SC - Cuts of Meat

[Melissa Martines]

Hello all!   Thanks to all who offered comments in reply to my original
question regarding Lombardy Custard!

Harleian MS 279, c. 1430 --Dyuerse Bake Metis
xvij. Crustade Lumbard. Take gode Creme, & leuys of percely, & Eyroun, [th]e
yolkys & [th}e whyte, & breke hem [th]er-to, & strayne [th]orwe a straynoure,
tyl it be so styf [th]at it wol bere hym-self; [th]an take fayre Marwe, &
Datys y-cutte in .ij or .iij & Prunes; & putte [th]e Datys an [th]e Prunes &
Marwe on a fayre cofynne, y-mad of fayre past, & put [th]e cofyn on [th]e
ovyn tyl it be a lytel hard; [th]anne draw hem out of [th]e ouyn; take [th]e
lycour & putte [th]er-on, &fylle it vppe, & caste Sugre y-now on, & Salt;
[th]an lat bake to-gederys tyl it be y-now; & gif it be in lente, lef [th]e
Eyroun & [th]e Marwe out, & [th]anne serue it forth.

In my original attempt to redact this recipe I beat together the cream,
eggs & parsley.  It did not get "so styf [th]at it wol bere hym-self" and
the custard was truly awful!

I tried 3 interpretations of this recipe yesterday, based on most of the
opinions that were voiced:

Redaction #1 -  (assume "strayne [th]orwe a straynoure,tyl it be so styf
[th]at it wol bere hym-self" refers to making curds from the cream.)

First I added 1/4 cup chopped parsley to 1 pint heated heavy cream in an
effort to make cheese, as Aoife suggested.  Over 12 hours later it had not
curded, so I heated it again & added about 1/2 cup pounded parsley.  It's
now 3 hours later & still no curds.

Adamantius writes:
>Columella's cheesemaking directions include a reference to using sage in
>this way. You still need to use a comparatively large amount if it, and
>it needs to be pretty well pureed and squeezed for juice. I wouldn't
>have thought parsley would work for this, only since it has little in
>the way of volatile essential oils and has a pretty well neutral pH. The
>main thing going for it is chlorophyll, which I've never understood to
>be much of a catalyst for this type of thing. I suspect the parsley is
>mainly there for the color.

(There was a discussion on one of the newsgroups about using nettle tops in
this way.  I missed the end of the discussion - did anyone read it?)
If, indeed, cheese was intended in Crustade Lombard, and parsley was the
intended curdling agent, I find it more likely that the remains of the
previous day's cheesemaking (left in the bowl through improper washing)
would be responsible for curdling the mixture.

*Note:  in redactions 2 and 3 there is too much cream filling for a single
pie!  I have not yet gotten the amounts quite right.*

Redaction #2 - a failure - (assume "strayne [th]orwe a straynoure,tyl it be
so styf [th]at it wol bere hym-self" refers to cream, egg whites & yolks
separately.)

1-Set a saucepan on the stove with an inch or 2 of lightly salted water.
Parboil a fresh marrow bone & allow to cool in the liquid.  When ready to
use, scoop out the marrow into a bowl with a thin-bladed knife.  Set aside.

2-Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
I made a 9-inch coffin of flaky pastry (Note - crimp the edges high) and
lined the bottom with 1.5 cups pitted prunes.  Over the prunes I layered
1/4 cup pitted halved dates.   Dot the fruit with 1 tablespoon marrow, as
you would dot an apple pie with butter.  Bake at 400 degrees F. for 20
minutes.

3-While the pieshell was baking I whipped 1.5 cups heavy cream to soft
peaks, & set it aside.  Then I whipped 3 egg whites to soft peaks, & set
them aside.  Then I beat 3 egg yolks until fluffy.  I then folded the egg
whites into the whipped cream, & then folded in the yolks and 1 tablespoon
chopped parsley.

4-I took the pieshell out of the oven & lowered the oven temp. to 325
degrees F.
I poured this frothy filling into the pieshell, sprinkled it with a dash of
salt & 1 tablespoon of sugar & baked it for 1 hour.

The filling quickly deflated & leaked all over the oven.  The consistency,
once cool enough to taste, was still very fluffy, and the custard did not
set properly.


Redaction #3 -  (assume "strayne [th]orwe a straynoure,tyl it be so styf
[th]at it wol bere hym-self" refers only to the cream, and is out of
sequence.)

Repeat steps 1 and 2 above.

3-While the pieshell was baking I whipped 1 pint heavy cream to soft peaks,
& set it aside.  Then I beat together 4 whole eggs until well blended, but
not frothy.  I then folded the eggs into the whipped cream, & folded in 1
tablespoon chopped parsley.  (Note- the filling *was* "so styf [th]at it
wol bere hym-self", and was also pourable.

4-I removed the pieshell from the oven & lowered the temp. to 325 degrees
F.  I poured the filling into the pieshell, sprinkled the top with a dash
of salt & 1 tablespoon of sugar & baked it for 1 hour.

The consistency, once cool enough to taste, was wonderful!  The fruit had
turned into a rich, sweet, thick (almost fudgy) layer on the bottom.  The
custard layer was fairly thin (despite my having filled the pie to almost
overflowing) and very rich. The sugar had melted and hardened to form a
crisp sweet glaze over all.  In a word, it was yummy! (Note -this pie is
best served warm, not cold.)

Your comments?

Cindy/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net


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