Per far minestra di Lenti secche - To prepare a thick soup of dried lentils

 

I love lentils! They are one of my favorite legumes and they have a very long history of cultivation dating back between 8000 and 10000 years ago.  When I found this recipe in Scappi's Opera I knew I had to try it.  It makes a delicious  (and inexpensive) soup, but an even better salad.  

I have to confess, I cheated and used canned lentils for the salad, but you could make this even less expensive and purchase dried lentils and cook them yourself according to your packages directions.  I have included the soup recipe here, along with the changes I made to convert this from a soup to a salad.

When/if the SCA allows us to cook feasts again, you will be seeing this soup at a future event. 

Per far minestra di Lenti secche - To prepare a thick soup of dried lentils

Clean dirt off the lentils and put them into a pot with warm water; remove any that float and boil the rest in the same water. While they are boiling, with a large, holed spoon lift out any that rise to the top and put them into another pot: that is done so that the sand that sometimes gets into their little hole will come out and drop to the bottom of the pot. Put good lentils into a pot with oil, salt, a little pepper, saffron, water and a handful of beaten fine herbs; finish off cooking them. For the dish to be good, make the broth rather thick. Cloves of garlic can also be cooked with them, and bit pieces of tench and pike.

1 ½ c. lentils
2 ½ c. water
2 T olive oil
1 tsp black pepper
2 cloves garlic chopped
3/4 tsp salt
¼ tsp. Pepper

Herbs to taste; basil, rosemary, oregano, fennel, thyme, parsley or sage  
Pinch saffron

Opt: Onion (for modern taste), additional olive oil, lemon

The beauty of lentils is that they do not need to go through a prolonged soaking period. Do make sure to rinse your lentils before you add them to your pot of water, and do make sure that as they cook you remove any that rise to the top, and any scum that forms while they are cooking. You can if you choose cook your lentils in vegetable stock but it is not a necessary step.  

Cook your garlic in your oil, add all other ingredients with the exception of salt.  Bring water to a boil, lower heat to a medium-low and simmer your soup until lentils are tender.  You may add any herbs you wish.  I usually add a handful of kale to this soup along with some onion (which I've cooked with the garlic), thyme, basil and parsley. 

To serve, garnish with a drizzle of oil and a squirt of lemon. 

To Make into a "Salad" -  Make a dressing using lemon juice or vinegar (about 1/4 cup), olive oil (about 3/4 cup), herbs and spices, and mix with your lentils while warm.  Serve warm or cold. 

Harleain MS 279 (ab. 1430) - xlviij. Tayloures & Cxiiij. Tayleȝ - Rice Porridge with Currants & Dates or Figs, Dates and Raisins + Bonus Recipes for Poudre Douce (Sweet Powder)

Tayleȝ with Spiced Apples and Walnuts

I was very eager to try out this recipe from Two fifteenth-century cookery-books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55 by Thomas Austin" for Tayloures, which is another pottage based on the almond milk and rice flour base.  Previously published interpretations which contain this base include; Cxxxvj. A potage of Roysons (Rice Porridge with Apples and Raisins), .Ixxxv. Gaylede (Rice Porridge with Figs & Honey), .Cxxv. Vyolette - Violet. and .lxviij. Bruet of Almaynne in lente (Rice Porridge with Dates). 

The taste testers and I had an interesting conversation about where in a feast you would find dishes like these served.  The consensus is that for the modern day pallet you serve them at breakfast--barring that, they should most likely be served either as a sweet side dish as part of a course, or at the end of the meal for a warm pudding. I believe in period these dishes would have been served in first course for dietetic reasons.  

I have combined two similar sets of instructions into this post which was first published in 2017.  The second dish, Tayley (Taylez) differs from the first only in the fruits used, and the addition of vinegar and honey added to the dish.  I chose to make the sauce seperately, adding the dates and the raisins to it.  You will note that the sauce appears very dark.  I was gifted autumn honey from a friend, and this particular honey is very dark and flavorful. 

These two dishes do not disappoint. They differ differs from the other pottages with the use of the wine, the fruits used and the spicing. Some things to note; the interchange of bread with rice as a thickener in the first recipe, and the usage of honey versus sugar in the second.  This led to a discussion on the preogative of the cook; Is it ok to follow the example of these recipes and add additional spices or exchange out the thickeners used when reconstructing recipes in period?  We concluded that what we were using today was a set of instructions most likely written by someone watching the cook prepare the food, and listening to what the cook said, but who may have only seen it prepared the one time.  Therefore, it is likely that just as modern day cooks will substitute one item for another, the medieval cook most likely did the same. In a situation where using a wheat based thickener is not idea, the use of eggs or rice would be appropriate.  Likewise for the use of seasoning or other items.  We also noted that in this particular manuscript several sets of instructions (like these two) may differ by one or two items, for example the addition of wine, the protein used, or  in this case the fruit and spicing differ. 

The last bit of discussion we had, while finishing off our "brunch" was the feasibility of creating dishes like this for camping events, specifically for a camp breakfast. It was noted that with the exception of almond milk, all of the ingredients are dried and easily portable.  It would be quite feasible to make almond milk on site, eliminating the need to keep a dairy product that would easily spoil around.  Further, it was noted that the cereal itself continued to thicken as it cooled.  Had there been *any* left over, I would have liked to have know if it would be possible to cool it, slice it and fry it up similar to mush.  With the ingredients used, refridgeration would not be a requirement right away.  

What would you do with the almond meal once the milk was made? With a can of pie filling, or fresh fruit of your choice, you could make a quick crumbly topping for a camp pie.  Simply mix 1/4 cup of the (used) almond flour with 1 cup dry oats, a teaspoon or more of your spices, up to a1/4 cup honey and add the juice of half an orange. Yum! Breakfast and desert done with creative use of portable items that do not require a cooler ;-)

xlviij. Tayloures. — Take a gode mylke of Almaundys y-draw with Wyne an Water, an caste hym in-to a potte, and caste gret Roysouns of corauns, Also mencyd Datys, Clowes, Maces, Pouder Pepir, Canel, Safroun, & a gode dele Salt, & let boyle a whyle; þan take it and ly*. [Lye; allay.] it wyth Flowre of Rys, or ellys with Brede y-gratyd, & caste þer-to Sugre, & serue forth lyke Mortrewys, & caste pouder of Gyngere a-boue y-now.

48. Taylours - Take good milk of almonds drawn with wine and water, and caste them in a pot, and caste great raisins of corauns (currents). Also minced dates, cloves, maces, powder pepper, cinnamon, saffron and a good deal of salt, and let boil awhile; Than take it and lie it with flour of rice, or else with bread grated and caste there-to sugar, and serve forth like mortrews, and cast powder of ginger above enough.

Interpreted Recipe

3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup wine (I used red wine)
1 tbsp currants (or raisins)
2 dates chopped as small as currants (or raisins)
2 cloves
1/8 tsp. each mace, pepper, cinnamon (or to taste)
pinch of saffron
salt to taste
2-3 tbsp. rice flour or bread crumbs
1 tbsp or to taste sugar (or to taste)
Pinch of ginger

I used commercially prepared almond milk and added white wine to it because I wanted to keep the pottage as white as possible.  I much prefer the taste of homemade almond milk to the commercially prepared almond, and a easy recipe using almond flour can be found here: Quick Homemade Almond Milk. I heated the almond milk with the currants and the raisins and added the spices, a pinch of saffron and sugar to it.  Once it had obtained the color I wanted, I added the rice flour and stirred till it was thick.  Before serving I sprinkled the dish with a pinch of ginger and a pinch of currants.

.Cxiiij. Tayleȝ.—Take a chargeaunt Mylke of Almaundys, an draw with wyne caste in to þe potte [deleted in MS]; take Fygys & Roysonys a gode porcyon, to make it chargeaunt, waysshe hem clene, & caste hem on a morter, grynd hem as small as þou myȝt, temper hem vppe with þin*. [Thine. ] Mylke, draw hem þorw a straynoure, also chargeauntly as þou myȝth; caste it in a clene potte, do it to þe fyre; take Datys y-taylid a-long, & do þer-to; take Flowre of Rys, & draw it þorw a straynoure, and caste þer-to, & lat it boyle tylle it be chargeaunt; sette it on þe fyre; take pouder Gyngere & Canelle, Galyngale; temper with Vynegre, & caste þer-to Sugre, or hony; caste þer-to, sesyn it vppe with Salt, & serue forth.

114. Tayles - Take thick milk of almonds, and draw with wine, caste in to the pot; take figs & raisins a good portion, to make it thick, wash them clean and caste them on a morter, grind them as small as you might, temper them up with your milk, draw them through a strainer, also thick as you might; cast it in a clean pot, do it to the fire; take dates, sliced long, and do there-to; take flour of rice, and draw it through a strainer, and caste there-to, and let it boil till it be thick; set it on the fire; take powder ginger and cinnamon, galingale; temper with vinegar, and caste there-to sugar or honey; cast there-to, season it up with salt, and serve forth. 

Interpreted Recipe

3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup wine 
2 figs

1 tbsp raisins
2 dates sliced long ways

2-3 tbsp. rice flour

1/2 to 1 tsp. powder douce 
1 tbsp. vinegar (I used Apple Cider)

2 tbsp. honey
salt to taste

Prepare as above.  You can serve the spiced syrup separate, or add it to the cereal mixture.  In the picture I made the wine and honey mixtures a syrup and poured over the top.  

Both of these dishes had very balanced flavors, while similar in ingredients and preperation each was different from the other.  

Similar Recipes

Le Viandier de Taillevent (France, ca. 1380 - James Prescott, trans.)

Lenten slices. Take peeled almonds, crush very well in a mortar, steep in water boiled and cooled to lukewarm, strain through cheesecloth, and boil your almondmilk on a few coals for an instant or two. Take some cooked hot water pastries a day or two old and cut them into bits as small as large dice. Take figs, dates and Digne raisins, and slice the figs and dates like the hot water pastries. Throw everything into it, leave it to thicken like Frumenty, and boil some sugar with it. To give it colour, have some saffron for colouring it like Frumenty. It should be gently salted.

Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany (England, 1460)

Tayle. Take a lytyll milke of almonds drawyn up with wyn & do hit in a pott do ther to figes reysens & datys cut and sygure & good pondys boyle hit up colour hit with safron & messe hit forth.

Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany (Beinecke MS 163) (England, 1460)

Tayle. Take a lytyll milke of almonds drawyn up with wyn & do hit in a pott do ther to figes reysens & datys cut and sygure & good pondys boyle hit up colour hit with safron & messe hit forth.

Bonus Recipe (s) 

DUKE'S POWDER - POLVORA DE DUQUE - Libre del Coch, 1529 

Half an ounce of cinnamon, one eighth of cloves, and for the lords cast in nothing but cinnamon, and a pound of sugar; if you wish to make it sharp in flavor and [good] for afflictions of the stomach, cast in a little ginger.

And the weights of the spices in the apothecary shops are in this manner: one pound is twelve ounces, one ounce, eight drachms; one drachm, three scruples; another way that you can more clearly understand this: a drachm weighs three dineros, a scruple is the weight of one dinero, and a scruple is twenty grains of wheat.

ANOTHER POWDER OF THE DUKE -  DE ALTRA POLVORA DE DUCH 

The Libre del Coch has a second recipe for this spice mix, De altra polvora de duch, which contains 2 oz. ginger, 1/2 drachm galingale, 1 oz. cinnamon, 1 oz. long pepper, 1 oz. grains of paradise, 1 oz. nutmeg, 1/4 oz. fine sugar. 

The Libre de Sent Sovi gives yet another recipe: 1 pound sugar; 1/2 oz. cinnamon; 3/4 oz. ginger; 1/4 oz. total of cloves, nutmeg, galingale, and cardamon.

Duke's Powder

Cinnamon half an ounce --1 tbsp.
Cloves half a quarter (1/8th of an ounce) --3/4 tsp.
Sugar a pound -- (based on the 12 ounce pound) 1 1/2 cups
Ginger - a little --1 tbsp.

This mixture of spices, while not completely white, yields a very light tan powder. This is the mixture that I have used in my interpretation for Bolas and is pictured as the powder filling the dates.

Note: A dry ounce is equal to two tablespoons, or 1/8th of a cup.

Previously published: January 02, 2017

An Onion Pottage, The Accomplisht Cook, Robert May

An Onion Pottage

Fry good store of slic’t onions, then have a pipkin of boiling liquor over the fire, when the liquor bils put in the fryed onions, butter and all, with pepper and salt: being well stewed together, serve in on sops of French bread.

Interpreted Recipe

3 tbsp. olive oil
½ pound of onions peeled and sliced 1/4 “thick
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Melt butter in a large skillet, add sliced onions and sauté for about 10 minutes or until golden brown stirring occasionally. Bring broth to boil, add onions and cook over medium heat for ten minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Put toasted bread in individual bowls, pour broth over the onions and serve immediately.

Soops of Turnips, Buttered Colliflowers, Buttered Wortes (Cabbage), The Accomplisht Cook

Soops or butter’d Meats of Spinage.

Take fine young spinage, pick and wash it clean; then have a skillet or pan of fair liquor on the fire, and when it boils, put in the spinage, give it a warm or two, and take it out into a cullender, let it drain, then mince it small, and put it in a pipkin with some slic’t dates, butter, white-wine, beaten cinamon, salt, sugar, and some boil’d currans; stew them well together, and dish them on sippets finely carved, and about it hard eggs in halves or quarters, not too hard boil’d, and scrape on sugar. 

Soops of Carrots

Being boil’d, cleanse, stamp, and season them in all points as before (soops of butter'd Meats of Spinage; dates, butter, white wine, cinnamon, salt, sugar, and currants); thus also potatoes, skirrets, parsnips, turnips, Virginia artichocks, onions, or beets, or fry any of the foresaid roots being boil’d and cleansed, or peeled, and floured, and serve them with beaten butter and sugar.

Interpreted Recipe

1 ½ pounds turnips
4 tbsp. butter
1 ½ cups broth
¼ cup white vinegar
¼ tsp. ginger
¼ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt

Peel your turnips and slice them crosswise ¼” thick. Bring the butter, broth, vinegar, and seasonings to a boil in a saucepan and add your turnips. Lower the heat and simmer until the turnips are almost tender, stirring them every 15 minutes.

Buttered Colliflowers

Have a skillet of fair water, and when it boils put in the whole tops of the colliflowers, the root being cut away, put some salt to it; and being fine and tender boiled dish it whole in a dish, with carved sippets round about it, and serve it with beaten butter and water, or juyce of orange and lemon.

Interpreted Recipe

1 pound  cabbage, turnips or cauliflower, cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces

Water

1 pound butter cut into pieces

Sugar to taste

Place turnips (or cauliflower) into a large saucepan and cover with water. On medium-high heat, bring turnips to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer about 30 minutes or until tender. Drain into a colander and set aside.

Bring 4 tbsp. water to a boil, immediately reduce the heat to low and whisk in the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Butter and water mixture will start to emulsify. Once the sauce has emulsified, you can continue to add remaining butter until all butter has been added to the mixture.

To serve: Pour butter over boiled vegetables, sprinkle with sugar to taste.

Note: Sauce may break if allowed to get too warm.

Buttered Wortes (Cabbage),  Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books, Thomas Austin

Take al manor of good herbes that thou may gete, and do bi ham as is forsaid; putte hem on þe fire with faire water; put þer-to clarefied buttur a grete quantite. Whan thei ben boyled ynough, salt hem; late none otemele come ther-in. Dise brede small in disshes, and powre on þe wortes, and serue hem forth.

Interpreted Recipe

1 head of cabbage
2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. unsalted butter

Bring a pot of water to a boil and season with salt. Add cabbage and parboil five minutes, drain, and then bring another pot of water to boil, add cabbage and lower heat to a simmer. Simmer until cabbage is tender. Drain and serve with butter.

Sausages, Otherways, The Accomplisht Cook, Robert May

 

Otherways.

Mince pork with beef-suet, and mince some sage, and put to it some pepper, salt, cloves, and mace; make it into balls, and keep it for your use, or roll them into little sausages some four or five inches long as big as your finger; fry six or seven of them, and serve them in a dish with vinegar or juyce of orange.

Thus you may do of a leg of veal, and put nothing but salt and suet; and being fried, serve it with gravy and juyce of orange or butter and vinegar; and before you fry them flower them. And thus mutton or any meat.

Or you may add sweet Herbs or Nutmeg: and thus Mutton.

Interpreted Recipe

2 pounds ground pork for sausage
½ tsp. Ground pepper mix
½ tsp. Mixed spices (sage, clove, mace)
1 tsp. Salt
1 small onion grated

In a large bowl combine pork, spices, salt and onion and mix well.  Shape by rounded tablespoonfulls into balls, or, roll them into small sausage shaped logs the size of your finger. 

To serve: Cook until done, and serve with a sprinkling of orange juice or vinegar.  

Note: These make an excellent and economical way of rounding out a meat course.  

For Gusset that may be another potage, A Proper Newe Booke of Cookerye, Anonymous

 

Note: For this dish the chicken was poached in the seasoned broth.  Sliced and then served over sippets of bread.  It was very well received. 

For Gusset that may be another potage.

Take the broathe of the Capons and put in a fayre chafer, then take a dosen or syxtene egges and stere them all together whyte and all, then grate a farthynge whyte loafe as smale as ye canne, and mynce it wyth the egges all togeather, and putte thereto salte and a good quantite of safiron, and or ye putte in youre egges, putte into youre brothe, tyme, sauerye, margeron and parseley small choppd, and when ye are redye to your dynner, sette the chafer upon the fyre wyth the brothe, and lette it boyle a lyttle and putte in your egges and stere it up well for quaylinge the less. The less boylynge it hathe the more tender it wyll be, and then serve it forthe two or three slyces upon a dysshe.

Interpreted Recipe

4 C clear chicken broth
1 tbsp. Minced parsley
1 tsp. Salt
Pinch of saffron
⅛ tsp. each marjoram, thyme, savory
2 eggs
2 tsp . bread crumbs
3 slices hot buttered toast


Add parsley, salt, saffron,marjoram, thyme, and savory to chicken broth and simmer for 15 minutes. Beat the eggs with the bread crumbs and stir them into the broth. Turn off the heat and let the broth simmer for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Divide the toast among individual soup bowls and pour the hot broth over it immediately.

A Hash of Beef, Otherways, The Accomplisht Cook, Robert May

A Hash of Beef Otherways

Stew it in Beef gobbets, and cut some fat and lean together as big as a good pullets egg, and put them into a pot or pipkin with some Carrots cut in pieces as big as a walnut, some whole onions, some parsnips, large mace, faggot of sweet herbs, salt, pepper, cloves, and as much water and wine as will cover them, and stew it the space of three hours.

Interpreted Recipe

2 pounds chuck roast cut into slices
1 medium onion
2 carrots
2 parsnips
1/2 tsp. each thyme marjoram and winter savory
1 tbsp. parsley
2 cups red wine
1/8 tsp. mace
Salt and Pepper to taste

Lightly fry slices of beef in butter and then stew beef in a pan with water for about an hour and then skim it clean. Add salt, pepper, clove, mace, carrots, parsnips and whole onions and cook till tender. Add Parsley, thyme, sweet marjoram, spinach, sorrel and winters savory and some when then dish it up on sippets serve it hot.

To Souce and Garnish a Pig (Brawn with Mustard) The Accomplisht Cook, Robert May

To souce a Pig.

Take a pig being scalded, cut off the head, and part it down the back, draw it and bone it, then the sides being well cleansed from the blood, and soaked in several clean waters, take the pig and dry the sides, season them with nutmeg, ginger, and salt, roul them and bind them up in clean clouts as the pig brawn aforesaid, then have as much water as will cover it in a boiling pan two inches over and two bottles of white-wine over and above; first let the water boil, then put in the collars with salt, mace, slic’t ginger, parsley-roots and fennil-roots scraped and picked; being half boiled put in two quarts of white-wine, and when it is boil’d quite, put in slices of lemon to it, and the whole peel of a lemon.

To garnish Brawn or Pig Brawn.

Leach your brawn, and dish it on a plate in a fair clean dish, then put a rosemary branch on the top being first dipped in the white of an egg well beaten to froth, or wet in water and sprinkled with flour, or a sprig of rosemary gilt with gold; the brawn spotted also with gold and silver leaves, or let your sprig be of a streight sprig of yew tree, or a streight furz bush, and put about the brawn stuck round with bay-leaves three ranks round, and spotted with red and yellow jelly about the dish sides, also the same jelly and some of the brawn leached, jagged, or cut with tin moulds, and carved lemons, oranges and barberries, bay-leaves gilt, red beets, pickled barberries, pickled gooseberries, or pickled grapes.

Interpreted Recipe

Brawn With Mustard

1 ½ to 2 pounds pork (loin, or shoulder)
2 cups dry white wine
2 ½ cups water or broth
1 small piece ginger chopped
2 tsp. nutmeg
1 ½ tsp. salt
*opt. 1 parsley root (sub parsnips) and 1 fennel root (sup 1 tsp. fennel) and 1 whole lemon cut in slices

Brine Mixture: 1 Tbsp. Salt to 1 cup of water

Remove extra fat from the meat, season with nutmeg, ginger and salt, and roll tightly and tie.  Make a brine of salt and water, and allow to sit in brine several hours, but overnight or longer is preferred. 

Bring additional water and wine to a boil, rinse your meat and then add it to the boiling water along with the parsley root (or parsnips), fennel root (or fennel seed),  lemon and additional seasonings you prefer.  Make sure that your meat is completely covered by cooking liquid, turn heat to medium low and cook until tender adding water, broth or wine as necessary. 

To serve, slice thinly and garnish with red and yellow wine jellies, jagged lemons or oranges, red beets, pickled grapes, fresh grapes, bay leaves, etc. 

Note: I have made this using pork butt, and pork shoulder roast. Ideally, it would be made using the loin or belly which make up the "sides" of the pig.  

This is a very "fluid" recipe.  Another cook I know, cooks the meat ahead of time and then stores it in the brine, as opposed to brining first and then storing.  I prefer to make ahead and store in the cooking liquid after brining as opposed to cooking first and brining second. 

 

Baronial 12th Night - Garbage - stewed chicken offal (hearts, gizzards, livers, feet, neck) Harl. MS 279, 1430

         

Fryer chickens went on sale ($.68/pound) right after Thanksgiving. I purchased 16 of them and much to my surprise on the day I was butterflying them I discovered that they came complete with neck, gizzards, liver and heart. Joy! A "found dish" within the already purchased ingredients that I could offer at the event for those brave enough to try it. I did purchase (on sale) an additional package of livers, gizzards and hearts, and chicken feet.

I have to chuckle because at this particular event, the diner's got to enjoy mortis (mortrews), entrails (trayne roast), compost (pickled vegetables) and garbage (offal) all while being entertained with a boar's head. I'm not sure if anyone else realized it or if I have just let the cat out of the bag, but 12th night had a bit of an accidental darker theme going on :-D

xvij - Garbage. Take fayre garbagys of chykonys, as the hed, the fete, the lyuerys, an the gysowrys; washe hem clene, an caste hem in a fayre potte, an caste ther-to freysshe brothe of Beef or ellys of moton, an let it boyle; an a-lye it wyth brede, an ley on Pepir an Safroun, Maces, Clowys, an a lytil verious an salt, an serue forth in the maner as a Sewe.

17 - Garbage - Take fair garbage of chickens, as the head, the feet, the liver, and the gizzard; wash them clean, and caste them in a fair pot, and caste there-to fresh broth of beef or else of mutton, and let it boil; and mix it with bread, and lay on pepper and saffron, mace, cloves, and a little verjuice and salt, and serve forth in the manner as a stew

Garbage - stewed chicken offal (hearts, gizzards, livers, feet, neck) Harl. MS 279, 1430

1 1/2-2 pounds of chicken offal
1 c. beef broth
2 tbsp. bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. pepper (I used my pepper mix which is made from black pepper, cubebs, long peppers and grains of paradise)
pinch of saffron
1 tsp. mace
1/4 tsp. clove
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt

Clean your offal; this means rinsing away blood, cutting gizzards in half and removing anything you find inside of them (it's part of the digestive system and you -don't- want to eat that!), trim away the lining of the gizzard, trimming fat, green parts and membranes from the livers, remove connective tissue from hearts, wash the feet, peel if you want (I didn't), clip the toes if you want (I didn't). Make sure that you clean and sanitize your work surface after. Offal is delicious but it does carry a higher risk of contamination.

Place all ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook until tender. I have to confess that I treated the garbage like I treat a stock and simmered this for about six hours after which I served. What I discovered is the livers mostly disappear, they cook away to almost nothing, flavoring the broth.

Those who tried it loved it, and someone took home the left overs. If rumor is true, chicken feet were a much sought after commodity.

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - lv. Iuschelle of Fysshe.

lv. Iuschelle of Fysshe - Fish Dumplings

This unusual recipe found in  Two fifteenth-century cookery-books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55 by Thomas Austin  immediately caught my eye and I had to try it.  Originally I had assumed that this dish would produce results similar to Guisseƚƚ, a recipe for a savory bread dumpling, cooked in broth. I had always been a bit uncertain of that research, until I realized that the formula ofr Iuschelle of Fysshe is very similar to modern day quenelles, mixtures of meat or fish combined with breadcrumbs and cream that are usually poached.  

To follow up on the theory it became important to understand what the term Iuschelle meant. The Middle English Dictionary defines Iuschelle (jussel n. Also jus(s)elle, jushel(le & guissel.) as:

A dish made of eggs, or eggs mixed with grated bread, cooked in a seasoned broth; ~ of flesh; ~ sengle; ~ enforced, such a dish served with a sweet and spicy creamed sauce; (b) a dish made of fish roe and grated bread mixed and cooked in a fish broth; ~ of fish.

The Middle English Compendium defines frye as: 

Fri(e) - Also frī(e n.(2) Also friʒe (frye). Spawn or the young of fish; small fish

I believe that instead of the "roe" or the mass of eggs found inside a fish, this recipe is referring to the fry or newly hatched fish that no longer have an egg sac attached. I would suggest using any available smaller fish to create this recipe, or substituting roe for the fry. If you are unable to get pike, you may want to substitute cod, pollock, whiting, catfish or any other lean white fish.

.lv. Iuschelle of Fysshe.—Take fayre Frye of Pyke, and caste it raw on a morter, an caste þer-to gratid brede, an bray hem as smale as þow mayste; & ȝif it be to stondyng, caste þer-to Almaunde mylke, an bray hem to-gederys, an stere it to-gederys, & caste þer-to a littel Safroun & Salt, an whyte Sugre, an putte al in a fayre Treen bolle, & toyle*. [Twillein Douce MS. ] it to-gederys wyth þin hond, an loke þat it be noȝt to chargeaunt, but as a man may pore it out of þe bolle; and þan take a Chafoure or a panne, an caste þer-in fayre grauey of pyke or of Freysshe Samoun, y-draw þorw a straynoure, & sette[leaf 14.] it on þe fyre; þanne take fayre Percely an Sawge, an caste þer-to, an lat it boyle, an caste þer-to a lytil Safroun an Salt; and whan it hath y-boylid a whyle, stere it faste, an caste þe Stuffe þer-to, an stere it euermore; an whan alle is oute of þe bolle, caste a litil an a litil in-to þe chafoure, or þe panne; stere it soffter an sofftere, tylle it come to-gedere; þan gader it to-gederys with a ladelle or a Skymoure, softe, tille it be round to-gedere; þanne take it fro þe fyre, an sette þe vesselle on a fewe colys, an late it wexe styf be hys owne acord; þan serue forth.

55. Juschelle of Fish - Take fair fry of pike, and caste it raw on a mortar, and cast there-to grated bread, and bray them as small as you may; and if it be to standing (thick), caste there-to almond milk, and bray them together; and stir it together, and caste there-to a little saffron and salt, and white sugar, and put all in a fair tureen bowl and stir it together with your hand, and look that it be not to thick, but as a man may pour it out of the bowl; and then take a chafing dish or a pan, and caste there-in fair gravy of pike, or of fresh salmon, drawn through a strainer and set it on the fire, then take fair parsley and sage, and caste there-to, and let it boil, and cast there-to a little saffron and salt, and when it has boiled a while, stir it fast, and cast the stuff there-to and stir it evermore; an when all is out of the bowl, cast a little and a little in to the chafing-dish or the pan; stir it softer and softer, till it come together; then gather it to together with a ladle or a skimmer, soft, till it be round together; then take it from the fire, and set the vessel on a few coals, and let it wax stiff be his own accord; then serve forth.

Recipe Serves 6 - 8 (or more as smaller appetizers)

Fish Dumplings

1 pound lean white fish, cut into 1" pieces
2 slices bread, crusts removed
1 cup almond milk
1 egg white (to help bind fish- included here because eggs are a primary ingredient in Guisseƚƚ but are missing from this recipe)
Pinch of saffron
Salt and pepper to taste
Sugar to taste

Broth

4 cups fish stock
3 sprigs of fresh parsley (can substitute 1 tbsp. dried)
1/2 tsp. sage
Pinch of Saffron


Please, please, please--this cannot be stressed enough--use a well flavored stock (gravy) for your broth to poach the dumplings in, otherwise this dish will be very bland. I would strongly suggest that you make your own following the directions that can be found here, and substituting fish bones for beef or chicken bones. You may also want to round out the flavor of the stock by adding some fennel and white wine as part of the cooking liquid.

If you are unable to secure enough fish scraps and bones to make a broth, you can substitute a 50/50 mixture of vegetable stock and chicken stock. I would caution against using a premade "seafood stock" unless you are very certain that nobody with a shellfish allergy will be present. Seafood stock is usually made with shells of crab, shrimp, lobster in addition to fish bones.


Warm the milk up slightly and add saffron to it. Allow it to come to a cool temperature.


To make your dumplings you will want to soak your bread in the milk and then mash it until it becomes a paste. Grind your fish, either by using a blender, or using a sausage maker. It is important that the fish retain some texture and is not a paste. Blend the bread paste with the fish and remaining ingredients.

Here you have a choice. You can follow the medieval instructions of bringing the broth to a boil, stirring it quickly and adding your fish mixture to the broth. This, I imagine will act like poaching an egg, and allow the mixture to come together similar to a poached egg, or, like the Guissel, form many jagged dumplings of an uneven size. Continue to stir until the mixture becomes thick. The instructions state to " then take it from the fire, and set the vessel on a few coals, and let it wax stiff be his own accord; then serve forth." This method appears to suggest that the dumplings should be allowed to continue to cook for a short time before serving.

Or, you can diverge (as I did) and follow a more modern method of bringing a large pot of salted water to just below a simmer, and dropping your dough into it by the tablespoonful. If you are following this method, the dumplings will fall to the bottom of the pot and then rise up when they are completely cooked.


To serve, place your dumplings into your broth, garnish as desired and serve it forth.


This may seem like a very "fussy" dish to serve at an event, however, the dumplings can be made ahead of time and frozen prior to poaching. Day of the event, remove your frozen dumplings, place them in the boiling and salted water and proceed as per usual.

This is a very delicate dish, it could serve as a pottage in a first course, or, the dumplings can be served without broth or sauce on the side of a main dish in the second course as a garnish, or to round out the meal. I would suggest that plating the fish dumplings in a thin puddle of beautifully hot stock, garnished with boiled vegetables (asparagus, leeks, parsnips or a non-orange carrot) would be lovely.

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Ancient Cookery [Arundel 334], (England, 1425)

Jussel of sysshe. Take frye of female pike, and pille away the skyn; and take the liver of codlinge, and bray altogeder; and take grated bred and cast therto in the brayinge, and when it waxes stif put hit into a chargeour, and colour hit depe with saffron; and then take grave of pyke, and grave of congur, and of calver salmon, and put al into a panne; and take parcel (parsley), and sauge hewen, but not too smalle, and boyle hit ensemble.; and when hit is boyled put in a potstik and stere hit wel, and ' when hit begynnes to crudde do away the potstik, and let hit boyle afterwarde a gode qwyle ; and then set hit doun, and dresse up fix leches in a dysshe, and strawe theron pouder of ginger; and serve hit forthe.

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - Cxxxvij. Chykonys in dropey Chicken with Gravy & .Clij. Capoun in Salome - Capon and Gravy

Chykonys in dropey with a Diuers Sallets boyled

When I came across this set of instructions in Two fifteenth-century cookery-books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55 Thomas Austin I became excited and knew I had to try it.  When I first read through it, I believed that it contained some of the earliest instructions for using roux as a thickening agent.  I fell into the trap of using what I knew and applying it creating the assumption that I would know what the end result would be. Mia Culpa. 

What is dropey? The the Middle English Dictionary defines "Dropey" as a kind of sauce for fowl.  

drope (n.) Also drope, dropeie, (?error) drore.  A sauce or dressing for fowl.  (a1399) Form Cury p.18: Dropee.  Take blanched Almandes, grynde hem and temper hem up with gode broth; take Oynons..and frye hem and do thereto: take smale bryddes, parboyle hem [etc.]. ?c1425 Arun. Cook. Recipes 429: Drore to Potage. Take almonds..brothe of flesshe...onyons..small briddes [etc.] ibid. 449: At the seconde course drope, and rose to potage. al450 Hrl.Cook.Bk.(1) 30: Chykons in dropeye. 

A pottage is anything that can be cooked in a pot. Fortified by the definition I found, I had convinced myself that using a mixture of the almond milk, wheat starch or rice flour and the alkanet colored grease was the correct direction to go. However, according to the "The Food History Timeline", roux is a 17th century French preparation. 

 Roux in French literally means 'reddish' (or 'orange') hence the first roux were made by cooking flour and butter together until a reddish tint was obtained then using this to thicken a souce or broth. Its widespread use in French cooking seems to date from the mid-17th century. At that time, La Varenne (1651) described the preparation of a liaison de farine (flour thickener) made by cooking flour in lard and, by the end of the century, cooks are referring to this mixture either as farine frit or roux.

What then was the purpose of mixing the grease and alkenade together as we are advised to? 

"þen take fayre freysshe grece, & putte Alkenade þer-to, & gader his coloure þer-of"

It was not until I had researched similar recipes that I found the answer.  One of the earliest versions of Chykonys in Dropey can be found in "The Forme of Cury" by Samuel Pegge. There is another set of instructions for a dish called Fonnell, that instructs us to use grease that has been heated until it melted with alkanet as a decoration for the dish before it is sent out to the table.  I have used these instructions for the interpretation of Chyknoys in Dropey presented above. 

FONNELL [1]. XX.III. II.

Take Almandes unblaunched. grynde hem and drawe hem up with gode broth, take a lombe [2] or a kidde and half rost hym. or the þridde [3] part, smyte hym in gobetes and cast hym to the mylke. take smale briddes yfasted and ystyned [4]. and do þerto sugur, powdour of canell and salt, take zolkes of ayrenn harde ysode and cleeue [5] a two and ypaunced [6] with flour of canell and florish þe sewe above. take alkenet fryed and yfoundred [7] and droppe above with a feþur [8] and messe it forth.

[1] Fonnell. Nothing in the recipe leads to the etymon of this multifarious dish. [2] Lombe. Lamb. [3] thridde. Third, per metathesin. [4] yfasted (made secure) and ystyned (closed). [5] cleeue. cloven. [6] ypaunced. pounced. [7] yfoundred. melted, dissolved. [8] feþ'. feather.

Original Recipe

.Cxxxvij. Chykons in dropeye.—They schul ben fayre y-boylid in fayre watere tyl þey ben y-now, þen take hem fyrst, & choppe hem smal: & whan þey ben y-now, tempere vppe a gode Almaunde mylke of þe same, & with Wyne: a-lye it with Amyndon, oþer with [leaf 24.] floure of Rys: þen take fayre freysshe grece, & putte Alkenade þer-to, & gader his coloure þer-of, & ley þe quarterys .v. or .vj. in a dysshe, as it wole come a-bowte, & Salt it atte þe dressoure, sprynge with a feþer or .ij. here & þere a-bowte þe dysshe; & ȝif þou lyst, put þer-on pouder of Gyngere, but noȝt a-boue, but in þe potage, & þan serue forth.

Interpretation

137 - Chicken in Dropeye - They should be fair boiled in fair water till they be enough, then take them first and chop them small, and when they be enough, temper up a good almond milk of the same, and with wine, mix with wheat starch, or with flour of rice, then take fair fresh grease, and put alkanet there-to, and gather his color there-of and let they be quarters five or six in a dish, as it will come about, and salt it at the dresser, sprinkle (sprynge) with a feather or two here and there about the dish, and if you like, put there-on powder ginger, but not above, but in the potage, and then serve forth.

Chicken in Dropey 

Yield: 2 Servings

Ingredients

2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs (for ease of serving)
1 cup almond milk made with broth chicken was boiled in

1 tbsp. wheat starch or riceflour, or 1 1/2 tbsp. unbleached white all purpose flour
2 tbsp. lard (preferred), or butter or oil can be substituted (I used bacon grease)

1 1/2 tsp. powdered alkanet

1/2 tsp. salt 

1/4 tsp. pepper 

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Opt: 1 chicken bouilloncube or 1 cup  chicken stock instead of water to cook chicken in for extra flavor, up to 1/4 cup dry white wine.

Directions

Add alkanet powder to oil, lard or butter and heat slowly. Allow alkanet and oil to steep while completing the remaining steps.  Alternately, you can do this step ahead of time, and allow oil and alkanet to steep overnight. 

Boil your chicken until it is tender. Remove from broth and keep warm.  

Use the broth the chicken that was cooked in to make your almond milk. For instructions on how to make your own quick almond milk, visit this link:  Almond Milk

Heat almond milk and wine if you are using it, to just below a simmer and add wheat starch or rice flour, salt and pepper.  Cook until the sauce begins to thicken.  Once sauce begins to thicken remove from the heat and allow the carry over to continue to cook it.  

To Serve: 

For ease of presentation, serve the chicken sliced, sprinkled with a bit of salt and pepper.  Drizzle the almond milk sauce over the top of the chicken and then decorate with the alkanet oil and a pinch of powdered ginger. 

Note:  This is a dish that had been boiled in broth and is served with a sauce. It would be an appropriate dish to serve before a dish of roasted meats as a first course in a "modern medieval feast".

I found this to be a very simple and easy dish to put together, I paired it with a boiled salad made of mixed greens, onions and currants that had been boiled in water, and then sprinkled with powdered douce and fresh made bread.  The house smells divine! 

It was a good meal enjoyed by both me and the taste tester.  I did not use the wine in the recipe but opted to use bouillon cubes to add additional flavor to the chicken as it cooked.  

This is a very striking dish to look at, and a little bit of the alkanet oil does go a long way.  Although alkanet is a bit difficult to obtain, and slightly costly, the cost is offset by how far a little bit of it would go. In addition to being a good course to serve before a roasted, fried, baked or grilled course, this would make a very lovely luncheon for royalty. 

.Clij. Capoun in Salome.—Take a Capoun & skalde hym, Roste hym, þen take þikke Almaunde mylke, temper it wyth wyne Whyte oþer Red, take a lytyl Saunderys & a lytyl Safroun, & make it a marbyl coloure, & so atte þe dressoure þrow on hym in ye kychoun, & þrow þe Mylke a-boue, & þat is most commelyche, & serue forth.

Clij - Capoun in Salome. Take a Capoun and skalde hym, Roste hym, then take thikke Almaunde mylke, temper it wyth wyne Whyte other Red, take a lytyl Saunderys and a lytyl Safroun, and make it a marbyl coloure, and so atte the dressoure throw on hym in ye kychoun, and throw the Mylke a-boue, and that is most comely, and serue forth.

152.  Capon in Salome.  Take a capon and scald him, roast him, then take thick almond milk, temper it with wine, white or red, take a little saunders, and a little saffron, and make it a marble color, and so at the dresser, throw him in the kitchen, and throw the mil above, and that is most comely, and serve forth. 

2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs (for ease of serving)
1 cup almond milk made with 1/4 cup white or red wine

1 1/2 tsp. powdered saffron or sanders 

1/2 tsp. salt  (for modern taste)

1/4 tsp. pepper (for modern taste)

As above.  

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Forme of Cury (England, 1390)

DREPEE [1]. XIX.

Take blanched Almandes grynde hem and temper hem up with gode broth take Oynouns a grete quantite parboyle hem and frye hem and do þerto. take smale bryddes [2] parboyle hem and do þerto Pellydore [3] and salt. and a lytel grece.

[1] Drepee. Qu. [2] bryddes. Birds. Per metathesin; v. R. in Indice. [3] Pellydore. Perhaps pellitory. Peletour, 104.

Fourme of Curye [Rylands MS 7] (England, 1390)

.xix. Drepee. Take blaunched almaundes, grynd hem & temper up with gode broth take oynouns a grete quantite, & boile hem & fry hem & fo therto, take smale briddes perboile hem & do therto, & do therto pellydore & salt & a litul grece.

Ancient Cookery [Arundel 334] (England, 1425)

Servise on flesshe-day. Bores-hed enarmed (ornamented), and bruce to potage; and therwith beefs, and moton, and pestels (legs) of porke; and therwith swan and conynge rosted, and tarte. 

At the seconde course drope, and rose to potage; and therwith maudelard and faisant, and chekons farsed (stuffed) and rosted, and malachis baken. 

At the thridde course conynges in grave, and bore in brasc to potage; and therwith teles rosted, and partriches, ande woodcock, and snytes, and raffyolys baken, and flampoyntes.

Drore to potage. Take almondes, and blaunche hom, and grynde hom, and temper hit up wyth gode brothe of flesshe, and do hit in a pot, 'and let hit sethe; and take onyons, and mince hom, andfrye hom in freshe greeseand do therto; then take smale briddes, and parboyle hom, and do thereto, and put thereto pouder of canel, and of clowes, and a lytel faire grees, and let hit be white, and let hit boyle, and serve it forthe.

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - .lxxxxiiij. Tenche in bruette & lxxxxv. Tenche in cyueye - Tench in Civey

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - .lxxxxiiij. Tenche in bruette

After some debate, I placed both interpretations from Two fifteenth-century cookery-books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55 Thomas Austin for tench in sauce or broth on the same blog post.  My reasoning for this is that there is more similarities than differences between the two.  The Tenche in Cyueye includes onions which the Tenche in Bruette does not.

The Glossary of Medieval & Renaissance Culinary Terms defines cyueye in the following way:

cive, civey(e), ciuey, cyuey, ceue, cyueye = Ragout or stew (possibly derived from a word meaning 'onion' (Plouvier). (Viandier)  - Among other modern usages, this is probably a derivative of civey, which was at one time named for, and characterized by, the possibility of thickening a sauce with finely chopped onion, cooked till very soft. Some medieval recipes for civeys (for example, hare in civey) also call for blood as an additional thickener; nowadays the dish, which is now sometimes called civet, is mostly characterized by thickening and enriching the broth with the reserved blood of the critter you're cooking. It will coagulate if boiled, and turn very dark, but if heated properly it will assume a velvety texture similar to a stirred custard, and acquire a deep russet shade almost like a mole-poblano-type sauce. (Troy)

I was intrigued by the instructions to scald or boil the fish before roasting it.  Scalding is a method of cleaning and killing any microorganisms that might be harmful.  It involves heating a liquid (in this case water) or milk to just below boiling.  If you have a thermometer 180 degrees is best.  If you don't you want to keep an eye on the side of the pan. When you see small bubbles forming around the side and steam starting to whisp off of the pan, then you can remove your liquid.

.lxxxxiiij. Tenche in bruette.—Take þe Tenche, an sethe hem & roste hem, an grynde Pepir an Safroun, Bred and Ale, & tempere wyth þe brothe, an boyle it; þen take þe Tenche y-rostyd, an ley hym on a chargeoure; þan ley on þe sewe a-boue

94. Tench in Broth- Take the tench, and boil him and roast him, and grind pepper and saffron, bread and ale, and temper with the broth, and boil it, then take the tench roasted, and lay him on a charger; then lay on the sauce above.

1/4  pound fatty firm textured fish such as carp, perch, tench, bluefish or bass
1/4 tsp. pepper
pinch of saffron
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3/4 cup ale
3 tbsp. fish broth

In keeping with the instructions, I scalded the fish by placing it in a pot with just enough water to cover it.  I then heated the pan until I saw small bubbles forming around the edge of it and steam starting to form.  Due to modern methods of cleaning and butchering fish, I imagine you could have skipped this step without difficulty.

I removed the fish from the pan and placed it on a lightly oiled baking sheet and roasted it in the oven until it was done.  While the fish was cooking in the oven I took a few tablespoons of the broth and added the saffron to it.  Once the saffron had strongly colored the water, I added it to the ale (ok confession time--I used Sam Adams Summer Shandy made with lemon peel and grains of paradise) and then soaked the bread crumbs in it.  Once the bread was soggy I put it in the pot and brought it to a boil until it formed a thick sauce.

After the fish had finished cooking I plated it and served.

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - lxxxxv. Tenche in cyueye - Tench in Civey 

.lxxxxv. Tenche in cyueye.—Take a tenche, an skalde hym, roste hym, grynde Pepir an Safroun, Brede an Ale, & melle it to-gederys; take Oynonys, hakke hem, an frye hem in Oyle, & do hem þer-to, and messe hem forth.


95. Tench in Civey - Take a tench, and scald him, roast him, grind pepper and saffron, bread and ale, and mix it together; take onions, hack them, and fry them in oil, and do them there-to, and mess him forth.

1/4  pound fatty firm textured fish such as carp, perch, tench, bluefish or bass
1/4 tsp. pepper
pinch of saffron
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3/4 cup ale
3 tbsp. fish broth
3 tbsp. onions
1 tbsp. oil

To make this dish, follow the instructions above.  The additional step is to lightly brown the finely chopped onion in oil, and after plating, garnish the plate with it.

Both of these dishes were enjoyed by the taste testers, but they were not the day's winner--the best dish of the day was lxxxxvj. Tench in Sawce - Tenche in Sauce.  However, this dish would be something I would be happy to serve at any feast, a vigil, lunch and if fresh fish were available at camp.  It was simple to make, came together with very little fuss and delicious.

I feel like I need to start placing a caveat at the bottom of each post--I am a hobbyist and I am still very much learning my craft. This is something I do for fun, and with a hope to introduce individuals to food history and entice them to do research on their own. I hope that they find my posts fun and informative and intriguing enough to strike out on their own. I am - not - an authority, nor do I masquerade as one. The sad reality is that no matter how much we learn about this kind of cooking, we will never be authorities, at best, we are guessing at the author's and the cook's intent. I welcome *constructive* criticism and I will own up to mistakes.

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - lxxxxvj. Tench in Sawce - Tenche in Sauce

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - lxxxxvj. Tench in Sawce - Tenche in Sauce

The Two fifteenth-century cookery-books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55 Thomas Austin gives instructions for three dishes made with Tench.  Two of them, lxxxxiiij. Tenche in bruette - Tench in Broth  and lxxxxv. Tenche in cyueye - Tench in Civey  closely resemble each other.  This dish differs not only in the manner in which the fish is cooked but also in how it is served.  Unlike the other two dishes, where the fish is boiled, then roasted, this dish simply calls for boiling the fish.  This dish also advises us to " serue it forth þanne alle colde"--this is the first set of instructions in the Harleian MS 279 that actually advises to  serve the dish cold! So naturally, I had to try it.

Tench, also known as Doctor Fish, is not generally eaten anymore. It is freshwater fish that thrives in slow moving fresh and brackish waters. It is native to  Eurasia and Western Europe.  Sadly, Tench is not native to the states.  So, I had to find a suitable alternative that I could purchase.  Fortunately, a cookbook published in 1852 pointed me in a suitable direction.  The "Illustrated London Cookery Book" has a recipe entitled "How to Cook Carp, Tench, Perch, etc.

518. Carp, Tench, Perch, &C
Dry well with clean cloth, dredge with flour, fry them until they are brown. If the pure flavour of the fish is desired, they should be cooked as soon after being caught as possible, and as simply as above described; but if it is desired to make a dish, the fish may be placed after having been fried in a stewpan, with a gill of port wine, the same quantity of water, the juice of half a lemon, two dessert spoonfuls of walnut ketchup, half the quantity of mushroom ditto, or powder, sprinkle with cayenne pepper, an onion stuck with cloves, and a small horse-radish, from which the outer coat has been scraped: stew until the gravy is reduced to a rich thickness, remove the fish, strain the gravy as clear as possible, thicken it, and pour it over the fish; serve.

.lxxxxvj. Tenche in Sawce.—Take a tenche whan he is y-sothe, and ley him on a dysshe; take Percely & Oynonys, & mynce hem to-gederys; take pouder Pepir, & Canelle, & straw þer-on; take Vynegre, an caste Safroun þer-on, an coloure it, an serue it forth þanne alle colde.

46. Tench in Sauce  - Take a tench when he is boiled and lay him on a dish; take parsley & onions and mince them together; take powder pepper, and cinnamon, and strew there-on; take vinegar, and caste saffron there-on and color it, and serve it forth when all cold.

Interpreted Recipe

1/4  pound fatty firm textured fish such as carp, perch, tench, bluefish or bass
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vinegar + water to taste (I used 1/4 cup fish broth)
pinch of saffron

First I have to say this is a beautiful dish! White fish, green parsley floating in a saffron scented broth with just a hint of acidity from the vinegar presents a visually stunning dish. To make this dish even more unusual and definitely on a "must be served at a future event" list, it is to be served cold!

I placed the fish in the water and brought to a low boil, cooking it until the fish was completely cooked through.  While the fish cooked, I minced the onions and dried parsley and set them aside.  I then mixed the pepper and the cinnamon and set it aside.  To be fair, I did grind up a couple of cubeb berries to add to my black pepper and I think the flavor popped. Once the fish was cooked I drew off a1/4th of a cup of fish broth, added a good pinch of saffron and the vinegar.

While the saffron steeped in the broth, I plated the fish.  I confess I was a bit concerned about the taste of raw onion, but the instructions do not indicate it is to be cooked--it was also a needless concern.  I sprinkled the pepper and cinnamon mixture over the fish, added the onions mixture and then poured the broth on top of it and placed it in the fridge to cool. Something magical happened after pouring the broth over the fish and then allowing it to cool. The fish picked up the flavor of saffron and vinegar and the onions mellowed. This was the winning dish of the day.

I feel like I need to start placing a caveat at the bottom of each post--I am a hobbyist and I am still very much learning my craft. This is something I do for fun, and with a hope to introduce individuals to food history and entice them to do research on their own. I hope that they find my posts fun and informative and intriguing enough to strike out on their own. I am - not - an authority, nor do I masquerade as one. The sad reality is that no matter how much we learn about this kind of cooking, we will never be authorities, at best, we are guessing at the author's and the cook's intent. I welcome *constructive* criticism and I will own up to mistakes.