Holidays during the middle ages called for a feast. And back then just as it is today, an Italian, an English, a French or German feast each has its own style, composition and ingredients.
Your drink of choice during the winter holidays depended on your wealth. We will look to the upper middle class during the mid to late 1400’s for our drinks this season.
Claretum is a white wine infused with Honey and spices, and is made thusly:
Ingredients:
-one Liter of sweet white wine.
-2 tablespoons of real honey.
-a crushed stick of cinnamon.
-4 crushed cloves.
-2 teaspoons of Grains of paradise (Aframomum Melegueta).
-2 tablespoons of chopped up ginger.
Step 1. put the crushed spices in a mesh tea infuser
and heat up the wine in a pot on your stove.
Step 2. try to not let the wine boil, then put in the ginger and the spices and let them simmer for 20 minutes.
Step 3. turn of the stove and mix in the honey, then let the spices infuse for a few hours or so.
Serve warm or cold as you prefer.
Hippocras. Again a spice infused sweetened wine, but a bit more refined.
Ingredients:
-one Liter of Red wine, or a mix of red and white wine. (I prefer Tinto)
-200 grams of sugar (I prefer half of that)
-a crushed long pepper catkin(Piper Longum)
-a teaspoon of ground Cinnamon
-half a teaspoon of ground cloves
-a square inch of ginger (chopped)
-2 teaspoons of Grains of paradise (Aframomum Melegueta).
Step 1. put the spices in the wine, and heat up the wine in a pot on your stove.
Step 2. try to not let the wine boil, then put in the ginger and the other spices and let them simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 3. turn of the stove and mix in the sugar, then let the spices infuse for a day or two.
Step 4. pour the mixture through a cloth filter.
Serve warm or at room temperature as you prefer.
Medieval holiday recipes could be very diverse and creative. How well your food was seasoned, as well as if you were eating game and beef, pork and chicken, or gruel and offall depended on your status.
Ingredients:
-2 pounds of pork (not too lean)
-400 grams of cherries
-2 teaspoons of white pepper
-a teaspoon of ground Cinnamon
-half a teaspoon of ground cloves
-a square inch of ginger (chopped)
-1 teaspoon of crushed Grains of paradise (Aframomum Melegueta).
-4 slices of crustless bread
-half a cup of verjuice (can be substituted with a mixture of 4 parts white wine, 1 part wine vinegar and a squeeze of lemon.)
-3 tablespoons of cane sugar
-salt to taste
Step 1. put some salt and a tablespoon of pepper on the pork. then put it in the oven or on a grill until done.
Step 2. while the pork is getting done, chop up the cherries (first take out the stones if they are fresh) and put them in a pot with all the spices and the verjuice.
Step 3. bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer for 20 minutes. then thicken it by stirring in the bread until it dissolves.
Step 4. cut the pork into slices and cover it with the sauce.
It sounds weird, but its very healthy and the fish taste isn’t as prominent as you would presume.
Ingredients:
-500 grams of souer apples, diced and peeled.
-Half a Liter of almondmilk.
-half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
-half a teaspoon of ground Saffron
-half a tablespoon of chopped up ginger.
-around 70 grams of either fresh or canned cod or haddock liver
Step 1. Take apples, peeled and cut into pieces. Put them in a pot, take the liver of cod or haddock and let it cook with the apples in enough water to barely cover he apples. Stir it often.
Step 2. Grind saffron finely. Then stir the saffron into the apple/fish mixture and mix it with the almond milk.
Step 3. When it is cooked until it is soft enough to be mashed into apple sauce, season it with the spices ginger and cinnamon, put it in bowls and serve warm.
Ingredients:
-100 grams of Bovine bone marrow.
-40 grams of cane sugar.
-half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
-a pinch of salt
-2 egg yolks (use the egg whites as an egg wash for the pastry)
-30 grams of currants.
-150 grams of barley flour
-50 grams of butter
– a bit of water so the dough is the right consistency
Buy some thick bovine bone cuts (you can ask a butcher for ossobuco)
Step 1. To get to the bone marrow, first soak the cuts of bone in water for 12 hours (change the water every 4 hours) and then put it in an oven for 25 minutes
Step 2. Make a dough out of the Flour, butter, a bit of water and a pinch of salt. there should only be added enough water to make a firm dough.
Step 3. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Mix the still warm chopped or mashed marrow with sugar, currants, cinnamon and egg yolk. If you let the marrow cool, it will become hard again.
Step 4. Sprinkle the countertop with flour. Roll out the shortcrust pastry and cut four to six rounds with a diameter of twelve to fifteen centimeters. Put a tablespoon of filling onto each round of dough, close the rounds by folding them over the filling and press the edges well. Brush the crescents with egg yolk. Place the pastries on a baking tray in the middle of the oven and bake for twenty minutes.
Serve warm.
Ingredients:
-5 sweet apples, diced and peeled (keep the peels).
-salt.
-half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
-a small pinch of ground cloves.
-one and a half cup of Lard
-3 cups of Flour
-a cup of iced water
-a cup of real honey
-half a tablespoon of chopped up ginger.
-400 grams of Nuts, these can be almonds, Hazelnuts, Walnuts or a mix of them
– 200 grams of Dried fruits like prunes, raisins, dates or figs.
These Medieval holiday recipes are not an exact science, many recipes were word of mouth for centuries before being written down.
Step 1. Make a dough out of the Flour, lard, half the honey, and a bit of salt. there should only be added enough water to make a firm dough.
Step 2. while the dough is resting in the fridge, chop up the left-over apple peels, the nuts and the dried fruits (best use a kitchen helper for that)
Step 3. put a little water in a pot and add the chopped apples , the rest of the honey, and the spices. bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer until the apples are cooked but still a bit firm .
Step 4. Then thicken the mixture by stirring in the mix of nuts and dried fruits. let it sit a bit while you roll out the dough for the pie crust.
Step 5. cover the bottom and sides of a baking tin or a stoneware casserole. leave enough dough to cover your pie. and maybe use an egg-wash if you want(no matter if you basket weave the dough, or just poke holes in it, there has to be a way for steam to escape)
Step 6. Bake until the dough is golden brown. Prepare to enjoy a less sweet apple pie.