipe of the Day" which shows up at the bottom of the main page of <a href="http://medievalcookery.com/">MedievalCookery.com</a>. With that restriction there's no telling what I'll have to work with.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Today's recipe is Rosee</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
XLI - For to make Rosee. Tak the flowris of Rosys and wasch hem wel in water and after bray hem wel in a morter and than tak Almondys and temper hem and seth hem and after tak flesch of capons or of hennys and hac yt smale and than bray hem wel in a morter and than do yt in the Rose so that the flesch acorde wyth the mylk and so that the mete be charchaunt and after do yt to the fyre to boyle and do thereto sugur and safroun that yt be wel ycolowrd and rosy of levys and of the forseyde flowrys and serve yt forth. [Forme of Cury (England, 1390)]</blockquote>
<br />
I know there are modern interpretations of this one out there but I'm not going to peek.<br />
<br />
On my first read through, this sounds like a sort of thick mash of chicken in rose-flavored almond milk. Grind rose petals, boiled almonds, and chopped and ground chicken. Mix it together so that it's very thick (<i>charchaunt</i>) and cook with some sugar and saffron.<br />
<br />
There's the usual vagueness in the recipe though. Are the rose petals fresh or dried? Are the almonds ground? Fortunately this is a fairly common recipe so I have other versions to look at to help figure out what the original intent was.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>[1] </b>Rose. Take flour of ryse, as whyte as sylke, And hit welle, with almond mylke. Boyle hit tyl hit be chargyd, þenne Take braune of capone or elle of henne. Loke þou grynd hit wondur smalle, And sithen þou charge hit with alle. Coloure with alkenet, sawnder, or ellys with blode, Fors hit with clowes or macys gode. Seson hit with sugur grete plenté, Þis is a rose, as kokes telle me. [<i>Liber cure cocorum</i>]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>[2]</b> C - Roseye. Take Almaunde Mylke an flowre of Rys, and Sugre, an Safroun, an boyle hem y-fere; than take Red Rosys, an grynd fayre in a morter with Almaunde mylke; than take Loches, an toyle (Note: Rub, cover) hem withFlowre, an frye hem, and ley hem in dysshys; than take gode pouder, and do in the Sewe, and caste the Sewe a-bouyn the lochys, and serue forth. [<i>Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books</i>]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>[3]</b> To mak rose, tak flour of ryse and temper it with almond mylk and mak it chaungynge then tak the braun of capon or of henne sodyn and grind it and charge it ther with and colour it with sanders and blod and fors it with clowes and maces and sesson it with sugur and serue it. [<i>A Noble Boke off Cookry</i>]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>[4]</b> Rosee. XX.II. XII. Take thyk mylke as to fore welled. cast þerto sugur a gode porcioun pynes. Dates ymynced. canel. & powdour gynger and seeþ it, and alye it with flores of white Rosis, and flour of rys, cole it, salt it & messe it forth. If þou wilt in stede of Almaunde mylke, take swete cremes of kyne. [<i>Forme of Cury</i>]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>[5]</b> .lj. Rosee. Tak thicke mylke as to fore wellid, cast therto suger a gode porcioun, pynes, dates, y mynced, canel & poudour ginger, & seeth hit & alye it with floures of roses white & flour of rys. cole hit, salt it, & messe hyt forth, yf thou wolt in stede of almaund mylk: tak swete cremes of kyne. [<i>Fourme of Curye - Rylands MS 7</i>]</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Wow! That's a lot to work through. Right of the top I see that none of the other versions start with grinding rose flowers, but instead they call for rice flower. That suggests to me a copyist error somewhere along the line.<br />
<br />
The first three recipes also call for almond milk, which changes our recipe a bit. The last two recipes call for <i>pynes</i> (pine nuts) and milk rather than almond milk, so I'm going to ignore them as being too different (either distinct recipes or odd variations).<br />
<br />
We also seem to have a bit of a discrepancy with the meat. Recipe [1] says to grind the chicken and then boil it. Recipe [3] says to boil it and then grind it. Recipe [2] calls for a kind of fish (<i>loches</i>). We'll ignore the fish. My first inclination is to go with cooking the chicken first.<br />
<br />
That leaves our recipe looking more like it starts with rice flour and a slightly jumbled set of instructions for almond milk. Then add well ground chicken, some sugar and saffron, cook until thick, and garnish with rose petals.<br />
<br />
Now comes a tricky part - guessing at the proportions.<br />
<br />
Let's start with one pound of chicken in the form of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. We can try dark meat and such later. Boil that in water, let it cool, then chop it finely.<br />
<br />
Both almond milk and rice flour have a thickening effect during cooking. I'd start with a tablespoon of the rice four mixed in with the chicken (mix it first to keep it from forming lumps when liquids are added). Then I'd make up a batch of <a href="http://medievalcookery.com/recipes/almondmilk.html" target="_blank">almond milk</a> and pour it in until the chicken looks soupy.<br />
<br />
The next thing to add is sugar and saffron. I'd grind a pinch of saffron with about a quarter teaspoon of salt - I know salt isn't called for but unsalted food can taste bland and sometimes you have to break the rules. I'd stir that into the sugar and then mix it in with the chicken goo.<br />
<br />
Bring all this to a low boil. I'd be looking for it to act like cooking oatmeal ... blup, blup, blup. If it seems too thin I'd add more rice flour. When it's thick then garnish with rose petals and serve.<br />
<br />
Sweet chicken pudding with rose petals ... well, it could be good. There are some options to try out, like not boiling the chicken first or using fish, but I'd save those for later attempts.<br />
<br />
If you make this (or have already made it) let me know what you did and how it came out!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- AddThis Button for Post BEGIN -->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-45870230882714841772019-07-17T17:00:00.000-04:002019-07-17T17:35:05.661-04:00Gen Con 2019 Schedule<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://dmmyers.com/images/GenCon_logo2.png"><img alt="" src="http://dmmyers.com/images/GenCon_logo2.png" height="150" title="GenCon_logo" width="345" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
August 1 - 4, 2019</div>
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Once again I've been caught off-guard by Gen Con - It's only two weeks away!<br />
<br />
Once again I will be part of the <a href="http://www.genconwriters.com/" target="_blank">Writer’s Symposium</a>. They've got me scheduled for a bunch of great panels and such - here's the list:<br />
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<blockquote>
<b>SEM19160166</b><b> - Alternate Reality Fiction:</b><b> </b>It's fun to answer the "what ifs" of history. Panelists including Cherie Priest, Daniel Myers, Linda Robertson, and David Mack discuss how changing one detail can change everything. 08/01/2019 (Thursday), 11:00 AM, Marriott : Atlanta </blockquote>
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<b>SEM19160183</b><b> - Cook Like a Dwarf, Eat Like a Halfling:</b><b> </b>How do you write a cookbook for a culture that never existed but everyone knows? One of the authors (Daniel Myers) of "A Dwarven Cookbook" talks about the origins of the recipes in their cookbooks. 08/01/2018 (Thursday), 7:00 PM, Marriott : Marriott Bllrm 2</blockquote>
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<b>SEM19160224</b><b> - Medieval Foodways: </b>Fantasy novels are commonly set in medieval Europe, except the food which is usually wrong. Learn from Daniel Myers how medieval cuisine worked and how to create believable fictional foodways. 08/02/2018 (Friday), 7:00 PM, Marriott : Marriott Blrm 3 </blockquote>
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<b>SEM19160172 - Believable Fictional Languages: </b>Fictional worlds often include their own languages, but creating an entire language can be a daunting task. Daniel Myers discusses word generation, common pitfalls, and stealing from the real world. 08/03/2018 (Saturday), 7:00 PM, Marriott : Marriott Bllrm 3</blockquote>
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To my surprise, the first two are listed as being sold out. That said, if you're interested and have the time free try anyway - there are usually some no-shows. See you there!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- AddThis Button for Post BEGIN -->
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-35609131155840977022019-04-23T12:30:00.000-04:002019-04-23T13:28:22.224-04:00Marcon 2019 Schedule<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bOWzfd1Xd7U/XL9Itf6MfZI/AAAAAAAADOI/NnCbfwpIgfw_iH4b7hQqeJudyPEzMWijwCLcBGAs/s1600/Artboard-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="711" height="112" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bOWzfd1Xd7U/XL9Itf6MfZI/AAAAAAAADOI/NnCbfwpIgfw_iH4b7hQqeJudyPEzMWijwCLcBGAs/s320/Artboard-1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Multiple Alternative Realities Convention</b></div>
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<b>May 10 - 12</b></div>
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<b>Crowne Plaza Columbus North</b></div>
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<b>Worthington, Ohio</b></div>
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It's spring, and that means convention season has begun. This year I'm giving Marcon a try. It's been years since I've been to a smaller convention and I'm really looking forward to something a bit more relaxed than Origins and Gen Con.</div>
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I'm scheduled to do a one-hour panel about Medieval Food & Cooking on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. in Salon D. Other than that I'll be spending my time in the dealer's room - look for the Blackspoon Press table.</div>
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If you're going to be there, stop by and say, "Hi!"</div>
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<!-- AddThis Button for Post END --></div>Dochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07934829703642231254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7922842813363952574.post-65225460298430281952019-03-11T20:30:00.000-04:002019-03-11T20:30:01.881-04:00Odd Table SceneJohnna Holloway sent me a link to the painting below and I'm going to add it to the list of <a href="http://medievalcookery.com/paintings.html" target="_blank">Food Related Paintings</a> on the website. It's a 16th century work by Frans Pourbus the Elder titled "The Prodigal Son Among Courtesans" and there's a lot going on here.<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-raQ0z6z7Gjo/XIbfnSOewfI/AAAAAAAADNA/pw4dT3ZSUeo6qihN9ED4t8IshGjsueZvwCLcBGAs/s1600/Frans_Pourbus_the_Elder_Prodigal_Son.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="800" height="255" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-raQ0z6z7Gjo/XIbfnSOewfI/AAAAAAAADNA/pw4dT3ZSUeo6qihN9ED4t8IshGjsueZvwCLcBGAs/s400/Frans_Pourbus_the_Elder_Prodigal_Son.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Source: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frans_Pourbus_the_Elder_Prodigal_Son.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a></i></td></tr>
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In terms of food the most notable item (for me) is the pie in the center of the table. At a guess I'd say it's a pear pie because it looks like it's got a pear rising up out of the middle. This is a total tangent but I can imagine it being something like the recipe below, which is English but from roughly the same time period.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>To make a Tarte of Wardens. You must bake your Wardens first in a Pie, and then take all the wardens and cut them in foure quarters, and coare them, and put them into a Tarte pinched, with your Suger, and season them with Suger, Synamon and Ginger, and set them in the Ouen, and put no couer on them, but you must cutte a couer and laye in the Tart when it is baked, and butter the Tarte and the couer too, and endore it with suger. </i>[The Good Housewife's Jewell, (England, 1596)]</blockquote>
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Ok, back to the painting - here's a closeup of the stuff on the table.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HdRGM0lc5s8/XIbk9gTbZEI/AAAAAAAADNI/lqKpG8R1avMXu-e9N_ZaOawFoyTgVUJQgCLcBGAs/s1600/detail.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="1025" height="296" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HdRGM0lc5s8/XIbk9gTbZEI/AAAAAAAADNI/lqKpG8R1avMXu-e9N_ZaOawFoyTgVUJQgCLcBGAs/s640/detail.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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I assume the things on the plates at 12, 3, and 9 o'clock are loaves of bread. The two similarly colored things on the platter with the pie might also be bread or maybe ... fruit? The one to the left of the pie looks kind of like an egg.</div>
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It's hard to tell what the white stuff in the dish at around 1 o'clock. It's possibly a rice dish.</div>
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The white stuff in large bowl at 7 o'clock with a spoon is also kind of unknowable but it could be a soup like the following:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>In the first instance, if you want to make a white brewet for capons or for pullets or for veal, so boil the capons or pullets or veal and take broth [from it] and set that aside. Then so peel almonds and pound them in pieces and then so temper them with the broth of the capons or veal, whichever you have. Then so put the almonds through a strainer (cloth) then shall you take white ginger powder, as much as you think good, then temper with verjuice and white wine. There you shall let it cook and then put in a good amount of sugar and look well that it be salted enough and when it has boiled a little put it in a clean pot alone. If you then wish to serve those capons or hens or veal so lay [them] in a dish and pour over them this aforesaid brewet. </i>[Een notabel boecxken van cokeryen, (Netherlands, ca. 1510 - C. van Tets, trans.)]</blockquote>
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The big questions though are the giant white domino at 8 o'clock and the platter of pokey red things at 4 o'clock.</div>
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The domino could be just that but there isn't any game related stuff on the table, so I don't think that's it (besides, the dots are wrong). I suppose it could also be bread carved into a brick shape but that doesn't seem right either.</div>
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There is one recipe that does come to mind though. It goes by many names such as Taylours or Lenten Slices and is essentially almond milk cooked until it's like jello which is then served in slices. As a bonus many of the variations of the recipe call for currants - which could be the spots on the pictured white brick. Here's an English recipe from the same period:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>27 - To make Leach of Almonds. Take halfe a pound of sweet Almonds, and beat them in a mortar; then strain them with a pint of sweet milke from the cow; then put to it one graine of musk, 2 spoonfuls of Rose-water, two ounces of fine sugar, the weight of 3 whole shillings of Isinglass that is very white, and so boyle them; and let all run thorow a strainer: then may you slice the same, and so serve it. </i>[Delights for Ladies (England, 1609)]</blockquote>
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That just leaves the pokey red plate, and with this one I'm stumped. Maybe a higher resolution image would help. As it is I can't tell if it's a dish of red stuff with things stuck into it or a pile of separate red things (part of my brain wants it to be Chinese barbecue chicken wings but I think that's just because I'm hungry.</div>
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Setting all of that aside, there is another question I have about this painting and it relates to the woman on the far right side.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cHq6vdBBIg4/XIbsvlILYzI/AAAAAAAADNY/uEvmetJYsbYC60WtD5iO3AoYbrwZUZBvQCLcBGAs/s1600/woman.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="305" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cHq6vdBBIg4/XIbsvlILYzI/AAAAAAAADNY/uEvmetJYsbYC60WtD5iO3AoYbrwZUZBvQCLcBGAs/s400/woman.png" width="255" /></a></div>
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Just what is that thing hung up on the wall and what is she doing to it. After talking with a few people about it I'm inclined to think it's a tally board and she's erasing it. But why? I'd guess it was a visual pun about erasing the (musical) "score" but, sadly, the musical connotation of "score" only goes back to 1701.</div>
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As for all the other stuff going on in the painting, I keep looking and thinking I'm missing some kind of in-joke. I'm open to suggestions.</div>
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<a href="http://dmmyers.com/images/GenCon_logo2.png"><img alt="" src="http://dmmyers.com/images/GenCon_logo2.png" height="150" title="GenCon_logo" width="345" /></a></div>
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August 2 - 5, 2018</div>
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Ack! It's only a week until Gen Con and I haven't posted about it yet! Sorry. It's been kind of a busy summer.<br /><br />I'm part of the <a href="http://www.genconwriters.com/" target="_blank">Writer’s Symposium</a> this year and they've got all sort of great panels and such scheduled. I'm especially excited that Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck are guests of honor (they write under the pseudonym of James S.A. Corey).<br />
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For my contribution to the fun, I'm doing the following:<br />
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<b>SEM18142584 - Real Medieval Feasts</b><b> </b>Curious what medieval feasts were really like? Come learn about medieval cuisine as well as common myths. 08/02/2018 (Thursday), 8:00 PM, Marriott : Atlanta </blockquote>
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<b>SEM18142520 - Build Your Own Language</b><b> </b>Fictional worlds often include languages to make their setting more believable. This seminar will help you create your own language, suitable for adding color to a game or novel. 08/03/2018 (Friday), 8:00 PM, Marriott : Atlanta </blockquote>
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<b>SEM18142744 - From Rations to Feasts</b><b> </b>What will people eat in the future? How will it be packaged? What should fantasy adventurers bring on their quest, and what will be served when they feast with the king? Elizabeth Bear, Bruce Cordell, Daniel Myers, and Aaron Rosenberg discuss. 08/04/2018 (Saturday), 1:00 PM, Marriott : Marriott Blrm 1 </blockquote>
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The first two are listed as being sold out, but if you're interested and have the time free try anyway - there are usually some open seats. I promise to keep you all entertained!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- AddThis Button for Post BEGIN -->
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<b>The Potherbs</b></div>
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(Chapter 32)</div>
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<b style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turnips</b></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-f29004c9-0340-972a-8451-e6bfc82329d3"><br /></span>[<i>Translator's Note: the heading specifies two different plant names: “Naveaux ou Navets”. <a href="http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cotgrave/" target="_blank">Cotgrave’s 1611 French-English dictionary</a> gives the following definitions.</i><br />
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<i>Naveau: The navew gentle, French navew, long rape (a savorie root) / Naveau blanc de Jardin: the ordinarie rape, or turnep / Naveau rond: a Turnep.</i><br />
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<i>Navet: The small Navew gentle, the least (and daintiest) kind of the French navew.</i>]<br />
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Large and small turnips, called “nappi” in Latin, are two kinds of the same species, however different in flavor, color, and size. The roots are larger on the yellow turnips, and less pleasant tasting. The white turnips are smaller and much more savorous. Both of them are sown in the same fashion in well turned soil, worked, and rendered very soft so that they can lodge well before taking root, or in soil that you want to clear, or in that which has been newly plowed, or between millet and panic [a grain in the genus Panicum], and it is sown in finely powdered soil, for sowing more clearly, and no more than three years old, because after three years it produces cabbages. If the seeds are soaked or mulled in milk, must, or hydromel for two or three days before sowing they will be infinitely better.<br />
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If they come in to thickly, they must be cut away for transplanting elsewhere. They must be weeded and spaded, allowing the most beautiful and tall to go to seed, and sow them in August. To sow them one must wait until the soil has been newly watered with rain, because they grow better that way. Above all they must not be sown in shady ground, for the shadows are completely contrary to them, and again the soil must be good and fertile. They are harvested in November, and keep through winter in sands and cellars, for eating throughout winter and Lent. This brings me back to those of Maison and Vau Girard near Paris, who harvest and gather them each year for selling in Paris.<br />
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The turnip root is windy and engenders the wind in little children for its sweetness, so you must eat it with mustard. It is true that their seeds resist poison, which is why it is used in antidotes. It also causes worms to die when mixed with the juice of oranges or lemons. And draws out the venom of smallpox, and when shredded with a decoction of maidenhair fern or lentils, provokes urination if it is mixed with an equal quantity of flax seed and given to drink with wine. It induces vomiting of undigested stomach contents when taken with oxymel and warm water. The Egyptians make it into very good oil.<br />
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