[Sca-cooks] Compost, was Light Feast Menu

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

>  And what is compost?
>
>  Vitha

It's a blend of fruits, nuts, vegetables, mustard, wine, vinegar,
spices, etc. Quite tasty - i think it was used as a sauce for meat. I
think of it as Medieval European Chutney.

I have a recipe i made for the Boar Hunt 2000 on my website:
http://witch.drak.net/lilinah/compost.html

Or, well, here it is... Note that it is easier than it looks - i like
to make my directions very detailed, since they're intended for cooks
who may not have a lot of experience cooking complex dishes. In my
opinion, the hardest part was paring and chopping all the fruits and
vegetables. I did this alone and having some extra hands would really
have helped.

Beacon's Gate Boar Hunt 2000
FIRST COURSE

Compost - Medieval "chutney"
English, Forme of Cury, late 14th c.

Forme of Cury 103
Original Recipe

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.

modernized:
Take root of parsley, of pasternak, rafens, scrape hem and wash them
clean. Take rapes & cabbages, pared and cored. Take an earthen pan
with clean water & set it on the fire; cast all these therein. When
they are boiled cast thereto pears, & parboil them well. Take all
these things up & let it cool on a (fair) clean cloth. Do thereto
salt; when it is cold, put it in a vessel; take vinegar & (mixed
spice) powder & saffron & and do thereto, & let all these things lie
therein all night, other al day. Take Greek wine & honey, clarified
together; take lumbarde mustard & raisins of Corinth (that is, dried
currants [which are actually small raisins]), all whole, & good
powder of cinnamon, powder douce, whole anise seed, & fennel seed.
Take all these things & cast together in a pot of earth, & take
thereof when thou wilt & serve forth.

----- Aside not in my recipe on line -----

1. Pasternak = I've seen pasternak modernized into both parsnips and
carrots, so i used both. If you only want one, i'd say go with
parsnips

2. Rafens = radishes. I can't remember where, but ISTR reading that
these were specifically black radishes, which i found at my local
good produce market, The Berkeley Bowl. However, if you can't find
these, use the big Japanese white radish called daikon. The modern
pink radishes i've bought recently have had all the tasty bite bred
out of them, so they're nothing but flavorless crunch :-(

3. Rapes = white turnip

--------------- end aside ---------------

recipe by Anahita

I. A week before beginning preparation of Compost, prepare Lombard
Mustard as follows:

-- Lumbarde mustard --
2 oz. mustard powder (a bit over 1/2 c.)
1/4 cup honey
3 TB
1 TB cider or white wine vinegar
(i used champagne vinegar)

1. Mix honey, wine, and vinegar.
2. Warm to liquify.
3. Stir into mustard.
4. Let age at least one week.

NOTES:
1. I was a bad girl and made mine the day i began preparing the
Compost. I only let it age until i needed to add it to the recipe,
about 2 days. It was quite "hot", but in the end blended in quite
well with all the other seasonings.
2. It's really easy to make, but if you want to substitute, you could
try Dijon with honey added or a good quality honey-mustard. But i
think you should try to make the Lombard mustard - it's so good.


II. At least one week before using, begin preparation of Compost:

2-1/2 lb turnips, peeled and diced
2-1/2 lb parsnips, peeled and diced
2-1/2 lb carrots, peeled and diced
2-1/2 lb green cabbage, cored and coarsely chopped
5 small black radishes, peeled and diced
9 parsley roots, peeled and diced
2-1/2 lb winter pears, peeled, cored and chopped
Salt

1. Place turnips, parsnips, carrots, parsley root, radishes, and
cabbage in a pot.
2. Barely cover with water and bring to a boil.
3. Add pears, reducing heat to medium, and cook until pears are barely tender.
4. Drain, place in colanders, sprinkling with a substantial amount of
salt and leave until cold, in a place where excess water can drain
off, such as the sink sideboard.


III. When vegetables are cool:

2 quarts cider vinegar
1 tsp saffron

Poudre:
1 cup sugar
1 TB ground cloves
1 TB ground cinnamon
2 TB ground ginger

1. Put cooled vegetable mixture in earthenware pot.
2. Mix vinegar, saffron and spice powder, and add to vegetables.
3. Let sit in a cool place for 12 hours.

NOTE: As i didn't have an earthenware crock large enough, i put the
vegetables and spices into two one-gallon glass jars with screw lids.


IV. Twelve hours later:

1 bottle sweet white wine
2 cups honey

1 lb dried Zante currants (i.e., raisins of coraunce)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp aniseed
1 tsp fennel seed

Powder douce:
1 cup sugar
1 TB cubebs, ground
1 TB grains of Paradise, ground
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp groung galingal
1 tsp ground cloves

1. Bring wine and honey to a boil, removing the scum as needed and
remove from heat.
2. Add Lumbarde mustard, raisins of coraunce, cinnamon, anise,
fennel, and poudre douce to the wine-honey mixture, stirring well to
make sure that the sugar is dissolved.
3. Then add this spiced honey wine to the vegetable-pear mixture and
blend carefully.

NOTES:
1. I used an inexpensive California Chardonnay that was actually
quite drinkable, although it may not have been as sweet as the wine
originally used.
2. Since i used a clean honey, i didn't bother to remove the "scum".
If using a grade of honey less than a B, you may well need to skim to
remove "stuff".
3. To make sure that the "sauce" was evenly distributed in the
vegetable-pear mix, i took the vegetables out of the glass jars and
divided them into two kettles, then poured equal amounts of
honey-wine over them, then returned them to the glass jars, screwing
the lids on well.


V. Store well covered in a cool place for at least one week.
NOTE: I didn't have an earthenware crock big enough, so i used two
one-gallon glass jars.


VI. Serve with meats. May also be pureed and used as a sauce with meats.
NOTE: Most of this was consumed at the feast - maybe a quart or quart
and a half was left over.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
There are other variant recipes in Le Menagier de Paris - a much more
complex preparation begun about 6 months before intended use which
includes youngs walnuts before their shell has formed, Das Buch Von
Guter Speise - this one is a simpler sauce, and Apicius. Also, i've
been told that a variant can be found in the 13th century Northern
European cookbook known as The Icelandic Medical Miscellany, but i
haven't seen this one.

Anahita