[Sca-cooks] Please post:::Compost??

[Elaine Koogler]

Here is the recipe I used for a Coronation a couple of years ago.  Everyone turned
up their noses at the name, not to mention when I described the ingredients.  But
once it was made, it was VERY popular!!  I hope you enjoy it:

103.  Compost.  Take rote of persel, of pasternak, of rafens, scrape hem and
waische hem clene.  Take rapes and 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 thereto peeres, & perboile hem wel.  Take all thise thynges up
and lat it kele on a faire cloth.  Do thereto salt; whan it is colde, do hit in a
vessel; take vyneger & powdour & safroun & & do thereto, & lat alle thise thynges
lye therein al nyght, other al day.  Take wyne greke and hony, clarified togider;
take lumbarde mustard & raisouns coraunce, al hoole, & trynde powdour of  canel,
powdour douce & aneys hole, & fenell seed.  Take alle thise thynges & cast togyder
in a pot of erthe, & take thereof whan thou wilt & serue forthe.

103.  Compost.  Take parsley root, parsnips, radish, scrape them and wash them
clean.  Take turnips and cabbages, pared and cleaned.  Take an pottery pan with
clean water and set it on the fire.  Put all of these in the pot. .  When they
have boiled, add pears and parboil them well.  Take all these things up and let it
cool on a fair cloth.  Add salt; when it is cold, put it in a vessel; take vinegar
and poudre and saffron and add it, and let all these things lie therein all night
or all day.  Take Greek wine (sweet) and honey, clarified together; take Lumbard
mustard and currents all whole, and grind cinnamon, poudre douce and anise whole
and fennel seed.  Take all these things and cast together in an earthen pot and
take thereof when you will and serve it forth. (Forme of Cury from Curye on
Inglysch)

Redaction:  (Makes about 4 cups)

6 radishes                                             4 T. Honey
4 cabbage leaves                                  1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 parsnip                                              1 tsp. fresh ginger root,
diced finely
2 turnips                                               1/4 tsp. mace
1 pear                                                   1/4 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. Salt                                              1/2 tsp. fennel seed
1 ½ C. red wine vinegar                         1/4 cup currants
½ tsp. Pepper                                        1 Tbsp. Lumbard mustard
1 pinch saffron                                       1/2 tsp whole anise seed
1 ½ C. Sweet wine (Marsala)

1.  Parboil root vegetables, cabbage in water until almost tender
2. Add to vegetables and continue parboiling until tender.  Drain and cool.
3. Marinate in a cool place overnight.  Then drain liquid from mixture
4. Heat wine and honey together until clarified.
5. Add to wine/honey mixture, mix thoroughly, then cool.
6. Gently mix with vegetable/fruit mixture.  Store, refrigerated, then serve
chilled.

Notes:

1.  Recipe calls for “wyne greke” or Greek Wine, which the glossary in Curye on
Inglysch defines as “
a sweet type of wine which actually came from Italy
”
Marsala seemed to fit this description nicely.  However, upon researching the
issue further (i.e., asking this list), I discovered that Marsala isn't period, so
I would try to find a sweet Greek wine to use.
2.  I omitted the parsley root, as it was unavailable in the small town where I
live, but I understand that it is available elsewhere.
3.  I define “poudre” here to mean pepper.
4.  The “
lumbarde mustard
” is taken from a recipe further on in Forme of Cury,
which I have redacted below.
5.  I have found numerous descriptions of “powdour douce” which vary widely, often
containing sugar, cinnamon, ginger, mace and cloves.  I have omitted the sugar as
I feel it is sweet enough with the honey and sweet wine.  I have also used fresh
ginger, as have the authors of Early French Cooking (Terence Scully) and To the
King’s Taste (Lorna J. Sass) in other recipes which called for powdour douce.  I
believe that it adds more to the sweet-sour contrast that was so popular in this
period.

Hope this helps!

Kiri



Seton1355 at aol.com wrote:

> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> Can some one pretty please post an actual recipe for compost as I only have a
> general outline for it
> Thanks Phillipa
>
> >
> > No, it's actually called "compost"...I first found it in "Forme of Curye", I
> > think
>
> Kiri
>
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