SC - Need help with "Compost"

Sat Oct 2 00:13:14 PDT 1999

On Fri, 01 Oct 1999 22:41:06 GMT kerric at pobox.alaska.net (Kerri Canepa)
writes:
>And I don't mean that stuff you put in your garden...
>
>I'm looking at Form of Cury and specifically at Compost. I'm having 
>more trouble
>than I'd like figuring out the ingredients and cooking process. Here's 
>the
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Compost
	Forme of Cury 103. Copyright 1997 by L. J. Spencer, Jr. (a.k.a.
Lord Ras al Zib) Posted by Lord Ras (LrdRas at aol.com). Reposted by
Bronwynmgn (Bronwynmgn at aol.com)
	Take rote of parsel, of pasternak, rafens, scrape hem and waische
hem clene. Take rapes & caboches, ypared and icorue. Take an erthen panne
with clene water & set it on the fire; cast all (th)ise (th)erinne. When
(th)ey buth boiled cast (th)erto peeres, & perboile hem wel. Take alle
(th)ise thynges vp & lat it kele on a faire cloth. Do (th)erto salt; whan
it is colde, do hit in a vessel; take vinegar & powdour & safroun & and
do (th)erto, & lat alle (th)ise thynges lye (th)erin al ny(gh)t, o(th)er
al day. Take wyne greke & honey, clarified togider; take lumbarde mustard
& raisouns coraunce, al hoole, & gynde powdour of canel, powdour douce,
anys hole, & fenell seed. Take alle (th)ise thynges & castt togyder in a
pot of erthe, & take (th)erof whan (th)oui wilt & serue forth.
	There is a redaction in 'Pleyn Delit which, IMHO, deviates away
from the original in very significant ways so I am not posting it. My
translation and redaction follows:
	Take parsley root, parsnips, radishes, scrape them and wash them
clean. Take turnips and cabbages, pared and cored. Take an earthen pan
with clean water and set it on the fire; cast all this therein. When they
both boiled cast therein pears, and parboil them well. Take all these
things up and let it cool on a fair cloth. Do thereto salt; when it is
cold, do it in a vessel; take vinegar and powder and saffron and do
thereto, and let all these things lie therein all night, other(wise) all
day. Take Greek wine and honey, clarified together; take Lumbard mustard
and raisins of Corinth (currants ?), all whole, and grind powder of
cinnamon, powder douce, anys whole, & fennel seed. Take alle these things
and cast together in a pot of earth, & take thereof when thou wilt and
serve it forth.
	1/2 cup parsley root, peeled and diced
	6 parsnips, peeled and diced
	1 medium black radish, peeled and diced
	1 lb. turnips, peeled and diced
	1 gallon cabbage, cored and chopped
	2 quarts winter pears, peeled, cored and chopped
	Salt
	1 bottle Retsina (Greek wine)
	2 cups honey
	2 quarts cider vinegar
	........................................
	Powder:
	1 cup sugar
	1 Tbs. ground cloves
	1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
	2 Tbs. ground ginger)
	........................................
	1 tsp. saffron
	1/2 cup ground white mustard (the supermarket variety)
	1 lb. dried currants
	1 tsp. cinnamon
	.......................................
	Powder douce:
	1 cup sugar
	1 tsp. ground cloves
	2 tsp. ground cinnamon
	2 tsp. ground ginger
	1 Tbs. ground cubebs (opt.)
	2 tsp. ground galingal (opt.)
	1 Tbs. grains of Paradise (opt.)
	........................................
	1 tsp. aniseed
	1 tsp. fennel seed
	Place parsley root, parsnips, radishes, turnips and cabbage in a
non-reactive kettle (e.g. enamel, glass, or Teflon. Cover with water.
Bring to a boil. Add pears. Reduce heat to medium and cook until pears
are barely tender. Drain; spread on a cloth. Sprinkle with a substantial
amount of salt and leave until cold. While mixture is cooling, bring wine
and honey to a boil, removing the scum as needed. When the scum stops
rising remove from heat. Put cooled cabbage mixture into a non-reactive
kettle. Add vinegar, powder and saffron. Let sit in a cool place for 12
hours. Add remaining ingredients to the wine/honey mixture, stirring well
to make sure that the sugar is dissolved. Add wine/honey spice mixture to
cabbage/pear mixture and blend carefully. Store in a cool place and use
as needed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Compost
	From Hieatt, Constance B. and Butler, Sharon. Curye on Inglish:
English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth Century (Including the
Forme of Cury). London: For the Early English Text Society by the Oxford
University Press, 1985. Redaction by Master Ian Damebrigge of Wychwood.
Posted by James L. Matterer (jmattere at weir.net)
	Curye on Inglish, p. 120-121: "Take rote of persel, of pasternak,
of rafens, scape hem and waische hem clene. Take rapes & caboches, ypared
and icorue. Take an erthen panne with clene water & set it on the fire;
cast alle thise therinne. Whan they buth boiled cast therto peeres, &
parboile hem wel. Take alle thise thynges vp & lat it kele on a faire
cloth. Do therto salt; whan it is colde, do hit in a vessel; take vyneger
& powdour & safroun & do therto, & lat alle thise thynges lye therin al
nyyt, other al day. Take wyne greke & hony, clarified togider; take
lumbarde mustard & raisons coraunce, al hoole, & grynde powdour of canel,
powdour douce & aneys hole, & fenell seed. Take alle thise thynges & cast
togyder in a pot of erthe, & take therof whan thou wilt & serue forth."
	The following is a modified (but just as tasty) version of the
medieval recipe, containing only the "pasternak" (carrots- from the
botanical "pastinaca"), "caboches" (cabbage), "peeres" (pears) and
"raisons of courace" (currants). The other medieval ingredients are "rote
of persel" (parsley root), "rafens" (radishes), and "rapes" (white
turnip).
	2 lbs. carrots, sliced
	1/2 head cabbage, in small pieces
	3-4 pears, sliced thin
	1 tsp. salt
	6 tblsp. vinegar
	2 tsp. ginger
	few threads saffron
	1 bottle (750 ml.) white wine
	1/2 c. honey
	1 tblsp. mustard seed
	3/4 c. currants
	1 tsp. cinnamon
	1/2 tblsp. each anise seed & fennel seed
	Boil the carrots and cabbage for several minutes, then add the
pears. Cook until tender; drain well. Lay vegetables and pears in a
large, flat, non-metallic dish. Sprinkle on the salt. Let cool, then
sprinkle on the vinegar, ginger, and saffron. Cover with a cloth and let
stand for several hours or overnight. When ready, mix the vegetables with
the currants and the seeds. Place in a sealable container and set aside.
In a separate pot, bring the honey, cinnamon, and wine to a boil,
skimming off the scum until clear. Remove from heat and pour over the
vegetable mixture. Let cool and seal. May be stored for a week or more.
Serves 12.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Korrin S. DaArdain
Kitchen Steward of Household Port Karr
Kingdom of An Tir in the Society for Creative Anachronism.
Korrin.DaArdain at Juno.com

___________________________________________________________________
Get the Internet just the way you want it.
Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================