SC - another stuffed vegetable

[cclark at vicon.net]

Huette wrote:
>> ... "Mes of Cheseberien." ...
> ...
>If you would be so kind as to post the recipe for
>this, I would be most appreciative.

Sorry, haven't done the experimenting yet (I'm just lazy :-) ). It's number
I. 54. in Curye on Inglysch by Hieatt and Butler. Here's a quick and dirty
approximation of a translation:

Now hear great magnificence of skill of intellect how you shall make "mes of
chyseberien": much comes of great cleverness. The stone do away with all the
stem; after you shall make stuffing of fresch things and of hen flesh beaten
in a mortar. Yolks hard mix with, and yolks soft well to bind, and pepper,
cinnamon, cloves precious. The cherries right well stuffed in a pail cast;
do stuffing well about. Then do in a dish of silver. Bear the "mes" to the
dais before all men.

My thoughts on how to make it:

Pit the cherries first (as it says above), so that the stuffing can be used
just as soon as it's mixed. Sweet cherries might be better, but I wouldn't
want any overripe ones in this.

Simmered breast (and perhaps thigh) meat from young broiler-fryer chickens
might work best, though I couldn't say that it might not have been raw meat
instead. I haven't yet experimented with grinding raw chicken in the mortar.

I couldn't guess as to whether all the main ingredients are listed. The
phrase that seems to translate as "fresh things" (verhs thinge) is kind of
unhelpful. Does it refer to the other stated ingredients? I don't know.

Try a moderate amount of cinnamon and less of the other spices. Ceylon
cinnamon might be considerably better than cassia in this recipe, and more
accurate besides. There should probably be a tiny bit of salt too (it seems
to be a frequently unmentioned ingredient).

Cast (mold) it in a shallow pail of metal or other oven-safe material. A
cake pan might be an accepable substitute. I would guess (and hope) that
with those raw egg yolks it would have been cooked before serving, in which
case it would set while cooking and perhaps hold its shape better when unmolded.

Serve it near the end of the feast, so that those at the dais will be well
fed and disposed to give out samples to all and sundry rather than hogging
it all. :-)

And now, here's the easiest recipe I know for a stuffed vegetable (and it's
period too): Go to a good feast. Stuff yourself. Vegetate.

Alex Clark/Henry of Maldon

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