SC - Q and A

[Charles McCathieNevile]

Using the recipe published in 'Anglo-Norman CUlinary Collections', 
Constance Hieatt and ?? Jones, the first manuscript, from the orignal (as 
opposed to the published translation)

I read it a few times, then put it down and went into my kitchen to try 
it out. That's how I cook now, and probably how a lot of people cooked in 
the 13th century when the recipe was written. The major question I wanted 
to answer was what form the thing took. It is certainly, to my mind, made 
of egg pastry and fruit folded together.

When I first read the recipe I thought "aha. medieval jam roly-poly". But 
the people who I had seen give modern versions said 'fruit ravioli' or 
turnover.

So I made an egg pastry - 2 eggs, a dribble of oil, and as much flour as 
it took to make a dough. then I rolled it flat, and cut four sections a 
bit smaller than my hand.

I minced some dates and currants in the blender, and spread them over 3 
of the four sections - they came out as a sort of paste, a bit like 
crunchy peanut butter made in a machine at the market or healthy hippy 
food shops.

one section I rolled up one way and then the other. It came out like a 
ball, more or less. One section I folded in half and pinched closed.
I placed the unspread section over the last one, and rolled a plate over 
it to create a sort of ravioli effect (but the pieces were still pretty 
much together - just had break lines like toilet paper.

Then I therew all three items into a pot of pboiling water for about 10 
minutes (maybe a bit less) then put them under the griller until they 
went brown (By griller I mean what in a commercial kitchen is usually 
called a salamander. never did figure out why the different terminology)

They all came out pretty well. I was afraid the pastry would end up being 
gluggy, but in the roly-poly version it came out very thin except a lump 
in the middle, which had been an end after the first rolling up. The 
others had a similar feel - of them I preferred the ravioli type to the 
turnover, as there seemed to be less pastry lump and it was easier to 
eat, especially hot. The roly-poly was probably my favourite, but I would 
happily eat any version - there is not that much to pick between them.

I realise that the filling is not what the recipe says, but I thought it 
would be close enough to test the technique. Anyway, I am going to have 
another go in a few days, using the recipe a bit more closely for filling 
(Today I just grabbed what was in the kitchen)

Any thoughts?

Charles McCN/Ragnar
(I think I have posted the recipe to both lists. If not tell me, and I 
can again)
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