SC - Re: compost

[Stefan li Rous]

Adamantius originally replied to me: 
> << Tastes about the
>  same as always and hasn't made anybody sick. I'm running low, though:
>  perhaps I should make another five-year supply!  >>
> 
> would you mind posting your recipe and the source. This sounds like fun
> 
> Hauviette

Adamantius' recipe as well as Ras' and several others on this list can
be found in this file in the FOOD section of my Florilegium files.
pickled-food-msg (105K) 12/17/99    Medieval pickled food. recipes.

For mine, I used the redaction by Master Ian Damebrigge of Wychwood but
took some ideas from Adamantius' and Ras' and others redactions.

I have pasted Adamantius' message below.
- -- 
Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas           stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****

> From: "Philip W. Troy" <troy at asan.com>
> Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 14:10:02 -0400
> Subject: Re: SC - SC Pickels
> 
> James L. Matterer wrote:
> > 
> > Well, I've been making pickled dishes an integral part of every feast
> > I've done for the past several years. The most popular seems to be
> > English-style pickled eggs (which I usually make as part of a
> > Ploughman's Lunch, with pickled onions, bread, & cheese), but one of my
> > favorites is a dish called "Compost" which contains raisins, pears,
> > cabbage, walnuts, mustard seeds, anise seeds, white radishes... all
> > pickled together in white wine and honey. Here's the original recipe
> > with my redaction:
> 
> <Original recipe snipped for space>
> 
> I've loved this dish for several years. I'm interested in your mention
> of walnuts above. The source you cite doesn't mention them, but the
> recipe in Le Menagier for a similar dish does mention green, immature
> nuts, probably walnuts although no specific type is mentioned. I've
> tried this with immature almonds, which I can get at Middle Eastern
> markets near me about once a year. When cooked they resemble those large
> "Italian" string beans. 
> 
> >    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).
> 
> Pretty similar to what I make. One trick I've been using is to put the
> mixture into sterile canning jars. You could argue that this defeats the
> period purpose of pickling, but it does prolong the shelf life by quite
> a bit, and any unopened jars can actually be saved for the next time you
> might want them (including another event, if you're of a mind).
> Actually, if sealed jars are refrigerated, the compost will keep for
> upwards of a year with no serious diminution of quality.
> 
> This is a wonderful Pennsic food and is especially good with cold meats
> or sausage. 
> 
> Adamantius
> 
>