Rose Conserve - The Queen-like Closet (1675)

Old Fashioned Rose Petal Jam

Conserve? Jam? Jelly? Marmalade? Cake? Paste? Compote? Butters? Curds? What are they? Before electricity and the advent of modern day refridgeration and freezing food preservation was an art. It still is, don't get me wrong, but think about it. Living seasonally has made me much more aware of how necessary it was to carefully preserve summer and fall bounties to make it through the leaner winters and springs. I can't go into my garden and pick a quart of fresh strawberries in winter, but I might be able to go into my cellar and bring up cabbages, turnips, apples or a winter squash. Our ancestors were geniuses! They had to be. Many of us would be lost if we had to survive without electricity or refridgeration for more then a few days. they lived their lifetimes without it.
 
Sugaring is a method of food preservation, along with smoking, salting, drying and pickling. I have become fascinated with the way sugar was employed in the diet of our ancestors. It was thought to be a medicine so I can't help but thing that the copious amounts that were used in cooking was medicinal as well as functional for flavor. It's a fascinating part of food history with a wide variety of methods employed to create the final product. The Food History Timeline offers this quote to support the long history of preserving food with honey or sugar: 

"The earliest kind of jam making...dates back to pre-Roman times, when fruit pulp was mixed with honey and spices and dried in the sun. In the first century AD, Greeks made a preserve, using their abundant crops of quinces, by stuffing pieces of peeled and pipped raw fruit tightly into jars filled with honey. After a year the fruit became soft as wine-honey'. This Greek quince preserve was called melomeli' (apple: melo, in honey: meli). The Romans later reversed the words into melimela' and improved the preserve by cooking the fruit in the honey with pepper and spices and sealing the jars to make them airtight. Quinces had a high pectin content so that when cooked, preserves made with them would have had a very solid texture. Pectin is a vital ingredient for successful jelly and jam making... By the 17th century...cane sugar was more readily available, and preserving fruit with sugar became an affordable option. Recipes that previously used honey were easily adapted...The English had their own particular version that included pieces of warden pear, but seemed to prefer the Portuguese quince preserve. Using their sugar from India and their abundance of quinces, the Portuguese had developed their own specialty, which they called marmelada' (like the Roman melimela')...As early as the sixteenth century, little chests of marmelada were included in the cargoes of Portuguese merchant ships arriving in English ports. Gradually the same process was applied to other fruits, which then came to be known as a marmalade' of pears, damsons, or plums..." ---Pickled, Potted and Canned: How the Art and Science of Food Preserving Changed the World, Sue Shepard, chapter on sugar (p. 163-174)
The main differences when discussing the different ways to preserve with sugar are the methods used to incorporate the sugar, the kind of fruit used, the size of the fruit, the addition of additional ingredients (booze, spices, nuts, additional fruit) and the proportion of sugar to fruit. Some of the methods we will discuss today were used in period, others (such as fruit curds) would not have been available. 

Preserve is a "catch all" word but when referring to sugaring as a method of preservation, fruit preserves are whole or pieces of fruit suspended in a jelly or a syrup.  Preserves may or may not include additional spices, alcohol, acids or pectin. A great example of a period fruit preserve is .x. Wardonys in syryp which creates pears that have preserved in a syrup flavored with red wine, sugar, vinegar, ginger and saffron. 

What is a conserve? Conserves are a jam which is made up of fruit, or in this case flower petals, mixed with sugar and sometimes other things such as nuts or spices. They can be referred to as "posh jams" and have a consistency that is softer then jam and very spreadable.

If a conserve is a jam, what is a jam? Great question! Jam's consist of a fruit (or flower petal) that has been chopped, crushed, mashed into small pieces and cooked with sugar until it gels. Sometimes additional pectin or an acid of some kind is added to the jam.

Jellies are a mixture of fruit (or petals) and sugar which has been cooked then strained so that the juice becomes the primary ingredient. By definition jellies should be clear without added fruit or spices.

Marmalades are specifically any citrus fruit that has been chopped and then preserved with sugar. The fruit is peeled and the peeled is cooked for a long, slow period of time to soften it before the sugar is added. Ideally a marmalade will be between the consistency of jam and jelly and consist of peices of the peel suspended in a clear jelly. The word marmalade dates back to the Greek melimēlon, which refers to quince stored in honey. My interpretation of Hannah Wooley's orange marmalade can be found here: The Queen-like Closet (1675) - LXXXVI. To make the best Orange Marmalade. - Orange Marmalade. Another more time consuming example of a marmalade is Sir Hugh Platt's To preserve Oranges, after the Portugal fashion which creates an orange marmalade inside of a whole preserved orange peel. 

A "cake" consists of fruit and sugar that has been cooked, pureed and then dried and I believe is the grandfather of our modern day gummy candies or fruit rollups dependant upon how thick you make your sheets and how long you allow them to dry. A good example of this kind of recipe is my interpretation of  Hannah Wooley's dried peaches.

Fruit pastes consists of fruit and sugar, sometimes spices that have been cooked over low heat for a very long period of time until they become concentrated in their flavors. They are then spread onto a tray or a sheet similar to the method you would use for the "cakes" and then dried in an oven. I recently published my interpretation of Sir Hugh Platt's To Make Quidinia of Quinces (Delights for Ladies, Sir Hugh Platt, 1600) which makes a beautiful fruit paste of quince.

Compotes may contain fresh or dried fruit, whole or in pieces and other ingredients that have been cooked in a sugar syrup that may be fortified with liquor or spices and cooked slowly to allow the fruit to keep it's shape. While conserves or jams may be saved for later, compotes are most normally used right away. If that were not confusing enough a coulis is basically a compote that has been pureed to a smooth consistency.

Fruit butters are cooked fruit which has been pureed until smooth and then added to sugar and heated gently until the fruit darkens. They are not cooked until they jelly, but rely on the high pectin content of the fruit to create thickness. They have a much lower sugar content then jams, conserves or jellies. According to the FDA, fruit butter can only be made and labeled such from eight fruits; apples, apricots, grapes, peaches, pears, plums, prunes, and quince.

Curds are a mixture of fruit, sugar, butter and eggs that have been cooked together to form a smooth creamy spread that *must be refridgerated* in order to keep. 


The queen-like closet; or, Rich cabinet stored with all manner of rare receipts for preserving, candying & cookery. Very pleasant and beneficial to all ingenious persons of the female sex. By Hannah Wolley offers this fascinating recipe for a conserve of roses that I had to try. I find it delicious but it is one of those things that you will either like or not like. I like to serve mine over ice cream or on bread. The most common rose used was the apothocary rose, or Rosa gallica officinalis, prized for its scent. This rose is believed to have originated in Persia and legend has it that the rose received it's color from a nightingale who so loved the white rose that it grasped it tightly, the thorn piercing the nightingale and that it was the nightingales blood that turned the white rose red. Thus the rose also became known as the Dasmask rose. Whatever it's origins, it is known that the rose was brought to England with the return of the crusade knights sometime in the 12th or 13th century. 

LXXXVIII. To make Conserve of red Roses. 

Take their Buds and clip off the Whites, then take three times their weight in sugar double refin'd; beat the Roses well in a Mor∣tar, then put in the sugar by little & little, and when you find it well incorporated, put it into Gally Pots, and cover it with sugar, and so it will keep seven years.

Recipe

1 part very fragrant rose petals
3 parts sugar

Fortunately for us we do not need to use a mortar. Do be sure to clean your roses very well. I usually pick mine in the morning, wash them very quickly with water and remove the petals and then store them in the refridgerator overnight. I do this to humanely kill any pests that chose to cling to the petals. Sorry guys :-( The next day I gently rinse them again and dry them on a towel, clip off the bitter white end of the petal and then place it and the sugar into my blender and blend until well blended. At this point I put it into jelly jars and store in my fridge.

While I would have LOVED to have shown you a picture of this, I only had enough conserve to make 2 pint jars both of which have been consumed. So you get a *bonus* recipe--Rose petal jam. For those who you didn't know, my rose bushes were very hard hit a few years ago in winter and many of them died. I am slowly replacing them, but my rose yields are still somewhat small. Early in the year I had enough roses to make the conserve. However, in the second blooming I had enough petals to make rose petal jam, something I intend to give away as a gift this year along with violet syrup.

Old Fashioned Rose Petal Jam                                                                      Makes about 3 pints

1 1/2 cups water (I used bottled)
Approximately 2 cups (more is better) lightly packed fragrant rose petals (alternatively you could use dried petals keeping in mind that 1/3 cup dried is equal to 1 cup fresh just be sure what you use is *food grade*)
2 cups sugar
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp pectin (as an alternative you could cook 1 green apple with your rose petals skin, pips and all. The apple should contain enough pectin to make thicken to jelly. I chose the pectin)

Bring roses and water to a simmer in a sauce pan and simmer for about ten minutes. Add 1 3/4 cup of sugar and stir until dissolved. Do not be disappointed that the color is not what you would want, the brilliant red color will come when you do the next step--it's magic! Add lemon juice and watch the magic happen. Simme for another ten minutes or so. While it is simmering add pectin to remaining sugar and stir to prevent clumping when you add the remaining sugar and pectin to your jam. Do so a spoonful at a time making sure that it is well incorporated before adding the next spoonful. Cook for another 20 minutes or so and then remove it from the stone and put into your jars. It will seem very loose--but do not worry as it cools it will set. This is best used in two months or, go ahead and process through canning for longer term storage.

I hope you enjoy this unusual and tasty treat as much as I do.

Gallipot ~1650

















Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) -.Cxlij. Vyande Ryalle. - A Royal Dish (incomplete recipe)

My thinking cap! Detail from the Luttrell Psalter British Library add MS 42130
Sometimes in cooking we are presented with a mystery, some portion of the manuscript is missing or has been damaged, and we are given just enough information to begin to interpret a recipe but not enough to complete it.  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 Thomas Austin contains several incomplete recipes, Vyande Ryalle, a Royal Dish is one of them.  Some of the text is missing and it makes it difficult to guess what the missing ingredient is in order to complete the dish. This post reveals my attempts at trying to discover what is missing in hopes of being able to  recreate this interesting sounding dish.  I do have an interpretation at the end of this post, but it is there with the caveat that what I have recreated may have no actual resemblance to the dish as originally intended. 

The   Fourme of Curye has a similarly named dish but it bears no resemblance to this dish that I am attempting to recreate.  The closest that I have come to discovering what the missing ingredient is --and I caution this is a guess on my part--is the Brawn Ryal from Wagstoff Miscellaney. It contains most of the instructions for the dish below, and gives further instructions on the various ways to color it. Here is what I uncovered in my researching of this recipe.

Vyande is another spelling of the word viand, viaunde (French) and viandas (Spanish) which originally meant food (animal or vegetable) or dish in the 11th Century, but eventually became specifically associated with meat.  I find an interesting correlation between Vyande Ryalle, meaning a royal meat or a dish and Brawne Ryal.  In the 13th Century, the word Brawne specifically referred to wild boar but by the early 14th Century "brawne" meant any muscular part of the body.

.Cxlij. Vyande Ryalle.—Nyme gode Mylke of Almaundys, & do it in a potte, & sette it ouer þe fyre, & styre it tyl it boyle almost; þen take flour of Rys & of þe selue Mylke, an draw it þorwe a straynoure, & so þer-with a-lye it tylle it be Chargeaunte, & stere it faste þat it crouste noȝt; þen take [gap: ] owte of grece, & caste it þorw a Skymoure, & colour þat Sewe þer-with; þan take Sugre in confyte, & caste in y-now; sesyn it with Salt & ley þre lechys in a dysshe, & caste Aneys in comfyte þer-on, & þanne serue forth.

Cxlij - Vyande Ryalle. Nyme gode Mylke of Almaundys, and do it in a potte, and sette it ouer the fyre, and styre it tyl it boyle almost; then take flour of Rys and of the selue Mylke, an draw it thorwe a straynoure, and so ther-with a-lye it tylle it be Chargeaunte, and stere it faste that it crouste no3t; then take [Gap) owte of grece, and caste it thorw a Skymoure, and colour that Sewe ther-with; than take Sugre in confyte, and caste in y-now; sesyn it with Salt and ley thre lechys in a dysshe, and caste Aneys in comfyte ther-on, and thanne serue forth.

142 - Royal Dish - Take good milk of almonds, and do it in a pot and stir it over the fire, and stir it till it boil almost (simmers); then take flour of rice and of the same (self) milk, and draw it through a strainer, and so there-with mix it till it be thick, and stir it fast that it crusts not; then take (gap) out of grease, and caste it through a skimmer, and color that sauce there-with; then take sugar in comfit, and caste in enough; season it with salt, and lay three slices in a dish, and caste anise in comfit there-on, and then serve forth.

The Middle English Dictionary  was a good location to start to try to discover the missing ingredient in the attempt to recreate this dish. It defines a "Viande (Vyande)" as "Prepared food; a dish, esp. an elaborate dish" also as "specific dishes consisting of ground poultry or fish or fruit boiled in almond milk or wine, thickened and colored yellow". This is interesting because the recipe prior to this in the manuscript is .Cxlj. Noteye, uses hazel leaves (haselle leuys) as a coloring agent for an almond milk and broth based dish which contains ground pork or capon. The instructions clearly indicate that the almond milk and broth are to be thickened with rice flour and seasoned with vinegar, ginger, saffron and salt. Colored with the juice of the hazel leaves, and prior to being served hazel nuts are fried in grease and  placed upon the dish. The instructions also state that the leaves chosen should be young "whyl þat þey ben ȝonge".  I was unsure if hazel leaves were edible but after some time researching discovered that the young leaves are considered a forage food and are edible. 
.Cxlj. Noteye.—Take a gret porcyoun of Haselle leuys, & grynd in a morter as smal as þou may, whyl þat þey ben ȝonge; take þan, & draw vppe a þrift Mylke of Almaundys y-blaunchyd, & temper it with Freysshe broþe; wryng out clene þe Ius of þe leuys; take Fleysshe of Porke or of Capoun, & grynd it smal, & temper it vppe with þe mylke, & caste it in a potte, & þe Ius þer-to,do it ouer þe fyre & late it boyle; take flour of Rys, & a-lye it; take & caste Sugre y-now þer-to, & Vynegre a quantyte, & pouder Gyngere, & Safroun it wel, & Salt; take smal notys, & breke hem; take þe kyrnellys, & make hem whyte, & frye hem vppe in grece; plante þer-with þin mete & serue forth.
The recipe after this is .Cxliii Lampreys in galentyn, another incomplete recipe, but one I was able to successfully locate the missing ingredient for and will be recreating at a later date.  For this dish, lampreys, an eel-like fish, are scalded in hot water and another ingredient, boiled and then served in a sauce made from wine, vinegar, pepper, onions and cinnamon.  It is a good guess that the missing ingredient is either the blood of the lamprey which was thought to provide the fat of the dish, or wine which is missing from the ingredient list, but was a very common to use in cooking fish.

The Wagstaff Miscellany (Beinecke MS 163) ~ 1460 offers a similarly named dish, which may give us a clue as to the missing ingredient for Vyande Ryalle. The first recipe appears to be compilation of several different ways to prepare similar dishes with there different names; Brawn Ryal, Brawn Sypres and Brawn Bruse. It is the first set of instructions that bears the closest resemblance to Vyande Ryalle and it is this set of instructions that leads me to believe that the missing ingredient may be Brawn (pork) or fish offal. It is also my belief that those things which are different in the instructions are additions made over time, but the most basic set of instructions for this dish, with the exception of adding rice flour to thicken it, are there. However, this instructions do indicate that the dish is supposed to be able to be sliced when cold ( ley a cloth on a bord & turne the vessell upsodowne ther on & schake the vessell that hit falle oute cut ther in the lech & serve hit forthe iij or iiij in a dysch). I have colored the matching instructions red and made them bold where they match so that you can see the resemblance.

The second recipe from Wagstaff features a lenten version of Brawn Ryal and gives further instructions to make a spectacle dish. You are instructed to empty out eggshells and then to layer in the brawn ryall, first a layer of white, then yellow, and then white again. The eggshells are to be set into a layer of salt to keep them upright (And yf thu wilt seson hit with the white of eyron breke hem at the grete ende & do out al that ys in the eye wesch the shell drye hem & sett hem on the salt upryght & put ther yn som of the white braune take som of the same braun colourd with safron & medlyd with poudres put ther yn pepenys of the gretnys of a neye yolke & fil hit with [f.66v] the braun that hit stond full when hit ys cold peyl of the shyll set hit in salt as eggez ).

Wagstaff Miscellany (Beinecke MS 163) ~ 1460 [89.] Brawn ryal brawn sypres brawn bruse Take fresh brawn boyle hit in fayre watyr till hit be tendour blanche almondys grynd hem draw hem up with the same broth & a perty of wyn as hote as thu may than make thu milke hote & do thy brawn in a streynour hot & draw hit with the mylke hott do ther to sygure a grete dele venyger set hit on the fyre boyle hit salt hit do hit in a vessel when hit ys cold yf thu nowte have hit out of the vessel with out hote watyr or a ghenst the fyre ley a cloth on a bord & turne the vessell upsodowne ther on & schake the vessell that hit falle oute cut ther in the lech & serve hit forthe iij or iiij in a dysch & strew on poudyr of gynger or paryd gynger [f.66r] mynsyd with anneyce clovys macys & annys in confite yf thu wilt thu may draw som ther of with the same broth & with a perty of wyne with out mylke colourd as bryght as lambur with any colour safr saffron hem when hit ys cold & floresch that othir ther with or els thu mayst cut that othir hit in leches as thu doste that othir & serve hit forth in same maner or thy may turne hit in othir colour yf thu wilt have a grene draw hit with mylke of almonds in to a morter & safron ther with or els put safron when hit ys growndyn muche or lytyll aftur thu wylt make thi colour & colour hit ther with when thu takysthit from the fyre & do ther with as thu dedyst with the todyr and yf thy wile thu may do ther yn poudres or thu may put ther yn a grete quantyte of canell & of gynger & of sawndres to make hit brown & serve hit forthe in the same maner or yf thu wilt thu may take tursele & wesch hit & grynd hit well in wyn that thu sesonyste hit up withe and when hit ys boylyd coloure hit up with bloure sangueyn whethir thu wilt & do ther with as thu dedist with the tothyr or thu may yf thu wilt when thu takyst hit fro the fyre & have al seson hit have brawn sodyn tendyr & when hit ys cold cut hit in leches or dyse hit & cast hit in the pott & stere hit to gedyr & put hit in to that othyr pott vessell when hit ys cold lech hit & do ther with as thu dodyst with that othir & serve hit forth.

Wagstaff Miscellany (Beinecke MS 163) ~ 1460 [90.] Brawn ryall Take the soundes of stokfisch dry & lay hem in watyr iij days & every day change the watyr than take hem up & lay hem on a bord & scharpe hem clene withe the egge of a knyf wesch hem & sethe hem in fayre watyr then take hem up & sethe hem in broth of fresch fysch as of conger til they be tendyr or als in the same watyr and put ther to elys to amend the broth then take blaunch almondys grynd hem with the same broth hote & make up the soundes & grynd hem wyth the same broth & yf thu wilt thu may take som of the elys ther to & temper hem up with the broth hote draw hit as hote as thu may suffyr thy hond ther yn thu mau make hit in al maner as thu makyste brawn of flesch. And yf thu wilt seson hit with the white of eyron breke hem at the grete ende & do out al that ys in the eye wesch the shell drye hem & sett hem on the salt upryght & put ther yn som of the white braune take som of the same braun colourd with safron & medlyd with poudres put ther yn pepenys of the gretnys of a neye yolke & fil hit with [f.66v] the braun that hit stond full when hit ys cold peyl of the shyll set hit in salt as eggez or in crispis and pych hem with clovys a bovyn iiij or v & fill up with blaunch poudyr & serve hem forthe in the stede of egges in he same maner thu may do with brawn in flesch tyme or thu may yf hit somdell of poudyr of gynger & chaunge the colour as thu dedyst braun in flesch tyme.

Unfortunately, I can only take my best guess as to what the missing ingredient is, and will need to conduct further research to try to uncover what is missing.  At the end of this article you will find my best guess interpretation based on the information that I have available.

Two menus in the manuscript feature vyande ryalle in the second course. One is a fast day menu and the other is a meat day menu. Which leads me to believe that the missing ingredient may be saffron as a colorant and or the meat mentioned in Brawn ryal (pork, capon or fish). I find it unlikely that you would fry saffron, without actually seeing the manuscript I have no direction on how big of a gap exists in the text.  The suggestion of saffron is given based on the information from the Middle English Dictionary and the recipe previous to this one which uses the juice of hazel leaves to color a similar sauce.  There is also the suggestion that one component of the dish is thick enough to be sliced (ley thre lechys in a dysshe) because we are instructed to lay three slices in a dish, again, similar to Brawn ryal from Wagstaff.

Conuiuium Flemmynge, Lincolniensis Episcopi.Le .j. cours.

Le .j. cours.
Perrey fyn.} potage.
Rapeye. } potage.
Grete taylys of Milwelle, An lenge.*. [i.e. "Great tails of Milwell and Ling:" see next page, near foot.]
Samoun pollys.
Salt Elys with galentyne.
Gode Pyke an fat.
Grosse tarteȝ.

Le .ij. cours.
Lampreys in galentyne.
Vyand Ryal.
Haddok.
Gurnard.
Plays.
Halybutte.
Elys an Lampronys Rostyd.
Flampayn.Le 

.iij. cours.
Mammenye.
Creme de .ij. colourys.
Troutys.
Storioun.
Samon freysshe.
Perche.
Walkys.
Breme de Mere.
Crabbe.
Purpeys Rostyd.
Goions fryid.
Doucetys.

Conuiuium Johannis Stafforde, Episcopi Wellensis in inductu Episcopatus sui, videlicet .xvj.o die Septembris, Anno domini millessimo CCCCmo vicessimo quinto1425 [supplied by ed.] .

Le .j. cours.

Furmenty with venysoun.
Mammenye.
Brawnne.
Kede Roste.
Capoun de haut Grece.
Swan.
Heyroun.
Crane.
A leche.[leaf 48.]
Crustade Ryal.
Frutoure Samata.
A soltelte, a docter of lawe.Le .

ij. cours.
Blaunche Mortrewys.
Vyand Ryal.
Pecoke.
Conyng.
Fesaunte.
Tele.
Chykonys doryd.
Pyions.
Veysoun Rostyd.
Gullys.
Curlew.
Cokyntryche.
A leche.
Pystelade chaud.
Pystelade fryid.
Frytoure damaske.
A sotelte, Egle.Le 

.iij. cours.
Gely.
Creme Moundy.
Pety Curlewe.
Egret.
Pertryche.
Venysoun Roste.
Plovere.
Oxyn kyn̄.
Quaylys.
Snytys.
Herte de Alouse.
Smale byrdys.
Dowcet Ryal.
Petelade Fryid.
Hyrchouns.
Eggys Ryal.
Pomys.
Brawn fryid.
A sotelte, Sent Andrewe.
Frute.
Waffrys.
Vyn dowce.

Similar Recipes

Fourme of Curye [Rylands MS 7] (England, 1390)

.lxlvij. Vyaund ryal. Take wyne qeke other rynysch wyne & hony claryfyed ther with, tak flour of rys, pynes, poudoure ginger, other peper & canel, other flour of canel, poudour of clowes, safroun, safroun, suger cypre, mulleberyes other saundres, & medle alle these to gyder, boyle it and salt hit & loke hit be stondyng & ni. f.

Interpreted Recipe (Caveat --this is a *best guess*)                             Serves 1 as Main, 2 as Side

142 - Royal Dish - Take good milk of almonds, and do it in a pot and stir it over the fire, and stir it till it boil almost (simmers); then take flour of rice and of the same (self) milk, and draw it through a strainer, and so there-with mix it till it be thick, and stir it fast that it crusts not; then take (gap) out of grease, and caste it through a skimmer, and color that sauce there-with; then take sugar in comfit, and cast in enough; season it with salt, and lay three slices in a dish, and cast anise in comfit there-on, and then serve forth.

1 cup almond milk (made from water or broth)
**pinch of saffron (based on information from Wagstaff and the Middle English Dictionary)**
1-2 Tbsp. Rice Flour
**1/4 pound pork(chicken or fish) which has been roasted or fried in grease then sliced**
Red Anise Seed Comfits

Make your almond milk using water, wine or stock as you desire (again this is based on Wagstaff's variations of Brawn Ryall) and bring  to a simmer.  Add rice flour and stir until it reaches your desired thickness.  Meanwhile cook your meat (either roasting it or frying it in grease).  To color your sauce use any of the methods mentioned in Wagstaff (saffron, ginger & cinnamon, sandalwood, turnsole, juice of herbs, etc.). Season with sugar and salt.  If serving cool as suggested by Wagstaff the rice mixture will thicken and if it becomes solid enough, slice it and place it in a dish and then add your meat to it decorating with red anise seed comfits before serving.  If serving warm, place two to three slices of meat in a dish and cover with the rice milk "gravy" decorating with comfits before serving.

To Make Quidinia of Quinces (Delights for Ladies, Sir Hugh Platt, 1600)

Dry Peaches and Red Quince Paste Served at Curia Regis 9/10/2017
My adventures in making fruit pastes began in late 2014 when I started experimenting with Quince. At the time I was just beginning to find a passion for Medieval confectionary and that has grown as I have branched out to make additional fruit pastes, comfits, and candied fruit and preserve flowers and other assorted "Elizabethan Banqueting" dishes.

I have experimented with making golden quince paste and red quince paste.  I have a confession to make; I don't particularly care for the flavor of quince.  So this particular paste was made with mostly quince, but I did at two apples and two pears to it to up the flavor a little bit.  When I make my fruit pastes I do make them in very large batches and store them in my fridge to give away as gifts or use in feasts throughout the year.  When I was asked to cook for the Curia Regis brunch I knew that one of the items I was going to feature was quince paste.  I had several large sheets that I had previously made. One I cut into a dragon and gilded, letting the kids and their friends enjoy the cut outs from the sheet of paste and it was gone very quickly! The other I cut into squares and served either sugared or plain.  The picture above shows plain paste without additional sugar. 

I was astonished while shopping for this brunch to discover that in my area a quarter pound of any fruit paste is sold by a large grocery chain for $6.00!!  Folks, you don't need to pay that much for it - make your own! But this discovery has prompted me to examine a little bit more closely the probability of setting up a booth at a local farmers market next year for some extra income...shhhh!

Delights for Ladies (Sir Hugh Platt, 1600) 28. To Make Quidinia of Quinces - Take the kernells out of eight great Quinces, and boile them in a quart of spring water, till it come to a pinte, then put into it a quarter of a pinte of Rosewater, and one pound of fine Sugar, and so let it boile till you see it come to bee of a deepe colour: then take a drop, and drop it on the bottome of a sawcer, then let it run through a gelly bagge into a bason, then set it in your bason upon a chafing dish of coles to keep it warm, then take a spoone, and fill your boxes as full as you please, and when they be colde cover them: and if you please to printe it in moldes, you must have moldes made to the bigness of your boxe, and wet your moldes with Rosewater, and so let it run into your mold, and when it is colde turne it off into your boxes. If you wette your moldes with water, your gelly will fall out of them.

Recipe

2 to 2 1/2 pounds of quinces (I also used apples and pears)
Water to cover the fruit
2-3 cups (or more) of sugar

Wash, peel and core your fruit, wrap the peels and the cores of the fruit into cheesecloth.  You will be adding this to the pan of your fruit because that is where some of the color and pectin will be coming from.  Coarsely chop the fruit and place it and the cheesecloth wrapped discards into the pan and bring to a boil.  Allow the fruit to cook until it is very soft.  Remove the discards and place the fruit into a food processor and puree.  Alternatively you could push it through a fine grained sieve or use a ricer or food mill.  

You do want to make sure that your pulp is strained through a sieve back into the pot to remove any large lumps that might not have been caught.  The finer the pulp the smoother the fruit paste. Add your sugar to your pulp and bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer constantly stirring until the paste becomes very thick. You should be able to make a furrow with your spoon and see the bottom of your pan.  The longer the fruit cooks the redder it gets. 

Pour your paste onto a lightly oiled bit of parchment paper that has been placed into a 9x13" baking dish or a cookie sheet.  You will want something with a bit of a raised side. The thicker your paste the longer it will take to dry.  I usually try to make my paste at 3/4 to an Inch in height.  Traditionally your paste was put in a cupboard to dry but we have ovens that we can use.  Heat your oven to its lowest setting (mine is 175 degree's) and put your paste into it.  Depending on humidity and thickness of your paste and the amount of moisture left in it, drying can take as little as a few hours up to four or five days.  The paste should be dry but sticky to the touch.  You will need to turn it at least once partway through the drying process. 

Store your fruit paste in an air tight container in a cool dry place.  I use my refrigerator and have a drawer dedicated to it.  The longer the paste sits the darker and richer the color becomes.  I have stored the paste for as long as a year and I suspect it could last longer if stored properly.  The Quince Paste pictured above was made in December 2016.  Isn't it beautiful? 




To Dry Peaches - The Queen-like Closet (1675)

Dry Peaches and Red Quince Paste Served at Curia Regis 9/10/2017

Several of the recipes that I have experimented with recently can be found in  The queen-like closet; or, Rich cabinet stored with all manner of rare receipts for preserving, candying & cookery. Very pleasant and beneficial to all ingenious persons of the female sex. By Hannah WolleyThis book was first published in 1670, which is late for the period I most normally cook in. However, I believe that while the publishing date is late for the SCA, the recipes are reflective of cooking of the latter half of our SCA time line and therefore are not outside of the boundaries of SCA cooking.

The author, Hannah Wolley was born in 1623 and was the "Martha Stewart" of her day. By the age of 17 (1640) she was working in a nobles household who recognized that the culinary skills she had learned from her mother (general cooking, confectionary and medicinal remedies) was extraordinary and helped her to develop those skills.  Hannah had many firsts in her long career; the first woman to attempt to make a living from writing, the first to have her name attributed to a cooking book and the first to direct her writings to servants in an attempt to bring to the lower social classes the ability to enjoy the grand style of food enjoyed by the upper classes.  It appears that her writing career began at the age of 38 with the publication of her first book "The Ladies Directory" in 1661 and then her next book "The Cook's Guide" in 1664.  All in all, the Queen-Like closet had five publication dates (1670, 1672, 1681 and 1684) and also enjoyed two editions published in German.

The inspiration for this dish began with the idea of wanting to present two different fruit pastes of contrasting color to those who were present at the Curia Regis brunch.  Before we go further, I have to admit that I used the cook's prerogative to make this dish--instead of leaving the fruit whole, I pureed it and created a fruit paste. I wanted to make a bright yellow candy that would be a counterpoint to the red quince paste that I had made.  I also wanted it to be a different shape. I knew I wanted to make use of summer fruit, either peaches or apricots and to create a bright gold candy. Having already interpreted the recipes for the orange marmalade and the rose conserve from "The Queen-Like Closet ", I took inspiration from the following recipes to create the clear peach jelly pictured above.

CCXV. To dry Apricocks. - Take your fairest Apricocks and stone them, then weigh them, and as you pare them, throw them into cold water, have in readiness their weight in fine sugar, wet it with some of the water they lie in, and boil it to a Candy height, then put in your A∣pricocks, and boil them till they are clear, when they have lain three or four days in the Syrup, lay them out upon Glasses to dry in a stove, and turn them twice a day.

CCI. To dry Apricocks or Pippins to look as clear as Amber. - Take Apricocks and take out the stones, and take Pippins and cut them in halves and core them, let your Apricocks be pared also; lay these Fruits in an earthen dish, and strew them over with fine Sugar, set them into a warm Oven, and as the Liquor comes from them put it away, when all the Liquor is come away turn them and strew them thick with Sugar on every side, set them into the Oven again, and when the Sugar is melted lay them on a dry dish, and set them in again, and every day turn them till they be quite dry. Thus you may dry any sort of Plumbs or Pears as well as the other, and they will look very clear.

Recipe

1 pound fresh peaches (alternatively you could use 18 ounces dried apricots that you have reconstituted in apple juice or you can use 1 bag of frozen peach slices (this is what I used)) - peeled and sliced 
2 apples peeled, cored and sliced 
1/4 cup sugar

Place your fruit in a pan and add just enough water to cover it and boil it until it is very soft.  Drain the fruit and place it in a blender--give thanks to the Kitchen God's for modern technology and puree.  At this point your fruit should look like baby food.  If you have doubts about how well pureed your fruit is, strain it into a sieve into a pot and then return it to your stove.  Add your sugar, bring to a boil and cook until the puree starts to "stick" to the pan leaving a furrow behind it as you scrape your spoon through it.  

I put a spoonful of the mixture into well-oiled mini muffin tins, but you could just as easily pour the mixture onto a baking sheet and smooth it out.  Place your puree into an oven that has been heated to its lowest setting (mine is 175 degree's) for five or six hours (or more depending on humidity and the amount of moisture left in the fruit) and let it dry.  It should feel dry and slightly sticky to your touch. As an alternative, you could use a food dehydrator but be sure to keep an eye on the paste as it dries.

I plan on bringing fruit pastes and dry "jelly's" with me to camping events.  I am looking forward to creating something similar with plums and pears as well as with apples.  They are a sweet treat, easy to make and store well when made correctly. They are also fabulous edible decorations (I made a dragon out of the red quince paste and gilded it) and the extra "something" that will take your feasts over the top.  They are very inexpensive to make and store extremely well.