Below, you will find my notes and explanations regarding the procedures and ingredients chosen for this project. The goal is to recognize both the breadth and limitations of our current understanding, and to highlight instances where I have intentionally deviated from historical guidance for reasons of safety, convenience, or inclusion. This section addresses broad choices that affect the entire project, while additional information specific to each dish can be found with its respective redaction. The notes are organized into Techniques, General Ingredient Choices, and Specific Ingredient Notes, and indexed for convenience.
General Ingredients
Specific Ingredients
Almond Milk
Amydon
Cinnamon
Dyestuffs & Colorants
Saffron
Verjus
Wine
Techniques
Modern Food Safety
With the exception of the Compote, modern food safety principles have been applied throughout. This includes the use of modern sanitation methods, temperature control, and proper separation to prevent cross-contamination. Any historical instruction that suggests handling food in a way that would be considered unsafe by today’s standards has been deliberately disregarded.
Grinding Spices
Traditionally, spices were ground by hand in a mortar. We can closely replicate this by using a modern burr grinder or purchasing spices that have been ground in a roller or hammer mill—both of which rely on the same physical forces to produce nearly identical results. It’s important to note that using a modern blade grinder would not produce the same outcome, as it uses different forces and generates significantly more heat and oxidation of the spices. Using a modern burr grinder allows for greater accessibility and convenience, especially in a kitchen where four or five people are preparing a meal in one or two days, a task that historically would have involved hundreds of laborers over the course of a week. For the purposes of this feast, all recipes assume ground spices, which have either been purchased pre-ground when possible or ground with a burr grinder.
Meat, Fish, and Lent
In early 15th century France, food customs were strongly influenced by Catholic beliefs and traditions. Specific days were designated for the consumption of meat, while on other days, meat was forbidden, and only fish or other non-meat options were allowed. These restrictions were particularly tied to religious observances like fast days, including Fridays and Lent, during which fish was permissible but meat was prohibited. This separation of “meat days” and “fish days” is clearly reflected in the historical texts and recipes that serve as our primary sources.
Because of these religious mandates, it would have been uncommon to find both meat, fish, and what we now refer to as “vegan” dishes served together in equal measure on the same day. Historically, meals adhered strictly to these religious rules, with clear boundaries between days of indulgence and days of abstinence. However, for the purposes of our modern event, I have chosen to present a mix of both “meat day” and “fish day” recipes. This decision was made to accommodate modern dietary preferences, offer a wider variety of options for diners with various dietary restrictions, and to showcase a broader spectrum of the period’s culinary practices. By doing so, we provide a more inclusive and comprehensive experience, while still honoring the essence of medieval foodways.
Cooking Methods
Careful consideration has been given to how different cooking methods impact both the flavor and presentation of each dish. In instances where food would historically be prepared in a vessel over an open fire, we have adapted by using a modern range. For roasts and other dishes traditionally cooked directly on the fire, the limitations of our facility and the season have required us to use ovens instead. When appropriate, such as for dishes that require slow roasting, a smoker has been used either in whole or in part to replicate the desired effect.
General Ingredients Choices
Broth
Although it deviates from historical practices, we have opted to use mushroom or vegetable broth in some non-meat dishes where beef or mutton broth is traditionally indicated. Mushrooms were known to be edible during the period and are mentioned in our sources (and are, in fact, featured on our menu). This substitution has a minimal impact on the overall flavor while making the menu more accessible to those with dietary restrictions. In dishes where other meats are present, we have adhered to the use of meat-based broths as originally indicated.
Herbs
While our historical sources seem to assume the year-round availability of herbs, it is unlikely that all herbs were in season at all times throughout Europe. However, our chosen time period is just before the onset of the “Little Ice Age,” meaning that in France, particularly Southern France, many herbs could have been available fresh for most of the year. Given that we now have year-round access to fresh herbs, and they generally offer superior flavor, we will use fresh herbs whenever possible. It’s also reasonable to assume that the wealthiest banquets could afford fresh herbs on demand, regardless of the season.
In my redactions, fresh herbs are assumed, and quantities are measured by weight. The typical 2×5″ clamshell container available in grocery stores is labeled with the weight, usually around .25 oz. These measurements don’t need to be exact, so “.25 oz.” can be interpreted as “1 small package.” Double check the packages, some herbs – like Oregano, Marjoram, and Rosemary – may be sold in .5oz clamshells. Parsley is an exception, typically weighing about 2 oz. per bunch—I recommend using flat-leaf parsley for better flavor. If only dried herbs are available, conversion charts can be useful for adjusting quantities.
For our event, we will use a combination of store-bought herbs and some that I’ve grown in my garden, particularly for rare herbs no longer commonly used in modern foodways, such as rue, costmary (coq), and hyssop.
Seasonality and Modern Access to Ingredients
One significant difference between modern and historical foodways is our relatively unhindered access to ingredients, regardless of seasonality. Thanks to modern transportation, refrigeration, and preservation techniques, we now enjoy the luxury of fresh foods year-round. This event takes place in mid-January, and strictly observing historical seasonality would result in a menu dominated by salted meats and fish, as was the necessity in the past. However, few modern diners would find such a menu appealing today.
While I have respected Le Ménagier de Paris‘s instruction that sauces in winter should be stronger than those in summer – a principle I also agree with – the overall goal has been to create a menu that is both delicious and intriguing, while making use of ingredients available to us today. This allows us to craft a winter menu that suits contemporary tastes while still paying homage to historical traditions.
Spices
Many entire projects could be devoted entirely to sourcing and replicating, as precisely as possible, the specific species, quality, and condition of spices as they arrived in Europe in the 15th Century. As that is not the aim of this project, I have sourced the best quality spices which meet the needs of the flavors being presented, in my professional opinion. The majority of spices needed can be acquired at Penzey’s Spices, my spicer of choice.
Vegetables, Meat & Dairy
We must acknowledge that meats commonly sold in our time vary significantly from historical meats from the same source. Our chickens are much larger, and present much more white meat. Our pigs are much leaner. We raise large amounts of cattle specifically for beef consumption. Our milk is homogenized and pasteurized. Likewise, vegetable varieties have grown and evolved over the centuries, in particular since the advent of factory farming. Unless specifically indicated, I have chosen to use the commonly available modern form of any given ingredient. Sourcing highly specific meats and produce for an event this size would have been very difficult, and would have resulted in an enormous, I think, waste of budget.
Specific Ingredients Notes
Almond Milk
Almond milk was extremely common in Medieval Europe, much moreso than now even with its modern popularity. Hoping to save myself labor and cost, I started this project by comparing home-made almond milk with a variety of recommended store-bought choices. The comparison was, unfortunately, not even remotely close. Home-made almond milk is richer, more flavorful, and a completely different color and texture from the modern commercial product. All of the almond milk used in these recipes is made from scratch, as-needed.
Amydon, a form of wheat starch, is traditionally made by soaking wheat berries in water for several days and then pounding them finely. This process takes no special skill or procedure, and produces no particularly unique results by comparison to extracted starch. While the technology for extracting starch directly from flour by kneading underwater was known to Arab cultures, including neighboring Andalusia, I admit there is no specific evidence of its use in France at this time. However, the goal of Amydon being a thickener without flavor, I chose to substitute the modern Cornstarch which is readily available and tolerated well by most people. It has roughly the same properties as wheat starch in the final accounting in terms of gel strength and texture. Therefore, I chose to use the ingredient which makes the meal accessible to more guests by eliminating the unnecessary presence of allergens.
Cinnamon
Selecting Cinnamon presents a conundrum in historical recreation. The words for this spice are non specific indications of species, but are used interchangeably for a variety of plants we still call Cinnamon today. While Ceylon Cinnamon (c. verum) is what I prefer, and certainly made it to Europe along with all of its cousins, we can also be absolutely certain that Cassia (c. cassia) did as well. Without evidence of a specific species being used – which I find curious since types of ginger and coriander are enumerated and specified – I chose to use the familiar, readily available, and much more budget-friendly Cassia.
Dyestuffs & Colorants
In the case where historical dyestuffs are called for which are no longer part of modern foodways (azure, alkanet, etc.,) I have chosen to instead use modern azo dyes. Whereas the specified medieval dyestuffs may be completely unsafe to eat, or merely uncommon in the modern diet, Azo food colorants are FDA approved and GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) in the USA and authorized for use by the European Commission. I see no value in the risk of consuming those historical coloring agents, but as much as possible, I have aimed to recreate the appropriate hue and saturation that the indicated dyestuff would have produced.
By this point, Saffron is relegated primarily to a colorant rather than a spice used for flavor. Because of this, in recipes where the tremendous expense of Saffron would go unnoticed by the typical diner, we have also substituted an azo dye (see above.) If Saffron is called to be sprinkled on top of the dish, or contributes considerable flavor to the dish, we have used genuine Saffron.
Verjus is available from commercial sources, but very expensive. We were fortunate to discover that Black Ankle Vineyards, located within our very own Barony in Mt. Airy, MD produces Verjus and sells it by the case at a greatly reduced cost compared to purchasing individual bottles delivered from California. While this is not a local ingredient in the historical sense, we are nevertheless pleased to be using a local ingredient in the modern sense.
Wine
Wine is used extensively throughout cuisine in our sources, and is used in volume for our feast. Since SCA funds cannot be used to purchase alcohol, and I am an experienced brewer, I made the wine myself. Wine during this time was typically very young, six months or less in storage, so I did not concern myself with aging or vintage. The wine was made using Zinfandel grape concentrate, spring water, and Lalvin EC-1118 yeast.
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