Feasts of Epic Proportions

Many of us read about the feasts in Martin’s books, and think to ourselves, “77 courses?! That’s absurd. You’re just making this up! No feast could be that big!” We’d think that, but we’d be wrong.

In fact, some historical feasts were considerably more lavish, more huge, and more absurd than those that GRRM details. In 1213, King John of England’s Christmas feast included 3,000 capons, 1,000 salted eels, 400 hogs, 100 pounds of almonds, and 24 casks of wine. A few decades later King Edward I’s coronation feast featured, among other items, 440 oxen and over 22,000 hens.

Just think of the logistics of that for a moment! How far afield would one have to go, and how far in advance, to secure that amount of livestock for a single event? I’m terrible with numbers, but I can tell you that it’s NUTS.

Richard II and his uncle, the Duke of Lancaster, threw a feast for hundreds in the late 1300s that featured mostly roasts. Roasting animals was a relatively expensive undertaking at the time, given the amount of wood required for the fire and the cost of the animals themselves. In addition to nearly 100 pounds of salted venison, the feast included a wide variety of waterfowl, including herons, cranes, swans, and geese. The bill for the feast also called for 11,000 eggs. If you figure that a good laying hen can lay around an egg a day, ponder for a moment how many hens it would take, and how long, to amass that number. Here are the courses for the rest of the feast:

14 salted oxen
84 pounds salted venison
12 boar, including heads
120 sheep heads
300 marrowbones
More than 100 waterbirds, including cranes, herons and curlews
50 swans
150 capons
1,200 pigeons
210 geese
11,000 eggs

The First Course

Veneson with Frumenty – Venison with a thick, sweet porridge of wheat
A pottage called viaundbruse – A Stew Of Soft Meat
Hedes of Bores – Boars Heads (traditional at nearly every feast)
Grete Flessh – Great Flesh (Roast Oxen)
Swannes roasted – Roast Swan
Pigges roasted – Roast Pigs
Crustarde lumbard in paste – Sweet Pastry Custards Of Wine, Dates & Honey
And a Sotelte – And A Subtlety

The Second Course

A pottage called Gele – A Stew called Jelly
A pottage de blandesore – A White Soup
Pigges Roasted – Roast Pigs
Cranes roasted – Roast Cranes
Fesauntes roasted – Roast Pheasants
Herons roasted – Roast Herons
Chekens endored – Chickens Glazed
Breme – Bream
Tartes – Tarts
Broke braune – Jellied Brawn Of A Deer
Conyngges roasted – Roast Rabbits
And a sotelte – And A Subtlety

The Third Course

Potage. Bruete of Almonds – Sweet Stew Of Almonds, Honey & Eggs
Stwde lumbarde – Sweet Syrup Of Honey, Dates & Wine
Venyson roasted – Roast Venison
Chekenes Roasted – Roast Chickens
Rabettes Roasted – Roast Rabbits
Partrich Roasted – Roast Partridge
Peions roasted – Roast Pigeons
Quailes roasted – Roast Quail
Larkes roasted – Roasted Larks
Payne puff – Pan Puff
A dissh of Gely – A Dish Of Jelly
Longe Frutours – Long Fritters
And a sotelte – And A Subtlety

According to the HRP site (Historic Royal Palaces), in a typical year, the royal kitchen in Henry VIII’s time served 1,240 oxen, 8,200 sheep, 2,330 deer, 760 calves, 1,870 pigs, and 53 wild boar. That’s more than 14,000 large animals, meaning each member of the court was consuming about 23 animals every year. The whole of this was washed down with about 600,000 gallons of Ale. Is it any wonder the king ended up looking like this?

Clearly Robert Baratheon and Henry VIII would have been the best of chums. In order to process such quantities of ingredients and turn them into the feasts we all imagine, a staff of 200 worked extremely hard in the 3,000 square foot kitchen. Other notable features included:

6 fireplaces with spits
a pastry house (!) with four ovens
the ale cellar had double locks, and the keys were held by two separate officials
three larders: for meat, fish, and all dry goods
a boiling house, for making stock- the copper kettle could hold 75 gallons!

I would dearly like to have a pastry house of my very own…

Like her father, Queen Elizabeth I was no stranger to awesome food. The Spanish began cultivating a lot of sugar in the 1400s, and the English queen grew fond of the stuff. One of her earls, trying to gain the queen’s favor, threw a dessert feast for her. Lizzie sat in a gallery watching fireworks, while men carried up hundreds of desserts, among them:

Sugar sculptures of castles, guns, soldiers and forts (English & French), as well as peacocks, swans and other animals.
Marzipan creatures, fictional and real – eagles, lions, apes, frogs, snakes, worms, unicorns, mermaids and whales.
Crystallized fruits, mostly apricots, damsons and plums.
Preserved citrus peels (citrus fruits were still exceptionally rare in England)
Sugar-coated almonds and spices, such as aniseed and fennel.
Clear, cream and coloured jellies, flavoured with fruit juice, wine, rose-water, cinnamon and ginger, wobbling in bowls and or served in stiffened slices.
Biscuits made from almonds, rosewater and ambergris.
Fruit tarts of apples, pears and plums.
Spice cakes made with cinnamon, cloves, saffron and mace.

Renaissance Sugar Cake, via marmitelover.blogspot.com

That lineup might not include sugar skulls, but here’s dearly hoping that GRRM includes a similar sugary feast in one of his books. He’s given us cream swans and spun sugar unicorns, but I’d love to make some of the dishes above!

And of course, lest we forget the royalty of Pentos, Meereen, and other far flung cities across the Narrow Sea, I’ll take a look at some of the dinners put on by the Explorers Club in NYC. Stay tuned for that in a future post…

Rosehip Soup

Thoughts:

This is a sweet and refreshing soup. The flavor of the rosehips is earthy and filling, with a bit of an acidic tang. The color of the soup is a rich dark orange-brown color, which can be lightened with a bit of yogurt. The additional ingredients, of vanilla and spices, add to what is already a subtle and complex flavor. Overall it tastes healthy, and no wonder. Rosehips have a very high vitamin C content, so I especially recommend this soup if you are feeling a little under the weather.

Proposed Location?

Either practically in the north, or aesthetically down in the Reach. Apart from the obvious rose connection to House Tyrell, this soup speaks of a summer outing. I imagine the Tyrells enjoying this soup in King’s Landing, and delighting in being able to incorporate rosehips and rose water into their feasts.

I could also see a very different version of it being consumed up in the North, where the high vitamin C content of the rosehips would be highly valued. The Night’s Watch could boil down the rosehips into a syrup that could be added to mulled wine, porridge, or any number of other dishes and drinks.

Rosehip Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cups crushed dried rose hips
4 cups of water
1/4 cup honey, or more to taste
1/4 of a vanilla bean, split and scraped and then tossed in, or a dash of vanilla extract
a dash of cinnamon
1 Tbs. arrowroot, mixed with 1/4 cup cold water, to thicken
yogurt (optional)
additional toppings, as wished (nuts, granola, etc.)

Combine the crushed rosehips and water in a medium saucepan. Simmer for around 45 minutes, or until the rosehips are very soft. Strain the liquid through a sieve, and then using a spoon, press as much of the pulp through the sieve as will go.

Pour this liquid back into the cleaned saucepan, and heat over medium. Add the remaining ingredients except the yogurt and cook for 5 minutes more. Pour into bowls, top with yogurt, and enjoy!

dried rosehips

Goose sauced with Mulberries

“[Lady Tanda] invites you to sup with her again. There’s to be a haunch of venison, she says, a brace of stuffed geese sauced with mulberries, and–” “–her daughter,” Tyrion finished sourly. Since the hour he had arrived in the Red Keep, Lady Tanda had been stalking him, armed with a never-ending arsenal of lamprey pies, wild boars, and savory cream stews.” -A Clash of Kings

Goose sauced with Mulberries

Thoughts:

The goose is rich, somewhat similar to duck, but also much like dark meat on a turkey. Pricking the skin all over allows the extra fat to run off (which can then be used in many amazing dishes), so the meat itself isn’t too fatty. Goose is definitely a win, but a bit on the pricey side. It’s great for wooing potential suitors, or for snazzy holiday feasts.

The sauce is based on a renaissance recipe from Maestro Martino’s “The Art of Cooking”, and is a highlight of this meal. Mulberries are in season in June, so I took full advantage and picked enough to finally finish off this recipe. The fruitiness of the berries is complimented by the vinegar, but as with the honeyed chicken sauce, the vinegar doesn’t overpower the whole. The almond meal provides some thickness and slight texture, while the spices lend it a piquancy that increases the longer the sauce sits. It pairs beautifully with the goose, resulting in a decadent meal.

Recipe for Goose with Mulberry Sauce

Goose:

1 goose, around 10 lb.
4 apples
~3 cups cubed bread
1 cup currants
4 Tbs. melted butter
1 clove garlic, minced
thyme
marjoram
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and wash the goose inside and out. Pat dry with towels, and arrange on a roasting tray. Cut off excess neck fat, then prick the skin all over with a sharp knife or skewer, which will help drain the fat from the bird. Sprinkle liberally with coarse salt.

Combine all the remaining ingredients to make the stuffing, and stuff the bird. Tuck the wings in to keep them from burning. Roast for 2 hours, then check the goose. If the juices run clear from the thigh, then it should be done. The legs often need a little more time than the body, so it’s alright to take the goose out, carve it, then continue to cook the legs until done. Periodically remove fat with a baster, straining and reserving it for future use.

When the goose is done, allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving. Serve with sauce below.

Mulberry Sauce:

2 cups mulberries
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
ginger
pepper
nutmeg
vinegar

Mix together the mulberries, almonds, and breadcrumbs. Grind all the ingredients together, then pour through a sieve. Add spices to taste (a pinch of each should do), plus enough vinegar to make a sauce consistency, then simmer over medium-low heat for around 5 minutes. Serve warm over the goose, and garnish with fresh mulberries, if you like.

Mulberry Sauce for Goose

Greywater Watch Frog Stew

“They used Meera’s helm for a cooking pot, chopping up the catch into little cubes and tossing in some water and some wild onions Hodor had found to make a froggy stew. It wasn’t as good as deer, but it wasn’t bad either…” -A Storm of Swords

Thoughts:

I cheated a little with this recipe. Since I’m not starving out on the moors of Northern Westeros, I opted to actually cook some elements of this dish differently than described. I knew it had to include trout, frogs, and an equivalent to wild onions (not many of those in Boston), but since I’d be eating it, I also wanted it to be as tasty as possible while staying pretty close to the book.

This was my first time trying frog, and I was pleasantly surprised. The meat was soft, not chewy as I had expected, and tasted mostly like a slightly gamey chicken with a hint of fish. The overall soup, while not the tastiest thing I’ve made for the blog, was better than I expected.

In the end, though, I’ve got to agree with Bran: it’s pretty good, but it’s no venison! :)

Continue reading →

GoT Trivia?

Oh, you lucky New Yorkers!

Random House, publishers of all things Ice and Fire, are sponsoring a Game of Thrones (book) trivia night. It promises to be a really fun time, and includes the chance for teams of 6 to win some really cool prizes. I might even hop a bus down to NYC for this:

– Copies of A Song of Ice and Fire series SIGNED by George R.R. Martin himself

– Copies of the brand new A Game of Thrones graphic novels

– Copies of The Lands of Ice and Fire, an illustrated book showcasing maps and landscapes from A Song of Ice and Fire

Here’s the relevant poster, and additional info and tickets can be had here.

Boiled Beef with Horseradish

“Maester Vyman returned at evenfall to minister to Lord Tully and bring Catelyn a modest supper of bread, cheese, and boiled beef with horseradish. ‘I spoke to Utherydes Wayn, my lady. He is quite certain that no woman by the name of Tansy has ever been at Riverrun during his service.'” -A Storm of Swords

Boiled Beef and Horseradish

Thoughts:

This is one of those dishes that just gets better and better, and honestly couldn’t be easier to make. Basically: boil some meat for several hours, until the meat is tender and falls apart, then serve. The meat can be cut into thick, flavorful slices, and the vegetables are so soft that they nearly melt in your mouth. Add a hunk of bread, a few slices of cheddar, and you’re set.

Seriously. And if you toss the leftovers in a crock pot, and let it simmer on low overnight, it becomes extra amazing. The broth reduces down and the meat falls apart. I serve it for breakfast, over biscuits.

YOM!

Boiled Beef & Horseradish Recipe

Ingredients:

4 lb. beef roast
water to cover
2 teaspoons salt
3 whole cloves
4 medium carrots, sliced
2 leeks, white parts sliced

Place the roast in a pot large enough to hold it, along with the vegetables. Add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let cook for at least 5 hours, until the meat is tender and cooked all the way through. Serve hot, or cold as leftovers. If dry, pour some of the broth over it.

Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup of the beef stock
3 Tbs. freshly grated horseradish
4 tablespoons heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste.

Melt the butter, add the flour, and stir to combine. Cook for a few minutes, then when it’s a pale golden color, pour in a ladle of the beef broth from the roast. Stir to combine everything, then add the remaining ingredients except the cream. Simmer for a few minutes, then remove from heat and add the cream.

Honeyed Chicken Handpies

These mini pies are a great way to enjoy one of the staple dishes from Winterfell. I came up with the recipe for them back in February for HBO’s Take the Black event in NYC. Recently, reader Rachel asked if I could post the recipe. Naturally, that meant I had to make another batch of them. What a shame… ;)

The pies are transportable, and savory with just a hint of sweetness from the raisins and honey. If you happen to have leftover honeyed chicken (I know, it’s unlikely!), you can use it to make this pie. They are conveniently made in a muffin pan, either regular or jumbo-sized, and will quickly disappear. After you have thoroughly picked over the chicken for all the good meat, use what’s left to make some awesome chicken stock!

Mini Honeyed Chicken Pies

–makes around 6 jumbo muffin size pies, or around 12 smaller pies

Cook’s Notes: If you have already made honeyed chicken, you can skip several of the steps here. Just add the sauce to the roux, followed by the broth, and continue as below.

Ingredients for pastry dough:

3 cups flour
1 egg yolk (save the white for glazing)
½ cup water
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick butter
1 egg white beaten with a bit of milk, for glazing

Ingredients for Filling:

~1 ½ lb. cooked and shredded chicken meat
2 Tbs. butter
Pinch of salt
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup honey
½ cup dried currants, or chopped golden raisins
1 ½ cup chicken broth
Hefty pinch of salt
Pepper to taste

Roux:

2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour

Rub the stick of butter into the flour and salt, then add the egg yolk and enough cold water to bring the whole mixture together. Chill in the fridge while you prepare the filling. Combine all ingredients except the chicken and the roux in a saucepot, and cook for around 10 minutes. In a smaller separate pan, make the roux by melting the 2 Tbs. butter, then add the 2 Tbs. flour. Stir to combine, then add a ladle of the broth from the other pot. Do this a couple of times, while stirring, then add the butter/flour mixture back into the main pot. Add the chicken and cook for a few more minutes, stirring to make sure the meat absorbs the juices. Turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll out to 1/4″ thick. Cut circles large enough to fit into the muffin pan you intend to use, as well as smaller discs to serve as the tops of the pies. Press the larger discs of dough into the muffin cups. Spoon the filling into each dough-cup, then wet the top of the dough with water. Place the smaller discs on top of the filled pies, and gently fold down the outer dough so it covers the tops. Poke a couple of vent holes in the top of each mini pie, brush with glaze, and bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on size, until the tops are nice and golden.

Folding over the edges

May Brewing Update

I flagged a little this month, mostly due to other, secret projects that I’m very excited about. More on that later… :)

I cracked open a colonial American Apple Beer, which was a curious experiment. For those familiar with brewing, the water that goes into the wort is replaced by apple cider, which ups the sweetness and gives it a subtle fruity flavor. I also incorporated the yeasty sediment into a wonderful bread, and the spent grain into an apple barley pudding that was amazing with some whiskey whipped cream.

Other projects:

I started a batch of Dandelion wine on St. George’s day, as is traditional. I quickly swore that I would never make this again until I had a fleet of small children to separate the yellow petals from the bitter green parts, but I recently tasted a two year old bottle of a friend’s dandelion wine that was just amazing. I’d love to try his recipe, as well as a version where I see if there are enough good natural yeasts on the dandelion blossoms to ferment the batch. For science!

I also managed to squeeze a new batch of Violatium into the calendar. When I made it before, I had left on the green stems, which threw the flavor of the whole thing off. This time, it turned into a delicate, violet-hued wine that is just sweetened to taste, and oddly enticing. I hope that it will last until my next informal brewing competition in late July.

I’ll be giving my Gose (salted beer) another try this week, and possibly adding in some seaweed for a proper Iron Islands brew.

New Brews:

Colonial Apple Beer

New Food Recipes:

Venison Stew

“‘You can stand by the fire as long as you like. You’ll have food and drink, too. Hot mulled wine and a bowl of venison stewed with onions, and Hobb’s bread right out of the oven, so hot it will burn your fingers.’ Sam peeled off a glove to wriggle his own fingers near the flames…” -A Storm of Swords

After episode 3.6, where Sam longingly describes this stew, I decided to finally get the venison and have a go at it. Fortunately, it coincided with a bit of a cooler spell here in Boston, which suited the heartiness of this stew perfectly.

While this particular description of the stew is fairly limited, there are others throughout the books that contain other tidbits. In other passages, descriptions of Hobb’s venison stew includes carrots and barley, and in the south, it’s stewed with beer. So, everything went into the pot, along with a few more additions of my own.

I used spent grain from brewing (see link below) for the barley component, because I can’t imagine the Night’s Watch letting anything go to waste. It gave the stew a unique texture, and was the source of some of those black flecks you see in the photo. The bacon, I’ll admit, was also my addition, but I don’t think anyone who has read the books can fault me for that. Everything tastes better with bacon. :)

The resulting stew is thick, hearty, and filling- just the thing for a cool night in the North. It’s wonderful with a hunk of rustic bread and a sharp cheese, and a flagon of the same beer that went into the recipe.

Venison Stew Recipe

Ingredients:

3 strips bacon
1 lb. venison (I used ground, but use any small cut you like)
2 Tbs. butter, divided
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup peas
3 cups broth
1 bottle dark beer (12 oz/335 ml)
1 cup spent grain, or other barley of your choice, cooked according to its own directions
1 cup small boiler onions, peeled
1/2 tsp. smoked salt
1/2 tsp. savory, or thyme
1 Tbs. flour

Cook the bacon in a medium frying pan. Take out the cooked bacon, reserving the grease, and chop the bacon into small pieces. Brown the venison meat in the bacon grease, then pour it all into a medium pot, along with the bacon bits. In the same frying pan, melt 1 Tbs. butter. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, until it’s not quite browned. Add the carrots and peas, stir to coat with butter, then pour in 1 cup of broth. Cover, and simmer for a few minutes, until the carrots are tender. Add this mixture, along with the rest of the broth, the beer, barley, onions, and seasoning.

If you’d like the stew to be a little thicker, make a roux: melt the remaining 1 Tbs. butter and add to it the 1 Tbs. flour. Stir to combine over medium heat. When the butter-flour looks bubbly and golden (under a minute), begin to add ladlesful of broth, whisking to combine. This should create a thick mixture that can be poured back into your stew. Cook the stew for at least 1 1/2 hours on medium-low heat. Enjoy with some sharp cheese and rustic bread. If you’re using spent grains in the stew, consider also using them in the bread!

About Dragons

“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

-G.K. Chesterton

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