Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - Cxlj. Noteye - Nutty (Incomplete)

When I first came across the instructions for creating Noteye, 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 Thomas Austin  I was intrigued.  The instructions call for using hazel leaves, most likely the eaves of the European Hazel or Filbert (Corylus avellana) in addition to nuts (notys) that have been fried in grease.  From previous research  Cxlij. Vyande Ryalle. - A Royal Dish (incomplete recipe), I had learned that hazel leaves are considered a forage food.  It appears that you are using them to not only color the dish, but also to impart a specific flavor. I do not have access to the leaves, so unfortunately am unable to adequately recreate the recipe 😞. My first thoughts on interpretation are below. I do hope that someone who does have access does try it and remarks upon it.

.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.

141. Noteye - Take a great portion of hazel leaves, and grind in a mortar as small as you may, while that they be young; take then and draw up a thrift milk of almonds blanched and temper it with fresh broth; wring out clean the juice of the leaves; take flesh of pork or of capon, and grind it small, and temper it up with the milk, and cast it into a pot, and the juice there-to, do it over the fire and let it boil; take flour of rice, and mix it; take and cast sugar enough thereto, and vinegar a quantity and powder ginger, and saffron it well, and salt.  Take small nuts and break them; take the kernels, and make them white, and fry them up in grease; plant there-with your meat, and serve forth.

Interpreted Recipe

Handful of young hazel leaves
1 c. almond milk made with broth of pork or chicken
1/4 pd. pork or chicken, minced
1-2 tbsp. Rice Flour
2 tsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Vinegar
1/4 tsp. Ginger
Pinch Saffron
Salt to taste
2-3 Hazel Nuts
Oil

Grind your hazel leaves in a mortar, you may want to add a bit of salt to them so that they grind well. As an alternative, place your leaves in a blender with a little bit of water and blend well.  Strain well.  Place your almond milk, saffron,  and ground pork or chicken in a pot along with the strained juice of the hazel leaves and bring to a boil.  Add rice flour and sugar and cook till it begins to thicken. Add vinegar, ginger and salt and cook for a few minutes more.  Meanwhile, lightly toast your nuts in grease after removing the skins.  Prior to serving, garnish with the nuts.

Feast Proposals

What have I been up to lately? I know the blog gets "quiet" so I thought I would share some of the newer things I have been learning.  I have put together three proposals because menu planning is something I do for fun.  The site has a few challenges, the first of which is very primitive (which is polite for non-existent) kitchen facilities.

Challenge 1: Put together a meal that can be served cool, room temperature or warm at best-no hot food.

Challenge 2: Clean up after the fact is going to be a challenge --wherever possible use disposable dishwear.

Challenge 3: Distance to site -- the facilities are about an hour away and I have a smallish car which will make transporting food to site interesting without multiple trips.

Challenge 3 was the easiest to resolve..I'm borrowing a truck..look out world. For food transport I am getting multiple coolers.  Ta-Dah.

So the menu.  Italian & Roman menus lend themselves best to this kind of cooking. Italian cooking specifies food "on the table", "from the credenza" and "from the kitchen".  So my first proposal was based on Scappi and La Singolare Dottrina di M. Domenico, where some of the terms I used in the proposal come from.

Proposal #1- Late 15th-Century Italian Menu 

Servitio di credenza posto in Tavola (on the table)

Capi di latte serviti con zuccharo sopra - Head of milk served with sugar above
Morselletti di biscotti - morselletti of biscuits
Uva bianchi i neve - black and white grapes
Comer Higos a la Francesa - To eat figs in the French Fashion
Biscottini alla savoiarda -Savoyard Biscuits
Biscottini di zuccaro - Sugar Biscuits


Primo servito di Credenza - First service from the side board

Insalata di mele crude - Salad of Apples and Onions
Insalata di arance tagliate a fette, servite con zucchero e acqua di rose - Sliced orange salad with rosewater and sugar
Preparare una crostata di funghi per un giorno in prestito - To prepare a crostata of mushrooms for a day in Lent
Per far crostate cioe pan ghiotto con barbaglia de porco, o presciutto - To prepare crostate -- that is, gourmand bread - with salted pork jowl or proscuitto

Secondo servizio di credenza

Salciccione cott'in vino - pork sausage cooked in a red wine broth, served cold and sliced
lingua di manzo salata e affumicata servita fredda- salted and smoked beef tongue served cold
Capponi Sopramentati serviti freddo con capparetto sopra - Chicken "Sopramentato"
Vaccina salpresa alessata, servito con petrosemolo Salted pressed beef, boiled served with parsley
Una torta di farro - A rice tart
Mustardo amabile - sweet mustard
Salsa viridis - Green Sauce
Sapor de prugne - dried plum sauce
Carciofi cotti serviti con sale e pepe all'aceto- cooked artichokes with vinegar, salt and pepper
Capperi e olive assortite - capers and assorted olives
Composto di rape, carote, cetriolo e finocchio - Pickled turnips, carrots, cucumber and fennel


Terzo servizio di credenza

Per fare la pizza di molti strati, comunemente freddi pasta secca a strati- To make pizza of many layers, commonly called a cold dry layered pastry.
Mandorle e noci fresche   -Fresh walnuts and almonds
Pere e mele - Pears and Apples
Cascio- cheese
Neve di latte, servita con zuccaro - Snow of milk
Cialdoni fatti a scartocci - Wafers made like paper

Levata la tovaglia-Raise the tablecloth

Finnocchio dolce verde- Sweet Green Fennel (Candied Fennel Stalks)
Stecchi in piatti con acqua rosa   Toothpicks in plates with rose water
Conditi, & confettioni a beneplacito  Confits and candies to one's taste

Proposal number two is based on one of the personas of the current prince/princess.  This is a Japanese style feast.  I will be the very first to admit there is NOT a lot out there on pre-Edo period food.  Edo period is late for us, so the first challenge was to come to an understanding of what was and what was not available in period, including cooking methods.  While the methods and foods are plausible, and some of the recipes can be traced to sources in period--not all of the dishes you find here have historic roots.  The saving grace is that Japanese cooking is very traditional.

This is at best a guess of what would have been served.

Proposal #2 - Muromachi period (1336–1573) Honzen Ryori (本膳料理) Style Meal 

Seasonings on the table include: Shoyu, Pickled Ginger, Rice Vinegar and Salt

Hon-Zen-first tray:

Namazu kabayaki (catfish kabayaki--catfish in lieu of unagi or eel--pan fried catfish, with a sweet and spicy sauce made of soy, mirin, sake and sugar)
Gohan - Rice
Mikawa ae (cucumber, wakame salad with imitation crab)
Namasu (daikon and carrot salad)
Crane broth (roasted duck or chicken, udon noodles and mushrooms in broth)
Edamame (lightly steamed and salted soybeans)

Nino-zen - Second Tray
Shimofuri (lightly steamed fish) served with Sho no Irizake (a sauce made with sake, komgu, umeboshi and bonito flakes)
Ebi No Umani (Shrimp simmered in Sake serve with a sauce of sake, mirin, dashi and soy)
Sumashi-Jiru (clear clam soup)
Kikka Kabu (pickled turnips cut into the shape of chrysanthemum flowers)
Gohan - Rice

Sanno-zen - Third Tray
Kuri Gohan (chestnut rice)
Kabocha no Nimonao (simmered squash or pumpkin
Matsutake soup (clear mushroom soup)
Shōga pōku-maki nasu (ginger pork rolls stuffed with eggplant)
Kakuni (braised pork belly)

Okashi お菓子 (Sweets)

Anmitsu-  a selection of fruits, agar agar jelly,  green tea with jasmine and lLychee ice cream, mochi, red bean paste drizzled with a sweet sugar syrup

The last proposal, French, because our lovely princess has a French persona. This is based on Le Menagier. 

Proposal #3 - French Feast based on menus from Le Menagier de Paris ~1393

Premier plateau - First Platter 

Pastez de champignons - Mushroom Pies 

Parma Tartes- Meat Pies

Viandes tranchées froides avec leurs sauces - Cold sliced chicken and pork with two sauces 

Calaminee- Calaminee

Froide sauge - Cold Sage

Saucisse avec calimafrey - Sausages with Calimafrey sauce (Mustard Jance)

Salade au vinaigre- Salad with Vinegar

Olives et câpres Olives and Capers

Deuxième plateau - Second platter

Cretonne de Pois Nouveaux - Cretonnee of  peas 

Viande salée et grossière composée de bœuf et de jambon - Salted and coarse meat that is to say beef and ham 

Boulettes de viande - Meatballs

Moutarde- Mustard

Tarte aux herbes, œufs et fromage - A tart of herbs, cheese and eggs 

Bourbelier de sanglier à la sauce épicée - Bourbelier of wild boar in spiced sauce

La maniere de faire composte - The way to make composte (honeyed vegetables)

Gelées pour un jour de viande - Jellies for a meat day

Troisième plateau - Third platter

Poires d’angoisse - Pears in Syrup 

Tailliz de karesme - Lenten Slices

Flaons de cresme de lait - Cream Flans 

Boute Hors

Epices de chambre - Chamber spices

Fruit Confit - candied fruit

Noix sucrées- Sugared nuts 

All three menus can be prepared with the challenges presented at site.  The Japanese style feast was chosen.  The food is food that was available in the Muromachi period (1336–1573).  Most of the recipes are from a  partially translated 17th-century Japanese cookbook --which is the earliest cookbook currently available.  There are a couple of additions that are out of period, namely soy sauce in favor of the more period Sho no Irizake, because of its familiar flavor, and ice cream, which is an 18th century invention...but...ICE CREAM? This is one of the times I'm happy to fall out of period...I'm an ice cream junkie.  As I work out the recipes I will be posting them on the blog.  My project is set aside for a few more months I think.

Enjoy!

Update: 7/102019 Challenge 4--No cooking surface on site (stove, oven, etc.) Grill time baby!! :-)  This is not my first rodeo cooking without a kitchen.  My very first feast was done at a site that had forgotten we had rented the kitchen and tore it out the week of the event.  The sink was two brand new trashcans and a hose, the site generously provided a very nice outdoor grill, and guests donated camp stoves.  Feast was tasty--venison pie, grilled duck with sauce, and coney in cive, cooked in broth made from boiling the duck prior to grilling it....YUM YUM!

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - .lxxxxiiij. Tenche in bruette & lxxxxv. Tenche in cyueye - Tench in Civey

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - .lxxxxiiij. Tenche in bruette

After some debate, I placed both interpretations from 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 for tench in sauce or broth on the same blog post.  My reasoning for this is that there is more similarities than differences between the two.  The Tenche in Cyueye includes onions which the Tenche in Bruette does not.

The Glossary of Medieval & Renaissance Culinary Terms defines cyueye in the following way:

cive, civey(e), ciuey, cyuey, ceue, cyueye = Ragout or stew (possibly derived from a word meaning 'onion' (Plouvier). (Viandier)  - Among other modern usages, this is probably a derivative of civey, which was at one time named for, and characterized by, the possibility of thickening a sauce with finely chopped onion, cooked till very soft. Some medieval recipes for civeys (for example, hare in civey) also call for blood as an additional thickener; nowadays the dish, which is now sometimes called civet, is mostly characterized by thickening and enriching the broth with the reserved blood of the critter you're cooking. It will coagulate if boiled, and turn very dark, but if heated properly it will assume a velvety texture similar to a stirred custard, and acquire a deep russet shade almost like a mole-poblano-type sauce. (Troy)

I was intrigued by the instructions to scald or boil the fish before roasting it.  Scalding is a method of cleaning and killing any microorganisms that might be harmful.  It involves heating a liquid (in this case water) or milk to just below boiling.  If you have a thermometer 180 degrees is best.  If you don't you want to keep an eye on the side of the pan. When you see small bubbles forming around the side and steam starting to whisp off of the pan, then you can remove your liquid.

.lxxxxiiij. Tenche in bruette.—Take þe Tenche, an sethe hem & roste hem, an grynde Pepir an Safroun, Bred and Ale, & tempere wyth þe brothe, an boyle it; þen take þe Tenche y-rostyd, an ley hym on a chargeoure; þan ley on þe sewe a-boue

94. Tench in Broth- Take the tench, and boil him and roast him, and grind pepper and saffron, bread and ale, and temper with the broth, and boil it, then take the tench roasted, and lay him on a charger; then lay on the sauce above.

1/4  pound fatty firm textured fish such as carp, perch, tench, bluefish or bass
1/4 tsp. pepper
pinch of saffron
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3/4 cup ale
3 tbsp. fish broth

In keeping with the instructions, I scalded the fish by placing it in a pot with just enough water to cover it.  I then heated the pan until I saw small bubbles forming around the edge of it and steam starting to form.  Due to modern methods of cleaning and butchering fish, I imagine you could have skipped this step without difficulty.

I removed the fish from the pan and placed it on a lightly oiled baking sheet and roasted it in the oven until it was done.  While the fish was cooking in the oven I took a few tablespoons of the broth and added the saffron to it.  Once the saffron had strongly colored the water, I added it to the ale (ok confession time--I used Sam Adams Summer Shandy made with lemon peel and grains of paradise) and then soaked the bread crumbs in it.  Once the bread was soggy I put it in the pot and brought it to a boil until it formed a thick sauce.

After the fish had finished cooking I plated it and served.

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - lxxxxv. Tenche in cyueye - Tench in Civey 

.lxxxxv. Tenche in cyueye.—Take a tenche, an skalde hym, roste hym, grynde Pepir an Safroun, Brede an Ale, & melle it to-gederys; take Oynonys, hakke hem, an frye hem in Oyle, & do hem þer-to, and messe hem forth.


95. Tench in Civey - Take a tench, and scald him, roast him, grind pepper and saffron, bread and ale, and mix it together; take onions, hack them, and fry them in oil, and do them there-to, and mess him forth.

1/4  pound fatty firm textured fish such as carp, perch, tench, bluefish or bass
1/4 tsp. pepper
pinch of saffron
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3/4 cup ale
3 tbsp. fish broth
3 tbsp. onions
1 tbsp. oil

To make this dish, follow the instructions above.  The additional step is to lightly brown the finely chopped onion in oil, and after plating, garnish the plate with it.

Both of these dishes were enjoyed by the taste testers, but they were not the day's winner--the best dish of the day was lxxxxvj. Tench in Sawce - Tenche in Sauce.  However, this dish would be something I would be happy to serve at any feast, a vigil, lunch and if fresh fish were available at camp.  It was simple to make, came together with very little fuss and delicious.

I feel like I need to start placing a caveat at the bottom of each post--I am a hobbyist and I am still very much learning my craft. This is something I do for fun, and with a hope to introduce individuals to food history and entice them to do research on their own. I hope that they find my posts fun and informative and intriguing enough to strike out on their own. I am - not - an authority, nor do I masquerade as one. The sad reality is that no matter how much we learn about this kind of cooking, we will never be authorities, at best, we are guessing at the author's and the cook's intent. I welcome *constructive* criticism and I will own up to mistakes.

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - lxxxxvj. Tench in Sawce - Tenche in Sauce

Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - lxxxxvj. Tench in Sawce - Tenche in Sauce

The 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 gives instructions for three dishes made with Tench.  Two of them, lxxxxiiij. Tenche in bruette - Tench in Broth  and lxxxxv. Tenche in cyueye - Tench in Civey  closely resemble each other.  This dish differs not only in the manner in which the fish is cooked but also in how it is served.  Unlike the other two dishes, where the fish is boiled, then roasted, this dish simply calls for boiling the fish.  This dish also advises us to " serue it forth þanne alle colde"--this is the first set of instructions in the Harleian MS 279 that actually advises to  serve the dish cold! So naturally, I had to try it.

Tench, also known as Doctor Fish, is not generally eaten anymore. It is freshwater fish that thrives in slow moving fresh and brackish waters. It is native to  Eurasia and Western Europe.  Sadly, Tench is not native to the states.  So, I had to find a suitable alternative that I could purchase.  Fortunately, a cookbook published in 1852 pointed me in a suitable direction.  The "Illustrated London Cookery Book" has a recipe entitled "How to Cook Carp, Tench, Perch, etc.

518. Carp, Tench, Perch, &C
Dry well with clean cloth, dredge with flour, fry them until they are brown. If the pure flavour of the fish is desired, they should be cooked as soon after being caught as possible, and as simply as above described; but if it is desired to make a dish, the fish may be placed after having been fried in a stewpan, with a gill of port wine, the same quantity of water, the juice of half a lemon, two dessert spoonfuls of walnut ketchup, half the quantity of mushroom ditto, or powder, sprinkle with cayenne pepper, an onion stuck with cloves, and a small horse-radish, from which the outer coat has been scraped: stew until the gravy is reduced to a rich thickness, remove the fish, strain the gravy as clear as possible, thicken it, and pour it over the fish; serve.

.lxxxxvj. Tenche in Sawce.—Take a tenche whan he is y-sothe, and ley him on a dysshe; take Percely & Oynonys, & mynce hem to-gederys; take pouder Pepir, & Canelle, & straw þer-on; take Vynegre, an caste Safroun þer-on, an coloure it, an serue it forth þanne alle colde.

46. Tench in Sauce  - Take a tench when he is boiled and lay him on a dish; take parsley & onions and mince them together; take powder pepper, and cinnamon, and strew there-on; take vinegar, and caste saffron there-on and color it, and serve it forth when all cold.

Interpreted Recipe

1/4  pound fatty firm textured fish such as carp, perch, tench, bluefish or bass
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vinegar + water to taste (I used 1/4 cup fish broth)
pinch of saffron

First I have to say this is a beautiful dish! White fish, green parsley floating in a saffron scented broth with just a hint of acidity from the vinegar presents a visually stunning dish. To make this dish even more unusual and definitely on a "must be served at a future event" list, it is to be served cold!

I placed the fish in the water and brought to a low boil, cooking it until the fish was completely cooked through.  While the fish cooked, I minced the onions and dried parsley and set them aside.  I then mixed the pepper and the cinnamon and set it aside.  To be fair, I did grind up a couple of cubeb berries to add to my black pepper and I think the flavor popped. Once the fish was cooked I drew off a1/4th of a cup of fish broth, added a good pinch of saffron and the vinegar.

While the saffron steeped in the broth, I plated the fish.  I confess I was a bit concerned about the taste of raw onion, but the instructions do not indicate it is to be cooked--it was also a needless concern.  I sprinkled the pepper and cinnamon mixture over the fish, added the onions mixture and then poured the broth on top of it and placed it in the fridge to cool. Something magical happened after pouring the broth over the fish and then allowing it to cool. The fish picked up the flavor of saffron and vinegar and the onions mellowed. This was the winning dish of the day.

I feel like I need to start placing a caveat at the bottom of each post--I am a hobbyist and I am still very much learning my craft. This is something I do for fun, and with a hope to introduce individuals to food history and entice them to do research on their own. I hope that they find my posts fun and informative and intriguing enough to strike out on their own. I am - not - an authority, nor do I masquerade as one. The sad reality is that no matter how much we learn about this kind of cooking, we will never be authorities, at best, we are guessing at the author's and the cook's intent. I welcome *constructive* criticism and I will own up to mistakes.