Online medieval cooking classes

Over the last year and a half I have given a number of live online medieval cooking classes, some of which were recorded.   Each class is an hour long, and recording quality is sometimes a little... mixed. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy them. 

• Three Spanish recipes from Ruperto de Nola (1529) part 1  Recipes are Marzipans for Invalids, and Renaissance donuts)
• Three Spanish recipes from Ruperto de Nola (1529) part 2 Recipes are Marinated mutton and Renaissance donuts)
• Cooking together; a Janete of Hens from Ruperto de Nola (1529).  Recipe is here

Marzipans for Invalids

Marzipans for invalids who have lost the desire to eat, very good and of great sustenence

(Mazapanes para dolientes que pierdan el comer, muy buenos y de gran sustancia) 

The book of cooking, Ruperto de Nola (Robert), Logrono, 1529

Not the average marzipan, I encourage you to give this recipe a go! It is super simple to make, and unusually for a lot of recipes from this period, has provided the proportions of the ingredients. Don't let the fact that it contains of all things, chicken, put you off: trust me, they taste really good.

Take a very fat capon or a hen which is very fat, and cook it with just your salt until it is very well-cooked; then take the breasts from it, and all the white meat without skin, and weigh that meat, and take as much peeled almonds, and combine the meat and the almonds; and take as much fine white sugar as all of this, and grind the almonds a great deal, and then the meat with them, and then the sugar; and then grind everything together, and stretch that dough upon a wafer, and make little marzipans of the size that you wish; and make the edges a little high, and let it be a little deep in the middle; and moisten it with orange-flower water with some feathers.

And then sprinkle fine ground and sifted sugar over that water, and then moisten it again, and sprinkle it as before; and then cook them in the oven in some flat casseroles, and paper underneath; and let the fire of the oven be moderate; and upon removing it from the casserole, the paper must be cast off of each one, (70) in such a manner that the marzipan does not break.

And this is a very singular dish and of great support for the invalids who have lost the [desire] to eat; because the little of this that they eat is of more sustenance than any other thing; principally drinking in addition to it the sulsido of hens made in the jug; and this is beyond estimation.

Take a chicken breast and simmer it in salted water until thoroughly cooked - but try not to overcook as it will make the chicken dry. Weigh the cooked chicken breast and measure out the same weight of almonds (you can do this with peeled almonds, or save yourself some time and use ground almonds) and sugar.  Grind them all together in a mortar and pestle (you could use a food processor but just be aware that the texture will be a little different). 

If you don't have any wafers handy (who does? Maybe me since I did all those posts about wafers, here and here!), you can, at a pinch make these and just form them directly on to a sheet of baking paper. Make the sides a little raised.  Moisten with orange flower water, sprinkle with caster sugar and then sprinkle a bit more orange flower water on top. 

Bake in the oven at a moderate temperature until they are lightly browned.  They can be eaten either warm, or cold. 

You can see why this recipe would be a good food for an invalid - it gives an easy protein boost, the patient doesn't need to have good teeth as everything is ground up, and the sweetness makes it appetising. 

Renaissance Spanish donuts

Oranges of Xativa which are Cheesecakes

Toronjas de Xativa que son almojavans 

The book of cooking, Ruperto de Nola (Robert) Logrono, 1529

I experimented with a lot of versions of this recipe and finally settled on the one below.  These are essentially delicious renaissance sweet cheese donuts - I chose to form them into rings, which although it means they no longer resemble oranges, are definitely an acceptable shape according to the recipe which says that they can be formed into "whatever shapes and ostentations you wish". 

You must take new cheese and curd cheese, and grind them in a mortar together with eggs. Then take dough and knead those cheeses with the curd cheese, together with the dough. And when everything is incorporated and kneaded take a very clean casserole. And cast into it a good quantity of sweet pork fat or fine sweet oil. And when the pork grease or oil boils, make some balls from said dough, like toy balls or round oranges. And cast them into the casserole in such a manner that the ball goes floating in the casserole. And you can also make buñuelos (fritters) of the dough, or whatever shapes and ostentations you wish. And when they are the color of gold, take them out, and cast in as many others. And when everything is fried, put it on plates. And cast honey upon it, and on top of the honey [cast] ground sugar and cinnamon. 

However, note one thing: that you must put a bit of leaven in the cheeses and in the eggs, and in the other put flour. And when you make the balls, grease your hands with a little fine oil, and then [the balls] go to the casserole. And when it is inside, if the dough crackles it is a signal that it is very soft, and you must cast in more flour [into the dough] until it is harder. And when the fritter is made and fried, cast your honey on it, and [cast] sugar and cinnamon on top as is said above.

Redaction

150g new cheese (mozarella will do)
150g ricotta
2 eggs (~60g each)

2 cups of flour
1 tsp instant yeast*
cinnamon
sugar
honey
vegetable oil

Method

Grate the mozarella and grind in a large mortar with the ricotta and eggs. Stir in the yeast and allow to rest a little.
Measure the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre**. Stir in the cheese and egg mixture to make a soft dough. Tip out onto a board and knead for 5 or six minutes.

Allow to sit somewhere warm for approximately an hour.

Form into balls and using your thumb press a hole in through the middle. Allow to rest for 20 minutes or so.

Fry at 190° C until golden brown. Drizzle with honey while hot and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Best eaten hot.

 

Notes
*As well as experimenting with instant yeast I also made this recipe using a sour-dough starter. It worked well but as is typical with sour-doughs, it took basically a whole day to make.

**The recipe says to mix the wet ingredients with a dough – I did make a version mixing the wet ingredients with a simple water and flour dough. The resulting 'donuts' were pretty good but it was very awkward to mix the two. As the final results were almost identical, I have settled on using the flour.

A Janete of Hens

 This recipe is from "Libro de Guisados" by Ruperto de Nola. 

The earliest edition of this manuscript is in Catalan, and is known as the Libre del Coch by Maestre Robert. The first Spanish edition (1525) was titled Libro de Cozina and referred to the author as
Ruperto de Nola. The translation for this session is from the 1529 Spanish edition entitled Libro de Guisados, which was translated by Robin Caroll-Mann. 

The translation reads: 

Take a hen which is more than half-cooked and cut it up as if to make portions; and take good bacon which is fatty, and gently fry it with a little bit of onion. And then gently fry the cut-up hen with it. 

And take toasted almonds, and grind them, and mix with them quinces or pears which have been conserved in honey. 

And take the livers of the hens, and roast them on the coals. 

And when they are well-roasted put them in the mortar of the almonds, and grind everything together; and then take a crustless piece of bread toasted and soaked in white vinegar, grind it in the mortar with the other stuff.

And when it is well-ground, blend it with hen's broth that is well-salted; and strain it all through a sieve; and cast it in a pot; and cast the hen in also; and cast in all fine spices, and a good quantity of sugar. 

And this sauce must be a little bit sour. And when the sauce is cooked, cast in a little finely shredded parsley, and prepare your dishes, and then [cast] upon them sugar and cinnamon.

I have not provided quantities as this will depend very much on your own tastes, and the number of people you are serving. 

• Chicken pieces
• Chicken stock
• Bacon
• Onion
• Chicken liver/s (you really only need around 1 liver for a serving for four)
• Bread
• White vinegar
• Almonds (almond milk as an alternate)
• Spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, coriander)
• Quinces conserved in honey (quince paste)
• Parsley

Basic Steps

Chop your onion and bacon into small pieces. Peel the almonds if required. Toast a slice of bread, then cut off the crusts and cool. Finely chop parsley and set aside. 

Toast the almonds in a small fry pan. Once browned, remove from the pan and put into whatever vessel you will use to grind them to cool. Add the quince paste and grind up. 

Using the same pan, fry your prepared livers in just enough oil or bacon fat to stop them sticking too badly to the pan. Cook until cooked all the way through. Add them to the mortar. 

Soak your slice of bread with white vinegar. 

Add to the mortar with the almonds, liver and conserved quince, and grind everything together.  

In a pot, heat enough chicken stock to cover your chicken pieces to a low boil.  Add your chicken pieces, bring back up to the boil and then drop down to a simmer.  Cook them in stock until almost entirely cooked (about 10-15 minutes), and then pull out of the stock to drain for a short while (reserve the stock!)

In the meantime fry your bacon and onion until the onion is starting to go clear but isn't yet brown. Add your chicken pieces and brown them. 

Blend the mixture in the mortar with the chicken stock.  

Push it through a strainer, and add to the pan with the chicken, bacon and onion – let the chicken simmer in the sauce on a low heat until you are certain it is thoroughly cooked. 

Spice to taste – it should be just a little bit sour  

Not long before serving stir in the chopped parsley.  

Sprinkle (LIGHTLY!) with cinnamon and a tiny bit of sugar and serve.