Posted on 12/02/2009 3:40:52 PM PST by Fenhalls555
Dishes of chicken blancmange and porpoise porridge are unlikely to whet the appetite of most modern food lovers.
But such recipes were apparently fit for a king 600 years ago.
Written by chefs employed by Richard II, they are included in what is thought to be the world's oldest cookbook.
The unusual dishes rival modern creations by British TV chef Heston Blumenthal, who is famous for his snail porridge.
Experts from Manchester University's John Rylands Library, who discovered the manuscript, have translated a handful of its 150 recipes, which are written in Middle English and date back to 1390.
They include frumenty, a porridge-type dish made of bulghar wheat, chicken stock and saffron, and payn puff, a dish of boiled fruits wrapped in pastry.
The unusual cookbook, called the Forme of Cury, is believed to have contained dishes to feed servants and the royal family alike
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Credit where credit is due. Ode to a Haggis by Robert Burns. One of my cousins sent me two small tins (they were red tartan) with haggis inside. I kinda’ like haggis but even I wouldn’t eat it out of a tin. I gave one to my Dentist who gives it pride of place on his desk as a paper weight.
BTW you might want to add 1/2 tsp salt to the batter. I mostly avoid salt so forgot most people add it.
Beef drippings: I generally make a nice gravy out of them. That’s better, IMHO. (I assume you’ve succeeded in making the roast without burning the pan’s contents... add water now and then as the roast cooks, but you actually want to have it dry out and brown just-so a few times. It’s an art.) Once the roast is resting on a platter, take the pan it baked in and deglaze it over a burner on high heat with a splash of nice red wine, being sure to scrape up as much browned bits from the bottom and side as you can. (There are flat coiled whisks called gravy-makers that are ideal for this.) Meanwhile whisk maybe 3-4 Tbsp flour into maybe 4-6 Tbsp olive oil. Drizzle this into the simmering wine/juices mixture while stirring... doing it this way prevents lumps. Stir briskly with the flat coiled whisk, adding water as needed. Give it a good grind of fresh pepper, salt to taste, and the tiniest pinch of cayenne (not to add heat but to open the flavor). Maybe a sprinkle of dill and a pinch of ground coriander. Ambrosia. People can ladle this over their yorkshire puddings if desired, or do whatever they do with gravy. Meanwhile folks who are not gravy fans can enjoy their yorkshire puddings with butter or jam or whatever.
The same basic approach works for any meats or poultry. Depending on what you’re doing, you might want to substitute a few spoonfuls of white wine, vermouth or dry marsala instead of red wine.
“...even I wouldn’t eat it out of a tin.”
Ah, a wise one, you are. Bis-phenol A is a good thing to avoid, and the plastic lining likely contains it.
I’ll try that. Thanks!
“Trifle pudding is another marvelous Brit foodstuff. These two food inventions, plus cheddar and stilton cheeses and rum, make up for the rest of their cuisine, IMHO.”
What about, inter alia, the multiplicity of other puddings, pies and cakes that originated in the UK and are still made here? And what “rest of their cuisine”? I suggest you check out some of my links in Post #19 and read Post #33.
If you want to get a true idea about the range of British cuisine, you could do a lot worse than buy a copy of “Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management 1861. Facsimile Edition”.
Perhaps porpoise pastries made with all-porpoise flour?
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