[Sca-cooks] Period German Recipes

[Volker Bach]

On the topic of German recipes, I finally found
the original for the nut porridge that went down
so well with our Shire's last A&S Meeting. It's
from Meister Eberhardt, late 15th century:

Ein gut mus zu machenn.
So nym nuß kernn vnd stoß die clein vnd streich
die durch mit einerr sussenn milch vnd mit
susser semell brosem, die wol gesotenn sein, vnd
thue schmalcz dar an genug vnd rurr es ab mit
eyer totternn vnd wurcz es wol vnd versalcz es
nit.

Rough translation (if I ever learn enough medieval
German I might try a translation of this source -
it's fascinating, expounding on the medical
virtues of various foods):

To make a good porridge (or mousse, or pudding,
I'm not sure)

Take nut kernels and pound it finely and pass it
through (a sieve or cloth) with sweet milk and
sweet breadcrumbs that are well boiled (?) and add
enough lard and stir it with egg yolks and season
it well and do not oversalt it.

I read a redaction on this that interpreted it as
a sweet dish, giving sugar and cinnamon for
seasonings. What I did back at our A&S meet was
grind hazelnuts and almonds, add brioche soaked in
milk, plenty of granulated sugar (brown looks
good) and powdered cinnamon and mush the whole
thing together. Adding enough milk to get a
thickly viscous consistency I heat this to a boil
(stir all the while and don't let it burn), then
add a egg yolks (three or four to a pound of
nuts), keep it hot till it thickens and pour it
into a cold dish to set. A fellow cook advised me
to use starch to bind it, which worked nicely.
This is good with fresh or preserved cherries.

YIS

Giano