Harte Eyer - Seasoned Hard Boiled Eggs

Harte Eyer

Seasoned Hard Boiled Eggs

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

Original Recipes:

Nim̅ harte Eyer/ gib sie besonder neben dem Salat/ bestraͤw sie mit gruͤn Pettersilgen vnd Saltz/ vnd geuß Essig darvber.

Translation: (Translated by M. Grasse)

Take hard boiled eggs/ serve them especially beside the salad/ sprinkle them with green parsley and salt/ and pour vinegar over.

This recipe is an excellent accompaniment to the Gruen FeldtSalat.

Radish Salad

 

Radish Salad

Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch, c. 1581, translated by M. Grasse

45. Or take a radish/ cut in small and thin/ or fine diced/ season it with vinegar/ oil and salt/ so it is good too. (Marx Rumpolt)

 

Goose with Sauce Madame

from To The King's Taste by Lorna J. Sass

"Take sawge, parsel, ysope and savray, quinces and peers, garlek and grapes, and fylle the gees therewith and sowe the hole that no greece come oute and roost hem wel, and kepe the grece that fallith thereof. Take galyntyne and grece and do in a possynet. When the gees buth rosted ynouh, take and smyte hem on pecys, and that, that is withinne, and do it in a possynet and put thereinne wyne, if it be to thyk.  Do thereto powdor of galyngale, powdor-douce and salt, and boyle the sawse and dresse the gees in disshes, and lay the sowe onoward."


1 goose
 salt
2 tart apples
2 cups diced pears
1 cup seedless grapes (I had none, and included a kiwi)
15 cloves garlic
1 tsp. dried sage
1/2 cup parsley
 1 tsp. dried savory (I also had no hyssop)

Salt the goose inside and out.
chop the fruits and peel the garlic, mix with the herbs and stuff the goose. Roast in a very hot oven, in a baking pan with some water in the bottom, turning occasionally, about 2 hours or until done.  Remove the stuffing and puree it with galantine (see below) and some of the drippings,  and thin it with wine if needed. Carve the goose meat and heat it in the sauce.

Galantine
1 slice dry bread, crumbled (gluten free works fine)
1 tsp.  powdered galangal
1/4 tsp. each cinnamon and ginger
1 cup broth or bouillon
2-3 Tbsp. wine vinegar

heat and whisk all this in a saucepan until smooth.

Sauce for Crane or Duck

The ducks went to the processor last week. And though I will sell most of them, I had to hang on to a few to enjoy. I found a number of applicable recipes in Apicius' De Re Coquinaria, translated as Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Joseph Vehling. This is number 215. Like many of Apicius' recipes, it is a mere list of ingredients; proportions and technique are for the redactor to discover.

"Pepper, lovage, cumin, dry coriander, mint, origany, pine nuts, dates, broth, oil, honey, mustard, and wine."

What I did this time:
Put the duck to roast, covered, with a little water in the pan, at 325 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.


1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh minced lovage leaf
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
2 Tbsp fresh minced mint
3 Tbsp fresh oregano
2 Tbsp pine nuts
8 dates or figs
1/4 c red wine



1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 c bouillon
1/2 c renderings from the roasting pan
2 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp salt or to taste ( I am assuming that Roman "broth" was a salty condiment, as it appears in almost every recipe. Possibly it simply means dissolved salt, since Roman salt came in big dusty chunks from the mines, and dissolving it and letting it settle would be the preferred method of getting rid of the dirt.)


I put the spices and fresh herbs through a food processor (much faster than the historic mortar and pestle!) with the pine nuts and dry fruit.  What I had on hand turned out to be figs, not dates, so the resulting sauce was slightly different than intended, but whatever. I added the wine to moisten it so it would process better. I then sauteed this paste in the oil so the flavors mellowed, and dissolved it in the broth and honey before returning it to the blender for a final smooth finish.

Now, in true medieval fashion, cut bite-sized strips of hot duck meat, dip the end in the sauce, and enjoy! (Like Chaucer's Prioress, never wet your fingers in the sauce too deep.)

Rummaniyya (stew soured with pomegranite) by 'Ajib al-Mutawakkili
Pg 279 in Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens, Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's 10th century Baghdadi cookbook

Funges (mushrooms and leeks)

"Take funges, and pare hem clene and dyce hem. Take leke, and shred hym small and do hym to seeth in gode broth. Color it with safron, and do there-inne powder fort."

Wash and chop about 1 1/2 pounds of mushrooms (crimini, portabella, or simiar) and 1 large leek, the white and light green parts. Simmer them tender in a cup or less of chicken broth.  Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper or less, and 1/4 tsp. ginger.  The saffron is superfluous, and expensive. A sprinkle of sugar is nice too.

I'm sure any other member of the onion family would be good here  in lieu of leeks.

Perrey of Peson (fresh pea soup)

"Take peas and boil them until they are soft. Cover them until they burst.  Then take them out and strain them through a cloth. Take onions and mince them and boil them in the same stew, adding oil. Cast on sugar, salt, and saffron, and boil them well after that and serve them forth."  from an Anglo-Norman recipe collection.

2 lbs. frozen peas
1 quart chicken broth
1 large onion
2 Tablespoons sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
tiny pinch saffron
drizzle of oil or butter is optional. The broth probably contained some fat.

boil the peas and minced onion in the broth until very soft, puree in a blender, then season to taste with the remaining ingredients or more if you like.
This is very tasty as it stands, but other possible seasonings might include a bit of mint, tarragon, or basil, pepper,  coriander....