Five Sweet, Savory and Fried Custards found in Harleian MS 279 (~1430)

Some of my earliest adventures in attempting to interpret recipes from "Two fifteenth-century cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce ms. 55" by Thomas Austin were one of my favorite childhood treats, custards. Today I present to you a selection of my favorite interpretations.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.


xxix Milke Rostys- Roasted Milk -- Hard custards are a thing of the past, but this recipe has returned them to my life. Custard is set like cheese, sliced and fried in grease (roste it on a Greddelle). This was my very first interpreted recipe, and is a favorite, served cold, room temperature or hot off the griddle. 







.xxix. Lyode Soppes- an early bread pudding  literally a sop of bread floating in a pool of beautifully thick and sweet custard, this dish is one of the earliest recipes for "bread pudding." It lacks many of the characteristics that now define a bread pudding, additional fruit, spices, and being baked in the oven.  I was unsure how this dish would be received by my bevy of taste testers, and they received it much better than I expected they would. There were a few surprised looks as they tested this dish. The general consensus amongst the tasters is "it was good but not something they would want to try again"--and they have.







lxxiiij - Arbolettys - Cheese Soup - A luxuriously velvety cheese soup worthy to be served to any king! Simple ingredients of milk, butter, cheese and eggs flavored with sage, parsley, ginger and galingale. Delicious! Caveat: My interpretation is very different from many of my contemporaries who interpret this dish as a scrambled egg dish. Being in the center of a series of dishes that should be cooked in pots, and not being instructions to let the eggs curd let to my unusual interpretation.






xx. Papyns.- When noble women of this period would choose not to breastfeed, or were unable to, and a wet nurse was not available, a mixture of broth, water, milk, grain, flour or bread, sweetened with honey or diluted wine would be fed to infants through a small horn with a hole drilled into it, or via a rag soaked in the liquid. This same pap was also fed to the elderly who were unable to chew any longer. When given to older children, or in addition to breast milk, papyns provided additional nutrition. This particular recipe adds eggs to the milk and flour as an additional thickener.






.xiij. Creme Boylede. I was delighted to interpret this recipe for an unusual custard that starts by soaking bread in cream or milk. It is a very thrifty dish for the medieval cook, because it most likely made use of bread that had gone stale and it was a way to preserve milk that would otherwise have gone bad, or may have been put to other use. This blog post includes a bonus recipe--Constance Hieatt's boiled cream custard, from a similar interpretation that can be made in the microwave and is my "go to" feast custard when I cater.

Breakfast? Five Medieval Banquet Dishes that Can be Served for Breakfast


Looking to add a late Medieval flare to your breakfast?  These five hearty recipes will do just that.  Just click on the link and you will be taken to the post.  I hope you enjoy.

  A Fryed Meate (Pancakes) in Haste for the Second Course (The Whole Body of Cookery Dissected, 1682) - cottage cheese and apples combined with warm and sweet spices create a delicate pancake. Traditionally served in the second course, this dish would make a lovely camp breakfast. A bit late for Medieval, yes, delicious and to be tried all the same. 




Gammon of Bacon (A Book of Cookrye, 1591) - This is a delicious savory tidbit that creates a lovely hand pie which tastes like a holiday in a pie crust. Gammon, like ham, comes from the hind leg of a pig. Unlike ham, gammon is cured like bacon and sold raw. For this recipe I used a heritage cured ham, seasoned with pepper, cloves and mace, cut into thin slices and stuffed with parsley, sage and hardboiled egg yolks, cut to fit into the pie crust, dotted with butter and baked. A wonderful interpretation of our past, a must try for any foodie, food historian or hungry cook!







Egges yn Brewte - Poached eggs with Cheese - Gentyll Manly Cokere, MS Pepys 1047, C. 1490 - A beautifully simple dish of eggs, poached in milk and water flavored with pepper, ginger and colored with saffron, topped with cheese. Served over toast this would be a lovely perfectly period meal.










Soupes dorye - Almond Milk Toast -an absolutely decadent spin on milk toast.  Lightly toasted bread, served with a wine sweetened almond milk and warmed spices.  Comforting, delicious and fit for a king. 









Gaylede - Rice Porridge with figs and honey -Ginger and galingale are the perfect compliment to the figs and honey that accompany this simply sweetened porridge made of rice flour and almond milk.  Pretty and pink, a perfect "fairy breakfast" for that special someone if you use saunders to color as specified.  

Five Medieval Lenten Dishes

Today I thought I would bring to you a selection of dishes that would be appropriate for Lent.   I hope you try them and let me know how you liked them. Prior to the 15th century, the church had declared Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays as 'fysshe" days. During Lent and Advent all animal products such as eggs, butter, cheese and meat were forbidden. With fish days, fasting, advent and lent, fully one third or 140-160 days of the year, fish was the only meat you were allowed to eat.

Simply click the link to be taken to the page to find the recipe. Please leave me a message and let me know if you would like to see more posts like this.

Thank you!

.xxxviij. Storion in brothe. Sturgeon in Broth  Sturgeon was one of the favored fishes and in England was reserved for the King. You can eat like a king on this simply divine soup of fish, cooked in a delicate broth seasoned pepper, mace, cinnamon and ginger, sharpened with vinegar and scented with saffron.





.xlv.--For to make Blawnche Perrye. -Creamed Leeks with Fish-- a delicious dish of leeks, cooked with almond milk and rice traditionally served with fish. Also a very brief look at medieval food preservation methods.









.Cxlviij. Whyte Pesyn in grauey.- White Peas in Gravy - Yellow peas cooked in almond milk, seasoned with sugar and onion create a delcious and surprisingly delicate yet hearty soup enjoyed by king's and  peasants alike. Perfect for Lent. I urge you to try it!










lxviij - Bruet of Almaynne in lenteRice Porridge with Dates  - Rice and almond milk porridge, sweetened with dates. Talk about medieval comfort food! This dish is creamy, sweet and delicious. It can be put together in just a few minutes and served for breakfast or as part of a feast.









xij - Fride Creme of Almaundys. - Cold Cream of Almonds - A medieval recipe for a "creamed cheese" or "butter" made from almonds. Perfect for Lent, or those with allergies to dairy.       

Five Simple and Delicious Medieval Vegetable Dishes



Positive responses continue to pour in on these kinds of posts. Today I thought I would bring to your attention five very different vegetable dishes that were enjoyed in the late Medieval period.   I hope you try them and let me know how you liked them.

Simply click the link to be taken to the page to find the recipe. Please leave me a message and let me know if you would like to see more posts like this.



Thank you!


.xxx. Soupes dorroy. (Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430)) Soup Dorroy - A delicious twist on "creamed" onion soup. The onions when cooked with the wine take on a very fruity flavor, and the almond milk adds creaminess in the background that tempers the sweet fruity taste of the onions. A budget friendly, easy to cook, tasty dish that would not be amiss at a luncheon, tavern, feast or camp meal.

 

.v. Whyte wortes. (Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - Creamed Wortes A true comfort dish from Harleian MS 279 (~1430) -- Tender cabbage and kale, or other "worts" (mustards, kale, collards (known to the Greeks and Romans), kohlrabi (first described in Europe in 1554), broccoli (known to Greeks and Romans), cauliflower (sixth century), rapini (aka broccoli rabe, known to the Romans), and turnips) creamed with almond milk thickened with rice flour, flavored with saffron, salt and a touch of honey. A dish that is as delicious as it is beautiful to look at!




Compost (The Forme of Cury, c. 1390)- despite its name this recipe creates a lovely mustardy, sweet and spicy variety of pickled vegetables that are as delicious as they are pretty to look at. This recipe comes courtesy of Daniel Myers who hosts the excellent site Medieval Cookery (if you have not visited this site I urge you to do so). These pickles were served as part of the Curia Regis Brunch.





Canabenys with Lekys- Dried Beans with Leeks - Constance Hieatt "Ordinance of Pottage"-a thick, flavorful medieval soup made with dried beans (preferably fava, broad or black-eyed peas), cannelini or navy beans, leeks and/or, onions flavored with sausage and fortified with a handful of leafy greens. Great for SCA lunch or feast or an easy period camp meal. Can be made vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth and vegetarian sausage. 





.Cxlv. Blaunche Perreye. White Pea Soup (Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430)) Very simple and humble ingredients come together to make great flavors in this 15th Century soup for a king.