[Sca-cooks] My first Redaction: Leche Lumbard

[david friedman]

Almost a month ago, Artemesia wrote:

(snip comments, including that rosemary was a mistake for gilofre = cloves)

>Leche Lumbard - from Forme of Cury:
>
>66. Leche Lumbard. Take rawe pork and pulle of the skyn, and pyke out þe
>synewes, and bray the pork in a morter with ayron rawe. Do þerto sugur,
>salt, raysouns coraunce, dates mynced, and powdour of peper, powdour
>gylofre; & do it in a bladder, and lat it seeþ til it be ynowhgh. And whan
>it is ynowh, kerf it; leshe it in liknesse of a peskodde; and take grete
>raysouns and grynde hem in a morter. Drawe hem vp wiþ rede wyne. Do þerto
>mylke of almaundes. Colour it with saundres & safroun, and do þerto powdour
>of peper & of gilofre and boile it. And whan it is iboiled, take powdour
>canel and gynger and temper it vp with wyne, and do alle þise thynges
>togyder, and loke þat it be rennyng; and lat it not seeþ after þat it is
>cast togyder, & serue it forth.
>
>Hieatt, Constance B. and Sharon Butler. Curye on Inglish: English Culinary
>Manuscripts of the Fourteenth-Century (Including the Forme
>of Cury). London: For the Early English Text Society by the Oxford
>University Press, 1985.
>
>Gode Cookery translation: Take raw pork and pull off the skin, and pick out
>the sinews, and pound the pork in a morter with raw eggs. Do there to sugar,
>salt, currants, minced dates, and powder of pepper, powder cloves; & do it
>in a bladder, and let it boil til it be done. And when it is done, carve it;
>slice it in the likeness of a peaspod; and take great raisins and grind them
>in a morter. Blend it with red wine. Do there to milk of almonds. Color it
>with sandlewood & saffron, and do there to powder of pepper & of cloves and
>boil it. And when it is boiled, take cinnamon powder and ginger and mix it
>up with wine, and do all these things together, and look that it be rennet
>(coagulated); and let it not boil after that it is cast together, & serve it
>forth.

I think "rennet" for "rennyng" is a mistake; much more simply, it is
"running"--or, not coagulated. There are also references to potages
that are supposed to be standing (in one spelling or another).

(ingredients list snipped)

>For meatloaf:
>
>1.  Take all of the ingrediants and mix them up in a bowl together.  Try to
>get a consistant mixture so that all the fruit and spices are distributed
>evenly.
>
>2.  Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and form meat mixtures into a shape
>(if you want to see the original directions for peaspod, please go to the
>website stated above).  Mine was a sun.  I tried to keep it no thicker
>(height) than an inch and a half so everything cooked evenly.
>
>3.  Put in oven at 350 degrees for roughly 35 minutes.  I orginally made a 2
>pound batch, which I left in for 40 minutes, which was a little too long for
>my tastes (turned a little dry).  It should be a light golden brown.

In the orginal,it is boiled in a bladder (maybe a tightly woven cloth
bag would work in the absence of  a bladder). Anyone know what
pudding bags are like? It would be interesting to try it that way.

>Sauce:
>
>1.  Place in saucepan everything but the ginger and rosemary.  Bring to
>boil, then bring down tempurature to a simmer.  Allow to boil down for at
>least 20 to 30 minutes.
>
>2.  Near the end of the simmering, add ginger and rosemary.  Because mine
>didn't thicken, I added about 1 tablespoon arrowroot, but when I did it the
>second time, it thickened...so go figure.

As above, it is supposed to be liquid when you are done--maybe if it
thickens too much, you could add more wine. Note that in the
original, it is the cinnamon and ginger, mixed with some wine, that
get added at the end. My guess is that you are to mix them with wine
before you add it so that the ground spices don't lump.

If you like rosemary with meat and a current/wine sauce, look at the
recipe for Capon Stewed, which is (I think) originally from the same
cookbook as this one--we've got a version in our _Miscellany_. I
can't think of a red meat with rosemary from this cuisine
(English/French 14th-15th c.).

Elizabeth of Dendermonde/Betty Cook