Medieval Feast

Karl and I have decided to recreate a medieval feast once we get home.  We were thinking along the lines of a nobleman's table rather than the poor farmer's ...
 

 

Sorry, no photos of the exact recipes.  It's all up to your imagination!

 

All recipes can be found and attributed to the recipe creators in the following link:

http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/files/2011/01/kings_feast_recipe_pack.pdf

The Romans, with their habits and great tradition of cooking, exerted a profound influence on France (ancient Gaul) from the first century onwards. The ancient culinary culture found refuge in monasteries, where the 4th-century A.D. cookbook De re coquinaria (On cooking), attributed to Apicius, was used for many centuries.

After the Germanic invasions, Gaul went through a tragic period of food shortage and famines that marked the beginning of the Middle Ages. While the upper classes continued the refined culinary traditions of the Romanized Gauls, the masses survived on diets of oats, soups, and, on rare occasions, meat.

While food production proved unreliable in the Middle Ages, the spice trade expanded, bringing exotic flavors from Asia and Africa including cinnamon, cloves, cumin, nutmeg, and ginger. Spices were extremely expensive, highly sought after, and served as status symbols in the French courts. In fact, the spice repertoire of a court cook in the Middle Ages was likely more extensive than that used by many cooks today.

The elaborate foods, spices, and arrangement of dishes that appeared on the court tables demonstrated the power and taste of the church and nobleman. Let us travel to medieval France in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s special exhibition Imagining the Past in France, 1250–1500 and enjoy a feast inspired by it. Bon appétit!

—Maite Gomez-Rejón

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This is the proposed menu:

 A Medieval Coat of Arms Salad

In French cuisine a “salad composée” refers to a salad in which an assortment of ingredients are arranged aesthetically on a plate. During the Middle Ages it was not uncommon to form a coat of arms with edibles.

Recipe by Maite Gomez-Rejón.

For the salad:

6 cups cabbage, thinly sliced

2 cups radicchio, thinly sliced
3 bunches parsley
6 cups beets
6 apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 cups almonds
2 cups dried prunes
2 cups dried or fresh figs
2 cups dates

For the vinaigrette:

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
½ teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1. For the vinaigrette: Whisk together lemon juice, zest, sugar, salt and pepper to taste until the sugar is dissolved. Then, in a slow steady stream, whisk in the olive oil until emulsified.

2. Separately toss the cabbage, radicchio, beets, and apples with the dressing.

3. Artistically arrange the dressed elements of the salad with the dried fruit and nuts so that repetitive patterns of color and shape please the eye or so that a coat of arms is formed…have fun and be creative!

 
Serves 6

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Grilled Fish Fillets with Yellow Sauce Poivre Jaunet

“Take ginger and saffron, then take bread soaked in broth (or even better, meatless cabbage water) and boil; when it boils, add vinegar” (Ménagier de Paris). In the Middle Ages, this yellow sauce was used with meat as well as fish.

Recipe by Nancy Real.

For the sauce:

½ cup plain breadcrumbs

2 cups vegetable broth
½ teaspoon saffron threads
½ teaspoon ground ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

In a 2-quart saucepot, stir to combine the breadcrumbs, broth, saffron, ginger, and garlic. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir in the vinegar. Simmer and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper, to taste. Strain sauce and set aside. Warm up sauce before serving.

Makes 1 cup

For the fish:

5 to 6 tablespoons olive oil

six 5-ounce fish fillets (trout, haddock, or red snapper)
salt and pepper, to taste
1 lemon, thinly sliced (for garnish)
6 sprigs of parsley (for garnish)

Heat oil in a 12- or 14-inch nonstick skillet. Add fish fillets and sauté on medium heat 3 to 5 minutes per side or until fish is flaky and cooked through. Serve fish on a platter or in individual dinner plates; spoon some warm sauce over each fish fillet. Garnish with lemon slice and parsley.

 Serves 6

***

 

Marinated Leeks in Mustard Vinaigrette

Leeks were cultivated in medieval Europe as a vegetable both nourishing and stimulating to the “desires of Venus.” This thought continued through the Renaissance, when they were commonly consumed on wedding nights. Used since antiquity, mustard was highly valued in the Middle Ages. The commercial production of mustard began in the mid-14th century in Dijon, France.

Recipe by Maite Gomez-Rejón.

For the leeks:

6 to 8 leeks

1 bay leaf
5 parsley branches
4 thyme sprigs
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 celery rib, thinly sliced

For the mustard vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 garlic clove, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
pinch pepper
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon plain yogurt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1. Halve the leeks lengthwise, using only about an inch of the pale green part. Rinse well.

2. Put them, in a single layer, in a large pan with the fresh herbs, carrot, and celery. Add enough water to cover.

3. Simmer until they are tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes.

4. Transfer the leeks to a platter with some of the broth and spoon the vinaigrette over the top.

5. For the vinaigrette, combine the vinegar, salt, and garlic in a small bowl. Let stand for a few minutes then whisk in the mustard, yogurt, and oil until thick and smooth.

6. Add the pepper then stir in the chopped parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning.

 

Serves 6

***

Spiced Quince Butter Cake

Most spices came from the East and long remained rare and expensive commodities in Europe. Roman food was always liberally spiced, and the practice of cooking with spices continued through the Middle Ages and remained common until the 18th century. Because of their rarity and value, spices were highly esteemed gifts during the Middle Ages. In France, it is reported that taxes, ransoms, or customs dues were sometimes paid in spices. Guillaume Taillevent listed ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves (among others) necessary in a well-stocked kitchen. Much later, the French gastronome Câreme regarded the abuse of spices as one of the enemies of good cookery!

In medieval France, quince was used not only in cooking, but also in perfumery and medicine.

Recipe by Maite Gomez-Rejón.

For the quince:

 

1 quince, peeled, cored and cut into 16 slices

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
 
For the cake:

1 stick butter, cut into pieces
1 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
½ cup ground almonds
1/3 cup flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
4 egg whites
½ teaspoon orange zest

 1. To prepare the quince: In a large saucepan, combine the quince, water, sugar, cinnamon, and star anise. Cover. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the quince is tender. Let cool in the poaching liquid, then remove from liquid and pat dry on paper towels.

2. To make the cake: Preheat oven to 400º F. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to let the butter heat until the white milk solids fall to the bottom of the skillet and turn a rich hazelnut brown. (This is called brown butter.)

3. Separately sift together the confectioner’s sugar, ground almonds, flour, and spices in a bowl.

4. On the lowest speed of a Kitchen Aid or hand blender, whisk in the egg whites and orange zest. Mix until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed and stir in the brown butter. Beat until smooth.

5. Butter a 10-inch cake pan, pour in the batter and smooth the top. Arrange the quince slices on the batter and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool before serving.

 Serves 6 to 8

 *** 

Spiced Honey Nut Crunch (Nucato)

The term dessert comes from desservir, an Old French word meaning “to clear a table,” and originated during the Middle Ages. This nucato is related to the delicious “nougat noir” or black nougat that is still made in the southern French town of Sisteron. This recipe contains a pleasant surprise— the perfumed bite of spices.

 Recipe by Nancy Real.

1½ cups honey

1 pound walnuts, coarsely chopped
½ to 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1. In a 4-quart saucepot, gradually bring the honey to a boil. Add the nuts and spices to the simmering honey.

2. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and standing away from burner to avoid hot splatters, for 6 to 10 minutes or until honey turns amber.

3. Place parchment paper onto a large baking sheet or butter a large, Pyrex baking dish.

4. Carefully pour honey-nut mixture evenly onto parchment paper or baking dish, spreading it evenly with a lemon.

5. Cool completely before serving, about 40 minutes. Using shears, cut nucato into two-inch squares, placing them in a serving platter.

Makes 30 to 36 pieces

 *** 

 

Spiced Red Wine (Hippocras)

 

Attributed to the 5th-century B.C. Greek physician Hippocrates, hippocras is a drink of wine mixed with sugar and spices. It was a popular drink, served hot or cold, during the Middle Ages and up to the 17th century.

 

Recipe by Maite Gomez-Rejón.

 

1 bottle red wine

½ cup sugar

4 cardamom pods

4 cinnamon sticks

4 whole cloves

6 whole peppercorns

1 lemon, cut in thin slivers

 

1. Place all ingredients, except the lemon, in a saucepot and bring to a boil.

2. Lower heat and simmer for about 8 minutes.

3. Remove the cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and cardamom pods and serve warm garnished with a sliver of lemon.

 

 Serves 6

 

 

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This may be a lot of work...  Which of my friends and neighbours would like to join in this festivity?  By each making a dish, we could certainly get together and enjoy a wonderful medieval feast.  Perhaps we could even dress the part!