From plant to plate Did you know? Research suggests that eating half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day could help lower cholesterol. Cinnamon can be used in a variety of ways, not just to add flavour to an apple crumble. Try swirling a cinnamon stick in a cup of hot chocolate or sprinkling some cinnamon on your morning porridge. Or why not try these savoury cinnamon recipes: Sauce camelyn – cinnamon sauce Adapted from MS 163 in Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, published in ‘An Ordinance of Pottage’ edited by Constance B. Hieatt. Sauce camelyn for qualys & othir maner of foules and fysch Take white bred & draw hit in the maner of sauce gynger, with venyger; & put therto poudyr of canell, a grete dele, & poudyr of gynger & poudyr lumbard. & draw hit ayen, & yf thu wilt, draw a lytyll mustard therwith, & sesyn hit up with sygure that hit be doucete. Salt hit & colour hit with safron. Sauce camelyn was a favourite medieval sauce, made to go with almost any meat. It always contained lots of cinnamon, though the other ingredients varied. It should have the consistency of a relish. 2 slices bread 60ml vinegar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon ginger mustard to taste pinch of saffron 1. Soak the bread in the vinegar. 2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. If it is too thick, thin it with more vinegar (add some more sugar to balance the flavour)
Transcript
From plant to plate Did you know? Research suggests that eating half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day could help lower cholesterol.
Cinnamon can be used in a variety of ways, not just to add flavour to an apple crumble. Try swirling a cinnamon stick in a cup of hot chocolate or sprinkling some cinnamon on your morning porridge. Or why not try these savoury cinnamon recipes:
Sauce camelyn – cinnamon sauceAdapted from MS 163 in Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, published in ‘An Ordinance of Pottage’ edited by Constance B. Hieatt.
Sauce camelyn for qualys & othir maner of foules and fyschTake white bred & draw hit in the maner of sauce gynger, with venyger; & put therto poudyr of canell, a grete dele, & poudyr of gynger & poudyr lumbard. & draw hit ayen, & yf thu wilt, draw a lytyll mustard therwith, & sesyn hit up with sygure that hit be doucete. Salt hit & colour hit with safron.
Sauce camelyn was a favourite medieval sauce, made to go with almost any meat. It always contained lots of cinnamon, though the other ingredients varied. It should have the consistency of a relish.
2 slices bread60ml vinegar1 teaspoon cinnamon1 teaspoon sugar1/4 teaspoon gingermustard to tastepinch of saffron 1. Soak the bread in the vinegar.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. If it is too thick, thin it with more vinegar (add some more sugar to balance the flavour)
Chilli Con Carne Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food
2 medium onions1 clove of garlic olive oil2 teaspoons chilli powder1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin salt & pepper500g minced beef2 x 400g tins of tomatoes1/2 stick of cinnamon2 x 400g tins of red kidney beans, drained20g dark chocolate
1. Chop onions & garlic and fry in olive oil. When soft, add the chilli powder, fresh chilli, cumin and season to taste.
2. Add the beef to the pan, stir regularly until the meat has browned.
3. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon stick and dark chocolate.
4. Bring to the boil, then gently simmer for 1 and a half hours, adding the kidney beans 30 minutes before the end of cooking time just to warm them up.
I sugar & spice Did you know? Some research suggests that moderate consumption of red wine could help prevent heart disease.
Medieval diners sipped a spiced wine called Hippocras. After a festive meal they would dip in wafers and eat sugar coated nuts, as modern diners take coffee and liqueurs.
For 40 guests, at a dinner in late 14th century Paris, the following comfits were made, with the note “little was left of the spices”,
“Spices for the chamber to wit candied orange peel, 1lb, citron, 1lb, red anise, 1lb, rose-sugar, 1lb, white comfits, 3lbs.”
These spices would be sucked, nibbled and lingered over. Try these delicious spiced wine recipes:
Hippocras – Spiced wineAdapted from The Forme of Cury – (14th century), published in ‘Pleyn Delit - Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks’ by Constance B. Hieatt, Brenda Hosington and Sharon Butler.
Pur fait ypocras. Troys unces de canel & iii unces de gyngever: spykenard de Spayn, le pays dun denerer; garyngale, clowes gylofre, poevre long, noiez mugades, masiosame, cardemonii, de chescun i quarter donce; grayne de paradys, flour de queynel, de chescun dm. unce; de toutes soit fait powdour &c.
2 litres red table wine340g sugar3 cinnamon sticks10g fresh ginger1 teaspoon each cardamom, cloves, mace, nutmegoptional: spikenard, white pepper, caraway seed, galingale, marjoram
1. Put the sugar in a large saucepan and stir in the wine, heat gently, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Do not boil, or the alcohol will evaporate.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in all the spices.
3. Leave for at least 20 minutes then strain before filtering.
4. Serve hippocras at room temperature as an after-dinner drink.
Mulled wine baked apples and pears200ml red wine100ml orange juice1 whole cinnamon stick2 star anise2 clovesJuice of half a lemon50g brown sugar2 large apples, peeled, cored, sliced in half and dipped in lemon juice2 large pears, peeled, cored, sliced in half and dipped in lemon juice
1. Add red wine, orange juice, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and half the sugar to an oven proof dish.
2. Add lemon juice, apples and pears to baking dish. Sprinkle over the remaining sugar.
A sense of taste Did you know? You can train your sense of taste…Even if you don’t like the taste of something that is good for you, eat it 10 times and you could grow to love it!!
Medieval cooks often tricked diners’ senses by disguising nature and creating amazing looking dishes out of unexpected ingredients. Try the medieval recipe of ‘golden apples’ which is pork made to look like apples or train your taste buds to like sprouts with the delicious sprout and bacon recipe.
Pomme dorryse - golden applesAdapted from The Forme of Cury – (14th century), published in ‘Pleyn Delit - Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks’ by Constance B. Hieatt, Brenda Hosington and Sharon Butler.
Farsur to make pomme dorryse and othere thynges. Take the lire of pork rawe, and grynde it smale. Medle it up with eyren & powdre fort, safroun and salt; and do therto raisouns of coraunce. Make balles therof, and wete it wele in white of ayren, & do it to seeth in boillyng water. Take hem up and put hem on a spyt. Rost hem wel, and take persel ygrounde and wryng it up with ayren & a perty of flour, and lat erne aboute the spyt. And if thou wilt, take for persel, safroun; and serve it forth.
900g minced pork2 eggs lightly beaten1 egg separated1 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon each ground ginger, allspice1/4 teaspoon each ground cardamom, cinnamon1/8 teaspoon each ground cloves, pepper1-2 tablespoon flourTablespoon finely minced parsley
1. Add spices and beaten egg to the minced pork
2. Shape into balls about the size of a walnut. Roll in lightly beaten egg white and boil in salted water for 10 minutes.
3. Put on skewers and grill, turning regularly.
4. When the balls are almost done, make a batter of the separated egg yolk, flour, and parsley. Brush this over the balls and cook just long enough to set the glaze.
5. To make the meatballs look like little apples, stick a small bay leaf into the top using a large clove, giving the effect of leaf and stem.
Stir fry Brussels sprouts and bacon30 Brussels sprouts2 tablespoons olive oil 6 rashers of streaky bacon, roughly chopped 1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into small chunks 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1. Boil the peeled sprouts in a pan of water for 4-5 minutes, until sprouts are just tender. Drain and place them into iced water to stop them cooking further.
2. When cool, drain and cut the sprouts in half.
3. Put the oil in a wok or deep, large frying pan and place over a medium-high heat. When the fat is hot, add the bacon to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add the parsnip. Cook until the parsnip turns golden brown, then stir in the carrot and garlic until the vegetables are tender.
5. Add the sprouts. Cook until heated through, add seasoning to taste and serve straight away.
Sugar, spice & me! Did you know? Superfoods are packed with lots of yummy goodness; they improve health and reduce the risk of disease. They are high in antioxidants, vitamins and fibre, and low in calories. Try swapping your mid morning biscuit with a square of dark chocolate.
Sugar was the medieval ‘super food’, thought to be very healthy, but modern science has identified different ones. As sugar was thought to be very healthy it was included in all sorts of medieval recipes. Do you fancy trying our recipe for pork pie that contains sugar!
The list of modern super foods now includes red grapes, spinach, red onions, oranges, broccoli, blueberries, apples, dark chocolate and coffee beans.
Tartez of flesch – Pork tartsAdapted from MS 163 in Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, published in ‘An Ordinance of Pottage’ edited by Constance B. Hieatt.
Tartez of fleschTake porke sodyn; pyke hit clene from the bonys, grynd hit small. Boyle fyggys in the broth of the flesch, or yn wyn or in ale; hew hit, and grynd hit with eryon. Pare tendyr chese; grynd hit togedyr that the most perte stond by the flesch & the lest by the chese. Take pynes & reysons; fry hem in a quantite of fresch grece, & do hit in that othir with hole clowys, macys, & poudyr of pepyr & canell, a grete dele, & poudyr of gynger & sygure claryfyd or hony claryfyd, safron & salt. Toyl hit well togedyr tyl thy grece be hote. Then make brode cofinys with low brerdys, as thyn as thu may make hem. Thu may chese of clovys or mynsyd dates, whethir thu wilte medyl hem with the stuff or els strew hem above. & ley on the ledys; close hem, & thu may put theryn lyghte werke & make endoryng with mylke of almondys & safrin, & endore hem or thu bake hem.
225g mince pork6 dried figs120ml stock, or wine or ale25g pine nuts, or raisins, or a mixture of the twoOil for frying3 eggs, beatenpinch each of cloves, mace, pepper, ginger, saffron
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey1/2 teaspoon salt60g finely chopped datespastry 1. Boil the figs in the stock, wine or beer for about 10 min, then whizz them in a food processor.2. Lightly fry the pine nuts and/or raisins. 3. Mix all the ingredients together.4. Choose a muffin or bun tin for the size of the pies you want. Roll out two-thirds of the pastry to 3mm thick. Cut circles to line the cups of your tin.5. Fill the pastry lined tin, two-thirds full with mixture. 6. Roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness and cut smaller circles to fit as lids on the tarts.7. Bake at 190C° for 45 min and serve hot.
Super food sweet and sour stir fry500g broccoli roughly chopped1 red onion roughly chopped150g fresh spinachClove of garlic1cm grated ginger150ml soy sauce75ml tomato ketchupSalt & pepper to taste20g toasted sesame seedsOil for fryingNoodles
1. Fry broccoli and red onion over high heat until just beginning to soften.2. Add chopped garlic and ginger, fry for 1 min.3. Add soy and tomato ketchup, stir for 1 min until sauce starts to bubble.4. Add spinach and cook until it has just started to wilt.5. Add salt and pepper to taste.6. Serve with noodles and sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.
For an alternative add prawns with the garlic and ginger.
