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AS-Fd-Entry-art - 3/4/12

"Apple tart from Rumpolt - birth of an A&S entry" by MistressCatrin von Berlin OL.

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NOTICE -

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium.

These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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Apple tart from Rumpolt - birth of an A&S entry

by Mistress Catrin von Berlin OL (known as Gwen Cat)

So you want to enter A&S and since you eat, you thought a food entry might be a great place to start. First, you looked around and found a cook book: there are a fair number of period cookery books available, both translated into English, or in their original language. Ideally you found a facsimile edition (one that looks like the original book did) and you found a recipe. If you speak the foreign language by all means, translate the recipe yourself, otherwise you have the original translators errors or misinterpretations that your entry is based on. Just be sure you include both a copy or scan of the original and a transcription along with your translation.

So now you have a recipe, but wow, they wrote funny back then. Where are the amounts, measurements, temperatures and cooking times? THAT is where you and the ART part of an A&S competition come in.

Here is a scan of the original text:

For this example we are using recipe #6 from Marxen Rumpolts Ein New Kochbuch published in 1581. I own the facsimile edition published by Tupperware Germany (yes that Tupperware) in the early 1970s.

The recipe (transcribed or transliterated by me) reads:

6. Nim{m} Epffel/ schel vnnd hack sie klein/ schweisz sie in Butter/ gib gestossenen Zimmet/ Zucker/ vnd schwartze Rosein/ darvnter/ ru:ers wol ducheinander so wirt es ein gute Fu:ell.

A word for word (meaning not modernized, keeping to the sound of the original) translation, also by me:

6. Take apples/ peel and chop them small/ sweat them in butter/ add crushed cinnamon/ sugar/ and black raisins/ thereunder/ stir it together/ so it is a good filling.

Wait, there should be more information, where is the dough? So now go back to the first recipe in the section, this is the only place any kind of dough is mentioned. From here on it is only fillings, and the author assumes you will simply use the dough to fill with other stuff.

So again an image of the original, and the transcription, by me:

Von allerley Turten.

I.
NJmb Feigen/ vnd schneidt sie klein/ thu kleine schwartze Rosein/
die sauber außgewaschen seyn/ darvnter/ machs in ein Turten
eyn/ vnd thu ein wenig Butter daru:eber/ laß backen/ es sey
im Ofen oder in der Turtenpfannen. Vnd wenn du wilt ein
Turten machen/ so nimb Eyerdotter vnd Butter/ thu es vnter
das Mehl/ vnd mach ein Teig darauß/ treib jn du:enn auß/ vnnd schneidt jhn
fein rundt/ vnnd saltz jhn. Vnnd ein solchen Teig kanstu zu allerley Turten
brauchen.

And the translation, also original by me:
Take figs/ and cut them small/ do small black raisins/
that are washed clean/ thereunder/ make in(to) a torte/
and do a little butter thereover/ let it bake/ be it
in the oven or in a tortepan. And if you want to make
a torte/ so take egg yolkes and butter/ do it under
the flour/ and make a dough therefrom/ roll it out thin/ and cut it
well round and salt it. And such a dough you may use for all sorts of tortes.

Let’s start with the dough. Rumpolt specifies egg yolks, butter and flour. Not a standard modern American pie crust, but this is German, ok, let’s play with it. Are there other period recipes that have more details? Are there old recipes that sound similar that I can use to get a rough idea of amounts? Or maybe I should just use some reasonable (to someone who has cooked for many years) proportions

So my redaction or recreation of the crust, using modern measurements, so I or anyone else may recreate it:

For the crust:
1 cup flour (unbleached, preferably whole wheat pastry flour)
2 1/2 oz butter, unsalted
2 egg yolks (if too thick beat with a little water)
pinch of salt

Sift your flour, and cut in the butter, then add the egg yolks to make a pastry, it is ok to work it a little. On a floured pastry cloth roll it out thinly, and sprinkle with salt. Transfer it to a baking sheet, and trim the edges round.

This pastry is similar to a shortbread, or a German Mürbeteig. It will have crumb rather than flake texture as it is not supposed to be a flaky pie crust type dough. The butter and yolks create a rich and beautifully golden dough. This should work for my A&S entry.

Now the filling: Apples, cinnamon, sugar and raisins. That can’t be too hard, or can it? I looked into using one of the older varieties of apples, such as Pippin or Court Pendu Plat, but was only able to locate tiny and pricey Lady Apples. So I used Granny Smiths, which I found to be a bit crisper (more watery, less likely to thicken) but I like the tartness they have. Please do avoid anything with the word ‘Delicious’ in the name, it was bred in modern times to travel well and look pretty, but does not have much true apple flavor.

For the filling (again my interpretation):
4 apples, I used granny smith
1 oz butter
large pinch cinnamon
2 T sugar, more if you like it sweet, but this lets the apple flavor dominate
2 T raisins

Peel and finely chop the apples, sauté in butter, till they soften and produce some juices, stir in sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. Pile into center of crust, pull crust up to contain most of filling (leave a hole in the center (like a volcano) for steam to escape.

Start at 425 for 10 minutes, then reduce to 350 for another 30 minutes or until done.

This tart is fairly simple, and very tasty. I think it would be a great addition to a feast menu. The transcription, translation from the German into English and recipe re-creation are all from Ein New Kochbuch and are my original work

So now that you have all the parts, let’s make sure you can turn your efforts into a successful A&S entry. Be sure to keep notes, so you can include the information in your documentation. Remember your documentation needs to include an introduction, WHAT you made, HOW/WHERE it was used in period, HOW they made it in period, WHAT you did, any differences between the two and WHY those differences (I chose to use an aluminum pie tin I was not certain the decorative tin dish would not leach poisons into my tart.) Also tell your judges any special steps you took (I got the most period apple tree I could find and grew it in my own yard, then used the apples from that tree.) Do not forget any lessons learned. Finally make sure to include scans or copies (judges get twitchy at pages torn from a book) of any photos/paintings, and be certain to include a list of ALL of your sources in a good (modern) bibliography.

Now for an A&S entry you have the tasty tart, the accurate documentation, but you still need a pleasing display. Try for a period feel to the cloth, a nice plate, individual serving ware for your judges (usually 3), some water, maybe napkins, a candle...

Congratulations, you have now gone from a vague recipe written in 1581 to a nicely displayed and documented tasty tart your judges, the populace, and you can enjoy.

References:

http://clem.mscd.edu/~grasse/GK_turten1.htm

http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/rumpturt.htm

Writing Documentation for SCA Competitions, by Arwen Southernwood, O.L.

Ein New Kochbuch, M Rumpolt 1581. Facsimile reprint Tupperware, Dresden, exact date unknown

Author lives in the Outlands and may be contacted at: tgrcat2001 AT yahoo dot com

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Copyright 2012 by M. Grasse>. <tgrcat2001 AT yahoo dot com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited. Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.