[Sca-cooks] Hello! and questions...

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Welcome to the list, Madhavi.

You wrote:
>I have tried to make the sauce three times now, with varying proportions of
>tarragon vinegar/white wine (to substitute for verjuice) to fresh herbs to
>bread crumbs with little success. It always just tastes like raw parsley,
>very raw and harsh.

Hmm-mmm, i don't understand why your sauce tastes so strongly of
parsley. I love this sauce and have had is several times made by
various cooks and never had it taste primarily of parsley. The idea
is to balance the strong flavors of sage, hyssop, and marjoram with
the parsley so those first three herbs don't dominate. In my
experience, i find that sage has a tendency to dominate.

Are you using fresh sage, hyssop and marjoram or dried? Fresh is
really what is called for here. You won't get the appropriate dish if
you use dried.

Second, the tarragon in your vinegar adds a flavor that is not asked
for in the recipe. Are you not able to find a white wine vinegar or
champagne vinegar in your area? I bought a gallon of white wine
vinegar for my German feast last December when i made about 6 kinds
of pickles - i know it's out there...

Third, you should not be using bread *crumbs*. You are using the soft
insides of fresh bread which is soaked in pea puree. Perhaps that is
part of your problem. You won't need as much of your sour liquids if
the bread has been well-soaked and is nice and moist.

I've included the original recipe and broken it down to a list of
ingredients and steps below, so you can see where it says to soak the
bread in the pea puree.

>But it doesn't mention cooking it in the recipe, or in
>the Bruet of Savoy of meat sauce recipe... is the cooking of the sauce
>implied in some way that I am missing?

The cooking is right there in the recipe: it says to "put to boil in
a large, fair and clean pot..." and "let it just come to a boil so
that the color of the greens is not lost."

You'll be able to see this clearly in the recipe break-down below.

>All the times it has been made
>without the grains of paradise or saffron, and with the verjuice
>substitution, since I won't be able to use any of these items for the actual
>feast.

These can be ordered over the internet, if you have the time. Grains
of Paradise are a necessity for the Medieval cook's spice cupboard.
The dish will miss a little something with out them, but won't suffer
enormously, so don't stress if you don't have the time to get them.
Also, it sounds to me like the saffron is used to improve the color
if the sauce isn't green enough, so it isn't absolutely necessary.
See Recipe 3. Bruet of Savoy (with meat and fowl) below your recipe
number 26.

>Also, the recipe mentions puree of peas... is that a garnish? Or
>served on a bed of? Or is this supposed to be an ingredient of the sauce?

See the recipe break-down below. The puree is absolutely NOT a
garnish nor "a bed". It is the soaking liquid for the soft fresh
bread. In the actual Bruet of Savoy, recipe number 3, the bread is
soaked in the meat and poultry broth. Since your recipe is "Opposite
the Bruet of Savoy" and most likely a fish-day recipe, the bread is
soaked in a meatless liquid.

What is unclear to me is whether after the bread has absorbed the
moisture from the puree it is removed and squeezed out a bit and the
puree discarded. This is the standard procedure for soaking bread
that is used to thicken a sauce. However, since it doesn't specify
what to do, it could also be interpreted leaving the pea puree in the
sauce.

But this recipe makes many assumptions, since it doesn't give the
recipe for the pea puree - although any competent Medieval Christian
cook would know how to make it - nor directions for frying the fish.
It just says to "take your fried fish..." etc.

Since you're supposed bring the sauce just to a boil then remove from
the fire, well, the sauce needs liquid, so possibly the pea puree is
left in the sauce and the bread is not removed from it. But, to
reiterate, the pea puree is not a garnish of any sort. It is integral
to the sauce in one way or another.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

ORIGINAL
26. And to make pottage opposite the bruet of Savoy made above for a
meat service: to make another of fish opposite that one, take your
white bread and cut off the crust very well and take it according to
the quantity of potage which you should make, and then put it to soak
in the puree of peas and white wine and verjuice according to the
quantity which you are making of the said potage. And arrange that
you have a great deal of parsley, and sage, hyssop, and marjoram; and
have a great quantity of the said parsley picked over, and put in the
other three in moderation because they are strong; and put together,
then wash them in three or four changes of water well and properly,
and take and press them between your hands and drain off the water
and wring them and put in a mortar and bray well and properly; and
when they are very well brayed put them with your bread. And take
your spices, ginger, grains of paradise and a little pepper--and not
too much--and strain it very well into a fair cornue; and then put
them to boil in a large, fair and clean pot according to the quantity
which you have, and let it just come to a boil so that the color of
the greens is not lost; and to make it nicely put in a little bit of
saffron to make it bright green. And when it is brought to the
sideboard take your fried fish and put on your serving dishes, and
then put the said potage on top, and scatter pomegranate seeds on top.

MY BREAK-DOWN
26. And to make pottage opposite the bruet of Savoy made above for a
meat service: to make another of fish opposite that one

peas
white wine
verjuice
white bread
parsley - more than of the other herbs
sage
hyssop
marjoram
ginger
grains of paradise
a little pepper
a little bit of saffron
fish
oil or fat
pomegranate seeds

26. And to make pottage opposite the bruet of Savoy made above for a
meat service:

1. Make a puree of peas and white wine and verjuice. [From other
similar Lenten and Fish Day recipes, i suspect that dried peas are
called for here.]
2. Take white bread and cut off the crust very well.
3. Put the bread to soak in the pea puree.
4. Have a great quantity of parsley picked over, and the other three
herbs in moderation because they are strong. [To me, this implies
that the parsley is balancing the strong flavors of the fresh sage,
hyssop, and marjoram. It should not dominate.]
5. Wash the herbs in three or four changes of water well, press them
between your hands to drain off the water,and wring them.
6. Put the herbs in a mortar and bray well.
7. When they are very well brayed put them with the bread [This
recipe doesn't specify if the bread is removed from the pea puree or
if the herbs are added and the bread remains in the pea puree].
8. Take your spices, ginger, grains of paradise and a little pepper
and strain it very well into a fair cornue. [I think this is a way to
mix and puree the sauce further]
9. Then put them to boil in a large, fair and clean pot, and let it
just come to a boil so that the color of the greens is not lost.
["Them" is all the ingredients of the sauce.]
10. To make it nicely put in a little bit of saffron to make it
bright green. [Refer to recipe 3 for more details about using saffron]
11. [It is implied that while the sauce cook is making the sauce,
another cook has fried the fish.]
12. And when it is brought to the sideboard take your fried fish and
put on your serving dishes, and then put the said potage on top, and
scatter pomegranate seeds on top. [Thus, you put the green sauce on
top of the fish]

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Here is the meaty Bruet of Savoy recipe that your fish recipe is "opposite"

3. And again, another potage, that is a bruet of Savoy: to give
understanding to him who will be charged with making this bruet, to
take his poultry and the meat according to the quantity of it which
he is told that he should make, and make ready his poultry and set to
cook cleanly; and meat according to the quantity of potage which he
is told to make, and put to boil with the poultry; and then take a
good piece of lean bacon in a good place and clean it well and
properly, and then put it to cook with the aforesaid poultry and
meat; and then take sage, parsley, hyssop, and marjoram, and let them
be very well washed and cleaned, and make them into a bunch without
chopping and all together, and then put them to boil with the said
potage and with the meat; and according to the quantity of the said
broth take a large quantity of parsley well cleaned and washed, and
brayed well and thoroughly in a mortar; and, being well brayed, check
that your meat is neither too much or too little cooked and salted;
and then according to the quantity of broth have white ginger, grains
of paradise, and a little pepper, and put bread without the crust to
soak with the said broth so that there is enough to thicken it; and
being properly soaked, let it be pounded and brayed with the said
parsley and spices, and let it be drawn and strained with the said
broth; and put in wine and verjuice according as it is necessary. And
all of the things aforesaid should be put in to the point where there
is neither too little nor too much. And then, this done, put it to
boil in a large, fair, and clean pot. And if it happens that the
potage is too green, put in a little saffron, and this will make the
green bright. And when it is to be arranged for serving, put your
meat on the serving dishes and the broth on top.

In this one, you cook meat and poultry with some "bacon" and a bunch
of sage, parsley, hyssop, and marjoram, and salt, which is implied,
not specified; soak the bread in the resulting broth; then pound the
soaked bread with the parsley and spices; then add wine and verjuice
as necessary (i.e., to taste); finally serve the meat with the sauce.
I quote this line: " And if it happens that the potage is too green
[i think this means that the green is too dark], put in a little
saffron, and this will make the green bright." So the saffron is not
a necessity.

I hope this is of some assistance,
Anahita