Tag Archives: medieval

Haggis, round one

“Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!”  -Ode Tae a Haggis, Robert Burns, 1786


Modern Haggis

Our Thoughts:

In honor of Burns Night (January 25), we’re making Haggis. A traditional Scottish staple,

Just as a disclaimer, we are absolutely planning to prepare our own haggis. However, as it’s tricky to track down all the ingredients, especially in the states, we’re postponing that recipe for just a bit while we search for the elusive wild haggis.

Now, before any haggis lovers go on the defensive, let us just state that of course real haggis is better than canned.

However, we’re crazy about haggis, in just about whatever form it comes.  The canned version is one of our camping trip staples, because it is so easy to prepare. A bit of haggis, spread over toast with some melted cheddar on top? Incredible. Mushrooms stuffed with haggis? The ideal appetizer. Biscuits and haggis gravy? A better breakfast has never been enjoyed.

And if you find the list of ingredients off-putting, just think about the last hot dog you enjoyed; it’s no worse than that!

Modern Haggis

We like the canned version for it’s ease of transportation and storage.  The frozen pack is nice if you will be serving haggis to your guests (and don’t want to make it yourself!), but for general purposes, especially in the US where fresh haggis is nigh unto impossible to obtain, canned is the way to go.

To Serve Haggis: We spread the haggis out on a baking sheet or roasting pan, making sure it is evenly distributed.  Roast in an oven at about 350 degrees for around 20 minutes.  At this point, all the haggis should be hot, but some will have gotten a little crispy.  These are the very best parts! Serve with turnips and potatoes (neeps and tatties).

Haggis Toast: Heat the haggis in a large skillet, making sure to keep it moving so it all heats equally. Spread a thin layer on a piece of toast, add a layer of sharp cheddar cheese, and broil until the cheese is melted. NOM.

Biscuits and Haggis Gravy: in a large skillet, melt just over 1 Tbs. of bacon fat or butter. To this, add 1 Tbs. of flour to make a roux. Blend the butter and flour and let cook until it’s a golden brown. Add in 1 cup of milk, stirring all the while to keep lumps from forming. When you have a nice smooth gravy, add the haggis and stir until the whole mixture is hot. Serve over biscuits!

Pigeon Pie, version 2.awesome

Pigeon Pie with Bacon and Artichoke Hearts

Our Thoughts:

We couldn’t have made up a better pie than this. It’s absolutely incredible. AND it’s historically authentic. Utter win.

This is completely unlike any meat pie I’ve previously tried. The artichoke hearts are sort of a baffling yet intriguing addition. Because there are so many other ingredients, the pigeon doesn’t really get a chance to shine in its own right, but the spices help bring it forward. We used a very flavorful bacon, which was one of the strongest elements, while the egg yolks and meatballs just added some depth and body.

Overall, much more interesting and dynamic than our original Pigeon Pie recipe, but definitely for those more adventurous epicureans.


Medieval Pigeon Pie

After ye pidgeons are made fitt to put into your pye season them with grose pepper, salt, mace & nutmeggs then lay ym into your Pot; you must have palatts ready boyld and cut into what bigness you like and lay over your pidgeons with ye yolk of hard egg, e marrow and balls of meat, made of ye lean of a legg of veal. Beat in a mortar with beef suett and some bacon amongst it when ye meat is a small as for sausages. Then add as much spice as is agreeable to your taste and a few sweet herbs. You may put in artichoke bottoms. This pye must be baked in a patty pan. -Lucayos Cookbook, 1690 

My Changes: I, personally, did not include the tongue from the original recipe. However, many people swear by it as a tasty ingredient, so if you would like, feel free to add it, and let us know how it turns out! I also swapped out the beef suet and marrow for a dash of grease left over from cooking the bacon.

Ingredients:

  • 1 springform pan with high sides
  • Pastry dough (get the recipe)
  • 5 pigeons
  • 1/4 tsp. each pepper, salt, mace, nutmeg
  • boiled palatts (tongue! – optional)
  • 3 hard boiled egg yolks
  • 3 large meatballs, preferably of veal (cooked or uncooked)
  • 1/2 cup cooked chopped bacon
  • artichoke hearts
  • 1-2 Tbs. bacon grease
  • 1 egg for glazing

Roll out pastry dough and drape over the pan. Gently press the dough into the pan to make sure it molded to the sides and bottom. Trim the excess dough and reshape into a ball- this will be your lid.

Put your pigeons in a large pot and cover with water. Simmer for around 45 minutes, or until the meat can be easily pulled from the bone. Remove all the useable meat and discard the bones.

Season the meat with your spices, then lay in the bottom of the pastry. If using tongue, lay over the pigeon meat. Crumble the egg yolk over top of the meat, then flatten or crumble the meatballs to form the next layer. Sprinkle the bacon over that, then lay sliced artichoke hearts on the very top. Pour the bacon grease evenly over the top.

Roll out the remaining pastry dough and cut into a circle the size of the bottom of the pan. Lay this circle over the pie filling, brush the edges with water, and roll the outside dough down until it touches the top crust. Pierce the top of the pie in several places to vent the steam, flute the edges in a decorative pattern, and brush the whole thing with beaten egg.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, until the crust is golden.

Fingerfish Crisped in Breadcrumbs

Traditional Fingerfish

“In the Queen’s Ballroom they broke their fast on honeycakes baked with blackberries and nuts, gammon steaks, bacon, fingerfish crisped in breadcrumbs, autumn pears, and a Dornish dish of onions, cheese, and chopped eggs cooked up with fiery peppers.” -A Storm of Swords

Our Thoughts:

The traditional recipe is one made on the Turkish coast of the Black Sea, where these fantastic little fish are a staple food. The outside is crunchy with the corn meal breading, while, the inside is tender and moist. Just a pinch of salt brings out the taste of the fish, while a bit of lemon is a classic pairing.

The modern recipe is a fish stick in perfect form. Miles beyond anything that came out of your mom’s freezer when growing up, the fried batter is crispy, the fish tender and flaky. Pair with a squeeze of lemon and some tartar sauce and become a kid again. But way better.

Get the recipes in The Cookbook!

Cream of Mushroom and Escargot Soup

Medieval Cream of Mushroom and Escargot Soup

“The first dish was a creamy soup of mushrooms and buttered snails, served in gilded bowls. Tyrion had scarcely touched the breakfast, and the wine had already gone to his head, so the food was welcome. He finished quickly.” -A Storm of Swords

Modern Cream of Mushroom and Escargot Soup

Our Thoughts:

An inherently a rich, decadent dish, the modern soup was devine. The creamy texture of the escargot is countered nicely by the fresh, clean taste of parsley. The wine in the broth adds a depth of flavor, and the longer the broth is cooked down, the creamier and more decadent it becomes. Also makes fantastic leftovers!

The medieval dish was an odd one- not bad, but very different. Extremely spiced, the almond milk just didn’t seem to have the proper robustness to support the clove and mace. That said, it was a very interesting dish, and very typically medieval in it’s flavor profile.

Recipes are available in the Official Cookbook!

Salt Beef

“The rain might have stopped, but the compound was still a morass of shallow lakes and slippery mud. Black brothers were folding their tents, feeding their horses, and chewing on strips of salt beef.”

Salt Beef

Our Thoughts:

We won’t lie. We bought a ten pound piece of meat to cure without even thinking of the blog. We’re that culinary crazy. When one of us realized that we were pretty much making salt beef, we were a) relieved that this meaty goodness could be shared with the world, and b) absolved of the crime of cooking food outside of the blog. We did, however, look like a house of psychopaths for three weeks while the muslin-wrapped bundles hung in our pantry. Which has a window, of course.

But once we unwrapped and sliced into the wondrous meat, the weeks of apparent insanity were completely worth it. The meat is, obviously, very salty, but when paired with a sharp cheese and a good loaf of bread, it is the perfect trail food. We brought a chunk of our salt beef when we went camping, and it became part of breakfast, lunch and dinner!

A long wait for the finished product, but well worth the wait!

Get the Recipe!

Medieval Fruit Tarts- blueberry, strawberry, apricot, cherry

“A man was pushing a load of tarts by on a two-wheeled cart; the smells sang of blueberries and lemons and apricots. Her stomach made a hollow rumbly noise. ‘Could I have one?’ she heard herself say.” -A Game of Thrones

Medieval Fruit Tarts

Thoughts:

These are a wonderful treat that really showcase the fresh fruits of summer. We went all out and made all the varieties mentioned in the books: blueberry, strawberry, ambiguous berry, and apricot. We also added a cherry version because we found a tasty recipe for it, and cherry pie is a Father’s Day favorite.

Of all these tarts, our favorite was probably the apricot one. It had the most complex assortment of flavors, followed by the cherry tart. What all of these tart recipes have going for them, though, is that after eating several slices of each, you won’t feel bogged down by sugar, because there isn’t all that much in any of the recipes. The real focus of each tart is the fruit, and the flavors of the berries in particular comes across beautifully. In short, these are the perfectest herald of summer.

Basic Medieval Pastry Dough Recipe

Take fine floure and a curtesy of faire water and a disshe of swete butter and a litle saffron and the yolkes of two egges and make it thin and tender as ye maie. –A Propre new booke of Cokery, 1545

Ingredients

  • 3 cups Flour
  • 1/2 cup Water
  • 1-2 sticks Butter (we used one, could do with more!)
  • pinch of saffron
  • 1 Egg yolk, slightly beaten
Dissolve the saffron in your 1/2 cup water. While that is going, rub in the butter to the flour, then add the egg yolk and saffroned water. Stir until entirely incorporated, adding more water very gradually until everything just sticks together.
To pre-bake a shell, line a pan with dough, rolled very thin. Using a fork, poke holes all over the bottom of the pan, or use a pie weight. Bake for around 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Don’t let it start to brown! Remove from oven and fill as per the recipe.

Makes enough for 8-4 inch tart pans and one 9 inch pan.

Medieval Cherry Tart Recipe

To make a close Tarte of Cherries. Take out the stones and laye them as whole as you can in a Charger and put in synamon and ginger to them and laye them in a tart whole and close them and let them stand three quarters of an hour in the oven, then take a sirrope of Muscadine and damaske water and sugar and serve it. –Thomas Dawson, The Good Huswifes Jewell, 1596

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lb. whole cherries
  • dash of rose water (optional)
  • 1/4 cup sweet red wine
  • 1/4 cup honey or sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. ginger
  • dash of red wine vinegar (to taste)
  • pastry dough for 1-9 inch pan, or 8-4 inch tart pans

Combine cherries, wine, and vinegar in a saucepan. Cover and simmer for around 1/2 hour, or until the pits can be easily removed by squishing the cherries through a colander. Put cherry puree in a bowl and add the sugar and spices. Allow to cool. Line your tart pan with pastry dough (recipe above), and trim the edges. If you like, you can make decorative shapes with the dough remainders to place on top of your filled tarts.

Add rosewater and port to cherries. Add enough sugar to sweeten, but not make it cloy, plus the ginger. Add a little vinegar or lemon juice to sharpen. Cook for 45 minutes or until flavors are mingled. If needed, you may thicken with bread crumbs. Let cool. Fill shells, close, bake at 375º F for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serves 4-6

Apricot Tart Recipe

Leche frys in lentoun. Drawe a thik almaunde mylke wiþ water. Take dates and pyke hem clene with apples and peeres, & mynce hem with prunes damysyns; take out þe stones out of þe prunes, & kerue the prunes a two. Do þerto raisouns, coraunce, sugur, flour of canel, hoole macys and clowes, gode powdours & salt; colour hem vp with saundres. Meng þise with oile. Make a coffyn as þou didest bifore & do þis fars þerin, & bake it wel, and serue it forth. -Forme of Cury, 14th Century

Our Changes: The original recipe for this is sort of a hodgepodge of fruit. We took out the apples, pears, and dates, replacing them with fresh apricots and dried ones. The yellow-orange of the apricots is beautiful against the red of the almond milk filling.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups extra thick Almond Milk
  • 1/2 cup dried apricots, sliced lengthwise
  • 3-5 fresh apricots, diced
  • 1/2 cup pitted prunes, sliced lengthwise
  • 1/2 cup currants
  • 2 Tbs sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. each cinnamon, mace & cloves
  • 1/4 tsp. each ginger, nutmeg, white pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • few drops red food coloring (in substitute of sandalwood)
  • 2 Tbs. olive oil
  • one 9-inch pre-baked pie shell, or 8-4 inch pre-baked tart shells

Mix together well the almond milk, sugar, spices, oil, and food coloring. The color should be a brilliant red; the mixture should be thick but runny. In a separate bowl, mix together the fruits. Add the almond milk mixture and thoroughly blend. Place this filling in the pie shell. You may find that you have to put the fruit in the shell first, then spoon the almond milk over that. Bake at 375° F for 45 minutes, or until the filling is set and the top has slightly browned. Remove from oven; allow to completely cool before serving. Serves 4-6.

Medieval Berry Tart Recipe

Daryoles. Take wine & Fresh broth, Cloves, Maces & Marrow, & poweder of Ginger & Saffron & let all boil together & put thereto cream (& if it is clotted, draw it through a strainer) & yolks of Eggs, & mix them together, & pour the liquor that the Marrows was seethed in thereto; then make fair coffins of fair paste, & put the Marrow therein, & mince dates & strawberries in time of year, & put the coffins in the oven, & let them harden a little; then take them out & put the liquor thereto, & let them bake, & serve forth. -Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks

Our Changes: We took out the marrow. Yeah. Not needed here. We also used this recipe for the blueberry and ambiguous berry tarts.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 c. cream
  • 1/4 c. wine (we used a sweet red, like that for the cherry tarts)
  • 1/4 c. milk
  • 5 egg yolks + 1 egg
  • 1 pint strawberries, or other berries of your choice, or a mix
  • 1/2 c. chopped dates
  • 1/2 c. honey
  • 1/4 tsp each saffron & ginger
  • 1/8 tsp each mace & ground cloves
  • 2 pre-baked pie shells, or 8-4 inch pre-baked tart shells

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, cream, wine, saffron and other spices, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. In a separate container, beat egg yolks and honey together. While beating, add a bit of the hot milk mixture. Pour this back into the pot with the hot liquid while whisking furiously. Place the cut strawberries and dates in baked pie shells and spoon the cream mixture over fruit and into the shells. Bake at 375° F for 45 minutes, or until the filling has set. Serves 4-6.

Blackberry Preserves

“There was much more than she’d asked for: hot bread, butter and honey and blackberry preserves, a rasher of bacon and a soft-boiled egg, a wedge of cheese, a pot of mint tea.  And with it came Maester Luwin.”  (I: 113)

Blackberry Preserves

Our Thoughts:

These preserves are bursting with the intensity and vibrancy of spring! Slathered over a buttered scone, the tanginess of the blackberries is balanced wonderfully by the relatively meager sugar content (as compared to commercial jams). A perfect destination for berries that are either fresh off the plant, or at the end of their life, this recipe can be followed using other berries as well, or even mixing berries. If pectin is added and proper canning technique used, these preserves could be saved to brighten up a dreary winter morning.

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Shrimp-and-Persimmon Soup

“She was breaking her fast on a bowl of cold shrimp-and-persimmon soup when Irri brought her a Qartheen gown, an airy confection of ivory samite patterned with seed pearls.” (II:637)

Shrimp and Persimmon Soup

Our Thoughts:

This cold soup was a surprising mixture of flavors. An interesting choice for a breakfast, but once you think about it, a rather healthy one: fruit and protein. The combination of the persimmon and shrimp made us feel like we were dining in a Mediterranean seaport. Lime juice adds a lovely freshness to the soup, while the shallots create a decidedly savory flavor.

Although different from our normal fare, this soup is going in the personal cookbook. Also, the persimmon soup, sans shrimp, would be a wonderful base for a variety of other soups and stews, whether served hot or cold.

Get the Recipe!

Thick Stew of Mussels, Crabs, and 3 kinds of Fish

“The food was plain, but very good; there were loaves of crusty bread still warm from the ovens, crocks of fresh-churned butter, honey from the septry’s hives, and a thick stew of crabs, mussels, and at least three different kinds of fish.  Septon Meribald and Ser Hyle drank the mead the brothers made, and pronounced it excellent, whilst she and Podrick contented themselves with more sweet cider.” -A Feast for Crows


Modern Fish Chowder

Thoughts

For this dish I opted for a hearty New England style fish chowder.  I threw together a couple of different recipes, tweaked them to suit, and this is the incredibly tasty result!

One bite of this modern stew will make you forget the effort that went into creating it. This is the earthly realization of platonic fish chowder. We asked the guests at our dinner table to give their thoughts, but only received grunts of approval and moaned delight.  Imagine yourself eating this meal in a tranquil sept on an island, savoring the hearty broth in peace while chaos rages around you. Imagine that, because eating this stew can transport you out of your everyday life.  

Part of the challenge of food blogging is making the photos show just how delicious the dish is, and that’s often done with atmosphere. The building in the photo is a perfect stand-in for the Sept from the books. In reality, it’s a gutted and abandoned church near where my parents used to live, in West Boyleston, MA. I drove by the place once, and immediately knew I would have to use it for a photo. I must have been quite a sight as I made my way down the embankment, folding table, dishware, food, and camera all teetering precariously. But the photo made it all worth it, and I got a great picnic lunch, to boot! 

Modern Fish Stew Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1.5 oz salt pork or thick cut bacon, diced
  • 1 lb potatoes (about 2 medium), chopped into 1/2″ cubes
  • 1 yellow onion, finely diced
  • 1.5 lb fish (we used salmon, haddock, and cod), about 2 fish or 4 fillets, cut into 1″ chunks
  • 2 c water
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 12 oz can evaporated milk
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • ~1/2-1 cup crab meat (imitation is fine, and cheaper!)
  • around a dozen mussels (ours were precooked)

Place 1/2 lb fish (about 1 fillet) in a pot with 2 c cold water. Bring to boil and boil 10 minutes.

While that is cooking, fry up the salt pork over medium heat. Once the bits are beginning to turn crispy and brown, add the diced potato. Cook 5 minutes over medium-high, stirring frequently. By now the fish broth should be done, so add it and the fish to the potato, then spread the remaining cubed fish atop this mess. Let this burble for about 10 minutes on medium-high.

At this point, if your pan won’t hold an additional 3 cups of liquid, transfer everything to a larger pot. Add heavy cream, evaporated milk, salt & pepper, crab meat, and whole mussels still in the shell. Bring to just under a boil, then reduce to medium-low, cover, and simmer about an hour.

To serve, ladle into bowls and garnish with additional pepper. To really round out the meal, serve it with the other original components from the book: crusty fresh bread with butter and honey, mead, and cider. 

Trout Baked in Clay

“Then came trout fresh from the river, baked in clay; her prince helped her crack open the hard casing to expose the flaky white flesh within.” (I:251)

Trout Baked in Clay

Our Thoughts:

Creating these fish was tons of fun! True to our belief in the importance of utilizing local agricultural resources, we baked rainbow trout and brook trout that were caught locally by a friend. They were absolutely phenomenal.

The clay acts as kind of a dutch oven for the food, keeping the moisture inside the fish. When the first clay fish finally cracked, we were surprised and delighted to find the flesh perfectly cooked and flaking off the bones. It was creamy and tender, with a wonderful, clean taste.

Half of the fun in this recipe is molding the clay around the fish. We chose to make them look like actual fish (many thanks to  Aidan’s artistic “talent”), which would be an impressive addition to any dinner table. Cracking the clay fish open on the table certainly adds a level of drama to the meal.

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