gaming foods(out of character)

What sort of meadeival foods would you fine people serve to player's of this game?

Probably no medieval food, since most of it will probably have long since expired over the centuries...

:mrgreen:

Apologies, too good opening to ignore.

Well, there's those soups that survived for years being fed more fresh produce every day... Of course, there'd only been homeopathic doses of medieval food left in there. Ah but alas the last survivor of those inn soups prolly died a century ago. :cry:

:smiley:

I enjoy cooking medieval foods now and again. I've done for my Ars group -

Gyngerbrede - greneboke.com/recipes/gyngerbrede.shtml

Honey with Mustard on Cheese (mix wholegrain mustard with honey, serve on soft cheese. Eat with bread or crackers. Good spoonful of mustard per spoonful of honey.)

We usually make actual food for the gaming group and so stuff like orange duck, chicken in wine, all of that stuff happens now and again.

I must admit its usually pasta or casseroles though :smiley:

Mark

If in your saga have vikings and want to see if they are real men:

Mead & luttefisk

Once I get my gun license, and then get hunting license, I'll be able to serve venison, elk, moose, bear, wild pig, turkey, grouse and whatever else I can shoot. We'll slow roast em over a fire like back in the old days. That'll make it "medieval". :mrgreen: :laughing:

What, you're not bow-hunting to make it more authentic?

Serve them apples :smiley:

Raw, uncooked unpeeled apples. Just like they had back then

Apples are still eaten like that surely? According to a not in about Chapter 4 of Grogs Mark Shirley assures us that very few fruits were eaten raw in period: normally stewed. I think apples more likely to be eaten as you suggest today than then, but I can't imagine there was ever a time when people did not eat apples from the tree! I am trying to think what fruits we had in England in the middle ages. I think apples are the only native cultivated fruit in 1220: blackberries grew wild, and maybe redcurrants and strawberries. Anyone know?

Abe, I would feed my players fennel soup. Then I would sell loo paper by the sheet at great profit.

cj x

pears maybe?

I suspect neither blueberries nor strawberries. They're native in my area, on the wrong side of the ocean. Cranberry, too - not that you'd likely want to down a bunch of those right after picking them. Of course, I cannot say for sure that the Vikings didn't bring some fruits back from Vinland with them.

Wikipedia lists the pear, raspberry, and blackcurrant as native to Atlantic northern Europe. Certainly others could have come from other parts of Europe. The Romans grew apples, so those are probably quite widespread.

what meadeival recipes from around the world would you fine people serve?

It's a thought. I could hunt in the local "bow only" areas of the outskirts of Vancouver, and get an earlier start to the hunting season. But then I'd have to shoot a bow instead of a gun. Which would be boring.

You usually can't go wrong with fresh baked bread. Serve it with butter and honey or olive oil and salt cured olives. It wont last long. Throw in some hard sausage, cheese and dried fruit you have something close to a meal. It may not be 100% perfectly in period but it would have the right feel.

I got the Game of Thrones cookbook written by these folks http://www.innatthecrossroads.com/ for Christmas. They do there research though much of their sources are latter in history around Elizabethan times. I've made only a few things, mostly drinks, Iced milk with honey, Mulled wine I did their medieval pigeon pie recipe but with Duck and chicken thighs. It was pretty awesome.

As i commented before i like to read old books ,better on the original edition, well i can tell you of one book i have:

Llibre de Sent Soví

Or book of Sent Soví

Is a recipe cookbook from the 14th century, west mediterranean, but those recipes where long time stablished, is great to read about recipes without potatoes or tomato. Just as curiosity, teachs how to cook cat ( nowadays you can swith by hare or rabbit), rat ( as before you can switch by hare or rabbit or even chinchilla, a south america rodent used for cooking) and many things.

if you convince me i could consider to translate one or 2 recipes. :unamused: ( not necesarelly the cat one :laughing: )

Oh! I almost forgot!!!!

Hipocras ( from book of Nola, XV century. Original recipe uncertain, atributed to ancient greece )

For 5 people ( a cup per head)

1 bottle (70cl) white wine
1 bottle (70cl) red wine
150gr honey
8gr cinnamon
5gr clove
1,5gr ginger

Use a ceramic or vitric pan (never let it contact to metall because will change its flavour)

-Pour the wine in the pan with the species and heat it gentle.
-When it warms a bit add the honey and stir, repeat stiring every 1-2 min.
-when it begins to boil remove from fire and let it cool.
-Filter through a cloth.
-Let it settle for 24-48 h ( i recomend the fridge and an empty water bottle)
-You can serve it cold or warm
-Realize you should prepare a lot more

Hope you like it!

pleas do!(definetly NOT the cat one tho please!)

Please? I'd love to try my hand at cooking a few, just to see what they are like :slight_smile:

Ok i will see, by the way try to prepare some jugs of hipocras, :slight_smile:

Hello all,
Sadly my book is on my summer residence and i will not be there until next month, but to do not desanimate you i will paste some recipes here from one book that reconstruct, not medieval but Roman! (who is mercurian cultist? :laughing: ). Traduced into modern cuisine.

Book:

Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome
Patrick Faas
ISBN: 0-226-23347-2

Here you have some recipes. Tell me your opinion

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Columella Salad
Columella's writings suggest that Roman salads were a match for our own in richness and imagination:

Addito in mortarium satureiam, mentam, rutam, coriandrum, apium, porrum sectivum, aut si non erit viridem cepam, folia latucae, folia erucae, thymum viride, vel nepetam, tum etiam viride puleium, et caseum recentem et salsum: ea omnia partier conterito, acetique piperati exiguum, permisceto. Hanc mixturam cum in catillo composurris, oleum superfundito.

Put savory in the mortar with mint, rue, coriander, parsley, sliced leek, or, if it is not available, onion, lettuce and rocket leaves, green thyme, or catmint. Also pennyroyal and salted fresh cheese. This is all crushed together. Stir in a little peppered vinegar. Put this mixture on a plate and pour oil over it. (Columella, Re Rustica, XII-lix)

A wonderful salad, unusual for the lack of salt (perhaps the cheese was salty enough), and that Columella crushes the ingredients in the mortar.

100g fresh mint (and/or pennyroyal)
50g fresh coriander
50g fresh parsley
1 small leek
a sprig of fresh thyme
200g salted fresh cheese
vinegar
pepper
olive oil

Follow Columella's method for this salad using the ingredients listed.

In other salad recipes Columella adds nuts, which might not be a bad idea with this one.

Apart from lettuce and rocket many plants were eaten raw—watercress, mallow, sorrel, goosefoot, purslane, chicory, chervil, beet greens, celery, basil and many other herbs.

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Soft-Boiled Eggs in Pine-Nut Sauce
In ovis hapalis: piper, ligustcum, nucleos infusos. Suffundes mel, acetum; liquamine temperabis.

For soft-boiled eggs: pepper, soaked pine nuts. Add honey and vinegar and mix with garum. (Apicius, 329)

for 4 small eggs

200g pine nuts
2 teaspoons ground pepper
1 teaspoon honey
4 tablespoons garum or anchovy paste

Soak the pine nuts overnight in water. Then drain and grind them finely in the blender or pound them in a large mortar. Add the pepper, honey and garum. Heat the sauce in a bain-marie. Meanwhile put the eggs into a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Let them cook for 3½ minutes, then take them off the heat, plunge them into cold water and peel them carefully. The outer edge of the egg white must be firm, but it must be soft inside. Put the eggs, left whole, into a deep serving bowl and pour over the sauce. Serve.

This recipe can be adapted easily to other eggs, such as quail's eggs. In that case keep an eye on the cooking-time: a quail's egg will be firm in 1 minute.

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Lentils with Coriander
Aliter lenticulam: coquis. Cum despumaverit porrum et coriandrum viride supermittis. (Teres) coriandri semen, puleium, laseris radicem, semen mentae et rutae, suffundis acetum, adicies mel, liquamine, aceto, defrito temperabis, adicies oleum, agitabis, si quid opus fuerit, mittis. Amulo obligas, insuper oleum viride mittis, piper aspargis et inferes.

Another lentil recipe. Boil them. When they have foamed, add leeks and green coriander. [Crush] coriander seed, pennyroyal, laser root, mint seed and rue seed. Moisten with vinegar, add honey, garum, vinegar, mix in a little defrutum, add oil and stir. Add extra as required. Bind with amulum, drizzle with green oil and sprinkle with pepper. Serve. (Apicius, 192)

250g lentils
2 litres water
1 leek, trimmed, washed and finely chopped
75g fresh coriander
5g coriander seed
3g peppercorns, plus extra for finishing the dish
3g mint seed
3g rue seed
75g fresh pennyroyal, or mint
10ml garum
10ml vinegar
5ml honey
olive oil

Wash the lentils and put them into a saucepan with 2 litres of cold water. Bring to the boil, and skim off the scum. When the water has cleared, add the leek and half of the fresh coriander. Grind the spices and the other herbs, and add them with the garum, vinegar and defrutum to the pan. Let the lentils simmer until they are almost cooked. Check the pan every now and then to ensure that the water has not evaporated. At the last minute add the olive oil, the freshly ground pepper and the remainder of the chopped coriander.

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Roast Wild Boar
Aper ita conditur: spogiatur, et sic aspergitur ei sal et cuminum frictum, et sic manet. Alia die mittitur in furnum. Cum coctus fuerit perfundutur piper tritum, condimentum aprunum, mel, liquamen, caroenum et passum.

Boar is cooked like this: sponge it clean and sprinkle with salt and roast cumin. Leave to stand. The following day, roast it in the oven. When it is done, scatter with ground pepper and pour on the juice of the boar, honey, liquamen, caroenum, and passum. (Apicius, 330)

For this you would need a very large oven, or a very small boar, but the recipe is equally successful with the boar jointed. Remove the bristles and skin, then scatter over it plenty of sea salt, crushed pepper and coarsely ground roasted cumin. Leave it in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, turning it occasionally.

Wild boar can be dry, so wrap it in slices of bacon before you roast it. At the very least wrap it in pork caul. Then put it into the oven at its highest setting and allow it to brown for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4, and continue to roast for 2 hours per kg, basting regularly.

Meanwhile prepare the sauce. To make caroenum, reduce 500ml wine to 200ml. Add 2 tablespoons of honey, 100ml passum, or dessert wine, and salt or garum to taste. Take the meat out of the oven and leave it to rest while you finish the sauce. Pour off the fat from the roasting tin, then deglaze it with the wine and the honey mixture. Pour this into a saucepan, add the roasting juices, and fat to taste.

Carve the boar into thin slices at the table, and serve the sweet sauce separately.

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Ostrich Ragoût
Until the 1980s the ostrich was considered as exotic as an elephant, but since then it has become available in supermarkets. Cooking a whole ostrich is an enormous task, but Apicius provides a recipe for ostrich:

In struthione elixo: piper, mentam, cuminum assume, apii semen, dactylos vel caryotas, mel, acetum, passum, liquamen, et oleum modice et in caccabo facies ut bulliat. Amulo obligas, et sic partes struthionis in lance perfundis, ete desuper piper aspargis. Si autem in condituram coquere volueris, alicam addis.

For boiled ostrich: pepper, mint, roast cumin, celery seed, dates or Jericho dates, honey, vinegar, passum, garum, a little oil. Put these in the pot and bring to the boil. Bind with amulum, pour over the pieces of ostrich in a serving dish and sprinkle with pepper. If you wish to cook the ostrich in the sauce, add alica. (Apicius, 212)

You may prefer to roast or fry your ostrich, rather than boil it. Whichever method you choose, this sauce goes with it well. For 500g ostrich pieces, fried or boiled, you will need:

2 teaspoon flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
300ml passum (dessert wine)
1 tablespoon roast cumin seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
3 pitted candied dates
3 tablespoons garum or a 50g tin of anchovies
1 teaspoon peppercorns
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
1 teaspoon honey
3 tablespoons strong vinegar

Make a roux with the flour and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, add the passum, and continue to stir until the sauce is smooth. Pound together in the following order: the cumin, celery seeds, dates, garum or anchovies, peppercorns, chopped mint, the remaining olive oil, the honey, and vinegar. Add this to the thickened wine sauce. Then stir in the ostrich pieces and let them heat through in the sauce.

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Roast Tuna
Ius in cordula assa: piper, ligustcum, mentam, cepam, aceti modicum et oleum.

Sauce for roast tuna: pepper, lovage, mint, onion, a little vinegar, and oil. (Apicius, 435)

for the vinaigrette

3 tablespoons strong vinegar
2 tablespoons garum, or vinegar with anchovy paste
9 tablespoons olive oil
4 finely chopped shallots
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon lovage seeds
25g fresh mint

Put all of the vinaigrette ingredients into a jar and shake well to blend them together.

Brush your tuna fillets with oil, pepper and salt, then grill them on one side over a hot barbecue. Turn them and brush the roasted side with the vinaigrette. Repeat. The tuna flesh should be pink inside so don't let it overcook. Serve with the remains of the vinaigrette.

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Fried Veal Escalope with Raisins
Vitella fricta: piper, ligusticum, apii semen, cuminum, origanum, cepam siccam, uvam passam, mel, acetum, vinum, liquamen, oleum, defritum.

Fried veal: pepper, lovage, celery seed, cumin, oregano, dried onion, raisins, honey, vinegar, wine garum, oil, defrutum. (Apicius, 335)

for the sauce

¼ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon peppercorns
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon lovage
1 tablespoon dried onion
1 teaspoon defrutum
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons white raisins
300ml dry white wine
1 dash vinegar
1 dash garum

Pound the cumin and the celery seed in powder, then grind the peppercorns. Mix all the ingredients together and leave the raisins to macerate for at least a few hours and up to a day. Beat the veal fillets with a rolling-pin or meat-tenderizer, until they are flattened. For Roman authenticity, the escalopes should be cut into small pieces or strips after frying—they didn't use knives at table. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then fry briefly on both sides in a hot pan with a little olive oil. Remove the veal from the pan. Put the sauce mixture, let it reduce, then pour it over veal and serve immediately.

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Nut Tart
Patina versatilis vice dulcis: nucleos pineos, nuces fractas et purgatas, attorrebis eas, teres cum melle, pipere, liquamine, lacte, ovis, modico mero et oleo, versas in discum.

Try patina as dessert: roast pine nuts, peeled and chopped nuts. Add honey, pepper, garum, milk, eggs, a little undiluted wine, and oil. Pour on to a plate. (Apicius, 136)

400g crushed nuts—almonds, walnuts or pistachios
200g pine nuts
100g honey
100ml dessert wine
4 eggs
100ml full-fat sheep's milk
1 teaspoon salt or garum
pepper

Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F/Gas 9.

Place the chopped nuts and the whole pine nuts in an oven dish and roast until they have turned golden. Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Mix the honey and the wine in a pan and bring to the boil, then cook until the wine has evaporated. Add the nuts and pine nuts to the honey and leave it to cool. Beat the eggs with the milk, salt or garum and pepper. Then stir the honey and nut mixture into the eggs. Oil an oven dish and pour in the nut mixture. Seal the tin with silver foil and place it in roasting tin filled about a third deep with water. Bake for about 25 minutes until the pudding is firm. Take it out and when it is cold put it into the fridge to chill. To serve, tip the tart on to a plate and pour over some boiled honey.