Mrs. Pippery goes on holiday with the King's Court and makes meat tartees

 Helloooo, and a happy day to you!

The King is planning on leaving the castle and traveling across the land to the summer residence.  It's  common occurrence every summer as the black plague returns and many people sicken and die with its return. For some reason it seems to stay away from the country and so for the past several years going to the country to spend the summer months has become the normal thing to do.

The King's summer residence is almost 40 miles away and takes a month or more to get there, what with the carriages, carts and conveyances that are used to move most of the king's castle.  The roads are rough and muddy or difficult to travel on.  Why the King's very bedstead is disassembled and moved piece by piece to be reassembled whence he gets to the summer castle. 

To travel,  the food is not as typical and it must be made to travel well.   The Master Chef of his highness has several recipes for meat pies or tarts as they are called.   A simple meat filling wrapped in a dough of flour and lard and baked until brown and hot and bubbling inside, are a delight to even the king's palate and make a perfect traveling companion on long trips.  A meat tart can be kept and eaten for several weeks after they are made. It is common for meat pies, large pies meant for several people, after several weeks to have the top crust removed, the filling scooped out, and reheated then replaced with the top crust put back on top, and then the entire pie reheated again. This method allows one to save the meat inside for as long as a year! Although meat tartees never last very long around the castle.  * (See author's note)

Let me show you how.  This is the exact recipe from the master Chef's little bitty book he keeps his recipes in.

Tartee

Take pork y sode. hewe hit & bray hit, do þ(er) to ayro(u)n. rayso(u)ns. cora(u)ns sug(ur) & poudo(ur) of (gg). poudo(ur) douce & smale brydd(es) þ(er) among & whyte grees take p(ru)nes. safro(u)n & salt & make a crust in a trap(p) & do þe fars þ(er) inne & bake it wel. &c. .clxiij. Tart i(n) ymber Day. Take & p(ar)boyle oyno(u)ns & erbes & presse oute þe wat(er) & hewe he(m) smale. take brede & bray hit i(n) a mort(er) & te(m)p(er) hit vp w(t) ayro(u)n. do 

Other foods for the long trip to the king's seat in the country would be dried and smoked venison and beef, breads, cheeses and dried and smoked fyshe.Meat pies and tartees would be plentiful as would fruit pies and little cakes. Cask of ale and water would be brought along and the traveling is not so difficult being in the king's company.  Much better than the lowly traveler that wanders the roads alone or in small groups often beset upon by brigands and thieves, murders and the like. It is a difficult and dangerous thing to travel the roads in medieval Europe unless you traveled with the King's army. 

We'll be summering in the country and I'll write more of the experiences I have along with the recipes I get a glimpse of from the Master Chef's little book of royal recipes.  For now this is the proper recipe to create these tasty meat tartees for yourself.  

Have a pleasant evening.  Mrs Pippery

( First make the crust:  Place in a mixing bowl  flour ( I believe small bread or brydd is referring to flour not bread crumbs), lard, salt and a small amount of water and make a crust with it.  

For the filling, place in a frying pan a couple of cups of pork cut finely and cook it with parboiled onions, herbs, drain any liquid from mixture, and add eggs, raisins, course sugar and poudour douce, prunes, saffron,bread crumbs to thicken then pound finely in a mortar.  Place filling in pre-baked crust, top with another crust and bake well.

Pork Tart or Pork Meat Pie 

Crust:   2 cups flour 

            1/2 cup butter 

            1 - 2 Tablespoons ice cold water

Mix and gently combine to form a delicate pie crust. For modern cooking methods use a pie plate to hold recipe together. 

*(The flour that was milled in medieval times would have been a courser and tougher material yielding a tougher and stronger crust, most likely more difficult to chew by our modern standards but it would have held the pie together without the need of a baking dish. Even in medieval times the crust was often not eaten ans it was so chewy and hard, but was primarily thought to be used as a container which would preserve the meat for up to a year!!  The crust surrounding the meat mixture was called a 'coffin' and if it was eaten it was usually given to the poor, minus the tasty filling as a 'leftover' or ground up and added as a thickener to soups in wealthy kitchens.  It was not until the Victorian era that meat pies became street vendor fair and became a dish enjoyed by all classes. * With today's knowledge and understanding of food poisoning, toxins and modern sanitary food safe practices we would never eat meat that has been left out of refrigeration for any length of time.  Please do not do this, as its a dangerous practice. Always refrigerate any cooked or raw food and follow proper food handling practices.

To address modern sensibilities when it comes to our modern diet, a more delicate, tender crust goes well with this dish, although it probably would not have traveled as well as the original version and certainly would not remain edible without refrigeration for very long. 

The meat mixture:  

3 cups finely diced raw pork 

2 cups parboiled onions

parsley 

sliced leeks

small baby carrots cooked

1 cup water

salt, pepper to taste

poudour douce ( 1/4 tsp of each nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger) 

1/4 c chopped raisins

1/4 c chopped prunes 

3 beaten eggs

2 Tablespoons sugar 

1 pinch of saffron

1/4 c breadcrumbs to thicken meat mixture

Cook pork in fry pan in a small amount of oil, then add the rest of the ingredients except for the breadcrumbs. Cook over a medium heat until everything is heated through. Add breadcrumbs to thicken if desired.

Place crust in bottom of pie plate and place in hot oven 400 degrees for 5 minutes.  Remove and let cool. Place meat mixture in pre-baked crust, brush the edges of the crust with water and then place a second crust over the top and pinch the edges tightly and trim away excess crust. Then pierce 6 small slits in top of crust to allow steam to escape while baking. Bake at a medium temperature over 350 degrees for up to an hour until the crust is brown and the filling is bubbling through the steam slits.)

©2011 Enchantments, LLC If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on my weekly email distribution list send me an email with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

(Author's Note: I will allow Mrs. Pippery to tell the story of her encounters with the Forme of Curye, the recipe book of the Master Chef for King Richard II during the years 1367 - 1400. The owner of this manuscript (University of Manchester, Manchester, England, see Attribution Section below) does not currently know the actual name of the Master Chef. Accordingly, as used in this series of articles, the names of the Master Chef, Mrs. Pippery and any other principals mentioned, are fictional. This author’s personal comments, translations or interpretations of the manuscript are presented in parenthesis and in italics. The supporting story including the description of the day-to-day life of the characters were created by the author, using her historical research of the time period. The modern recipes provided are based, in part, on the author’s interpretations of the recipes appearing in the manuscript, adapted to today’s cooking equipment and techniques.)

Attribution: The Forme of Curye is an ancient manuscript owned by the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, under its Manchester Middle English Manuscripts, of the John Ryland's Library Middle English Manuscript Digitisation Project. The transcription as they appear in these article were done by or for the University and appear as released by the University for research and for the use of scholars and other interested parties.

Capons in Councy (Chicken in spiced egg gravy)

 Easter Greetings to ye',

We are celebrating the Easter week here at the castle and as is custom, the King opens up the great room to invite all manorial servants, not just those of the castle keep, to Easter dinner. This week is also a holiday week of sorts for the 'villiens' or the common folk that lives and works to support the castle and his Lordship, year round.

This Easter dinner is a large meal that consists of pork, chykens, ducks, geese, beef roasts with puddings, meat tarts, custards, fruits, roasted vegetables, plenty of fresh baked breads and gallons of ale and water for the royal family to partake of.  

The villiens are welcomed into the great hall and a wealthy viellien, who had more land and thus gave more to his King in addition to dinner would receive two white loaves of bread, beef, bacon, all the ale they could drink in a day, mustard, a hen, a round of cheese and enough fuel to cook their food, along with two candles to light their place at the table.  

Others with less land are also to be given dinner but are expected to bring with them a cloth, a trencher, their cup and a cloth to wipe their mouths and hands.  When each leaves he is expected to take away all food left on his cloth, and they may fill the cloth for eating later, and are to be given a brown loaf of bread for later. While dining in the King's hall all that are not of the King's family and royal guests and visitors, primarily the servants and villiens of the King,  are served two types of meat, bread, broth and beer and they are allowed to sit and drink in the great hall near the fireplaces afterwards for as long as desired.

This makes for more work for the kitchen staff but we have plenty of hands and most have been working in the kitchens long enough to know what to do, and when to do it. One of the King's favorite dishes, straight from the Master Chef's little cookbook itself is Capons in Councy.  A dish that has chicken fried over a high heat and then simmered in a spiced gravy that gets its body from breadcrumbs and hard boiled ayrons or eggs from hens.

The recipe that I carefully wrote down for you is this:

"hewe hem to gobett(es) & cast he(m) in a pot. do þ(er)to clene broth. seeþ hem þat þey be tendur. tak brede and þe self broth and drawe hit vp y fer(er). tak(e) strong poudo(ur) & safro(u)n & salt and cast þ(er) to. tak ayro(n)n & seeþ he(m) harde. tak out þe yolk(es) and hewe þe white. tak þe pot fro þe fyre & cast þe white þ(er)inne. messe þe disch(es) þ(er)w(i)t(h) & lay þe yolkes ahone hole and flour(es) hit w(i)t(h) clowes. & s(er)ue hit forth."

Served with a salat of greens and spring herbs, as a nice accompaniment to this spring chyken dish.  Serve along with the chyken roasted carrots dressed with local honey and ground cardamom and ginger, boiled brussels sprouts and green beans with butter.  As its spring, butter made from cow's milk is plentiful for a few weeks, and will soon become scarce the rest of the year. For the sweet typically served at the end of the meal, poached pears in wine and honey are a nice, tasty finish of the meal.  

I hope you enjoy this simple, but hearty dish full of favor and very satisfying even with the absence of starch except for bread which is recommended be served with it.   I'll now let the author of this tale tell you more about how you can make this dish in your time.

Mrs. Pippery 

 

(Author's modern translation and modern version of this recipe:   Capons in Cauncy

 Capon in Councy (Spiced Egg Gravy) sauteed green beans and Brussels sprouts with a light touch of butter, and roasted carrots drizzled with honey and sprinkled with ground ginger and cardamom. Unusual flavors that make a delicious authentic medieval dish.

And cut them into pieces, put in a pot and simmer in broth until tender.  Add bread crumbs to thicken the broth into a gravy and add poudour douce (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and salt.  Hard boil eggs, cut in half remove the yolk and finely chop the white.  Take the pot from the fire (take off the heat)  Sprinkle the chopped egg white over all, and gently stir the yolks into the gravy.  Sprinkle with cloves and serve.

Modern version of recipe – Chicken in Spiced Egg Gravy

6 – 8 Pieces of raw chicken bone in, and skin on. Sections of breast, thighs, wings and drumsticks work well.  

¼ tsp ground clove

¼ tsp of nutmeg

¼ tsp ginger

¼ tsp cinnamon

Omit the saffron as it does little except to add color to the dish.  We normally do not color our chicken dishes in this era or culture. You may add if you have access to saffron and do not mind the expense. You may also add a few drops of yellow food coloring as the saffron really only adds color and food coloring is an inexpensive substitute.  I chose not to add saffron or the coloring and was very pleased with the results.

Salt & black pepper to taste (this is a dish with plenty of saltiness because of the broth, taste gravy towards the end of cooking before salting, if necessary)

3 cups chicken broth

4 hard boiled eggs, yolks and whites separated

3 Tbsp bread crumbs

Chopped fresh parsley

Extra ½ c. water to add to gravy if it becomes too thick

Spray a skillet or electric fry pan works well for this recipe, with cooking spray.  As you are using chicken with the skin on, you’ll have enough fat by sautéing the chicken in the cooking spray.

Cook the chicken for at least a half hour ensuring to turn frequently to brown all over.  After the chicken has browned on all sides, sprinkle with all spices, except for the salt. 

The chyken sauteing in the spiced gravy made of broth, spices, thickened with bread crumbs and hard boiled eggs, garnished with fresh chopped parsley. 

Add the broth and cover and let simmer.  After ½ hour of cooking in the liquid, add the breadcrumbs and then the yolks, breaking them down with a fork so they incorporate into the gravy.  Sprinkle over the gravy the egg whites. And cover and let everything bubble for a few more minutes.

Add water and stir if gravy gets too thick. Taste right before serving and if necessary add salt now. depending on the saltiness of the chicken broth used it may not be necessary.

After the chicken has been cooking for at least 45 minutes, sprinkle with parsley and serve with appropriate vegetables. 

Tonight I served this dish with boiled Brussels sprouts with butter, carrots roasted in honey and sprinkled with ground cardamom and ginger, and green beans boiled and served with butter.  For dessert I served pears poached in honey and wine sauce and served with homemade whipped crème.

 'Salat' -  Green salad made with leaf lettuce, leeks, scallions, fresh mint, fresh rosemary and dressed with a light balsamic vinegar/olive oil mixture.  No other seasonings required as the flavors just 'pop' in your mouth. Unusual but very nice flavor combination. 

To have made this dish entirely authentic I would have done away with the plates and served the meal on a ‘trencher’.  A slab of day old bread, which after absorbing the juices from the meal, would then have been consumed.  

There were no potatoes served as they were not known in Medieval Europe where this medieval cook fictitiously resides and performs her duties.  But the other vegetables, along with the surprisingly robust dessert, made this a filling and fulfilling meal.  It was delicious, flavorful and very enjoyable.  They ate pretty well in medieval kingdoms, at least King Richard the II of England’s family in the late 14^th century certainly did.)   

          Red Pears poached in honey and wine and served with real whipped creme, mmmm


I hope you try some of these recipes and enjoy the authentic cuisine as it was enjoyed by the 'Crown Heads of Europe' over 700 years ago. Pardon the Wizard of Oz reference.  I enjoy the researching and creation of these modern version recipes for you. 




©2011 Enchantments, LLC If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on my weekly email distribution list send me an email with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

(Author's Note: I will allow Mrs. Pippery to tell the story of her encounters with the Forme of Curye, the recipe book of the Master Chef for King Richard II during the years 1367 - 1400. The owner of this manuscript (University of Manchester, Manchester, England, see Attribution Section below) does not currently know the actual name of the Master Chef. Accordingly, as used in this series of articles, the names of the Master Chef, Mrs. Pippery and any other principals mentioned, are fictional. This author’s personal comments, translations or interpretations of the manuscript are presented in parenthesis and in italics. The supporting story including the description of the day-to-day life of the characters were created by the author, using her historical research of the time period. The modern recipes provided are based, in part, on the author’s interpretations of the recipes appearing in the manuscript, adapted to today’s cooking equipment and techniques.)

Attribution: The Forme of Curye is an ancient manuscript owned by the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, under its Manchester Middle English Manuscripts, of the John Ryland's Library Middle English Manuscript Digitisation Project. The transcription as they appear in these article were done by or for the University and appear as released by the University for research and for the use of scholars and other interested parties. 

 I get much of my information regarding the lives lived by commoner and King in the medieval era from the wonderful research done by Joseph and Frances Gies and published in their series of books "Life in a Medieval Castle" , "Life in a Medieval Village", and "Life in a Medieval City".

Chicken Dumplings with Sauteed Onons and Leek in Wine Sauce

 Good Evening to you,

'It's been a long day working in the kitchens as there's much cleaning to be done now that spring has arrived.  There are also guests visiting the King and his Lady so there's extra mouths to feed.  All coming out of our stores which makes it hard on the kitchen help'.

'When there are visitors that stay at the castle,  the castle staff is responsible to feed the visiting staff, the guests and their horses.  Why we even pay the wages of the servants that come with the visiting guests. Yea, that's right.  You see, a common day's wage is typically a loaf of bread, a gallon of ale, and perhaps one cooked dish and a fire in the hall they could sit near. So these would be paid from the castle's store of supplies.  If guests happen to stay a fortnight or even a month or more it could cost dearly. Yet, I don't worry.  King Richard's resources are plentiful and we have a bountiful supply house and tenants on the castle land that pay their dues promptly and abundantly.

I snuck another peek at the Master Chef's little recipe book.  I found a nice one for ye today.  A tasty dish that is made up of chicken dumplings in a nice onion and leek sauce.  You're sure to enjoy this one.  Be sure to serve with fresh bread either cut in a thick slice and used as your trencher or plate or serve it on the side.

I enjoy the bread as a trencher, the flat surface that the food is put on, as in this dish it soaks up the tasty sauce. Have plenty of vegetables roasted and served hot with the chicken dumplings and ye have a nice, hot luncheon or light supper.  Mmmm, for a simple meat like chyken it is a hearty enough dish.  These being the Middle Ages it's good to know that everyone consumes large quantities of meat. It is the primary ingredient on the menu and in the King's lavish kitchens we have plentiful amounts of all meats from Oxen, Beef, Mutton, Swine, Venison, Chyken, Swan, Ducks and such.

The recipe as if appears in the Chef's cookbook looks like this:

Transcription: 

(.xj.) Bursen. Take þe white of lek(es) slype he(m) & schrede he(m) smal. take noumbles of swyn & p(ar)boile he(m) i(n) broth & wyne. take hi(m) up & dresse hi(m) & do þe leke i(n) þe broth. seeþ hi(m) & do þe noumbl(es) þ(er) to. make a lyo(ur) of brede. blode. & vyneg(er) & do þ(er) to poudo(ur) fort. seeþ oyno(u)ns mynce he(m) & do þ(er) to þe self wyse make of pigg(es). 

I hope you enjoy it, and good eating to ye'   Mrs. Pippery

(A translation by the author is as follows: 

   Dumplings of swan in an onion soup

Take the white part of leeks, slice them and shred them small. Take noumbles (dumplings) of swan and parboil them in broth and wine. Take them and dress them and do the leek in broth. Seep them & do the noumbles to make a lyour of bread, blood and vinegar & sprinkle with powder dust.  Saute’ onions, minced and per tp be self wise make of pigges.)

A modern version as created by author using chicken and eggs.

Chicken Dumplings with Sautéed Onions and Leeks in Wine Sauce

2 cups of shredded cooked chicken meat. 

Sliced and minced leeks (the white part) appx ¼ cup

¼ cup butter

½ cup bread crumbs

1 raw egg

¼ teaspoon each: ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, black pepper and salt.

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup white wine

1 cup sliced sweet onions 

1 cup sliced & leeks

Serves 3 - 4 for a light luncheon or 2 for a hearty dinner.

Sautee’ the leeks in the butter until soft and transparent. Place chicken meat in mixing bowl. Add sautéed leeks when cooled to the chicken meat. Mix thoroughly and then add the bread crumbs, and lightly beaten egg. 

Add the spices and mix the mixture together as one would for meatballs or meatloaf, which is to mix lightly but thoroughly until all ingredients are evenly distributed throughout  the meat mixture.  Then form small meatballs or dumplings of the meat mixture by taking appx ¼ cup of mixture and forming into a ball in the palm of your hand. 

After forming the chicken dumplings, set aside on a plate.  Combine both the wine and broth in a sauce pan or dutch oven on the stove top. Bring the liquid both to a simmer and place the sliced onions & leeks in the broth and cover for 5 minutes until the vegetables wilt slightly,  then gently place, by using a tablespoon, each chicken dumpling in the broth and when all are gently settled and the broth is gently simmering, cover the pit and let cook for 15 minutes.  The chicken meat used is cooked so a final heating through and cooking the egg is all that is required.  Try not to overcook as this will make the dumplings tough and rubbery. 

Right before they are finished, mix together 1 tablespoon of flour and ¼ cup water and mix thoroughly then pour into the broth and stir gently.  Add a splash more wine or broth if it thickens too much. The original recipe is more like a soup with balls of meat in it, whereas I thicken the sauce and make the meatballs the primary focus off this dish and not the soup.

Serve dumplings with a side salad of lettuce, endive and watercress and onion.  Make an authentic Medieval sallat or salad by mixing a simple balsamic vinegar 3 Tablespoons with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil dressing that you add finely chopped fennel, garlic, parsley and shallots.   

Serve with sides of roasted carrots dressed in honey and butter right before serving, buttered peas and buttered asparagus with lemon juice squeezed over. (A modern choice of side dish that would go very nicely with this dish would be mashed or roasted and seasoned potatoes, though this would not have been an option in the Middle Ages as potatoes were native to South and Latin America and had not been introduced to Europe yet.)

This recipe was originally made with swan meat, and blood but it has been adjusted to 21st century cookery, where swan is a rare item on our modern menu.  We use beaten egg which is the modern substitute in this recipe for the blood, which is no longer used in modern American cooking and most would find it unpalatable and then there’s the problem of finding a place that sells blood for culinary purposes.) 




©2011 Enchantments, LLC If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on my weekly email distribution list send me an email with your email address to be included.

If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

(Author's Note: I will allow Mrs. Pippery to tell the story of her encounters with the Forme of Curye, the recipe book of the Master Chef for King Richard II during the years 1367 - 1400. The owner of this manuscript (University of Manchester, Manchester, England, see Attribution Section below) does not currently know the actual name of the Master Chef. Accordingly, as used in this series of articles, the names of the Master Chef, Mrs. Pippery and any other principals mentioned, are fictional. This author’s personal comments, translations or interpretations of the manuscript are presented in parenthesis and in italics. The supporting story including the description of the day-to-day life of the characters were created by the author, using her historical research of the time period. The modern recipes provided are based, in part, on the author’s interpretations of the recipes appearing in the manuscript, adapted to today’s cooking equipment and techniques.) 

Attribution: The Forme of Curye is an ancient manuscript owned by the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, under its Manchester Middle English Manuscripts, of the John Ryland's Library Middle English Manuscript Digitisation Project. The transcription as they appear in these article were done by or for the University and appear as released by the University for research and for the use of scholars and other interested parties.

A Day in the Life of a Cook in the King's kitchen

 Good Day to you,

"So you want to know what a day in my life is like, eh? It's not an easy one mind you, but it's better than the life of a scullery maid, or even a stable hand.  In this day it is common for a person to go hungry. Often.  The position of cook is a coveted one, as a cook is always in a position to have a bit extra to eat, and to offer others.  It's precious little power, but power nonetheless for a woman not of the royalty, but a royal position in the King's court.

We rise early, everyone rises early even the King and Queen as breaking one's fast is a very important part of the King's day.  The average man or woman awakes before sunrise and has a couple of hours of  work completed before breaking their fast, but the King and Queen eat as soon as they dress and leave their bed chamber.

Breakfast traditionally was bread and wine or ale when I was a girl, but each Monarch changes the world in ways that last longer than themselves, and with various additions over the years breakfast now often consists of cold meats, cheeses, breads, butter, fish, eel, eggs left over roasted vegetables and fruits.  There are no 'official' breakfast foods,  but more like a cold picnic of foods not eaten the previous day.  This meal as is every other,  is consumed with plenty of ale or wine, or water. Aye,  alcoholic beverages are consumed at every meal and are consumed by adult and child alike. Much of the wines or ales are watered down to prevent intoxication. This is common practice amongst all common folk not just here in the King's court. 

But whereas the wines served for the average man, if he is able to obtain them, they are often sour, muddy, thick, greasy, stale and very unpalatable. All wines are served young. This is true even of the wines the King can afford.  The ales are better and more drinkable, but very strong. Hooo, you could down a draft of ale in the morning and be feeling no sorrow till way past noon! So we water down the drink so that they are safer to drink as a drunken lout is no good to anybody.  In truth, few people ever appear drunken as most work so hard they sweat out the drunkeness, at least in my humble opinion. I've seen more of the royals themselves acting silly and not at all royal, but then they are allowed to, aren't they?

For the working souls, those of us that keep the castle running we wake very early and have breakfast by 6 am at the latest.  Right afterward the great hall is set with trestle tables that are taken down after each meal and reset for the next.   The large noontime meal starts around 10 am and last until noon.

The household staff sit and eat along with every other soul in the king's court... The King and his family sit at the head table, which is set up at a vantage point for the King to survey the entire hall.  Then they all pile in for the food. The soldiers, workers, castle staff,  visitors, guests and people from the surrounding castle keep were all welcome. The blacksmith, the ale master, the baker, the candle maker even the carpenter. All that serve his highness and the royal family are welcome to sup with the King and his family.  The dining area gets quite busy at times, for one could have his meal and discuss a new suit of armour to be made by the armorer or order a number of loaves of bread from the baker, so much business and discussion went on.

When we eat it is a communal, cosy affair you might say. You see,  two people share a dish with the lesser helping the more important of the two, such as the servant feeding the master, the younger serving the older and as it should be in all things, if ye ask me,  the man serving the woman.  We ave utensils but by tradition we eat much of our food with our fingers and there is much etiquette associated with the ritual of supping together.  Like ones hands.  That's right, everyone who sits down to dinner is expected to wash their hands, cleanly and with much vigor.  It may be the middle ages, mind, but we know all about how sick one can make another by their dirty paws!  Why I just slapped that no account lazy lout Jervis just yesterday as he tried to walk into the dining room with filthy mitts.  He won't be forgetting the feel of my hand on the back of his thick skull anytime soon.  Most likely saved all of us from certain death by making him wash his hands and I inspected them personally before he was allowed to eat with anyone.Hmmph!

Most of the meals consist of roasted meats and each place is set with a trencher, or thick slab of day old round bread, sliced according to proper technique and placed also very specifically in each spot, and the food would be placed upon this 'edible' plate.  What? Did ye think we'd be washing hundreds of dishes three times daily in our kitchens? We have enough to do keeping the cooking utensils clean, mind. 

We had a shipment arrive yesterday of some new cooking pots and such.  The nice thing about the King's kitchen is we tend to have the best of the possible items and equipment available. Many crafts people saved their best items for the King and his Queen and if they could sell to the castle it was a fine thing indeed.   Yesterday we received a new Mortar that stands 4 foot tall and large enough that a small child can stand upright in it. As I found out when I saw little Johnnie, the Butler's boy standing within, with just his shock of yellow hair sticking out the top.   I saw him as I crossed the kitchen and grabbed up the pestle, about three feet long with a large knib on one end and made a great show of crossing the room to put it in the mortar and starting to grind up my herbs when he squealed and scampered out before he was turned into poudour douce!

We also cook in cauldrons large enough to bathe ten adults in, all to keep the King's castle fed and happy.  We have three swines, a calf, 30 chykens, several baskets of fresh fish for fischye day tomorrow, and two whole cows all in the larder to be roasted over the next few days. From these will be made good broths, tartlets or meat pies, stews, potages, dumplings and custards of fish and meat and chicken. 

I have the younger girls and boys in the kitchen gather the herbs, leeks, onions, turnips  from the gardens and mushrooms from the forest for the proper amount of flavor.  Along with the shipment brought yesterday on seven carts drawn by horses, was my spices.  Or the Master Chef's spices mind you.  I would use them even if his royal cookness wasn't part of this household. The spices used in our typical poudour douce, or powder dust contain ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  At times the recipe allows for black pepper to be added. We use this mixture of spices often as it seems to be a remedy against the stomach sickness that overtakes some when food goes bad. 

We roast several haunches of beef, pork, venison and stew a dozen or more chykens and ducks.  The common man lives on a diet of rabbit, venison, and small game birds.  These are at times part of the feast especially when the King and his lady go hunting.  At every meal the most dominant flavor is mustard. The King particularly enjoys Lumbard mustard.  It is used by all to flavor and spice according to individual taste.

The recipe I snitched out of the Chef's little recipe book looks like this:

".lumbard mustard. cxliij. Take mustard seed & waysche hyt and dry hit in an ovene. grynde hit drye. sarse hit þorow a sarso(ur). claryfye hony wiþ wyne & vyneg(er) & stere hit wel to gyder & make hit thyk y nowh. & whan þou wolt spend þ(er) of. make it thyk,  

A simple recipe, to be sure. But one we will use the new mortar and pestle with as we needed a larger mortar since we make the mustard by the barrel-ful.  Ye see, this is what we do to make the mustard every man, woman and child demands spooned onto their side of the trencher.  Just as the recipe says, take mustard seed, and we use sacks filled to make a batch. At least several cups and we wash them with clean water ran over a sieve they lay in.  Then they are laid out on paper and laid inside a hot oven to dry and bring the flavor up.  They are then put in the mortar and ground fine with the large pestle.   Then thick, freshly gathered honey is added to the ground mustard seed , also several quarts and it's thinned a bit with cups of wine and vinegar  to taste.

(For those of you who wish to make this yourself here is an easy modern recipe for this mustard sauce made with honey and wine.  


Lombard Mustard ~ Honey wine mustard sauce to serve over fish, roasted meats, bread, and roasted root vegetables.  


Take 1 cup of stone ground prepared mustard or other hearty course ground prepared mustard. Make sure the mustard has vinegar as an ingredient.  Even yellow (hot dog mustard) can be used to nice effect.  Add 1 cup of honey and mix well.  Add a few splashes of wine, white is preferable, just to thin the consistency a bit.
Serve a spoonful or two on the side of your trencher to dip your beef in.)

We serve the food communal style with a large platter containing each food being passed around and being taken from, again the lesser taking for the more important of the couple sharing a plate.  We have many vegetables you might be familiar with that is served alongside the meats, such as Onions, Parsnips, Fennel, Garlic, Parsley, Shallot, Onions, Watercress, Endive, Lettuce, Beetroot, Cabbage, Leeks, Carrots, Artichokes, Long-Beans, Broad-Beans, Peas, Lentils and Asparagus.  We also dress our vegetable platters with thistle, what you would call an artichoke.  We roast them, stew them, chop them, dice them, mynce them, and hew them small.  Our food is flavorful, rich and hearty enough to satisfy the most kingly of appetites.  Why just last fysche day we had stuffed stomach of porpoise.  Now, I'm not too fond of it mind ye, but the King and his Lady like it enough. 

After people are finished eating the meat off the bones its common to throw the waste scraps to the castle hounds that lay about on the rushes waiting for some morsel of food.  The rushes are long swaths of dried grasses, herbs like tansy strewn upon the floor of the great room.  This is the custom of floor dressing.  It is felt to keep the feet from the bare floor and many times the rushes were also strewn with sweet herbs to keep away bugs and other small pests.  The dogs would eat the scraps off the floor and the rushes were changed regularly to keep the castle clean and free of vermin.  

After lunch everyone would go about their daily business, for everyone had a job. The kitchens were at full force and activity all day and most of the night long.  The kitchen had its own staff, as did the pantry, the bottlery (where the ales and wines were kept), the larder (where foods were kept cool), the bakery, all have separate staffs to supply the castle and the keep that surrounded it.  

There are many people we cook for in the kitchens and then a light supper is served again in the late afternoon. This one would largely consist of a main course rather than the three or more at afternoon dinner, along with light side dishes and then cheeses.   Late suppers are oftimes eaten right before bed and then the household goes to sleep early by eight o'clock at night.

This is a long day and a full day everyday in the King's kitchen.  I hope you try my Lombards Mustard sauce, or the Chef's if ye're picky.  I must go, I smell soemthing roasting that needs tending.  

May ye never hunger or thirst my friend ~ The King's Cook, Mrs. Pippery

 (The reason the wines served were young wines was because of a failure to develop a suitable stoppering system for the wines in containers. It was purchased by the barrels and then spiced and put into jugs.  Wine aged a year or more was undrinkable. Proper stoppering techniques were developed at a later time which ushered in the age of aged wines after the period we are discussing in this blog.)

©2011 Enchantments, LLC If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on my weekly email distribution list send me an email with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

(Author's Note: I will allow Mrs. Pippery to tell the story of her encounters with the Forme of Curye, the recipe book of the Master Chef for King Richard II during the years 1367 - 1400. The owner of this manuscript (University of Manchester, Manchester, England, see Attribution Section below) does not currently know the actual name of the Master Chef. Accordingly, as used in this series of articles, the names of the Master Chef, Mrs. Pippery and any other principals mentioned, are fictional. This author’s personal comments, translations or interpretations of the manuscript are presented in parenthesis and in italics. The supporting story including the description of the day-to-day life of the characters were created by the author, using her historical research of the time period. The modern recipes provided are based, in part, on the author’s interpretations of the recipes appearing in the manuscript, adapted to today’s cooking equipment and techniques.)

Attribution: The Forme of Curye is an ancient manuscript owned by the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, under its Manchester Middle English Manuscripts, of the John Ryland's Library Middle English Manuscript Digitisation Project. The transcription as they appear in these article were done by or for the University and appear as released by the University for research and for the use of scholars and other interested parties.

My Life as a Medieval Cook in the King's Kitchen

Good Day to you,

Those of you who can read, I hope you enjoy my tale.  You see, I am a medieval cook.  My name is Mrs. Pippery.  Pagan Pippery*.  What's that? You say Pagan is an odd name for a girl child in your day? Well, in my time, medieval times,  it's now the Year of our Lord 1387,  Pagan is a common given name for girls.

Most everyone just calls me Cook.  I've been working in the King's kitchen since I was a scullery maid. I was born in the King's court, and I worked my ways up to cook over the years.  Now I'm the cook right  after his royal highness's highness Master Chef Childebert Beaumont*.  Ye see, in the King's kitchen the head cook must be a Master Chef, and the Master Chef is always a man.

Bah!! I assure you, I can cook cabbage with the best of them. Why just the other day I saw where the Master Chef put his little book of recipes.  I snuck a peek and I'll tell you all about what I read. That's right, I can read. The Chef doesn't know, but I learned years ago when the tutors were teaching His Majesty's children, the princes and princesses.  I learned enough to be able to read and then tell you all the secrets in the recipe book of the Master Chef of King Richard the II of England.  The king's kitchen is the finest, most lavish kitchen in all of England with the best foodstuffs available.  Many of the common folk could never hope to ever eat anything so grand as what comes from my kitchen.  

Now the little, bitty cook book of the Chef, why its no more than a mere hand wide and a hand and a half high, which would be almost 4 inches high by 5 1/2 inches wide in your world of measurement.  There are 186 pages with some pages missing but only a few.  Perhaps those were recipes the King disliked and the Chef tore them out before becoming an ex-Chef of the King of England!! It's not uncommon for a king

nowadays to chop off a head or two of them that displeases his Highness. 



They are sure to be the very best of all recipes and the most tasteful of dishes, as these are prepared for the King and his friends and visiting company.Though I've been roasting meat, making pies and custards for decades, we'll see if the recipes of his most royal Chef, Childebert, can teach me something new.  He would have an apoplexy if he ever heard me call him other than Chef, but in private I like to have my chuckles.  It's a harder life than you must be used to, being a cook in the 14th century, but it's a good life for me.  I'll share it with you as I tell my tales of being a cook in his Majesty's kitchen.

I just looked at the index and all sorts of savory dishes from tarts to soups, to custards and Cryspes! Mmm, my favorite are Cryspes, but we'll discuss those later. 


For todays tasty tale, I'll tell you all about making a potage, mmmm.  Yes, that's right Potage. You see, Potage is a soup, one would call it.  Made with good broth, from cooking down bones of the chickyn or animal.  Many common folk make potage, and in truth many survive almost entirely on potage.


First you take many beef bones, we'll use beef for this recipe, instead of the more common chickyn. And its fine if bits o beef still cling to the bones. Adds a bit more flavor if ye ask me.  Lay them in an even layer on a large tray ye put in the oven, and bake the bones for several hours, over a hot fire until they brown and crisp, and many will crack showing the tasty marrow innards.  Mmmmmm. 


After roasting the bones good and long, then put them all into a large cauldron over a big fire.  Fill cauldron with clean water, this is most important. Much water to be found can be foul and not safe to drink. Make sure the water you use is clear through and clean and free from leaves, twigs and bugs. These ye can pick out before putting in the cauldron.  


Allow bones to seep or simmer, in the water at a low boil for a couple of hours before fishing out the bones.  The bones can be thrown on the floor of the great room during dinner service to keep the hounds happy.  Now you should have a strong, fresh stock or broth with which to make our potage for the King's dinner.  

Now see this is the exact recipe of the Master Chef himself for Caboches in Potage.  I copied it meself just as he wrote it. You might well call it Cabbage Soup.

"Caboches i(n) potage. (.iiij.) Take caboches & q(ua)rter he(m) & seeþ he(m) in gode broth wiþ oyno(u)ns y mynced & þe white of lek(es) y slyt & y corne smale. & do þ(er) to safro(u)n and salt & force hit wiþ poudo(ur) douce."   

Easy enough yea, but for you in your time you may wish to follow these instructions as ye might find them easier to ken .  .  .   um .  .  .  understand. 

 Take caboches (cabbage) and quarter them and seep them in good broth,

with onions ye minced, the white part of leeks sliced, add saffron and salt.  Season with poudour douce (powder dust) a mixture of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg. 

Hmmm? Still a little uncertain? Cooking is a highly skilled activity so perhaps a more specific recipe will do you:  (The following recipe is a modern translation and interpretation by the author using the original recipe with adjustments for modern tastes and cooking methodologies.)

                                    Cabbage Soup

8 cups beef broth 

1 small green fresh cabbage core removed and thinly sliced

1 medium white or yellow onion finely minced 

1 large leek, only the white part, rinsed of all sand and thinly sliced into coins

1/4 cup olive oil 

1 generous pinch of saffron, 

salt to taste

1/4 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

 First heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a skillet.  Saute the minced onions and leeks until they wilt and become soft and semi transparent. Pour beef broth in a soup pot that will hold at least 10 cups, a large soup or spaghetti pot will do fine.  Add the sauteed onions and leeks and cabbage.  Cover and bring to a low boil and add the saffron and salt. Cover and simmer for at least an hour.  During the last 10 minutes of cooking add the ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Serve hot with crusty bread and fresh churned butter. 

(cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger were spices added to savory as well as sweet dishes not only to flavor dishes but primarily because they have qualities that when ingested internally help prevent sickness caused by food poisoning.  These spices as well as black pepper have anti-bacterial and disinfectant qualities that work in the intestinal tract and it is thought by scholars of this time period that the royals would have used these spices for the health of the King.  It was exciting to see evidence of this in these recipes.)

©2011 Enchantments, LLC   If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on my weekly email distribution list send me an email with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

(Author's Note:  I will allow Mrs. Pippery to tell the story of her encounters with the Forme of Curye, the recipe book of the Master Chef for King Richard II during the years 1367 - 1400.  The owner of this manuscript (University of Manchester, Manchester, England, see Attribution Section below) does not currently know the actual name of the Master Chef.  Accordingly, as used in this series of articles, the names of the Master Chef, Mrs. Pippery and any other principals mentioned, are fictional.  This author’s personal comments, translations or interpretations of the manuscript are presented in parenthesis and in italics.  The supporting story including the description of the day-to-day life of the characters were created by the author, using her historical research of the time period.  The modern recipes provided are based, in part, on the author’s interpretations of the recipes appearing in the manuscript, adapted to today’s cooking equipment and techniques.)

Attribution:
The Forme of Curye is an ancient manuscript owned by the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, under its Manchester Middle English Manuscripts, of the John Ryland's Library Middle English Manuscript Digitisation Project.  The transcription as they appear in these article were done by or for the University and appear as released by the University for research and for the use of scholars and other interested parties.

Welcome to my new blog, The Life and Recipes of a Medieval Cook

Medieval Culinary Greetings to you,

I want to introduce my newest venture, my blog designed around the Life and Times of a Medieval Cook.  First I want to thank you for being such an avid supporter of my first blog venture, which I am still working on and have no plans to set aside, so no worries! The Life and Times of a Contemporary New England Witch will go forward as long as you wish to read it.

This blog will be very different. This is how I came up with the concept.  The John Ryland's University Library of the University of  Manchester England, has been doing some amazing work with ancient manuscripts. They are taking digital photographs and transcribing many manuscripts in their Centre for Heritage Imaging and Collection Care, CHICC,  Middle English Manusript Digitisation Project, and offering them on line free for scholars and interested parties.  Truly a University that cares more about getting the information out there than concern about how they can make money off of these ancient manuscripts.  


I have subscribed to this site and just yesterday received, what to me,  is a beautiful gift.  They just released to the public a manuscript called the 'Forme of Curye'.  This is the actual recipe book from the Master Chef of King Richard II of England  (January 6, 1367 - February 14, 1400 ) .  This tiny book, by today's standards,

measures a mere 4" wide by 5 1/2" tall, as paper was more scarce then than today. It has 186 pages and is hand written in Old Middle English with seemingly little regard for correct grammar.  For truly who would have looked at this book but the Chef himself as many in his kitchen would have been illiterate as was common for the times for those born to the servant and working classes. 


There are many recipes which have been transcribed by the University, but alas, they have just typed out what was hand written. Verbatim. Further interpretation falls on me, which I personally love!!!, and I'll be sharing my findings with you as well as modern interpretations of these ancient recipes that you can make at home.  I am researching the terminology, such as 'rapes in potage' is really turnip soup!  and along the way I'll share some tid-bits of the life of those living in the 14th century and what their lives were like working in the nicest kitchen in all of England, the King's kitchen.  


I believe there is much to be discovered and I hope you'll come along with me for the journey. 


I believe the blog postings I publish will be substantially shorter than the posts in 'Contemporary New England Witch', so the reading should be quicker.  Depending on the difficulty of researching the terminology and translation of the recipes I intend to post a new recipe and discussion a couple to three times a week,  and most importantly, if you do not wish to receive this blog post, as not everyone is as fascinated with medieval cookery as I, please just drop me a quick line at enchantmentsllc@gmail.com and I'll remove you.  Likewise if you know someone who would like this blog posting please feel free to send them my link. 


As always, comments and suggestions are always welcome and I thank you,  Faith


©2011 Enchantments, LLC   If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on my weekly email distribution list send me an email with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

(Author's Note:  I will allow Mrs. Pippery to tell the story of her encounters with the Forme of Curye, the recipe book of the Master Chef for King Richard II during the years 1367 - 1400.  The owner of this manuscript (University of Manchester, Manchester, England, see Attribution Section below) does not currently know the actual name of the Master Chef.  Accordingly, as used in this series of articles, the names of the Master Chef, Mrs. Pippery and any other principals mentioned, are fictional.  This author’s personal comments, translations or interpretations of the manuscript are presented in parenthesis and in italics.  The supporting story including the description of the day-to-day life of the characters were created by the author, using her historical research of the time period.  The modern recipes provided are based, in part, on the author’s interpretations of the recipes appearing in the manuscript, adapted to today’s cooking equipment and techniques.)

Attribution:
The Forme of Curye is an ancient manuscript owned by the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, under its Manchester Middle English Manuscripts, of the John Ryland's Library Middle English Manuscript Digitisation Project.  The transcription as they appear in these article were done by or for the University and appear as released by the University for research and for the use of scholars and other interested parties.