Italian (Medieval) – Finnocchio dolce verde- Sweet Green Fennel (Candied Fennel Stalks) (Comfits and Candies)

 

Plates of Candies and Comfits waiting to be served 

Domenico Romoli's "La Singolare Dottrina," published in 1560, is a comprehensive guide for cooks and maîtres d'hôtel, offering insights into the selection, preparation, and service of various foods and wines. In its fourth book, Romoli presents detailed menus for each month, including the "Banquet of January." This banquet showcases a variety of dishes suitable for the winter season, reflecting the culinary traditions of 16th-century Italy.

Sweet Green Fennel from Domenico Romoli's Banquet of January

Domenico Romoli's La Singolare Dottrina (1560) offers a fascinating glimpse into Renaissance cuisine for those who love diving into historical recipes. This culinary guide, written by Romoli—nicknamed Panunto—details elaborate feasts for every month of the year. Among the dishes featured in the Banquet of the Month of January is Finnocchio Dolce Verde, or Sweet Green Fennel, a unique Renaissance treat that transforms humble fennel stalks into candied delights.

A Taste of 16th-Century Italy

Fennel was a staple in Italian Renaissance kitchens, prized for its digestive properties and aromatic qualities. This particular preparation, which candies the fennel stalks in sugar syrup, reflects the era's fascination with preserving flavors and enhancing natural sweetness. The result is a delicately flavored confection, perfect for pairing with cheeses and wine or simply enjoying as a sweet snack.

The Recipe: Sweet Green Fennel (Candied Fennel Stalks)

Yield: About 3/4 cup candied fennel and 1 cup syrup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 5 to 6 ounces of fennel stalks, cut on the diagonal into thin sticks (about 1 1/2 cups)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
2. Prepare the syrup: In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar and water. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
3. Candy the fennel: Add the sliced fennel stalks to the syrup and reduce heat to medium. Cook until the fennel stalks become translucent.
4. Strain and bake: Strain the fennel stalks, reserving the syrup for future use (it's great for cocktails or drizzling over desserts). Spread the syrup-coated fennel slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Dry the fennel: Bake for about 30 minutes, then separate any sticking slices. Continue baking for 30 minutes or until the fennel is dry yet slightly sticky.
6. Cool and serve: Allow the fennel to cool completely before serving or storing.
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Bringing History to Your Table

The candied fennel from Romoli's Banquet of January offers a glimpse into the refined tastes of Renaissance Italy. Its delicate sweetness and herbal notes make it a versatile addition to modern dishes—try it as a garnish for cheese boards, an elegant topping for desserts, or even infused into a winter tea.

By recreating historical recipes like this one, we can appreciate how Renaissance chefs balanced sweetness, texture, and aromatic flavors. Next time you're in the kitchen, why not step back and savor the flavors of a 16th-century banquet?

🦚 Curious about the full feast?
Explore the complete menu from the Flaming Gryphon 12th Night Feast 2024 to see all the dishes and historical inspirations behind this event.

Van coeck te backen (Dutch Sourdough Bread with Fennel and Bacon, 16th c.)

Kitchen Adventures – Van coeck te backen (Dutch Sourdough Bread with Fennel and Bacon, 16th c.)

Based on a historical recipe from Gheeraert Vorselman’s Nyeuwen coock boeck and Platina’s De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine. A hearty bread with bacon and fennel seed, perfect for feasting or a flavorful rustic table loaf.

📜 Historical Note: This recipe appears in the 16th-century Dutch cookbook Nyeuwen coock boeck and draws on Platina's Italian treatise. Coquinaria’s translation and commentary helped trace its lineage and inspired this modern version.

According to food historian Christianne Muuser of Coquinaria, this Dutch recipe is derived directly from Platina’s 15th-century Latin work. While the original instructions are brief, they follow a more detailed bread recipe from Platina that includes leavening and slow baking. This post also includes three options for making sourdough starter—modern, simplified, and historical—for the enthusiastic baker.

Original Dutch Recipe (Gheeraert Vorselman)

Neemt tarwenmeel oft bloemen met warmen watere also vele als ghi behoeft, ende wercket een luttel samen, dan neemt venckelsaet ende spec ghesneden terlincxwijse ende doeget int deech ende wercket wel tsamen tot tay deech ende maect eenen ronden coec ende bacten in den oven metten brode oft op den heert, &c. Inde plaetse vanden spec moech dy nemen boter oft olijfoly. Men bact ooc coec onder de asschencolen, mer sonder spec, met sout, venckel ende olie.

 Interpretation

Take wheat meal or flour with warm water, as much as needed, and work it together slightly. Add fennel seed and diced lard (or bacon), and knead until smooth. Shape into a round cake and bake in the oven or on the hearth. Butter or oil may be used in place of lard. You may also bake this under the ashes with salt, fennel, and oil (but no bacon).

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Van coeck te backen – Dutch Bread with Fennel and Bacon

Yield: 2 medium loaves

• 1½ cups sourdough starter
• ~5 cups mixed flours (2½ cups stoneground wheat, 1½ cups bread flour, 1 cup rye flour)
• 2 to 2½ cups warm water
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp fennel seeds, plus extra for topping
• 6 strips bacon, diced and pan-rendered

Day 1

1. Mix starter with warm water and a pinch of salt.
2. Gradually add flours until a tacky but cohesive dough forms.
3. Cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled — this may take 8–24 hours depending on your starter and conditions.

Day 2

1. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Add diced bacon and fennel seeds, kneading gently to incorporate.
2. Shape into 2 round loaves. Let rise for 1–2 hours until puffed.
3. Sprinkle extra fennel and bacon on top or slash tops decoratively.
4. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 45 minutes. Loaves should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

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Sourdough Starter Options

1. Modern Whole Wheat Sourdough Starter

• 4⅓ cups whole-wheat flour (divided)
• 2½ cups warm water (divided)
• 2⁄3 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (divided)

Feed and discard method over 5 days. Use once bubbly, sour-smelling, and active. For full instructions see Eating Well or above.

2. Alternate Sourdough Starter (with Yeast)

• 1 cup unbleached flour (or mix of bread/whole wheat)
• 1 cup rye flour
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 cup water (80°F)
• 1 tsp active dry yeast

Mix, cover, and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours until bubbly. Use or refresh before baking.

3. Historic Raisin or Currant Starter

Ferment:

• 3¼ cups raisins or currants
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp sugar

Let ferment in sealed container for 5 days. Strain and mix resulting liquid with:

• 1¾ cups + 2 Tbsp flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour

Mix into dough, let rise 4–6 hours. This forms your “mother” dough. Maintain with weekly flour/water feedings.

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Serving Suggestions

This bread is especially delicious with:

• Kaessuppen (savory medieval cheese soup) — spread or dip
• Man Bradet Zwybein in Bradfeift — German onion-cheese relish

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Sources & References

• Coquinaria – Nyeuwen Coock Boeck
• Platina – De Honesta Voluptate
• Curious Cuisiniere – Bauernbrot

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Explore More Medieval Breakfast Recipes:

• Rastons – Egg-enriched bread for soaking in broth
• Soupes Dorye – Toasted bread in spiced almond milk
• Lyode Soppes – Early custard-style bread pudding
• Soupes Jamberlayne – Bread soaked in mulled wine
• Egges yn Brewte – Poached eggs in spiced broth
• Eyron en Poche – Poached eggs with herbs in sauce
• Pressmetzen zu Ostern – Spiced Lenten breakfast bread
• Spiced Apples and Pears – Stewed fruit with wine and spice
• Fennel and Bacon Bread – Rustic loaf with herbs and meat
• Frumenty and Venyson – Cracked wheat porridge with game

Looking for even more morning inspiration?
Don’t miss the original article: Breakfast: Five Medieval Banquet Dishes »

Kitchen Adventures – Recreating a German Sausage from 1588 (Zervelat (Cervelat))

 Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin , T. Gloning (transcr.)

Wie man zerwúlawirstlach machen soll - Zervelat 

I cannot take credit for this recipe. The zervelat recipe is from a website called "The Commonplace Book of Lady Avelyn Grene". The lady herself is an excellent person and I'm so grateful that she is my friend. Please do take a moment to visit her website (linked above) and marvel at her talents.

Original Recipe

Wie man zerwúlawirstlach machen soll

Erstlich nempt 4 pfúnd schweinflesch vom zepfflin/ vnnd

2 pfúnd speck, das last klainhacken vnnd thiet 6 lott saltz

darain/ ain pfúnd geriben kesß, .3. lott pffeffer, 3 lott jmber,

wen es gehackt jst, so knetten das als darein, rerlach 3 lott,

ain 1/2 lott negellach, ain halb lott múscatnúsß, zwaý lott

zúcker, die derm músß man saúbermachen vnd nachmals

gilben, darf man nit gar ain 1/2 lott saffera, man músß sý binden

aúff baiden seitten, aúch vnngeferlich ain qúertlin frisch

wasser darangiessen, man músß aúch das saltz, jmber, pfeffer

nit gar darainthon, soll es vor versúchen vnnd darnach machen,

man soll sý sieden vnngefarlich als 2 air, das gewirtz

vnnd saltz músß man dareinton nach aines gúten gedoncken,

man músß zuúor versúchen.

Translation

24 How one should make Zervelat. First take four pounds of pork from the tender area of the leg and two pounds of bacon. Let this be finely chopped and add to it three ounces of salt, one pound of grated cheese, one and one half ounces of pepper and one and one half ounces of ginger. When it is chopped then knead the following into it, one and one half ounces cinnamon, one fourth ounce of cloves, one fourth ounce of nutmeg and one ounce of sugar. The sausage skins must be cleaned and subsequently colored yellow, for which one needs not quite one fourth ounce of saffron. Tie it up on both ends and pour in approximately one quart of fresh water. The entire amount of salt, ginger and pepper should not be added, taste it first and season it accordingly. It should be cooked about as long as to cook eggs. The seasoning and the salt must be put into it according to one's own discretion, it must be tried first.

Ingredients

1 lb. pork, ground

1/2 lb bacon, ground

4 oz grated cheese (I used butterkasse)

1 1/2 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground clove

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Water

Instructions

1. Mix together the meat and spices, adding water until it becomes sticky.

2. Stuff your mixture into a casing of your choice. Since I serve most of my sausages at room temperature, I use saran wrap.

3. Simmer your sausage until it will hold its shape and is mostly cooked if you want to create the yellow color that you see in the picture on its skin.

4. Remove the sausage from the water, add a very generous pinch of saffron to the water and allow the saffron to steep while the sausage cools till it is cool enough to handle.

5. Remove the wrap from the sausage. Place the sausage in the saffron water and slowly bring to a simmer, allow the sausage to finish cooking. The saffron water will dye the "skin". The longer the sausage remains in the saffron water the yellower it will get.

Please Note: Boiling water will make the plastic melty -- do not boil.

For more information on where I came across this method of making sausage, please watch the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtKXCY0HudA

Sources

"Greneboke". Greneboke.Com, 2022, http://greneboke.com/recipes/zervelat.html. Accessed 14 Oct 2022.

"Das Kochbuch Der Sabina Welserin (C. 1553)". Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, 2022, https://www.uni-giessen.de/fbz/fb05/germanistik/absprache/sprachverwendung/gloning/tx/sawe.htm. Accessed 14 Oct 2022.