Cooks Corner by Alianore de Essewell (February)

Cooks Corner – February        by    Alianore de Essewell

Hi all and welcome to the first recipe for this year, it’s a relatively easy one and was sourced from this web site

http://medievalcookery.com/etexts.html

It contains many cookbooks from different periods and countries, some not translated into English.

I chose the Portuguese flag and followed the links, which turned out to be to an SCA resources page, a translation by Baroness Faerisa Gwynarden.

 http://www.sca.org.au/cooks/Pages/articles/Faerisa/portuguese15thC.html

and then followed her link to the original site.

Guild Category:                      11. Preserves -- Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Salted & Dried Items

Redact as you like

Original web source

http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/04159285100698323435813/p0000001.htm#I_66_

Um tratado da cozinha portuguesa do século XV

[Coleção de receitas, algumas bastante originais, para o preparo das mais variadas iguarias]

A treatise of the fifteenth century Portuguese cuisine
[Collection of recipes, some rather unique, for the preparation of various delicacies]

Pessegada

Cortem ao meio duas partes de pêssego e uma de marmelo, e levem-nas a cozer, em separado. Depois que estiverem cozidas, passem tudo por uma peneira fina. A seguir, ajuntem tanto  açúcar quanto for o peso da massa, e levem o tacho ao fogobrando.

Deixem atingir o ponto  de marmelada, e coloquem o doce em caixetas.

Google translation

Peach Marmelade

Cut in half two pieces of peach and quince, and bring them to bake separately. After they are cooked, pass it through a fine sieve. Then let them gather as much sugar as is the weight of the dough, and bring the pot to a simmer.

Let the system reaches a jam, and put candy in Caixetas.  [unsure of this word, does not translate but may mean container.]

Ingredients:

Peach

Quince

Sugar

Cut up peaches and quinces and cook separately

Once cooked, pass through a fine sieve

Combine and add as much sugar as there is weight of paste

Bring to simmer

On first read I would assume this to be a type of Jam [Marmalade], however on doing further research using the terms [Medieval] [Portugal] [quince]…..

[I was actually looking for a medieval image of a quince to add to the recipe] but instead I learned that Marmalade can also refer to ‘paste candies’ pressed on molds or put in boxes or trays and cut into pieces.

Check out this site for some interesting information on the subject

http://www.historicfood.com/Quinces%20Recipe.htm

Though later in period and English check out the below recipe too.

John Murrel's 'Paste of Genoa', a delicious paste made from a mixture of quinces and peaches,

 A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen, (London: 1617)

Caixetas – seems to translate into ‘box’ and may actually refer to this type of box or even a mold

   

Pictures from historicfood.com 

Cooking Competition at Innilgard Soiree (November 2013)

In early November 2013, Innilgard held a Soiree. The following were presented for comment:

A berry tart by Juliet Winter

Tart of Ember Day by Arabella Wynter

Both were delicious and great efforts by two new Cooks.



Ham and barley stew and Oatcakes with dulse by Ragnhildr Freysteinndottir

Ham and barley stew and Oatcakes with dulse

by Ragnhildr Freysteinndottir

I have the last of the Christmas ham left, just the hock. Not wanting to cook in the heat, I decided to put it in the slow cooker as an alternative to the cookpot at the edge of the fire method.  I threw in two leeks sliced in rounds, one and a half cups of  pearl barley, a good pinch of brown mustard seeds and a small pinch of ground celery seeds. All Danelaw probable and totally acceptable for a meal today.

I am putting together some Anglo-Saxon recipes for a friend, and as it is late summer here and not quite growing season, I thought to make some oatcakes with dried dulse, ie using items from the stores.  Following a sourdough idea suggested by Elizabeth David in her book ‘Bread and Yeast Cookery’, I mixed a cup of rolled oats with some warm water and left it in a covered bowl for four hours in the warm kitchen.

I couldn’t find gluten-free oatmeal, so ground up two cups of ‘uncontaminated rolled oats’ in the food processor. To that I added the cup of oats set aside earlier, now mushy, three tablespoons (or so) of dried and shredded dulse, one egg and a good slosh of oat milk.  My reasoning was that while a chicken may be laying, the milk from cows or goats (if there were any) would be quarantined for the ill or for butter. It may also have to do with the dietary requirements of the person the oatcakes are destined for.

The batter was thicker than a usual pancake batter, more like an Indian besan flour pokhara batter.  I heated up my Le cruset pan to quite hot with a little olive oil (not having dripping) and dropped about half a cup of batter into the centre.

The  cakes rose a little and a re lighter in texture than I though they would be and the dulse not quite as salty. Next batch will have extra salt added.

I tried to spread some batter out and cook two or three very slowly to see if I could achieve a griddle baked crisp bread. The ten minutes or so each side wasn’t quite enough. More experimentation is needed.

This batch made 10 small oatcakes that will go well with rose hip mush, honey or lingonberry jam.  I should also add that a I made these oatcakes with oat milk, that they are dairy free and gluten free.

See more from Ragnhildr at http://researchingragnhildr.wordpress.com/