De lasanis is one of the earliest references to pasta dishes resembling modern day cacio e pepe. The resemblance is striking — a simple but elegant combination of starch, cheese, and spice that became a cornerstone of Italian cookery. Redon's addition of yeast imparts a tang and complexity most modern cooks miss when substituting dried lasagna noodles. If you can, I recommend making your own—it’s surprisingly easy and richly rewarding.
A cretonnée is a type of medieval French pottage — basically a thick soup or stew — that usually combined a base of legumes or grains (peas, beans, rice, sometimes bread) with milk and egg yolks to create a rich, creamy texture.
Name origin: From Old French cretonnée, related to creton (a kind of porridge or mash). It signals a dish that’s been enriched or bound together.
Core structure: Unlike plain boiled peas or beans, a cretonnée always has that second stage of enrichment — eggs, milk (or almond milk on fast days), and sometimes saffron or spices.
Variations: Surviving recipes include cretonnée of peas, beans, rice, and even bread. Meat or poultry could be added as garnish, but it wasn’t always necessary.
Place in the feast: Because it was wet, spoonable, and thickened, it was served as part of the pottage course — after appetizers but before heavier roasts.
Luxury markers: Saffron, ginger, and almond milk were expensive, so even though peas and beans were humble, the finished dish could be quite elegant.
In short: a cretonnée is a thickened legume (or grain) pottage with milk and eggs, often spiced and colored, that straddles the line between hearty comfort food and refined banquet fare.
🍽 Menu Placement
This dish belongs in the pottage course of a medieval feast:
Form & texture: A wet, spooned dish thickened with peas and eggs.
Balance: The warmth of ginger and richness of yolks offered contrast to lighter appetizers and heavier roasts.
Flexibility: With or without meat, it fit either lean days or richer spreads.
⚖️ Humoral Qualities
Peas were considered cold and dry, best balanced with warming spices and saffron. Eggs and milk added moist warmth, making the dish more nourishing and suitable for colder seasons or balancing excess dryness in the body.
📜 Original Recipe
Middle French:
Cretonnée de pois: Prenez pois, et les lavez bien, et mettez à cuire; et quand ils seront cuits, mettez lait d’amandes, saffran et jaunes d’œufs, et faites cuire ensemble; et y mettez des pièces de char ou de poulaille, se vous voulez.
📜 Original Recipe (translation)
Cretonnée of peas: Take peas and wash them well, then boil them; and when they are almost cooked, add warm milk, egg yolks, and saffron, and let it all thicken together; and you may add pieces of meat if desired.
Del Brodo Saracenico – Saracen Chicken with Fruits & Almonds (Redon, 1998)
“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese. Used here as period context for a Renaissance savory pie.
Del Brodo Saracenico – Saracen Chicken with Fruits & Almonds (Redon, 1998)
Del brodo saracenico appears in medieval Italian sources and in modern redaction by Odile Redon et al. (1998). It marries roasted capon or chicken with wine, tart “acid juices,” toasted bread, almonds, dates, raisins, and a gentle spice blend—classic agrodolce (sweet-tart) Renaissance vibes with an evident Mediterranean/Arabic influence.
📜 Original Historic Recipe
Latin (Liber de Coquina, late 13th c.)
De brodio sarracenio: pro brodio sarraceno, accipe capones assatos et ficatella eorum cum speciebus et pane assato tere bene, distemperando cum bono vino et succis agris. Tunc frange membratim dictos capones et cum predictis mite ad bulliendum in olla, suppositis dactilis, uvis grecis siccis, amigdalis integris mondatis et lardo sufficienti. Colora sicut placet.
English (modern translation)
“Saracenic broth: to make Saracenic broth, take roasted capons and their livers with spices and toasted bread, pound them well, diluting with good wine and acidic juices. Then cut the capons into pieces and cook in a pot with the ingredients mentioned before, placing on top dates, Greek raisins, whole peeled almonds, and sufficient lardo. Color as you like.”
Note: Source and translation discussion in the references below.
“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese. Used here as period context for a Renaissance savory pie.
Sources: Bartolomeo Scappi, Opera dell’arte del cucinare, 1570 (Book II, cap. 193); Odile Redon, Françoise Sabban, Silvano Serventi, The Medieval Kitchen, 1998.
Mushrooms were a popular ingredient in Renaissance Italy, eaten in fast-day dishes and served alongside roasted meats. This recipe for Fungi di Monte (“mushrooms of the mountain”) comes to us from Bartolomeo Scappi’s monumental 1570 Opera. Redon adapts it into a clean, modern version while preserving its essential spicing and method.
Historic Recipe (Scappi, 1570)
Per cuocere funghi di monte in più modi.
Dopo che saranno ben nettati, si cuociano in acqua calda, & si lascino scolare; poi si facciano soffriggere con cipolla trita, olio, sale, pepe, canella, garofali, & altre buone spetiarie. Si possono anco cuocere con burro fresco, & cacio parmigiano, & similmente si possono friggere in pastello.
Translation
To cook mountain mushrooms in several ways.
After they are well cleaned, cook them in hot water and let them drain; then fry them with chopped onion, oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and other good spices. They may also be cooked with fresh butter and Parmesan cheese, and likewise they may be fried in batter.
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