H.F.F. 6.8: Odd Fellows

The Challenge: Odd Fellows. Make a dish that combines ingredients or flavors you wouldn't normally use in modern life.

The Recipe: CHYKENS IN HOCCHEE from The Forme of Cury

Take Chykenns and scald hem. take parsel and sawge withoute eny oþere erbes. take garlec an grapes and stoppe the Chikenns ful and seeþ hem in gode broth. so þat þey may esely be boyled þerinne. messe hem an cast þerto powdour dowce.

In more modern English spelling, I believe this reads: "Take chickens and scald them. Take parsley and sage without any other herbs; take garlic and grapes and stop the chickens full, and seethe them in good broth so that they may easily be boiled therein. Mess them and cast thereto powdour douce.

 

According to the editor of the 18th century transcription, the 'powdour douce' may be "powdered galyngal" or else "a compound made of sundry aromatic spices ground or beaten small." The wikipedia page cites 14th and 16th century sources which offer such combinations as "grains of paradise, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and galangal" and "ginger, cinnamon, cloves and sugar [+/-galangal and long pepper]."

 

Using the spices available to me, I decided to go for a mixture of ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and granulated sugar. I did search for galangal and grains of paradise at some of the specialized grocery stores in town, but did not secure any (realizing too late that I could, in fact, order them online). I added black pepper to the spice mixture in place of the grains of paradise, which is sometimes used as a substitute pepper. For the galangal, I figured that ginger was the closest approximation on hand.

 

The Date/Year and Region: 1390, English [transcribed 1780]

How Did You Make It: I started with making the broth, using chicken bones and vegetable ends (onions, garlic, radishes) leftover from other dishes, along with my remaining dried herbs (parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram), and some of the more abundant fresh herbs in my container garden (more parsley, sage, and chives). 

 

The next day, I took one commercially-prepared whole chicken, skipped the scalding step since it was already plucked and cleaned, removed the giblets, and stuffed the chicken with two handfuls of grapes, two bulbs of garlic. I should have added the parsley and sage as well, but misremembered the instructions and instead added those to the broth. I put the chicken, broth, and herbs into a modest-sized cauldron suspended over an open fire, covered it, and let it cook for about 2 hours. At my friend's suggestion, I added a generous dash of salt and pepper to the broth. When fully cooked, the chicken was removed from the water, plated with more parsley, and sprinkled with a spice mixture of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and sugar (about 1/4tsp -1/2 tsp each).

In true medieval form, we ate this with bread, and without forks.

 

Time to Complete: 2.5 hour from building the fire to plating

Total Cost: $7.50 [The chicken being on sale, the grapes were the most expensive element. Herbs and spices were all on hand.]

How Successful Was It?: I wish I had saved this for the centerpiece challenge--it plated up prettier than I expected, and tasted great to boot. The "grape pumpkin spice chicken with garlic" combo that I feared was actually quite palatable. It was a little weird on the outside where the spice was thickest, but the more lightly-seasoned areas had a lovely depth (the spices were discernible, but subtle, and it really worked well). I barely noted the garlic, but was pleasantly surprised at the grape notes which came through in some of the morsels closest to the center.

How Accurate Is It?: Cooked over a fire, which should be worth a few points. I was guessing on the broth, but as I could not find what constituted a 'good broth' at the time, I think my approximation of "bones from the same kind of animal + whatever's in season in the garden" is at least a valid possibility.  I already noted the question of spices, and I used a modern grape variety, but those were both the best available options at the moment. Next time (there will be a next time), I intend to use the galyngal and grains of paradise which I have since ordered, and which should offer an interesting possible flavor profile. I should also probably be a little more sparing with the spice mixture in general.

First time sewing a chicken.

In the pot. Note the sage and parsley which probably should be inside the chicken.

Dinner is served.