Title: illusion-fds-msg
Subject: Medieval Illusion foods.
Author: Edited by Mark Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: medieval, food, illusion, warners, sotelties, disguise

illusion-fds-msg - 12/13/13

Medieval foods disguised look like other foods. These are different from sotelties which may or may not be edible and do not necessarily look like other food. Sometimes called Warners.

NOTE: See also these files: gingerbread-msg, sotelties-msg, sugar-paste-msg, Warners-art.

************************************************************************
NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Feast Format 
From: hairy at sloth.equinox.gen.nz (Phil Anderson)
Date: Wed, 07 Apr 93 23:42:27 GMT

akatlas at athena.mit.edu writes:

> there is a dish made of batter-covered dried fruits (such as dates,
> raisins, etc) put on a string and cooked.  They are supposed to
> resemble intestines.  And so

Ah, haslet. This one brings back memories. Some years ago we held a 
(non-SCA) feast at my flat for a dozen or so people. One gentleman had 
generously supplied venison, rabbits and trout. When the fifth course 
was brought out, the organiser explained to him that it was traditional 
for the hunter to be presented with the cooked entrails of his prey, and 
produced the haslet. The brave hunter looked greatly disturbed, and was 
most reluctant to partake of the delicacy, even when pressed. He relaxed 
a bit when he recognised a date under the batter...

A most delicious dish, but unpleasantly messy to make, according to its 
cook.

Edward the Discalceate
 ----------------------------------------------
 Phil Anderson  ***  hairy at sloth.equinox.gen.nz

From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
To: sca-cooks at eden.com
Subject: Re: sca-cooks - subtleties
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 13:48:16 -0400 (EDT)

Another friend makes great illusion eggs by blowing out the real egg,
  rinsing the shell thoroughly, waxing over the hole in the bottom and
  filling the shell with an almond milk concoction that sets up a la Jello
  into a translucent jiggly texture just like hard boiled egg white.  Only
  sweet and almond flavored.  They're great!

Ahhh.  This is one I have made.  Recipe and notes follow:  My results were
slightly different, I suspect because I make them to the period receipt as
exactly as I possibly could.

	Tibor

Copyright Mark Schuldenfrei, 1995

Eggs in Lent			("Eyroun in Lenten", Harleian MS 279, # 39)

Sources found in "Take a Thousand Eggs or More", Cindy Renfrow, 1991.

-----
Eggs in Lent

  "Eyroun in lentyn. Take Eyroun, & blow owt (t)at ys with-ynne atte o(th)er
  end; (th)an waysshe (th)e schulle clene in warme Water; (th)an take gode
  mylke of Almaundys, & sett it on (th)e fyre; (th)an take a fayre canvas,
  & pore (th)e mylke (th)er-on, & lat renne owt (th)e water; (th) take it
  owt on (t)e clo(th)e, & gader it to-gedere with a platere; (th)en putte
  sugre y-now (th)er-to; (th)an take (th) halvyndele, & colour it with Safroun,
  a lytil, & do (th)er-to pouder Canell; (th)an take & do of (th)e whyte
  in the ne(th)er end of (th)e schulle, & in myddel (th)e yolk, & fylle
  it vppe with (th) whyte; but not to fulle, for goyng ouer; (th)an sette
  it in (th)e fyre & roste it, & serue forth."

1 package blanched almonds		saffron
1 dozen jumbo eggs			cinnamon
box kosher salt				1 cup of sugar (approx)

Cheesecloth				string
SHARP knife				Pastry bag (optional)

Grind the almonds in a food processor, as finely as you can.  This should
make 2 3/4 cups of almonds.  Mix with 1 1/2 cups of water in a saucepan, and
boil until it is a little less thick than cream of wheat cereal.

Line a tall container with cheesecloth.  Pour the almond milk into the
cheesecloth, gather it together, and tie the end with string.  Use the
string, and some chopsticks or pencils, to suspend the bag of almonds in the
container.  Let it cool, and drain.  You can twist the bag to strain more
liquid out when it is cool.   Mix in the sugar, making it not so thick that
you can't get it into the eggshells, later.

Take about a third of the almonds, and mix with saffron colored water and
some cinnamon.  Boil and drain again.  Mix in a bit more sugar, until you
can mold the result like a yolk.

Clean the shells of the eggs (as many as you think you can fill.)  Cut the
wide end off with a sharp knife, stir the insides, drain and wash.

Fill the tip with some white, make a yolk with the yellow, and fill with
white again.  You may use a pastry bag, but fingers and patience should
work.  Don't overfill.

Finally, fill a small bread or meatloaf pan with the salt, set the "eggs"
open end up in them, and roast at 450 until it sets.    Serve pointed end
up.  I roasted for only half an hour.  It should have been much longer.

[If you think this sounds yucky, check the Lenten Eggs recipe in "Ordinance
of Pottage" by Hieatt, made from swim bladders and eel.]

From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
To: sca-cooks at eden.com
Subject: Re: sca-cooks - subtleties
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 16:00:35 -0400 (EDT)

  >Use the
  >string, and some chopsticks or pencils, to suspend the bag of almonds in the
  >container.  Let it cool, and drain.  You can twist the bag to strain more
  >liquid out when it is cool.   Mix in the sugar, making it not so thick that
  >you can't get it into the eggshells, later.
  
  What part are we keeping and mixing with the sugar?  The stuff in the bag,
  or the liquid that  drains out?  

Sorry.  I followed the original, which said (in modern translation):

  "Take a fair canvas, and pour the [almond milk] on it, and let the
  water run out.  Take it out of the cloth, and put it on a platter,
  and add sugar to it."

So, I took the stuff left after the water ran away.  And discarded the
water.

Please, though, give the original a careful reading, and see if you think it
might work the other way.  Derdrui's friend made what sounded like an almond
flavored gelatin (like they serve for desert in some chinese restaurants).
That implies her friend used the liquid equivalent, and dumped the solid
almond bits.

So, as I alluded to in earlier posts, half the fun is figuring out what to
do.  What do you think the original says?  I'll repeat it here.

	Tibor

  "Eyroun in lentyn. Take Eyroun, & blow owt (t)at ys with-ynne atte o(th)er
  end; (th)an waysshe (th)e schulle clene in warme Water; (th)an take gode
  mylke of Almaundys, & sett it on (th)e fyre; (th)an take a fayre canvas,
  & pore (th)e mylke (th)er-on, & lat renne owt (th)e water; (th) take it
  owt on (t)e clo(th)e, & gader it to-gedere with a platere; (th)en putte
  sugre y-now (th)er-to; (th)an take (th) halvyndele, & colour it with Safroun,
  a lytil, & do (th)er-to pouder Canell; (th)an take & do of (th)e whyte
  in the ne(th)er end of (th)e schulle, & in myddel (th)e yolk, & fylle
  it vppe with (th) whyte; but not to fulle, for goyng ouer; (th)an sette
  it in (th)e fyre & roste it, & serue forth."

From: Uduido at aol.com
To: sca-cooks at eden.com
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 21:54:25 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: sca-cooks - subtleties

In a message dated 97-04-10 16:40:09 EDT, you write:

<< So, I took the stuff left after the water ran away.  And discarded the
 > water. >>

I apologize if this has already been said but my server has been slow with
mail of late.

I n reading the above I was shocked, to say the least. The "water" that was
thrown away was ALMOND MILK. Since the description of making this "water" is
very similar to the method for making almond milk, I would, humbly suggest
that the wrong part was thrown away. As for thickening, if a thickening agent
wasn't specified, rys.....oops! > ;-) ....rice flour is very period and was
used almost universally when eggs were not. However, if the whites were mixed
with the almond milk and sweetened, this would have made a nice custard. Any
tho'ts about this?? 

Lord Ras the Reformed

From: dragon7777 at juno.com (Susan A Allen)
To: sca-cooks at eden.com
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 23:57:27 -0700
Subject: Re: sca-cooks - subtleties

>Actually, it was my friend and it was gelatinous.  May have even used
>something as a gelling agent (rennet?) 

You could use gelatin, (by product of boiling bones, especially the feet)
of cows, pigs, etc.)  I would probably use the KNOX product, since
it is easier to make and keep.  It will gel the almond milk very nicely.

	Susan

From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
To: sca-cooks at eden.com
Subject: Re: sca-cooks Corn and Marzipan
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 15:45:12 -0400 (EDT)

  I watched an interesting show on Marzipan and all the wonderful things
  you can do with it (like a basket full of marzipan fruits - you couldn't
  tell the difference!) anyone have any experience in working with it? I
  may try my hand at a few marzipan carrots and maybe some Marzipan Men
  (like Gingerbread Men) but if there is anything I need to know about
  working with this material, I'm always looking to learn something new...

It is fun.  If you make your own, grind the almonds super-fine, and remember
that modern recipes for marzipan call for ingredients that don't seem to
have been used back then.  And that modern confectioners sugar has
cornstarch.

At a feast some years ago, when a close friend was being made a Laurel, the
Queen had announced that she loathed carrots.  Carrots being on the menu, my
friend Franchesca had made a soteltie of carrots made of marzipan.  Hoping
to impress the Queen.

My wife had made a soteltie too: a model of the Thrones of the East, with
the Monarchs seated on them, and our friend Aquel receiving his Laurel: All
of them wearing the same clothes they actually wore that day.  It was
presented with a fanfare, an announcement, and was paraded around the hall
before the statues were presented to High Table.  Just before the carrots.

Sigh.  Francesca said "pooh".

	Tibor

From: Beth Morris <bmorris at access.digex.net>
To: sca-cooks at eden.com
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 16:32:05 -0400
Subject: Re: sca-cooks Corn and Marzipan

Jeffrey Miller wrote:

> I watched an interesting show on Marzipan and all the wonderful things
> you can do with it (like a basket full of marzipan fruits - you couldn't
> tell the difference!) anyone have any experience in working with it? I
> may try my hand at a few marzipan carrots and maybe some Marzipan Men
> (like Gingerbread Men) but if there is anything I need to know about
> working with this material, I'm always looking to learn something new...

See Tibor(?)'s excellent comments on making your own.  Or you can buy
the commercial stuff which comes either in cans or tubes (the way
commercial sausage comes in the plastic thing crimped at both ends). 
Its usually in the gourmet/international section of a goodsized
grocery.  A little goes a long way. The chief thing to realize is that
it is very sticky.  Depending on what you use to color it, it can also
turn your hands truly interesting colors.  The more you handle it, the
stickier it gets.... 

Back in our heyday of marzipan concocting, Jaelle & I used commercial
candy colors to color it, and molded it using everything available -
plastic candy molds, the PlayDoh pumper, hands, any available tools.  

Enjoy!
Keilyn

From: Judy Gerjuoy <jaelle at access.digex.net>
To: sca-cooks at eden.com
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 17:16:41 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: sca-cooks Corn and Marzipan

On Thu, 10 Apr 1997, Beth Morris wrote:
<snip>

> Back in our heyday of marzipan concocting, Jaelle & I used commercial
> candy colors to color it, and molded it using everything available -
> plastic candy molds, the PlayDoh pumper, hands, any available tools.  

Not to mention metal cookie cutters. You would be surprised what you can
use to model it!

There are some good books out there on marzipan modeling - although these
days I am trying to get into using period dyes for coloring it (provided
they are safe to eat - not all are).

Jaelle
jaelle at access.digex.net

From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
To: sca-cooks at eden.com
Subject: Re: sca-cooks - subtleties
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 1997 10:57:46 -0400 (EDT)

  I n reading the above I was shocked, to say the least. The "water" that was
  thrown away was ALMOND MILK. Since the description of making this "water" is
  very similar to the method for making almond milk, I would, humbly suggest
  that the wrong part was thrown away.

I threw away the almond "milk" because I didn't need it right then. You are
correct, however, that I threw away a good food.

The original recipe said (as far as I can tell) to use a cloth to sieve out
the liquid from the solid, and to mix one of them with sugar.  From the
language, it talks about taking the part out of the cloth, and mixing it
with the sugar...  I could be wrong.  What do you think?

                                       As for thickening, if a thickening agent
  wasn't specified, rys.....oops! > ;-) ....rice flour is very period and was
  used almost universally when eggs were not. However, if the whites were mixed
  with the almond milk and sweetened, this would have made a nice custard. Any
  tho'ts about this?? 

It also fails to mention thickening: yet so many recipes do explicitly
mention thickening (including recipes in this particular source).  So, while
rice flour does make a good period thickener, it isn't called for in this
recipe.  And, therefore, I did not use it.

You are correct about custards.  However, this is a recipe for "Eggs in
Lent", meaning that because of Lenten restrictions, eggs would not be eaten.
So, I consider that to be irrelevant to the making of *this* dish. Although
it would be yummy.  In fact, if one does not observe Lent, then I suspect
you could make a heck of a good custard with the "leavings" of this dish:
tha almond milk that I threw out, and the egg liquid that I disposed of.

I hadn't thought of that: and I'm glad you mentioned it.  Next time I make
this, that is what I shall do.

My Lord Ras, you seem to be an excellent cook: I look forward to your
reply.  I agree that your suggestions are marvelous, but I still doubt they
match the original recipe.  But, I am still learning about redactions.

	Tibor

From: kathe1 at juno.com (Kathleen M Everitt)
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 18:59:36 EDT
Subject: Re: SC - Feast themes

On Tue, 15 Apr 1997 12:15:07 -0700 Cossette
<cossette at kendaco.telebyte.com> writes:
>I would like to know 
>what kind of "Theme feast" you good folks on the list have always 
>wanted to do. 

The niftiest "theme feast" that I've ever heard of was the most memorable
of all the feasts that I've attended in my 18+ years in the SCA. I didn't
cook it (I wish I had, it was wonderful.) It was cooked by Cindy Renfrew
(Take a Thousand Eggs or More). I've forgotten how you spell her SCA
name! And her kitchen crew at Hartshorn-dale here in the East. It was a
feast of Illusion. Everything served looked like something else. Eggs had
custard in them. Chicken skins were filled with a pork mixture, the
chicken was inside hollowed out loaves of bread, acorns were made into
salt and pepper shakers. Half the fun was trying to figure out what was
being served. And it was all delicious! I'd love to try something like
that, but I understand that everyone involved spent *hours* and *hours*
on preparation. I'm not sure I could find the staff crazy enough to try
it!

Julleran

From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 23:43:53 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: SC - Various

Annejke lists, among her subtleties:

>1980 Peacock in full Pride (real bird)

Master Chiquart (1420) advises his readers to cheat by cooking a goose and
dressing it in a peacock's skin; he says peacock doesn't taste as good. Is
that consistent with your experience?

David/Cariadoc
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 1997 01:17:41 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes

Par Leijonhufvud wrote:
> On Tue, 17 Jun 1997 Uduido at aol.com wrote:
> > Hasselets (Dried fruit srung on a string, dipped in batter, and deep fried) .
> > These look like a pile of guts when finished. Adamantius probably
> > has the souce if you grovel nicely since mine is lost in the clutter of the
> > current Will's preparation.
> 
> IIRC the recipe is in the "Two 15th Century Cookbooks".
> 
> /UlfR

Could be. The recipe I had mentioned to Lord Ras is in The Forme of
Cury:

195. 	Hastlets of fruyt. Take fyges iquarterid, raysouns hool, dates and
almaundes hoole, and ryne hem on a spyt and roost hem; and endore hem as
pomme dorryes, and serue hem forth.

Adamantius

From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 13:35:26 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes-Feast of Illusion (long)

>On Tue, 17 Jun 1997 08:47:54 -0500 (CDT) L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt
><liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net> writes:
>>I'd like to hear more about Mistress Sincgiefu's (sorry if I mangled that)
>>Feast of Illusion. That sounds lovely.
>>
>>Aoife
>><snip>
>Great event! That feast is probably the highlight of any that I have
>attended in over 19 years in the SCA! Not only was the food period and
>delicious, it was so entertaining! We had a great time speculating on the
>dishes as they came out and marvelling at the work that went into the
>feast. And I understand that it was a lot of work.
>
>Julleran

>It probably was.  Our local cooks guild tried the "skin removal" trick for
>the farcd chickens as it was written (using a straw to inflate the skin off
>the bird).  It was difficult, and almost painful.  I found it easier to use
>a knife to remove the carcass from the bird and leave the skin whole. (Next
>time I try it, I may use a bicycle pump with a basketball needle, instead.)
>
>	Tibor (So there we were, me and my Baroness, blowing up chickens...)

Hello, and thank you all very much for your kind words!  I have not been
ignoring you, I've been frantically searching for my notes. I seem to have
lost the computer file, but fortunately I found a hard copy.  Here is the
menu, with what additional notes I can remember. The citations are from my
notes - keep in mind I haven't looked at them in 3 years!

You are right, it was a great deal of work - we started months ahead of
time.  And by "we" I mean the ENTIRE shire of Hartshorndale pitched in to
help.  I couldn't have done it without them!

Feast of Illusions in 2 Courses, with a separate menu (and hall) for the
children:

Pre-feast nosh of mulled cider and fresh fruit.

Placed on the tables before service:
- -Butter concealed in hollowed-out lemons with cloves on lids for 'handles'.

- -Salt hidden in acorns.  I gathered large acorns several months ahead of
time, hollowed them out, sterilized them, and bored holes in the tops with
a Dremel MotorTool.  I then filled the acorns with salt and glued the caps
on with white glue.   They were stored in an airtight container until
needed.  (BTW, there was no pepper on the table.)

- -Cider & assorted other drinks.

- -Freshly baked bread, baked on site.  I used one-fourth of the yeast called
for & allowed the bread to rise in a cool place overnite.  I also added the
egg yolks leftover from the creme bastarde to enrich the bread.

1st Course:
- -A Peacock - the body was made of bread dough,  & covered with chicken
liver pate and sliced almonds. The head was gilded & stuck with
fancy-headed pins.  The tail was fashioned of lettuce, red beets, eggs,
cheeses, parsley, radishes, anchovies, etc., and garnished with a few real
peacock feathers. (Cerruti, p. 102, Platina, p. 15, Good Hous-wives
Treasury [quoted in To the Queen's Taste, p. 40])

- -"Oysters" - mushrooms fried with lard and garlic, served in oyster shells
with candy 'pearls' - We may have had to substitute onions for mushrooms
due to availability, I don't remember. Also, the candy melted - If I had it
to do over, I'd use carved blanched almonds.  (Epulario, p. 29; crab
variation, A Proper New Booke of Cokerye, p. 17; crayfish variation,
Chiquart, p. 46 #68.)

- -Beef "Olives" - thin strips of beef rubbed with 2 different spice
mixtures, rolled, wrapped in bacon, pressed & broiled.  (Epulario, p. 10;
Sabina Welserin [unpubl. translation] # 196; similar to 'a lowsid bef' in A
Noble Boke of Cookry, p. 95.)
- -Served on same platter with Black Olives with garlic (Cerruti, p.112-3),
also green olives without pimientos (Menagier).

- -Candied Walnuts stuffed back into their shells & glued shut with flour &
water paste.  These leaked & were a tasty mess. (Menagier; Cerruti, p. 76.)
Served with figs & almonds.

- -Farced Chickens filled with ground beef & pork sausage.  (Menagier, p.
276; Tallevent #65.)  Farced chickens take about 20 minutes each to
separate the meat from the bones.  Work on a cold surface & put the flesh
in a chilled bowl. Slip your hand in the rear end of the chicken, between
the skin & the meat & loosen the membrane.  Use a short-bladed paring knife
to remove the meat.  Alternately, slit the skin up the back, peel back the
skin & remove the flesh that way - Use toothpicks to re-fasten the skin
together, & remove the toothpicks before service.  (A straw [see also Swiss
Family Robinson trying this trick on a kangaroo!] probably won't work on
commercially available birds because the head and neck have been removed &
the hole at the bottom is too big.)  Stuff the bird between the skin &
bones with the meat mixture, & shape the meat to look like a whole chicken.
- -Served with Creme Bastarde-filled eggs on a bed of greens.  The blown egg
shells were sterilized & filled with Creme Bastarde.  The holes were
stopped with flour & water paste. (Take 1000 Eggs, p. 196)

2nd Course:
- -A Non-edible boar made of papier mache, gilded, (Gilded Boar's Head -
Chiquart, Du Fait de Cuisine) garnished with radish roses & surrounded by
tea candles stuck in hollowed out apples.  The boar was hollow & contained
a Haslet of fruits. (Take 1000 Eggs, p. 218.)  Served with great fanfare &
'cut open' with a sword. Servers grabbed handfuls of 'entrails' & ran
around to the guests.

- -Roast Pork (Traite de Cuisine, p. T1) with

- -Herb Sauce (Menagier, p. 26-7, 'saucpiquet for coney')

- -Golden Rice cooked in meat broth - served underneath the roast pork
(Cerruti, p. 84; Menagier, p. 277.)

- -Chardwardon garnished with blanched almonds(Take 1000 Eggs, p. 157)

- -Yrchon (hedgehogs) -small rye breads filled with chicken, almonds, raisins
& spices, stuck with slivered almonds.  (Sabina Welserin, #114 has similar
recipe.)

- -Gyngerbrede 'grapes' garnished with grape vines - (Take 1000 Eggs, v2, p. 288)

For afterwards, a sideboard with mulled cider & assorted sweets.

Children's menu:
Raisins, sliced apples, assorted fruits, Gyngerbrede 'grapes', cheese &
crackers, small sausages (hot dogs), cookies, milk & juice.

There may have been a few more last minute items, but if so, I don't remember.

Regards,

Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net
http://www.alcasoft.com/renfrow/

From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 14:11:55 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes-Feast of Illusion (long)

  -Farced Chickens filled with ground beef & pork sausage.  (Menagier, p.
  276; Tallevent #65.)  Farced chickens take about 20 minutes each to
  separate the meat from the bones.  Work on a cold surface & put the flesh
  in a chilled bowl. Slip your hand in the rear end of the chicken, between
  the skin & the meat & loosen the membrane.  Use a short-bladed paring knife
  to remove the meat.  Alternately, slit the skin up the back, peel back the
  skin & remove the flesh that way - Use toothpicks to re-fasten the skin
  together, & remove the toothpicks before service.  (A straw [see also Swiss
  Family Robinson trying this trick on a kangaroo!] probably won't work on
  commercially available birds because the head and neck have been removed &
  the hole at the bottom is too big.)  Stuff the bird between the skin &
  bones with the meat mixture, & shape the meat to look like a whole chicken.
  -Served with Creme Bastarde-filled eggs on a bed of greens.  The blown egg
  shells were sterilized & filled with Creme Bastarde.  The holes were
  stopped with flour & water paste. (Take 1000 Eggs, p. 196)

Hmmm.

We managed to "inflate" the birds with soda straws, inserting the straw
underneath the breast, and holding the neck shut with our fingers. It
required PAINFUL amounts of pressure on the cheeks.  And, it was damned hard
not to laugh out loud instead, as we all tried to inflate the birds. (Yes,
all the vulgar "blow" jokes got made.)  It worked, and did leave just the
skin intact.

I had read about boning and removing the frame and breast meet whole from a
chicken, leaving the skin intact.  I did so with a small paring knife, and a
warm chicken.  (If it is at refrigerator temperatures, your hands freeze.)
You spend an awful long time with your fingers inside the bird: about 20
minutes apiece.  I figured the hard part would be cutting the joints for the
legs and wings: the hard part was separating the skin from the breastbone
cartilage.  Eventually, I sliced into the soft parts of the cartilage, and
left a strip of inedible stuff attached to the skin.

We stuffed the birds, tied the wings and legs into a normal position, and
cooked.  For serving, we cut off the legs and wings, and sliced the
resulting "chicken skinned and shaped" meatloaf into about 4 servings per
3 pound bird.  Plus two servings of chicken.

I think with practice I could get it down to about 10 minutes a bird.
That's a LOT of work.  I'll probably do it sometime when I want to surprise
a guest.

Cindy, it appears that your approach was to leave the frame in place, and
strip the breast meat.  Is my understanding correct?

	Tibor

From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 14:31:23 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes-Feast of Illusion (long)

>  -Farced Chickens filled with ground beef & pork sausage.  (Menagier, p.
>  276; Tallevent #65.)  Farced chickens take about 20 minutes each to
>  separate the meat from the bones.  Work on a cold surface & put the flesh
<snip>>
>Cindy, it appears that your approach was to leave the frame in place, and
>strip the breast meat.  Is my understanding correct?
>
>	Tibor

We stripped all the meat, with the exception of the wings.  We turned the
legs inside-out to get at the leg meat.  BTW, I had no problem with the
breast cartilage - the skin membrane separated easily with gentle pressure.
As you say, it is cold work; I had to stop often & run my hands under warm
water.

Cindy

Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 10:01:38 -0500 (CDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming )
Subject: SC - Illusion Foods Challenge (Was: Below the Salt)

Greetings!  Lady Beatrix of Tanet suggested: 

>If you don't mind illusion food, I have a doozy which I been keeping 
>back for just such an occasion. (snip...)  You peel a melon, a 
>cantaloupe or one of it's cousins, slice off about 2 inches one of the 
>ends, and scope out the seeds. fill the cavity with jello [before it 
>gels] and replace the lid. Let the jello set. Frost the melon with a 
>combination of cream cheese and powdered sugar[beated together 
>first]Roc's Eggs, anyone?

Might I suggest transposing this into something more medieval or 
Renaissance?  From what I have seen, illusion foods recreated real 
foods with a surprise.  You really _might_ stuff an egg shell with 
custard and cook it to set.  You could take marzipan or sugar paste and 
make it look like a hard-boiled egg or even bacon.  But, I haven't seen 
any evidence that something mythological such as a roc's egg would have 
been mimicked.  Statues of gods and goddesses, yes; made of sugar, or 
marzipan, or sugar paste, yes.  To me, roc's eggs would belong to our 
modern version of what was done in the Middle Ages.  Now, if one wanted 
to do a roc's egg then one should look at what foodstuffs were 
available to make it from.  I would think that cantalopes, jello, and 
cream cheese would be "right out."  But... the concept is interesting.  
What illusion foods can you "invent" that would fit into the medieval 
or Renaissance world and would avoid modern ingredients or forays into 
our modern fantasy world?

You already probably know of "apples" made from meatballs; hollow 
walnuts made of sugar paste with trinkets inside; and the 
above-mentioned bacon and hard-boiled eggs of marzipan or sugar paste.
Can we invent something similar?

Alys Katharine

Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 08:49:55 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Illusion food

Par Leijonhufvud wrote:
> 
> On Mon, 13 Oct 1997, Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> 
> > Possibly a bit less ambitious in scope, but in March of last year I did
> > a feast that had quail made of beef, soles made of chicken, and sausages
> > made of fish...
> 
> I bet you had to be _really_ carefull how you made the heralds announce
> each dish, re allergies and those vegetarians who will eat fish...
> 
> /UlfR

Well, yes, actually. The whole feast was along those lines, so people
were prepared to ask questions if necessary...plus, it's kind of a
standard daytime activity for our locals (at least the ones that aren't
involved in the fighting at the time) to stick their noses into the
kitchen with the classic Bugs Bunny, "What's cookin', Doc?".

Oddly enough, the one thing that threw people the most was the sausages,
which were pretty  much a typical Norman seafood sausage, in a standard
pork sausage casing. They were bone white, except where they were
browned by the grill. As is usually the case with fish dishes, there
were a couple of loud complaints, but still no leftovers. At that feast
I noticed an odd social phenomenon that had apparently been going on
under my nose for years, that I had never noticed: people arriving with
clean, empty tupperware, just in case...

Adamantius

Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 10:04:46 -0400
From: "Louise Sugar" <dragonfyr at tycho.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Illusion Foods Challenge 

Actually I once saw, in one of the myriad catalogs that I used to get,
pre-blown out goose eggs and I can remember my great grandmother making
aspic eggs.  she filled the blown out eggs with a beef aspic, chilled them
to solid, peeled, and arranged them on wilted greens with other stuff....I
was only 3 yrs old at the time so forgive my lousy memory of what else was
in the dish......

BTW not period but Jello now has egg-shaped molds for use with Jello at
easter time...seems that these would work just as well....Mmmmmm I think I
know what I am going to experiment with later this week  :D

Dragonfyr

Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 17:18:37 -0500 (CDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming )
Subject: SC - Re: Illusion Foods

Seems to me there are some aspic recipes in the German material 
Mistress Caterina (Alia Atlas) translated.  The problem with "gelatine" 
is in how it is used.  We use it today in "jello", sweetened, and as a 
dessert.  This type of use would seem to be OOP.  However, gelatine in 
aspics is much different.  There are a number of references to things 
put into aspics.  One of the more fascinating was using a wagon wheel 
(flat), laying fish between the spokes, and then pouring aspic over the 
fish.  The aspic stuck to the wheel and when set, the cook put the 
wheel upright on an axel with the fish between the spokes looking as if 
they were swimming.

We aren't used to things in aspic today and I would guess that most 
people would not care for an aspic dish... Had one years ago with 
julienned vegetables.  I can still recall my mouth expecting "jello" 
and tasting something "odd" and sort of tastelessly sour.

Some of the period recipes call for the gelatine from animal parts.  
Other recipes (such as the jellied milk) call for isinglass from fish.
Rather than boiling one's own bones or processing isinglass from a 
fish's bladder, an acceptable modern substitution would be unflavored 
gelatine.  Jello, however, is another kettle of fish (so to speak).

Alys Katharine

Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 17:30:53 -0500 (CDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming )
Subject: SC - Re: Illusion Foods Challenge

Julleran wrote:

>Okay. I saw this recipe in one of the new cookbooks I got this summer 
>and I was thinking about trying it. But how to you get enough egg 
>shells without killing yourself? I once tried blowing eggs out of 
>shells and it took me hours to do a half dozen and I almost died from
>hyper-ventilation! :-)

Some of us are bigger bags of wind than others, Julleran!  :^  Bigger 
holes would help.  I've seen people do them with holes the size of a 
dime, though smaller holes are so much nicer.

> The recipe says patch the holes with flour and water paste before 
>baking, so I can't imagine that you could make the holes all that big. 
>Also, how do you then fill them up with custard? A piping bag with a 
>very small tip, maybe?

Dime-sized holes could be covered.  Piping bag sounds like a good 
suggestion.  I saw a late-period or mid-1600s reference to paper tube 
with a hole in one end.  Of course, I have no idea now where I saw it.

Alys Katharine

Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 10:28:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - piping bag

<<   I saw a late-period or mid-1600s reference to paper tube 
 with a hole in one end.  Of course, I have no idea now where I saw it.
 
 Alys Katharine >>

Simply take a clean sheet of paper or baker's parchment, form into a cone,
fill and fold down the long edge. Snip the pointed end off and use as any
other piping bag. Works great and it's throwaway. :-)

Ras

Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 17:09:37 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Illusion food

<snip>
>Incredibly careful. It sort of spoiled the surprise a bit, but I made
>the booke available at the door, and those with allergies read them, and
>the adventurous ones didn't. It worked out quite well, especially the
>frittered chittlings- realistically you take chunks of the organ meat,
>thread them into intestine, twisting between the meats, battering and
>deep frying, I found a reference in Thousand eggs to the warner version
>which was dried fruits threaded into the intestines and frittered. That
>is what gave me the idea in the first place. I still would like to do it
>for a spring coronation, preferably mine[lol]
>
>margali

Hello!  I've been following this thread - illusion foods are a keen
interest of mine.  I've done 2 whole feasts devoted to them & have been
collecting references for many years.

[Quick note:  the reference to mock intestines, or Trayne Roste, in "Take
1000 Eggs or More" calls for NO organ meats.  It is simply fruits & nuts
strung on a string, battered & roasted. (I substituted frying in oil.)
Other recipes for illusion foods in "Take 1000 Eggs or More" include
- -pomedore, "apples" made of batter-roasted meatballs;
- -Appraylere, a pitcher made of pork & cheese stuffing;
- -Eyroun in Lentyn, blown eggshells stuffed with almond cream;
- -Cokyntryce, half-pig, half-capon sewn together "in the waist overthwart",
roasted & glazed with 2 colors;
- -and Yrchouns, mock hedgehogs made of stuffed pig's stomachs poked with
slivered almonds.]

Here are a few refs. for illusions of one sort or another:

"Item  To MAKE BLUE JELLY, take of the aforesaid broth, be it of flesh or
fish, and set it in a fair pan and boil it again on the fire, and get from
the spicer two ounces of tournsole and set it to boil therewith until it be
of a good colour, then take it off; and then take a pint of loach and cook
it somewhere else, and spread the loach on your dishes and let the broth
run onto it as above and then leave it to cool.  Item, thus is made a blue
jelly.  And if you would make armorial bearings on the jelly, take gold or
silver, whichsoever pleaseth you best, and trace [your design] with the
white of an egg on a feather, and put the gold thereon with a brush." Le
Menagier de Paris, Power's translation.  Note:  Le Menagier, in French, is
being posted (slowly) to http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/menagier/

"How to make Strawberries.
Take the paste of Massepain, rowl it in your hands into the shape of
Strawberries, then dip them in the juice of Barbaries, or of red Corants,
and stir them well, after this, put them in a dish, and dry them againe
three or four times in the same juice." From The French Cook, by Francis de
La Varenne, 1653, Englished by I.D.G., 1653.

"#169. TO CAST ALL KINDE OF FRUTAGE HOLLOW IN TURN'D WORKE & TO PRINT THEM
Take your double moulds and wet them in cold water, then tie e of ye
greatest peeces together, & poure yr sugar into them, & clap them one upon
another quickly. then put ye third piece upon ye holes & turne ye moulds
round in yr hands, & your fruits will be hollowed. then take them out of
the moulds & culler them. leamon or an old pippin must be cullered with
saffron & rosewater together. for A pear, amber, for a green apple, indien
lake, & for A cowcumber sap green." From "A Booke of Sweetmeats", Martha
Washington's Booke of Cookery (17th century), edited by Karen Hess, p. 330.
Note:  some of these coloring agents are poisonous.  Also, there are some
very nice illustrations of the tools & molds required for this type of work
in Diderot's Pictorial Encyclopedia of Trades & Industry, 18th c., Vol. 2,
plates 480-483.  Dover Publ, ISBN 0-486-27429-2

[To make Apples look like Oak Leaves and Plums]
"Take Pippins pared and coared, and cut in pieces, and boiled tender, so
strain them, and take as much Sugar as the Pulp doth weigh, and boil it to
a Candy height with as much Rose-water and fair water as will melt it, then
put the pulp into the hot sugar, and let it boil until it be as thick as
Marmalet; then fashion it on a Pye-plate, like oaken leaves, and some like
half Plums, the next day close the half Plums together; and if you please
you may put the stones and stalks in them, and dry them in an Oven, and if
you will have them look green, make the paste when Pippins are green; and
if you would have them look red, put a little conserves of Barberries [see
insert] in the Paste, and if you will keep any of it all the year, you must
make it as thin as Tart stuff, and put it into Gallipots." From A Queen's
Delight, by W.M., 1671; facsimile edition by Prospect Books, 1984, page 63.

"Trout Eggs Prepared so that People Think They Are Peas." When trout eggs
have been half-cooked and are taken from the pot and divided into little
morsels, to make the juice seem lumpy pass bread crumbs with it through a
strainer or, if there is any pea-juice to be had, take a sufficient amount
of that. With this, add spices, saffron, parsley and cut up mint, and again
cook the eggs. You would declare you were eating peas." From On Honest
Indulgence (De honesta voluptate), Platina, 1475, Book Seven.

"Being a Pythagorean and an abstainer from animal food, he made an ox out
of myrrh, frankincense, and the most costly spices, and divided it among
the people who came to the festival."" Athenaeus, Book 1, p. 13.

Someone asked about aspic.  IMHO, the ultimate aspic illusion is to be
found in Sabina Welserin's Cookbook, 1553.  It is a fish aspic poured onto
a wagon wheel (inside a platter).  The aspic sets between the spokes (& the
platter is removed), & the wheel is re-attached to its axle & set upright
on another aspic of different colors.  This is used for a centerpiece.
She also includes recipes for mushrooms made of marzipan; a fence made of
piped butter & cinnamon sticks, which is to encircle a roast; & simmered
birds hidden in hollow rye breads.

Cindy/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net

Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 14:45:25 +1000
From: Meliora & Drake <meliora at macquarie.matra.com.au>
Subject: Re: Fake intestines (was: SC - Re: Illusion food)

>Am I understanding you correctly in that you have tried this recipie? How 
>did it turn out? I have the "Thousand eggs...", and have this vision of a 
>huge platter of "intestines" being carried in for dessert. Or a marsipan (?)
>stag, filled with "guts" made from this...

I did this recipe out of Cindy Renfrow's wonderful book and found that they
indeed look like intestines or dog doo-doo.  I also used proper Ale from my
brewing stocks instead of just beer as the hops make the batter taste
bitter.  I delivered these tasty haslets to a local Ball and toddled off
home to look after my sick wife.  The feast steward didn't like the look of
them and promptly cut them up (against my strict instructions) into bite
sized pieces because she didn't like the look of them, and ruined the entire
effect of the dish.  This was after I spent 3 nights with a strong needle
and linen thread sewing the food pieces onto strings.  Damn near broke my
Heart.....

Drake Morgan,
Lochac.

Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 23:57:27 -0500
From: Maddie Teller-Kook <meadhbh at io.com>
Subject: Re: Fake intestines (was: SC - Re: Illusion food)

I have made it and it does look like intestines.  I batter dipped the
fruit, fried it. placed it on a plate then drizzeled it with honey.
People just gasped when they saw what it was.  Very tasty dessert.

meadhbh

Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 16:48:19 +1000
From: Meliora & Drake <meliora at macquarie.matra.com.au>
Subject: Re:  Re: SC - Re: Illusion Foods

>> Other recipes (such as the jellied milk) call for isinglass from fish.
>> Rather than boiling one's own bones or processing isinglass from a
>> fish's bladder, an acceptable modern substitution would be unflavored
>> gelatine.
>
>You can get isinglass from any beer/wine making supply shop.
>
>Peyton

Having made Milk jellies from both gelatine and islinglass, the taste and
process are quite different.  

Gelatine basically sets the whole milk without adding any flavour to the
process.

Islinglass separates the curds and the whey of milk and adds a strong tang
to the flavour.  

I experimented with both a while ago (and forgot to post my final redaction
notes to Anne-Marie, ooops!) and the consensus of the 2 dozen taste-testers
was the that the set whey had the best texture/flavour combo.

It also stank of fish while cooking, although this did not transfer through
to the finished product.

I'll post all of my notes tonight if anyone is interested.

Meliora.

Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 09:08:37 -0500
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - lunch for Peons

>This is the first time I have done "lunch" and I could use all the help I can
>get. King Ingvar and the Queen will be attending. They specifically made it a
>point to call ahead and advise people that they were meat and potatoes people
>and "strange" food was not in their repertoire of enjoyment. 
>
>Bearing this in mind, I would like suggestions as to what extraordinarily
>bizaare and decidedly non-potato/meat food that is period could be served to
>their Sylvan Highnesses that a meat and potatoe person would be horrified to
>know they had eaten and actually ENJOYED" it. It should be decidedly unsimple
>and awesone to the feaster to the point of "Yick, I don't want to eat this
>s**t but everyone's watching so I have no choise!" to "WOW! Are there
>seconds? :-)" 
>
>Ras

It's Illusion food time, folks! Serve them meat and potatoes. Meat: Remeber
your Ham en Croute of a few years ago? Make the pastry shaped to look like a
chicken. Gild it green/blue in the oven.  Make a neck of pastry and tail
feathers out of pastry on thin wires you can poke in later, to turn it into
a peacock. Hey, it's ham, a perfect lunch food. How can they complain? Serve
with fresh buns, butter, chutney, or picalilli, and mustard served in those
swans I was talking about. Make a Nest from lettuce, shredded, for your
peacock, and vegetable eggs (turnips, parsnips, large carrots, and anything
else that will "pare" easily to make oval eggs. Parboil them, but be careful
to not overdo it or they will loose their shape).

Potatoes: Easily made from marzipan and dusted/rolled in cocoa powder to
look like russets (use Carob if you dislike the chocolate thing, but it's
not as brown. Besides, It's a joke).

Last idea: For Morguhn and Meirwen a few years ago we made a chocolate
cabbage (they specifically said NO CABBAGE, you see. We HAD to serve it for
dessert!). The innards were chocolate cake. Melted chocolate was painted on
6-8 raw cabage leaves fairly thickly and allowed to chill. The cabbage
leaves were carefully removed, and the chocolate leaf was placed on the
upside-down bowl-shaped cake  and stuck down with chocolate icing.It looked
like a real cabbage, only chocolate! We added the loose outer leaves to make
it more realistic. Wild Raves!

Aoife

Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 11:10:00 -0700
From: DUNHAM Patricia R <Patricia.R.DUNHAM at ci.eugene.or.us>
Subject: RE: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #355

Ah, boar's heads subtleties...  Of course brings back memories (tho not
my own, this happened slightly before my time..., in the neighborhood of
23? years ago) of "The Jew-boy's 12th Night in Adiantum" --

Now before anyone gets offended, it was the Prince of An Tir, referring
to himself (one Sir Edward Zifran, Viscount Gendy... yes, him!) and the
King of the West (Andrew of Riga), who was going to be visiting
dignitary -- who came up with this glorious appelation!

What Edward wasn't expecting was Viscountess Gwendolyn's sense of humor.

Aided and abetted by certain members of the populace of Adiantum (then a
very small barony in mid-Willamette Valley Oregon), she prepared a
boar's head for the J-boys... and processed it up to the high table with
much pomp ...

Apparently it looked extremely authentically porcine.  There was
consternation at the head table (oh no, no one told her, we can't EAT
that thing, but how do we not hurt her feelings or embarass her....)  --
until she relented and explained that it WAS indeed a subtlety, made
entirely of cheese!

So, anyone in Stromgard or Three Mountains want to go talk to herself
and see what you can find out for us about how she did it?   Or I'll try
the next time I see her, tho that may be quite a while.

Chimene

(Oh, the other story about that event involves the expression on
Andrew's face when a "God keep the King" toast from the populace ended
with one little voice piping up ever so clearly from the back of the
hall with the "far from us" ending that a certain Baronial daughter,
then aged about 6, had heard all her life!)

Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 09:18:42 +1000
From: Meliora & Drake <meliora at macquarie.matra.com.au>
Subject: SC - Islinglass jelly notes (long)

Greetings all,

>This is one example of MANYMANYMANY statements I've seen on here.  

<SNIP>

Mea Culpa, Mea culpa.  I am not a very experienced cook and this is my first
redaction done directly from the source material.

A White Leach (from Dawson, 1596) (from a posting by Anne-Marie)
Take a quart of newe milke, and three ounces weight of Islinglasse, halfe a
pounde of beaten sugar, and stirre them together, and let it boile half a
quarter of an hower till be thicke, stirring them all the while: then
straine it with three spoonfull of Rosewater, then put it into a platter and
let it coole, and cut it in squares.  Lay it faur in dishes, and lay golde
upon it.

My redaction (1/2 quantities of original)
550ml milk (1/2 quart)
30g islinglass in 50ml water (1.5 oz)
120g sugar (1/4 pound)
5 teas rosewater (~ to taste)

1. Place Islinglass in water for an hour or two.  It will swell up and form
a gum-like consistency.

2. Warm milk and sugar. Add islinglass. Stir.  As soon as the islinglass
starts being incorporated into the milk mixture it separates the milk.  (I
have tried this when the milk is hot, cold, warm, directly added the
islinglass crystals etc, the milk ALWAYS separates)

3. While stirring, boil the mixture for 7.5 minutes. (I ended up boiling it
for 15 mins).  During this time the islinglass will let off a VERY strong
(and IMHO quite distasteful) fish smell.  Also the curds will break up and
become very small.

4. Remove from heat and add Rosewater. Then Strain and let set overnight.  I
strained my curds and whey through cheescloth and made three batches.  One
of whey only.  One of curds only.  And one of a mixtue of curds and whey.

5. When set cut into squares and gild with gold.  (I deliberatly didn't
bother with this step).

The next morning, all three dishes had set into quite a firm jelly that
could easily be sliced.  It appeared firmer than gelatine, but that could be
accounted for in the quantity of islinglass I used.  They were all opaque
white (with a yellowish tinge).

The next night I took all three dishes to a local meeting and had 24 people
to taste-test them.  

The curds and the curds/whey mixture were both quite grainy in texture.  The
whey was quite smooth and creamy in mouth-feel.  Texture-wise the whey only
won hands down.  The grainy texture was considered far too alien to be
pleasurable.

Taste-wise, the curds tasted like "sweet fat".  The curds/whey mix and the
whey only tasted like "creamy and sweet with an aroma of rosewater and an
unidentifiable tang - lemonish but not quite". (Hmm, the slightly yellow
colour may have help attribute the unidentified taste as lemonish) The whey
only mixture was considered to be more silken in feel and taste and again
won hands down.

Of my 24 people, 19 prefered the whey, 5 refused to try any, and one
disliked the taste of all of them.

Actually there were two who did not like the taste.  The other was me!!
Unfortunately the tang in the dish reminded me of the rather powerful fish
odour while cooking. No-one else felt that the dish tasted even remotely
"fishy" and I have even been asked to make it for an event "someday".

well, YMMV with these notes.  But if anyone else wishes to do any
experimenting with this dish, please let me know.  I would love to hear how
anyone else tackles this !!!

Meliora
meliora at macquarie.matra.com.au

Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 12:45:54 -0400
From: Christi Redeker <C-Redeker at mail.dec.com>
Subject: SC - Eggs

Someone earlier (sorry I deleted the email, fool that I am) mentioned eggs that were larger than chicken eggs, but not ostrich sized.  A simple answer really, goose eggs.  Perfectly period as far as I know.  Any problems with filling them instead??

Murkial

Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 00:58:11 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: SC - Cockentrice and peacock (was: below the salt)

At 11:12 PM -0400 10/10/97, Kathleen M Everitt wrote:
>How about a cockentrice? Not my idea. Local Count, noted for his love of
>eating, suggested it for my above the salt. Or a peacock. Steppes Twelfth
>Night back in '82 served one at head table. I have no idea what it really
>was - a peacock or some sort of subtlety, but it had all the peacock's
>feathers, including the tail. I have a picture of it, but I never did
>find out what it was.
>
>Julleran

Madeleine des Mille Roses did a pair of cockatrices for head table at a
Midrealm coronation feast some years back, using a capon, a suckling pig, a
15th century recipe (I think) for stuffing for roast pork, an Elizabethan
ruff around the capon-headed cocketrice's neck, and a recognizable attempt
at the new king's armour (made out of shortbread) on the pig-headed
cocketrice.

Master Chiquart (chief cook of the Duke of Savoy, 1420) recommends that you
use a roast goose and dress it in the peacock's feathers, on the grounds
that goose tastes a lot better than peacock.

Elizabeth of Dendermonde/Betty Cook

Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 15:27:46 -0500 (EST)
From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject: Re: SC - Illusion Foods Challenge

Grazing through old postings:
  
  Okay. I saw this recipe in one of the new cookbooks I got this summer and
  I was thinking about trying it. But how to you get enough egg shells
  without killing yourself?

You make a large hole, witha sharp paring knife.  I filled mine with an
unimpeachably authentic method, and my favorite: I filled a plastic food bag
with filling, cut one corner off, and made a pastry bag you don't have to
wash.  (:-)

Let me see if I have my notes.

Eggs in Lent			("Eyroun in Lenten", Harleian MS 279, # 39)

  "Eyroun in lentyn. Take Eyroun, & blow owt (th)at ys with-ynne atte o(th)er
  end; (th)an waysshe (th)e schulle clene in warme Water; (th)an take gode
  mylke of Almaundys, & sett it on (th)e fyre; (th)an take a fayre canvas,
  & pore (th)e mylke (th)er-on, & lat renne owt (th)e water; (th) take it
  owt on (t)e clo(th)e, & gader it to-gedere with a platere; (th)en putte
  sugre y-now (th)er-to; (th)an take (th) halvyndele, & colour it with Safroun,
  a lytil, & do (th)er-to pouder Canell; (th)an take & do of (th)e whyte
  in the ne(th)er end of (th)e schulle, & in myddel (th)e yolk, & fylle
  it vppe with (th) whyte; but not to fulle, for goyng ouer; (th)an sette
  it in (th)e fyre & roste it, & serue forth."

1 package blanched almonds		saffron
1 dozen jumbo eggs			cinnamon
box kosher salt				1 cup of sugar (approx)

Cheesecloth				string
SHARP knife				Pastry bag (optional)

Grind the almonds in a food processor, as finely as you can.  This should
make 2 3/4 cups of almonds.  Mix with 1 1/2 cups of water in a saucepan, and
boil until it is a little less thick than cream of wheat cereal.

Line a tall container with cheesecloth.  Pour the almond milk into the
cheesecloth, gather it together, and tie the end with string.  Use the
string, and some chopsticks or pencils, to suspend the bag of almonds in the
container.  Let it cool, and drain.  You can twist the bag to strain more
liquid out when it is cool.   Mix in the sugar, making it not so thick that
you can't get it into the eggshells, later.

Take about a third of the almonds, and mix with saffron colored water and
some cinnamon.  Boil and Drain again.  Mix in a bit more sugar, until you
can mold the result like a yolk.

Clean the shells of the eggs (as many as you think you can fill.)  Cut the
wide end off with a sharp knife, stir the insides, drain and wash.

Fill the tip with some white, make a yolk with the yellow, and fill with
white again.  You may use a pastry bag, but fingers and patience should
work.  Don't overfill.

Finally, fill a small bread or meatloaf pan with the salt, set the "eggs"
open end up in them, and roast at 450 until it sets.    Serve pointed end
up.  I roasted for only half an hour.  It should have been much longer.

[If you think this sounds yucky, check the Lenten Eggs recipe in "Ordinance
of Pottage" by Hieatt, made from swim bladders and eel.]

Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 10:15:27 -0500 (EST)
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Mock Sturgeon-Final results-long

Sloan MS. 1108 (Curye on Inglysch, pp.155-6):
 To make sturgyn.  Take [th]e houghys of vele and caluys feete and sethe hem
 in hony.  And whan [th]ou hast soden hem all to poudre, take [th]e bonys
 oute.  In case [th]at [th]e flesshe be longe, take it a stroke or ii and
 put it in a fayre cannevasse and presse it welle.  Than take it and lese it
 fayre in thynne leches, and not to brode.  Take onyons, vynegre, and
 percelly and ley [th]eron, and so serue it forthe.
 
Literal Translation:
To make Sturgeon. Take the hooves of veal and calf's feet and seeth them in
honey. And when you have seethed them all to powder, take the bones out. In
case that the flesh be long, take it a stroke or two and put it in a fair
canvas and press it well. Then take it and <slice ?> it fair in thin <slices
?> , and not too broad. Take onions, vineger, and parsley and lay thereon,
and so serve it forth. 
 
Probable Modern Translation:
To Make Sturgeon. Take veal hooves and calf's feet and simmer them in honey.
When you have simmered them <until the meat falls apart>, take out the bones.
<If there are large pieces of flesh, chop them smaller> and put it (the flesh
removed from the broth) and in a clean piece of canvas and press it well.
Then take it and slice into thin slices, and not too <thick>. Take onions,
vinegar and parsley and lay thereon. Serve.

My redaction:

STURGEON (An Illusion)
(Copyright Nov. 24, 1997 L. J. Spencer, Jr., Willaimsport, PA 17701)

4 veal feet, cleaned (substitute 1 whole veal shank)
2 calf's feet, split (substitute 2 pig's feet, split)
Water to cover
1/2 cp honey
1/4 cp onion, finely minced
1/4 cp fresh parsley, finely chopped
Wine Vinegar

 Wash meat and place in a large kettle. Cover with water. Add honey. Bring to
a boil. Reduce heat to a slow boil. Cover. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hrs. or until
meat falls apart. Remove meat from liquid. Remove bones from meat when cool
enough to handle, chopping large pieces smaller including skin if any. Put
meat on a clean sterilized white cloth ( canvas is best but muslin works
fine). Wrap into a large sausage shaped roll. Place on a large pan or baking
dish. Set a pan the same sixe on top and place a weight on it. (A one gallon
jug of water works well or 4 bricks). Refrigerate for several hours or
overnight.
Remove cloth. Place on an oblong serving platter. Slice thinly. Sprinkle with
onions, parsley and wine vingar. Serve. 
Note: A line of thinly sliced onion rings down the center and parsley springs
around the outside makes a nice garnish. The broth remaining can be strained
and reduced to half, refrigerated and then unmolded to serve as an
accompanying aspic.

You wrote:

<<  Is the meat or the broth, or both, copper-colored?>>

Both.
 
<< b) a mostly-whole smoked sturgeon is shown in one book.  The flesh is
 indeed copper-colored! The skin is black & grey in a sort of diamond-backed
 pattern, >>

Since the recipe is from Cury, smoked sturgeon would make sense. The thin
layer of fat surrounding the finished roll was graying colored and retained
the pattern of the cloth. It was also flattened ressembling a fish filet.
When cut into it revealed a nice coppery color that looked without too much
of a stretch of the imagination like smoked fish.
 
 Comments and Observations:

This dish is a nice looking dish and is really rather tasty. I am of the
opinion that the recipe for Mock Sturgeon which calls for boiling in honey is
exactly what was intended and the quest to explain the word honey as a
scribal error or otherwise is totally unnecessary. All and all this dish is
good enough to serve at feast and definately will go in my modern recipe
collection as a thing to be served at special occasions or dish to passes.
IMHO, the search for corroberating evidence by looking in similar recipes is
an exercise in futility as there were many versions of the same recipe. Such
exercises may help in filling the missing parts of obscure or missing texts
but, as this recipe shows, it should never become the first thing one does
when trying to understand a recipe from the Middle Ages. The first thing one
should do is throw off the scholars robe, roll up one's sleeves and "get thee
hence to the kitchen"! :-)

al-Sayyid Ras al Zib, AoA, OSyc
Kingdom of Aethelmearc
Shire of Abhain Ciach Ghlas
Mountain Confederation
Clan Ravenstar

Date: Sat, 29 Nov 1997 21:58:52 -0500 (EST)
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Mock Sturgeon-Final results-Revampedand Corrected

UPDATED/CORRECTED VERSION

<< Sloan MS. 1108 (Curye on Inglysch, pp.155-6):
  To make sturgyn.  Take [th]e houghys of vele and caluys feete and sethe hem
  in hony.  And whan [th]ou hast soden hem all to poudre, take [th]e bonys
  oute.  In case [th]at [th]e flesshe be longe, take it a stroke or ii and
  put it in a fayre cannevasse and presse it welle.  Than take it and lese it
  fayre in thynne leches, and not to brode.  Take onyons, vynegre, and
  percelly and ley [th]eron, and so serue it forthe.
  
 Literal Translation:
 To make Sturgeon. Take the shanks of veal and calf's feet and seeth them in
 honey. And when you have seethed them all to powder, take the bones out. In
 case that the flesh be long, take it a stroke or two and put it in a fair
 canvas and press it well. Then take it and <slice ?> it fair in thin <slices
 ?> , and not too broad. Take onions, vineger, and parsley and lay thereon,
 and so serve it forth. 
  
 Probable Modern Translation:
 To Make Sturgeon. Take veal shanks and calf's feet and simmer them in honey.
 When you have simmered them <until the meat falls apart>, take out the bones.
 <If there are large pieces of flesh, chop them smaller> and put it (the flesh
 removed from the broth) and in a clean piece of canvas and press it well.
 Then take it and slice into thin slices, and not too <thick>. Take onions,
 vinegar and parsley and lay thereon. Serve.
 
 My redaction:
 
 STURGEON (An Illusion)
 (Copyright Nov. 24, 1997 L. J. Spencer, Jr., Willaimsport, PA 17701)
 
 4 veal shank's, cleaned
 2 calf's feet, split 
 Water to cover
 1/2 cp honey
 1/4 cp onion, finely minced
 1/4 cp fresh parsley, finely chopped
 Wine Vinegar
 
  Wash meat and place in a large kettle. Cover with water. Add honey. Bring to
 a boil. Reduce heat to a slow boil. Cover. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hrs. or until
 meat falls apart. Remove meat from liquid. Remove bones from meat when cool
 enough to handle, chopping large pieces smaller including skin if any. Put
 meat on a clean sterilized white cloth ( canvas is best but muslin works
 fine). Wrap into a large sausage shaped roll. Place on a large pan or baking
 dish. Set a pan the same sixe on top and place a weight on it. (A one gallon
 jug of water works well or 4 bricks). Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
 Remove cloth. Place on an oblong serving platter. Slice thinly. Sprinkle with
 onions, parsley and wine vingar. Serve. 
 Note: A line of thinly sliced onion rings down the center and parsley springs
 around the outside makes a nice garnish. The broth remaining can be strained
 and reduced to half, refrigerated and then unmolded to serve as an
 accompanying aspic.
 
 You wrote:
<<  Is the meat or the broth, or both, copper-colored?>>
 
 Both.
  
 << b) a mostly-whole smoked sturgeon is shown in one book.  The flesh is
  indeed copper-colored! The skin is black & grey in a sort of diamond-backed
  pattern, >>
 
 Since the recipe is from Cury, smoked sturgeon would make since. The thin
 layer of fat surrounding the finished roll was graying colored and retained
 the pattern of the cloth. It was also flattened ressembling a fish filet.
 When cut into it revealed a nice coppery color that looked without too much
 of a stretch of the imagination like smoked fish.
  
  <<  A little history:>>
 
 Absolutely fascinating! :-) Thanks.
  
  Comments and Observations:
 
 This dish is a nice looking dish and is really rather tasty. I am of the
 opinion that the recipe for Mock Sturgeon which calls for boiling in honey
is
 most likely what was intended and the quest to explain the word honey as a
 scribal error or otherwise is probably not necessary. The addition of water
is arbitrary on my part but does not detract from the finished product. All
and all this dish is
 good enough to serve at feast and definately will go in my modern recipe
 collection as a thing to be served at special occasions or a dish to pass.
When served with  brown or Dijon style mustard, it is heavenly.
 IMHO, the search for corroberating evidence to explain the use of honey as
an error by looking for it's use in similar recipes is also not necessary.
Such exercises may help in filling the missing parts of obscure or missing
texts but, as this recipe shows, it should never become the first thing one
does when trying to understand a recipe from the Middle Ages. The first thing
one should do is throw off the scholars robe, roll up one's sleeves and "get
thee
 hence to the kitchen"! :-) Thanks to Master Adamantius for helping me with
the translation of the term "houghys".
 
 al-Sayyid Ras al Zib, AoA, OSyc
 Kingdom of Aethelmearc
 Shire of Abhain Ciach Ghlas
 Mountain Confederation
 Clan Ravenstar >>

Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 19:34:22 EST
From: LrdRas <LrdRas at aol.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Meatballs

charlesn at sunrise.srl.rmit.edu.au writes:
<< The Anglo Norman Culinary collections, ed Hieatt and Jones, include a
 'soteltie' of sorts, of 'oranges' - actually meatballs made of pork mince
 and eggs, boiled, then grilled and rolled in egg yolk and saffron to make
 them golden, then dusted in sugar.  >>

This sounds similar to an illusion food I made several years ago and have
unfortunately lost. :-(

I made meatballs from forecemeat (beef, IIIRC) and made them somewhat pointy
on one end. I then boiled and browned them; let them cool. Then I rolled
them in saunders powder. Dipped them in beaten egg white and rerolled them in
sesame seeds. The addition of a fresh mint leaf on top and VOILA! a
Strawberry. (At least until you bit into it. :-)

Ras

Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 14:24:37 -0500
From: "marilyn traber" <mtraber at email.msn.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Marzipan warners

Some candy hobby stores offer tubes of marzipan, the cutest little molds in
assorted shapes, the right sorts of food coloring and instructions on how to
do the various types of fruits and veggies-both as a kit and as components.
margali

Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1998 11:40:08 -0500
From: mfgunter at fnc.fujitsu.com (Michael F. Gunter)
Subject: SC - Elizabethan buffet (long)

These were given to me by our dear Ann-Marie. They are wonderful.

<snip of MARJORAM COOKIES recipe. See cookies-msg file>

PEAR PUDDINGS
These were probably the biggest hit at our recent baronial banquet. They
have a misleading name, as they're not really puddings, and there's no
pear. But these meatballs are shaped like little pears, right down to the
cinnamon stick stems and clove blossom ends. We found that the amount of
cream and flour needed to make the meat workable depended on how well you
minced the meat, and how cooked it was when you started. We also chose to
substitute salt pork for the suet, purely on an availability basis. We have
also tried it with suet and noticed no difference in the final product.

The flavor is not unsimilar to the medieval Yrchouns, and is probably a
further development of the ubiquitous spiced meatball like unit we see
throughout the medieval corpus, from Taillevent on.

Digby obviously really liked these, as there's two recipes for them in his
book, but I haven't found them in any of the other sources yet.

Oh, and if you try and cut corners and use raw ground meat to start and/or
storebought breadcrumbs, the meatballs have a really yucky pasty texture
when they're cooked.

(Digby p155)
To Make Pear-Puddings.Take a cold Turky, Capon, or cold Veal, shred it very
small, and put almost as much Beef-suet as your meat, and mince it very
small. Then put Salt and Nutmeg grated, half a pound of Currans, a little
grated bread, and a little Flower. Then put in three ylks of eggs, and one
of the whites, beaten very well. Then take so much Cream as will wet them
and make them up as big as a Bon-cherstein pear; and as you make them up,
take a little Flower in your hand, that they may not cling. Then put in
little sticks at the bottom like the Stems of Pears, or make them up in
balls. Butter the dish very well, and send them up in the same dish you
bake them on. They will be baked in about half an hour. I think the dish
needth not to be covered whiles it baketh. You may make Mynced Pyes thus,
and bake them with Puff-paste in a dish like a Florenden, and use Marrow
instead of Suet.

(Digby p167)
To Make Pear-Puddings. Take a cold Capon, or half roasted, which is much
better; then take Suet, shred very small, the meat and Suet together; then
half as much grated bread, two spoonsfuls of Flower, Nutmegs, Cloves and
Mace; Sugar as much as you please; half a pound of Currans; the yolk of two
eggs, and the white of one; and as much Cream as will make it up in a stiff
Paste. Then make it up in the fashion of a Pear, a stick of Cinnamon for
the stalk, and the head of a Clove.

Our version: (makes about 10 pears)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup minced salt pork or suet
1 cup home made bread crumbs, grated finely
2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp mace
1/8 tsp clove
4 tsp sugar
2 handfuls currants
3 eggs
1 egg white
up to 1/4 cup flour as needed
up to 1/4 cup cream as needed
whole cinnamon stick and 6-10 cloves for decoration

Bake the chicken thighs at 350o for about 20 minutes or so till they're
half baked.
Mince well, or run through a meat grinder on the coarse setting (too fine
makes a mealy meatball) with the salt pork or suet.
Mix all the ingredients together, except the whole spices, with floured
hands. Add cream if it's too dry, flour if its too wet.
With floured hands, shape the meat mixture into 3" high pear shapes. Stick
in the cinnamon stick for the stem and the clove for the blossom end. Bake
at 350o for 35 minutes till brown. Take care they don't burn on the bottom.

(Note: I used chicken breasts with a little dark meat thrown in for moistness.
I also used golden raisins instead of currents because the currents added dark
spots. We made them about 3" high and used the stem of a clove for the stem.
You could put the rest of the clove in the bottom for the bud but I found this
unnecessary and dangerous because people would wind up eating the clove for an
unpleasant surprise. These are wonderful tasting, cute and a major hit. Do
this recipe!!!)

These are both fairly easy recipes and very popular. I could have doubled
the Pudding recipe and probably not have any left over.

My thanks to Ann-Marie for all the recipe assistance and to Alys D. for all
the work she put forth in making it happen.

Gunthar

Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 17:53:24 -0500
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: Re: SC - Vegetable Warners

I found a good one!  In Sabina Welserin's CB, #40:

(from Valoise Armstrong's translation)
To make a dish of peas
Cook peas so that they become mushy, put them in a colander and strain as
for almond milk.  Strain saffron, ginger and cinnmon with it.  Then it
looks like a worm.  Sprinkle sugar over it and serve it cold.

(from Hansen's unpublished translation)
To make a dish of peas
Seethe peas that they become mushy.  Do in a stainer.  Drive through like
almond milk.  Drive through with it saffron, ginger, cinnamon, so it looks
like worms and strew sugar thereon and give it forth cold.

Sabina Welserin also has three spinach or mangel pies, and two herb pies.

Also, a whole roast lamb with butter 'hair', surrounded by a butter 'fence'.

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net

Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 17:31:08 -0600 (CST)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
Subject: SC - Re: Vegetable Warners

Meliora wrote:
>Alys Katherine, Thanks for the pointer to the salads with boiled
>veges.  We will definately be trying to track down some "recipes"
>regarding this. Can you remember which source you found this in?  I
>have Markham but not May ....

It's in Markham's _The English Housewife_.  If you have Best's edition
it is on p. 66.  It's in the cookery section, #18 "The making of
strange sallats" and #19, "Sallats for show only".  #18 describes
making flowers from vegetables and flower parts.  #19 includes "carrot
roots of sundry colours well boiled, and cut out into many shapes and
proportions, as some into knots, some in the manner of scutcheons and
arms, some like birds, and some like wild beasts, according to the art
and cunning of the workman..."  These are seasoned with "vinegar, oil,
and a little pepper."

Alys Katharine

Date: Mon, 5 Apr 1999 07:54:43 EDT
From: CorwynWdwd at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Kitchen Steward Panics, film at 11:00

ingus_moen at hotmail.com writes:
>  Illusion meat strawberries?  My imagination is doing very bizarre things
>  with that word combination....

They're kinda cool. You take ground beef (I guess you could use pork too)
make your strawberries, roll them in saunders and sesame seeds and roast
them.

Corwyn

Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 06:13:07 EDT
From: CorwynWdwd at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - illusion meat strawberries

stefan at texas.net writes:
> Do these really end up red? The saunders I bought at Pennsic is a bright
>  brownish orange not red. I keep imagining orange strawberries.

The two test batches I did turned out just fine.. the fat from the cooking
meat, and the roasting I suppose, tend to darken them a bit. Also, the
saunders I got was a good dark red. I haven't opened the most recent package
of Saunders, but at this point.. weeeelllll, it's what I got<G>.

Corwyn

Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 19:42:00 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - illusion meat strawberries

stefan at texas.net writes:
<< Do these really end up red? The saunders I bought at Pennsic is a bright
 brownish orange not red. I keep imagining orange strawberries. >>

Actually they are more brown red than brown orange. The reduced light of the
feast hall completes the illusion.  The don't look exactly like strawberries
but enough like them to cause people to take a second look and others to just
think they are a little off-colored for berries and leave it at that. All in
all they are fun and tasty. :-)

Ras

Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 23:28:44 EDT
From: CorwynWdwd at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - illusion meat strawberries

stefan at texas.net writes:
> Corwyn, are you cooking these after applying the saunders and the seeds? Or
>  before applying the saunders and the seeds?

Actually I cooked them after the rolling. Seemed quicker, and it was delish
either way.

Corwyn

Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 09:21:24 EDT
From: Devra at aol.com
Subject: SC - Re: superstitions/halloween dishes

A nice touch is rice pudding with flies.  I got the recipe from malcom Bird's
Witches' Handbook.

Ingredients
your favorite rice pudding
soft dark raisins - a handful
flaked almonds

1) If the raisins are not soft enough, soak them for a little while in
liqueur, rum, brandy, etc.
2) Cut two slits in each raisin, running the long way.
3) Insert one almond flake into each slit (these are your flies).
4) Partially fill a nice glass/crystal bowl with pudding.
5) Tastefully place several flies next to the glass.
6) Fill bowl with remainder of pudding and ornament with balance of flies.

This is very effective--then you can eat all the rice pudding yourself!  It
might also be impressive on top of an iced cake.

Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 19:52:24 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC -Guild Newsletters?

And it came to pass on 3 May 99,, that Laura C Minnick wrote:
> If I'm not mistaken, in the current form it is called "A Watched Pot".

Several years ago, I bought a booklet entitled "The Best of 'A Watched
Pot'" at Pennsic.  One of the best simple subtleties I ever did at a feast
came out of that booklet -- fake cattails made from bamboo skewers
and scallions and little smoked sausages.  I stuck several cattails into
half a Granny Smith apple, and set them on a platter beside a roast
duck.  My lord, who was directing the servers, reported that several
tables were delighted when they belatedly realized that what they had
taken to be merely decorative was in fact, edible.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 08:09:54 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - illusion food - cattails

And it came to pass on 4 May 99,, that Philip & Susan Troy wrote:

> I assume the wooden skewer goes through the scallion and through the
> sausage, so it is invisible,

Yes, exactly.

> and you can use more scallion to cover the
> other end of the skewer too.

I confess I didn't try that; I will next time.

> As for its effectiveness as an illusion, I
> can only say the, uh, um, romantic lighting of most feast halls, and a
> _small_ willful suspension of disbelief, probably make it a pretty good
> illusion.

Dimness conceals all manner of things.  :-)

The fuzziness of the cattail was somewhat represented by the fact that I
used smoked sausages (Hillshire Farms L'il Smokies, to be precise),
which are rather more wrinkled and rough in texture than the average
sausage.

> Adamantius

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 18:51:11 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - illusion food - cattails

harper at idt.net writes me:
<< and you can use more scallion to cover the other end of the skewer too. >>

This would be unnecessary because cattials naturally have a slender stick
like thingy at the top end during certain parts of their season. Leaving it
bare would add to the illusion.

Ras

Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 21:59:06 -0400
From: Badger <bagbane at ix4.ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: SC - subtelety HELP!!

Well, if you take 1/2lb dates, 1/2lb figs and 1/2lb raisins and grind them
together several times to mix very well. shape in small 'sausage' shapes and
bury them in a pan of 1/2 white sugar and 1/2 brown sugar. You should use a
slotted spoon to dig the 'sweets' out of the pan. This went onver great at the
Alderford event.

Badger

Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 20:31:41 EST
From: ChannonM at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Blown eggs, was Chocolate

I peeped my head in and wanted to add an idea for doing the eggs without
using real eggs as the basis. Now I know that that may be the whole idea,
but, you could use an egg mold and coat it with a white hardening icing.

A few years ago I picked up an egg mold that is used for gelatins or
puddings. You have to reduce the liquid content somewhat, but they really
turn out great. The mold comes from a few different sources. One is the Jello
Co. which you could locate via the internet. The other is a cake decorating
store or where I found mine was a grocery store at Easter. The price was
reasonable, only a few dollars for a half-dozen egg mold. Essentially the
mold is hinged and has a decent sized hole in one half. You simply pour your
ingredients into the hole and let  cool. You could do the yolk thing very
easily as the mold opens. Do one half then the other.

Hauviette

Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 10:55:47 EST
From: DianaFiona at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Blown eggs, was Chocolate

ChannonM at aol.com writes:
<<
 A few years ago I picked up an egg mold that is used for gelatins or
 puddings. You have to reduce the liquid content somewhat, but they really
 turn out great.  >>

    Hummmmm, maybe reduce the liquid a *lot*, depending........ A friend of
mine and I tried using those as soap molds a few weeks ago, but they leaked
madly. :-( Fortunately, it was the "melt and pour" kind we were playing with
that time--not fresh, lye-still-active cold process! The almond cream recipe
already discussed would probably be all right, since it is supposed to be
pretty thick, and most chocolates would probably do well, too. Just watch out
for possible problems, though! :-)

                Ldy Diana

Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 08:40:56 -0500 (EST)
From: cclark at vicon.net
Subject: Re: SC - Blown eggs, was Chocolate

Rudd Rayfield wrote:
>Here is my version.  I have chosen to use modern food coloring instead of
>saffron and cinnamon, mostly for convenience, but using those spices would be
>simple enough.
>
>EYROUN IN LENTYN
>Almond Paste "Eggs" ...

Thanks for finding the original recipe. I'd forgotten that it was made with
cream of almonds rather than almond milk. But while you were noting
substitutions, you might have mentioned that you replaced the cream of
almonds with a boiled and drained almond paste.

To explain more precisely, these are three different ingredients:

Almond paste: ground almonds (a little water can be added to prevent it from
separating. When sold in stores, it tends to have sugars (such as glucose)
added.

Almond milk: water or other liquid with extractives from almond paste - the
almond paste is mixed in and then strained out. Note that this is *very*
different from almond extract flavoring.

Cream of almonds: cooked & curdled almond milk with the whey drained out.

So what this recipe calls for is (unsweetened) almond paste, mixed with or
ground with extra liquid, strained, cooked, and then drained.

Alex Clark/Henry of Maldon

Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 23:27:10 EST
From: RuddR at aol.com
Subject: SC - Almond Cream (Was Blown Eggs& Chocolate)

Alex Clark writes:
"Thanks for finding the original recipe. I'd forgotten that it was made with
cream of almonds rather than almond milk. But while you were noting
substitutions, you might have mentioned that you replaced the cream of
almonds with a boiled and drained almond paste.

To explain more precisely, these are three different ingredients:

Almond paste: ground almonds (a little water can be added to prevent it from
separating. When sold in stores, it tends to have sugars (such as glucose)
added.

Almond milk: water or other liquid with extractives from almond paste - the
almond paste is mixed in and then strained out. Note that this is *very*
different from almond extract flavoring.

Cream of almonds: cooked & curdled almond milk with the whey drained out.

So what this recipe calls for is (unsweetened) almond paste, mixed with or
ground with extra liquid, strained, cooked, and then drained."

As I read it, what Eyroun in Lentyn uses as filling is essentially an almost
identical concoction dealt with earlier in Harleian 279, Fride Creme of
Almaundys (Cold Almond Cream).  The description of its preparation is very
similar to that of the filling in the Eyroun, only more detailed.  So I would
call what I filled the Eyroun with "Almond Cream".  We may just be having
semantic differences for essentially the same thing:

EYROUN IN LENTYN:
Take Eyroun, & blow owt (th)at ys with-ynne atte o(th)er ende; (th)an waysshe
(th)e schulle clene in warme Water;

(th)an take gode mylke of Almaundys, & sette it on (th)e fyre; (th)an take a
fayre canvas, & pore (th)e mylke (th)er-on, & lat renne owt (th)e water;
(th)en take it owt on (th)e clo(th)e, & gader it to-gedere with a platere;
(th)en putte sugre y-now (th)er-to;

(th)an take (th)e halvyndele, & colour it with Safroun, a lytil, & do
(th)er-to pouder Canelle; (th)an take & do of (th)e whyte in the ne(th)er
ende of (th)e schulle, & in (th)e myddel (th)e (y)olk, & fylle it vppe with
(th)e whyte; but no(gh)t to fulle, for goyng ouer; (th)an sette it in (th)e
fyre & roste it, & serue f[orth].
Harleian MS 279

FRIDE CREME OF ALMAUNDYS
Take almaundys, an stampe hem, an draw it vp wyth a fyn thykke mylke,
y-temperyd wyth clene water; throw hem on, an sette hem in (th)e fyre, an let
boyle onys:  (th)an tak hem a-down, an caste salt (th)er-on, an let hem reste
a forlongwey or to, an caste a lytyl sugre (th)er-to; an (th)an caste it on a
fayre lynen clothe, fayre y-wasche an drye, an caste it al a-brode, an late
all (th)e water vnder-ne(th)e (th)e clothe be had a-way, an (th)anne gadere
all (th)e kreme in (th)e clothe, an let hongy on an pin, and let (th)e water
droppe owt to or .iij. owrys; (th)an take it of (th)e pyn, an put it on a
bolle of tre, and caste whyte sugre y-now (th)er-to, an a lytil salt; and
(y)if it wexe (th)ikke, take swete wyn an put (th)er-to (th)at it be no(gh)t
sene; and whan it is I-dressid in the maner of mortrewys, take red anys in
comfyte, or (th)e leuys of borage, an sette hem on (th)e dysshe, an serue
forth.
Harleian MS 279

Rudd Rayfield

Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 09:47:38 EST
From: RuddR at aol.com
Subject: SC - Re: Almond Cream (was Blown Eggs & Chocolate)

Ras writes:
"My take on this recipe is that it is a custardy type concoction having a
completely different texture than either cream of almonds, almond paste or
almond milk. I have my almonds soaking in water even as I speak and will post
results tomorrow evening.  Meanwhile, unless you are acknowledging a far more
pervasive influence on noble cookery in the medieval Europe than is generally
admitted to, I see little similarity in the European recipes you posted to
the middle eastern version other than ingredients and basic cooking style.

I am not saying you are 'wrong' or 'right' but I am still considerably
concerned that the soaking step was left out. Apparently this was due to
supposed similarities to other recipes of European origin. I would still like
to know the reason for this step being left out of the redaction or more
specifically a period source that acknowledges the step but suggests it be
ignored for whatever unknown reason."

I don't want to argue too much about a point that might be hard to prove, but
I think the directions as to what to do with the almond milk in the Eyroun
receipt is a short-hand version of Almond Creme, written for cooks who know
how to make Almond Creme already (two separate detailed sets of directions
for it are given quite early in Harl. 279).

For reference, here are what I think are the key points of the receipts in
question:

EYROUN IN LENTYN
. . . (th)an take gode mylke of Almaundys, & sette it on (th)e fyre; (th)an
take a
fayre canvas, & pore (th)e mylke (th)er-on, & lat renne owt (th)e water;
(th)en take it owt on (th)e clo(th)e, & gader it to-gedere with a platere;
(th)en putte sugre y-now (th)er-to; . . .

FRIDE CREME OF ALMAUNDYS
Take almaundys, an stampe hem, an draw it vp wyth a fyn thykke mylke,
y-temperyd wyth clene water; throw hem on, an sette hem in (th)e fyre, an let
boyle onys:  (th)an tak hem a-down, an caste salt (th)er-on, an let hem reste
a forlongwey or to, an caste a lytyl sugre (th)er-to; an (th)an caste it on a
fayre lynen clothe, fayre y-wasche an drye, an caste it al a-brode, an late
all (th)e water vnder-ne(th)e (th)e clothe be had a-way, an (th)anne gadere
all (th)e kreme in (th)e clothe, an let hongy on an pin, and let (th)e water
droppe owt to or .iij. owrys; . . .

Neither receipt mentions boiling or soaking the almonds first, although in
the several almond milk receipts I have seen the first direction is to blanch
the almonds, which I have learned to do by boiling them before popping their
skins off.  This, I assume, would be understood in a receipt that calls first
for almond milk, or drawing up a thick milk wilth almonds.  Blanching them
does change the texture of the almonds, no mistake.  I am not familiar with
any Middle Eastern sources for almond dishes, and neither of the above
receipts claim Middle Eastern origin.

When I have made the Fride Creme of Almaundys, following the directions as
closely as I could, it came out like a thick pudding and was easily molded.
Before wrapping in a cloth and hanging, the consistency is  that of thick
soup, and the longer it hangs, the firmer it gets.  Once, while making the
Eyroun, I hung it for five hours (two more than specified in the Creme
receipt), and the result was too crumbly to pipe into the blown egg shells.
The final consistency may thus be regulated depending on the cook's tastes
and needs; thicker for molding, thinner for piping, somewhere in between for
spooning.  The Eyroun receipt calls for the filled shells to be baked a
while; I assume to dry out and firm up the filling more.  That at least is
the result when I have done it.

To return to an earlier strand of this thread, I once made a milk chocolate
ganache and mixed that into a batch of Almond Creme, which I molded, making a
very non-period (but yummy) Chocolate Almond Cream.

Rudd Rayfield

Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 10:38:43 -0800 (PST)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Blown eggs, was Chocolate - Yes I know its not period!

- --- Lorix <lorix at trump.net.au> wrote:
> Huette von Ahrens wrote:
> > Here is a suggestion:
> > Jello Brand gelatin sells egg shaped jello molds.
>
> I gather these are plastic moulds of sort?

Yes, they are.  They are a two part hinged mould, with
a hole in the top for pouring your jello in.  I have
used them to make multi-colored eggs out of jello,
using the jiggler recipe.  I have also used them to
make realistic looking jello eggs.  I used the Asian
almond flavored jello for the white and lemon flavored
jello mixed with almond milk and moulded in a round
ice cube tray for the yolk.  I poured some of the
almond jello in the bottom of the mould until it
solidified, then put an already solid yellow jello
yolk in, closed the mould up and filled the rest of
the mould with more almond jello.  They came our great
and my family was very surprised at the effect.

Huette

Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 09:51:01 -0500
From: Jeff Gedney <JGedney at dictaphone.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Blown eggs, was Chocolate - Yes I know its not period!

> All of these ideas are good ones but could someone correct my memory here.
> Was not the intention of the original post regarding this subject to provide
> a sort of subtlety that would appear for all intent and purposes like a
> normal egg with the recipients being able to crack and remove the real shell
> to be astounded with contents that they little expected?

I did this about six years ago.
I made faux eggshells with very thinly rolled white fondant, air dried in halves of a chocolate egg mold.
(Note: When the inside surface is dried to touch, gently fill the shell with tissue or cotton, put a cardboard over the mold, invert to remove from the mold, and allow the outside to dry completely before continuing. This takes a day or two, more in spring/summer, and it never dries in humid weather, so you need to have a dehumidifier or airconditioner in the Kitchen... do NOT put these eggs in the fridge!)

I glued the halves together with thick Royal Icing after putting in Hersheys Kisses for luck. I have also used Gum paste for work like this.
I was also able to judiciously paint these eggs, using a brush dipped into paste
colors, and a very light touch (you should avoid rehydrating the shell).
I put these in a pulled sugar Easter Basket, decorated with gum paste tulips,
lilies, and daffodils, and hand spun Green sugar "grass" as an edible
centerpiece for an Easter dinner.

brandu

Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 11:25:00 -0500
From: "Siegfried Heydrich" <baronsig at peganet.com>
Subject: SC - Worms, eh?

    I've got this feast I've been wanting to do for years. It's based on the
notion of what you would serve at a feast if you were under siege and slowly
starving to death. It's all good food, just prepared in such a manner that
Only The Hungry Shall Eat! Remember, the worth of a cook is the ability to
make do with what you have on hand, heh, heh.
    Of course, this could only be served at a fighters collegium, as the
Laurels and other hoity-toity types would immediately yak all over their
lace ruffs. It would be a great opportunity to see just how tough these
stick jocks really are, anyway! And I might add that the shtick potential
here is truly awesome. Why, just the power chundering contest alone would go
down in the history books . . . we judge for volume, range, and color!

    Sieggy

            Siege of Antioch Memorial Dinner
                                    or
                Hungry are the Damned

        FIRST COURSE
    Moldy Bread
Homemade bread, colored & endored in moldy colors.
    Ox Grease
Whipped butter with rinsed cooked tapioca pearls and egg drop streamers
mixed in for texture.
    Lumpy Shit
Garbanzo, garlic, & olive oil spread chopped coarsely, piped into bowls. Use
a little corn for texture as well . .  . serve with a plastic fly on top.
    Leather Chunks
Homemade jerky, cut unto straps, holes punched with buckles added before
drying

        SECOND COURSE
    Mouse Soup
Clear broth soup with mouse shaped meat dumplings. with a chunk of water
chestnut inside each dumpling <crunch!>.
    Pond Scum Salad
Lime Jell-O, cool whip, and fruit salad with spinach added.

        INTERLUDE
    Candied Cockroaches
Glazed walnuts, pecans, and almonds.
    Crunchy Frog
Use a lily pad shaped cookie cutter to make cookies for the base, and use a
bit of icing to secure a gummi tree frog to it (upscale confectionary shops
sell them)

        THIRD COURSE
    Ribs of War Horse
Beef short ribs in a burgundy sauce.
    Breast of Nun
Take turkey breast halves, peel back the skin, place a spiced apple ring and
a maraschino cherry on top, stretch the skin back over and secure. Glaze and
roast.
    Haunch of Beldame
Smoked pork butt.

        SIDE DISHES
    Mess o' Greens in Pus
Greens (what have you) and a lemon cream sauce
    Stewed Parchment & White Stuff (don't ask)
Wonton leaves, written on in waterproof ink, and sauce blanc
    Steamed Rat Droppings
Fresh made couscous

        DESSERT
    Fried Entrails
Make strings of dried fruit, roll in flour, dip in batter, fry.
    Lice Pudding
Rice pudding made with white/brown rice mixture and currants.

        DRINK
    Recycled Rain Water
Lemonade
    Quench Water from the Smithy
Herbal tea

Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 14:58:40 +0200
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: chicken carcass was - Re: SC - Gallantine/Ballotine refs

>Researching last winter for the feast I did last spring, I came across a
>recipe that could be interpreted as lifting the skin from the hen carcass,
>boning the naked carcass, and then putting the meat plus sausage(?) back
>into the skin.

Le Menagier has 2 recipes for this - Stuffed Poultry and Farced Chickens.
The latter says: "They be first blown up and all the flesh within taken
out, then filled up with other meat, then coloured or glazed..."  The
former says "leave in their skin the legs, the wings, the neck and all the
head and the feet" and then stuff the otherwise empty skin with a mixture
of meats, chicken livers, eggs, cheese, and spices.  The partial text in
French is here: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/menagier/  The full text in
English is here:
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/Medieval/Cookbooks/Menagier/Menagier_Contents.html

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
cindy at thousandeggs.com

Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 22:54:00 -0700
From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: food and appearance...was Re: SC - quick important note

hey all from Anne-Marie

Seumas says:
>(mind starts to spin.....April 1 feast some year.....Spam
>Cormarye....heh, heh....and a roast and gilded chicken sitting on a
>gingerbread throne.....with crown)
>
>See what she has to put up with? [referring to his fiance]

does anyone rembmer the illusion banquet done by the madrone Culinary guild
some years ago (it was before I moved here, so it must have been 10 years
ago at least)

see, the guild was feeling a bit frisky, so they prepared this menu....
nothing was as it seemed. The "cherry pies" were actually beet, where
someone made "cherries" with a melon baller. the custard was actually
garlic flavored. The "hardboiled eggs" were actually blown out and filled
with chocolate...except the one that was left raw. that kind of thing.

The food was all very good, but the poor diners were all freaked out by the
end because NOTHING tasted like what their eyes told them to expect. Some
of our more curmugeonly members want us to do it again. Those of us newer
folks want to play with period food, and we already have enough of an
uphill battle convincing people that period is approachable and tasty and
not weird that we dont really want to go down that road....

so I think you guys would fit in just fine....

- --AM

Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 13:00:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: SC - molds for gingerbread

I have made whole peach cookies as an illusion food. 
For the peach pit, I used chopped nuts bound together
with a little bit of thick peach jam.  I used almonds
for the nuts with a whole one in the center to give
that latrile feeling and flavor. :-)  The irregularity
of the chopped nuts gave it a similar look of of the
peach pit.  This is my idea and not one that I found
anywhere else.

Huette 

Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 14:03:06 US/Eastern
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: Re: SC - pennsic pot luck dish

> What did you use for a mold? Or did you sculpt them freehand?
> margali
[She is asking about some peach pit sotelties made out of marcepane that
Brighid did for the SCA-Cooks pot luck dinner at Pennsic 29 - Stefan]

I used Sculpey.  I pressed each half of a peach pit into a separate block, then 
baked them until hard.  To make the pits, I sprinkled a little sugar into the 
bottom of each mold, put 1/2 tsp. of paste into one, placed an almond and 
another 1/2 tsp. of paste on top, and pressed the other mold piece over it.  
Then I carefully removed the top mold, scraped away the excess paste, and eased 
the peach pit loose. However, though Sculpey is labelled non-toxic, it is not 
recommended for food use.  I was willing to use it for one experimental batch, 
but I would not want to do so on a continuing basis.  This is why I went 
looking for a potter at Pennsic.  If you have access to a kiln, you might want 
to try making one yourself.  I do not know if unglazed or glazed will work 
best -- the potter has promised to make me one of each.

Brighid

Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2000 14:00:46 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler at chesapeake.net>
Subject: Re: SC - pennsic pot luck dish

If it works like the cookie presses I've purchased, I suspect unglazed will work
best...I have several that I have used for shortbread, etc.  Some came from the
Bakers Catalogue and a couple from (I think) Williams Sonoma.

Kiri

Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 16:11:17 -500
From: "Tara Sersen"<tsersen at nni.com>
Subject: Re: SC - pennsic pot luck dish

>I have a nice heavy latex mini-scallop shell candy mold I use for buttercreams.
>I wonder where I might get a few custom made with peachpits? 

At good art stores (like the kind you find in cities near art schools, not neccisarily
ACMoore,) you can buy latex for making mask and sculpture molds.  My store of
choice is Pearl Arts and Crafts on South Street in Philly.  

The latex is a powder that you mix up.  The stuff I've used turns into a soft
mold.  They might also have some that dries hard.  They have lots of darned
cool stuff.

With the soft stuff, you could fill a dixie cup with the liquid latex and dunk
a peach pit into the center.  When it is set, peel off the cup and cut all the
way or half-way around the pit to pop it out.  So, you could have a one-piece
or two-piece mold.  For something as thick as almond paste, I'm guessing a two-piece mold would work best.  For something that starts as liquid and ends up solid, like chocolate or (yuk) Jello, I'd use a one-piece mold.

If you try it, let me know how it works.  I've done mask-making for theatre,
and I've seen this done for sculpture, but I'd never thought to try it for food
before today!

Magdalena

Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 15:55:00 -0500
From: "sdrake" <steldr at home.net>
Subject: RE: SC - pennsic pot luck dish

Ok - I have a friend who is a professional clown - this is how she makes her
noses (don't laugh!!)  She has an impression of a nose in a plaster of paris
mold set in a styrofoam cup - she pours liquid latex into the mold, lets it
set for a little until there is a layer of solidified latex in the mold and
then pours out the excess.  after the latex hardens she has a new nose which
she then trims......I've long been intrigued byt the thought of being able
to mold other things this way but didn't know where to get the liquid latex.
Lo and behold I saw a can of it at a candle/incense store here in Tulsa the
other day - and if I can find it in Tulsa!!!!!   Of course you wouldn't
really need the plaster of paris mold , you could just pour some latex into
a cup about half way up the pit and later, just peel it off the
pit......maybe.

Mercedes

Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 23:55:47 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: SC - Recipe: Peach pits

These are the sweetmeats I brought to the Pennsic potluck.

Source: Diego Granado, _Libro del Arte de Cozina_ (Spanish, 1599)
Translation: Lady Brighid ni Chiarain (Robin Carroll-Mann)

Huessos de duraznos -- Peach pits

Take half a pound of almonds, and blanch them, and grind them, and 
take a pound of sugar, ground and sifted, knead it with the almond until 
it is well kneaded, and if it does not stay very firm, cast in a little more 
almond, and take an ounce of very fine cinnamon, and two adarmes of 
red sanders, all very well ground and sifted, cast it in the paste, and 
knead everything very well, until it takes on a good color, and the dough 
being well-tempered, which is not soft, sprinkle it on top with sifted 
sugar, so that it doesn't stick, and make pieces, and in each one put an 
almond, or a half, and sprinkle them with sugar, and put them in your 
molds and remove them, and set them to dry.

Notes:

2 parts sugar to 1 part almond made a mixture to crumbly to work with.  
I wasn't measuring carefully (and I was using almond meal mixed with a 
little almond oil), but I think I wound up with 6 ounces almond to 8 
ounces sugar.  1/2 ounce of cinnamon was about 7 teaspoons.  Since I 
was using cassia, not Ceylon cinnamon, the taste was stronger than it 
would be otherwise.  An adarme is 1/2 drachm or 1/16 oz.  I estimated 
1 TBS.  My sanders was old and dark; the stuff I bought this Pennsic is 
brighter red, and I think will give a more realistic color to the mix.  Sugar 
did help with the sticking-to-the-mold problem, but even so, I had to 
remove them very carefully and there were a few casualties.  When they 
first came out of the molds, they were wonderfully detailed, with very 
clear ridges and whorls.  Those of you who saw them after they'd 
survived 400 miles driving and several days of Pennsic heat did not see 
them at their best.  The half recipe I made was enough for about 60 pits. 
 I look forward to getting my earthenware molds, so I can continue the 
experiments.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2000 09:57:41 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - pennsic pot luck dish

And it came to pass on 9 Sep 00,, that Stefan li Rous wrote:
> I think the use of a glaze would lose you a lot of the finer detail. And
> one of the nice things about Brighid's peach pits was that they looked
> pretty real.

They are intended to be an illusion food, after all.  :-)

I took one as a sample in a plastic baggie to the potter who will be 
making my molds.  When she took the baggie, I was surprised to see 
that she handled it a bit carelessly.  Then it must have squished a little 
under her fingers, because she looked startled and said, "Oh, it's 
marzipan!  I thought you brought me a peach pit to study."

I suspect you're right about the glaze losing details.  The potter is 
making one glazed and one unglazed, so I can tell which will work best.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 19:38:04 -0400
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: Re: East Kingdom University (was Re: SC - Lamb Technique and Notes)

And it came to pass on 23 Oct 00, , that Jenne Heise wrote:
> No, it certainly did not prove necessary. I heard many, many pleased
> compliments about the Peach Pits (Lady Raven called them 'sinful'!), which
> I'm happy to pass along. 

"Sinful", huh?  Well, gluttony is one of the Seven Deadlies, after all.

On a more practical note, I think the puts would have held their 
shape even better if I could have used less almond in the mix.  I 
would encourage anyone trying the recipe to stay as close as you 
can to the 1:2 almond:sugar ratio.

Brighid, happy purveyor of sin

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 15:45:41 -0400
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: Peach pits (was Re: SC - Baked apples)

Source: Diego Granado, _Libro del Arte de Cozina_ (Spanish, 1599)
Translation: Lady Brighid ni Chiarain (Robin Carroll-Mann)

Huessos de duraznos -- Peach pits

Take half a pound of almonds, and blanch them, and grind them, and
take a pound of sugar, ground and sifted, knead it with the almond until
it is well kneaded, and if it does not stay very firm, cast in a little
more almond, and take an ounce of very fine cinnamon, and two adarmes of
red sanders, all very well ground and sifted, cast it in the paste, and
knead everything very well, until it takes on a good color, and the dough
being well-tempered, which is not soft, sprinkle it on top with sifted
sugar, so that it doesn't stick, and make pieces, and in each one put an
almond, or a half, and sprinkle them with sugar, and put them in your
molds and remove them, and set them to dry.

Notes:

2 parts sugar to 1 part almond made a mixture to crumbly to work with.
I wasn't measuring carefully (and I was using almond meal mixed with a
little almond oil), but I think I wound up with 6 ounces almond to 8
ounces sugar.  1/2 ounce of cinnamon was about 7 teaspoons.  Since I
was using cassia, not Ceylon cinnamon, the taste was stronger than it
would be otherwise.  An adarme is 1/2 drachm or 1/16 oz.  I estimated
1 TBS.  My sanders was old and dark; the stuff I bought this Pennsic is
brighter red, and I think will give a more realistic color to the mix. Sugar
did help with the sticking-to-the-mold problem, but even so, I had to
remove them very carefully and there were a few casualties.  When they
first came out of the molds, they were wonderfully detailed, with very
clear ridges and whorls.  Those of you who saw them after they'd
survived 400 miles driving and several days of Pennsic heat did not see
them at their best.  The half recipe I made was enough for about 60 pits.
 I look forward to getting my earthenware molds, so I can continue the
experiments.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 15:22:03 US/Eastern
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: SC - Re: Peach pits (Recipe)

> >Olwen said:
> > > >Brighid, busy making peach pits to bring to EKU...
> > > Funny, I thought the tree made the pits
> >Yes, but mine are much more tender, not to mention tastier.  :-)
> >
> >Brighid
> 
> OK Brighid, give...
> 
> Olwen, the curious

 Sorry, I thought you knew and were just teasing me.  I've mentioned them 
before on this list.  Peach pits are a confectionary subtlety -- marzipan 
colored with sanders and cinnamon, molded like a peach pit, and with a whole 
blanched almond inside to mimic the seed.  I made up a bunch to bring to an A&S 
display.  Here's the recipe and redaction:

Huessos de Duraznos

Tomar media libra de almendras, y blanquearlas, y majarlas, y tomar vna libra 
de aÁucar molido, y cernido, amassarlo con el almendra muy bien, hasta que 
quede muy souado, y sino quedare muy duro, echarle otra poca de almendra, y 
tomar vna onÁa de canela muy fina, y dos adarmes de sandalos colorados, todo 
muy molida y cernido, echarlo en la pasta, estando la massa de buen temple, que 
no este blanda, poluoreandole por cima vn poco de aÁucar cernido, porque no se 
pegue, y hazer pedaÁos, y en cada vno poner vna almendra, o media, y 
poluorearlos con aÁucar, y ponerlos en sus moldes y sacarlos, y ponerlos a 
secar.

Diego Granado, _Libro del Arte de Cozina_, Madrid, 1599

Peach Pits

Take a half pound of almonds, and blanch them, and grind them, and take a pound 
of ground sugar, sifted.  Knead it very well with the almond until it becomes 
very kneaded, and if it does not become very hard, cast in a little more 
almond.  And take an ounce of very fine cinnamon, and two adarmes of red 
sanders, all thoroughly ground and sifted, cast it into the paste.  The dough 
being well-tempered, so that it is not soft, dust it on top with a little 
sifted sugar, so that it does not stick, and make pieces, and in each one put 
an almond, or half.  And dust them with sugar, and put them in your molds and 
remove them, and set them to dry.

Redaction
 
6 ounces blanched almonds
8 ounces extra-fine sugar
1/2 ounce Ceylon cinnamon, ground
1 Tablespoon powdered red sanders
whole almonds, blanched
additional extra-fine sugar for dusting
almond oil (optional)

Finely grind almonds in a food processor.  Gradually add sugar, cinnamon, and 
sanders.  Mix until well-blended.  If the almonds were purchased  already 
blanched, and are particularly dry, you may wish to add a small amount of 
almond oil to the mixture.  The marzipan is easiest to handle when chilled.  
Leave most of it in the refrigerator, keeping out only a small amount to work 
with.  Measure out 2 half-teaspoon lumps of marzipan, and place a whole almond 
between them.  Press the lumps together, sealing the edges.  You should have a 
rough oval of marzipan, with no almond visible.  Roll the oval in the sugar to 
coat it.  Place it in one half of the mold.  Put the other half of the mold on 
top and press down firmly.   Separate the two halves.  Scrape away any excess 
marzipan from the edges with a toothpick, and gently remove the peach pit.  Set 
it aside to air-dry in a cool, dry place for 24 hours.

Translation & redaction: Lady Brighid ni Chiarain, Barony of Settmour Swamp
(Robin Carroll-Mann)

Notes:

Adarme is a medieval Spanish unit of weight, equivalent to 1/16 ounce.

Standard marzipan recipe is 1 part sugar to 1 part marzipan, by weight.  This 
recipe calls for 1 part marzipan to 2 parts sugar.  When I try those 
proportions, I get something like damp beach sand, too crumbly to hold 
together.  I have to add more almond (and sometimes a little almond oil) to get 
a more workable material.

You can make extra-fine sugar by running granulated sugar through a blender or 
food processor.

If you use cassia instead of true cinnamon, you might want to reduce the 
quantity.  If you don't have sanders, a small amount of red paste food coloring 
would probably work.  True cinnamon and sanders are available from the 
Pepperer's Guild.

The recipe works a LOT better when you follow the directions.  The first time I 
made this, I sprinkled sugar into the mold.  Rolling the piece in sugar before 
molding it works *much* better.

Peach-pit molds can be made by taking an actual peach pit and pressing each 
half into a food-safe molding material.  My current mold is made of modern 
materials, but I ordered an earthenware mold from a potter at Pennsic.

Brighid

Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 15:33:15 GMT
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Peach pits & perogie presses

>We just returned from the event and got to taste some of the peach pits. They
>were lovely.  We spoke with a number of people who had the opportunity to try
>them and were very impressed.  Also, Olwen created some nifty apples out of
>hardboiled eggs...they were quite lovely and would be a dandy idea for a
>soteltie.
>
>Recipe, Olwen?  or how did you do the egg apples????
>
>Kiri

Thank you Kiri for your kind words.

The eggs are very easy to make and hard to make people eat.  Here's how to 
make them;  Hard boil some eggs.  While still hot peel them and pinch them 
between thumb and finger to make dimples in them.  With your fingers run 
some yellow food coloring over the eggs in a mottled coloration.  When this 
is done, do the same with red food coloring.  In the top dimple insert the 
stem of a rose or other non-poisonus leaf and a whole clove with the little 
ball on it.  On the bottom instert a clove without the little ball on it.  
Place in a basket or such on a bed of curly kale.

Expect folks not to believe you when you say it is an egg.  Also expect 
folks to wrap them in a napkin and take them away to show other folks.  Good 
thing eggs are cheap, these seldom get eaten.

If anyone tries these, let me know how yours turn out.

Olwen

Date: Tue, 07 Nov 2000 18:43:54 GMT
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Egg Apples

>Olwen, I just read your message on egg apples.  When you say to pinch the
>warm eggs to make dimples, I assume that you mean on the narrow end and at
>the wider end of the egg to reproduce the dimples found on an apple at the
>stem and flower ends.  Yes or No?
>Kirsten

Yes.  Stand the egg up in your fingers like it sits in the box, tall-wise.  
You have to make sure you don't rip it up with long fingernails though.  If 
the egg is really hot, pinch it quick and while still holding it, run it 
under cool water.

When I dye them, I make sure they are dry.  I simply tip the liquid food 
color bottle up with my fingers over the hole and then smear it over the 
egg.  That gives enough variation in the coloration to give it the textured 
effect.  First I do them in yellow then begin again with the red.  It's best 
to do them just before you need them.  You can do them the night before, but 
the color blends alot and they loose the texturation effect.

Olwen

Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 23:07:06 -0500
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: SC - New toys

The peach pit molds I commissioned arrived from the potter the 
other day, and I gave them a test run.  They're made of fired 
unglazed red clay, and they work quite well.  The potter charged 
me $10 per mold, which isn't at all bad for a custom item.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 07:15:45 -0600
From: Sue Clemenger <mooncat at in-tch.com>
Subject: Re: SC - golden apples

The 3rd recipe in the Sabrina Welserin cookbook ("a dish of various
colors," IIRC)has instructions on how to endore in a variety of colors. 
The saffron-and-egg-yolk yellow worked particularly well when I tried
it.  There was also a parsley-based green, a brown, a white.....
- --Maire

"Laura C. Minnick" wrote:
> Stefan li Rous wrote:
> > Olwen asked:
> > > Ok we WOULD love the recipe for the sausages and the sauce.  And would it 
> > > be too unkind of someone to let us know what "golden apples" are?
> >
> > Golden apples are an illusion food made of meatballs covered in a
> > dough (I think) and colored yellow. "Endored", I think is the word.
> 
> In COI- book II #42 'pommedorry'- not covered in dough, but brushed with
> eggyolk to color. I have also seen one that has you painting some with
> an eggyolk/parsley mixture, but I can't remember where.

Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 06:26:36 -0700
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at efn.org>
Subject: Re: SC - golden apples

> "Laura C. Minnick" wrote:
> > In COI- book II #42 'pommedorry'- not covered in dough, but brushed with
> > eggyolk to color. I have also seen one that has you painting some with
> > an eggyolk/parsley mixture, but I can't remember where.

 I found it- _Forme of Cury_, #182, calls for the yellow (egg yolk) and
green (egg yolk and parsley) balls.

'Lainie

Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2001 11:36:26 -0800
From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Local meat prices - OOP

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> In the FOOD section:
> Warners-art       (32K)  6/29/98    An article on disguised food.
>                                        by Alizaunde, Demoiselle de Bregeuf.
>   (A number of good sotelitie/warner ideas, including those where you
> cut the piggy in half and cut another animal in half and reattach each
> half to the other animal)

I got a cheap and easy pig mutation for those of us on a budget.  A whole suckling pig is an expensive pain in the pork butt, but any butcher can get you pigs feet, and they're cheap too.  I attach whole pigs' feet to a turkey, add a beaky head carved from a large orange and call it a Gryphon.  Served this at Caid Twelfth Night 2000, several of the knights swiped the Gryphon orange heads and started playing puppet theatre with them.  Quality time.

Selene [the warner sister]

From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] apple eggs
Date: Tue, 22 May 2001 14:01:52 -0000

>      I saw the pictures  {love those Boobies!!}How did you do this { the
>eggs, not the boobies}?  are they pickled & squished into a form?
>  Aluminus of UC Davis, home of the square tomato}

>ME ME ME!!  I'd  like to see a better picture,  and the instructions  too!!
>
>Caointiarn

The apple eggs are made quite eaisily.  First you boil the eggs.  The trick
is to peel them while they are hot and pinch them between your fingers top
and bottom to form the dimples.  Then you smear some yellow food coloring on
the eggs in a random mottled fashion and then you do the same with red food
coloring.  I place a clove (without the little ball part) in the bottom and
a rose leaf (or some such) in the top dimple with a clove that has the
little ball part for the "stem".  These are best made shortly before
serving.  They can be made the night before but the colors seem to go flat
and take away that "textured" effect.

I'll take pictures of the process.  Really.  They are easy.

Olwen

From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] apple eggs
Date: Tue, 22 May 2001 15:03:18 -0000

Yup.  Burns your fingers.  Usually what we do is to peel them very gingerly
with the help of a thin handtowel or playtex gloves then when we pinch them
we grab, pinch and dunk in cold water immediately.

Let the edd dry well before putting on the food colour.  I use the regular
liquid from the supermarket.  Why waste the gel when this gets the desired
effect.

I wish I had one of the square egg molds...
Olwen

>Hmmm. Your hands must not be that temperature-sensitive. I could never
>hold a hot egg for that long.
>
>Do you hold them until they are cool, or just pinch them briefly? I wonder
>this because I have one of those really odd gadgets ($.50 at a flea market
>years ago) designed to make hard-boiled eggs square, and you're supposed
>to let the egg cool in the mold so it keeps its shape (my grandmother
>likes it, what can I say?). I found that if you take the egg out when it
>is still warm, it loses its shape gradually.
>
>Do you use liquid or paste or gel or powder food coloring? Have you tried
>using period coloring agents?
>
>Margaret FitzWilliam

From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Olwen's apple eggs
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 13:07:06 +0000

>>The apple eggs were made by Alainne and myself.
>
>Olwen - I've seen the picture of these and am just a wee bit confused.
>
>They're actual eggs and not marizipan - yes??
>and if yes - are they just hardboiled and then painted & glazed??
>
>mari
>(dreaming of becoming a Soltie-junkie)

Eggs.  Yes.  Hard boiled.  Peel while hot, pinch while hot to dimple them (I
keep a bowl of cool water to dash my hand in while holding the hot egg).
Once the dimple is set put it aside to dry and keep peeling/dimpling till
all are done.  Smear on in an uneven coat some yellow food colouring then
follow that with an uneven coat of red food colouring.  I use washed rose
leaves inserted with a clove with the round bit on it for the top and for
the bottom dimple I use a clove without a round bit.
Dead easy.

Olwen

Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 11:00:58 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] REC: LARDED MILK...BACON

Speaking of the Larded Milk reminded me that
somewhere I had seen another "fake" bacon.
I did find it. Peter Brears shows it in a
drawing in his article "Rare Conceites and
Strange Delightes..." in Banquetting Stuff,
ed. by C. Anne Wilson, 1991.
The drawing is on p62 and concerns making
collops of bacon out of marchepane.

Johnnae llyn Lewis Johnna Holloway

Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 09:17:31 -0700
From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] too much garlic

Olwen the Odd wrote:
> Our new Baron claims to be allergic to garlic and asks us not to include it,
> or at least let him know what has garlic in it so he can avoid it.  While
> playing with marzipan with me one day Mistress Marghertia (of this list)
> formed a stunning replica of a bulb of garlic which was then presented to
> the Baron at his investiture.  Good one Mistress!

Oooh, I like that!  I did marzipan turnips one time, just so everyone could be
seen to be eating their vegetables at feast.  Another time,  I made a lavendar
pomander in the shape of a garlic bulb, hanging from my belt by velvet green
"stems."  I need to make another one.

Selene, Caid

Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 21:54:50 -0600
From: Sue Clemenger <mooncat at in-tch.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, like onions...

I remember it, and have actually made it once.  Got the idea from
someone down in the Sun (uh, Atenveldt, these days...Principality of the
Sun back then), who did them for a Kingdom competition, IIRC.
Yummmm....
You need two things, mainly: grapes and marzipan.  Green grapes work
best.  The idea is to make the grapes look like the marzipan, and make
the marzipan look like the grapes.
The grapes, in small bunches, are brushed with a bit of beaten egg white
and dusted with granulated sugar, and then set on a cookie rack or
plate to "harden."  A lot of cookbooks, including my Joy of Cooking,
give instructions on making "sugared" fruit like this.  I think the egg
white is beaten until "frothy."
The marzipan, having been prepared by whatever recipe/method you prefer,
is rolled into small ovoid balls the size of the grapes.  If you prefer,
you can also roll them in a bit of sugar.  To simulate the "stem" of the
grape, insert the longer, pointy end of a whole clove into the
appropriate end of the marzipan "grape."
Presentation: Using a tray or bowl, as appropriate, intersperse the
bunches of grapes with the marzipan grapes.  You can pick out some of
the real grapes from the bunches, and "replace" them with the marzipan
ones, etc.
Hope this makes sense....
--Maire, certifiable almond/marzipan fiend 

"Pixel, Goddess and Queen" wrote:
> Ok, now I'm remembering a soeteltie where you use a bunch of grapes and
> marzipan to make another bunch of grapes, and you do things to them so
> that you can't tell them apart. I do not remember *where* I read this,
> however, and I want to make one for an A&S day our college is having with
> the other baronial colleges.
>
> Any hints? Anybody have any clue what I'm talking about?
>
> Margaret

Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 16:20:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan fruits, the crash course

On Thu, 18 Oct 2001, Olwen the Odd wrote:
> I take full responsibility for your folly.  Having never attempted to make
> the traditional fruits, however, I would love to get these directions.  Go
> figure.  I never seem to do the norm.

Ok. First, figure out what sort of fruits you want to make, and color your
marzipan appropriately: green for apples, peachy orange for peaches,
orange for oranges, yellow for bananas, red (well, pink, really) for
strawberries, uncolored for potatoes, reddish purple for grapes, and so
forth.

Potatoes: make round balls of marzipan. With the blunt end of a flat
toothpick, make the eyes. When you've finished all your taters, roll them
in cocoa. Voila! Making them slightly oblong is optional--the ones I've
seen commercially are round.

Oranges: again, round balls. Roll them on the teeny side of a box
grater--the one that silly people use to zest oranges and lemons until
they go buy a Microplane. The teeny holes with pointy bits around
them. Insert a clove for the stem, preferably one without the round bit of
the bud.

Peaches: round ball, then form the crease with the side of a
toothpick. Brush lightly with food coloring--a dry brush barely dipped in
color with most of the color wiped off works best for this. Practice on a
sheet of paper or sacrificial marzipan until you get the wispy blush
effect. We always used artificial leaves for this--I guess you could use
small rose leaves for the same effect.

Strawberries: strawberry shapes of pink, rolled on the grater for the seed
effect. Again, artificial leaves. Bakery supply houses should carry them.

Bananas: banana shapes of yellow, then brush with brown color in teeny
streaks, just a little for effect.

Apples: round balls, then dimple them just like the apple eggs. For those
of you who don't remember that part--squeeze between thumb and finger to
make the stem and blossom dimples of the apple. Brush with red color like
the peaches, and insert artificial leaves.

Grapes: round balls of reddish purple, with or without a blush.

Breads: make little loaf shapes, brush with egg white, and bake until
golden brown on top. These are just too darned cute for words. I'll have
to check with Mom for the proper temperature and whether you actually bake
them or broil them (or I'll experiment).

Carrots: carrot shapes of orange, with artificial leaves, and occasional
creases done with the edge of a flat toothpick.

Roses, Olwen has already posted the instructions for.

Any questions, please ask.

Margaret

Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 06:34:57 -0500
From: Amanda Whiteley <siancr at shaw.ca>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan fruits, the crash course
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Another quick way for getting the citrus skin effect on marzipan oranges,
lemons and limes is to use a thimble. The imprints from the thimble look a
lot like orange skin.

Sian

Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2003 21:16:12 -0400
From: kattratt <kattratt at charter.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Attention Adamantius and anyone else....
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Finally a week later...

So ok this was my second feast.  Athough it was my first one planned
and executed by me.  First off I had an incredible kitchen crew of which
I got 0 pictures of by their request.  ;)
It was Corwyn, Deidre, Meadbh, and myself in the kitchen with my wife
baking bread at home.

I wanted to o something that they had not seen as far as I knew as well
as entertain them.  So we cooked an illusion feast.  (Yes Olwen we got
pictures of that!!!) But I also wanted us the crew to be able to sit and
eat with them.  So we had the first presentation (se got rid of that
course/remove argument quite nicely...)already on the table when they
came in.
So first presentation was
St George Vs The Dragon
A Dragon and Knights Helm  (A bread Dragon and an Herbed Butter Molded
into a Knights Helm)
BTW George Lost his one..... Side note the dragon is the only thing I
didn't get a picture of.  (::bangs head into wall::)
This was a non period recipe since my wife was making it I didn't force 
it.

Trees  Date and Cheese Trees.  Styrofoam cones and balls covered with
oil put together to make a tree shape and then we attached cheese to
the cone to be bark, and dates to the ball as the top of the tree.
  Worked really good to.

Ground Olives Don't read that as crushed Olives.... take it literally!!!
We took marinated Olves, (from the Boke of Goode Cookery Website
  contributed by Michael Hobbes featured at the Coronation Feast of
H.R.H. Kenna.) and plated them around the bottoms of the Trees as the
ground.  Worked well I thought.

Hattes Small meat filled pastries that esemble hats.  (These have
nothing to with St. George and the Dragon I just think they are a great
appetizer and loved the look of them)  SOURCE: An Ordinance of Pottage

Second Presentation Two Meats and a Pig.

Ok the trick here was how to serve veggiesthat are at least trying to
not look like veggies.

Peas in Pods  Leche Lombarde modified.  SOURCE: Forme of Cury  Ok I
modified this one... I didn't like the look of the meatloaf although it
tasted great!!! So instead I made the Peas and used grape leave to make
the Pods.  It worked and worked well!!!! The Grape Leaves brine even
added to the flavor of the "peas".   The only trouble I had was getting
the folks to not eat the grape leaves as the main dish.... (They weren't
getting the whole illusion thing..) lol.

A Boatload of Sauces  This worked surprisingly well.  We made boats to
hold the sauce dishes... out of roasted chicken.  Find your own roasted
chicken recipes out there I know they are there....but we colored the
boats once they were assembled.. and cooked them a bit longer to seal
the colors... One white one black.  SOURCE: Hansen, Marianne. "And Thus
You Have a Lordly Dish: Fancy and Showpiece Cookery in an Augsberg
Patrician Kitchen." Medieval Food and Drink, Acta, vol. xxi. Binghamton
Univerity: State University of New York Press, 1995.

Roasted Pigs on Forbidden Grounds Ok this was the roast veggies dish.
we had spaghettie squash bodies, with cauliflower heads, broccoli feet,
green onions for the tails, and sliced radishes for the eyes and ars.
  This was an assumed recipe... I assume that they had roasted veggies
and I tried to avoid modern veggies... although the spaghettie squash I
wasn't sure of, but they worked so well I didn't care.  The rice I
cannot claim as period unless one of youall happens to know if
Forbidden Rice/Emperors Rice is period... but damn those things looked
so good on that purple rice I didn't care.

Third Presentation Eggs and Mice

Ok Now this had to have been the coolest thing....
The "eggs" were so confusing to he folks that they were scared to try
them until I informed them that there was no egg in the dish....
Baked Eggs  Ok we tried to do this recipe first.... Sambocade Cheesecake
baked into Blown Eggs...  just as an FYI it looks really nasty and
doesn't workdon't try it... (of course if you do try it and it works
let me know...) so then I scrambled (pun intended) to find another
recipe... thus all of those questions about the "Eyroun in
Lentyn"(SOURCE: Harleian MS. 279 ) recipe.  I am pleased to say that we
ried.... sad to say that it didn't work.  I think it was already to
late before I asked the list here but thanks for the help.  However we
modified the recipe and made an almond custard pudding.... well at least
that is what the wife called it... I personlly thought it was a great
glaze for the mice as it was really sweet and rather yummy but just
didn't strike me as custardy or puddingey.  Oh well everyone liked it
though.

Side note we did end up with a great Almond Bread recipe.... I will
share that assoon as I wrestle it from the wife...

Mice Baked Pears (SOURCE:Chiquart's 'On Cookery' ) Modified recipe....
That recipe was the inspiration for the one we used.... I had so much
baked stuff that we sauteed them on the stove top instead with cinnamon
andsugar... garnished with currant eyes and noses, date ears, and their
own stems for tails and pears make great mice!!!!!!!

Caudell Wine thickened with eggs (SOURCE: An Ordinance of Pottage)  I
think we cooked this to hot as we ended up with scrambled eggsand
wine.... or egg drop soup with a wine base.... it was still very good
though although a little wierd....   I don't think we cooked it
properly.... we tried to mix and cook at the same time since we were in
a hurry.... didn't work... but our host was ppping in and saying when
will it be ready when can we seat them....?  So we were hurrying....

Well anyways there is my report I have pictures that will speak
volumes... but they won't be up until tomorrow....

Take care all

Nichola

CorwynWdwd at aol.com wote:

> I'll let Nicola fill inthe details, but let me tell you this... it was 
> a triumph.
>
> I feel like a proud Papa <G>
>
> Corwyn

Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 16:15:16 +0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] illusion dish
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

We had a cooks guild meeting last Saturday and many of us prepared dishes 
from the Anno. Andilusian cookbook.  The dish I selected to make was a fun 
one I found while looking specifically for a vegetable dish.  The recipe is 
as follows, then I shall tell you of what I did.
-----------------------------
Recipe for a Dish of Gourd Resembling Fish, with which you may deceive the 
invalid who desires fish and the like.
Peel the gourd and clean it inside, then cut lengthwise for the width of two 
fingers or so; then boil and form a head and tail in the shape of a fish and 
leave for the water to drain away; then take a large dish and throw in it 
what eggs you need; add white flour, cinnamon and coriander seed and beat 
with the eggs; then place in the skillet on the fire with fresh oil, and 
when it is boiling, take the fish-shaped gourd and fry; then immerse in 
those eggs beaten with flour and spices and return to the pan; then go back 
and immerse in the eggs beaten with flour also. When you see that the eggs 
are set, return them several times until cloaked with egg and no trace of 
the gourd can be seen. Then turn out on the platter and sprinkle with 
vinegar and a little murri or juice of fresh coriander or other things.
-----------------------------------
I intended to buy a more period type of pumpkin but elected not to when I 
saw the price of $10.00 for one pumpkin.  I chose to use butternut squash 
instead.  I selected two with nice long necks.  Once home I cut off the 
necks, peeled them and cut lengthwise into three planks each.  I then cut 
out the fish shapes with my knife (I have now learned to leave a wider part 
at the beginning of the tail section) and tapered the square edges to give a 
more natural shape to the "fish".  Then I got some water simmering with a 
bit of white vinegar and some zinfendel wine in it, to which I added the 
"fish" (6 fish in total, around 7 inches long).  I let these simmer till 
fork tender but not mushy (I did lose a couple of tails but fixed them with 
the batter).  While these were simmering I put a good handful of flour into 
a bowl and added ground cardamon and ground cinnamon, about 1/4 tsp each 
plus an extra shake, then broke in an egg and realized it was too stiff so I 
added another egg.  Stirred the whole mess into a thick coating rather the 
same consistency of a thin pancake or tempura batter.  I removed the "fish" 
from the simmer and set them on a rack to dry a bit (then put them into the 
freezer to cool them quicker).  After they were drained well and cool I put 
them one by one into the batter and completely covered them and popped them 
into some nicely heated vegetable oil, let them brown lightly on one side 
then flipped them to brown on the other side.  They came out and right onto 
a wooden plate, I inserted clove "eyes".  They were so very cute!  Folks 
liked the taste and I believe they may show up on the menu at Baronial 
Birthday.  The nice thing is that you wouldn't have to carve all of them at 
the same time, but some here and there and pop them into the freezer.  It is 
even possible to cut the shapes with a cookie cutter as the planks were only 
about an inch thick.

THLady Olwen the Odd
Clan of Odds
House Blackstar
Bright Hills Cooks Guild
Order of the Pearl
Barony of Bright Hills
Kingdom of Atlantia!

Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 18:15:23 -0600
From: Robert Downie <rdownie at mb.sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: Perceptions - was, Re: [Sca-cooks] Tonight on the Food
	Network-		Biblical Foods
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Funny thing about fish dislikes, they appear to extend to illusion fish too
:-)
I had a few locals tell me they wouldn't attend my illusion food feast
because there was "too much fish" on the menu.  Of course there was only
_one_ thing made with fish (a salmon croquette fashioned into carrot shapes,
with parsley folliage), the rest just _looked_ like fish/seafood.   
After shaking my head, I had to laugh.

Faerisa

Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 22:16:27 -0500
From: Robert Downie <rdownie at mb.sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] "Edible" Cinnamon Sticks
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Thebard wrote:
> Was helping a friend work up a few ideas on things to make head and keep
> on hand when planning feasts and whatnot.  She said something about
> seeing faux, edible cinnamon sticks once at a feast she went to but had
> no idea who made them or how they were made..  I'm never heard of such a
> thing, was wondering if anyone knew of a recipe?  Or at least had a  
> good idea.
>
> She said that all she cold remember is that the looked like real (ie,
> soft, Mexican...) cinnamon and that said spice had to be one of the  
> main ingredients because that's all she could taste.
>
> James P.

In "Banquetting Stuffe", the section by Peter Breers "Rare Conceites
and Strange Delightes" references making these from sugar paste:

Cinnamon Sticks
Take Cinnamon and Ginger, of each a like quantity being finely searced,
mingle it with with your searced sugar, and Gum-tragacant steeped in
Rose-water, and work it into Past,...you may then turn it upon sticks made of
peecs of arrowes, and make them hollow like cinnamon stickes...[A Closet
for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1611, p26]

Knead ground cinnamon and ginger in equal quantities into the sugar plate
until it is the color of cinnamon, then roll it out as thinly as possibl,
dusting with further cinnamon to prevent sticking, and'turn it upon sticks
made of peeces of arrows, and make them hollow like Cinamon stickes'

The article also mentions making walnuts, playing cards, eggs, fruits, and
plates, dishes, cups and such hings, wherewith you may furnish a table.

Faerisa

Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 13:14:21 +0000
From: Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] "Edible" Cinnamon Sticks
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

> Was helping a friend work up a few idea on things to make head and keep on
> hand when planning feasts and whatnot.  She said something about seeing
> faux, edible cinnamon sticks once at a feast she went to but had no idea
> who made them or how they were made..  I'm never heard of such a thing, was
> wondering if anyone knew of a recipe?  Or at least had a good idea.
>
> She said that all she cold remember is that the looked like real (ie, soft,
> Mexican...) cinnamon and that said spice had to be one of the main
> ingredients because that's all she could taste.
>
> Thanks,
> James P.

Baroness Cordelia makes these fairly often and has given us instruction on
how she does it.  Even though the Breers gives the method of mixing the
sugarplate up with the gum tragicanth, who can afford to do that for the
masses.  For an A&S small batch yes, for a bunch, well, I'm not that rich.
We use the recipe calling for gelatin.  Mix equal parts of ginger and
cinnimon and lay-on fairly thickly the surface you intend to roll out the
sugarplate on, then roll out your s-plate turning over so as to coat both
sides well with the spice mix, adding more under the s-plate as needed.
After you have rolled the plate out thinly, cut into rectangles about 4 x 6
or smaller, then loosely roll two sides toward each other or one side all in
one direction (but if you do this don't make the strip so long, only a
couple inches or so).  Set aside for a small while to dry hard.  Easy as
pie.

Olwen

Date: Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:53:09 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Seeking Almond Paste "Bacon" Recipe
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

It appears in Peter Brears' books and accounts.
See his article "Rare Conceits and Strange
Delightes: The Practical Aspects of Culinary
Sculpture." in "Banquetting Stuffe: The Fare and Social
Background of the Tudor and Stuart Banquet" .1986
and also All the King's Cooks. 1999.

Johnnae

Lilinah wrote:
> A few years ago, someone made a dessert that looked like bacon but
> was made of  layers of plain almond paste, and red-colored almond
> paste (with red saunders). I belive it was a dish for Lent.
>
> I'm not sure of the source, but i know it was definitely "period" and
> European. I wonder if anyone on this list knows of it.

Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 12:41:31 -0500
From: "Sam Wallace" <guillaumedep at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Seeking Almond Paste "Bacon" Recipe
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

This is from Lancelot de Casteau's Ovverture de Cuisine" which was published
in 1604 after he had retired from many long years of service as master chef
for the princes of Liege:

68. To make some German bacon.
Take a pound of almonds peeled, and ground very fine, adding a bit of rose
water, half a pound of sugar mixed with some almonds, then put it on the
fire in a cauldron or frying pan, and turn it over well with a wooden ladle
so much and such a long time that the almonds become like dough which is
manageable, then mix the almonds continually with the hand until they are
cold, then take half of your almonds, and make a cover the size of a hand.
Note that it is necessary that half of the almonds be made red with rosette
of Paris, until you see that they are red enough for your taste, then you
will take this cover put the one on the other firstly the white and the red,
afterwards thus following until all are the one on the other, then flatten
the dough with the hand all beautifully, in order that they stick the one to
the other, then cut it into slices the thickness of half a finger, and put
it on some paper in an oven slowly without being too hot.

Guillaume

Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:22:36 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Looking for medieval joke recipe

On Aug 25, 2010, at 9:35 AM, Daniel Myers wrote:
<<< Does anyone here remember the source for the recipe (I think it was
English or French) that directed the cook to sprinkle dried rabbit blood
on a cooked steak to make it look raw?  It was in a section of a
cookbook that also had a recipe that used pieces of gut string to  
make a steak look wormy.

- Doc >>>

Found it here-- It's part of the those activities that fall under  
table magic.

Porta, Giambattista della, 1535?-1615.

Natural magick by John Baptista Porta, a Neapolitane ; in twenty  
books ... wherein are set forth all the riches and delights of the  
natural sciences. , London : Printed for Thomas Young and Samuel  
Speed ..., 1658.

 (which is the English edition of a work titled Magia Naturalis)

"THE FOURTEENTH BOOK OF Natural Magick: I shall shew some choice  
things in the Art of Cookery.

That flesh may look bloody and full of worms, and so be rejected
by smell-feasts. Boil Hares blood, and dry it, and powder it; and cast 
the powder upon the meats that are boil'd, which will melt by the heat 
and moysture of the meat, that they will seem all bloody, and he will  
loath and refuse them. Any man may eat them without any rising of his  
stomack. If you cut Harp-strings small, and strew them on hot flesh,  
the heat will twist them, and they will move like worms." Page 327

Johnnae

Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2011 23:36:59 -0400
From: "Terri Morgan" <online2much at cox.net>
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Whole chickens (was: amounts of food per
	person)

  This conversation brought to mind a feast I attended about 20 years ago -
I always remember that cook's meals as something full of glory. For our
12thNight* he served a three course meal. One of the courses featured a
whole chicken. Each table was presented with a huge platter on which was a
chicken baked in a crust (with little white caps on the feet) surrounded by
baked oranges, limes, and lemons on a bed of greens. I'd wondered about the
modern white caps on the ends of the chicken, but mostly I was eagerly
awaiting the food - he was a VERY good cook. My husband, who knows how to
carve, placed the tip of his knife at the side of the breast... and his
knife just slid through the crust as if there was nothing but air inside.
  Which is nearly what was there. The whole thing was an illusion. The
"bird" was a citrus tart of some sort covered with the shell of pastry,
while each fruit around it had been hollowed out and filled with breast meat
before the final baking. The flavors of that meat were amazing! The whole
table ended up sharing out each of 'their' fruit so we could all taste how
the citrus had infused** the meat. Personally, I thought the orange-chicken
was the best, but man-oh-man, the lime and the lemon ones were darned good
too.

I've never forgotten that dish. I don't remember much about the other foods,
but I surely remember that. I think that was the year he either made the
chocolate chess board & pieces (our Queen loved chocolate) or else the faux
stained glass window of sugar candy...but can't be sure. The 'chicken'
chased all the rest of it out of my mind.

Sadly, he doesn't play in the SCA any longer,
Hrothny

* And for those of you in Atlantia, this was back when Tir-Y-Don & Marinus
had an annual 12thNight event but the Kingdom hadn't started one yet.
**As it were. I am vocabularily challenged today.

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:22:31 -0400
From: Solveig Throndardottir <nostrand at acm.org>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Non-Period Food for Non-Vigil

<<< Chestnuts are fall, I have heard of something called kurigohan, not sure
what that is [in them] other than chestnuts. >>>

Rice of course. kurigohan is a specific type of kawarigohan.

Actually, you might consider making mock chestnuts out of equal parts of chestnut flour (available from Italian groceries) and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients with just enough water to make it stick together and form into balls using chef's cloth. Form into a ball in the chef cloth and twist and pinch the opening end to form into a chestnut like shape. This is the easy version of the recipe. There is a bit more complicated version that produces a glazed surface. Regardless, they are pretty good tasting and are a simple Japanese omogashi sweet for the tea ceremony.

Solveig Throndardottir
Amateur Scholar

Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2012 06:43:59 -0400
From: Elise Fleming <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
To: sca-cooks <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>, 	Madrone Culinary Guild
	<mad-cul-gld at antir.sca.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] "Joke" Food

Greetings!  Ivan Day, noted British food historian, has put a new post 
on his blog site (http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.com/) which 
addresses a variety of "joke" food from the 1400s on.  Each item comes 
with a wonderful photo and details about the food being recreated.  The 
first item is from "Liber cure cocorum" (1420 or so) and is a dish of 
bacon and eggs made from jelly - although he uses a recipe from 1769.

Other "joke food" photos include marzipan fruit, sugar paste flowers, a 
disappearing table (not food but food-related), and a variety of photos 
of texts and engravings.  There's enough in this blog to keep some 
enterprising subtlety maker challenged for years!

Alys K.

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	illusion-fds-msg	Page  of