GTOD Vigil Recipe - Von eingepickten hünern - Pickled Chicken - Inntal. In: Ostbairische Grenzmarken 12 (1970) 118-128.

As you can see, I had originally worked on translating this recipe in anticipation of the 12th Night event that did not happen.  I found it such a unique dish, I wanted to bring it to Appolonia's Vigil.  It was quite popular.  And will be making an appearance at a future event. 

Slightly disappointed that what I thought was cheese soup (Käeßsuppen does mean cheese soup just ask google!!) but was more of a spread to go on bread, I thought I needed to "round out" the first course of the 12th Night feast with a meat cooked in a broth, or a soup like substance :-/.  To be fair, the cheese sops, the fennel and bacon savory pastries, smoked neat's tongue, various sausages & mustard, pickled vegetables and pears in syrup should be enough! However, I want to offer something for individuals who may not be interested in trying the pork or beef dishes. I really need a "chicken" dish.

Fortunately, I don't need to make a lot of this dish to satisfy the nibbley-appetizer part and this does fit the very definition of something to be served to open the stomach--it is vinegary, and contains warm spices! Perfecto!

I think on first look, people would be turned off by the idea of a "pickled chicken". I was and I had bypassed the recipe in my search for that "little something else" before actually looking at the ingredients.  I had cooked something similar before for a private dinner!! Chicken Ambrogino with Dried Fruit from "The Medieval Kitchen; Recipes from France and Italy" by Odile Redon, Francoise Sabban & Silvano Serventi--it is absolutely delicious, and should be served again at a future date.  Voila!  

According to the author's, this dish falls into the category of escabeches- dishes that are marinated in vinegar and spices used for preserving meat, fish or vegetables.  No wonder it is referred to as "pickled".  I must admit, that having cooked to great success a similar dish, I did not do a lot of testing of this recipe. I know that the portions presented in the previously mentioned cookbook appeal to modern tastes, so I pulled it down and am using a similar method for this dish.  There are some things that are present in the Chicken Ambrogino not found in this dish, for example, the bread that thickens the sauce.  I may need to do a bit more cooking down of the sauce to form the syrup.  

Stefan's Florilegium is an abslute Gem! If you have an interest in things Medieval, please visit. It is where I found this translation of the Inntal.

Von eingepickten hünern
Nim weinper, zwifal, mandel, essich ader
wein vnd mach dy h¸ner zu III tailen vnd
legs ein vnd mach sy ab mit gew¸rcz vnd
richcz an.

Pickled chickens

Take raisins, onions, almonds, vinegar and wine, cut the chickens into three parts, put them into the pickle, spice them and serve.

Ingredients

3-4 Chicken breast and thighs cut into chunks

1/2 cup Raisins

1 large Onions

1/2 cup Almonds

3 tbsp.  Red Wine Vinegar added to 1/2 cup chicken broth 

1/4 cup Red Wine

For Spices; 1 tbsp. fine spice powder.

I'm cutting the chicken into manageable chunks instead of leaving it whole as this will be an appetizer served alongside roasted neat's tongue, and sausages so it needs to be easily skewearable.  The plan is simple, mix all ingredients together and cook in a pot until the chicken has cooked through, and the sauce has thickened up. Note: I may need to add more liquid to this, and if so I will simply double it up, but I have no idea at this point how much "sauce" will be needed for that amount of chicken to "stew" properly.  Serve.

Addendum: I cooked the sauce down till the pot was dry.  The chicken grabbed onto the flavors of the dish.  This was a great "make ahead" dish, that was delicious cold. 

Testing Recipe - Thus you must roast a pig.- The Registrum Coquine of John of Bockenheim

In order to determine which of the mustard sauces would best with the pork roast that will serve as the main dish of the second course of 12th Night, it has become necessary to interpret the recipe for it. This recipe can be found in the translation by Volker Bach here, The Registrum Coquine of John of Bockenheim.

I know I will not be roasting a whole pig, that would be entirely way too much meat for the expected 50ish people. The two proposed sauces with this dish are an apple mustard and a gingerbread sauce.

14 – Thus you must roast a pig. Take its organs, that is to say liver and lung, and chop them with a knife, and temper them with hard-boiled eggs, fat bacon (lardone), and parsley, marjoram, and raisins, and sweet spices. And then cut the pig along the side (per latus), and put it on a spit, and fill it with the mixture, and close up its side well, and draw one foot across the other, so that it stands well, and make it roast all through. And that will be for the rich.

Stuffed with this stuffing found in the Kuchenmaistrey

If you want to make a stuffing for a roast or poultry, hard-boil two eggs and chop parsley among them well, with a few Italian raisins and roast apples or pears. Knead it together with raw egg, add spices, a little saffron and salt, and fill it in. After you have reached through (hollowed out) the roast with your fingers or a piece of wood or a knife and have filled it, close it up with slivers of wood or sew the stuffing up with a thread so it does not come out. You can also put chopped bacon or butter into the stuffing if you want. (kuchenmaistrey 2.ix)

Ingredients

Pork Loin Roast
Opt. Liver and Lung (I can't get it where I live) sub ground pork?

Hard boiled Egg

Bacon

Parsley

Marjoram

Raisins

Sweet Spices

Roasted Apples or Pears

I plan on butterflying the pork loins and then stuffing them with the stuffing, rolling them up before roasting in the oven.  I know that there are at 8 people per table so the pork should be 2 1/2 to 3 pounds so that each person can get at least 1/4 pound of meat in this course.  I plan on garnishing the dish with apples stuffed with the same sausage mixture, so I will be using apples rather then pears in the stuffing. 

Here are my thoughts on initial recipe:

2 1/2 to 3 pounds pork 

1/2 pound ground pork 

2 hard boiled eggs

3-4 slices of bacon

2 tsp. each parsley and marjoram

1 tbsp. raisins

1 tsp. strong spice powder

1 roasted apple

Salt for modern taste

I plan on mixing the spices together and sprinkling them on the inside of the pork after it's been butterflied.  I also plan on adding salt and pepper on the outside of the pork. I plan on browning off the bacon and then mixing the remaining ingredients together (pork, chopped boiled eggs, chopped roasted apple, bacon diced, raisins and the spices) and stuffing the pork.  I plan on using kitchen twine to keep the roast together, lightly browning it and then I will cook it in a moderate oven (350)  until throughly cooked--I'm guessing a 40 t0 50 minutes. 

Now to test it :-)

GTOD Vigil Recipe - A delicious marcipan with quinces and almonds - Recipes from Anna Wecker’s Köstlich New Kochbuch (1598)

Marzipan of Quince and Almond

Found in Recipes from Anna Wecker’s Köstlich New Kochbuch (1598) this recipe for a marchpane made with quince sounds divine, and so it must be tested.  I have made marchpanes previously for a 12th Night feast, and was eager to try something a little different for this one. 

Ein köstlich Marcipan von Quitten und Mandeln in hefftigem Durchlauff von schwachem Magen (p. 49)

A delicious marcipan with quinces and almonds for strong diarrhea and weak stomachs Take nice quinces and steam them with quince juice in a tightly closed pot, or if you do it right they can produce the broth themselves (i.e. can be cooked without adding liquid). When they are nicely soft, remove their skin and take the best of their marrow or flesh so that no stone is added to it. Then take finely ground almonds and clean, bolted sugar as much as there are quinces and almonds. Take the half part of this and boil it into a syrup with rosewater or cinnamon water. Add the flesh of the quinces to this and let it dry or roast in a brass pan together. Then stir it well in a dish and the almonds with it, then place it on a clean table, work in the remaining sugar, and when it is like a gingerbread dough (ein teig zu Lebkuchen), shape it as you like, press in moulds, dry it in a baking oven or a stove (roehrofen). The same way, you may make pears or various kinds from pure quince flesh, or make krapfen (filled fried pastries) of this stuff, but do not work it so it becomes too stiff, leave it nicely soft. You can also fill wafers with it (for fritters).

Ingredients

Quince
Ground Almonds
Sugar
Rose or cinnamon water

I will use my previous recipe for Marchpane with the addition of quince paste.  With that thought in mind, I am trying a new method with my quinces.  I have cut three quinces in half and have placed them into a crockpot with enough apple juice to cover the bottom (about 2 ounces), and have set the crock pot on low.  I will allow the quinces to cook until they are soft. The idea to cook the quince in a crockpot came from a blog post I had found from well fed, flat broke "crock pot membrillo".

NOTE: I did not add sugar at this point because I want to follow the recipe as exactly as possible and I amnot making quince paste.  If this does not work as expected to cook the quinces to a pulp that can be put into marchpane, then it will become quince paste ;-) it will not be wasted. 

let the experimentation begin!

A short while later....

Quinces smell very good and are starting to soften but all of the apple juice has been absorbed or cooked off :-/ added more juice and water to come about halfway up the fruit--some of them were getting a bit brown. Still cooking on low and planning on continuing to do so for several more hours.

DAY 2

Pictured below are the lovely cooked quinces.  They cooked in the slow cooker for about six hours yesterday and are just now starting to get a reddish color.  Curiosity is prompting me to clean them of their skin and cores and return them to the crock pot for a bit longer.   I must have done it right, because the pot is full of "juice".  There is more there then what I put in yesterday and the fruit is nearly covered with it.  My next step is to remove seeds and cores, remove skins and remove most of the juice, return the fruit to the crock pot and continue to cook it.  There will not be any additional  sugar added to the fruit. 

Also, a small correction from yesterday--it was fresh pressed cloudy apple cider that was added yesterday--not apple juice.  It's the only "apple juice" I drink--sorry for the confusion for those who are following along.  Aren't they lovely?? Heavy,  glossy, and starting to break down!?

Day Three-- Complete!!

Today I finished the marzipan and ohmygoodness! It is delicious!.  The quinces cooked down to a beautiful maroon color which is offset by the almond flour. 

Finalized Recipe

3 tbsp. quince 

3/4 cup + almond flour

9 tbps. + confectioner sugar

Mix all ingrediants together until you get a dough that is similar to medieval gingerbread.  Mix two tbsp. almond flour with 1-2 tbsp. confectioner sugar and sprinkle it on your countertop.  Roll to approximately 1/4" and cut into shapes.  Allow to dry in a very low oven. 

As you can see I tried to decorate with edible gold stars but they do not show up well on the dough. I wish I could have gotten a better picture of it for you, it is a lovely orangy-pink in color and probably does not need any further decoration.  It is a lovely taste! You taste the quince, then the almonds, and towards the end of the bite, the flavors mix together and it tastes -almost- like cherries.  This is a go for FEAST!

GTOD VIGIL RECIPE - Käeßsuppen - Cheese Spread (not soup) - Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch, c. 1581

Original Recipe:

Nimm ein neuwen Käeß/ der vber Nacht gemacht ist/ vnd rüer jhn ab mit saurem Rahm/ thu frische Butter darein/ vnd laß darmit auffsieden/ so zergehet der Käeß. Vnnd wenn du wilt anrichten/ so nimm gebeht Schnitten Brot/ oder von Weck/ vnd geuß die Brüeh darüeber/ so ist es ein gute Vngerische Käeßsuppen. 

46 Take a new cheese/ that (was) made overnight/ and stir it up with soured cream/ put fresh butter therein/ and let (it) come to a boil therewith/ so the cheese breaks down. And when you want to prepare it (serve it)/ so take sliced bread/ or from a loaf. And pour the broth over (it)/ so is a good Hungarian cheese soup. 

This recipe reminds me of Sir Kenelm Digby's Savoury Tostyde which is absolutely out of this world delicious. 

We will start with similar proportions as those given by Digby, which creates a very delicious "cheese goo", that can be made ahead and heated day of.  

1/2 lb butter 
1/2 lb cream cheese - Sub sour cream 
1/8 lb new cheese

**1/4 t white pepper (to taste)

**Salt to taste

YUM

Day 2: What is a "New Cheese" 

The recipe specifies "a new cheese / that was made overnight"  so it is assumed that while this "soup" is supposed to be flavorful, it is to be a mild flavor.  Fortunately, we don't have to look very far for instructions on how to make a "New Cheese".  The " Nyeuwen cooc boeck by Gheeraert Vorselman" supplies the following recipe: 

2.198 Om plattekaas te maken

Neem wat stremsel, doe het in room of melk en laat dat een nacht staan bezinken. Doe het dan in de [kaas]mandjes. Leg [eerst] in de mandjes schone doekjes, en giet de gestremde melk erin. Belast het met een steen en laat het dan uitlekken. Doe er dikke room over.

2.198 To make fresh (soft) cheese

Take some rennet, add it to cream or milk and let it set for a night. Then put it in [cheese] baskets. [First] put clean cloth in the baskets, then pour in the curds. Weigh it down with a stone and then let it drain. Pour fat cream over it.

Rennet

Milk

**Salt

I have not worked with rennet to make cheese before.  I am very familar with the cheese made from adding an acid agent to it.  In order to better learn how to do this, I visited one of my favorite blogs-Grow, Forage, Cook, Ferment, who has a very well written set of instructions for making a simple rennet cheese.

Third Day - Test Recipe

The test recipe was made using 2 tbsp. large curd cottage cheese, 2 tbsp. sour cream and 1 tbsp. butter, pinch of white pepper. I chose cottage cheese because it is similar to fresh made acidic cheese (the process is the same) and appears to resemble the simple rennet cheese from previous research.  There are four kinds of  ready made fresh cheeses that can be purchased; the most period appropriate (for this event)  is quark followed by cream or cottage cheeses. Since the cheese is not specified as acid or rennet created, only new, I chose cottage cheese for it's overall availability.

First impression - not bad but it could be better.  This creats a tangy soup with lumps of cheese curd in it.  I was hoping the cottage cheese would break down a bit more, but instead it firmed up and became chewy which I did not care for.  This may change if using something like "quark", and I know it will be smooth using "cream cheese".

Instead of using a "new cheese" I might opt for something along the lines of a Gouda or Muenster or a mix of the two.  Both Gouda and Munster enjoy a long history. Gouda is dated to around 1184 and is a Dutch cheese.  Munster is a French cheese, not to be confused with Muenster, which is an American made cheese that imitates the French style of cheese. 

The advantages of using these two semi-soft cheeses is that they are a little more flavorful then cottage cheese, and will stand up better to the sour cream which overpowered the cottage cheese.  Additionally, I am hoping for a creamier smoother soup, vs a creamy soup with the occasional lump.  Personal preference. 

Alternatively, cream cheese could be used with a little bit of "another cheese" for color and flavor.  We will see. 

Fourth Day

This recipe really bother's me. So I'm doing more research. On to my favorite site for research "Medieval Cookery" hosted by Dan Myers, where I did a search on "cheese". I found another recipe from a similar time period and same region for brouet (brodittum) of cheese in the Registrum Coquine hosted by Volker Bach! WIN!

Thus make a brouet (brodittum) of cheese. Take fresh cheese mixed with eggs, and add saffron with other sweet spices. After that, take fat broth and put it in, and do not stir (moveas) it until you wish to eat it. Then put into (serving) dishes as much as you wish, and put the spices on top. And this will be for Frenchmen and Englishmen.

This seems to be a more workable recipe and more familiar to modern tastes then the previous and therefore this *might* be what I will work with.  

Ingredients

Cheese (fresh)

Eggs

Saffron

"other sweet spices"

Broth

This has a close resemblence to my interpretation of  "Arbolettys" which creates a very cheesy comforting soup flavored with sage.  It is delicious. 

A comparison between arbolettys and the brouet of cheese ingredients yields the following differences: 

Milk instead of broth
No Butter
Herbs in addition to spices (parsley & sage)

A comparison of the brouet of cheese to the original recipe for  Käeßsuppen yields the following differences: 

No eggs

No Saffron

Sour cream instead of broth

No spices or herbs

I will be testing the brouet of cheese later today.  Here are my thoughts on the recipe which should be enough to create a single serving of soup. 

Test Recipe

1 cup broth (chicken)
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup or to taste cottage cheese mixed (it's what I have)

2 eggs

Similar Recipes: 

Fourme of Curye [Rylands MS 7] - .lxxxlx. Brewet of ayroun.

Gentyll manly Cokere (MS Pepys 1047) - Egges yn brewte.

Something to look forward too for LUNCH!! 

Day 5--AARGHS!!

Armed with the original recipe's ingrdients I've spent the past several days researching.  I think, it's not a soup.  I think it's a sop, that is, something that goes on top of bread.  This is why.

With the exception of seasoning, the original recipes ingredients are directly identical to modern day Pfälzer Spundekäs, a spread that is regionally associated with North Rhein Westphalia and Rhineland Palatinate. It is a cheese paste, typically served on toasted bread or with pretzels. 

Here is the recipe--note, butter is missing in favor of onion, garlic, pepper, salt and paprika.  I was correct in the assumption that this resembles Digby's cheese goo.  So do I want to serve a spread on toasty bread or a soup in a bread bowl? 

Ingredients

4 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces Quark cheese
1/2 cup sour cream (100 ml)

4 tbsp. butter

1/2 onion
garlic
pepper
salt
2 teaspoons paprika

Instructions

Mix the cream cheese, quark and sour cream together in a bowl and beat until creamy. Dice the onions finely and add to the mixture. Season with pressed garlic, paprika, salt and pepper and allow to sit for 3 hours in a refrigerator.

Final Decision -- There is no soup at this feast, there will however be great slabs of the pastry flavored with fennel and bacon and made with a mixture of wheat and rye, assorted cured meats and/sausages, the mustard pickled vegetables, and the pears in syrup for the first course.  YUM!!

I will include the salt and pepper for modern taste, but none of the other spices in the modern recipe.  I do plan on serving an onion relish though, that should make up for any loss of flavor by not including the garlic, onion, pepper or paprika.  

Recipe

1 cup quark or cottage cheese
4 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream

Note: Although not period to make a smoother sauce add 1/2 tsp. baking soda if you are using cottage cheese. 

Mix all ingredients, cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour.

Then put it into a heavy bottomed pan (or double broiler) and simmer over low heat stirring  with a wisk until cheese has started to melt and everything has blended to a smooth consistency. Can be made ahead of time and heated day of. 

Homemade Quark - Instapot recipe

1/2 gallon whole milk
1 quart butter milk
Cheese cloth

Put the milk and buttermilk in Instant Pot and set for Yogurt. Put the lid on and press ‘YOGURT’ then ‘ADJUST.’ Hold the adjust button until it says ‘BOIL.’ Then after it beeps press ‘YOGURT ‘ and set time for 13 hours (overnight). Once done put cheese cloth in a strainer over large bowl and pour out, reserving the liquid (whey). I used that later for the ricotta. Put in fridge for another six hours in cheese cloth over a bowl to continue to drain. Then use as desired.