We met at Meadhbh house for English cooking. Meadhbh cooked up a storm serving Pork with Pepper Wine sauce, Spinach Pie and Fig Fritters. Alesia brought Egurdouce (Sweet and Sour Beef).
Iustinos issued a challenge for a meat dish.
Here is the challenge as taken from Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch, c.1581:
This is one of the recipes webbed by M. Grasse (ska: Gwen Catrin von Berlin, OL). The translation is her own (c) 1999.
Garlic roasted leg of Mutton
35 Salz den Schlegel/ und steck in an/ und wenn er halb gebraten ist/ so nimm frischen Knobloch/ der gar jung ist/ spick den Braten damit/ unnd lasz in gar and die Statt raten/ und wenn du in wilt anrichten/ so mach ein braune Brüh darzu/ schneidt ein wenig neuwen Knobloch darein/ thu ein wenig Essig und gestossen Pfeffer darein/ und lasz darmit sieden/ und wenn du in anrichtest/ so ist es ein lieblicher Braten zu essen/ Und also können ihn Edelleut und Bauern wol essen.
Salt the leg/ and skewer it (on a spit) / and when it is half roasted/ so take fresh garlic/ that is quite young/ lard (cut small slits and insert the garlic) therewith/ and let it finish roasting/ and if you wish to prepare it/ so make a brown broth (gravy) thereto/ cut a little new garlic therin/put a little vinegar and crushed pepper therein/ and let it simmer therewith/ and if you prepare it so/ it is a lovely roast to eat/ And so can (the) Nobility and farmers well eat it.
Iustinos and Jesse both provided lamb dishes. Maeve brought a cheese mushroom tart that was devoured. Heloise and Denis brought a variety of cheeses and some interesting crackers – anise and orange. Sophia made a yummy barley dish with fresh herbs and lemon. And Alesia brought a salat, roasted carrots and cherry pudding.
This was a quiet month. You could bring any recipe that you wanted to try out. Maeve did a wonderful rabbit and onion stew and a bean dish. Alesia redid her Hungarian dishes – Marjoram Beef Stew and Eggplant. Iustinos provided bread, cheese and a wonderful night out on the back deck.
The theme for April’s meeting was medieval Hungarian recipes. We tossed around various sources but never quite found one that we regarded as a good fit. Sources we considered were: “Food and Drink in Medieval Poland” by Maria Dembinska; Iustinos found this web site: Best source I’ve been able to find for pure hungarian is late for the period (published in 1581), but if you choose carefully could be useful. http://clem.mscd.edu/~grasse/GK_Rumpolt1.htm Some of it is translated. Some isn’t. See what you can find and finally a Romanian source in Stefan’s Florilegium http://www.florilegium.org/ Romanian-ckbk-art translated by Lord Petru cel paros Voda and Hungarian Cuisine by George Lang.
From these various sources we served that night:
Pea Soup
Cheese tart
Marjoram Tokany
Eggplant
Young Dove (using precooked chicken)
and a delicious desert Orange omelet
This is an email from Iustinos who has been part of it from the beginning:
I had just been thinking the other day that the cooks guild was about 5 years old. As it turns out, the Guild turned 7 last month. Here’s my documentation: Pretty neat eh?
Don’t know if that inspires anyone to any thematic ideas, but share if the idea strikes you.
In any case, I look forward to seeing everyone back in our kitchen this coming Wednesday.
Iustinos
Mon Jan 19 12:17:08 PST 2004
Greetings fellow cooks and food lovers!
We had our first meeting last Sunday and had lots of fun making sugar paste
decorations for this Saturday.
We have decided to make the second Wednesday of the month to be our regular
meeting date. Our next meeting will be held at Lady Malyn’s home 7pm.
We have decide to cook two dishes that night and our theme will be “food for
lovers”. We will be gathering after the business meeting to look over cook
books and decide which recipes will be cooked. All are invited to bring your
favorite cookbooks and dish with us.
Anyone interested in joining us are welcome. Please contact Malyn or Grace
for information or inquires.
Yours in Service,
Grace
This time we were trying to concentrate on vegetables. Iustinos made a beef roast with carrots and turnips. He got lucky and got some interesting white carrots from the local farmer’s market. Sarah made a dish of onions and leeks. Meadhbh made a casserole of turnips. Alesia made a soup of spinach and beef and a gourd pie. December 2010 meeting will be at Meadhbh and Jes’s house with a Yule theme.
We again picked a country theme of Germany. Alesia ran to the Heidelberg Deli and found Westphalian ham, Butterkasen cheese and black bread. Heloise and Denis made a chicken dish. Meadhbh made chicken stuffed pasta laced with mace and Sarah joined us by making vegetable pastries.
SEPTEMBER 2010
In September it was suggested to do Dutch. A web site was found for Wel ende edelike spijse which translates as Good and Noble Food. Both Alesia and Heloise did the same young chicken with raisins that came out totally different. Meadhbh did a yummy layered cheese and chicken dish. Iustinos and Sophia went Roman with Iustinos doing an asparagus pie and Sophia doing an egg fritata.
Our dinners seem to be getting better and better. This meeting was a redaction challenge between Heloise and Meadhbh for bresaola of lean veal. The meal started with a thick soup called vivarole made with spinach and cheese dumplings. This was followed by the two dishes of veal and two sides dishes: one of lentils and feta cheese and another of a whole head of cabbage stuffed with meats and seasonings. We finished off with some lovely cheeses. Next month Iustinos has challenged us to traveling dishes or dishes for the campfire.
Tonight we had a delightful menu. We started with a trio of soups, a thick soup of common field mushrooms and a thick soup of garlic with meat broth done two ways, one where the garlic was roasted and the other with garlic au naturel. We followed this delicious starter with a limonia or chicken with lemons accompanied by an assortment of cheeses and some bread. Finally, we finished our meal with a sweet berry torte which was the perfect touch to end our feast.