Early Modern Cookery Books

On the second day of Christmas: a compilation of medieval and early modern cooking references I've found online. This is more of a gift to myself, in that the eclectic spelling makes it difficult to search for some of these by name, even when I know which book I'd like to use.

The Forme of Cury (c.1390) 

Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks: Harleian MS 279 & 4016 (c. 1430-40 & c.1450)

Wynkyn de Worde's The Book of Kervynge/ The Book of Carving (1508) 

Le Grant Cuysinier de Toute Cuysine (1550, French)

The Good Husvvifes Jevvell/ The Good Huswifes Jewell (1582)

A Book of Cookrye (1584/1591)

Edward Allde's The Good Hous-wiues Treasurie/ The Good Housewife's Treasury (1588)

A Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin (1593)

A Boke of Cookerie and the Order of Meates to Bee Serued to the Table (1629)

Gervaise Markham's English Housewife (1631)

Hannah Wooley's The Cooks Guide (1664)

The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt. Opened (1669) Transcription.

The Accomplish'd Lady's Delight (1677)

 

W. Carew Hazlitt's Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine (1902) lists additional early cookbook titles, some of which I have not yet found available online.

14th/15th Century Rosaries

Mostly, I made these because I wanted to do something with the wounds of Christ gauds that Billy & Charlie make. Nevermind that my main early modern impression is Elizabethan, a time and place in which owning rosaries was illegal and had been for two decades.

Anyway.

Related to that above factoid, I have so far found exactly three intact medieval or early modern rosaries in my usual British museum collections. The Museum of London has a very simple version, made as a small loop of wooden beads. This is by far the closest to the usual pictorial depictions (a very small string or loop of beads, usually held in a figure's hand). At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Victoria & Albert has a very elaborate gold rosary from the 16th century. And also this one:

Rosary/paternoster. German, 1475-1500. VAM

According to the museum's notes, this rosary has wooden beads, one large amber bead, and a set of silver gauds representing Christ's sufferings (nails, crown of thorns, etc). The pendant depicts Saints Barbara and Catherine.

Although the country of origin is given as Germany, I decided that this example would be a thematically suitable choice for using the gauds I had in mind (though they are only five in number, and are different shapes: hands, feet, and heart). So, for my first attempt, I tried to copy the original as closely as I could, using two sizes of dark brown wood beads, one larger amber-colored glass bead (the amber itself not being available), and a reproduction 15th century pewter badge of St. Barbara.

For the second--since I accidentally purchased two sets of the gauds--I decided to try a more goth version of the same design. When I was looking for examples of extant rosaries, I came across a number of individual beads, some plain amber or bone, others much more elaborate, including several which incorporate momento mori imagery such as skulls or even multifaceted deaths heads. The Met has a lovely example of momento mori beads in an extant paternoster. My version follows the same form as the first, using small bone beads with a skull-shaped bead half-way between each gaud; the pendant is an image of the crucifixion (based on 14th/15th century examples), with a large carved coral bead.

My replicas. Design from the 15th century VAM paternoster.
Components c. 14th-15th centuries.

For the stringing material, I plaited two linen cords, based on examples of fingerloop braid in Medieval Textiles. The book includes a few fragments identified as possible beading string, some narrow tablet-woven, others finger-looped (including a fragment with beads still on it, which is none other than the amber ones linked above). I couldn't get the woven version consistently round without the weft breaking on me, so I went with the fingerloop braids: one the usual 5-loop round I like for everything, but out of fine linen thread, the other a 3-loop variant of my own devising.

Silk beading cord, 3-loop linen braid, 5-loop braid.

 

Of course, when I went to string the beads, I found that neither braid was long enough for the wooden beads. Rather than making a 4th attempt, I simply strung those on my go-to size ff beading silk. The extra braid went into my stash of odd bits, and has already found a new use on my ear-scoop (which is really handy for cleaning one's nails of Faire dust).

All told, I like how both of these turned out. I wish I had had five more of the small wooden beads, as I ran out and ended up using a few large ones out of place. Proportionately, I think the bone version looks closer to the original, though the bone beads are almost too small to count by feel. If I was making a another one of these, I'd probably aim for the beads being a size larger than those small bone ones, with the mid-point beads closer to the size of the small wooden beads. Using smaller beads would also make the "amber" piece look larger by comparison, and thus closer to the original.

HFF 6.14: Waste Not, Want Not

The Challenge: Waste Not, Want Not. Try a dish that reduces waste somehow, such as re-purposing leftovers or using parts of a plant/animal that you wouldn't normally cook.

The Recipe: Rapes in Potage from the Forme of Curry

Take rapus and make hem clene and waissh hem clene. quare hem [2]. parboile hem. take hem up. cast hem in a gode broth and seeþ hem. mynce Oynouns and cast þerto Safroun and salt and messe it forth with powdour douce. the wise [3] make of Pasturnakes [4] and skyrwates. [5]

[1] Rapes, or rapus. Turneps. [2] quare hem. Cut them in squares, or small pieces. V. Gloss. [3] in the wise, i.e. in the same manner. Self or same, seems to be casually omitted. Vide No. 11 and 122. [4] Pasturnakes, for parsnips or carrots. V. Gloss. [5] skyrwates, for skirrits or skirwicks."

Of the "powdour douce", the editor remarks: "In short, I take powder-douce to be either powder of galyngal....or a compound made of sundry aromatic spices ground or beaten small, and kept always ready at hand in some proper receptacle." 

I'm counting this recipe because it involved making a stock out of the vegetable peelings, which felt very efficient.

The Date/Year and Region: c.1390, England

 

How Did You Make It: On a rather large scale. With no set proportions, I ended up searching through multiple modern soup and stew recipes to get an idea of how many vegetables I needed per serving, and opted to try 1/2 parsnip, 1/2 turnip, 1/2 onion, 1 carrot and 1/2 cup stock per person, and then rounding up the total number of people I would be cooking for (20-25 to 30), so make sure there was plenty for everyone. I then ran out of space in my cooking vessels, and so dropped from 1 carrot to 1/2..

 

I started by peeling and slicing the onions, and putting these in a saucepan to brown with a dash of olive oil. I then set about peeling and chopping the parsnips, turnips, and carrots into 1/2" sort-of-cubes. While I worked, I parboiled the turnips, parsnips, and carrots that were already prepared, and threw the peels and odd ends of the vegetables into a stockpot with water, a head of garlic, 5 green onions, 8 marigold flowers, a generous handful of dried rosemary, and nearly a half-gallon (dry) of fresh herbs: mostly parsley, and thyme, with a bit of sage, chives, marjoram, and oregano. The flowers were used in lieu of saffron for color, based on other recipes from this period which use marigold.

 

Once the vegetables were all parboiled, I strained the stock, added the onions, turnips, parsnips, and carrots, and set the pottage to all cook together in my two largest stockpots. I then set about preparing the powder douce, using 1 Tbsp each of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, sugar, long pepper, galyngal, nutmeg, and grains of paradise.*  Since I needed to serve this at an event, I then got to cool and refrigerate the mostly-cooked pottage, transport it to the event, and bring it back up to boiling on a fire (campstove) before serving. I made the spice mixture available for each diner to add as much as they desired (generally somewhere between a half and a whole spoonful per bowl).

 

*The book names cinnamon, mace, cloves, galyngal, pepper, long-pepper, ginger, cubebs (?), grains of paradise, nutmeg, and caraway in difference receipts. Last time I made a recipe calling for powder douce, I noted that Wikipedia gives "grains of paradise, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and galangal" and "ginger, cinnamon, cloves and sugar [+/-galangal and long pepper]" as other options for the powder douce. I liked how the equal proportions of spices worked in my previous use of this seasoning, so I repeated it here.

 

Time to Complete: A long time. At least 4 hours of peeling root vegetables, while the stock boiled and the vegetables parboiled, another half-hour of cooking the pottage all together, and then about a half-hour to re-heat to boiling before serving.

 

Total Cost: $32 for 30-odd servings (which fed some two dozen people with leftovers).

 

How Successful Was It?: No one died, and everyone who commented said they enjoyed it .So, either it was successful, or this was a very polite reenacting crew. Given the option, 100% percent of diners chose to include the spices. The most common remark was comparing it to different east Asian sweet-and-sour dishes. I noticed that the parboiling step removed some of the bite I associate with parsnips and turnips, leaving a mellow but recognizable flavor. The spices suited it quite well--a little odd to me, but perfectly palatable. I recommend serving it with bread.

 

How Accurate Is It? The main departure I made was combining the rapus and pasturnakes (turnips, parsnips, and carrots) rather than making a pottage of only one of them. Following Quin's advice for getting stronger flavor, I added the step of browning the onion in olive oil, which is neither called for nor prohibited in the text. I also used a home-made vegetable stock instead of a "good broth" (which I'm reading as implying bones) in order to make the whole recipe both vegan and gluten-free, which was needed for the particular group. 

 

On the positive side, I think my decision to add the spices at the end fits with the instruction  to "messe it forth with powdour douce", ie, that the spices are to be added when it is served. As far as the year goes, I made this late 14th century recipe for a 16th century event, BUT, it was served to people portraying Queen Elizabeth I's court, and the antiquarian's note claims that this recipe book was once owned by the queen. Which I thought was nice. Also, all of the ingredients are in season--I have turnips, parsnips, onions, and carrots to be harvest from the garden, just not in the quantities needed, while the other herbs did come directly out of the garden.

Side note: I manged to forget to take pictures of the finished product, but here's the in-progress pictures.

Ingredients assembled.

Stock in progress, as every bowl in my kitchen slowly fills with parboiled vegetables.

Medieval Disability Sourcebook

 August is my busiest month for reenactments (and rush through projects), so I'm way behind on writing them up. As I start on the backlog, however, here's something fun: a free sourcebook about people with disabilities living in western Europe during the middle ages.

Medieval Disability Sourcebook: Western Europe, ed. McNabb

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.

More Early Modern (& Medieval) References Online

It's faire season again. Last year I compiled some of my favorite easy-to-read books for refreshing on early modern social history and interpretation. This year, it's blogs and electronic references. These include primary (or at least photographs of actual artifacts), secondary, and tertiary sources which I believe be reliable. 

Blogs & Reference Sheets

The Internet Medieval Sourcebook and Internet Modern Sourcebook are the Holy Grail of searchable digitized original texts.

In addition to handwriting references, the National Archives' palaeography page also has handy references lists of county abbreviations, non-decimal currency units, term for land measurement, how Roman numerals were used in early modern English texts, and calendar peculiarities.

A Compendium of Common Knowledge contains introductory information on a wide variety of topics related to daily life in England c.1558-1603, from where to buy different goods in London to lists of the ranking peers.

Dr. Brett Devereaux's blog has (fully cited) essays on the logistics of military campaigns in the ancient through early modern period, as well as other topics relevant to pre-modern economics and warfare (like an overview of bread production). Note that this blog covers a wider time period that just the early modern, and that a number of its essays are focused on how fantasy media does or does not portray the historic systems it is nominally based on (which is great if you like overthinking LotR or GoT in addition to pre-modern history).

 Dr. Eleanor Janega's Going Medieval blog also has fully-cited, highly conversational essays on a variety of subjects, particularly those related to sex and death in medieval Europe.

Medievalists.net functions as a news site for medieval research: it announces new books, has essays on various topics, writes up current news related to medieval topics, and even has funny listicles (medieval swear words, anyone?).

 

Salt, c.1515-1530, Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales

Museum Collections

Portable Antiquities Scheme. Index of archeological finds in the UK. Lots of little metal items such as brooches. The UI is a little old-fashioned, but the search filtering is a delight.

Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales). The collection search doesn't include a filter by date range, but a search for "post medieval" turns up all sorts of metal and ceramic pieces, including the lovely Tudor lady salt dish above. Also lots of arrow heads...

Scottish National Museum. Also no date-filter on the collection search, but there are many cool items, such as medieval leather shoes and 17th century candle lanterns.

Museum of London has a lot of interesting artifacts found in the city. I especially like the medieval purse frames recovered from the Thames.

UK National Trust. Online collection database for historic sites across the UK. Mostly modern period, but there are some earlier pieces.

Victoria and Albert Museum. Focused on art and design, the museum's pre-1600 collection includes decorated ceramics, ecclesiastical items, and more textile fragments than one might expect.

National Gallery Tudor and Jacobean Portraits Database. Includes most of the early modern English portraits you've heard of. There's also some interesting essays on art history and conservation.

British Library Manuscript Viewer. Original manuscripts: useful for content, writing voice, letter shapes, and all kinds of illustrations. See also the British Library Digital Catalog of Illuminated Manuscripts for an illustration-search.

British Museum. Does have some items from Britain. Browsing the "medieval" and "post-medieval" period tags reveals pottery, glass, and metal artifacts.

Royal Armouries Collection. Not my usual, but if you're looking for early modern English arms and armor, this is the place.

Rotterdam Archeology has some very complete medieval metal and ceramic items (badges, sheers, pots) and even textiles. Amsterdam: Below The Surface likewise has a wide variety of items from pre-history to the 21st century. 

Geese from the Luttrell Psalter, British Library

Transcriptions of Tudor Charters, Accounts, Letters, etc.

Materials for a History of the Reign of Henry VII vol 1 & Materials for a History of Henry VII vol 2

Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York.

Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland: A.D. 1506-1507 

Extracts from the Accounts of the Revels at Court, in the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James I

The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth

The Girlhood of Queen Elizabeth: A Narrative in Contemporary Letters 

Queen Elizabeth and Her Times: A Series of Original Letters (vol 2)

Different, but related to period literature: JSTOR Understanding Shakespeare database.

Tablet Woven Band

Inspired by this video, I decided to break out the tablets and actually attempt a polychrome pattern. The design is a 8th-10th century eastern European pattern, which Lady Elewys conveniently wrote-up. In addition to the simple warp pattern (solid borders, are other cards the same, alternating S/Z), the appeal of this project was that all the tablets are moved together, and the same direction. When the warps get too twisted, you just start working the other direction until they're too twisted the other way. This was perfect for me, since I wanted an easy project that I could take to a Ren Faire, and work on amid interruptions, without need for notes.  

 

Band loom all warped up with 10 tablets.

I managed to finish the piece over one weekend, interspersed with spinning and netting and amusing children (who apparently love helping turn the cards).

Weirdly enough, the crewel yarn held up.

The single-strand crewel held up just fine as warp. It's a bit less tightly spun than I would have liked, but that's what I had on hand which came in multiple colors, was wool, and was the right size. I have ordered some 2/20 silk for next time.

Finished(?) band.

I had a thought of making this piece into garters, since my last pair ended up with the second band a hair too short to comfortably knot. To make sure there was plenty of warp of adequate garters, fringe, and the loom waste, I cut 3 yard warps. Exclusive of fringe, this gave me a 96" long piece of tape, so...that was successful. Now I just need to decide whether to cut and fringe two garters out of it (and a bit of left over), or have a really impressively long belt.

Medieval Drawstring Pouch

Continuing the catch-up posts, last spring I made some fingerloop braids at the Two Rivers Faire, with the intention of making a round purse based on some of the archeological examples from Amsterdam:

• Leather purse (c.1300-1700), 11" diameter, 64 punched holes (~1/2" for a hole plus its adjoining space, punch size probably ~1/8 inch with 3/8 gap judging by how large the punched holes appear relative to the space between)
• Another, 5.6" diameter, ~48 holes (~3/8" for hole plus space, holes probably ~1/8")
• And a third, 12.5" diameter, ~72-74 holes (~just over 1/2" per hole, hole size nearing 1/4")

Of course, since embarking on this endeavor, the database has been updated to indicate that the ties were likely leather. Despite the simple design, my leather-punching skills proved inadequate, and I ended up letting this simple item linger in the To Do pile all winter. It's just a 9.5" leather circle, with 40 holes punched around the perimeter, and the striped fingerloop braid threaded through.

The pouch, open almost flat.

Closed pouch. Holds my replica coins and dice very well.

Net Bag

 Over the weekend, I netted a medium-sized bag after Sally Pointer's Roman Net Bag video. While she used it for an pre-medieval impression, it's quite similar to the bags seem holding vegetables in Ruth's 13th-century cottage in Secrets of the Castle, while the knots and technique are the same I've seem in 19th century books and on modern craft kits.

Net bag and the shuttle/mesh used to make it.

It's diamond-netting, worked in a spiral from an initial set of 18 loops in a circle, expanded to 24 stitches per round, and then continued until I ran out of cordage (about 10 rounds?). The material is a hemp cord I found in a thrift-store grab bag. I used color remover on a hank from one of the three purple cakes, which gave a nice neutral-looking pale brown shade. I used a wooden shuttle I've had for ages, with the tail acting as a mesh. This was very tricky on the initial half-sized rows, since the shuttle was passing through loops its exact width, but was easy and convenient for subsequent rows.

Despite a few unsightly errors, the bag seems to be both strong and light. It can hold two loaves of Wrocław Trencher Bread, with room for a third. I think it'll also come in handy during the onion harvest later this summer.

Revisting Wrocław Trencher Bread

Last spring, I tried making a medieval wheat/rye bread from Medievalists.net, which was in turn quoted from Maria Dembinska's Food and Drink in Medieval Poland (1999). The recipe is a reconstruction based on 14th century bread regulations from the city of Wrocław, so the ingredients are well-documented, though the method is speculative (and the results delicious). 

Since last year, I have found spelt flour (a particular wheat variety) and so decided to see how that changed the results compared to generic whole wheat.

As I do not have any mixing bowls large enough to contain a whole batch, I once again opted to make this recipe on a half-scale:

4 cups rye flour
3.5 cups spelt flour
1 cup beer
1/4 oz (2.5tsp) dry yeast in 1/2 cup water
2 additional cups water
1 Tablespoon salt

As given in the instructions, I started by mixing the flours together, then taking half of the mixture (~3 3/4 cups) and adding the proofed yeast, beer, and water. 

The 'before' picture of the sponge.

After sitting overnight (and through the workday), I added the remaining flour and salt, kneaded ~20 minutes, and took periodic breaks from kneading to hit the dough with a wooden rolling pin.

 

The dough then rose for another ~2 hours until approximately doubled in size. I kneaded it once more (with stick-hitting) for about 10 minutes, then shaped into 5 loaves each between 3" and 4" in diameter. I let the dough rise for another 90 minutes until the loaves expanded to 5"-6" across, then baked 15 min at 400F and a further 15 at 375F.

 

Finished bread.

 

The bread turned out perfectly edible: tasty, with a decent texture, though a touch dense. I think I could have gotten a better crumb by extending the final knead to a full 20 minutes and letting the loaves rise just a little longer, and will probably try that next time. The loaves were quite good the second day after baking (approximately T+36 hours), though the crust was rather hard to cut the day after that. As usual, this half batch was more than sufficient for a two-day event. I really should start making quarter-batches...

A Lace Bend Round, 15th Century

Braid and finished point.

Braid #25 from Tak V Bowes Departed. It's a two-color braid of 8 loops, in a spiral pattern which resembles a 2-ply cord. This braid wholly uses exchanges, which was good practice, since I've mostly done 5 strand braids where you pick up the active loops with an empty finger.

I worked it in gold and black beading silk (size FF), and fitted the ends with aglets to make a pair of points. I chose this braid as I wanted the cord to fit into the aglets, though it was almost too fine in this silk. However, the knotted ends of the braids fit the aglets easily and was able to I stitch them into place.

Wrocław Trencher Bread (Medieval Rye Bread)

I found myself without barley flour before the recent renaissance faire, and so went looking for a new bread recipe to try. I was very excited to find this reconstructed trencher bread recipe from Wrocław on medievalists.net because:

• It uses the types of flour (rye, whole wheat) I had on hand.
• It's based on documented ingredients and proportions.
• The instructions are really clear.
  
• I recently discovered that one of my ancestors immigrated from Wrocław, aka Breslau.

After making it, I was pleased because:

• It has a really nice texture.
• Good flavor (lots of compliments).
  
• Convenient-sized loaves.
  
• I got to hit the dough with a stick. Repeatedly.

I ended up making the recipe on a half-scale, which produced 5 loaves. Each loaf was conveniently sized to make a generous meal two people (we tend to sup on bread-and-cheese at Faire). The five loaves I made saw me through the whole weekend, with plenty to share. 

The recipe itself took a little time, since the sponge needs to be started the night before it is baked. Not having any barm, I took the option to use active dry yeast proofed in water (1/2 oz ~ 5 tsp, so this half-batch took 2.5 tsp yeast in 1/2 cup water), with a 5% lager as the beer (Foster's, selected at random). I also chose to use whole wheat flour with the rye, as I didn't have time to source any spelt flour. 

Despite having no added sugar, the yeast did it's job very well and the bread has a rich, full flavor. The pictures I took didn't turn out, but I decided to write this up anyway, so that I can duplicate this bread in the future. I'm eager to try it with spelt (and ideally barm, if I can find any), but would be quite happy to make it again exactly as is.

HFF 5.18: The More Things Change

The Challenge: The More Things Change. Make a dish or use an ingredient that was common in your historic era, but is unpopular or hard-to-find today. 

I decided to use an uncommon technique, and fry these pastries over an open fire. In a ceramic pan.

The Recipe: Risshewes from Harleian Manuscript 4016 (Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks)

"Risshewes. Take figges and grinde hem ał rawe in a morter and cast a lituð fraied oyle there to. And þen take hem vppe yn a vessell and caste there to pynes, reysyns of corañce, myced dates, sugur, saffron, pouder ginger, and salt. And þen make Cakes of floure, sugur, salt and rolle þe stuff in thi honde and couche it in þe Cakes, and folde hem togidur as risshewes. And fry hem in oyle and serue hem forth."

The Date/Year and Region: c. 1450, English

How Did You Make It: I cut up a small handfull of figs, and ground them in a marble mortar, and mixed them with zante currants, chopped dates, a small handful of grandulated sugar, a few threads of saffron, about a tsp of powdered ginger, and a small piece of butter (for the "fraied oyle"). I omitted the "pynes", as I could not find any pine nuts to include (though I wondered if this actually meant "prunes", but decided "pines" is the more straightforward reading).

For the "cakes", I took about 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup sugar and a dash of salt, cut in 1/2 cup butter, and added minimal amount of water to make a paste, rolled it out with a rolling pin, and folded into half-circles with a spoonful of fruit-paste in the center. I then fried them two at a time in butter over the coals.

Total Time: No clock outdoors, but I think it was about 30 minutes to mix things up and shape the pastries, and another 30 or so to fry them. [After the first 8, I switched to cast iron just to get the things done.]

Total Cost: This was a bit expensive with all the dried fruit to purchase, but I can't find the receipt. I did at least have some saffron threads left from my own harvest, which knocked the price down a lot.

How Successful Was It?: My cooking mentor compared them to fig newtons, which isn't a bad descriptor. Under her tutelage, I think the pastries turned out quite nicely, though frying them was a bit of a trick. I had transcribed the recipe as using butter, not oil, for the cooking, which was a bit higher temperature than the pan wanted to go, so things were cooking very slowly. The best/most crisp ones were the last few, which I threw in an iron pan after cooking almost half of the pastries on the ceramic. The butter certainly melted quickly, but it just wasn't hot enough to fry the pastries crisply. These first few weren't bad warm, but were obviously under-cooked as they cooled down.

How Accurate Is It? Other than the butter/oil issue, I think I did pretty well within the lose guidelines of the instructions (no quantities, no directors for the paste, etc).

 

Hair Lacing, Medieval/Renaissance

I decided to try properly lacing my hair (not just tying the braids), since the Tudor Tailor has spent quarantine producing a series of videos about this very topic, and it looked like fun to try. 

Solo hair lacing, day three attempt.

The whole style, after combing/parting, took 6:55 to complete. Two minutes of this was braiding, one minute was pushing the braids around on my head pointlessly, and the remaining 3:55 sufficed to thread the bodkin twice, stitch down the hair, and tie the ends of the laces. I expect to speed up with practice. I didn't use a mirror or modern styling tools, because that felt like cheating (and probably wouldn't have helped anyway).

Tools used: bone bodkin, wood comb, 2 2-yard linen tapes.

I found, experimentally, that the one of the just-over-two-yard tapes I wove for tying up my hair isn't quite long enough for this technique on it's own. Which makes a certain sense--I made the pair with the intention of using both to braid and tie my hair in this exact style. The Tudor "hair fairies" recommend a single 3-yd lace, which I was able to emulate by overlapping the two laces--instead of knotting them together, I braided a short length of each into the opposite braid, letting them cross at the back of the head. This anchored the tapes soundly, leaving a long tail to lace each braid with, and securing the extra ends away within the braids themselves.

Other initial lessons: this style is very convenient for tucking the hair away to sleep, with no lumps at the neck/back of head (even if it looks awful the next day--though I should see how it works with a coif overnight...). It will stay up for a whole day, including exercise, and doesn't have the 'strain' that a modern bun held with elastics develops over that time. My first attempts tended to stay "up" but slide back and forth on top of the head. I'm not sure whether this was because I was stitching through the braid or not starting at the hairline, but once I took my stitches from the far front and around the whole braid(s), everything stayed better in place. Two overhand knots (half hitches) work great for tying the end of the braids. Also, my hair is at a slightly awkward length for concealing the braid ends (they wind up just past the roots of the opposite braid), so I'll need to practice tucking those neatly or catching them in the opposing lace. 

New Medieval & Renaissance Shoes

So, I've had my eye on Bohemond's Mary Rose Tudor shoes for a while...

Absurdly comfortable. 10/10.

 And the 10% sale/combined shipping somehow persuaded me that I really need to start making some 14th century garb.  As you do.

A little tight through the toes, need breaking in.

But considering how the event season is currently looking, it's prudent to be prepared for autumn/winter weather...

I'm absurdly excited for these pattens.

New Pipkin

Every project I've touched the last two months seems to be stuck at 90%, so here's the new toy tool I'm looking forward to trying.

Earthenware pipkin from Jeanne Wood.
It's glazed inside and out, and the green is even prettier in person.

Braid of Three Bowes

Pewter whirligig on blue silk fingerloop braid.

Messing around with fingerloop braids, again. This one is 3 bowes, using size FF beading silk. It's mostly an excuse for practicing the technique, though I needed a new string for the whirligig I got from Billy and Charlie's (I may have gotten a little too enthusiastic with the first).

Jumbles

Not a challenge, but I'm writing up the recipe in case I want to venture it again in the future.

The Recipe: Jumbles, from a c.1500 cook book, translated into modern terms by Historic Royal Palaces [2 eggs, 100 g sugar, 1 tsp caraway or anise, as much flour as makes a paste; form into twists, boil, then bake.]

The Date/Year and Region: English, c.1500

How Did You Make It: Ground star anise. Beat 2 eggs, added 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, and 1 tsp of the ground anise. Added flour (~2 cups) until a workable paste was achieved. Divided the dough into ~ 20 pieces, rolled each in hand to make a short rope, twisted it around itself, and dropped into boiling water. When a piece started floating, it was removed to a paper-lined cookie sheet, and the lot baked at 350F for ~20 minutes.

I also did a batch flavored with 1 tsp caraway seed, but accidentally doubled the sugar--either due to this or because they went first, the caraway batch didn't bake well, ending up with a slimy texture. 

Time to Complete: About 30 minutes to make up (set the water to boil before mixing dough), and 40-60 minutes to bake two pans.

Total Cost: All ingredients were on hand.

How Successful Was It?: The flavor was nice for both (the anise being like my favorite Christmas cookies, while the caraway reminded me of many Victorian receipts). The texture was a bit odd--dense and rather chewy on the last of the four pans, slimy for the first three (after which I decreased the size of each jumble to 10/egg and then  increased the baking time to 20 minutes). I'll probably experiment with these in the future, because they are portable and keep pretty well (that is, they would be good for events if I can get them palatable in texture). 

How Accurate Is It?: I used an electric stove/oven. The recipe was already adjusted for modern egg sizes, though I could always do more research on sugar varieties...

Still Life

My new still from Goosebay Workshops

I've wanted a still for some time (it was the best part of O-chem), and finally have the chance to play with a repro one. Huzzah!

The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics (1843) mentions distallation of rosemary with water to recover rosemary oil (used externally as a "stimulating liniment" or perfume); it also discusses rosemary spirits, that is, rosemary essence in an alcohol base (without or without the distillation step) .

Mrs. Rundell's The New Family Receipt Book (1823) describes distilling rosemary in wine spirits to make hungary water, and rose petals in water for rosewater.

A Cyclopedia of Practical Receipts (1846) gives receipts for distilling rosemary, lavender, mint and other herbs in alcohol or vinegar.

The Dictionary of Practical Receipts (1848) includes "rules for the distillation of simple waters", without specifying particular herbs.

The Magazine of Science and Schools of Art (1842) uses rosemary as the example herb for co-distillation with water; it also gives instructions for cinnamon, peppermint, orange peal, orangeflower, and jasmine, among others.

The Domestic Dictionary (1842) goes into more detail about water-herb distillation, but does not list specific herbs. Between these last three, I'm feeling fairly historically justified in applying the technique to everything in the garden.

First attempt was made with fresh-cut lavender.
By visual approximation, there were
about 3 dry quarts of flowers and stems.

Still set up on the stove. The damp towel helps cool
the condensing cone, while an ice-water bath is used
to keep the collection cup from heating up.

Approximately 3 cups of lavender water was made.
It's definitely been my most successful herb.

I've tried lemon balm, and rosemary as well (yielding 1 cup and 1.5 cups from similar quantities of herbs over a similar time). The rosemary smelled nearly as strong as the lavender, while the lemon balm was relatively insipid. Here's hoping the mint works well!

Book Review: The Medieval Tailor's Assistant

I'm not sure how I missed writing this one up the first time around. Or last December when I otherwise cleared my book backlog. And now that I've made just about every hair covering in it, it's long past time for a review.

The Medieval Tailor's Assistant by Sarah Thursfield. Do check out the author's website: there are pretty pictures, as well as an explanation of the differences between the first and second editions of the book. The copy I'm reviewing is the 2012 printing of the first edition.

***

The book is subtitled "Making Common Garments 1200-1500", and what you see is what you get: men's, women's, and children's garments for a 300-year period covering the late middle ages. Accessories, undergarments, and outerwear are included--everything except shoes.

All of this is covered in ~220 pages, so efficiency is key. Construction techniques and fitting/block-making instructions are given at the outset (including 4 pages of illustrated handsewing stitches); consequently, the individual projects are handled with a line-drawing, a graphed cutting diagram, and a few sentences or short paragraphs about construction. Period materials are also discussed.

Note also, due to the long time frame, when each garment is appropriate (they are marked, and most of the period illustrations include a citation). Attempts are made to denote which garments are worn together and during what time frame.  My favorite is the timeline on page 14 which shows approximate date ranges on the different garments. Featured garments include shirts/smocks, braes, hose, cotes, doublets, kirtles, surcoates, cotehardies, gowns, cloaks, hats, caps, head-dresses, and such accessories as bags, apron, mittens, and belts. Additionally, the chapter opening for each main garment (gowns, cotehardies) include line drawings of the relevant under- and over- layers for both men and women.

I have no real complaints about this book. The number of photographs is few, but the ones that are included are lovely (and the second edition has more!), while the line drawings are both plentiful and quite informative. If you like very detailed, incremental instructions, you may find this book a little daunting. Personally, I found it enjoyable to use: I love clear cutting diagrams.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: Good. The illustrations come from recognizable period images, but I could do with a couple more in-line citations.

Difficulty: Intermediate. The focus is on the cutting and assembly geometry, which I found easy to follow; the construction and stitches are much more straightforward than in some other periods. Persons who aren't comfortable with altering patterns and fitting may have difficulty.

Overall Impression: An easy-to-use, all-in-one guide to making medieval costumes along historic lines. Good for dressing men, women, and children from the skin out. You'll likely want to supplement with your own research (more about colors, material, context), but this books will be very helpful for figuring out how to render period images into garments. This is an excellent resource for costumers, designers, and cosplayers.