[Sca-cooks] lovage recipes, PLEASE!

[Stefan li Rous]

   Jadiga Zajaczkowa asked for recipes using lovage:
> Ok, so I didn't save all the (period) recipes that used lovage. But you
> see, I grew a whole big plant of it in the yard this year,and I should
> start cooking with it.
Surprisingly, I only found one recipe in my lovage-msg file.
> I hope that the above information is helpful.
>
> Hauviette
>
> Here are some recipes that will definintely be!!
> Lovage Soup
> 4 Tbsp olive oil
> 4 slices stale bread
> 1 bunch of lovage leaves, chopped
> 1 clove garlic chopped
> ½ small bund of parlsey, chopped
> 3 oz butter
> 2 pints good chicken stock
> 2 whole eggs and 1 yolk
>
> Pour the olive oil over the bread and grill until brown. Sweat the 
> lovage,
> garlic, and parsley in butter until wilted. Pour on the stockand 
> simmer for 2
> mins. Beat the eggs with the salt and pepper. Place one slice of bread 
> in
> each warmed bowl. Bring the soup ot hte boil and slowly pour in the 
> egg,
> stirring gently with a wooden spoon, so that it separates into strands 
> Season
> to taste and serve.
> Alternatives; replace the lovage with basil, add 2oz of parmesan 
> cheese to
> the beaten eggs. or use spinach sorrel or nettle simmered for a few 
> extra
> minutes.
> In addition here is a recipe sent to me by Hilary, from the Apicius 
> list for
> candied lovage stems. I have yet to try it but can not resist putting 
> this in.
>
> From the Apicius at onelist.com, Hilary Cool writes;
> I’m not sure if candying lovage stems will be of wide interest to the 
> rest of
> the list so I thought I’d reply off list.
> Lovage has a section in Sophie Grigson’s Herbs published by the BBC 
> earlier
> this year. (An excellent book which accompanied a cookery programme).  
> She
> says the young stems ‘make a rather good, if unusual, sweetmeat, 
> candied as
> you would angelica’ .  she also says the addition of lovage leaves to a
> carrot and potato soup is a good idea, but it hasn’t really been soup 
> weather
> since I got the book so I’ve not tried it. Perhaps in the autumn.  
> This is
> her recipe for candying angelica.
> Cut tender young angelica stems in 10cm lengths.
> Make a brine with 8g salt to each 2.3 litres water (1/4 oz to 4 pints).
> Bring to boil and pour over the angelica. Leave for 15 minutes, drain.
> Blanch the angelica in fresh boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Drain.
> Peel away any tough outer skins from the stems.
> Weigh the angelica and weigh out an equal amount of sugar.
> Layer the sugar and angelica in a saucepan. Cover and leave for 1.2 
> days
> until the sugar has turned to syrup.
> Add just enough water to cover the angelica.  Bring gently to the boil 
> and
> simmer quietly until the angelica is clear and the syrup reduced to a 
> clear
> goo.
> Leave the angelica to dry on on a wire rack in an airing cupboard for a
> couple of days.
> Store in an airtight container

 From the p-dental-care-art file:
> Wine Rinse and Herb chewing
>
> Trotula, 11th Century, On Women's Cosmetics (book 3)
>
> "The woman should wash her mouth after dinner with very good wine. 
> Then she ought to dry [her teeth] very well and wipe [them] with a new 
> white cloth. Finally, let her chew each day fennel or lovage or 
> parsley, which is better to chew because it gives off a good smell and 
> cleans good gums and makes the teeth very white."
>
> Redaction:
>  Provided is a [empty] goblet of which would hold white wine, a white 
> cloth for polishing the teeth, and green herbs to chew.
>
>  White wine was my choice because in the few instances where type is 
> specified in other tooth care items I've looked at, it has been white. 
> Fennel and Parsley are included because that is what is available 
> fresh at this time of year. Lovage, a slightly soapy tasting relative 
> of celery, is not commercially available. All of these have seeds, but 
> I choose to go with the fresh plant material since parsley is 
> generally the herb, and I generalized from there that lovage and 
> fennel would also be the herbs rather than seed.
>
> What happened when I tried it?
>  Rinsing out the mouth with wine loosened some particles of food, and 
> certainly left the mouth feeling less gunky-- but this might have been 
> influenced by the use of a white wine. I suspect the perceived 
> cleaning effect varies depending on how dry the wine is. Rubbing the 
> teeth with the cloth removed more tartar and food particles. Chewing 
> either fennel or parsley made the mouth smell of those herbs, not of 
> the previously consumed food.

The search engine indicated about  80 hits, so you should also look  in 
the celery-msg file and the others indicated. Unfortunately without 
looking at each file I can't tell you which ones have recipes including 
lovage.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****