Tag Archives: sage

Roman-Style Tenderloin, with bacon and sage

Tenderloin

Thoughts:

It’s another virtual potluck, AND a recipe from one of my favorite medieval cookbooks, The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi.  It reminds me of a Turkish dish I once had, called Çöp Şiş, where the meat on the kebab was spaced out with chunks of fat. It tasted amazing, and this is similar.

The bacon adds flavor to the tender beef. When I eat bacon, I like it like Tyrion: burnt and crispy, so in the future I would like to try using salt pork or some other type of cured pork. I used bay leaves, which imparted a great flavor, and I imagine sage would do likewise; I hope to try it in the near future… Yom. :)

This dish comes from Kate Quinn’s newest novel, the Lion and the Rose, the second in her series about the Borgias. Check out the other dishes in this virtual potluck below:

Roman-style Tenderloin Recipe

Get the leanest part of the tenderloin, with the bones, skin, and gristle removed, and cut it crosswise in six-ounce pieces, sprinkling them with ground salt and fennel flour or coriander ground with common spices. Into each piece, set four lardoons of marbled salt pork. Place them in a press with that mixture and a little rose vinegar and must syrup for three hours. Then mount them on a spit with a rasher of bacon and a sage or bay leaf between each piece; cook them over a moderate fire. When they are done, they need to be served hot, dressed with a sauce of their drippings together with the compound that exuded from them in the press, which sauce should be somewhat thick and saffron-coloured. -The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi

  • 2 beef tenderloins, of hefty thickness
  • bacon or salt pork, cut into squares
  • 1/2 cup must syrup, or grape juice
  • 1/4 cup rose vinegar
  • sage or bay leaves
  • 1 tsp. fennel pollen
  • hefty pinch salt
  • 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Cut the tenderloin into large chunks. Place these in a deep dish, then pour the must syrup/grape juice, the vinegar, and the spices over. Press the meat down, and let marinate for several hours. Then, slide the meat onto long skewers, adding bacon and sage or bay leaves intermittently. Broil on low for just long enough for the meat to be done, turning once in the middle, about 15 minutes. Cover to keep warm, and cook the drippings and the marinade until it thickens.

Hand Washing Waters

medieval Hand-washing Water recipe

Hand-washing Water

There is a curious medieval custom that evolved through the ages of having scented water on dining tables with which to wash one’s hands. I remember as a child being delighted that my grandmother had china finger-bowls, even though they were never used. Although this doesn’t make an obvious appearance in Song of Ice and Fire, I imagine that it would fit very well with the more well-heeled families. The Lannisters would use expensive ingredients such as ambergris, while the Tyrells might use rose petals, the Starks juniper and spruce tips, and so on. 

The basic version is a fun, easy recipe to make, and adds a fun upscale element to a dinner party! It makes enough for two small bowls, and is a pale green-yellow color with the slightest of pleasant herbal and citrus elements.

Recipes for Hand Washing Waters

TO MAKE WATER TO WASH THE HANDS AT TABLE. Boil sage, then strain the water, and let cool until it is luke-warm. Or instead you can use camomile or marjoram, or rosemary : and cook with the peel of an orange. And also laurel leaves [bay leaves] are good for this. –Le Menagier de Paris, 1393

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup fresh sage, chamomile, marjoram, rosemary, bay leaves, etc.
  • 1 heaping Tbs. orange peel

Here’s another later recipe that calls for distilling the liquid, which is a different approach as it seems to make a kind of concentrate for scenting water; I particularly like the quirky pairing of lavender and cloves:

This is an excerpt from Delights for Ladies (England, 1609)

An excellent hand water or washing water very cheape. Take a gallon of faire water, one handfull of Lavender flowers, a few Cloves and some Orace powder, and foure ounces of Benjamin: distill the water in an ordinarie leaden Still. You may distill a second water by a new infusion of water upon the seces: a little of this will sweeten a bason of faire water for your table.

Poultry ala Sunbird – Fragile Things

Thoughts:

This plate is full of exotic, old world flavors. The chicken is soft and tender, and the meat falls from the bone, gently infused with the ingredients in the cider can. Flavors from the herbs are just barely present, but there, and the lavender mostly fades to the background, except for a hint of aroma.

The sauce is out of this world. Vanilla bean might seem counter-intuitive  but it blends with the other flavors surprisingly well. I wondered how the garlic and the sweeter flavors would meld, but the whole thing came together wonderfully. The grains of paradise, which were my own addition, give the sauce a little bit of a kick. The final squeeze of citrus in the sauce gives the whole a little zip, and helps to round out the feeling of the sauce on the tongue.

I’d love to try this same recipe with a pheasant, but until one happens my way, I’ll be more than happy to enjoy this with chicken again and again.


Poultry ala Sunbird Recipe

Cider Can with Herbs | Food Through the PagesIngredients:

  • 1 chicken
  • 1 can of cider, 1/3 filled
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 1 sprig sage
  • 1/2 tsp. dried lavender
  • 1 tsp. cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp. coriander seed

Fill the can of cider with the spices and herbs. Place the can inside the chicken, and stand it up in a pot. Cover with aluminium foil, and cook for around 1 hour. While it’s cooking, make the sauce (below).

Remove the chicken from the oven, and let rest for 15 minutes.

Discard the can and carve the bird. Drizzle with sauce, and serve hot.

Sauce:

Cook’s Notes: Of all the quirky ingredients that went into the description of this dish, patchouli was the only one I didn’t have on hand. Feel free to improvise according to what’s in your own pantry!

  • 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2/3 can cider
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbs. honey
  • 1/2 tsp. red sandalwood powder
  • 1/2 tsp. ground grains of paradise
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • pinch of cloves
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1 Tbs. molasses
  • 1 Tbs. worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Tbs. fresh orange or lemon juice

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and sautee until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for around 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it has thickened. Turn off the heat, add the citrus juice, and stir to incorporate. Serve immediately.