Kirschen - Cherries Stewed in Wine

Kirschen

Cherries Stewed in Wine

Found on the most excellent site Medieval Cuisine
Source: Ein New Kochbuch by Marx Rumpolt, a 16th century collection of German recipes

Original Recipe:

Kirschen/ die dürr seinn/ seß zu mit halb Wasser unnd halb Wein/ magst sie kalt oder warm geben.

Translation: (Translated by M. Grasse)

Cherries/ that are dried/ set to (cook? Or soak) with half water and half wine/ (you) may serve them cold or warm.

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This seems a very basic recipe compared to a similar cherry dessert (Tarte of Cherries) from a slightly later period English cookbook: Thomas Dawson, The Good Huswifes Jewell that I found on Gode Cookery at http://www.godecookery.com/friends/frec09.htm. "To make a close Tarte of Cherries. Take out the stones and laye them as whole as you can in a Charger and put in synamon and ginger to them and laye them in a tart whole and close them and let them stand three quarters of an hour in the oven, then take a sirrope of Muscadine and damaske water and sugar and serve it." There's also a contemporary version I'd like to try eventually at Epicurous.



But I restrained myself, and (mostly) followed the recipe for Kirschen, using an inexpensive cab sav that I happened to have on hand. During the initial boil the wine smell was so pungent that I added a tablespoon of honey.

 [put photos here]

After I had already made this recipe, I found this one as well:

Das Kochbuch des Meisters Eberhard, South German, Mid-15th century or slightly later

http://home.earthlink.net/~al-tabbakhah/GermanCookbooks/MeisterEberhard.html
To make a sauce of tart cherries.
If you wish to make a good sauce of tart cherries, put the cherries into a pot and place it on the embers and let them boil. Then cool down again and pass them through a cloth, put it back into the pot, place it on the embers and let it boil well until it thickens. Then add honey and grated bread and cloves and good spice powder and put it into a small cask. It will stay good three or four years.