Italian (Medieval) – Dayboard: Push for Pennsic (16th & Early 17th Century Italian Dishes)

 Served July 9, 2022, for Aveline de Ceresbroch

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to cook for a dear friend and prepare a dayboard for the Push for Pennsic event held in my hometown of Troy, Ohio. The event was hosted by the Marche of Havenhold. This was a fun meal to put together and I am grateful for the opportunity to have done it. Thank you Aveline for asking :-) I was able to work with a few recipes that I did not think I would be able to do on a much larger scale. I learned quite a few new things, and, several recipes will be making an appearance again!

Most of the recipes can be found in "The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi". However, two of the recipes are found in Bartolomeo Stefani's "L' Arte di ben cucinare", available for free on Google Books at the link in the title. I had to translate from the original language into English, and then construct the recipe. Lastly, Project Gutenberg's "A Book Of Fruits And Flowers" by Anonymous supplied another recipe.

The menu is below:

Uva Fresca di Piu sorti - grapes of all manners - Scappi

Mandorle e noci fresche -Fresh walnuts and almonds -Scappi

Mostaccioli a la Romana - sweet cake - Del Turco

Ingredient list - sugar, flour, almond flour, egg yolk, cinnamon powder, opt: dried fruit

Biscottini di zuccaro - Sugar Biscuits - Stefani

Ingredient list - egg white, sugar

Preparare una gattafura di cipolle alla genovese. - To prepare Genevese Onion gattafura (tart) Scappi

Ingredient list - pastry dough (whole wheat and white flour mix, oil, salt & water), fresh mozzarella balls, onions, vinegar, salt and pepper

Vaccina salpresa alessata, servito con petrosemolo Salted pressed beef, boiled served with parsley - Scappi

Ingredient list: Beef, salt, pink salt, coriander, black pepper, garlic powder, fenne

Per cuocere Broccoli asciutti. - to cook dry broccoli - Scappi

Ingredient list - broccoli, olive oil, garlic, orange juice, salt, and pepper

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

Ingredient list - lentils, garlic, pepper, salt, olive oil, lemon, fresh herbs

Insalata di arance tagliate a fette, servite con zucchero e acqua di rose - Sliced orange salad with orange flower water and sugar - Scappi

Ingredient list - oranges, orange flower water, lemon juice, dates, mint

Cascio - A Selection of Cheese - Manchego, White Cheddar & Gouda

Per preparare un twist ripieno. - To prepare a filled twist. - fruit stuffed pastry - Scappi

Ingredient list - currants (or raisins), dates, red wine, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, rosewater, flour, yeast, eggs, butter, salt

Conditi, & confettioni a beneplacito Comfits and candies to one's taste - Scappi

• Spanish Wedges

• Marzipan flavored with Quince

• Quince Paste

• Candied Angelica, Orange, Ginger, and Lemon Peels

• Figs in the French Fashion

Sources

"L' Arte Di Ben Cucinare". Google Books, 2022, https://www.google.com/books/edition/L_arte_di_ben_cucinare/J6M_AAAAcAAJ?q=&gbpv=1#f=false. Accessed 18 July 2022.

"The Opera Of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570)". Google Books, 2022, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Opera_of_Bartolomeo_Scappi_1570/oF2jsqrWtEkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover. Accessed 18 July 2022.

"The Project Gutenberg Ebook Of A Book Of Fruits And Flowers". Gutenberg.Org, 2022, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13265/13265-h/13265-h.htm. Accessed 18 July 2022.

Pressmetzen zu Ostern (GTOD Vigil Recipe)

Pressmetzen Zu Ostern, Precedella, Torten von Epffel and Sugared Mint Leaves

I'd like to send thanks to Volker Bach for the inspiration for the festive centerpiece of the Vigil Feast.  Shortly after I was asked to do the Vigil daybard, he shared a memory for an Easter Feast from 2021.  I knew that I needed to make this pastry and the Dockenmilch.  If you have not visited culina vetus you are doing yourself a disservice. The breadth of the material found there is staggering. 


The cookbook of Balthasar Staindl from Dillingen in 1544 entitled “How to bake the Pressmetzen at Easter”.

Pressmetzen zu Ostern (from Balthasar Staindl)

ccxxii Make a good gentle egg cheese (like a custard) and do not burn it. Put it on a draining board so that it sinks down (drains) well, then take the egg cheese and stir it apart with a spoon, add more eggs, a little sweet cream, also grate manchet bread into it, yellow it (with saffron), season it, add sufficient raisins. Then take manchet bread (semmel) dough from a baker, roll it out wide, put the above mentioned egg cheese on it, and wreath (kräntzel) it around and around (make a plaited edge). Bake it in an oven, but before you put it into the oven, add figs, put almonds on top. Anoint the wreath outside with yellowed (saffron-dyed) egg yolks and put it back into the oven briefly. These flecken (tarts) are blessed for Easter.

Pressmetzen zu Ostern (from Balthasar Staindl)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 packet or 2 tsp. yeast

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup lukewarm milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. salt 

1 egg

Stir together yeast, flour, sugar and salt.  Mix butter, milk and egg together. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. The dough will be very sticky and "shaggy" at this point. Work the dough until it is smooth and pliable ( about five minutes).  Place into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Ingredients: egg cheese ( Ayerschotten ):

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 egg yolks or 3 large eggs

Pinch salt

1 tbsp sugar

Whisk eggs with milk, sugar and salt. Put in a saucepan and heat slowly stirring constantly until the liquid starts to boil.  Continue to stir until the whey separates from the egg cheese allow to cool to room temperature. Place a cheesecloth in a strainer, add the egg cheese, weight with a plate and add some cans to the top in order to press the cheese.  You want it as dry as possible before you add the remaining ingredients. Note: this can be made a day ahead. 

Other filling ingredients:

2 eggs

~1/3 cup breadcrumbs

1-2 tbps. sweet cream 

Pinch of saffron

1 tbsp. sugar

3/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup chopped figs

1 egg yolk

Once the egg cheese is dry,  stir in remaining eggs,  breadcrumbs and sweet cream into the egg cheese. Fold in the raisins, color with saffron and sugar to taste.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle and spread the egg cheese filling on top. Fold the dough over and twist into a ring on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Let this rest for another 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped figs and almonds. Bake in the hot oven for 20 minutes. Brush with egg yolk. Bake again for about 15 minutes.

Lemon and Ginger Syrup

Tacuinum Sanitatis: Medieval Horticulture and Health

Drink syrups are an easy way to bring flavor to the feast. They are easily portable and do not require refrigeration. They can also be diluted "to taste". I am uncertain where I found the ginger syrup recipe but would like to give the attribution to the author. If someone knows where this is located, please let me know.

If you are interested in other kinds of drinks that have been served at past events, please consider visiting the following link:

What to Drink? Four Drink Syrups for Recreation Feasts 

Lemon Syrup courtesy of   David Friedman

Take lemon, after peeling its outer skin, press it and take a ratl of juice, and add as much of sugar. Cook it until it takes the form of a syrup. Its advantages are for the heat of bile; it cuts the thirst and binds the bowels. [Translation from the Miscellany:http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/drinks.html]

Ingredients:

1 quart lemon juice
4 1/2 cups sugar

Heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for about 15 minutes-half an hour. Refrigerate. To use, dilute about 8 to 1 with water.

Ginger Syrup:

Ingredients

Approximately 2/3 cup Ginger
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup lemon juice
4 cups sugar

Peel a big hunk of ginger and mince. (About 2/3 c. per batch) Mix 2.5 cups water with 4 cups sugar. Bring to a boil. Add 1 cup lemon juice and reduce heat. Add several spoonful's of the ginger. Simmer until reduced by 1/6. Add rest of ginger. Simmer until reduced by about 1/3 from start. Cool. Strain & bottle. To use, dilute about 8 to 1 with water.

Note: if you cut the ginger into chunks rather than mincing, you can use the strained out chunks, put them in sugar syrup at the soft ball stage, and roll them in sugar to candy them.