[Sca-cooks] Fwd: cherries

[Sharon Palmer]

>Hi there! This turned up on another list I'm on. 
>Does anyone have any suggestions for her?
>
>Liutgard
>
>I was just out at ME Moore on Seavey loop and 
>discovered that you can get upick bird cherries 
>there for 15 cents a pound. It strikes me that 
>these are a great period ingredient as they 
>would be much closer to the type of cherries 
>available in Medieval Europe than any commercial 
>variety. Anyway, I came home with 11 pounds and 
>would appreciate any suggestions on how to deal 
>with them so they are available in the future 
>for period recipes. I am not going to pit them 
>individually.
>
>Martha

Both sweet and sour cherries are known from at 
least Roman times.  "Sour cherry" is Prunus 
Cerasus, sweet cherry is Prunus avium). 
Definitions say Bird cherry is Prunus padus, and 
too sour to be used, but I wonder if she has a 
wild version of Prunus avium?    I think the 
various recipes should work, but if they are very 
sour, she may need to add more suga

Either way, for most medieval recipes, I think 
pie cherries might be a better choice if she can 
find them, but I'm sure this will be interesting. 
Please let us know how it goes.

Rumpolt calls for two kinds of sour cherry, 
amarellen which have yellow flesh (may have red 
skins or not) and weischel which have red flesh.


From Rumpolt:

Zugemüß 18. Amarellen - Sour yellow cherries 
fried/ with a batter eingemacht*/ as mentioned 
before/ as one should make a batter/ and quickly 
fried.

Zugemüß  214.  Weichselmuß - Sour cherry sauce. 
Take cherries/ pull them away from the stems/ and 
wash them off/ put them in a fish kettle/ and 
slice bread into it/ pour water over it/ and let 
simmer together/ strain it through a hair cloth/ 
that it is nicely thick/ and put it again in a 
tinned fish kettle/ stir ground cinnamon bark and 
sugar over it/ set it on coals/ and stir well/ 
until it cooks/ dress it in a dish/ and when you 
will give it on a table/ be it cold or warm/ then 
sprinkle it with coated fennel/ like this it is 
good and well tasting.

Zugehörung 1. Weichsel Salsen  - Sour cherry 
sauce/ when it is cooked thick/ then one 
dissolves with wine and sugar/ sprinkle with 
coarse sugar/ like this is is good and well 
tasting. - this was served as a condiment with 
meat and poultry.

Suppen 34.  Take dried sour cherries/ grind it 
with the stone (or press out the stone?)/ strain 
it though with wine/ make sweet with cinnamon and 
sugar and let it simmer together/ like this it is 
a good cherry soup.

Suppen 36.  Take sour yellow cherries 
(Amarellen)/ crush them with the stone  (or press 
out the stone?)/ they are dry or fresh/ strain it 
though with cinnamon and wine/ and make it well 
sweet/ let it simmer together/ it is good like 
this. 

Gebackens 3. Take sour cherry sauce/ and coat a 
wafer/ put another wafer over/ and cut small or 
large. Make a batter with wine and flour/ yellow 
it a little/ and press the other into the batter/ 
so that the wafers remain together/ throw into 
hot butter and do not burn/ give it warm on a 
table/ and sprinkle it with white sugar.

Gebackens 15. Fried sour cherries/ fried in such 
a batter.  (from 13. Make a batter with clean 
eggs or milk/ that is sweet)

Gebackens 41. Make a dough with milk/ eggs/ and 
beautiful white flour/ put a little beer year in 
it/ and make a good dough/ that is not completely 
stiff/ and do not over salt it/ set it to the 
warm/ that it nicely risen/ punch it down on a 
clean board/ and do little black raisins around 
it/ make strutzel from it/ throw it in hot 
butter/ and fry/ like this it will nicely puff 
up/ give cold or warm on a table/ sprinkle it 
with sugar/ like this it is a good pastry.

Gebackens 42. Take such a dough/ and drive it 
out/ wrap sour cherry sauce in it/ cut up with 
the wheel/ throw in butter/ and fry/ give warm on 
a table/ and sprinkle it with white sugar/ like 
this it is a good fritter of sour cherry sauce/ 
You might make such a fritter from various sauces.

Confect 6. Sour cherry confect with water/ that 
the broth becomes nicely thick/ and the cherries 
set out in a dish/ pour the broth over the 
cherries/ and let become cold.  You can also well 
preserve in a round box/ and pour the broth over 
the top/ that the stems go nicely over 
themselves/ be it in the dish or in the box/ like 
this it is also good.

Eyngemachten 2. Amarellensafft. Sour yellow 
cherry juice (or candy).  Take cherries/ that are 
nicely red/ tear the stems off/ and wash them 
clean/ set on (the fire) in a clean fish kettle/ 
and let come to a simmer/ like this it gives a 
juice from itself/ put them in a sack/ and press 
out/ take a clean fish kettle or a clean pot/ put 
a little sugar in it/ and let simmer together/ 
until becomes thick/ until it becomes thick/ 
which you think such to pour in a mold/ and from 
the mold to put in a box.  If you however would 
have it sweet/ then you might take even more 
sugar.  If you would like to have it sour/ then 
take even less sugar/ so it becomes good and 
elegant.  Safft usually means juice, but this is 
a solid that is shaped into subtleties.

Eyngemachten 9. Take yellow sour cherries/ and 
take the stone out/ and spread them through (a 
sieve)/ put them in a syrup/ that is well boiled/ 
stir up/ that it does not burn/ and let simmer/ 
until you think/ that it has enough/ put it in a 
box/ like this it is a good preserve/ is nicely 
yellow and sour/ may sugar or not.

Sharon