While preparing the menu for my upcoming Easter-themed medieval cookery class, I came across a great dish that fits all of the criteria: simple, relatively fast and uses hard-cooked eggs. Easter follows the Catholic tradition of observing Lent, a six-week period of religious devotion and observance that includes fasting and abstinence from certain types of…
Category: Medieval
German Stewed Turnips / Köel Ruben (1604)
Turnips were a staple food item in Europe for centuries. In ancient Rome, Pliny the Elder wrote that next to corn and beans, there was “no plant that is of more extensive use” than the turnip. During the medieval and renaissance eras they were inexpensive, easy to grow and survived the cold of winter. Root…
Daryols and Diriola: Two Medieval Custard Pies
One type of medieval custard tart was the Dariole, also known as Daryoles, Dariolles, Daryalys, and Diriola.
Ris Engoule – Rice in Beef Stock
Today’s medieval recipe is from the 14th century French recipe collection known as Le Viandier de Taillevent. Ris Engoule is a simple rice dish not intended to be eaten during Lent or on a Fast day. The source manuscript was possibly written as early as 1300 but the collection is generally attributed to Guillaume Tirel…
Bruet of Almaynne in Lente
Medieval rice porridge with dates, c. 1420.
Lombard Chicken Pasties
Few foods are as stereotypically “medieval” as the pasty (PASS-tee), a small meat pie in the shape of a semi-circle. Because of their compact size, pasties were perfect meals for busy medieval urbanites and were an ideal street food for travelers. They could be eaten hot or cold and could be wrapped to-go and eaten…
Cryppys, Crisps: 14th-century Fritters?
Cryppys, often called crisps, are another type of fried honey-flavored treat from 14th-century England. Unlike crispels, crisps are considered fritters because they are made with batter instead of pastry dough. Many sweet fritters of the era contained fruits (especially apples) or other ingredients like almonds. This particular recipe is very basic, containing only flour, egg whites…
Honey Crispels
If you thought deep-fried sweets like funnel cakes, elephant ears/beaver tails and doughnuts were modern inventions for the county fair, think again. Fried pastries have been around since ancient Egypt and China. The Romans ate something called scriblita, a fried pastry dough. Fried doughs were common throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe in various…
Italian Blackberry Sauce, c. 1464
There is no shortage of 15th century Italian recipes thanks to Maestro Martino de Rossi, a well known and influential “celebrity” chef who worked in some of the greatest kitchens of late Medieval/Renaissance Italy. In 1464/65 he wrote Libro de Arte Coquinaria (The Art of Cooking), which is widely considered to be the first modern…
Apple Muse: an Ancient Apple Pottage
Apple Muse was an extremely popular medieval dessert, likely enjoyed in some form at every level of society due to the availability of the three core ingredients. There are many versions of this recipe found in a variety of manuscripts but often under different names: Appylmoes, apulmos, appillinose, etc. All versions I’ve found call for apples,…
Erbeßsuppen, a Medieval Pea Soup
Today’s recipe is yet another popular medieval pottage: Pea Soup. If you want to know more about pottages, read my previous post on the subject. This recipe comes from a German cookbook called Ein New Kochbuch by Max Rumpolt, head cook for Daniel Brendel of Homburg, Elector of Mainz. This cookbook was, according to all…
Two Peasanty Pottages
If there is one dish that exemplifies Medieval cooking it would probably be pottage, which is basically a soup or stew. Pottage was a staple of the medieval diet, from the lowliest peasant to the royal family. There was an enormous range of pottages, from the most basic vegetable soup to fancy meat or fruit pottages…
