[Sca-cooks] Turk's Head Subtlety Recipe?
Rob Downie
rdownie at mts.net
Wed Aug 23 19:06:58 PDT 2006
I was looking for ideas for subtleties for our upcoming Crusades themed
event and came across a reference for "Turk's Head" from the late
C.13th - Manuscript Additional 32085, and 1320 to 40 - Manuscript Royal
12.C.xii. Both aka an Anglo-Norman Culinary Collection, collected in an
article:- "Two Anglo-Norman Culinary Collections Edited from British
Library Manuscripts Additional 32085 & Royal 12.C. xii" HIEATT,
Constance & JONES, Robin F. Speculum Issue 61/4 1986
[square brackets = translator's notes]
However, the instuctions are very confusing. Has anyone had experience
with this recipe before?
p.876
23. Turk's head. How to make the dish called Turk's head from a fish day
or in Lent. Take choice rice and wash it and dry it; then grind it
thoroughly, mix with thickened almond milk, and put in spices and
saffron, as directed below, and sugar. Make a pastry case; then scald
eels and remove the excrement; then cut them up; and take parsley, sage,
and some broth, and grind it in a mortar, and put in saffron and mixed
ground spice; then cover [with a pastry lid] and put it in the oven,
etc. ["etc" here means "and serve it"]
26. Turks head. {This is the recipe referred to above in 23, however it
uses a pig's stomach to roast the pork, chicken and almond mixture in}
p.878
26. Turks head. A sheet of pastry [used as a case] well filled [?] with
rabbits and poultry, dates, peeled and sweetened in honey, new cheese,
cloves and cubeb; (put) sugar on top, then a generous layer of ground
pistachio nuts; the color of the ground nuts, red, yellow, and green.
The head (of hair) should be black, arranged to resemble the hair of a
woman, in a black bowl, with the face of a man set on top.
---------------
The instructions are quite sketchy - whereas recipe #23 mentions
covering the pastry case with a pastry lid, but doesn't mention making
it look like a face, recipe # 26 seems to indicate that the final result
should look like a human face (The head <of hair> should be black,
arranged to resemble the hair of a woman, in a black bowl, with the face
of a man set on top). I'm assuming the "face of a man set on top" might
be another layer of pastry, essentially creating a closed coffin, since
I can't imagine red yellow and green pistachio nuts as a convincing face
(and it is mentioned in the first recipe). I have no idea what was used
for the hair, other than it should be black.
Any ideas or interpretations on what this actually is?
Maybe I sould just stick to cast sugar items or marzipan...
Faerisa
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