Give it Forth: Adventures in Medieval Cookery

Menu: 

Rose Wine
Snow Cooled Alexandrian Loaf
Roman Coleslaw
Lentils with Chestnuts
Sausages with Mustard
Stuffed Chicken in Sour Sauce
Trimalchio's Pastry Eggs
Raisin-stuffed Beets
Fried Carrots
Char-Broiled Leeks
Bulger with Nuts and Raisins
Stuffed Dates in Honey



Libation--Toast to the Gods--Sutis verborum (Let's Eat!)Wednesday, January 16, 2002

Rosatum--Rose Wine--Eubulus, the Greek comic poet, reminds us that, “the first cup of wine is for health, the second for love and pleasure. the third for sleep: here all should go home. The fourth is for wildness, the fifth for’ shouting. the sixth for riot, the seventh for black eyes. the eighth for police, the ninth for anger. the tenth for insanity.”

Rosatum sic Facies:  folia rosarum, albo sublato, lino inseris et sutilis facias, et vino quam plurimas infundes, ut septem diebus in vino sint.  post septem dies rosam de vino tollis, et alias sutiles recentes similiter mittis, ut per dies septem in vino requiescant, et rosam eximis.  similiter et…

To preſerue Orenges after the Portugall faſhion 

Take Orenges & coare them on the ſide and lay them in water, then boile them in fair water til they be tender, ſhift them in the boyling to take away their bitterneſſe, then take ſugar and boyle it to the height of ſirup as much as will couer them, and ſo put your Orenges into it, and that will make them take ſugar. If you haue 24. Orenges, beate 8. of them till they come to a paſte with a pounde of fine ſugar, then fill euery one of the other Orenges with the ſame, and ſo boile them again in your ſirup : then there will be marmelade of orenges with your orenges, & it will cut like an hard egge.

Sir Hugh Plat, Delights for Ladies The Arte of Preſeruing, Conſeruing, Candying.&c. 1609

To preserve Oranges, after the Portugal fashion. Take Oranges and core them on the side and lay them in water, then boil them in faire water till they be tender, shift them in the boiling to take away their bitterness, then take sugar and boil it …

During times of Lent, or on fasting days, it was forbidden to eat milk, meat or egg products during the middle ages. For approximately 1/3 of the year, the idea of big haunches of meat being served to the upper class in overabundance is simply untrue. Sumptuary laws also limited what could be eaten. Almonds became an important part of the meal, and indeed, many recipes that one can find in cookbooks are laden with terms such as "drawe your almond milk thick" or "mak good almounde mylk of blaunchyd almoundes". They also specify if a particular dish to be served is for "lent", using terms such as "and if it be Lent".

One of the most basic ingredients in medieval cooking is almond milk. This was such a common ingredient in cooking that the recipe per se was not written down. It was an assumption that all cooks new to do this. Harleian MS 279 gives these instructions for making almond milk.


xj. Froyde almoundys. Take blake sugre, an cold wa…