[Northkeep] Calling all Cooks

[Dawson, Lynne]

Are you looking for the recipe Lynn made at Crown Tourney? I might have it at
home if you are. Or if Lynn sees this she may be inclined to share it again.

Marta

-----Original Message-----
From: Jennifer Carlson [mailto:talana1 at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 9:25 AM
To: northkeep at ansteorra.org
Subject: RE: [Northkeep] Calling all Cooks

Talana, weighing in a few days late, as ususal.

Here are three different redactions (recipe interpretations) of an onion 
pottage.  The first two are from a 14th century work called "Forme of Cury." 
  It's an Anglo-Norman recipe in origin.  From the differences in 
translations, you can get an idea of how much work it is to interpret and 
re-create period recipes.  Master Adamantius is from the East Kingdom, and 
in addition to his intense studies in period cookery, he is a chef at a 
large restaurant in the Big Apple.  Maggie Black put together an excellent 
introduction to medieval cooking that includes Anglo/Norman as well as 
Sicilian, French, and Italian recipes from the 14th and 15th centuries.  I 
have a copy if anyone would like to borrow it.

The third recipe is from a 14/15th century English text called "Ancient 
Cookery," and is redacted by Constance Hieatt, who is the reigning doyen of 
medieval recipe research.  Her first and second editions of "Pleyn Delight" 
should be on any serious medieval cook's bookshelf.

There are numerous ways to add to or "stretch" the recipes by the addtion of 
all kinds of pot herbs, such as cabbage, fava beans, etc.

Just a bit of trivia: "pottage" refers to soups made with no meat, relying 
on "pot herbs" for their substance, though they might include meat broths or 
milk.


PORREY CHAPELEYN
(White Onion Soup)
>From Curye On Inglysch, Book II, Diversa Servicia (MS D, ff.86r 96v.)
Redation by Adamantius

What you should do to make eight servings:
2 lbs onions, peeled and finely minced or thinly sliced
3 or 4 Tbs olive oil
8 oz. blanched almonds, finely ground
~1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste (optional, not in the original recipe)
~1/2 cup flour
1 egg
1 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
oil for frying

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a wide 3 quart saucepan. Saute the onions 
until soft and golden. Stir frequently. Reduce the heat if the onions begin 
to brown too quickly. You may need to add the fourth tablespoon of olive 
oil, and if the juices begin to caramelize, stick to the pan and burn, add a 
couple of tablespoons of water, stirring and scraping to deglaze the pan and 
temporarily halt the browning process.

While the onions cook down to about half their original volume, make the 
pasta dough for the garnish: mix the egg, the flour, the teaspoon of olive 
oil, and the 1/8 teaspoon salt to make a firm, elastic dough, kneading until 
smooth and glossy. You may need to add a bit of extra flour if the dough is 
too sticky. Wrap the dough in a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 
minutes.

Bring six cups of water to a boil, and remove from heat. Add  ground 
almonds, stirring constantly. Let steep for 5-10 minutes, and blend the 
resulting milk in a blender. Strain through a strainer lined with 
cheesecloth, and reserve until onions are soft and golden. Pour the milk 
over the onions and stir. Bring to low simmer and leave to reduce while you 
make faux onion rings.

On a floured board, roll out your dough into a thin sheet, 1/8 inch thick or 
less. Put perhaps three cups of frying oil to heat to 350F. in a saucepan or 
deep skillet (a wok is good for this, as it uses less oil and heats pretty 
fast). Using two concentric round cookie cutters, or a donut cutter, or any 
other tool that'll do the job, stamp out rings 2"-3" in diameter.  Fry 3 or 
4 at a time, until golden brown and somewhat puffy. Drain them  paper 
towels. Recycle shreds of leftover dough to make new rings.

By this time the soup should have thickened slightly and be ready for its 
final seasoning. Add salt, and, if you wish, pepper to taste. Add the fried 
rings to the soup and stir them in, or use as a garnish for each serving.



GOLDEN LEEKS AND ONIONS
Curye on Inglysch
(English, 14/15th c)
Maggie Black: The Medieval Cookbook

1 tsp dried saffron strands
2 tbsp boiling water
6 medium leeks (white part only)
3 medium onions
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/3 tsp soft light brown sugar
good pinch each of ground white pepper, cinnamon and cloves
yellow food coloring (optional)

First, soak the saffron strand in the boiling water until the water is deep 
gold.  Prepare the leeks by trimming the root ends and slicing the white 
stems into thin rings; they should not need parboiling.  Peel and chop the 
onions.  Put all the ingredients in a large pan and cook gently, uncovered, 
for 6-8 minutes.

Drain off most of the stock if you want to serve the vegetables as a side 
dish; to make sure your dish is really golden, add a drop of food coloring.  
Alternatively, double the quantity of stock for the cooking, do not drain, 
and serve as a 'running' pottage.




SOWPYS DORRY (Onion Soup)
Ancient Cookery, c1400
Heiatt & Butler: Pleyn Delit

3 or 4 large onions, minced or thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bottle dry white wine (or use half wine and half water)
4 tbsp ground almonds
bread sliced and toasted
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large stew-pan and stir the onions in; let them cook over 
low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes.  Meanwhile, soak the 
almonds in 1/2 cup of the wine plus 1/2 cup boiling water.  Then add the 
rest of the wine to the onions; cover the pot and let simmer for 15 minutes; 
add almond mixture and cook for a few more minutes.  Salt to taste.

to serve in the true medieval style, place a slice of toasted bread in each 
serving bowl, and pour the soup over the toast.  Such 'sops' give 'soup' its 
name.

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