Harvest Extravaganza and Apples, Apples Everywhere Night (October 24th, 2016)

When the Culinary Group was trying to decide this month's theme, we had a tie - so, October was both Harvest Extravaganza and Apples, Apples Everywhere! 

We had two special guests this evening - Val (Caterina &tc.'s mom) who contributed a ridiculously delicious Tuscan focaccia, and Kevin, whom Brandi kindly brought along for us to meet! Lovely to meet you both, and we hope to see you again next month! 

Many of us are gearing up for the feast at Samhain which is occurring in a couple of weeks. The Montengarde Culinary Group (under the direction of Frances) is responsible for the food, so we're all nervous and excited! Even with the event coming up so soon, we had a good turnout last night and everyone went away full and happy. 

Bottom row from left: hot buttered rum (Caiaphas), Rique-Manger (Alice), apple fritters (Kayleigh), raisin pottage (Brandi)
Top row from left: squash soup (Caterina &tc.), mincemeat pie (Asa), mushrooms and pine nuts (Sorcha and Arnaut), lamb and vegetable stew (Master Thorvald)  

Left to right: Palatschinken with home made apple sauce (Nicole), schiacciata con l'uva (Val)

Footnotes from Turkish, Ottoman and Persian Food Night

Here are some collected comments and notes on the dishes which people made for our Culinary Night last week:

Caterina &tc.:

"Tarim Basin flatbread (gluten free adaptation). Based on archaeological finds in east central Asia dating to the first millennium CE."

Information on Caterina &tc.'s Tarim Basin Flatbread can be found on her blog!

Asa:

"My recipe is a Sephardic Jewish recipe for lamb meat balls. Sephardic Jews arrived in the Ottoman Empire in 1492. They came from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition when King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabel of Castille decided to make a united Catholic Spain. The King and Queen ordered all Jews and Muslims to either convert or leave. About 200,000 Jews were exiled and came to the Ottoman Empire, settling mainly in the Aegean region, Istanbul, Thrace and the Balkans.

The recipe consists of ground lamb, shredded onion, minced garlic, fresh mint, cumin and salt. Portions of each are to taste with 1lbs of meat yielding one dozen meat balls.

The accompaniment was a yogurt sauce made with yogurt, salt, lemon and tahini which I seasoned to taste. Exact portions are not quite known."

Sorcha and Arnaut:

"I made Tangy Sumac Chicken and Sweet Tooth Rice and Yogurt. They are both medieval Arab Recipes from Scheherazade's Feasts: A Compilation of Recipes from the Medieval Arab world. I have not been able to find a specific date for the recipes."

Caiaphas:

"Qahwa Mazbut - coffee from the farther eastern reaches of the middle east land such as Persia (modern Iraq) made in three styles, murra (bitter) which is considered by the coffee elite in that area of the world as "proper" and contains no sugar, sukkar qalil (little sugar), and mazbut (just right) is made with the most sugar. It's primarily coffee flavoured with cardamom and sugar. Preparation also calls for boiling the coffee for about 1 minute three times.

Khawa (Qahwa) - originated on the Sinai Peninsula, specifically Yemen which some people claim to be where coffee originated. This version strictly forbids the use of sugar and is meant to be brewed dark. It's flavored with cardamom and cloves. Preparation is done in only one long boil as opposed to several boils like Qahwa Mazbut."

Thorvald:

"Persian lamb. I wanted to do lamb since it had been mentioned at Harvest Feast, and I had some in the freezer. I searched for Persian lamb on Google and got a lot of stews. I didn't want to do a stew, so I added a not-stew instruction. Still nothing obvious. I added a period date range, and got nothing. So I picked a modern recipe labelled as Persian lamb, though whether it actually is truly Persian I have no idea. The ingredients were all period and available in Persia, so I went with that.

Lamb (a rack, cut into chops)

Marinade (I did about 20 hours, presumably didn't need that long) with quantities that felt right of: Cardamom (green, crushed in mortar), true cinnamon, coriander, rosemary (crushed in mortar), garlic powder, onion flakes, orange zest, olive oil, lemon juice, celery powder, thyme, pepper, salt.

The garlic powder and onion flakes were because I didn't happen to have fresh garlic or onion on hand. The online recipe called for lemon zest, so I used lemon juice plus orange zest. With extra lemon juice to hydrate the onion flakes.

There are more spices in my marinade than in the online recipe's list. Because.

Grilled in oven for about 5 mins a side, which was too long.

Served cold as specified in the online recipe, garnished with fresh basil from my garden, and fresh cilantro."

Tomas:

Information on Tomas's sugar paste can be found on his blog!

Alice:

"I made Zirbaj, a Persian dish which is mentioned in David Waines' "In a Caliph's Kitchen," which is a pretty popular collection of translated Medieval Islamic recipes. It is originally printed in al-Warraq, which is from the 10th century. Waines mentions that the sweet and sour flavours were a common feature of Persian dishes and still continue around the world today.

A lady called Anahita from Ansteorra posted her own redactions and comments on these recipes in a conversation from 2002, which can now be found here.

The recipe: "Take a fine quality chicken, joint it and clean it and place it in a clean pot. Then pour over one half ratl of fresh water and one half uqiya of a good quality oil, some white of onion, and
boil together. When boiled, pour in white vinegar, a half ratl and two uqiya of white sugar, and one uqiya peeled almonds, and one uqiya rose water. Add spices, pepper, cinnamon and ginger tied up in a fine cloth so that they do not alter the dish's colour. Place on the fire a little allowing it to thicken."

My modernized redaction:

4 chicken legs with skin and back on
Olive oil
The whites of a bunch of green onions, chopped
1.5 cups white wine vinegar
1/2-3/4 cup honey (or caster sugar, I like the taste of honey though. Add it to taste.)
3 T rose water
1/2 cup flaked almonds
1 T mixed spices (pepper, cinnamon, ginger)
1 small handful of parsley or leftover onion greens
1 T corn starch (or similar thickening agent)

Brown your chicken in the bottom of a large saucepan, then add water to cover and dump in all other ingredients except the parsley. Boil for at least 40 minutes, until the chicken pulls away easily and is fully cooked.

Remove the chicken from the cooking broth and put it in a large bowl to cool down a little.

Strain solids from liquids and discard about 3/4 of the liquid, then replace the solids and add your corn starch (don't forget to pre-mix with a little water in a cup or small bowl.) Simmer the liquid on low and stir it while it thickens.

Meanwhile, remove the skin from the chicken legs and discard. Remove the meat from the bones as much as possible, then discard the bones and other inedible matter. Shred the remaining chicken meat and place in a serving dish. Pour a small amount of the thickened liquid on to the chicken and mix through until well-coated, then strain the solids again and mix them with the shredded chicken, removing any unappetizing bits of skin or gristle as needed. Garnish with chopped onion greens or parsley for freshness and color.

Realistically, you could make this dish a lot more meat-efficient by using chicken thighs, which is nice and fatty and I think will work just as well without having to mess around with bones and skin. Try it sometime!"

Turkish, Ottoman, and Persian Food Night (September 12th, 2016)

Blessed Eid!

We're back from our summer break, and we had a fantastic turnout for our Culinary Night last night! In honor of the season, we decided to do a Turkish, Ottoman, and Persian Theme. We ended up getting dishes from ancient Carthage, India, Iraq, England, and all over the Islamic world, so it was a wonderful mix.

Culinary Group is getting so large that we may soon need to find a new venue for our monthly meetings! Last night (with kids included) we had over 20 people in attendance. While everyone is a good sport about sitting on the floor, we just keep growing!

Special guests last night included my husband Andrew, Melodie's three children, and Melodie's friends, Nicole and Brandi. We are a totally open group and you don't need to be formally affiliated with the SCA to attend, so we hope to see more new folks in the coming months! (We do hope you'll come out to other SCA stuff eventually, though!)

Really nice to meet everyone whose first time it was last night!

Here are some photos from last night's culinary adventure! It was a unique palate shift for us, because we often focus on western European dishes. The dominant flavors on the table were almond, rose water, mint, vinegar, saffron, cinnamon, yogurt, and ginger.

We also had a number of gluten-free dishes, which is something we've started doing in past months to accommodate more of our gluten-sensitive friends. Seafood of any kind has also gradually begun to disappear from our meetings for the same reason - while seafood was totally common all over the place in period, we do limit ourselves a little bit to remain inclusive.

Next month's theme is up in the air, but we're thinking either apples or fried things - stay tuned!

Caiaphas explains his two varieties of kawah (coffee) - also on tap were his award-winning beers! Congratulations on your Bitter End Defendership! 

Part of last night's group

Kawah, lime and rosewater sekanjabin (cordial,) yogurt rice with honey, chocolate zucchini muffins, zirbaj (with the parsley) and another similar chicken and almond dish

From left: saffron rice, Persian lamb, rose water cookies, chicken with cucumber, almond and rosewater cookies, sweetmeats (tastes just like Necco wafers!) stewed lamb, "oat cakes," Punic porridge, Tarim basin bread, chickpea stew. (Not pictured: Asa's delicious lamb meatballs!)

Until next time!

- Alice

Feast Planning Meeting (July 4th, 2016)

We had a small, informal meeting on July 4th to talk through our ideas for the Samhain menu and enjoy each other's company on Independence Day!

From top left: Independence Day cupcakes, rhubarb lemon squares, pita and dip, Norse Pies, and pea soup

I don't want to give too much of what we're planning away, but it should be a pretty fantastic meal. It's the first time the Culinary Group has ever attempted a feast from start-to-finish all to ourselves, so the pressure is definitely on.

The theme is, roughly, Ireland in the 10th century - Caiaphas has a few interesting sources regarding how feasts were conducted in that place and time which he really wants to incorporate into the serving and eating of the feast, so we're trying to make the food match his concept as much as we can. The challenge with that is that we don't really have any cookbook evidence (which is what we usually base our dishes on,) so we have to go with what we know about what they were growing and eating from other sources.

The meal will be three courses, to keep things straightforward. (Soon-to-be Master Peregrine tells me they were only referred to as courses in period - remove is a term that didn't pop up until the 1700s! Did you know that?)

Anyway, with the understanding that this is subject to extensive change as we test the recipes:

First Course: Oat and white bread, cheese, honey and butter (not honey butter!), and a soup.
Second Course: Bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, honey-glazed chicken thighs, braised beef, armored turnips, roasted zucchini.
Third Course: Apple, pear and fig galette, and a special gluten-free surprise.

Until next time!

- Alice Percy

Samhain Shuffle

The Culinary Group is going to be busy in the next few months!

While we're on break for July and August to make room for summer camping events (and maintain the sanity of our members,) many of us are still in high gear!

Caterina's vigil and elevation to the Order of the Laurel will take place at Samhain this year, and many of our members had volunteered to help provide food and drinks for the vigil. As many of us are members of her household, we will also be participating in the elevation (some way or another.)

Where things get fun is the winning bid for Samhain was put forward by a team consisting almost entirely of other members of the Culinary Group. The current Bardic Champion is a member of the group, too. For one reason or another, the Culinary Group membership pool will be working on most everything at Samhain this year!

As we have quite a few folks doing double (or triple) duty, we're having a small-scale meeting on July 4th to discuss coordinating kitchen time, carefully orchestrating volunteer shifts, and picking menus which will keep everyone happy and fed with a minimum of stress.

Not yet booked: A group day at the spa after Samhain for the entire crew...

'Whatever' Night (June 13th, 2016)

Summer is really busy here in Avacal, so it was extra nice that we managed to get together in June this year. Although it was a smaller group than usual, there's nothing as nice as spending an evening together over some delicious dishes on a warm summer night!

One of our dear friends and occasional attendees, Caterina, was placed on vigil to be elevated to the Order of the Laurel on Saturday. We spent a lot of time talking about her plans for the vigil and elevation! It was also Arnaut's birthday, so Francis and Caiaphas baked him some brownies in lieu of a birthday cake. Audrey 'helped.'

Our theme was very loose - just whatever we could whip together on short notice. We had some leftover pretzels from Silverwolf, delicious lamb patties, strudel and florentine biscuits, spinach two ways, a cauliflower pottage, cheese biscuits, and a very period Chardonnay. Tim came a little late and brought some sausages and flatbread, which aren't pictured here but were very delicious!

Bottom row: strudel and florentines, next row: lamb patties and spinach two ways,
next row: cheese biscuits and chardonnay, next row: pretzels and cauliflower pottage

Cauliflower pottage by Master Thorvald. Recipe below.

Some leftover pretzels I made at Silverwolf, with mustard

Cheese biscuits by Audrey

Caiaphas' period chardonnay

Lamb and walnut cakes by Francis. Recipe below.

Spinach two ways by Ainè. Recipes below.

Master Thorvald explaining his pottage

Caterina and Jodi supervise carefully - I think they are making socks?

Everyone enjoys! All meetings are child-friendly.

Pottages of Cauliflowers - Provided by Master Thorvald

From Ouverture de Cuisine, Lancelot de Casteau, printed 1604. Translation James Prescott

[2.] Potages de choux floris.

Mettez dedans le potage des choux floris des saulsisses, quelque poulet ou pigeon, ou carbonade de mouton, & un peu de mente hachée.

2. Pottages of cauliflowers.

Put into the pottage some cauliflowers, some sausages, some chicken or pigeon, or mutton carbonado, and a bit of chopped mint.

Pottages of Cauliflowers redaction by Jeremy Fletcher [not by JP]

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 US cups (410 ml) chicken broth

• 1/2 US cup (120 ml) white wine

• 6 ounces (170 g) mortadella sausage, chopped coarsely

• 6 ounces (170 g) chicken or lamb, chopped

• 1 small head cauliflower (about 3/4 pound (340 g))

• several leaves of mint

Instructions

Bring broth and wine to a low boil. Add meats and simmer over medium heat, covered, for ten minutes or until meats are cooked. Chop cauliflower and mint. Add to pottage, simmer five minutes, and serve hot. See Note 1.

Note 1: I substitute chicken for pigeon and lamb for mutton due to availability. Other pottage recipes in this collection commonly call for good stock or wine, or both. Mortadella sausage from this collection works well but any mild pork sausage can be used.

[ JP: For the sausage, Spolumbo mild Italian sausage. Dried mint since fresh wasn't available today. ]

Arabian Lamb Cakes - Provided by Francis

Plenty Delit No 5

1lb ground lamb

1/4 c walnuts, chopped small

1/4 tsp coriander

1/8 tsp cumin, cinnamon, pepper

1 tsp dry or 2 tsp fresh mint

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

Oil for frying, we used olive

1/2 lemon, juiced 

Mix all together except oil and lemon

Fry in oil and sprinkle with lemon juice when taking off the grill

Polyphonia did this as part of the feast in 2009. They were a huge hit!

Spinach Two Ways - Provided by Ainè

Dishes: 

http://www.fearlesskitchen.com/2008/08/recipe-medieval.html http://greneboke.com/recipes/choppedspinach.shtml

Homemade cheese: 

http://medievalcookery.com/recipes/cheese.html

Tartys in Applis (Alice's Saucy Tart) by Alice Percy

Within the Culinary Group, I'm known for my apple-based recipes. Sola (who was a beloved member of the group until she moved away) and her son call me "the apple lady." I'm not really sure when it became a thing, but for the first six months or so of our meetings, I pretty much just made variations on apple pie.

My favourite period recipe for apple pie is Tartys in Applis. This beautiful, simple and delicious recipe for a tart-like apple pie comes from Forme of Cury, which is also my favourite period cookbook:

"For To Make Tartys In Applis. Tak gode Applys and gode Spycis and Figys and reysons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed colourd wyth Safroun wel and do yt in a cofyn and do yt forth to bake wel."

I really like this one because has a nice mix of fruit - apples, figs, raisins, and pears - with spices, and because it's a recipe I interpret differently every single time I make it. It really shows the joys of the redaction process, and also that there's a whole lot of ways that you could plausibly make something "right." 

When I look at this recipe, I can feasibly see a sort of apple and tart sauce mixture spooned out of a thick pastry coffin as being correct. I can also see a sort of shallow tart filled with finely chopped fruit being correct. I can see many different ways you might take the information contained in this recipe and roll with it, and that's what I quite like about period recipes - they just let you get on with it. (Sometimes, at your peril!)

Play with this recipe and it will be kind to you. It's one of those great flavour combinations which always seem to work out just fine. I feel like all SCA cooks should have a go-to apple pie recipe, since it seems like somebody always wants one! 

Medieval Cookery has a really great redaction that you can use straight from page to pie, if you just want to make something tasty and don't want to think about it too much. 

This is my favourite tried-and-true way to put together this pie, though. The texture of the grated fruit is a little bit unusual, so if you don't like it, that's fine. Just chop your fruit up really small or in chunks or whatever makes your heart happy. Feel free to remove raisins or whatever you don't like; the ghosts of King Richard II's kitchen staff will not jump through your window in the night to punish you!

Tartys in Applis (Alice's Saucy Tart) 

4 tart baking apples (Granny Smith is good. If you absolutely HAVE to use a sweet apple, don't add any sugar and add a little more lemon juice.)

3 pears (Bartlett or Anjou) 

4 dried figs

1/2 cup raisins 

1 T apple pie spice or powder douce (if you have it)
2 T sugar

A few threads of saffron

1 egg yolk

1 tsp lemon juice
1 9" pie crust (I'm much too lazy to make my own, but any basic short pastry is fine) 

1. Peel your apples and pears. 

2. Using a box grater, grate the apples and pears into a large bowl. 

3. There will be a ridiculous amount of juice (trust me) so strain the grated fruit very well, pressing out excess moisture until it's no longer dripping. Get rid of the juice (or drink it, it's good for you!) 

4. Return the fruit to the large bowl and add the lemon juice. Chop your figs very small and add them to the bowl with the grated fruit, along with the sugar and spices and a couple of the saffron threads. Mix together.

5. In a pot, gently cook your fruits and spices together until they are translucent and the spices are fragrant. 

6. While the fruit is cooking, blind bake your pie crust based on your pastry's cooking instructions. 

7. Take your crust out of the oven, then spread the fruit mixture into the crust. Feel free to garnish with whatever makes you smile. 

8. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolk with a couple saffron threads. Brush all visible pie crust and the top of the pie with this mixture for a nice golden finish. 

9. Bake for a further 20 minutes or so (depends on your pastry) to set the mixture and finish off the crust. 

10. Serve warm or cool, preferably with a nice ice cream or dollop of 'snowe.' 

Until next time!

- Alice Percy