[Sca-cooks] Crazy with Garnish

[Barbara Benson]

Greetings,
I am in the throes of preparing my class on Garnishing techniques inthe middle ages and reviewing all of my older work - getting more intodetail. And I came across something I had never noticed before, whichhas come up before in discussions here regarding spicing nuts.
So, in the Harleian MS. 279 I. there is the following recipe that Ihad pulled because it has garnishing instructions:
.Cxx. Whyte Mortrewys of Porke.--Take lene Porke, & boyle it; blauncheAlmandys, & grynd hem, & temper vppe with þe brothe of þe porke, & lyehem vppe with þe Flowre of Rys, an lete boyle to-gederys, but loke þatþe porke be smal grounde y-now; caste þer-to Myncyd Almaundys y-fryidin freysshe grece; þen sesyn hem vppe alle flatte in a dysshe; þrowþer-to Sugre y-now & Salt; & atte þe dressoure, strawe þer-on pouderGyngere y-mellyd with Almaundys.White Mortrewys of Pork – Take lean Pork, & boil it; blanch Almonds, &grind them, & temper up with the broth of the pork, & lay him up withthe Flower of Rice, and let boil together, but look that the pork besmall ground enough; cast there-to Minced Almonds fried in freshgrease; then season them up all flat in a dish; throw there-to Sugarenough, & Salt, & at the dressing, strew there-on powder Ginger mixedwith Almonds.
Now if I were to set about redacting this it would go as follows.
Take pork and simmer it until pretty much cooked. Take the simmeringjuice from the pork and make Almond milk with it. Shred the porkfinely and put it, the pork/almond milk and rice flour into a pot andallow it to simmer.
And then it gets a bit funny. After reading it a few times I think thenext steps would go like this. Take some almonds and chop them upfine. Take some fresh lard and fry the almonds in it. Remove the friedalmonds from the lard and while still hot spread on a flat dish andadd sugar and salt to the almonds. Toss and allow to cool.
When it comes time to serve, plate up the pork mush, toss the friedseasoned almonds with powdered ginger and then strew upon the porkmush.
I know that it isn't the only way to read the recipe - but it is howit seems to be best to me. What say you all?
Glad Tidings,Serena da Riva
ps: I had my wisdom teef removed and am on Vicodin - so if this iscompletely crazy then that might have something to do with it.