[Sca-cooks] Frumenty

[Lilinah]

I've only made frumenty once, at my very first feast. I cooked the 
wheat first, until it burst. Then i stirred in the eggs, saffron, and 
milk.


Original:
To make frumente
Take clene whete & braye yt wel in a morter tyl the holes gon of; 
sethe it til it breste in water. Nym it vp & lat it cole. Tak good 
broth & swete mylk of kyn or of almand & tempere it therwith. Nym 
3elkys of eyren rawe & saffroun & cast therto; salt it; let it 
nau3t boyle after the eyren ben cast therinne. Messe it forth with 
venesoun or with fat motoun fresch.
from: Forme of Cury, late 14th century

My paraphrase:
To make frumenty
Take clean wheat & bray it well in a mortar till the hulls come off.
Seethe it till it bursts in water. Take it up & let it cool.
Take good broth & sweet milk of cow or of almond & temper it therewith.
Take yolks of raw eggs & saffron & cast thereto; salt it; let it not 
boil after the eggs [have] been cast therein.
Mess it forth with venison or with fat fresh mutton.

What We Did:
- We cooked the wheat in water in several rice cookers, dumping each 
potful into a large pan when done.
- While the wheat was cooking, we soaked the saffron in the vegetable 
broth and cow's milk.
- When the wheat was all cooked, we beat the eggs and stirred them 
into a little broth in a separate bowl.
- Then we added the major portion of broth, milk, and saffron to the 
pot of cooked wheat. No, it wasn't really cool, as the recipes 
directs, but it wasn't completely hot, either.
- We brought it to a simmer, not a boil, on medium heat, stirring, 
from time to time until bubbles just began to form around the edge of 
the pot.
- As soon as that happened we turned the heat down to low.
- Then we tempered the eggs with some of the hot liquid in the pot - 
i do this by adding just a little hot liquid at a time, so the eggs 
don't "cook"/curdle, and until they are quite warm.
- Then we slowly poured the tempered eggs into the wheat, stirring constantly.
- We continued cooking, stirring constantly, until the liquid and 
eggs were absorbed.
- Because the broth was salted, we didn't add salt, but i tasted it 
when it was nearly done, to see if it needed salt - i don't recall if 
it did... but if it does, it's good to add the salt before it gets 
too thick, so it can be evenly distributed.
- When it was thick, we took it off the stove, set it on a heat-proof 
counter with a lid on.

Didn't burn it.
But didn't serve it with venison or fresh mutton, either. It was 
served with roast pork legs with three sauces, salat, and two 
vegetable dishes.

This way it was quite pleasantly creamy and soft, and fairly tasty 
for frumenty (not the tastiest dish, IMO).
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita

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