[Sca-cooks] Period German Mustard Recipes (long)

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> Greetings!
>
> I am planning a German feast for Atlantia's KASF on March 5 (eep!),
> and was looking at sauces for the meats.
>
> I think what I want to do is make a mustard for each course.
>
> This is my first feast "all by myself" so, in some ways I'm afraid I'm
> over reaching, but it should all come out right, I've got a lot of
> backup :)
>
> This is the tentative menu:
>
> http://demi-hare.blogspot.com/2005/01/tentative-menu.html

If I may make a couple of suggestions...

First, if you want to use Sabina Welserin's Pear Mustard, start looking for
pear preserves now- they're very hard to find- I'm still looking. If you
can't find them, my solution was to parboil the pears, and add the mustard,
white wine, and a dash of cinnamon ( a fairly recent discussion on the List
indicated that all the period pear preserve recipes available used cinnamon
in them). I haven't added sugar so far because the pears I've used have been
so sweet, so taste before you add that ingredient. If I were doing it again,
for a feast, I think I'd cook it down a bit, to thicken it more- as it is,
it comes out rather like apple sauce.

One thing you might want to do is plan on preparing the various mustard
sauces ahead of feast. I know for sure on the pear mustard that it needs a
few says to age and mellow ( 2 days is OK, a week is about ideal) and having
sampled a number of Jadwiga's mustards, I think hers would be best aged a
bit as well. Otherwise, they tend to be pretty harsh. I can enjoy them like
that, but I think the average feaster would prefer a mellower flavor.

And, I agree with the poster who suggested that you might want to have
alternative sauces, in addition to the mustard sauces. I love mustard, but
I'd get tired of it, even with variations, if it were the ONLY sauce flavor
available.

BTW, guys, I finally found something that the pear mustard doesn't go well
with- maple syrup. Clashingest flavors I've tried for a while.

Saint Phlip,
CoD

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....



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