[Sca-cooks] Period-appropriate cookies and cookie-likesubstances....

[David Friedman]

>In a message dated 5/22/2005 12:59:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>scadian at hotmail.com writes:
>
>>
>>  The original recipe is from Sir Kenelme Digbie's The Closet Opened
>>  printed in 1669 by Digbie's nephew and including his uncle's store of
>>  recipes used at the court of James I.
>>
>>  Excellent Small Cakes
>>
>
>This is a wonderful recipe!  I used it routinely at demos as "prizes" for The
>Food Game, but got a bit bored serving the same thing..so I now make other
>things as well (Daryoles with Plum Pudding on them went over VERY well!)
>   I've also been looking into traditional Welsh cooking.  Every cook in Wales
>has their own (and best!) verson of "welsh cakes".  If you look at the
>recipes....these are Digby's fine cakes 
>flattened out and cooked on a griddle!  I've
>often wondered if I could get away with "baking" them on a griddle at demo's
>where we do open fire pit cooking.  Does anyone have any documentation for
>medieval cooking of cakes on a griddle???

Do oat cakes count?

"the only things they take with them [when riding 
to war] are a large flat stone placed between the 
saddle and the saddle-cloth and a bag of oatmeal 
strapped behind. When they have lived so long on 
half-cooked meat that their stomachs feel weak 
and hollow, they lay these stones on a fire and, 
mixing a little of their oatmeal with water, they 
sprinkle the thin paste on the hot stone and make 
a small cake, rather like a wafer, which they eat 
to help their digestion." (Froissart's 
Chronicles, describing scottish troopers, Penguin 
Books translation.)

If you include medieval recipes from the 
civilized world, I think Murakkaba qualifies, and 
perhaps also Musammana. The following are from 
the Miscellany:

Recipe for Murakkaba, a Dish which is Made in the 
Region of Constantine and is Called Kutâmiyya
Andalusian p. A-62

Knead a well-made dough from semolina like the 
"sponge" dough with yeast, and break in it as 
many eggs as you can, and knead the dough with 
them until it is slack. Then set up a frying pan 
of clay [hantam] on a hot fire, and when it has 
heated, grease it with clarified butter or oil. 
Put in a thin flat loaf of the dough and when the 
bread is done, turn over. Take some of the dough 
in the hand and smear the surface of the bread 
with it. Then turn the smeared surface to the 
pan, changing the lower part with the upper, and 
smear this side with dough too. Then turn it over 
in the pan and smear it, and keep smearing it 
with dough and turning it over in the tajine, and 
pile it up and raise it until it becomes a great, 
tall loaf. Then turn it by the edges a few times 
in the tajine until it is done on the sides, and 
when it is done, as it is desired, put it in a 
serving dish and make large holes with a stick, 
and pour into them melted butter and plenty of 
honey, so that it covers the bread, and present 
it.

From "Making of Elegant Isfunja ("Sponge")," 
Andalusian: You take clear and clean semolina and 
knead it with lukewarm water and yeast and knead 
again. When it has risen, turn the dough, knead 
fine and moisten with water, little by little, so 
that it becomes like tar after the second 
kneading, until it becomes leavened or is nearly 
risen. ...

2 1/4 c semolina flour	2 eggs	1/2 c butter
1/2 c water	1/4 c more water	3/8 c honey
1/2 c sourdough (for starter)	1-2 T oil for frying

Combine flour, 1/2 c water, and sourdough and 
knead smooth. Cover with a damp cloth and leave 
overnight to rise. In the morning knead in an 
additional 1/4 c water, making it into a sticky 
mess, and leave another few hours in a warm place 
to rise. Add the eggs, and stir until they are 
absorbed into the dough.

Heat a frying pan over medium to high heat and 
grease it with oil or ghee (clarified butter). 
Pour on enough batter to make a thick pancake 
about 7" in diameter. When one side is cooked 
(about 2 minutes) turn it over. Put onto the 
cooked side about 1/4 c more batter, spreading it 
out to cover. When the second side is done (1-2 
minutes more), turn it over, so that the side 
smeared with batter is now down. Cook another 1-2 
minutes. Repeat. Continue until the batter is all 
used up, giving you about 8-10 layers--like a 
stack of pancakes about 3" thick, all stuck 
together. Turn the loaf on its side and roll it 
around the frying pan like a wheel, in order to 
be sure the edges are cooked.

Punch lots of holes in the top with the handle of 
a wooden spoon, being careful not to get through 
the bottom layer. Pour in honey and melted 
butter, letting it soak into the loaf. Serve.

Note: Scale the recipe up as desired to suit your 
ambition and frying pan. If you don't have 
sourdough you could use yeast instead, with 
shorter rising times.


Preparation of Musammana [Buttered] Which Is Muwarraqa [Leafy]
Andalusian p. A-60 - A-61 (GOOD)

Take pure semolina or wheat flour and knead a 
stiff dough without yeast. Moisten it little by 
little and don't stop kneading it until it 
relaxes and is ready and is softened so that you 
can stretch a piece without severing it. Then put 
it in a new frying pan on a moderate fire. When 
the pan has heated, take a piece of the dough and 
roll it out thin on marble or a board. Smear it 
with melted clarified butter or fresh butter 
liquified over water. Then roll it up like a 
cloth until it becomes like a reed. Then twist it 
and beat it with your palm until it becomes like 
a round thin bread, and if you want, fold it over 
also. Then roll it out and beat it with your palm 
a second time until it becomes round and thin. 
Then put it in a heated frying pan after you have 
greased the frying pan with clarified butter, and 
whenever the clarified butter dries out, moisten 
[with butter] little by little, and turn it 
around until it binds, and then take it away and 
make more until you finish the amount you need. 
Then pound them between your palms and toss on 
butter and boiling honey. When it has cooled, 
dust it with ground sugar and serve it.

2 c semolina flour	1/4 c clarified butter 
for frying	1/4 c butter at the end
~ 5/8-3/4 c water	1 T+ sugar	1/4 c honey at the end (or more)
1/4 c = 1/8 lb butter, melted

Stir most of the water into the flour, knead 
together, then gradually knead in the rest of the 
water. Knead for about 5-10 minutes until you 
have a smooth, elastic and slightly sticky dough 
that stretches instead of breaking when you pull 
it a little. Divide in four equal parts. Roll out 
on a floured board, or better on floured marble, 
to at least 13"x15". Smear it with about 4 t 
melted butter. Roll it up. Twist it. Squeeze it 
together, flatten with your hands to about a 5-6" 
diameter circle. If you wish, fold that in 
quarters and flatten again to about a 5-6" 
circle. Melt about 1 T of clarified butter in a 
frying pan and fry the dough about 8 minutes, 
turning about every 1 1/2 to 2 minutes (shorter 
times towards the end). Repeat with the other 
three parts, adding more clarified butter as 
needed. Melt 1/4 c butter, heat 1/4 c honey. Beat 
the cooked circles between your hands to loosen 
the layers, put in a bowl, pour the honey and 
butter over them, dust with sugar, and serve. If 
you are going to give it time to really soak, you 
might use more butter and honey.

For regular flour, everything is the same except 
that you may need slightly more water. You can 
substitute cooking oil for the clarified butter 
(which withstands heat better than plain butter) 
if necessary.

-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com