SC - Yeast dough instead of pastry

[Cindy Renfrow]

<snip>
>
>ah, but the original question remains...do we have documentation for them
>being with a yeasty dough rather than the usual pastry?
>
>All the coffyns I've seen mentioned in primary sources imply regular
>pastry, some with rye for sturdiness (like as specified for venison).
>
>Anyone else?
>--AM

Hello!  Here are 2 recipes, taken from "Take 1000 Eggs".  They both call
for the filling to be enclosed in 'dow', rather than 'paste'.  What kind of
dough they are referring to is open to speculation.

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez
xli.  Raynolle[3].  Nym sode Porke & chese, & se[th]e y-fere, & caste
[th]er-to gode pouder Pepir, Canelle, Gyngere, Clowes, Mac[e][3], an close
[th]in comade in dow, & frye it in freysshe grece ry[3]t wel; an [th]anne
serue it forth.

41.  Raynolle[3].  Take seethed Pork & cheese, & seethe together, & cast
thereto good powdered Pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, Mac[e]s, and close
thine mixture in dough, & fry it in fresh grease very well; and then serve
it forth.


Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez
xlvij.  Rapeye.  Take dow, & make [th]er-of a [th]inne kake; [th]anne take
Fygys & raysonys smal y-grounde, & temper hem with Almaunde Milke; take
pouder of Pepir, & of Galyngale, Clowes, & menge to-gederys, & ley on
[th]in kake a-long as bene koddys, & ouer-caste [th]in kake to-gederys, &
dewte on [th]e eggys, an frye in Oyle, & serue forth.

47.  Rapeye.  Take dough, & make thereof a thin cake; then take Figs &
raisins small ground, & mix them with Almond Milk;  take powder of Pepper,
& of Galingale, Cloves, & mix together, & lay on thine cake lengthwise as
bean-cods, & turn over thine cake together, & dip in the eggs, and fry in
Oil, & serve forth.

In addition, the recipes for Rastons are basically a cooked loaf filled
with something (in this case clarified butter) and re-baked.  The loaf acts
as a coffyn.

There is another recipe in Forme of Cury (p. 72) where a loaf is filled &
boiled like a pudding:

xx vii. xix. Wastels yfarced:
Take a Wastel and hewe out [th]e crinnes.  take ayren & shepis talow &
[th]e crinn of [th]e same Wastell powdor fort & salt wt Safron and Raisons
corance. & medle alle [th]ise yfere & do it in [th]e Wastel. close it &
bynde it fast togidre. and see[th] it wel.

The main problem with using uncooked bread dough for a coffin is that it
does not hold a raised shape without a baking dish.  You can make a filled
round loaf, or a cylinder, but not a raised pie.  I've done a
traffic-stopping meat pie using 2 loaves worth of bread dough & a
spring-form pan, but off the top of my head I don't recall seeing such a
thing in a medieval recipe.

HTH,


Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net
Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing
Recipes"
http://www.alcasoft.com/renfrow/


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