Cooking

There are lots of books out there (believe it or not) that are good sources for period recipes. Though they may not always be faithful copies of the recipes, you can learn a lot from reading them. Beware of redactions (modernized version). They are great for helping you understand a recipe, but they can often alter the taste, texture and/or end result of a recipe. Here are a few of our favorite recipes, links to sites about period cooking, as well as a few books we like to use.

Books
Links
Recipes

Books

Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony; Madeleine Pelner Cosman
Take a Thousand Eggs or More (Second Edition/2 Volumes); Cindy M. Renfrow
Pleyn Delit: Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks; Constance B. Hieatt, et al
The Medieval Cookbook; Maggie Black
The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy; Odile Redon, et al
The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages; Terence Scully
Ein Buch von Guter Spise (German, c. 1350)
Das Kuchbuch der Sabrina Welserin (1553)
Koch und Kellermeisterey (1566)
Das Kochbuch des Meisters Eberhard von Landshut (15. Jh.)
Das Kochbuch des Mittelalters; Trude Ehlert

Buy it today!

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Links

GodeCookery.com - An incredibly comprehensive site devoted mainly, but not exclusively, to Medieval and Renaissance cooking. In fact, there is so much there that I put it here, as well as on the Links page.

Culinary & dietetic texts from the Middle Ages to 1800 - Wonderful source for the *ACTUAL TEXT* of period sources. Of course, that means that much of it is in Old German, but this is an invaluable source, anyhow!

The Medieval & Renaissance Cookery Webring Homepage

Medieval/Renaissance Food Homepage - this has a lot of *GREAT* links, including Ein Buch von Guter Spise (German, c. 1350) and Das Kuchbuch der Sabrina Welserin (1553). It's a great place for online resources. It also has a lot of useful and informative articles and more.

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Recipes

These recipes were given to us by the Hauptfrau to help prepare for an event. Copyright on these is uncertain. Some are translations or redactions (modern version of a period recipe) by Paula Peterka. Others are from some of the books listed above, and some are from other sources. If/when we get specifics the proper copyright will be given.

Carrot Mousse
      Boil carrots in water and roll to remove skins. Chop very small, or grind if you like. Boil together with almond milk, which has been made with wine, and add herbs enough thereto, and color with violet flowers and give out.

Frumenty
      Boil 10 oz. bulgur wheat for 15 minutes in 5 cups water. Let stand 15 more minutes and add b cup stock or milk. Boil again and remove from fire. Add salt, 2 egg yolks, and saffron to thicken without heating. Let it stand five minutes.

Girdle Breads
      Sift together 8 oz flour and a dash salt, run in a knob of butter until it becomes coarse crumbs. Steep saffron in 2 tblsp water until golden, then beat two eggs therein. Add to flour and make a firm dough. Roll out thin and cut 5-6" rounds. Fry in fat.

Letelorye
      Take ayren (four eggs) and wrynge through a straynor, and do thereto cowe mylke (2 ½ cups) with butter (2 tblsp or more), saffron and salt. Seethe (boil) it well. Leshe it and loke that it be standing. (Grease a fine tight cloth, lay it in and tie it up, then set in a covered dish ½ full of water 1 - 1 ½ hours, at a low simmer.) It should be firm in the middle. Let cool completely. Serve as dessert with strewn sugar and fruit or puree.

Pumpes
      Boil a 2lb beef or pork roast in 5 cups beef stock, then take up and mince as small as possible. Add 1 tblsp currants, ¼ tsp mace and c tsp cloves, all minced small, and form into balls. Brown in fat. Make almond milk with 4 oz almonds, 1 tblsp rice flour, and 1 ¼ cup of the boiling stock. Add meatballs to the sauce, coating thinly, and sprinkle with white sugar and mace just before serving.

Swallenburg Sauce
      Take wine and honey. Set that on the fire and let it boile. And add punded ginger, more than pepper. Pound garlic, but not too much. Make it strong and give it impetus with egg white. Let boil until it begins to turn brown.

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Carrot Mousse
	Boil carrots in water and roll to remove skins. Chop very small, or grind if you like. Boil together with almond milk, which has been made with wine, and add herbs enough thereto, and color with violet flowers and give out.
Frumenty
	Boil 10 oz. bulgur wheat for 15 minutes in 5 cups water. Let stand 15 more minutes and add b cup stock or milk. Boil again and remove from fire. Add salt, 2 egg yolks, and saffron to thicken without heating. Let it stand five minutes.
Girdle Breads
	Sift together 8 oz flour and a dash salt, run in a knob of butter until it becomes coarse crumbs. Steep saffron in 2 tblsp water until golden, then beat two eggs therein. Add to flour and make a firm dough. Roll out thin and cut 5-6" rounds. Fry in fat.
Letelorye
	Take ayren (four eggs) and wrynge through a straynor, and do thereto cowe mylke (2 ½ cups) with butter (2 tblsp or more), saffron and salt. Seethe (boil) it well. Leshe it and loke that it be standing. (Grease a fine tight cloth, lay it in and tie it up, then set in a covered dish ½ full of water 1 - 1 ½ hours, at a low simmer.) It should be firm in the middle. Let cool completely. Serve as dessert with strewn sugar and fruit or puree.
Pumpes
	Boil a 2lb beef or pork roast in 5 cups beef stock, then take up and mince as small as possible. Add 1 tblsp currants, ¼ tsp mace and c tsp cloves, all minced small, and form into balls. Brown in fat. Make almond milk with 4 oz almonds, 1 tblsp rice flour, and 1 ¼ cup of the boiling stock. Add meatballs to the sauce, coating thinly, and sprinkle with white sugar and mace just before serving.
Swallenburg Sauce
	Take wine and honey. Set that on the fire and let it boile. And add punded ginger, more than pepper. Pound garlic, but not too much. Make it strong and give it impetus with egg white. Let boil until it begins to turn brown.