Monk's Modern Medieval Cuisine
Medieval food for modern food lovers
Caudel ferry Tak flour of payndemayn and gode wyne & drawe it togyder; do þerto a grete quantite of sugur cypre or hony clarified, & do per to safroun; boyle hit & whan it is yboyled alye it up with ȝolkes of ayroun & do þerto salt & messe hit forth, and lay þeron sugur … Continue reading Experiment: Spiced caudel
As I work my way through translating the recipes of Forme of Cury, Richard II’s official cookery book, I sometimes come across words that have shifted in meaning from how they were originally used. In this first of a series of ‘Language of cookery’ notes, I take a look at one of these words: smiten. … Continue reading Language of cookery 1: shifting meanings
Hello everyone! This is just to let you know I’ve written a new blog post on my mother website, The Medieval Monk, about the use of herbs in early England before the Norman Conquest (1066). I take as the basis for the piece Erbolate, a recipe using eleven herbs found in Forme of Cury, Richard … Continue reading Herbs in early England
Pynnonade. Tak almaundes yblaunched & drawe hem up sumdel thykke wiþ gode broth oþer with water & set on þe fyre & seeþ it, cast þerto ȝolkes of ayroun ydrawe, tak pynes fryed in oyle oþer in grece & do þerto white poudour douce, suger & salt, & colour it with alkenet a litull. Pine … Continue reading Experiment: Pynnonade
Hello everyone! Just wanted to share an update on my health. It’s good news: I’m starting to feel significantly better, and I am working right now on a new recipe experiment which, all being well, will be posted about in the next few days. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune blood disorder known as pernicious … Continue reading Health update: getting better!
Hello everyone. Just a short note to apologise for the lack of new material on my website in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, I have been unwell. I’ve just been diagnosed with vitamin B12 deficiency which has left me exhausted (and somewhat impaired cognitively!). I hope to be back to experimenting with medieval food as … Continue reading Apology
Hello medievalists and food lovers! Back in March, I took the recipe sauge yfarced — literally, ‘stuffed sage’— from Forme of Cury (King Richard II’s 14th-century cookery book) and brought it to the development stage. The result was pretty scrumptious. In essence this is my version of a medieval snack: spicy pork balls coated in fresh sage … Continue reading What is powder fort?
Hello medieval-minded food lovers. Today, I’m talking about a lovely, light poached chicken dish I made recently, and particularly about the spicy magic that lifts the dish: powder douce. Powder douce (poudre douce, powdour douce) is a spice mix that was used in many of the recipes of King Richard II’s household. ‘Cast thereon powder … Continue reading Sprinkle on a little spicy magic
I’ve been putting theory into practice, experimenting with different recipes for making medieval ‘paste’, the stuff which medieval cooks used for making pastries, from baked tarts and pies to fried crispels and fritters. In this post, I report back on my experiments to make authentic medieval pastry, using both egg yolk paste and whole egg … Continue reading Medieval pastry: experimentation
When I was a teenager studying cookery at high school, there was always one thing I could depend on: my short crust pastry! My meringues might have cracked and wept, and my ‘fatless’ sponges often were in need of a little elevation, but my pastry was to die for. Just the right melt-in-your-mouth, biscuity moreishness. … Continue reading The problem with pastry
