Third Service

Stekys of Venson – Nathan Blacktower

This particuler recipe is a little past the target date but it is a favourite in this group.

Tak venison of bef, & leche, and gredyl it up broun; then take vynegre & a lytil verjous, & a lytil wyne, and put pouder perpir theron ynow, and pouder gyngere; & ate the dressoure straw on pouder canelle ynow, that the stekys be al yhelid therwyth, & but a litel sawse; & than serve it forth. Harleian MS 279

8 fairly thin steaks
oil or fat
2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoon verjuice
4 tablespoon red wine
pinch each black pepper and ginger

Mix everything but steaks.
Marinate steaks in this mixture overnight.
Grill.

Cameline Sauce – Catherine de Arc

This is one of the oldest sauces and recipes for it can be found in many sources. It is the usual sauce for venison and can be served with other meats and some fish. The basic ingredients are bread, vinegar, ginger and cinnamon (from which the sauce may take its name).

Note that at Tournais, to make cameline, they grind together ginger, cinnamon and saffron and half a nutmeg: soak in wine, then take out of the mortar; then have white breadcrumbs, not toasted, moistened with cold water and grind in the mortar, soak in wine and strain, then boil it all, and lastly add red sugar: and this is winter cameline. And in summer they make it the same way, but it is not boiled. MP

And in truth, for my taste, the winter sort is good, but the following is much better: grind a little ginger with lots of cinnamon, then take it out, and have lots of toasted bread or breadcrumbs in vinegar, ground and strained. MP

Garlic cameline sauce for Ray. Grind ginger, garlic and crusts of white bread soaked in vinegar, or toasted bread, and soak in vinegar; and if you add liver it will be better. MP

Take raysouns of courance & kyrnels of notys & crusts of brede & powdour of ginger, clowes, flour of canel; bray it wel togyder and do therto salt. Temper it up with vinegar, and serve it forth. FC

To make Cameline – Take ginger, plenty of cassia, cloves, grains of paradise, mastic thyme and long pepper (if you wish). Sieve bread soaked in vinegar, strain (through cheesecloth), and salt to taste. VT

Garlic Cameline – Crush garlic, cassia, and bread, and steep in vinegar. VT

2 slices bread without crusts
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt
1/8 teaspoon cloves
¼ cup currants

Blend all.

Frumenty – Catherine de Arc

This dish is almost always served with venison.

First, you must hull your wheat the same as you would for hulled barley, and remember that for ten bowls you need a pound of hulled wheat, which you can sometimes find at the spice shop already hulled for one blanc per pound. Clean it and cook it in water in the evening, and leave it overnight covered by the fire in lukewarm water, then take it out and wash it. Then boil milk in a skillet and do not stir it, for it would turn: and without waiting, put it all at once into a clean pot; and when it is cold, take the cream off the top so that this cream does not cause the frumenty to turn, and then boil the milk again with a little wheat, but very little wheat; then take egg yolks and pour them in, that for each sixth of milk a hundred eggs, then take the boiling milk, and beat the eggs with the milk, then move the pot back and throw in the eggs, and move it back (away); and if you see that it is trying to turn, put the pot in a full pail of water. On fish days, use milk: on meat days, use meat juices; and you can add saffron if the eggs aren’t yellow enough; item, half a piece of ginger. MP

Nym clene wete & bray it in a morter well, (th)at (th)e holys gon al of, & seyt yt til it breste & nym it up & lat it kele. And nym fayre fresch bro(th) and swete mylk of almandys or swete mylk of kyne and temper yt al & nym (th)e (y)olks of eyren & saffron & do therto. Boyle it a lityl & set yt down & messe yt forth wyth fat venysoun & fresch motoun. Diversa Servisia, 1381 English

Take wheat, prepare it, wash it very well, and cook it in water. When it is cooked, drain it. Take cow’s milk boiled for an instant, add the wheat, and boil it for an instant. Move it to the back of the fire, stir often, and thread in plenty of egg yolks. Some add spices, saffron and venison stock. It should be yellowish and well thickened. VT

Furmente with Porpeys - Take clene whete and bete it small in a mortar and fanne out clene the doust, thenne waisthe it clene and boile it tyl it be tender and broun. Thanne take the secunde mylk of Almaundes & do therto. Boile hem togidur til it be stondyng, and take the first mylke & alye it up with a penne (feather). Take up the porpays out of the furmente & leshe hem in a dishe with hoot water. & do safroun to the furmente. And if the porpays be salt. Seeth it by hym self, and serve it forth. FC

1 cup cracked wheat
2 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup chicken style vegetable stock (for the vegetarians)
1/3 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ginger

Add wheat to boiling water and boil 15 minutes.
Stand 15 minutes.
Add stock and milk and salt.
Boil.
Take off heat and add yolks.
Stand 5 minutes.

Browned Vegetables – Catalina da Gata

These were popular on the Menagier de Paris menus but he gave no recipes for them. There are no suitable recipes in my other sources from this time either. However there is a recipe in Platina (later Italian Cookbook) for roasting veges in coals. So I have interpreted browned veges as roasted veges.

250g carrots
250g parsnips
Oil or fat.

Roast veges in oil or fat.

Chykens in Hocchee – Maidiu Ruadh

Take chykens and scald hem. Take persel and sawge, with othere erbes; take garlic and grapes, and stoppe the chikenus ful, and seeth hem in gode broth, so that they may esely be boyled therinne. Messe hem and cast therto powder douce. FC

1 chicken
1 cup sultanas (fresh grapes out of season)
10 cloves garlic
3 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon sage
2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon rosemary
4 cup chicken stock
pinch each cinnamon, ginger, sugar, salt

Parboil chicken.
Mix herbs, sultanas, spices, and garlic and stuff chicken.
Simmer in broth at 180C for 45 minutes.
Remove meat from bones, sprinkle with more of spice mix, and serve with stuffing.

Pois en Cosse – Catherine de Arc

I chose the fish day version for the vegetarians.

In new peas cooked to be eaten in the pod, you must add bacon on a meat day: and on a fish day, when they are cooked, you separate the liquid and add underneath melted salt butter, and then shake it.

500g snow peas
1 tablespoon butter

Boil the peascods 3-5 minutes, depending on size.
Stir in butter.

Wardonys in Syryp – Catherine de Arc

Take wardonys, an caste on a potte, and boyle hem till they ben tender; than take hem up and pare hem, and kytte hem in pecys; take ynow of powder of canel, a good quantyte, an caste it on red wyne, an draw it thorw a straynour; caste sugre therto, an put it in an erthen pot, an let it boyle: an thane caste the perys therto, an let boyle togederys, an whan they have boyle a whyle, take pouder of gyngere and caste therto, an a lytil venegre, an a lytil saffron: an loke that it be poynaunt an dowcet. Harl 279

4 pears
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup red wine
1 cup water
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon ginger
½ tablespoon red wine vinegar
pinch saffron
6 whole cloves

Parboil pears for 5 minutes.
Peel and quarter.
Soak saffron and cloves in vinegar.
Mix cinnamon, wine, water and sugar and stir over heat until sugar dissolves.
Add pears to syrup and poach just below simmer for 10 minutes.
Add vinegar mix.

Wafers and Hippocras to finish.

I took the advice of the Menagier de Paris and bought my wafers from a professional waferer. Many modern wafers contain the same ingredients as the period recipes. I have both English sweet and French savoury varieties.

Take flo of pandemayn and medle it with white grece ou the fyr in a chawfo and do the bato pto queynthch purgli py fyngos. or thurgh a fkymo and let it a litul quayle a litell fo p p be hool pinne. And if p wilt colo it wip alkenet yfondyt. take he up caft pinne fug, and sue he forth. FC

Take and make a foile of gode Paft as thynne as Pap. kerue it out & fry it in oile. op i p greece and p remmant, take hony clarified and flaunne jw, alye hem up and sue hem forth. FC

Nym flour and wytys of eyryn figur other hony and fweyng togedere and mak a batour nym wyte grecs so yt in a pofnet and caft the batur thereyn and ftury to thou have many and tak hem up and meffe hem wyth the frutours and ferve forthe. Ancient Cookery, 1381 English

Wafers are made in four ways. In the first, beat eggs in a bowl, then salt and wine, and add flour, and moisten the one with the other, and then put in two irons little by little, each time using as much batter as a slice of cheese is wide, and clap between two irons, and cook one side and then the other; and if the iron does not easily release the batter, anoint with a little cloth soaked in oil or fat. – The second way is like the first, but add cheese, that is, spread the batter as though making a tart or pie, then put slices of cheese in the middle, and cover the edges; thus the cheese stays within the batter and thus you put it between two irons. – The third method, is for dropped wafers, called dropped only because the batter is thinner like clear soup, made as above; and throw in with it fine cheese grated; and mix it all together. – The fourth method is with flour mixed with water, salt, wine, without eggs or cheese.
Item, wafers can be used when one speaks of the “large sticks” which are made of flours mixed with eggs and powdered ginger beaten together, and made as big as and shaped like sausages; cook between two irons. MP