[Sca-cooks] German Feast Formats

[Volker Bach]

On Tue, 1 Jun 2004 18:45:08 -0400, "Barbara Benson" <vox8 at mindspring.com> 
wrote :

> Greetings,
> 
> I have become very involved in German Cookery, and now I wish to branch 
out
> a bit and find out more about the German Feast presentation and formats 
that
> were common (or not so common). Now, I know exactly where to look for this
> information on French, Italian and English, but I was hoping that some 
good
> gentles on this list might be able to point me in the approprite
> direction(s) for sources for German.
> 
> The caveat is that I do not read German. I would like to plan a 16th 
century
> German Feast with as much in the way of entrements and presentation as
> possible to work out while remaining as authentic as possible within 
reason.
> Any assistance would be greatly appriciated.

Your first point of interest would be Marx Rumpoldt's 1581 "New Kochbuch" 
which gives a collection of banquets suitable for IIRC emperors, kings, 
electors, archdukes, dukes, counts, gentlemen, burghesses, and peasants 
(the last seems a wee bit facetious). The usual format is three courses of 
various mixed meats and side dishes, followed by a fruit course augmented 
with various sweet bakes goods. There are woodcuts in the 1581 edition 
(available in facsimile through ILL, if you're lucky. The ISBN is 3-487-
08112-1), butthey are of limited value as they seem an eclectic mix 
selected more for general theme than specific appropriateness. Being 
german, I never bothered to translate much of it, but Gwen Cat has an 
ongoing translation projecton the web and may already have done the 
banquets. 

>From the impression I get,. presentation pieces do not seem to have bneen 
that important in medieval Renaissance cuisine. There were usually things 
like beast-shaped pastries (chicken pastries shaped like chickens, fish 
like fish etc.) and often you see the head of a boar (presumably with 
gilded tusks and egg eyes), but the pictures I know of normally show rich 
tableware filled to overflowing with pretty food rather than artful deceit. 
Museum collections often have things like golden saltcellars, fruit bowls 
etc. from the 16th century. 

One trick that was popular at least into the 16th century was the 'fire-
breathing boar head'. The boar's head has a bowl or boll of wool soaked in 
spirits placed in its mouth which is lit. the server then blows through a 
hidden tube to make flames billow out of the mouth. 

Several recipes for chicklen-in-a-jar survive, ther aim of which is to have 
a cooked, deboned chicken served in a glass jar with the head sticking out 
the opening. 

The 'Kuechenmaistrey' lists a method for gilding cookies and I distinctly 
recall having read something about letter-shaped fritters, though I don't 
know where off the top of my head. 

Rumpoldt also lists two recipes that might interest you for the dessert 
course: a beaker-shaped cake and a heraldic pastry: 

Mach ein Teig an mit Milch / Eyern / und schoenem weissen Mehl / thu 
ein wenig Bierhefen darein / un mach einen guten Teig / der nicht gar 
steiff ist / unnd versaltz jn nicht / setz jn zu der waerm / daß er fein 
auffgehet / ...

Make dough with milk, eggs, and good white flour, and add a little brewing 
yeast. Do not make it too stiff and do not oversalt it. Leave it to rise in 
a warm place ...

Nimm ein newen Krug / schmier jn innwendig wol mit zerlassener Butter / 
thu einen solchen Teig darein / daß der Krug halb davon voll wirt / und 
wenn er auffgelauffen / daß er voll ist / so scheubs in heissen Ofen / und 
laß backen / thu jn herauß /  und laß jn kalt werden / zerschlag den Krug / 
unnd thu die Schifer davon hinweg / unnd gibs fein ganz auff Tisch / so 
sihet es wie ein Krug.

Take a new pot, grease its insides with melted butter, then take of such a 
dough (as described in a previous recipe) and fill it half full. When it 
has risen to fuill the pot entirely, place it in a hot oven and bake it. 
Then take it out, cool it, and break the pot. Remove the shards and serve, 
and it will look like a pot.
(Rumpoldt, Gebackens)


Redaction:

2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 1/2 - 3 cups flour
1/2 cup raisins
1 sachet dry yeast

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat. Dissolve the dry yeast in the milk and 
slowly add to the eggs. Add flour by the spoonful until a thick paste 
results. Stir in the raisins. Leave to rise in a warm spot until roughly 
doubled in size. If you're feeling generous, by all means use the crockpot 
method, but the dough can equally well be baked in a simple buttered cake 
pan.




 HERALDIC APPLE CRUST
(Marx Rumpoldt)
Nim ein Turten Teig / treib in duenn auß / unnd beschneidt ihn rundt / wie 
ein Adler oder wie ein Hertz / mach ein Kräntzlein rundt herumb / scheubs 
in Ofen und backs / thu es wider herauß / und nimm gebratene Epffel / duie 
durch ein Härin Tuch gestrichen / und fein mit Zimmet und Zucker angemacht 
seyn / streich uber den gebacken Teig / bestraew es mit kleinem Confect / 
und gibs zum Obst kalt auff ein Tisch.

Take pie crust, roll it out thinly and trim it all around into the shape of 
an eagle or a heart. Make a wreath (or edge) all around, place it in the 
oven and bake it. Take it out again, take roast apples passed through a 
hair sieve and seasoned with sugar and cinnamon, and spread that on the 
baked crust. Sprinkle it with small confits. Serve cold with fruit.

1/2 lb flour
1/4 lb butter
water
salt
1-2 cups apple puree
sugar
cinnamon
confits

Work the butter into the flour, then make into a soft dough with water (or 
egg, to make it richer). Roll out on aboard and trim into any desired 
shape. Use trimmings to build a raised edge around the bottom. Bake at 175°
C until slightly browned, then remove from oven and cool. Season apple 
puree with sugar and cinnamon to taste and spread over cooled crust. 
Sprinkle with confits and serve.

I am tempted to play around heraldically with various jams and jellies. 

Hope this helps

Giano