Medieval dishes are often though of contains the worst of ingredients, being full of offal, unusual meats and unusual flavourings. This feast is a demonstration of the foulness that we see in medieval foods through the names and appearances of dishes, although I assure you that no offal or gizzards are used in the preparation of this menu. A multitude of different birds were used in the medieval period, using all that was available from the tiniest quails, up to the majestic swans and peacocks, and the aim is to reflect that in this feast.
This feast was held on August 28, 2015. The menu was prepared by Lady Auicia le Redde and cooked by Lady Auicia and Lord Furgal Duvglas.
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Menu
Accompaniments Compost Blawmanger
First Remove Capouns in councy Composte
Second Remove Pikkel pour le Mallard Syrosye Fesaunt Rost
Subtleties Samacays
The Recipes
Accompaniments
Compost Forme of Cury, c. 1390 Take rote of persel, of pasternak, of rafens, scrape hem and waische hem clene. Take rapes & caboches, ypared and icorue. Take an erthen panne with clene water & set it on the fire; cast alle þise þerinne. Whan þey buth boiled cast þerto peeres, & parboile hem wel. Take alle þise thynges vp & lat it kele on a faire cloth. Do þerto salt; whan it is colde, do hit in a vessel; take vyneger & powdour & safroun & do þerto, & lat alle þise thynges lye þerin al nyyt, oþer al day. Take wyne greke & hony, clarified togider; take lumbarde mustard & raisons coraunce, al hoole, & grynde powdour of canel, powdour douce & aneys hole, & fenell seed. Take alle þise thynges & cast togyder in a pot of erthe, & take þerof whan þou wilt & serue forth.
½ kg carrots, sliced
½ kg purple carrots, sliced
1 cabbage, in small pieces
4 buerre bosc pears, sliced thin
10 radishes
2 turnips
1 tsp. salt
6 Tbs. vinegar
2 tsp. ginger
few threads saffron
1 bottle (750 ml.) white wine
½ cup honey
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
3/4 cup currants
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ Tbs. each anise seed & fennel seed
Lightly boil the carrots, cabbage, turnips and radishes for a few minutes, then add the pears, cooking until tender. Drain well, and lay on a clean cloth. Sprinkle with salt and leave to cool. Add to a large contained with the vinegar, ginger and saffron and leave overnight. Bring the wine, honey and cinnamon to a boil, skimming off the scum, until clear. Remove from the heat and add to the vegetable with the currants and seeds. Let cool before serving.
Blawmanger Utilis Coquinario c. 1400 Blawmanger. Tak þe twi dek of rys, þe thridde pert of almoundes; wash clene þe rys in leuk water & turne & seth hem til þay breke & lat it kele, & tak þe melk & do it to þe rys & boyle hem togedere. & do þerto whit gres & braun of hennes grounde smale, & stere it wel, & salte it & dresch it in disches. & frye almaundes in fresch gres til þey be browne, & set hem in þe dissches, straw þeron sugre & serue it forth.
As an accompaniment I find this works better without the chicken pieces.
1 kg brown rice 1 L almond milk 100g slivered almonds 20g lard
Wash the rice then boil in the almond milk until cooked. Fry the almonds in the lard until golden. Serve the rice dressed with the slivered almonds and a sprinkling of sugar.
First Remove
Capouns in councy Forme of Cury c. 1390 Take capouns and rost hem right hoot, that they be not half ynough, and hewe hem to gobbettes, and cast hem in a pot; do therto clene broth. Seeth hem that they be tender. Take brede and the self broth and draw it up yfere; take strong powdour and safroun and salt and cast therto. Take ayren and seeth hem harde; take out the yolkes and hew the white, take the pot fro the fyre and cast the white therinne. Messe the dysshes therwith, and lay the yolkes aboue hool and flour it with clowes.
1 capon or large roasting chicken 25g butter for greasing 1L chicken stock ¼ teaspoon saffron 6 slices white bread, ground Salt to taste ½ teaspoon each of ground black pepper, cinnamon and ginger ¼ teaspoon ground cloves 6 eggs, hard-boiled
Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC. Cover the breast of the bird in the butter and roast it for 20-25 minutes, until browned. Allow it to cool before boning and skinning it, and then chop the flesh into bite sized pieces. Place the meat into a pan with the stock and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the meat is cooked. Whilst cooking, take 3 or 4 tablespoons of stock into a separate bowl and steep the saffron in it. Take the crusts of the slices of bread and finely chop it to form breadcrumbs. When the chicken is cooked, add the breadcrumbs, salt and spices, and simmer for a few minutes until the stock thickens. Carefully chop the eggs so as to remove the white from the yolk, leaving the yolk whole. Chop the whites finely. To serve the dish, garnish with the egg whites and sprinkle with cloves, before placing the egg yolk carefully on top, so as the “crown” the dish.
Composte A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468) To mak composte tak chekins and halve them then tak saige parsly lekes and other good erbes and chop them small then tak a pint of hony and som of the erbes and lay in the botom of the pot and som of the chekyn then tak lard of pork smale mynced and lay it on and cast ther to pouder of guingere and canelle and boille it and serue it.
1 large hen 2 stalk of leek, chopped a bunch of parsley a bunch of sage 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and one of ginger four large tablespoons of honey 100 g lard
Preheat your oven to 160°C, you can do this just on the hob too, I just prefer to use the oven. Have a big pot ready, large enough so you can cover the whole chicken with water, but small enough so it fits snugly. In a frying pan, melt a generous the lard and brown your chicken slightly on each side. You just want some color, no crust or full browning. A medium flame on the hob is fine for this. Place half the herbs and leek on the base of your pot, place your chicken on top and add the rest of the herbs. Smear your chicken with the honey, doesn't have to be neat. Fill the pot with water so the chicken is completely covered, add the spices and give it a stir. Bring to the boil and let it boil for 5-10 minutes without the lid. Close the lid and transfer to the oven (or leave on the hob on a small flame) for 45 minutes - 1 hour.
Second Remove
Pikkel pour le Mallard Harleian MS. 279 1430-40 Take oynons, and hewe hem small, and fry hem in fressh grece, and caste hem into a potte, And fressh broth of beef, Wyne, & powder of peper, canel, and dropping of the mallard And lete hem boile togidur awhile; And take hit fro the fyre, and caste therto mustard a litul, and pouder of ginger, and lete hit boile no more, and salt hit, And serue it forthe with the Mallard.
1 three- or four-pound duck 1 medium onion Lard for sautéing 1/4 C dry wine 1/4 C beef or other stock 1/4 C drippings from the roasted duck 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp each black pepper and powdered ginger Salt to taste 1/3 C brown mustard
Preheat oven to 450º.
Place duck on a rack in a roasting pan, and put in oven. Reduce heat to 350º, and roast for twenty-five to thirty minutes per pound. Remove duck from oven and allow to cool for about fifteen minutes. With a ladle or basting nozzle, draw off a quarter cup of drippings from the pan. Mince the onion small. In a frying pan, over medium heat, melt butter and sauté the onion until translucent. In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine onion, wine, stock, drippings, cinnamon, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for about ten minutes. Remove syrup from heat, and stir in mustard, ginger, and salt. Place duck on a platter for serving, pour sauce into a serving bowl, and serve them separately.
Syrosye Utilis Coquinario c. 1400 Tak cheryes & do out the stones & grynde hem wel & draw hem thorw a streynour & do it in a pot. & do therto whit gres or swete botere & myed wastel bred, & cast therto good wyn & sugre, & salte it & stere it wel togedere, & dresse it in disches; and set theryn clowe gilofre, & strewe sugre aboue.
1360g morello cherries in syrup 1 1/2 cups white wine 3/4 cup sugar 4 Tbsp butter 1½ cup breadcrumbs pinch of salt garnish: flower heads of clove pinks (optional) sugar, preferably raw sugar if available
Wash the cherries and remove the stems and stones. Puree the fruit in a blender with 1/2 cup of the wine and half the sugar. Add a little more wine as needed to get a smooth puree. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the fruit puree, breadcrumbs, remaining wine, remaining sugar, and salt. Simmer, stirring often, until the puree is very thick. Pour into a serving bowl, cover, and let cool. The cherry pottage should be the consistency of a thick apple sauce. Refrigerate until served. Before serving, decorate the edge of the bowl with the clove pinks, if desired. Sprinkle the sugar over the dish.
Fesaunt Rost Douce 55 1450 Lete a fesaunt blode in the mouth, and lete hym blede to deth; & pulle hym, and draw hym, & kutt a-wey the necke by the body, & the legges by the kne, and perbuille hym, and larde hym, and putt the knees in the vent, & reise hym vpp, hys legges & hys wynges as off an henne, and no sauce butt salt.
Due to a lack of pheasants, the medieval ‘turkey’ is used here, being guinea fowl, which is often listed with pheasants as birds that can be prepared the same way. The killing method of the birds is ignored here, following simply the parboiling and then roasting covered in lard. Preheat the oven to 220˚C. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and add the bird, breast-side down. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the water and pat thoroughly dry. Put the bird in a roasting tin and rub with lard. Tip a couple of millimetres of water or stock into the bottom of the tin, and put into the oven for 1 hour – 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear. 10 minutes before the end of cooking, turn up the oven temperature to 250˚C to help crisp the skin. Keep an eye on it to prevent it burning. Allow the bird to rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Subtleties
Samacays An Ordinance of Pottage c. 1460 Take vellyd cruddys or they be pressyd; do hem yn a cloth. Wryng out the whey. Do hem in a morter; grynd hem wellwith paryd floure, & tempyr hem with eyryn & crème of cow mylke, & make throf a rennyng bature. Than have white grece in a panne: loke hit be hote. Take up the bature with a saucer & let hit renne in the grece; draw thyn hond bacward that hit may renne abrode. Then fry hem right well & somdell hard reschelyng. & serve hit forth in disches, & strew on white sygure.
Being winter, the only flower petals I have access to are lavender, and so for the rose flavouring I am using rose water, and to make these truly samacays they need elderflowers and so I am using a cordial to flavour these.
600g ricotta 6 cups flour 3 cups cream 6 egg Elderflowers, lavender and rose petals (optional, use only one flower type per batch) Oil for frying Sugar
Combine ricotta and flour then add egg and cream in a processor until smooth. Add desired floral flavouring and mix gently. Drop small amounts of the mixture into hot oil and let turn a golden brown before turning over, before removing and letting it drain on paper. Sprinkle with sugar. The samacays should be crispy on the outside and still slightly gooey on the inside, for this the oil needs to be a medium heat otherwise they will darken too quickly and the inside will remain uncooked.
Phoenix Rise