Feast Under a Fae Moon

April 16th, 2022 – Barony of Lochmere, Kingdom of Atlantia

By Heinrich von Holstein

Menu

Winter Course

  • Pudding in Eggs
  • Pudding in a Turnep root
  • Tarte of Cheese
  • Dried Fruit and Nuts

Spring Course

  • Salat
  • Brawne and Mustard (pork loin with honey mustard sauce)
  • Capon (chicken) Stued in Lemmons
  • Sops (toasted bread)
  • Potage of Cherries

Summer Course

  • Ielly (wine jelly)
  • Roast Pork
  • Balls of Mutton (substitute: beef)
  • Sops (toasted bread)
  • Baked Orenges
  • Boyled Yong Peason (pea pottage)

Fall Course

  • Marchpaine (marzipan)
  • Fridays Pye (beat and apple pie)
  • Baked Small Meats (pear pie)

Feast Description

The courses are loosely themed for the four Faerie courts in some legends, which correspond to the four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall.  I have chosen recipes primarily from A Book Of Cookrye, Very Necessary for all such as delight therin [1] circa 1591 England, as appropriate for the event’s Shakespearian theme.  While the book does have its own prescribed feast menu, it describes an all-day event instead of just one dinner service.  The feast dishes of this period lean heavily towards sweet flavors, with nearly every one containing sugar and/or fruit.  There is no real distinction between desserts and “main” courses, so each course of mine contains some dessert-like elements.  The nobility of the time did not seem very fond of vegetables, or at least didn’t bother to write much about them, so I also added in an herb salat which does not appear in either of my sources.

Recipes and Redactions

A Pudding in Egges

Take and boyle your Egges hard, and blanch them, and cut off the Crowne of them, and take then of the yolks and chop them, Beetes boyled, and yolkes of hard egges, grated Bread, and Corance, Salte Sugar, Sinamon, and Ginger, and then put the yolkes of rawe Egges, and mingle them altogither, then put in your Egges, then for your broth take a little Mutton broth, Corance, Dates, Sugar, a little salt and butter, thicken it with yolks of Egs, vergious and a little sugar, so serve it in. [1]

Ingredients:

  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Boiled beets
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Dried currants
  • Dates
  • Salt
  • Sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Ginger
  • Butter
  • Vinegar
  • Lemon Juice

Split the eggs and remove the yolks.  Mix the yolks with the beets, chopped, breadcrumbs, currants, and spices.  The original recipe calls for serving this in a broth, but this is very unusual for modern diners.  I have opted instead to serve it with a sauce with a similar composition: currants, dates, sugar, spices, butter, and a little vinegar and lemon juice as a substitution for verjuice.

How to make a Pudding in a Turnep root

Take your Turnep root, and wash it fair in warm water, and scrape it faire and make it hollow as you doo a Carret roote, and make your stuffe of grated bread, and Apples chopt fine, then take Corance, and hard Egs, and season it with Sugar Sinamon, and Ginger, and yolks of hard egs and so temper your stuffe, and put it into the Turnep, then take faire water, and set it on the fire, and let it boyle or ever you put in your Turneps, then put in a good peece of sweet Butter, and Claret Wine, and a little Vinagre, and Rosemarye, and whole Mace, Sugar, and Corance, and Dates quartered, and when they are boyled inough, then willl they be tender, then serve it in. [1]

Ingredients:

  • Turnips
  • Apples
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Cinnamon
  • Ginger
  • Sugar
  • Currants
  • Dates
  • Rosemary
  • Butter
  • Wine
  • Vinegar

Hollow the turnips.  Make a mixture of chopped apples, breadcrumbs, currants, chopped eggs, cinnamon, ginger, and sugar.  Fill the turnips.  Make a “broth” of wine, butter, vinegar, rosemary, mace, sugar, currants, and dates.  Boil the stuffed turnips until tender.  If turnip size/availability doesn’t allow for stuffing, serve the pudding on slices of turnips and bake or steam them.  Reduce the ingredients for the “broth” into a sauce and sever one top.

To make a Tarte of Cheese

Take good fine paste and drive it as thin as you can.  Then take cheese, pare it, mince it, and braye it in a morter with the yolks of Egs til it be like paste, then put it in a faire dish with clarified butter, and then put it abroade into your paste and cover it with a faire cut cover, and so bake it: that doon, serve it forth. [1]

Ingredients:

  • Cheese
  • Egg yolks
  • Butter
  • Pastry dough

Mix the cheese and egg yolks into a paste.  Coat with melted butter, then place on pastry dough.  Add a cover (or fold) and seal.  Bake and serve.

To Stue a Capon in Lemmons 

Slice your Lemmons and put them in a platter, and put to them white Wine and Rosewater, and so boile them and Sugar til they be tender.  Then take the best of the broth wherin your Capon is boyled, and put thereto whole Mace, whole pepper & red Corance, barberies, a little time, & good store of Marow.  Let them boile well togither til the broth be almost boiled away that you have no more then will wette your Sops.  Then poure your Lemmons upon your Capon, & season your broth with Vergious and Sugar, and put it upon your Capon also. [1]

Ingredients:

  • Lemons
  • White wine
  • Rosewater
  • Sugar
  • Chicken (thighs)
  • Mace
  • Pepper
  • Currants
  • Barberries (omitted: difficult to find)
  • Marrow (omitted: difficult to find, complicated to cook for this sort of sauce)
  • Vinegar
  • Lemon juice
  • Sugar

Slice the lemons and gently simmer in the wine, rosewater, and sugar, until they are tender, about an hour maybe.  This is very similar to making candied lemons.  Boil the chicken.  Reserve some of the broth, adding the mace, pepper, currants, barberries, marrow, vinegar, lemon juice (these two as a substitute for verjuice) and sugar.  Reduce to 1/10th of liquid.  Pour the reduced sauce on the chicken, then pour the candied lemons (and any sauce) on as well.

To make pottage of Cherries

Fry white bread in butter til it be brown and so put it into a dish, then take Cherries and take out the stones and frye them where you fried the bread then put thereto Sugar, Ginger, and Sinamon, for lacke of broth, take White or Claret Wine, boyle these togither, and that doon, serve them upon your Tostes. [1]

Ingredients:

  • White bread
  • Butter
  • Cherries
  • Sugar
  • Ginger
  • Cinnamon
  • Wine

Fry bread slices in butter, layer on the serving dish.  Fry the rest of the ingredients in the same pan/butter, adding wine only if it becomes too thick.  If cherries are out of season, can substitute cherry pie filling and maybe some tart cherry juice to counteract the sweetness (and do not add sugar).

To make Ielly

Take Calves feete and fley them, and faire washe them, and set them on to seethe in faire licour, and faire scum them, and when they be tender sod, faire straine out the licour, and see your licour be verye cleere, and put your licour into a pot, if there be a pottle of it, put a pottle of claret wine unto it, and two pound Sugar, a quartern of sinamon, half a quartern of ginger, an ounce of Nutmegs, an ounce of grains, some long Pepper, a fewe Cloves whole, a few Coliander sads, a little salt, Isonglasse being faire washed and laid in water a day before, Turnsole being aired be the fier and dusted, and when they be wel sod, let it run through a bag, and put two whites of Egs in the bag. [1]

Ingredients:

  • Powdered gelatin
  • Wine
  • Whole cinnamon
  • Whole ginger
  • Whole nutmeg
  • Grains of paradise (omitted: hard to find)
  • Long Pepper
  • Whole cloves
  • Whole coriander seeds
  • Salt

The first half of this recipe is the procedure for making gelatin.  As this is a time-consuming process, I have opted to use modern gelatin powder, and diluting the wine by 50% with water.  Furthermore, “isonglasse” is difficult to find and was used here perhaps as a clarifying agent for the wine and perhaps as an additional thickener.  “Turnsole” seems to be a period purple dye.  Perhaps this was made with white wine for a lighter color, but I have decided to just use red wine and leave out dyes, period or otherwise.  Lastly, adding eggs is also sometimes seen as a period procedure for clarifying wine.  As store-bought wine is perfectly clear, the eggs are also unnecessary.

Prime the gelatin in some warm water, as directed.  Boil the remaining ingredients together, with the whole spices in a cheesecloth bag.  When the alcohol has boiled away and the wine is mulled to taste, remove the spices and add in the gelatin.  When the gelatin is fully dissolved, pour the mixture into your molds and chill for three or four hours.  When set, turn out of the molds and serve.

To Make Balls of Mutton

Take your Mutton and mince it very fine with Suet.  Then season it with Sugar, sinamon, Ginger, Cloves & Mace, Salt, and raw Egges.  Make it in round balles.  Let your broth seeth ere you put them in.  Make your broth with Corance, dates quartered, whole Mace and salt.  Thick it with yolkes of Egges, and Vergious, and serve it upon Sops. [1]

Ingredients:

  • Ground lamb (substitute: ground beef), fatty if possible
  • Sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Ginger
  • Clove
  • Mace
  • Salt
  • Eggs
  • Currants
  • Dates

Mix the meat with the eggs, sugar, salt, and spices. Form into meatballs.  Make a “broth” with currants, dates, mace, and salt.  Boil the meatballs in the broth.  Reserve some of the broth, thicken with egg yolks and reduce to a sauce.  Serve upon sops (toasted bread).

How to bake Orenges

Faire peele your Orenges, and pick away all the white that is under the peele, and so lay them in fine paste, and put into them Sugar, very little Sinamon or none at all, but a little Ginger and bake them very leisurely. [1]

Ingredients:

  • Oranges
  • Pastry dough
  • Sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Ginger

Peel the oranges and separate the slices.  Place the slices into small pieces of pastry dough.  Sprinkle it with sugar, cinnamon, and ginger.  Bake slow, at low temperature.

To boyle yong Peason or Beanes

First shale them and seethe them in faire water, then take them out of the water and put them into boyling milk, then take the yolks of Egs with crums of bread, and ginger, and straine them thorow a strainer with the said milk, then take chopped percely, Saffron and Salt, and serve it foorth for Pottage. [1]

Ingredients:

  • Peas (or beans)
  • Milk
  • Egg yolks
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Parsely
  • Ginger
  • Milk
  • Saffron
  • Salt

Using fresh or frozen peas, we can skip the first part.  Put the peas into boiling milk.  Add ginger, parsley, saffron, and salt to taste. Thicken with egg yolks and breadcrumbs to desired consistency.

How to make a good Marchpaine

First take a pound of long smal almonds and blanch them in cold water, and dry them as drye as you can, then grinde them small, and put no licour to them but as you must needs to keepe them from oyling, and that licour that you put in must be rosewater, in manner as you shall think good, but wet your Pestel therin, when ye have beaten them fine, take halfe a pound of Sugar and more, and see that it be beaten small in pouder, it must be fine sugar, then put it to your Almonds and beate them altogither, when they be beaten, take your wafers and cut them compasse round, and of the bignes you will have your Marchpaine, and then as soone as you can after the tempering of your stuffe, let it be put in your paste, and strike it abroad with a flat stick as even as you can, and pinch the very stuffe as it were an edge set upon, and then put a paper under it, and set it upon a faire boord, and lay lattin Basin over it the bottome upwarde, and then lay burning coles upon the bottom of the basin.  To see how it baketh, if it happen to bren too fast in some place, folde papers as broad as the place is & lay it upon that place, and thus with attending ye shal bake it a little more then a quarter of an houre, and when it is wel baked, put on your gold and biskets, and stick in Comfits, and so you shall make a good Marchpaine.  Or ever that you bake it you must cast on it fine Sugar and Rosewater that will make it look like Ice. [1]

Ingredients:

  • Marzipan
  • Pastry dough
  • Candied fennel
  • Sugar
  • Rosewater

The first part of this recipe is the procedure for making marzipan.  With limited time and help, I decided to buy pre-made marzipan.  Cut into round slices.  Place on pastry dough.  Optional: brush on sugar dissolved in water, with some rosewater, for a glaze.  Bake on parchment paper for 15 minutes.  Add candied fennel.

If time allows, I may try to color and flavor different batches of the marzipan with beet juice and rosewater or lemon juice and saffron.

A Fridayes Pye, without eyther Flesh or Fish

Wash greene Beetes cleane, picke out the middle string, and chop them small with two or three well relisht ripe Apples. Season it with Pepper, Salt, and Ginger: then take a good handfull of Razins of the Sunne, and put all in a Coffin of fine Paste, with a piece of sweet Butter, and so bake it: but before you serue it in, cut it vp, and wring in the iuyce of an Orenge, and Sugar [2]

Ingredients:

  • Beets
  • Apples
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Ginger
  • Raisins
  • Butter
  • Pie crust
  • Orange juice
  • Sugar

Chop the beets and apples.  Mix with pepper, salt, ginger, and raisins.  Pour into pie crust and put a piece of butter on top.  Bake.  Before serving, lightly sauce with a mix of orange juice and sugar.

To bake small meats

Take Egges and seethe them hard, then take the yolkes out of them and braye them in the morter, and temper them with Creme, and then straine them, and put to them Pepper, Saffron, Cloves, Maced, small raisins, Almonds blanched and small shred and grated bread. Take Peares also sodden in Ale, and bray and straine them with the same Licour, and put therto Bastard and Honny, and put it into a pan and stir it on the fire til it be wel sodden, then make little coffins and set them in the Oven til they be hard, and then take them out againe, and put the foresaid licour into them and so serve them forth. [1]

Ingredients:

  • Boiled egg yolks
  • Cream
  • Pepper
  • Saffron
  • Cloves
  • Mace
  • Raisins
  • Almonds
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Pears
  • Ale
  • Sweet wine
  • Honey
  • Pie crust

Soak the pears in ale.  Meanwhile, mix the egg yolks, breadcrumbs, cream, spices, raisins, and almonds.  Mash the pears, add wine and honey, and cook until soft.  The recipe does not specify if the egg mix and pear sauce are to be mixed or layered, but either approach seems reasonable.  Bake and serve.

Sources

[1] A Book Of Cookrye, Very Necessary for all such as delight therin.  Gathered by A. W.

Printed by Edward Allde, London, 1591

http://jducoeur.org/Cookbook/Cookrye.html

 

[2] A Nevv Booke of Cookerie.  John Murrell

Printed for Iohn Browne, London, 1615

https://www.uni-giessen.de/fbz/fb05/germanistik/absprache/sprachverwendung/gloning/tx/1615murr.htm