[Sca-cooks] Polenta was Pre-1600 recipes for "anchient grains"
Johnna Holloway
johnnae at mac.com
Tue Apr 6 09:13:49 PDT 2010
Here are the early French instructions for the millet porridge.
Courtesy of medievalcookery.com:
This is an excerpt from Le Viandier de Taillevent
(France, ca. 1380 - James Prescott, trans.)
The original source can be found at James Prescott's website
Millet. Wash it in three changes of hot water and put it in simmering
cow's milk. Do not put the spoon in it until it has boiled. Then
remove it from on top of the fire and add a bit of saffron. Boil it
until it is done, and set it out in bowls.
This is an excerpt from Le Menagier de Paris
(France, 1393 - Janet Hinson, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website
MILLET. Wash it in three changes of water and then put in an iron
skillet to dry over the fire, and shake it well, so that it does not
burn; and then put it in simmering cow's milk, and do not let the
spoon touch it until it has boiled well, and then take it off the
fire, and beat it with the back of the spoon until it is very thick.
Johnna
On Apr 6, 2010, at 8:54 AM, Terry Decker wrote:
> I know of no period recipes for millet polenta, but the grain was
> available and the method of preparation is so simple and common that
> it was almost certainly done.
> BTW, lightly toasting grain meals in the oven before making polenta
> improves the flavor.
>
> Bear
More information about the Sca-cooks
mailing list