How to Render Suet (Tallow) – 3 Easy Methods

How to Render Suet (Tallow) – Three Easy Methods for Cooking & Historical Recipes

Finding real suet can feel like a scavenger hunt—especially outside the winter months. If you do get your hands on it, rendering suet into tallow is absolutely worth it: cleaner flavor, longer shelf life, and perfect for historic pies, pastries, and frying.

Kitchen Adventures – Bryndons - Crispy Fried Dough with a Sweet and Fruity Sauce (Harleian MS. 279 (ab. 1430))

xlix. Bryndons

One of the very first recipes that I wanted to try after receiving 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 as a gift was this one. I am uncertain why I have not tried to interpret this sooner. The instructions are very straightforward and creates an absolutely divine fruit sauce that when paired with the fried noodles is surprisingly modern.

.xlix. Bryndons.—Take Wyn, & putte in a potte, an clarifiyd hony, an Saunderys, pepir, Safroun, Clowes, Maces, & Quybibys, & mynced Datys, Pynys and Roysonys of Corauns, & a lytil Vynegre, [leaf 13.] & sethe it on þe fyre; an sethe fygys in Wyne, & grynde hem, & draw hem þorw a straynoure, & caste þer-to, an lete hem boyle alle to-gederys; þan take fayre flowre, Safroun, Sugre, & Fayre Water, ande make þer-of cakys, and let hem be þinne Inow; þan kytte hem y lyke lechyngys,*. [long thin strips. ] an caste hem in fayre Oyle, and fry hem a lytil whyle; þanne take hem owt of þe panne, an caste in-to a vesselle with þe Syrippe, & so serue hem forth, þe bryndonys an þe Sirippe, in a dysshe; & let þe Sirippe be rennyng, & not to styf.

xlix - Bryndons. Take Wyn, and putte in a potte, an clarifiyd hony, an Saunderys, pepir, Safroun, Clowes, Maces, and Quybibys, and mynced Datys, Pynys and Roysonys of Corauns, and a lytil Vynegre, and sethe it on the fyre; an sethe fygys in Wyne, and grynde hem, and draw hem thorw a straynoure, and caste ther-to, an lete hem boyle alle to-gederys; than take fayre flowre, Safroun, Sugre, and Fayre Water, ande make ther-of cakys, and let hem be thinne Inow; than kytte hem y lyke, (Note: long thin strips) an caste hem in fayre Oyle, and fry hem a lytil whyle; thanne take hem owt of the panne, an caste in-to a vesselle with the Syrippe, and so serue hem forth, the bryndonys an the Sirippe, in a dysshe; and let the Sirippe be rennyng, and not to styf

44. Bryndons - Take wine and put in a pot, and clarified honey, and saunders, pepper, saffron, cloves, mace and cubebs, and minced dates, pine nuts and currants, and a little vinegar, and seethe it on the fire; and seethe figs in wine, and grind them, and draw them through a strainer, and caste there-to, and let them boil all together; then take fair flour, saffron, sugar and fair water and make there of cakes, and let them be thin enough; then cut them like strips and cast them in fair oil, and fry them a little while, then take them out of the pan, and cast into a vessel with the syrup and so serve them forth, the bryndons and the syrup, in a dish; and let the syrup be running and not to stiff.

Interpreted Recipe                                                                                  Serves 1 as main, 2 as side

1 cups red wine (I substituted grape and pomegranate juice for the wine 50/50 mix)
1/4 cup figs (about 4-5 mission figs)
1-2 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. sandalwood (opt)
1/4 tsp. pepper (I used a mix of tri-pepper blend, long pepper, cubebs and grains of paradise)
pinch of saffron
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. mace
2-3 minced dates
1 tbsp. pine nuts
2-3 tablespoons currants
2-3 tablespoons raisins
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Put wine and figs into a pot and bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer and cook till figs are tender. Place figs and wine into a blender, give thanks to the kitchen gods, and grind. Return figs and wine to the pot and add remaining ingredients. Cook until remaining fruit is soft and syrup has thickened.

** Don't have cubebs or grains of paradise? Use the following as a substitute:

2 tbsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. clove
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. allspice
opt. 1/4 tsp cardamom

Mix together spices and then use what you need. For the recipe above that would be 1/4 tsp. each for the cubebs and the grains of paradise. Store what you don't need.

I have a confession to make-- to make the noodles, I cut won ton wrappers in half and fried in the same oil I cooked the Trayne Roste in. However, if you want to make the noodles here is the recipe:

Noodles Recipe

1 cup flour
1/4cup warm water
pinch of saffron
1/4 tsp. sugar and salt

Place saffron in warmed water and allow to cool. Once cooled mix all ingredients together until a dough is formed. Add more water if dough is too dry. Let sit approximately ten minutes before rolling dough out and cutting into strips. Fry in oil.

Similar Recipes

A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)

To mak Breney, put wyne in a pot and clarified hony saunders canelle peper clowes maces pynes dates mynced raissins of corans put ther to vinegar and sett it on the fyer. and let it boile then sethe fegges in wyne grind them and draw them through a strener and cast ther to and let them boile to gedur then tak flour saffron sugur and faire water and mak ther of faire cakes and let them be thyne then cut them bigge lassengis wise and fry them in oile a stonding sewe for sopers and strawe ther on annes in comfets and serue it.

Kitchen Adventures – Harleian MS. 4016, (~1450) Guisseƚƚ.

Harleian MS. 4016, (~1450) Guisseƚƚ. Bread Dumplings

Baronial 12th Night 

Guisseƚƚ.-- An interesting dish which makes very thrify use of bread that has been turned into bread crumbs, eggs and broth flavored with parsley and sage and colored with saffron. Sounds a lot like dressing, yes? My recipe creates many small, irregularly shaped "curds", or dumplings. Bonus? The broth thickens as the bread cooks leaving you with a gravy that you can use elsewhere. I do not recommend using it with your dumplings. They become very sticky and unappetizing! The instructions can be 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. Harleian MS. 4016, ab. 1450 A.D.

The instructions are just vague enough that I wasn't very certain of what I would end up with once it had been interpreted and cooked. I was half expecting a wet mucky (and unappetizing) unbaked dressing. What I ended up with was something that closely resembled a dumpling. I wonder if it's the precursor to boiled puddings?

The process reminded me very much of making the "rivals" for potato soup with rivals. The difference being that you "pinch off" pieces of the rival dough and put it into the boiling soup, whereas here we are instructed to "cast the stuff to the broth into the pan". Rather than pinch off pieces of dough, I made the dough somewhat crumbly, and then dropped by handfuls into the boiling broth and cooked till they came to the surface. Then using a slotted spoon, I fished out the dumplings and went on to the next batch and the next...this made A LOT of dumplings. As mentioned previously, I made a slight mistake when cooking the very last batch and didn't drain them as well as I wanted to :-/ There wasn't a lot of the thickened broth left but there was enough that the entire batch became bit sticky and gummy. I thought I had ruined it--but guess what? Treating them like spaetzle, I cooked them up in some bacon fat (which makes everything better).

Harleian MS. 4016, ab. 1450 A.D. Guisseƚƚ. [supplied by ed.] *. [Taken from Douce MS. ] [folio 15.] ¶ Take faire capon̄ brotℏ, or of beef, And sette hit ouer the fire, and caste þerto myced sauge, parcelly and saffron̄, And lete boile; And streyn̄ the white and þe yolke of egges thorgℏ a streynour, and caste there-to faire grated brede, and medle hit togidre with thi honde, And caste the stuff to the brotℏ into þe pan̄; And stirre it faire and softe til hit come togidre, and crudded; And þen̄ serue it forth hote.

Guissell. (Note: Taken from Douce MS.) Take faire capon broth, or of beef, And sette hit ouer the fire, and caste therto myced sauge, parcelly and saffron, And lete boile; And streyn the white and the yolke of egges thorgh a streynour, and caste there-to faire grated brede, and medle hit togidre with thi honde, And caste the stuff to the broth into the pan; And stirre it faire and softe til hit come togidre, and crudded; And then serue it forth hote

Guissell. (Note: Taken from Douce MS.) Take faire capon broth or of beef, and set it over the fire and cast thereto minced sage, parsley and saffron, and let it boil; and strain the white and the yolk of eggs through a strainer, and cast thereto grated bread and meddle it all together with your hand, and caste the stuff to the broth into the pan; and stir it fare and soft till it come together, and curded; and then serve it forth hot.

Interpreted Recipe

2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs

4 cups water
1 tsp. sage
1 tbsp. parsley
Pinch of saffron

Put your breadcrumbs and salt (which was added for modern taste) into a bowl, create a well and add in your eggs one at a time until it starts to form lumps. Mean wile, heat up the water, sage, parsley and saffron till it comes to a boil and then lower the heat so that the water is simmering. Add the dough in small batches until the irregularly shaped, curded dough floats like delicious pillowy dumplings. Using a slotted spoon remove from the broth and let drain while you are cooking your next batch.

I imagine since these appear to be very similar to Spaetzle that you could, if you wish to prepare them in advance, put them on a sheet pan, freeze and then thaw and cook with a little bit of butter or bacon fat before serving, although that is cook's prerogative and has nothing to do with the original recipe.
Now I totally cheated and used leftover herb stuffing mix, so my bread crumbs taste a bit like ummmm ~whispers~ stuffing mix that has been made into crumbs in the blender (Hey! They were *on sale* and turning stuffing into crumbs requires very little effort). The dumplings were perfectly lovely until I didn't drain that last batch very well. What a happy mistake...fried up in bacon fat they are nothing short of magical.

In reality, these dumplings were very likely served *in* the broth, and not outside of it. So bear that in mind, you may need a lot more broth then I created. I am planning on serving these as a side dish with a roasted chicken, and therefore choose not to serve them in the broth at this time.

Similar Recipes

Forme of Cury (England, 1390)

Jusshell. XX.II. III. Take brede ygrated and ayrenn and swyng it togydre. do erto safroun, sawge. and salt. & cast broth. þerto. boile it & messe it forth

A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)

To mak jusselle tak the swet brothe of a capon or of other good flesshe and set it on the fyere in a large vesselle colour it with saffron put ther to saige cut gret and salt it then tak eggs and drawe them through a strener and temper grated bread and eggs and stirre it to gedure till they be ronn and let the erbes be well mellid to gedur and when yt begynnythe to boille tak out the pot stik and turn the curd about with a scorner and let not the fyere be to hasty when it is throughe knyt tak it from the fyere and couyr it and serue it

Thomas Awkbarow's Recipes (MS Harley 5401)


Jussell. Recipe brede gratyd & egges & swyng þam togydere, & do þerto sawge & saferon & salt; þan take gode broth & cast it þerto, & bole it enforesayd, & do þerto as to charlete, & serof.

Kitchen Adventures – Cooking with Kids

Below is a class I had written addressing "Cooking with Kids" . It is one a series of presentations I had hoped to do that would introduce the younger members of the SCA to the culinary arts. This is a very general introduction to cooking with children which includes information on safety tips, age based skills and strategies that you can use at home.

Why cook with your children? The earlier your child learns how to cook, the sooner they will learn an essential life skill. Spending time in the kitchen gives children confidence and boosts their self esteem. It also teaches responsibility. An added benefit is that your children are learning science, language, fine motor skills, reading, problem solving, weighing, measuring, budgeting, sequencing, following directions and patience--and they don't even realize it :-)

Meals prepared from scratch are usually healthier, containing more nutrients, fewer calories, chemicals and sweeteners then prepackaged foods. Preparing meals together means you are spending quality time with your children. The time you spend together chatting and communicating is important.

Introducing your child to cooking can start at a very young age. As soon as my children were old enough to stand at the stove, they were old enough to learn how to cook--yes, they were in the kitchen banging on pots and pans, playing with measuring cups and spoons at the age of two.  While it seems that children of this age are limited, there is plenty they can do.  They are beginning to develop their motor skills, and their attention is very limited so remember to tailor your tasks to their particular abilities.  

As your children grow older you should allow them to increase their activities.  By six years old, they are starting to develop their own likes, opinons and desires.  They want to participate in activities that they see their older siblings or parents do.  Instead of telling your child "you are too young" encourage them in the kitchen!  It is an environment where you can safely supervise their activities while allowing them to explore. At this age you can also start introducing "projects", for example, making your own butter by adding cream and a little salt to a jar and letting them shake it.  They can also help you plan meals or find items in the pantry or fridge.  Don't tell them "they are too young"--they aren't. 

As early as nine years old, your child should be able to put together and cook a very simple meal. This is a perfect time to start speaking to your children about food safety and cross contamination.  You should be present in the kitchen, but allow your child to cook a meal once or twice a week.  Don't forget, that part of cooking is cleaning up afterwords.  Set aside a space for your child to grow their own garden vegetables too! 

It was in the kitchen that some of my most significant conversations took place.  It was our safe area, no topic is off limits and my children and their friends were able to discuss relationships, health concerns, hopes and dreams.  All three of my babies are out of the house now, but the kitchen is still a central part of our home.  

I hope you enjoy.

P.S.  This is my first attempt at bringing a power point presentation to blogger.

Kitchen Adventures – What? Wortys? Oh..those Brassica's!

Another remodel--the sun room which is attached directly to the kitchen making using the kitchen a challenge! So I thought I would try to cobble together a few more quick posts. Today's discusses the first five recipes 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, discussing wortys.  What are worts? Some of them might surprise you.

Medieval Wortys

.j. Lange Wortys de chare. -  a budget friendly and delicious dish of greens cooked in homemade beef broth thicked with bread crumbs and gently seasoned to your taste.  A noble dish for any table.

.ij. Lange Wortes de pesoun. - The second recipe in the pottages section elevates a simple dish of greens, lange wortys de chare, by adding peas that have been cooked to a mush and onions.  The pea's add a pleasant sweetness to an otherwise savory dish.  A must try.

iij - Joutes. - take a dish of greens, wild foraged or store bought, cook them in beef broth and "serve it forth in a dish, an bacon boiled in another dish, as men serve furmenty with venison."  Sound familiar? 

.iiij. Caboges. - another dish that should sound vaguely familiar and one of two recipes in the pottages section of the MS 279 specifically mentioning cabbage.  This has become my go-to for cooking "beef and cabbage", elevate this dish by following directions and "when you serve it in, knock out the marrow of the bones, and lay the marrow, two pieces, or three, in a dish as it seem best, and serve forth."

.v. Whyte wortes. - I grew up eating creamed spinach and was pleasantly surprised to find this recipe for creamed greens, appropriate for lent.  Almond milk is used instead of cow's milk to create this very simple dish which has become a family favorite.