[Sca-cooks] Chastletes - help please

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Christina Nevin wrote:
>
> My mental TV screen just isn't getting this one! Here's what I have so far:
>
> ConI: FoC p.142-3  (|> = thorn)
> "Chastletes. Take and make a foyle of gode past with a rollere of a foot
> brode, & lynger by cumpas. Make iiii coffyns of |>e self past vppn |>e
> rollere |>e gretnesse of |>e smale of |>yn arme of vi ynche dep; make |>e
> gretust in |>e myddell. Fasten |>e foile in |>e mouth vpwarde, & fasten |>e
> o|>ere four in euery side..."
>
> the recipe goes on to carve battlements, cook the pastry and dictate the
> fillings. My rough redaction;
>
> "Chatletes. Take and make a leaf of good pastry with a rolling pin, a foot
> broad and twice as long (?).

And longer by comparison, I would say.


> Make four coffins of the same pastry, upon the
> rolling pin, the length of a forearm and six inches deep; (are we talking
> width here or thickness?)

The circumference of a forearm, possibly near the wrist, and six inches
deep. You can use the rolling pin, which is presumably a plain wooden
cylinder, by mashing it end first into a suitably-sized ball of dough,
then rolling the stuff you've captured on the sides between the pin and
the table until it becomes thin and crawls up the sides of the pin,
essentially coating it with a thin coffin. As you roll the sides
thinner, it _should_ begin to separate from the pin, because it'll get
larger than the pin.

> make the biggest (ie the first piece of pastry) in
> the middle. Fasten the pastry leaf in the mouth upward, and fasten the other
> four in every side..."
>
> So is this shaped like a cross? (I'm guessing round isn't gonna work!)
> Raised sides all 'round? Has anyone made this? It sounds too big to get in a
> modern oven in one piece. Did you do it seperately?

I've never done this, but it sounds as if you've got a one-foot-high
tower, a minimum of 4-5 inches in diameter, surrounded by four smaller
towers, a forearm in diameter and six inches high. I don't see how it
would hurt to make these separately, but I assume they were using a
larger oven. Cross-shaped castles aren't uncommon, I gather.

Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
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