Introduction
Late last year I agreed blithely to run what should have been my second solo feast kitchen, the first having been at Kingdom University 2018 at Ingestre Hall, Staffordshire. The venue was to be the beautiful Ufton Court, and I was very excited about cooking at this new-to-me site. However, as with all such 2020 things, it was not to be; in fact, our reconnaissance visit to Ufton Court in January was one of the last handful of events on my social calendar to happen before the UK began locking down.
I never got as far as designing the full feast, since it quickly became clear that we had no hope of running an in-person event this year. However, a virtual version of the event is going ahead, and so here I present six recipes which might well have graced the tables at Ufton Court, in the hopes that those showing up virtually might try to enhance their experience with a home-cooked feast platter.
First, a disclaimer: I am not an expert on cooking, medieval or otherwise. I have, as mentioned, just one feast under my belt (along with a number of lunches, mini-feasts, and many many hours working as a sidekick or kitchenhand in assorted SCA feast kitchens). I have no Arts and Sciences awards at any level. I am not a Laurel's apprentice. I'm just someone who loves cooking, and more importantly loves serving others and has found in cooking a way of doing that which people seem to appreciate.
In the redactions and videos (coming soon) below you will see poor techniques, rookie mistakes, and choices which will no doubt elicit raised eyebrows from my more experienced SCA cook friends. That's okay - it's all part of the process.
My formula for my first feast was for each course to contain, at minimum:
* one meat dish;
* one non-meat protein dish;
* one green vegetable dish;
* one starch; and
* one sweet dish.
This seemed to work, and produced a set of well-balanced courses which was flexible enough to meet the needs of all diners including those with particular dietary needs.
I haven't presented vegetables and starches in this collection, because they are easy to imagine (buttered spinach, salad, rice, bread...) and less interesting to cook. Therefore the six recipes I have redacted below cover the other bases: one red meat, one chicken, one dairy protein, one vegetable protein, one sweet fruit dish, one sweet bake.
These are my first solo redactions, and not all of them worked exactly as I would have liked; make sure you read to the end for my notes on what I would change!
Biefe Pye
Original Text:
Original Text:
Redaction:
400g shortcrust pastry
500g beef mince
50g beef or vegetarian suet
45ml red wine or cider vinegar (or grape/apple juice) - I used cider vinegar
100g of dried fruit e.g. raisins, chopped dates, currants
200ml beef stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 190C.
2. Line a ~7 inch / 18cm pie dish or cake tin with shortcrust pastry. Reserve a piece for the lid.
3. In a large bowl combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.
4. Spoon into the pie dish and top with a pastry lid, piercing the lid with a couple of holes so that air can escape.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until filling is bubbling and pastry is cooked through.
Verdict:
This was VERY good. I enjoyed it both hot and cold, and would eat it again in a heartbeat. It will definitely be coming out the next time I run a feast kitchen. No changes required.
Chicken in Lemmons
A Book of Cookrye, A.W.,1591
Original Text:
To stue a Capon in Lemmons. Slice your Lemmons and put them in a platter, and put to them white Wine and Rosewater, and so boile them and Sugar til they be tender. Then take the best of the broth wherin your Capon is boyled, and put thereto whole Mace, whole pepper & red Corance, barberies, a little time, & good store of Marow. Let them boile well togither til the broth be almost boiled away that you have no more then will wette your Sops. Then poure your Lemmons upon your Capon, & season your broth with Vergious and Sugar, and put it upon your Capon also.
Redaction:
Since capon is somewhat hard to obtain in the middle of a global pandemic, I used chicken instead. I also didn't bother with the last step involving verjuice and sugar as I didn't feel it would add to the dish. The original recommended arranging slices of bread underneath before serving but I skipped this step as I was going to be freezing the leftovers and did not want to freeze soggy bread!
6 chicken thighs
1 litre water
1 chicken stock cube
4 lemons, sliced
1 tsp mace
½ tsp peppercorns
90g currants
30g barberries
1 tsp thyme
1 tbsp rosewater
250ml white wine
3 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp marrow or lard - I used lard
1. Place the sliced lemons, white wine, rosewater and sugar in a saucepan and boil gently until the lemons are tender and the sauce syrupy - this took about an hour for me, but would be less if there were more sugar (see verdict notes).
2. At the same time, place the chicken in a saucepan, cover with the water, crumble in the stock cube, and boil for 45 minutes or until tender - check that the chicken is cooked through, preferably using a meat probe.
3. Once the chicken is cooked, take 500ml of the stock from the chicken and place it in a saucepan with the mace, pepper, currants, barberries, thyme and lard. Boil until thickened, stirring to avoid sticking/burning.
4. Arrange the chicken pieces on a platter and pour the lemons and the juice from them over the top. Pour the stock and berries mixture over the lemons and serve.
Verdict:
This was pretty to look at but so, so sour. It might have been bearable as a small serve with lots of rice, but on its own it was too sour for me. If making it again I would double or triple the amount of sugar that goes in with the lemons, and also add a considerable amount of sugar to the stock and berries mixture before boiling down (which would also aid with thickening - I ended up with berries in a thin but much reduced liquid which wasn't quite what I expected).
Tarte of Cheese
The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin, Thomas Dawson, 1594
Original Text:
To make a tarte of Cheese. Make your tart, and then take Banberie Cheese, and pare away the outside of it, and cut the cleane cheese in small peeces and put them into the Tart, and when your Tart is full of Cheese: then put two handfuls of sugar into your Tart vpon your cheese and cast in it fiue or sixe spoonfuls of Rosewater, and close it vp with a couer, and with a feather lay sweet molten Butter vpon it, and fine sugar, and bake it in a soft Ouen.
Redaction:
400g shortcrust pastry
400g sharp cheese, diced
250g caster sugar
6tbsp rose water
2tbsp melted butter
1. Pre-heat the oven to 175C
2. Line a ~7 inch / 18cm pie dish or cake tin with shortcrust pastry. Reserve a piece for the lid.
3. Place the diced cheese in the pastry case. The original recipe calls for Banbury cheese, which is a sharp-tasting cheese; I used vegan cheese because I was having some issues with dairy at the time, but it seemed to work acceptably well.
4. Sprinkle 200g of the caster sugar over the cheese, and pour the rose water over the sugar.
6. Bake until golden brown and melted, about 1 hour.
Verdict:
Tarte of Green Pease
The Good Huswifes Jewell, Thomas Dawson, 1587
Original Text:
To make a close Tart of greene pease. Take halfe a pecke of gréene pease, sheale them and seeth them and cast them into a colliander, & let the water goe from them, then put them into the Tart whole & season them with pepper, saffron and salt and a dish of swéet butter close and bake him almost one houre, then draw him and put to him a litle dergice and shake them and set them into the Ouen againe and so serue it.
Redaction:
400g shortcrust pastry
250g frozen peas, cooked and drained
2 tbsp unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Pinch of saffron
1 tbsp verjuice / cider vinegar - I used cider vinegar
2. Line a ~7 inch / 18cm pie dish or cake tin with shortcrust
pastry. Reserve a piece for the lid.
3. Cook the peas according to the instructions on the packet, and drain.
4. In a bowl, add the butter, salt, pepper and saffron to the peas, and stir gently until the peas are coated but not crushed.
5. Place the pea mixture into the pastry and cover with the pastry lid.
6. Bake for 1 hour, then brush with the verjuice / cider vinegar before returning to the oven until golden brown.
Verdict:
This was nice, but a little lacking in something. I wouldn't bother with the cider vinegar another time as I think it detracted rather than added to the flavour. This could perhaps do with some sugar or some additional spices, or some savoury custard to bind the peas? But still perfectly edible as is.
Peach Pie
The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin, Thomas Dawson, 1594
Original Text:
To bake Peaches. Take Peaches, pare them, and cut them in two peeces, & take out the stones as cleane as you can for breaching of the Peach: then make your pie three square to bake fowre in a pie, let your paste be verie fine, then make your dredge with fine Sugar, Synamon and Ginger: and first lay a little dredge in the bottome of your pies: Then put in Peaches, and fill vp your coffins with your Dredge, and put into euery coffin three spoonfuls of Rosewater. Let not your Ouen be too hot. &c.
Redaction:
240g shortcrust pastry
6 tinned peach halves
3 tbsp rose water
120g sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Line a ~7 inch / 18cm pie dish or cake tin with shortcrust pastry.
3. Mix the sugar, cinnamon and ginger until combined, and set aside.
4. Thoroughly drain the peach halves.
5. Sprinkle a small amount of the sugar and spice mixture into the bottom of the pie case.
6. Arrange the peach halves in the pie case and pour over the rose water.
8. Bake for about 1 hour until the sugar has melted and the pastry is cooked. Allow to cool before eating.
Verdict:
This tasted divine. However, something was off in the proportions, as the melted sugar, spice and rose water stayed liquid even after refrigerating, whereas I think it was supposed to set into something somewhat syrupy. I intend to try it again with less rose water and more sugar to see whether that creates the desired effect. I might also try it with fresh peaches in season, and/or try dehydrating the tinned peach halves slightly by leaving them in sugar overnight beforehand.
Rose Water Biscuits
The Good Huswifes Jewell, Thomas Dawson, 1587.
Original Text:
Redaction:
150g plain white flour
2 tbsp rose water
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 egg yolks
100g sugar
Pinch of cloves
Pinch of mace
Pinch of saffron
½ tsp baking powder (in place of 'God's good', aka hartshorn, in the original recipe)
1. Preheat oven to 175C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Put flour, baking powder, sugar, and spices into a bowl and mix well.
5. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until it forms a soft dough. This will be very sticky; you will want to flour your hands and/or the surface of the dough well before handling.
6. Place directly onto the lined baking tray and roll or press until thin. Score into the shape you intend for serving (I used round trays so scored in wedges) and prick each piece with a fork several times.
7. Bake until golden brown - about 15 minutes. While still hot, re-score the edges of each piece; then allow to cool completely before eating.
