Title: lentils-msg
Subject: Period lentil dishes and comments on lentils.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: period, medieval, legume, lentil, recipe, vegetable

lentils-msg – 5/10/11

Period lentil dishes and comments on lentils.

NOTE: See also the files: peas-msg, beans-msg, gourds-msg, beets-msg, lettuce-msg, vegetarian-msg, mushrooms-msg, vegetables-msg, fd-Mid-East-msg.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 18:40:44 -0500
From: dangilsp at intrepid.net (Dan Gillespie)
Subject: SC - re: Lentils

Hello from West Virginia!
        Here's a recipe for a lentil dish from the 1607 "Arte de Cozina"
that I'm working with.  I thought it was nicely spiced, but the other person
who tried it thought it a bit bland.  You can always adjust the seasonings
at the end.  Let me know how you like it.
                                        Antoine de Bayonne

Cap xiiij De caldo de lentejas.

Despues de limpias y escogidas las lentejas se echaran a cozer, y despues
que cuezen un poco, se freyra una poca de cebolla, y ajos picados, y se
echara en las lentejas; y toma pan rallado, y echaselo para que espessen con
quatro, o seys maravedis de especias molidas, perexil è yerba buena; y
quando se vuieren de echar en las escudillas, se les echara un poco de
vinagre: es buen caldo, sino que es melancolico, como dize Galeno, cap. 5.

Chap 14 On a broth of lentils

After the lentils are cleaned & sorted, cast them to cook, & after they cook
a little, fry a little onion, chopped garlic, & cast them to the lentils; &
take grated bread, & cast it so that they thicken with 4 or 6 maravedis of
ground spices, parsley & mint; & when you cast it in the bowls, cast a
little vinegar: it is a good broth, except that is melancholic, as Galen
says in chapter 5.

A Dish of Lentils

- -2 C lentils, sorted & rinsed
- -2 med onions, chopped
- -2 Tbsp olive oil
- -4 cloves garlic, minced
- -1/2 tsp pepper
- -1/4 tsp ginger
- -1/2 tsp cumin
- -1/2 tsp coriander
- -pinch of cloves
- -salt to taste
- -1/4 C bread crumbs
- -1 Tbsp mint, finely minced
- -2 Tbsp parsley, finely minced
- -2 Tbsp red vine vinegar

Cover lentils with 2 inches of water & cook til they are soft; the time
depends on which type of lentils you use.  Turn heat to low.  Saute onions
in oil til soft & clear; add garlic & continue to saute til garlic is
slightly browned.  Add this mixture to lentils.  Add the spices & herbs &
sitr in the bread crumbs.  This made a stew thinner thatn porridge & thicker
than soup.  Remove from heat & stir in vinegar.  Serve warm

Dan Gillespie
dangilsp at intrepid.net
Dan_Gillespie at usgs.gov
Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA

Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 12:03:20 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 'A cooked dish of lentils'

>So, in pursuit of Pennsic food we were going to try the Cooked Dish of
>Lentils from the Miscellany. It doesn't say to pre-soak the lentils, which
>confused me. Is this assumed, or do you really start out with dry lentils?
>
>-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa

I've never soaked lentils and they've cooked in a reasonable amount
of time, depending on how soft you like them - and i like mine pretty
soft, but i've only made about a quart of cooked lentils at a time.
If you're planning on making a much larger quantity, i guess soaking
it would make cooking time shorter.

Anahita / Subaytila

Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 16:20:37 -0400
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 'A cooked dish of lentils'

> So, in pursuit of Pennsic food we were going to try the Cooked Dish of
> Lentils from the Miscellany. It doesn't say to pre-soak the lentils, which
> confused me. Is this assumed, or do you really start out with dry lentils?
>
> -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa

Lentils are one of the few legumes that you cook starting dry -
they actually cook rather fast [sort of like you can push split
peas into soup form in under an hour if you realllllly need to
;-)
margali

Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 08:39:59 -0500
From: Irmgart <irmgart at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] lentils
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On 1/11/06, Lonnie D. Harvel <ldh at ece.gatech.edu> wrote:
> I have picked up a bag of dried lentils. I have enjoyed them many  
> times, but never prepared them. Recipes? Suggestions?
>
> Aoghann

My *favorite* way to do lentils is from Rumpolt:

*Linsen* (Lentils)
Rumpolt
Take lentils/ wash them fine clean/ and soak them. Take also a good
beef-broth/ let simmer/ cut onion and a little garlic into it/ so that it
comes nice and thick/ and when it is cooked/ so put green well-tasting
herbs/ that have been chopped fine/ thereto/ and cooked bacon/ let it simmer
therewith/ so it becomes good and tasty. You can also cook lentils without
onion/ how one likes to eat it/ so it may be prepared.

To be fair, I usually cook the bacon in the pot, take it out, saute the
onions and garlic in it, then add the broth and lentils. For fresh herbs, I
like it best with rosemary, but that's me, :)

This is a favorite in my house when we are broke as broke can be, because
lentils, garlic, onions and stock are cheap, I buy bacon when it goes on
sale and store it in the freezer.

-Irmgart

Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 08:12:08 -0800
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] lentils
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> I have picked up a bag of dried lentils. I have enjoyed them many
> times, but never prepared them. Recipes? Suggestions?

This is a favorite of ours--we've often done it at Pennsic over the  
fire.

Cooked Dish of Lentils
al-Andalusi p. C-5 (no. 377) (Good)

Wash lentils and put them to cook in a pot with sweet water, oil,
pepper, coriander and cut onion. When they are cooked throw in salt,
a little saffron and vinegar; break three eggs, leave for a while on
the flame and later retire the pot. Other times cook without onion.
If you wish cook it with Egyptian beans pricked into which have been
given a boil. Or better with dissolved yeast over a gentle fire. When
the lentils begin to thicken add good butter or sweet oil, bit by
bit, alike until it gets absorbed, until they are sufficiently cooked
and have enough oil. Then retire it from the flame and sprinkle with
pepper.

1 1/2 c dried lentils = 10 oz	2 medium onions = 1/2 lb
	(Egyptian beans)
2 1/4 c water	       3/4 t salt	                (yeast)
1 1/2 T oil	   12 threads saffron	4 T butter (or oil)
3/8 t pepper	   2 T vinegar	               more pepper
1 1/2 t coriander    	    4 eggs

Slice onions. Put lentils, water, oil, pepper, coriander and onion in
a pot, bring to a boil, and turn down to a bare simmer. Cook covered
50 minutes, stirring periodically. Add butter or oil and cook while
stirring for about 5 minutes. Add salt, saffron (crushed into 1 t
water) and vinegar, and bring back to a boil. Put eggs on top, cover
pot and keep lentils at a simmer; stir cautiously every few minutes
in order to scrape the bottom of the pot without stirring in the
eggs. We find that if the heat is off, the eggs don't cook; if the
heat is up at medium, the eggs cook, but the lentils start to stick
to the pot. A larger quantity might hold enough heat to cook the eggs
without leaving it on the flame. When the eggs are cooked, sprinkle
with a little more pepper and serve. Makes 5 1/4 c.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:20:00 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Oct 20, 2007, at 1:57 PM, Heleen Greenwald wrote:

> Once again I made a pot of lentils and rice with Indian spicing, and
> once again the lentils didn't cook all the way til soft.  I put just
> the lentils and water in a big pot and let them "cook" over low heat
> for about an hour and a half (!). Then I added the spice, turned up
> the heat to medium high and cooked for another half hour. Then I
> added more water and rice. Brought the whole thing to a boil then
> turned it down to medium and let it keep cooking for another hour....
> What is my problem? Other than I should give up cooking entirely!
> You might be able to tell that I am quite annoyed!
> Thanks for any advice.

I don't know how helpful this would be, but sometimes peas, beans,
and lentils will remain sort of hard almost forever if the pH of your
cooking liquid is off. Maybe you've got some kind of strange soft or
acidic water where you are (PA?). Or perhaps tomatoes or lemon are
part of the Indian spicing?  The Romans (as well as some 19th-century
English and American cooks) used to solve this by adding a very small
pinch of soda (in their case, cooking or washing soda, in your case,
presumably baking). If you add too much, it will louse up the flavor
of the food, giving it that lovely, distinctive salty-soapy flavor.
As such, I'm not really actively recommending it, but it might be
something you could experiment with.

2.5 hours of ineffective cooking for any lentil that isn't a chick
pea sounds quite extreme -- I doubt the cooking time is an issue
here, per se.

Adamantius

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:27:54 -0400
From: "Saint Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I was thinking, A, that maybe the easiest way for her to test the
water idea is to get a gallon of distilled water from the store, and
try a batch. Neither lentils nor gallons of bottled water are terribly
expensive, and this might give her an idea. I don't think we ever cook
lentils for longer than an hour, pretty much at a mumbly simmer.

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 15:29:49 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

-----Original Message-----
I was thinking, A, that maybe the easiest way for her to test the
water idea is to get a gallon of distilled water from the store, and
try a batch. Neither lentils nor gallons of bottled water are terribly
expensive, and this might give her an idea. I don't think we ever cook
lentils for longer than an hour, pretty much at a mumbly simmer.  > >  
 > > >

You could also be dealing with some old, stale lentils.  Really old legumes
and such will get tough and resist softening, so getting a new supply from a
store that presumably moves stock would give you a surity on that front
while using the distilled water and soda . . . dancing with the ceremonial
head dress and chanting the lentil cooking song.

niccolo difrancesco
(serious about old lentils ,. . . silly about the last part . . . all the
ideas present previous could be very very helpful)

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 16:10:16 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

-----Original Message-----
Thank you for all your good suggestions, folks. I'm thinking.... old
lentils - I do have a tendency to keep storable food *too long*...
But how old is too long? 6 months? a year?  I have a sinking feeling
that I've had these lentils over a year. (If you can't remember when
you bought them.....) > > > > > >

Your storage time is really just one factor.  How long they've been sitting
in the warehouse and then the grocer's shelf will be probably a bigger
impact.  3 months on your shelf is a small part of the life story of that
tiny protein disk.  A year is probably too long since dried beans and
lentils and such are really rather inexpensive.  But, airtight, cool storage
of good product from a decent volume vendor could last a year or more.  It's
about time and temperature stress as always.

niccolo difrancesco

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 16:11:55 -0700
From: Lilinah <lilinah at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Odd... i've cooked really old lentils (hanging around my house for
well over a year, maybe even over two, and not tightly sealed) and
I've never had this problem. They were soft enough to eat in... I
think about 45 min or so... and nice and soft after an hour or 1-1/4
hours. It certainly didn't take 3 hours!

Soaking them overnight before you cook them ought to help shorten the
cooking time.

I am assuming you are using the standard lentil in the US, which is
relatively large, has a sort of olive brown skin. The tiny "French
lentils" (much smaller and a different shade of green than the
"usual") have taken much longer to cook in my experience. On the
other hand, the orange lentils often used in Indian cooking cook even
more quickly than the "usual", since they are split and skinned.

The orange lentils would not need to be soaked, while the French
lentils would no doubt cook more quickly if soaked. And i've no idea
how long the tiny and black "caviar lentils" take to cook as i've
only bought them already cooked.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:47:22 -0400
From: Heleen Greenwald <heleen at ptd.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I used a yellow lentil.  I read some time ago that lentils do not
need to be pre-soaked and only take about 45 minutes to cook. I have
always had a problem cooking lentils until done enough..... I guess I
will have to test for water acidity now....It's really annoying.

Phillipa

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:59:24 -0500
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Wanted: Bean Recipes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

A Cooked Dish of Lentils is a favorite of ours; it's 13th c. Andalusian.

Cooked Dish of Lentils
al-Andalusi p. C-5 (no. 377) (Good)

Wash lentils and put them to cook in a pot with sweet water, oil, 
pepper, coriander and cut onion. When they are cooked throw in salt, 
a little saffron and vinegar; break three eggs, leave for a while on 
the flame and later retire the pot. Other times cook without onion. 
If you wish cook it with Egyptian beans pricked into which have been 
given a boil. Or better with dissolved yeast over a gentle fire. When 
the lentils begin to thicken add good butter or sweet oil, bit by 
bit, alike until it gets absorbed, until they are sufficiently cooked 
and have enough oil. Then retire it from the flame and sprinkle with 
pepper.

1 1/2 c dried lentils = 10 oz	2 medium onions = 1/2 lb 
	(Egyptian beans)
2 1/4 c water	3/4 t salt	(yeast)
1 1/2 T oil	12 threads saffron	4 T butter (or oil)
3/8 t pepper	2 T vinegar	more pepper
1 1/2 t coriander	4 eggs

Slice onions. Put lentils, water, oil, pepper, coriander and onion in 
a pot, bring to a boil, and turn down to a bare simmer. Cook covered 
50 minutes, stirring periodically. Add butter or oil and cook while 
stirring for about 5 minutes. Add salt, saffron (crushed into 1 t 
water) and vinegar, and bring back to a boil. Put eggs on top, cover 
pot and keep lentils at a simmer; stir cautiously every few minutes 
in order to scrape the bottom of the pot without stirring in the 
eggs. We find that if the heat is off, the eggs don't cook; if the 
heat is up at medium, the eggs cook, but the lentils start to stick 
to the pot. A larger quantity might hold enough heat to cook the eggs 
without leaving it on the flame. When the eggs are cooked, sprinkle 
with a little more pepper and serve. Makes 5 1/4 c.

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 01:17:54 -0500
From: "Kingstaste" <kingstaste at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lentils, lentils everywhere....
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

This recipe is in Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern Cooking, but I found it on
line as well.  The caramelized onions make it fantastic.  
The small black ones you've got are probably French Green Lentils, they hold
their shape and stay a bit firm, giving you a 'tooth' sensation.  The red
ones turn a khaki color and mush pretty quickly, they generally only require
about 20 minutes to cook.  

Christianna

Megadarra (Brown Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions)
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&reci
pe_id=226714

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 10:52:22 -0600 (CST)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lentils, lentils everywhere....
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Mon, 5 Jan 2009, Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
<<< As for those coral-orangey lentils, I think those are intended for dal and 
such; they always seem to turn into brown mush no matter what I do, but I 
think that's part of the Master Plan.

Adamantius >>>

They're also known as Egyptian red lentils in some places, and masoor dal 
if you're Indian. They cook to a golden-brown mush, which is useful in 
itself as a thickener or a base for something else, or you can look up any 
dal recipe that calls for masoor dal. They're a staple in my kitchen. ;-)

Margaret FitzWilliam

Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:03:53 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Which lentils are "period"?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Lentils are covered in Ken Albala's award winning book Beans. A History.
They came someplace out of the fertile crescent some 10,000 years ago so 
they are Old World.

Medieval recipes are few and far between but Scappi does offer recipes 
using them.

Johnnae

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 20:18:23 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Which lentils are "period"?
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Lentils are of Old World origin.  The cultivated varieties belong primarily 
to Lens culinaris (L. esculenta) and are divided into two subspecies 
taxonomical divided by seed size.  The large seed ssp. is primaarily 
culitvated in the Mediterranean Basin, Africa and Asia Minor.  The small 
seed ssp. is primarily found in western and southwestern Asia, especially 
India.  At present there are four accepted wild species.  The proper 
taxonomy is a subject of on-going debate.

There is evidence that they were gathered in Greece 13,000 to 9,500 years 
ago and in the Near East 10,000 to 9,500 years ago.  Lentils have been found 
in Bronze Age sites in Switzerland.  Domestication probably occurred between 
10,000 and 7,000 years ago, but it is impossible to determine where they 
were originally domesticated.  By historical times, lentils were common fare 
in North Africa, Southern Europe, and the Near East.  The larger brown or 
green lentil was probably more common than the other colors, but red lentils 
were apparently grown in Egypt before the Islamic expansion.

You will find recipes for lentils in Apicius and an inventory from 
Staffelsee show payments of lentils as rent during Charlemagne's time.

Bear

Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2009 10:28:34 -0800
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Which lentils are "period"?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

<<< You will find recipes for lentils in Apicius and an inventory from 
Staffelsee show payments of lentils as rent during Charlemagne's 
time.

Bear >>>

They seem reasonably common in period Islamic cuisine. Two of our 
favorite dishes use them--Rishta and A Cooked Dish of Lentils.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com

From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Date: January 7, 2009 10:16:41 AM CST
To: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
Subject: Which lentils are "period"?

Read the chapter in Albala and I think you'll get a clearer picture.

I have been under the weather so digging into the Cambridge WorldHistory
has not been high on my list of things to do. There is a chapter in that set on them.

As to all the varieties and colors, etc that can be found these days,
I suspect that it's the niche marketing that is available these days.
(Goya has at least 3 varieties that they sell. I can buy 2 of these uptown here in Chelsea.)

Suddenly we have a gourmet audience that can support the commercial
(if limited) sale of various different lentils.
And don't underestimate the growth of the green and vegetarian market.
Lentils show up in lots of those recipes and well they should.

*lentils* **legumes; dried seeds of many varieties of /Lens esculenta/, they may be green, yellow, or orange-red. When ground, they are frequently used to thicken soup. A 120-g portion is a rich source of copper and selenium; a good source of iron; a source of protein, vitamin B_6 , folate, and zinc; contains 0.6 g of fat, of which 20% is saturated; provides 4.8 g of dietary fibre; supplies 125 kcal (520 kJ).

*from*
"lentils" /A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition/. David A. Bender.

They carry that association in period that only the poor eat them.

I'll look some more things up and post those.

Johnnae

Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:22:50 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] More on Lentils
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Stefan asked me if I could locate more information on lentils, so
I did some research into the English sources this am to supplement what 
I said the other day.
Looking in EEBO Full Text, I came across:

Twyne, Thomas, 1543-1613. *The schoolemaster, or teacher of table 
philosophie*. 1576.

Of all kinds of fetches or podware, as: Rice, Beanes, Lentiles, 
Chitches. Peason. Cap. 29.

Lentles also sayth hee are colde and drie, ingendring melancholick 
bloud, and dryinge the body, they darken the eyesight, and nourish 
Melancholicke diseases, if a man vse them mutch.

In the chapter on potherbs:

NOw let vs say sumwhat of Pothearbes accordinge as or|der and doctrine 
requireth, and first of Garlike, whiche, as saith Rhasis, is hot and 
drie, and taketh awaye thirstines, and increaseth fleashly lust, 
breaketh winde, and heateth the body. In hot regions, hot times, and 
vnto hot complexions it doth harme, and Galen calleth it the husbandmens 
triacle. Beanes or Lentles sod & eaten take away the stinking smell of 
it, and so doth Rue b?eing chawed, and a litle therof eaten downe.

---
They are mentioned in the dietaries but aren't recommended all that highly.

Markham goes into them treating them as part of the pulses in his 
agricultural works and translations. See Maison Rustique which
he translated and edited from the French.

---

CHAP. 513. Of Lentils. Appears in Gerard, John, 1545-1612 The herball or 
Generall historie of plantes.
So they are covered in Gerard.

----

Probably Thomas Muffet writing in the mid 1590?s sums it up best when he 
writes

Lentes.
Lentiles were so prized in Athenaeus time, that one wrote a whole 
treatise in their commendation; and Diogenes commended them above all 
meats to his Scholers, because they have a peculiar vertue to quicken 
the wit. Let us (for shame) not discontinue any longer this wholesome 
nourishment, but rather strive to find out some preparation, whereby 
they may be restored to their former or greater goodness.

Printed in Healths improvement published for the first time in 1655.

Johnnae

Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 12:22:24 -0500
From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Which lentils are "period"?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

<<< You will find recipes for lentils in Apicius and an inventory from Staffelsee show payments of lentils as rent during Charlemagne's time. >>>

Rumpolt's Ein New Kochbuch includes a lentil soup recipe. 

Ranvaig

Suppen 12. Nimm Linsen/ setz sie im Wasser zu/ und la? sie sieden. Wenn sie gesotten sein/ so sto? sie halben theils/ und streich sie mit der Br?he/ darinnen sie gesotten haben/ durch/ machs mit Pfeffer ab/ gelbs/ salzs und schm?ltzs/ thu die vbrigen Linsen auch darein/ und la? damit sieden/ thu gr?ne wolschmeckende Kr?uter darunter/ so wirt es auch gut.

Take lentils/ add them to water/ and let them simmer. When they are simmered/ then grind a half part/and strain it through with the stock/ that they simmered in/ make up with pepper/ yellow/ salt and lard/ add the remaining lentils into it/ and them simmer together/ add fresh good tasting herbs among it/ It is also good like this.

Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:55:54 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] lentils

Checked Ken Albala's 2007 volume Beans. A History.

"There is really nothing here about contemporary practice, and nowhere  
in the recipes taken from Martino are lentils even mentioned. Lentils  
really do not appear to be a common food in medieval Europe. It is  
only in the sixteenth century that lentils begin to appear in  
cookbooks."

He says that there are 6 recipes for lentils in Scappi. 5 of those are  
where lentils are mentioned as alternatives to peas, beans, or other  
legumes. There is one recipe that is a thick soup of lentils. Alba;a  
suggests that lentils were just substituted in, so perhaps specific  
recipes weren't necessary.

If you don't own Scully's edition of Scappi, you can view the recipe  
on Google Books. Do a search under lentil Scappi recipes. It's recipe  
254 page 368. It could be a vegetarian recipe although it ends with  
pieces of trench and pike might be eaten with the soup of lentils.

I did find this one OED quote which indicates that they were eaten and  
with what...

1649    Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar iii. Disc. xiv. 27   He prefers a  
dish of red *lentill pottage before a venison.

Most of the other interesting OED material is 19th century.

Johnna

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 15:18:40 -0500
From: "Kingstaste" <kingstaste at comcast.net>
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] looking for lentil recipe  Re: Sca-cooks
	Digest,	Vol 59, Issue 21

We just did one from the new version of Apicius (not my copy so I don't have
it here to give you details). The recipe may be named "Lentils and Leeks".
It was basic cooked lentils with equal parts (or rather flavor-balanced
parts) of defrutum (we made ours out of Manachevitz grape, spices, boiled it
down to 1/3), honey, and red wine vinegar.  A nice full-bodied vinegar gives
a good balance with the other two sweeter things.  We did plain brown
lentils with this along with some caramelized leek slices and it was
wonderful.

Christianna 

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 21:50:19 +0000 (GMT)
From: emilio szabo <emilio_szabo at yahoo.it>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] looking for lentil recipe

Alas, the following recipe from Anonimo Toscano, Libro della cocina contains 
some of the "no no"-ingredients. Given the scarcity of lentil recipes I mention 
it anyway:

De le lenti. 
Togli le lenti bene lavate e nette da le pietre, e poni a cuocere 
con erbe odorifere, oglio, sale e zaffarano. E quando saranno cotte,
tritale bene; e messovi su ova dibattute, e cascio secco tagliato, da'
mangiare. 

Altramente. Poni a cuocere le lenti con carne di porco fresca o
insalata, e dalle a mangiare, pur cos? senza ova e cascio. 

Helewyse, do you happen to have an English translation of this recipe?

E.

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 22:08:13 +0000 (GMT)
From: emilio szabo <emilio_szabo at yahoo.it>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] lentils : _molto familiare alle cucine_

Here is another quote from Costanzo Felici, second half of the 16th century:

La lente o lenticchia, lens, ancora lei e molto familiare
alle cucine in minestre cosi de magro como di grasso, che cosi
volentieri si accompagna con ossa o persdutti. 

The lentil is very common in the kitchens in soups/minestre both for 
lent/non-lenten time ...

E.

Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:36:36 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] looking for lentil recipe

Lentils only turn up once in medievalcookery.com' s index. I just
found that mention but I'll repeat it here.
Das Kochbuch des Meisters Eberhard
(Lentils are moderately hot and dry out and make much blood. If they  
are boiled with vinegar, they extinguish the inflammation of the  
blood. Those who eat much of them get dark eyes because they dry out  
the body so much. Avicenna says that they damage the stomach and cause 
gas and constipate.)

They only turn up once in EEBO under lentil* and subject cookery and  
that's in the 1653 French Cook. Here are those mentions:

43. Potage of lentilles.

After they are well sod, and seasoned with butter, salt, and a bundle  
of hearbs, take up, and serve.

You may put them upon the potage with some oile, after they are salted.

Lentilles.

After they are well sod, passe them in the pan with fresh butter,  
salt, peper, a little of fine hearbs, and chibols, when they are well  
fried, serve them.

You may serve them like pease broth; if you finde them hard to be  
passed (or strained) stamp them in a mortar.

They may also be served with salat oile pas?sed in the panne.

May not be that many recipes.

We didn't index any for the Concordance. Let me do some more checking.

Johnnae

Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:44:17 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] looking for lentil recipe

Missed this recipe. It was at the top of the search. It's not Northern Europe.

This is an excerpt from An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook
(Andalusia, 13th c. - Charles Perry, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website

A Muzawwara (Vegetarian Dish) Beneficial for Tertian Fevers and Acute  
Fevers. Take boiled peeled lentils and wash in hot water several  
times; put in the pot and add water without covering them; cook and  
then throw in pieces of gourd, or the stems [ribs] of Swiss chard, or  
of lettuce and its tender sprigs, or the flesh of cucumber or melon,  
and vinegar, coriander seed, a little cumin, Chinese cinnamon, saffron  
and two ?qiyas of fresh oil; balance with a little salt and cook.  
Taste, and if its flavor is pleasingly balanced between sweet and  
sour, [good;] and if not, reinforce until it is equalized, according  
to taste, and leave it to lose its heat until it is cold and then serve.

Johnnae

Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:50:26 +1100
From: Antonia di B C <dama.antonia at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] looking for lentil recipe

On 9/03/2011 8:50 AM, emilio szabo wrote:
<<< De le lenti.
Togli le lenti bene lavate e nette da le pietre, e poni a cuocere
con erbe odorifere, oglio, sale e zaffarano. E quando saranno cotte,
tritale bene; e messovi su ova dibattute, e cascio secco tagliato, da'
mangiare. >>>

On lentils
Take lentils, well washed and picked over (cleaned of stones), and cook 
them with aromatic herbs, oil, salt, and saffron.  When they have 
cooked, crush them and put beaten eggs and sliced dry cheese on on top, 
then eat.

<<< Altramente. Poni a cuocere le lenti con carne di porco fresca o
insalata, e dalle a mangiare, pur cos? senza ova e cascio. >>>

Otherwise, cook lentils with fresh or salted pork and serve them without 
eggs or cheese.

(this is off-the-cuff translation, so may not be perfectly accurate)
-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 15:43:23 -0800
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] looking for lentil recipe

<<< not particular to period, or location (norther Europe and 13-1500s 
is fine, but honestly I adore mujadarah (though have not found a period recipe for it)

I am looking specifically for vegetarian or better yet vegan safe. 
(last week I did a pea soup that has onions browned in olive oil, and is seasoned with pepper, (I added some salt) and herbs.  I don't want to repeat but something similar would thrill me >>>

If you don't mind eggs, you might like this, which is a favorite of 
ours; we've often made it over the campfire at Pennsic:

Cooked Dish of Lentils
al-Andalusi no. 377 (Good)

Wash lentils and put them to cook in a pot with sweet water, oil, 
pepper, coriander and cut onion. When they are cooked throw in salt, 
a little saffron and vinegar; break three eggs, leave for a while on 
the flame and later retire the pot. Other times cook without onion. 
If you wish cook it with Egyptian beans pricked into which have been 
given a boil. Or better with dissolved yeast over a gentle fire. When 
the lentils begin to thicken add good butter or sweet oil, bit by 
bit, alike until it gets absorbed, until they are sufficiently cooked 
and have enough oil. Then retire it from the flame and sprinkle with 
pepper.

_ lb onions	_ t salt
1 _ c dried lentils	12 threads saffron
2 _ c water	2 T vinegar
1 _ T oil	4 eggs
_ t pepper	more pepper
1 _ t coriander	(Egyptian beans)
4 T butter (or oil)	(yeast)

Slice onions. Put lentils, water, oil, pepper, coriander and onion in 
a pot, bring to a boil, and turn down to a bare simmer. Cook covered 
50 minutes, stirring periodically. Add butter or oil and cook while 
stirring for about 5 minutes. Add salt, saffron (crushed into 1 t 
water) and vinegar, and bring back to a boil. Put eggs on top, cover 
pot and keep lentils at a simmer; stir cautiously every few minutes 
in order to scrape the bottom of the pot without stirring in the 
eggs. We find that if the heat is off, the eggs don't cook; if the 
heat is up at medium, the eggs cook, but the lentils start to stick 
to the pot. A larger quantity might hold enough heat to cook the eggs 
without leaving it on the flame. When the eggs are cooked, sprinkle 
with a little more pepper and serve. Makes 5 _ c.

(From the Miscellany)
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 16:48:53 -0800
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] looking for lentil recipe

Gwen Cat wrote:
<<< not particular to period, or location (norther Europe and 13-1500s 
is fine, but honestly I adore mujadarah (though have not found a period recipe for it) >>>

The 13th c. anonymous Andalusian cookbook (on Cariadoc's web site) 
has several lentil recipes, including one for mujaddara.

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Andalusian/andalusian7.htm#Heading359

A Muzawwara (Vegetarian Dish) Beneficial for Tertian Fevers and Acute Fevers.
as translated by Charles Perry

Take boiled peeled lentils and wash in hot water several times;put in 
the pot and add water without covering them; cook and then throw in 
pieces of gourd, or the stems [ribs] of Swiss chard, or of lettuce 
and its tender sprigs, or the flesh of cucumber or melon, and 
vinegar, coriander seed, a little cumin, Chinese cinnamon, saffron 
and two uqiyas of fresh oil; balance with a little salt and cook. 
Taste, and if its flavor is pleasingly balanced between sweet and 
sour, [good;] and if not, reinforce until it is equalized, according 
to taste, and leave it to lose its heat until it is cold and then 
serve.

Urtatim sez: Modern mujaddara is eaten over rice, but within SCA 
period in the Near and Middle East, rice was, for the most part, the 
food of the wealthy and privileged (outside of the rice growing 
province in Persia). But lentils were eaten by everyone. The basic 
food for all was wheaten flat bread (and I do not mean modern pita), 
so this would be eaten with bread rather than over rice.

---------------------

As for the similarity or dissimilarity of muzawwara and mujaddara, i 
wrote to this list in Oct. 2006:

A. Muzawwara
Charles Perry explains the source of "muzawwara":
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200604/cooking.with.the.caliphs.htm
in his article in the on-line Saudi Aramco magazine, Cooking With the Caliphs:
"The book gives only a few vegetarian dishes, called muzaw-waraat 
(literally, "counterfeit" dishes, which reminds us of the Turkish 
name for vegetables with a meatless stuffing: yalanci dolma, "lying 
dolma"). They were known as the dishes that Christians ate on fast 
days, and they were thought to be good for the health - and they had 
indeed been introduced by the Nestorian Christian physicians favored 
by the caliphs. There were also cold dishes, sometimes 
vegetable-based but more often containing meat, called baaridah. Some 
of them are probably descended from the pre-Islamic Persian dishes 
called aamiz."

B. Mujadara
According to what i've read, the word "mujadara" suggests that the 
final dish looks "pock marked", which the round lentils may give to 
the surface of the rice or bulghur.

So there may be some superficial similarities between the dishes, and 
"mujadara" may be a sub-set of "muzaw-warat", but they are not the 
same thing. One is a specific dish and one is a class of dishes.

---------------------

I found this recipe in Cariadoc's Miscellany. It is vegetarian, but not vegan.

The bibliography of the Miscellany says:
La Cocina Arabigoandaluza,** translated from Arabic into Spanish by 
Fernando de la Granja Santamaria and from Spanish into English by 
Melody Asplund-Faith. This consists of selections from a much longer 
Arabic original. It is referred to below as "al-Andalusi."

This is, in fact, the 13th century Fadalat al-khiwan fi-tayybat 
al-ta'am Wa'l-alwan
by Ibn Razin al-Tujibi, who was an Andalusi...

Cooked Dish of Lentils (adasiyya?)
al-Andalusi p. C-5 (no. 377)

Wash lentils and put them to cook in a pot with sweet water, oil, 
pepper, coriander and cut onion. When they are cooked throw in salt, 
a little saffron and vinegar; break three eggs, leave for a while on 
the flame and later retire the pot. Other times cook without onion. 
If you wish cook it with Egyptian beans pricked into which have been 
given a boil. Or better with dissolved yeast over a gentle fire. When 
the lentils begin to thicken add good butter or sweet oil, bit by 
bit, alike until it gets absorbed, until they are sufficiently cooked 
and have enough oil. Then retire it from the flame and sprinkle with 
pepper.

Cariadoc's interpretation
1 1/2 c dried lentils = 10 oz
2 1/4 c water
1 1/2 T oil
3/8 t pepper
1 1/2 t coriander
2 medium onions = 1/2 lb
3/4 t salt
12 threads saffron
2 T vinegar
4 eggs
(Egyptian beans)
(yeast)
4 T butter (or oil)
more pepper

Slice onions. Put lentils, water, oil, pepper, coriander and onion in 
a pot, bring to a boil, and turn down to a bare simmer. Cook covered 
50 minutes, stirring periodically. Add butter in lumps and cook while 
stirring for about 5 minutes. Add salt, saffron (crushed into 1 t 
water) and vinegar, and bring back to a boil. Put eggs on top, cover 
pot and keep lentils at a simmer; stir cautiously every few minutes 
in order to scrape the bottom of the pot without stirring in the 
eggs. We find that if the heat is off, the eggs don't cook; if the 
heat is up at medium, the eggs cook, but the lentils start to stick 
to the pot. A larger quantity might hold enough heat to cook the eggs 
without leaving it on the flame. When the eggs are cooked, sprinkle 
with a little more pepper and serve. Makes 5 1/4 c.

[Urtatim sez: olive oil is likely in al-Andalus]

---------------------

This recipe is from a 15th c. cookbook attributed to Ibn al-Mabrad; 
the recipes use relatively few spices. It was translated by Charles 
Perry, in "Medieval Arab Cookery". It is vegan.

Adas

The best way of cooking lentils is to crush them and then cook them 
and put with them chard and taro. When it is done, sumac, fried 
onion, parsley, vinegar and oil are put with it.

Here is Cariadoc's interpretation from The Miscellany

1 c lentils
1/2 lb chard
2 lb taro
2 t dried sumac
3/4 t salt
1/2 lb onion
2 T parsley (chopped)
1 T vinegar
1 T oil

Grind the lentils in a mortar or a spice/coffee grinder (a gadget 
like a miniature food processor), then simmer them in 4 1/2 c water 
about 1 hour. Simmer the taro about 15 minutes, drain, peel, and 
slice. Rinse and chop the chard. At the end of the hour add the taro 
and chard. Simmer together about another 1/2 hour. Chop and fry the 
onion in a little oil. At the end of the half hour, add onion, 
parsley, vinegar, oil, salt and sumac. Stir together and serve. Note 
that taro is sometimes available in Chinese or Indian grocery stores.

[Urtatim sez: taro, colocasia, is available in Berkeley also in the 
Berkeley Bowl, as well as]
[Urtatim won't shut up and sez further: this Syrian recipe likely 
uses yellow sesame oil or possibly olive oil]

---------------------

An earlier lentil recipe includes meat:
Adasiya
    You cook meat with chopped onion in oil and when the pot has been 
brought to the boil, and the scum removed, husked lentils are thrown 
in and cooked thoroughly. Then you pour in vinegar and spice it with 
coriander and cumin; throw in garlic (as well). Whosoever wishes may 
throw in ground cheese; whosoever wishes may colour it yellow with 
saffron. Throw in beet root [Urtatim says: actually chard leaves] 
without the cheese and garlic. Whosoever wishes may throw in 
something sweet.
    ----- Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, Kitab al Tibikh, 10th c., printed in 
In a Caliph's Kitchen (trans. David Waines)

Urtatim has even more to say:
In certain situations, when cooking for camps of vegetarians at SCA 
events, I have cooked dishes that include meat, replacing the flesh 
with things like seitan and/or tofu. Yeah, not period, but in period 
few people in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East were 
voluntarily vegetarian all the time. Heck, in some places that could 
get you persecuted and prosecuted as a heretic...

---------------------

I found the 15th c. recipe as written too bland. So i combined 
aspects of both recipes, leaving out the meat but including the 
spices of the adasiyya, making a vegetarian recipe with more 
seasoning than the 15th c. recipe.

http://home.earthlink.net/~al-tabbakhah/2007_Feasts/Pennsic36_West_Feast.htm#lentils

Urtatim's Quasi Medieval Middle Eastern Lentil Dish
(to serve 8)

    2 cups lentils
    1/2 lb. chard
    1 lb taro (colocasia)
    2 Tb. sumac
    1 tsp. salt
    1/4 tsp. ground pepper, black or white
    1 tsp. ground cumin seeds
    1 Tb. ground coriander seeds
    2 large yellow onions, fairly thinly sliced
    1/4 cup yellow sesame oil (NOT the dark, roasted, East Asian sesame oil)
    1/4 cup shredded flat leaf parsley, or more
    1/4 cup white wine vinegar, or more, to taste

1. Remove largest toughest part of chard stalks, then shred/chop 
greens and thinner veins.
2. Wash taro well, peel, and cut in large dice.
3. In a deep pot, cook lentils in 2 times as much water, with chard, 
taro, salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander, until the lentils are very 
tender, adding more water, if necessary. This can take 45 minutes or 
longer (varies with type of lentils)
4. While lentils cook, slice then very gently fry sliced onions in 
oil until almost caramelized.
5. When lentils are very soft, stir in sumac, fried onions, parsley, 
vinegar and oil, and serve.

Urtatim dithers:
This is NOT thoroughly authentic, although it is certainly possible, 
or, i think, even plausible, given that sumac, cumin, and coriander 
are all native to and widely grown in regions around the 
Mediterranean, and only the peppercorns are imported.
-- 
Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
the persona formerly known as Anahita

Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 21:05:20 +1030
From: "Claire Clarke" <angharad at adam.com.au>
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks]  looking for lentil recipe

This is one from late 16th century Spain that I discovered when digging
around online for 16th century Spanish recipes last year. I picked the
translation off someone's blog - apologies for the lack of credit if it was
yours! It was the first period lentil recipe I have come across so I am
intrigued to see all the others.

Caldo de Lentejas
After the lentils are cleaned & sorted, cast them to cook, & after they cook
a little, fry a little onion, chopped garlic, & cast them to the lentils; &
take grated bread, & cast it so that they thicken with 4 or 6 maravedis of
ground spices, parsley & mint; & when you cast it in the bowls, cast a
little vinegar: it is a good broth, except that is melancholic, as Galen
says in chapter 5. From Libro del Arte de Cozina, by Domingo Hernandez de
Maceras, translated by Antoine de Bayonne (mka Dan Gillespie) 

1 cup green/brown lentils
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp each parsley and mint
2 tbsp vinegar

Pick over the lentils removing any stray bits of skin or extraneous grains
(for some reason you often get bits of wheat or other things in with
lentils). Soak the lentils in hot water for about 20 mins. Drain and place
in a saucepan with enough fresh water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer
until the lentils are soft but not disintegrating, about 20-30 mins. Drain.
Meanwhile finely chop the onion and garlic. Fry in a little olive oil until
soft. Add to the lentils. Chop the herbs finely and add to the lentils. Add
the vinegar and mix well. You could add some salt and pepper if you like, or
other spices, to your taste.  This serves 10 people.

Note that 'caldo' means hot, so it was probably intended to be served hot
(perhaps even as a soup - it suggests thickening with bread but not where
the liquid is to come from - the lentil cooking liquid perhaps), but it does
very nicely served cold as a kind of lentil salad. 

Angharad

Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 11:25:16 -0500
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcarrollmann at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] looking for lentil recipe

On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 5:35 AM, Claire Clarke <angharad at adam.com.au> wrote:
<<< This is one from late 16th century Spain that I discovered when
digging around online for 16th century Spanish recipes last year.
I picked the translation off someone's blog - apologies for the lack
of credit if it was yours! >>>

A little googling shows that the blog in question belongs to Duchess
Juana Isabella, who is a member of this list.  The recipe, as she
indicated, was translated by Dan Gillespie (SCA: Antoine de Bayonne).

'Caldo' means 'broth' in Spanish, but it and the word for 'hot'
('caliente') both come from the same Latin root.

I think that this is definitely a lentil soup, meant to be served hot.
The verb 'cocer' means 'to cook', but it also has the more specific
meaning of cooking in liquid.  If I saw a period Spanish recipe for a
food that can be cooked in multiple ways -- chicken or rggplant, for
example -- and it said 'cocer', I would be reaching for a pot and
filling it with water.

I have one question about your redaction: are you deliberately
omitting spices?  The recipe says to add ground spices, mint, and
parsley.  Mint and parsley are herbs.  Ground spices ('especias
molidas') might include such things as black pepper, cinnamon, cloves,
etc.  Antoine's redaction of this recipe is in the Florilegium file
for lentils, and he includes pepper, ginger, cumin, coriander (seed, I
assume), cloves, and salt.

Does anyone know what's happened to Antoine?  Does he still play in
the SCA and is he still working on his translation?

Brighid ni Chiarain

Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2011 11:31:28 -0500
From: Gretchen Beck <grm at andrew.cmu.edu>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] looking for lentil recipe

Hah!  Antoine's recipe is the one I was looking for (I had the recipe on 
file, but had neglected to note the source). I've used it (served it for 
lunch), and as a lentil soup lover, it is quite tasty!  (The mint, spices, 
and vinegar really balance nicely).

toodles, margaret

Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:28:29 -0800
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] looking for lentil recipe

I wrote:
<<< This recipe is from a 15th c. cookbook attributed to Ibn al-Mabrad; 
the recipes use relatively few spices. It was translated by Charles 
Perry, in "Medieval Arab Cookery". It is vegan.

Adas
The best way of cooking lentils is to crush them and then cook them 
and put with them chard and taro. When it is done, sumac, fried 
onion, parsley, vinegar and oil are put with it. >>>

SNIP

<<< I found the 15th c. recipe as written too bland. So i combined 
aspects of both recipes, leaving out the meat but including the 
spices of the adasiyya, making a vegetarian recipe with more 
seasoning than the 15th c. recipe. >>>

SNIP

I would like to add that the 15th c. Syrian cookbook attributed to 
Ibn al-Mabrad (or Mubarrad) -- fully translated by Charles Perry and 
published in "Medieval Arab Cookery" -- appears to be recipes NOT 
from the elite classes and it uses remarkably few spices throughout 
all its recipes. It is unclear whether
(1) indeed no spices or herbs were used at all by cooks of that class,
or
(2) if perhaps the seasoning of the dishes was understood to be at 
the discretion and affordability of the cook

Quite a few of those commonly used in elite cookbooks were locally 
grown, easy to grow, and not expensive, such as cumin, caraway, 
coriander seeds, coriander greens (cilantro), mint, parsley, etc..

This uncertainty is another reason i felt it was plausible to add 
those commonly used seasonings to my interpretation.
-- 
Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
the persona formerly known as Anahita

Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:42:11 -0800 (PST)
From: wheezul at canby.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] more lentils, think we have a keeper

Late in the game due to a computer being sidelined, I come with a German
recipe from Staindl (page 104 on the pdf version from google books).

Linsen Suppen

cclvii.  Linsen die seud fein gemachlich / rost ein zwiffel da-
rein / seurs / stipps / thu Weinberlin darauff / gibs auff ein
bawts brot / vnd fur ein nacht essen.

Lentil soup

257.  Lentils boil them nicely unhurried / roast an onion there-
in / sour / season / put raisins thereon / serve on a
toasted bread / and for a night dish.

Could the lentils be thick enough to be spreadable on toasted bread?  The
previous recipe is for cooked chickpeas ground creamy and served on
toasted rolls with raisins.  I suppose this could be a sweet and sour
dish, probably spiced with the popular German cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg trio,
soured with vinegar and the raisins providing the sweet note.  Just
guessing on my part.

Katherine

with diacritical marks
Linsen Suppen

cclvii.  Linsen die se?d fein gem?chlich / r?st ein zwiffel da-
rein / se?rs / stipps / th? Weinberlin darauff / gibs auff ein
b?wts brot / vnd f?r ein nacht essen.

Katherine

Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:00:43 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Taro was Re:  looking for lentil recipe

Oddly enough I came across it today in another version of the Lentil  
stew that Urtatim posted of the al-Andalusi recipes. Recipes  
reproduced from the book:
Fernando de la Granja Santamar?a Fernando de la Granja Santamaria
La cocina arabigoandaluza seg?n un manuscrito in?dito. The kitchen  
arabigoandaluza as an unpublished manuscript.  PhD thesis.
Madrid, Facultad de Filosof?a y Letras, 1960 Madrid, Faculty of  
Philosophy and Letters, 1960
Setrata del manuscrito llamado: Setrata the manuscript entitled:
Fedalat Al-Jiwan fi tayyibat al-ta'am wa-l-alwan (Relieves de la mesa,  
sobre manjares y guisos). Jiwan Fedalat fi Al-Ta'am tayyibat al-Alwan  
wa-l-(Reliefs in the table, on dishes and stews).  Its author is the  
Murcia Abu l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abi l-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn  
Abi Bakr ibn Razin al-Tuyibi al-Andalus and was probably written  
between 1228 and 1243)
http://www.elsgnoms.com/receptes/arabigo.html
Translations can be done through Google.

Johnnae

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 06:56:44 -0500
From: Elise Fleming <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
To: sca-cooks <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Taro was:  looking for lentil recipe

Johnnae gave a reference to a Spanish translation of an al-Andalusi 
recipe online.  This is the recipe she found:

        Guiso de lentejas
Se lavan las lentejas y se ponen a cocer en una olla con agua dulce, 
aceite, pimienta, cilantro y cebolla cortada. Cuando est?n cocidas se 
echa sal, un poco de azafr?n y vinagre; se cascan tres huevos, se dejan 
un poco a la lumbre y luego se retira la olla. Otras veces se cuecen sin 
cebolla. Se pueden guisar con colocasia picada a la que se ha dado un 
hervor. O bien con levadura desle?da, a fuego lento. Cuando las lentejas 
empiezan a espesarse se les a?ade buena o aceite dulce, poco a poco, 
conforme lo vayan chupando hasta que est?n suficientemente cocidas y 
tienen aceite bastante. Entonces se retiran de la lumbre y se 
espolvorean con pimienta.

A possible translation (Google and myself):

Lentil stew
Wash lentils and put to boil in a pot with fresh water, oil, pepper, 
cilantro and onion. When cooked, put salt, a little saffron and vinegar; 
crack/break three eggs, (leave a little to the fire) and then remove the 
pot. Sometimes one cooks without onions. You can cook with minced taro 
that has been given a boil. Or diluted yeast, simmered. When the lentils 
begin to thicken, add them good or sweet oil, little by little, in 
proportion to what they will soak up, until they are cooked enough and 
have enough oil. Then remove from the heat and sprinkle with pepper.

In looking up various meanings of "colocasia", one dictionary says that 
it is "arum colocasia" and calls it "Egyptian bean".

Alys K., watching the snow fly

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 09:09:34 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Taro was:  looking for lentil recipe

<<< In looking up various meanings of "colocasia", one dictionary says that
it is "arum colocasia" and calls it "Egyptian bean".

Alys K., watching the snow fly >>>

They are apparently referencing Palladius who identified "colocaseum" as 
Faba Aegyptica or the Egyptian bean.  Arum colocasia is an entirely 
different plant, Colocasia esculenta, AKA taro.  Some ancients also confused 
C. esculenta with the water arum, Calla palustris.

Bear 

Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2011 16:42:09 -0500
From: Suey <lordhunt at gmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Taro was:  looking for lentil recipe

Else Fleming gave the Fadalat recipe for lentils which Stefan has 
published in Fadalat art with my translation:
www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MANUSCRIPTS/Fadalat-art.rtf

Suey

Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:24:22 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Taro was:  looking for lentil recipe

Actually I posted the lentil recipe based on
http://www.elsgnoms.com/receptes/arabigo.html and Elise used that one.

I was looking for a rumored pulled honey taffy that is supposed to be  
in the manuscript.

Johnnae

On Mar 13, 2011, at 5:42 PM, Suey wrote:
<<< Else Fleming gave the Fadalat recipe for lentils which Stefan has  
published in Fadalat art with my translation:
www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MANUSCRIPTS/Fadalat-art.rt
Suey >>>

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	lentils-msg	Page  of