[Ansteorra] camp meals

[Haraldr Bassi]

On 2010/Aug/19 00:47, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> On Aug 18, 2010, at 9:08 PM, Haraldr Bassi wrote:
>
>> If anyone is interested in first hand experiences on this, please let me know. My household
>> has been using this method for food at Pennsic for a decade or more. It makes meals ever so
>> much easier. We have good period foods, like bruets, or pompes in sauces etc, with minimal
>> cooking time on-site and minimal cleanup. Due to field conditions, we've settled on using
>> one of two grains to serve under the wet food, either couscous or rice.
>
> What is a "pompes"?

Meatballs.

>
> Did you pre-cook the rice and add it to the bag with the rest of the food and then boil them
> together at camp? Or did you use the boil-in-bag rice packaged in the little bags with the
> holes in them and boil them separate from the other bags and then put them on the eating
> plates separately?
>

Rice is always a par-boil for ease of cleanup in the field. They generally don't have a decent 
enough whole grain brown rice in the boil bags. We use our boil cauldron to heat our shower & 
wash water so it never gets washed until the end of war. Rice is cooked in a dedicated pot.

>> We've taken to using a similar method for our breakfasts making eggs. I understand that
>> we've recently identified an Andalusian recipe titled "Eggs in a Jar", which uses a
>> disposable glass bottle to cook eggs. Our method uses disposable freezer zipper seal bags,
>> which is a wee bit less expensive and doesn't leave shards of glass in camp.
>
> Could you please send me a copy of this Andalusian recipe and perhaps your redaction or post
> it here? Surprisingly, I don't remember ever discussing this recipe on the SCA-Cooks list,
> although I seem to remember some mention of cooking eggs in a plastic bag. Is this a regular
> plastic zip lock bag or one of the boil-in bags which tend to me made of different
> materials?

It's in the Wusla manuscript and translated on page 162 of Medieval Arab Cookery, by Maxime 
Rodinson, A.J. Arberry & Charles Perry.


{begin quote from Medieval Arab Cookery}
"Further reading reveals some curiosities, such as recipes for 'an omelette in a bottle' in the 
Wusla and the recipe for 'mock brain' in the Syrian additions to the text. The translation of 
these recipes follows:

    Sixth (omelette recipe): Omelette in a bottle. Take the eggs and other ingredients 
(necessary for omelette-making), put them into glass bottles and close the bottles tightly. 
Throw into boiling water and allow to boil until the omelettes are cooked. Then break the glass 
carefully and the omelette will remain in the shape of a bottle. Fry in olive and sesame oil. 
This omelette is used in the Tashāhīr.2

{mock brains snipped}

2) Chapter VIII, #42: A, f.86r.; B,pp. 149-50; C, ff. 74v.-75r. D, f. 88v. Tashāhīr is the name 
of a type of dish which is mentioned several times in the Wușla without actually being defined 
at any point. I have no further information on this word which does not appear in our dictionaries."
{end quote}

Our camp's interpretation uses quart freezer bags. The storage bags are not heavy enough to 
withstand the vigor of a boiling pot nor even the vigor mixing the omelette in the bag before 
cooking. I usually eat mine from the bag supported by my bowl simply so I don't have another 
dish to deal with at war.

Thanks,
Haraldr

>
> Thanks, Stefan
>
>> I'd be happy to expound on either or both if there is interest.
>>
>> Haraldr
>>
>>> For those who want medieval meals, this works just as well, as for those who just want
>>> modern foods. There are many period stews and bruits, soups, etc that should work well
>>> this way.
>>>
>>> bag-cooking-msg (50K) 4/25/08 Using plastic bags to warm pre-cooked foods at SCA events.
>>> Vacuum food sealers. http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/bag-cooking-msg.html
>>>
>>> Stefan -------- THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
>>> Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com **** See
>>> Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****
>