[Sca-cooks] Le Menagier's chicken in orange sauce

[Kirrily Robert]

Greetings,

I've got some exciting news.  I've been asked to write the cooking
column for Medieval Cooking Magazine
(http://medievalhistorymagazine.com/)!

The only slight complication is that their period is 550-1550AD and I've
been concentrating on Elizabethan lately, so I'm having to break out
some of my less commonly used resources.

This month I'm planning to do "L'orenge de pouchins, ou de perdris ou de
pigons" from Le Menagier de Paris, as found in Pleyn Delit (recipe 93).

    Take the oranges and slice them in white verjuice and white wine,
    and put them to boil, and put in ginger; and put your poultry to
    cook in this.

The authors of Pleyn Delit note that this is from a series of recipes
for sauces to finish roasted birds and rabbits.

So, a couple of questions for those who are more familiar with Le
Menagier: 

1. Anything I should know about the translation or the modern version
given in Pleyn Delit?  Are they reasonably trustworthy?  Their
interpretaion looks pretty reasonable to me but I'd appreciate knowing
if it's not!

2. Since I have to take photos of what I cook, does anyone have
suggestions on how to serve this dish or simple side dishes which would
fill out the picture?  I'm thinking of serving it on a wooden plate
with a cut loaf of bread and a tankard in view, with a linen tablecloth
underneath.  If I can find bitter oranges, which I believe have a
different colour flesh, I might cut one in half and have it in the
picture too.

3. Since I'm intending to write about 1000 words, I will be filling out
the article with some background info about citrus fruits in period.  I
have a couple of probably useful books (the Oxford companion to food,
and The Origins of Fruits and Vegetables) but any other thoughts on the
matter would be welcome.

Unfortunately this is all a bit rushed because the editor told me he'd
like my column mid-month.  Hopefully next month I'll have a little more
time to research and prepare and won't have to ask so many questions :)

Yours,

Katherine


-- 
Goodwife Katherine Rowberd (mka Kirrily "Skud" Robert)
katherine at elizabethangeek.com  http://elizabethangeek.com/
Caldrithig, Skraeling Althing, Ealdormere
"The rose is red, the leaves are grene, God save Elizabeth our Queene"