Taillis as Served During Lent

Taillis à servir comme en karesme. Prenez fins roisins, lait d’amandes bouli, eschaudés, galettes et croutes de pain blanc et pommes couppées par menus morceaulx quarrés, et faites boulir vostre lait, et saffren pour lui donner couleur, et du succre, et puis mettez tout ensemble tant qu’il soit bien liant pour tailler. L’en en sert en karesme en lieu de riz. -LM
TAILLIS to be served in Lent. Take fine grapes, boiled milk of almonds, scalded, cakes and crusts of bread and apples cut in small cubes, and boil your milk, and saffron to give it colour, and sugar, and then mix it all together until it is stiff enough to be cut. It is served in Lent instead of rice.
Ingredients

Bread; Almond Milk; Figs; Dates; Raisins; Red Wine; Sugar; Salt; Nutmeg; Mace; Cloves; Galangal; Ginger

We have three recipes for this dish, two of which are nearly identical in the same reference, LV, but one entitled “Taillis” and one entitled “Taillis for Lent” with only one meaningful difference – There are no Galettes called for in “Taillis for Lent.” My suspicion is that Galettes would not be available during Lent due to having some unavoidable animal ingredient. The other pastry called for, “Echaudés” could be made with or without butter, and so would be available during Lent in an appropriate form. Otherwise, the recipes all amount to the same, except that LV tells us to use raisins, figs, and dates, while LM instructs the use of raisins and apples. Both specify seedless raisins, and while both translated versions choose to translate “roisin” as “grape,” this is a mistake of context as the word can mean either. During Lent, the only grapes available would have been long dried – raisins were the only option.

While it does not appear as a direction specifically in this recipe, elsewhere we are told to wash dried fruits very well in wine (DF 21, 40.) For the sake of taste, I have chosen to include that direction here. Likewise, this recipe does not specify spices, but also does not forbid them as many do (DF 65-78) so we are left to make our own choice. Again, for the sake of taste, I have chosen to include a small measure of them. Likewise, we are left to guess about the nature of Echaudés at this time since no recipe survives, but we do know they were a boiled, yeasted dough, which would result in a soft, open crumbed product – similar to modern commercial bread in my opinion. For this recipe, I chose to use modern Almond Milk since it contributes very little to the taste of the recipe, but scratch made is of course always good.

References

LM 237, LV 64, 207

Modern Redaction
1 1/2 lbsBread or Pizelles
6 c.Almond Milk
8 oz.Figs, dried, diced
8 oz.Dates, dried, diced
8 oz.Raisins
1/2 c.Red Wine
1/2 c.Sugar
1/2 t.Salt
1 t.LM Minor Spices
1/2 t.Ginger
  • Combine the Bread, Pizelles, and Almond Milk in a large pot over medium heat.
  • Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
  • When the Almond Milk comes to a boil, add the Fruit mixture to the pot and stir everything very well
  • Allow this to simmer, stirring if needed, until it is very thick.
  • Turn the hot mixture out into a bowl, loaf pan, or other mold.
  • If the mold is metal, oil it beforehand. If it is silicone, do not.
  • Refrigerate in the mold overnight, then turn out onto a plate and serve in slices.
Process Photos