Lady Oksana Goncharova

Recipe is from “Wagstaff Miscellany,” MS 163- An Ordinance of Pottage (15th Century) (#138)

A colde bakyn mete Grynd reysons, & yf thu wilte, thu may boyle fegys, & grynd hem therwith, & temper hem up with swete wyne as chargeaunt as thu may. Do therto clovys, macys, pynez, corauns, datys mynsyd, sygure & salt; set hit on the fyre. Stere hit well: when hit boyleth, take hit of. Have small cofyns with low brerdys bakyn byfore & endore the brerdys with safron, & fyll hem with the syrup. & florych hit with anneys in confite. & yf thu wilte, thu may take cornels of walch notys: pike of the skyn, make hem as clene as thu may and as white. Wete hem in a lytll safron watyr. Set a pyn or nedyll in hem & hold hem upryght in thy hond - let not hem be to wete- & lay goldefayle with that othir hond with a thyge made therfore, & blow theron esyly with thy mouth, & that shall make thy gold to abyde, & so thu may gylt tham ovir, & florich thy bakyn mete ther/with. And so thu may florich eny colde mete that ys bakyn, & thu may make hit in a potage, yf thu wilt, that ys called rape ryall.

Redaction by Lady Oksana Goncharova

A cold baked meat Grind raisins & if you will, you may boil figs & grind them therein, & mix it up with sweet wine as thick as you may. Do thereto cloves, maces, pine nuts, currants, dates minced, sugar & salt; set it on the fire. Stir it well: when it boils, take it off. Have small pie tins with low rims baked before and coat the rims with saffron and fill them with the syrup. & flourish it with anise in confit. If you will, you may take kernels of walnuts: take off the skin, make them a clean as you may and as white. Wet them in a little saffron water. Set a pin or a needle in them and hold them upright in your hand -let not them be too wet- & lay gold foil with that other hand with a thing made before & blow thereon easily with your mouth, & that shall make the gold to adhere, & so you may gild them over, & flourish the baked meat therewith. And so you may flourish any cold meat that is baked, & you may make it in a porridge, if you will, that is called rape ryall. (thick dish of dried fruits in almond milk)

Recipe

• 3/4 cup Raisins
• 5 each Figs
• 1 1/2 cup Sweet Wine
• 1/8 tsp. cloves
• 1/8 tsp mace
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/3 cup currants
• 12 each pitted dates, minced
• 3 Tbs. Sugar
• 1/4 Tsp. Salt

Boil raisins and figs for about 10 minutes in water to soften. Drain water, mince figs and grind the figs and raisins using a mortar and pestle. Add wine to the ground fruit and add the remaining ingredients and heat to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until the mixture has thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Pour mixture into prepared pie tin. Crush a few saffron threads with one beaten egg white in a mortar and pestle. Brush the top rim of the pie crust with the saffron mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. The pie will be a little moist, but will firm up a bit when refrigerated.

The recipe calls for the cooled pie to be decorated with anise in confit and gold-leafed walnuts.

Recipes in “Goud Kokery” (Book V of “Curye on Inglysch), #11 and 12, from the 14th century, gives us recipes for clarifying sugar and for making anise in confit. The recipe for clarifying sugar tells us that we can use the sugar and egg white mixture to make all manner of confections. The recipe for anise in confit is a very long drawn out process. The same recipe can be used to candy caraway seeds, coriander seeds, fennel and ginger.

The following recipe is a simplified recipe for anise in confit

Recipe for “Dragee and Spices in Confit” # 135.

This recipe comes from “Pleyn Delit” written by Constance B. Hieatt, Brenda Hosington and Sharon Butler. I have scaled down the quantities as it is for only one pie.

• 1/8 cup anise seeds
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup water

Boil the sugar and water in a heavy frying pan for 5 minutes. Add the seeds and continue to cook, stirring, until the syrup begins to look white; set aside for 10 minutes. Then put back over low heat, preferably over a protective mat or heat diffuser, and stir until the sugar coating softens enough to be poured. Pour onto a cookie sheet or (preferably) a piece of clean screening over a cake rack. Spread the seeds out with a paring knife to separate them as much as possible; as they harden, you can divide them further, but you do have to work quickly. Ideally, each should be completely separate.

(I used a cheese cloth on a wire rack. I spread out the seeds and sugar syrup on the cloth and allowed to dry and scraped off the dried anise confits)

Gold Leafed Walnuts

The recipe tells us to take walnut halves and pick the skins off the walnuts. Take off as much of the skin as you want, to make them as white as you want. I found that the easiest way is to just use your fingernails to remove the skin. Wet the cleaned walnut halves in a little saffron water. Make saffron water with a few threads of saffrons crushed in a few teaspoons of water in a mortar and pestle. Poke a pin or needle in the wet walnut. Take the walnut on the pin in one hand and in the other hand take gold leaf and gently blow it on to the walnut. Alternatively roll the walnut onto the gold leaf. Edible gold leaf powders are also available.

Pie Crust Recipe

This is a redaction by Cariadoc and Elizabeth from “A Miscelleny” page 62 under the heading “To Make a Tarte of Beans.”“To make a short paest for tarte” from: “A Proper Newe Book” page 37/c10:

• 6 threads of saffron
• 1 cup flour
• 5-6 Tb Soft butter
• 2 egg yolks

To make crust, mix saffron water (5-6 threads of saffron crushed in 1 teaspoon cool water) into flour; and egg yolks and mix well (Will be crumbly). Add 4 tablespoon butter and mix well; add enough of the remaining butter to make a smooth paste. (Amount used depends upon softness of butter and warmth of kitchen; at second trail used a bit over 6 Tb) Roll smooth and place in a 9” pie plate. Crimp edge.

I redacted the recipe using the exact same ingredients as the original recipe. I experimented with quantities and came up with the version here. As with all redactions of this sort the quantities can be altered. If you have more figs than raisins than use more figs, and so on. I ground the figs and raisins using a mortar and pestle. The wine I chose was a white Zinfandel. I used Cariodocs’ recipe for the pie crust. I then brushed on saffron, that was crushed in egg whites using a mortar and pestle, to the pie crust as the recipe suggests. I used a wheat flour rather than a white flour. I’ve made it with white flour in the past, but I had wheat flour on the shelf so I tried the wheat. The anise seeds on top were made using the recipe from “Plen Delit”. I made one walnut half with the real gold leaf (Please do not eat this one) just as the recipe instructs us. The rest of the walnuts are made with edible gold powder, which you may eat. After the tart had cooled, I added the candied anise and gold leafed walnuts as the recipe tells us to do.

Bibliography

Hieatt, Constance B., editor, An Ordinance of Pottage, An Edition of the Fifteenth Century Culinary Recipes in Yale University’s MS Beinecke 163. Prospect Books, 1988.

Hieatt, Constance and Sharon Butler, editors, Curye on Inglysch, English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteeth Century (Including the “Forme of Cury”). Oxford University Press, 1985.

Hieatt, Constance, Brenda Hosington and Sharon Butler, Pleyn Delit, Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks. Second Edition, University of Toronto Press.1996.

Friedman, David and Betty Cook,(Cariodoc and Elizabeth), A Miscelleny, 6th Edition, David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook, 1988, 1990, 1992.