[Sca-cooks] Re: [Sca-cooks) onion soup...

[David Friedman]

Lady Elizabeth Dabernoune asked about onion soups to be served in 
bread bowls and Russian recipes and Bear repled:

>A tricky time and place to document.  Domestroi is the only source I can
>think of, and it is slightly out of period and limited on culinary
>information (IIRC).  I have a translated copy, but I've only skimmed it for
>research on trenchers.  I also have some peripheral sources that might be of
>use in putting together a relatively accurate perioid feast.  Were you
>thinking of Moscow or the Georgian border as southern?

As I remember, the Domostroi (an end-of-period household management 
book) exists as a bunch of manuscripts, some late 16th century and 
some 17th century, and the later versions have more stuff--it got 
added to over time. Caroline Pouncy, the translator of the edition 
that came out 10 years back or so, gives information on which bits 
are earlier and which later, and unfortunately, the menus and many of 
the recipes are later. There are very few recipes in the earlier 
bits; I think we have only worked out one, which is a recipe with a 
lot of options (given below).

Another option for something to serve in a bread bowl would be the 
15th c. English Beef y-Stewed or Stwed Mutton, for meat cooked with 
onions and seasonings. This is already long enough so that I won't 
post them here, but they are in our Miscellany, online at:

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/miscellany_pdf/Miscellany.htm

Russian Cabbage and Greens
Domostroi pp. 162-3

Chop cabbage, greens, or a mixture of both very fine, then wash them 
well. Boil or steam them for a long time. On meat days, put in red 
meat, ham, or a little pork fat; add cream or egg whites and warm the 
mixture. During a fast, saturate the greens with a little broth, or 
add some fat and steam it well. Add some groats, salt, and sour 
cabbage soup; then heat it. Cook kasha the same way: steam it well 
with lard, oil, or herring in a broth. [end of original]

Note: the ingredient translated as "sour cabbage soup" turns up 
elsewhere in the Domostroi in lists of things to brew: "For brewing 
beer, ale, or sour cabbage soup, take malt or meal and hops. Beer 
from the first grade makes good sour cabbage soup. You can make 
vinegar, too, from a good mash." This suggests that it may really be 
something like alegar (beer vinegar). We therefore substitute malt 
vinegar. [Someone told me that Pouncy says we are wrong about this. 
I'd like to talk to her about it some time.]

Version 1
2 3/4 lb green cabbage (1 head)
3/4 lb turnip greens
3 c water
meat: 1 1/2 lb beef or lamb
6 egg whites
1 c dry buckwheat groats (kasha)
2 t salt
"sour cabbage soup": 4 t malt vinegar

Version 2
2 lb green cabbage (1 head)
5/8 lb mustard greens
2 1/2 c water
meat: 1 1/4 lb pork butt roast
1/2 c cream
4/3 c dry buckwheat groats (kasha)
1 1/2 t salt
"sour cabbage soup": 1 T malt vinegar

Chop cabbage and greens very fine. Bring water to a boil, add cabbage 
and greens and simmer 30-40 minutes covered. Cut meat into bite-sized 
chunks. Add meat and simmer another 25 minutes (this time probably 
depends on the cut of meat). Add groats, salt and vinegar, and cook 
another 15 minutes uncovered on moderate heat, until the liquid is 
almost absorbed. Stir in egg whites or cream, heat for a minute or 
two, and remove from heat.

These are two possible interpretations of a recipe with lots of 
alternatives. In particular, it is not clear whether the groats, 
salt, and "sour cabbage soup" belong only to the fast-day version or 
to both meat-day and fast-day versions; we have assumed the latter.

Elizabeth of Dendermonde/Betty Cook