Footnote: 3

Multiple Dish”Pressis Nourissant”1 or “A Furtive Snack”2

The concept for this Noble Snack2 started with figure 1 in Fabulous Feast “A man is served at the round table set before an impressive fireplace; another man warms himself while sitting in a large barrel chair. The white-coifed servitor from the kitchen beyond, in which hangs suspended by a chain within a large open hearth, serves a hearty haunch of meat” From the Da Costa Hours, Bruges, 1520. New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, M399, f2v.3 There is also a candle lighted, and a large fire in the fireplace in front of which the man in the barrel chair sits.

This meal is defiantly being served late at night as the man before the fire warming his feet and there is a candle lighted on the table. The meal is being eaten in what appears to be a bedroom (note the bed at the far right hand side of the picture). Also there is a notation where Digby describes The Queen’s ‘Pressis Nourissant’ by stating “…a piece of Veal, and Capon and put them to rost with convenient fire…heat the juyce of an Orange…the Queen used this at night instead of supper; for when she took this, she eat nothing else.” Digby,133.4

So the focus of this multi dish meal is designed to be hot or warm, relatively simple and what a noble or merchant class might have eaten. With that in mind the menu is as follows:

Roasted Stuffed QuailFennel and Leeks with Saffron (Lekys & Fenkel)Savory Cheese, Pear Cheese, Farmers Cheese, Fresh Butter, and Wheat BreadCheese Tart (Tart de Bry)Buttermilk / Orange Barley Water

Similar items were also noted on menus found in two menus form MS COSIN V. III. 11©. Menu one line 11 mentions qualys rostyd.5 Another source of excellent information on milk, butter, cheese, and buttermilk was “A Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food Processing and Consumption.” Though space does not allow here to go greatly in depth I will quote from this book in reference to butter, cheese, and buttermilk. “The impression is that cheese was the most important dairy product; butter was made from the whey, and the buttermilk drunk. Consuming dairy products in this way makes an economical use of the resource.”6 Each recipe will be discusses each on its own page. Along with notes and observations.

1 Visser, Margaret, “Rituals of Dinner”, New York: Penguid, 1991, pages 159~1602 Magnuson, Emily, “ The Closet Opened”, Gaines Junction University of Pennsylvania, www.gainesjunction.tamu.edu/issues/vol3numI. Notes #113 Cosman, Madeeine Pelner, “Fabulous Feasts”, New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1992, page 104 The Project Gutenberg eBook, “The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby”, www.gutenberg.org/files/16441.5 Hieatt, Constance B. and Butler, Sharon, “Curye on Inglysch”, London: The Early English Text Society, 1985, page 39~40.6 Hagen, Ann, “A Handbook of Angol-Saxon Food Processing and Consumption”, Chippenham, England: Anglo-Saxon Books, 2002, pages 24~33.

Roasting of Fowl 3

57. Roasted Stuffed Quail 7 / 7

6 small or 4 large quail8 ounces Farmers cheese (the cheese was made by me) (2 ounces per bird)8 walnut size chucks of beef marrow 8 thin slices fresh organic bacon (2 per bird)8 bay leaves (I added Rosemary (Rosmarinus Officinalis) another herb that was common to kitchen garden)Sea salt Ground black pepper8

Period Recipe:

Pluck them dry, then remove the crop and innards, and singe them over a smoke-free fire, and skewer them with slices of fat and bay leaves between them, and fill their cavities with fine rich cheese and beef morrow; eat them with fine salt, and bring them to table covered (to keep warm) between two bowls or plates. (VT Maz Scul 97)

Notes: Salt and Pepper the insides of the quails and stuff each one generously with a sprig of Rosemary and Farmers cheese. Then wrap each bird with 2 slices of bacon, on the breast and on the back of each quail, and fasten with toothpicks or twine.In period these would have been skewered and roasted over a fire. For my cooking I placed the birds on a wire rack and placed in a roasting pan in the oven. Cook them in a preheated hot oven (400 degrees) for 20 to 25 minutes, checking frequently to make sure they do not overcook, and turning them once about halfway the cooking time. When they are nice and brown, serve them with the pan juices and sprinkled with salt. By using the Organic Bacon I did not need the bone marrow, and choose Rosemary instead of Bay Leaf as I felt that the flavor fit better with the quail & the fresh cheese.

B. Fennel and Leeks with Saffron7

2 1/4 pounds Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)2 large Leeks2 ounces salt pork or blanched pancetta (organic bacon also works for this dish)1 egg1 pinch saffron (Crocus Sativus) (a dozen threads)Sea salt to taste

7 Scully, Terence, “The Viandier of Taillevent”, Canada: University of Ottawa Press, 1988, pages 284`285, items 45, 97.8 Redon, Sabban, Serventi, “The Medieval Kitchen”, Chicago, Ill.: The University of Chicago Press, 1993, page 63,75,113.

Wash the fennel, thinly slice the white bulbs, do the same with the leeks (do not use the tops). Wash the Fennel and Leeks under running water. Cut up the pork in small pieces and cook in a pan until it begins to brown. Add the fennel and leeks and stir. Add ¾ cup of water and some salt. Cook, covered, over low heat for about 30 minutes, depending on how soft you like your vegetables, and I prefer to cook mine to still have a slight crunch. Beat an egg with the saffron and set aside to infuse. Just before serving, stir some of the hot juices from the vegetables into the eggs and saffron mixture, off the heat, pour the egg mixture into the pan of vegetables and mix well. Serve hot or warm.

Notes:This recipe was pretty easy to follow; I choose to use organic bacon to complement the quail.

Another source of this recipe is called “Finocchio” (Libro Della Cocina), Mediterranean Cuisine by Barbara Santich, page 119. This version is very similar to the one above, except that the leeks and fennel is pan fried in olive oil with the pork.

Footnote: 3

Savory Cheese, Pear Cheese, Farmers Cheese, Fresh Butter, and Wheat Bread

“My Lady of Middlesex makes excellent slipp-coat Cheese of good morning milk, putting Cream to it. A quart of Cream is the proportion she useth to as much milk, as both together make a large round Cheese of the bigness of an ordinary Tart-plate, or cheese-plate; as big as an ordinary soft cheese, that eh Market women sell for ten pence…”9

Farmers Cheese (Neufchatel)

1-gallon whole milk (non-homogenized)4 ounces of mesophilic cheese starter culture (can also use buttermilk or an 8 ounce container of plain yogurt that contain a live culture)1 pint of heavy cream (I did not need to add this since I used organic whole milk that has been low temperature pasteurized but not homogenized) 4-8 drops of Rennet1/3 cup of water*The cheese that I have made here is also used in the filling for the quail, the cheese tart, and the 3 types of Farmers cheese.

Step One: making the Mesophilic starter:Sterilize a clean one-quart canning jar and its cover by placing them in boiling water for five minutes. Cool them and fill the jar with fresh skim milk, leaving ½ inch of head- space. Cover the jar tightly with its sterilized lid.Put the jar in a big deep pot with the water level at least ¼ inch over the top of the jar lid. Put the pot on the burner and bring the water to a boil. Note when the water begins to boil, and let it continue at a slow boil for thirty minutes.Take the jar out of the water, and let it cool to 72, away from drafts. (To check the temperature, use the current room temperature, to avoid contaminating the milk).Inoculate the milk by adding the contents of the freeze-dried starter culture packet to the milk (still at 72) (the starter culture was purchased from a cheese supply company). Add the power quickly, to minimize exposure to the air. Re-cover and swirl the jar every five minutes or so, to mix and dissolve the powered culture thoroughly. Put the jar where the milk temperature for fifteen to twenty-four hours during its ripening period. Sixteen hours usually does the trick, but can be left for an additional 8 hours.The culture will have the consistency of a good yogurt. It should separate cleanly from the sides of the jar, and the surface should be shiny. Taste it. It should be slightly acid and also a bit sweet. Chill it immediately. You can keep it in the refrigerator for up to three days before using it. The remaining used produce should be placed in ice cube trays and frozen for storage (make sure to sterilize the plastic ice cube trays). When frozen remove from the tray and place in a plastic bag and place back into the freezer.

9 The Project Gutenberg eBook “The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby”, www.gutenberg.org/files/16441, “To make Silpp-coat cheese”

Each cube is equal to about one ounce of starter and keeps for about a month in the freezer.

Step Two:Place milk into large pan. Warm milk using in-direct warming method (I used a large metal pan in a sink of warm water) raised temperature of milk to 72 F (I found due to the fact that I tend to keep my house cooler that I needed to warm the milk to 80~85F). Add 4 ounces of mesophilic starter (four cubes of starter). Add 4~8 drops of Rennet (dilute Rennet to 1/3 cup of cool water). Let milk sit covered 12 to 18 hours or until a thick curd has formed.

Pour the curds into a cheesecloth-lined colander and hang to drain for 12 to 24 hours or until bag has stopped dripping.

Place the curds into a cheesecloth-lined colander and place the colander in a pot. Place a plate in the colander, resting on the bag of curds. Place a weight on the plate (the weight of two bricks is sufficient (wrap the bricks in a plastic bag)). Put the cover on the pot and refrigerate for 13 to 24 hours.

Take the cheese from the pot and place in a bowl. Knead and mold the cheese by hand into four cheeses. You can add salt to taste and add a variety of condiments if desired such as chopped chive, chopped garlic, etc.10

Savory Cheese

Take one 1/3 of the amount of the cheese above and add a good handful of Fresh Dill (Anethum graveolens) (about 3 tablespoons) and a 1/3 of a cup of finely chopped Garlic (Allium sativum). Place in a container add another tablespoonful of dill to the top and cover and refrigerate.

Notes:This cheese is better if you make it 1 week in advance and give the flavor a chance to reach mature.

Pear Cheese

Take 1/3 of the amount of the cheese above add to this 3 ounces of sieved pears, 1 ounce of pea juice, and one ounce each minced pears and apricots. Place into a covered container and refrigerate.

Observations:

The flavor on the Pear Cheese is very mild and a more flavorful fruit might have been a better choice such as apricot or a tart apple.10 Carroll, Ricki & Robert, “Cheese making made easy”, United States: Capital City Press, 1996, page 36~37

Notes:

The flavor of this cheese is slightly sweet and very light.

Farmer’s cheese or soft cheeses were some of the earliest and easiest cheese to make. In period they would have left whole milk to warm over night by the fire, they also added things like nettle juice, acid (vinegar or lemon juice) to cause the milk to callboard.

Neufchatel is a Norman style cheese; it is believed that it was first mentioned in a text from the year 1035 A.D. in the Neufchatel-en-bray countryside. The cheese can definitely be documented in 1543 in the ledgers of Saint-Aman Abby of Rouen where the cheese was called Neufchatel.11 The book was “A Proper newe Booke of Cokerye.

Other sources used for making the cheese included Tournaments Illuminated Issue #143, Summer 2002, “Cheese making at Home”, by Bryn Smith pages 19~23.

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11 Norman Cheeses, www.formages.org/fnd/fdn_neufcatel_en

Cheese Tart (Tart de Bry) 12

Original:174. Tart de Bry. Take a crust ynche depe in a trap. Take yolkes of rawe & chese

ruayn & medle it & pe yolkes togyder. Do perto powdour ginger, sugar, safroun, and salt. Do it in a tarp; bake it & serue it forth.

Translation: Make a pie crust an inch deep in pie pan. Take yolks of eggs raw and autumn cheese and mix it and the yolks together. Do there to powder ginger, sugar, saffron, and salt. Do it in a pie shell, bake it and serve it forth.

Step one:

Tart Shell2 cups of Organic White Flour¼ cup Lard 2 tablespoons butter (butter made by me) Buttermilk (Just enough liquid to make a firm dough), by product of making the butter.Pinch salt

Combine flour, salt, lard, and butter in a large bowl. Cut in lard and butter into the flour and forms pea size balls. Add enough buttermilk to form a form ball. Be careful not to over work the dough because the curst will be tough.Let it rest, place dough in a lightly greased pie pan forming by hand making sure it is even in thickness. Place tart shell in a 400 oven for 15 minutes or until lightly brown.

Step two:

Filling

4 Egg yolks16 ounces of Farmers Cheese (made by me)½ teaspoon Ginger (Zingiber Officinale) or to taste filling should have a slight bite1/3 cup SugarA pinch of saffron (Crocus Sativus) about 12 threadsA pinch of sea saltCream together sugar, eggs, salt and ginger, when smooth add cheese in small amounts till mixed (by mixing by hand you may have some small lumps of cheese). Place filling

12Heiatt, Constance and Sharon Butler, “Curye on Inglish: …Forme of Cury,” New York, The Early English text Society, 1985, 174

in the tart shell and bake in a 375 oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling has set. Serve warm or cold.

The original recipe called for “Chese Ruayn” a soft cheese. 13

Butter

½ gallon of half & half½ gallon of heavy whipping cream

Let the cream and half & half come to room temperature. Place in a butter churn, agitate the mixture till the product passes thru all stages and separates into buttermilk and a yellow mass of butter. Separate the (save the buttermilk) butter and place in a bowl and add salt to taste, kneed the butter till no more whey will separate from the butter (The dryer you can get the butter the longer it will keep). Place in a covered dish and refrigerate.

Wheat Bread

4 cups of stone ground whole-wheat flour2 tablespoons sugar½ to 1 cup of warm buttermilk2 teaspoons dry yeast½ teaspoon salt½ teaspoon olive oil

13 Translation of tart de Bry, www.godecookery.com

Footnote: 3

Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl add 1/3 of a cup of warm milk and sugar and yeast to proof. When yeast has proofed add to dry ingredients and add the remaining liquid and mix by hand. If mixture is too dry add a little more liquid, if mixture is to wet add a little more flour. When mixture makes a firm ball (not sticky) Kneed by hand for 10 to 15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover, place in a warm area. Let the dough rise till it is about double in size. Turn out of the bowl and lightly kneed, divide into thirds and let rise a second time. When risen for the second time bake in a pre-heated oven (350~375). Bake for 45~55 minutes or until golden brown, when thumped with index and thumb the loaf will have hollow sound. Place on a rack and let cool.

Orange Barley Water

2 cups of hulled barley4 cups of water1 orange

In a large bowl mix barley and water and let it sit over night. Separate the barley and the water. To the water add the juice of the orange and the zest. Serve cool or room temperature.

Buttermilk

Cool the buttermilk and serve (this is not the type of buttermilk you buy in the store, originally buttermilk was what was left after making of butter).

Conclusion:

On the following pages you will see additional examples of people enjoying small meals.

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Footnote: 3

Footnote: 3

Footnote: 3