Renaissance food? In need of help ASAP.?!


Question: I have recently read Romeo and Juliet in school, and for a project we all have to make some sort of food that reflects that time period. Obviously, it cannot be mead or ale or anything with alcohol, considering this is a classroom full of high school students. Does ANYBODY know of a simple, yet delicious food from the 13-15th century? I need to have a little background info as well, so if anyone knows of where I can find a quality recipe with background info, PLEASE answer. Answer ASAP, since this is a school project and has a due date.


Answers: I have recently read Romeo and Juliet in school, and for a project we all have to make some sort of food that reflects that time period. Obviously, it cannot be mead or ale or anything with alcohol, considering this is a classroom full of high school students. Does ANYBODY know of a simple, yet delicious food from the 13-15th century? I need to have a little background info as well, so if anyone knows of where I can find a quality recipe with background info, PLEASE answer. Answer ASAP, since this is a school project and has a due date.

Assortment of olives and Italian cheeses might work. It would be easy for everyone to sample, too. The development of pasta was about this time as I found and copied off for you, on the net below...you could make one for everyone to have a taste. Do it Bolognese style...alternately layering cooked pasta with the cheese mixture and then add the meat sauce on top. Couple pizzas would be cool too.The margharita style was some of the earliest kinds. Thin tomato slices, olive oil and some basil, cheese. You can make in electric skillet...contact me for further infor and recipes.

From the net...
Early Stirrings
As the many districts of Italy grew and prospered, trade in Northern Italy flourished, and with it came a myriad of foodstuffs, including spices and other foods of the wealthy, such as rich cream, butter, eggs, and grains. (All the ingredients for fine pasta!) Pasta initially was a food for the wealthy because it contained so many costly items, and it originated in Northern Italy during the late medieval to early Renaissance. Also, for a time during history, Northern Italy was occupied by Austria or France, which added diversity to their cuisine. Gradually, pasta spread throughout Italy and beyond, but some of the most impressive pasta recipes began in Northern Italy, such as Lasagna Bolognese and other creations from the town of Bologna.

[edit]Renaissance Flowering
During the Renaissance the arts flowered, and so did Italian food. The center of this artistic movement was Florence, which lies in the Tuscany region that has become so popular today. In fact, the wealthy were extravagant, and one way they showed their wealth was to create ornate dishes and set their tables with fantastically rich and stunning stemware and serving ware. The de Medici family was one of the wealthiest in Florence, and in fact, one of the most influential families in all of Europe. When Catherine de Medici married King Henry II of France, she brought her love of fine cuisine with her, and helped establish the long tradition of French cuisine.

[edit]Southern Italian Food
Northern Italy enjoyed a robust economy and access to numerous trade routes, but Southern Italy did not. The area was rife with poverty, and this is where some of the most traditional Italian dishes originated. The people created masterpieces out of what ingredients they had available. It was here that pizza developed, in fact, pizza sellers on the streets were common in Southern towns, just like hot dog vendors are common in our big cities today. The dry pasta, spaghetti developed here, too. Dry pasta stores and travels easily, and it became a staple ingredient of dishes in the South, and later around Europe as Italians carried their homemade pasta with them as they traveled or immigrated.

Good Luck!

Here's a great resource for you http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/food.html

However none of the food looks easy to make.

Your best bet would be to serve your class a peasant meal consisting of bread and cheese.

A fun site for you might be: Schools.net.au/edu/.../renaissance/renai...
Not only do they have listings of foods you can use, but they have recipes from those days (watch out for spellings and pronunciations!) Might be fun to make some handouts for your peers.

Check out www.foodtimeline.org.

~Simple roasted chicken, turkey, or other fowl
~Boiled or roasted potatoes and/or carrots
~beef or chicken "stew" cooked into a 2-crust pie (like a pot pie)

source Recipes from “Forme of Cury”, C.14th English and modern English translations
Ingredients List
Logistics Table
Source Recipes and translations: Course 1 | Course 2 | Course 3
First Course
Chyches [73] (Chickpeas w. Garlic, Saffron & Spices)
Chyches. Tack chiches and wrye hem in askes al nyЗt oTer al a day, oTer lay hem in hoot aymers. At morowe waische hem in clene water, and do hem ouere the fire with clene water. SeeT hem vp and do Terto oyle, garlek hoel, safroun, powdour fort and salt;seeT it and messe it forth. Chyches.

Take chickpeas and cover them in ashes all night and all day, or lay them in hot embers [i.e. roast]. The next day, wash them in clene water and cook them over the fire with clean water. Simmer them and add oil, whole garlic, saffron, poudre forte and salt; simmer and serve.

Tart in ymbre day [173] (Onion & Cheese Pie)

Tart in ymbre day. Take and perboile oynouns & erbis & presse out Te water & hewe hem smale. Take grene chese & bray it in a mortar, and temper it vp with ayren. Do Terto butter, safroun & salt, & raisouns corauns, & a litel sugur with powdour douce, & bake it in a trap, & serue it forth.

Tart in Ember Day. Boil onions and herbs, drain and mince them up. Take cottage/farmers/ricotta cheese, break it down, then thicken with eggs. Add butter, saffron, salt, raisins (not currants), a little sugar and powder douce, then back in a pie case.

Tart de Bry [174] (Ruayn Cheese, Ginger & Saffron Pie)

Tart de Bry. Take a crust ynche depe in a trap. Take Зolkes of ayren rawe & chese ruayn & medle it & Te Зolkes togyder. Do Terto powdour ginger, sugur, safroun, and salt. Do it in a trap; bake it & serue it forth.

Brie Tart. Take a pie crust an inch deep. Take egg yolks, brie cheese and mix together. Add ginger, sugar, saffron and salt, and bake in a pie case.

Hares in Papdele [26] (Hare Stew on Pasta)

Hares in Papdele. Take hares; perboile hem in gode broth. Cole the broth and waisshe the fleyssh; cast aЗeyn togydre. Take obleys oTer wafrouns in defaute of loseyns, and cowche in dysshes. Take powder douce and lay on; salt the broth and lay onoward & messe forth.

Take hares and parboil in good broth. Strain the broth and wash the meat; add eggs together (whole?). Take oblays or wafers in default of loyseyns (pasta), and lay in dishes. Take poudre douce and lay on top. Salt the broth and lay it on and serve.

TOP

Course 2
Galyntyne [142] (Galingale, Cinnamon & Ginger sauce)
Galyntyne. Take crustes of brede and grynde hem smale. Do Terto powdour of galyngale, of canel, of gyngyuer, and salt it; temper it vp with vyneger, and drawe it vp Turgh a straynour, & messe it forth.

Galyntyne. Take breadcrusts and grind them up small. Add ground galingale, cinnamon, ginger and salt; temper with vinegar, strain and serve.

Lucrezia's specific redaction: Breadcrusts from one small semi-stale loaf of farmhouse bread, whizzed in the food processor. Add one teaspoon each of ground galingale, freshly ground cinnamon, and [Maldon] sea salt, and half a teaspoon ground ginger. Add about 50 ml white wine vinegar and 50 ml water. Whizz to a thick paste. Add vinegar and water to taste from thereon. I added probably 200 ml more water and 50 ml more vinegar. Use more if you want a mild sauce.

Gaunceli for gees [146] (Garlic, Saffron & Milk sauce)
Gaunceli for gees. Take garlec and grinde it smale, safroun and flour Terwith, & salt; temper it vp with cowe mylke, and seeT it wel, and serue it forth.

Gaunceli for geese. Grind garlic up small, add saffron (i.e. ‘flour with’) and salt, temper with cow’s milk, simmer and serve.

Pynnonade [52] (Pinenut Alm.Milk Pudding)
Pynnonade. Take almaundes iblaunched and drawe hem sumdell thicke with gode broth oTer with water, and set on the fire and seeT it; cast Terto Зolkes of ayren ydrawe. Take pyne yfryed in oyle oTer in grece, and do Terto white powdour douce, sugur and salt, & colour it wiT alkenet a lytel.

Pynnonade. Blanch almonds and make thick almond milk with broth or water, and simmer it; add strained egg yolks. Add oil or grease-fried pinenuts, and white poudre douce, sugar and salt, and colour with alkanet.

Benes yfryed [189] (Boiled & Fried Beans w. Onion & Garlic)
Benes yfryed. Take benes and seeT hem almost til Tey bersten. Take and wryng out Te water clene. Do Terto oynouns ysode and ymynced, and garlec Terwith; frye hem in oile oTer in grece, do Terto powdour douce, & serue it forth.

Beans Fried. Simmer beans until they burst. Strain water off until it runs clean. Add onions that have been boiled and minced, and garlic, fry in oil or grease, add poudre douce and serve.

Spynoches yfryed [188] (Fried Spinach w. Poudre Douce)
Spynoches yfryed. Take spynoches: perboile hem in seTyng water. Take hem vp and presse out Te water and hew hem in two. Frye hem in oile & do Terto powdour douce, & serue it forth.

Spinach Fried. Take spinach; parboil in spring water. Press out the water and cut in two. Fry in oil and add poudre douce and serve.

TOP

Course 3
Dish 1 - Tarts/Fritters
Rysshews of fruyt [190] (Fruit Rissoles)
Rysshews of fruyt. Take fyges and raisouns; pyke hem and waisshe hem in wyne. Grynde hem wiT apples and peeres ypared and ypiked clene. Do Terto gode powdours and hole spices; make balles Terof, frye in oile, and serue hem forth.

Rissoles of fruit. Take figs and raisins; pick them and wash them in wine. Grind them up with apples and pears pared and picked clean. Add good poudres and whole spices; make balls, fry in oil, and serve.

TOP

Ingredients of Dishes:

Lunch
Soup: Root vegetables, powder forte (spices), onions

Sausages: Commercial venison sausages

Bread: Commercial bread



Dinner:
Course 1
Bread: Commercial bread

Chyches: Chickpeas, oil, garlic, saffron, powder forte, salt

Ember Cheese Tart: Cheese, onions, herbs, eggs, saffron, butter, salt, raisins, sugar, powder douce (spices), pastry

Brie Tart: Cheese, egg yolks, saffron, ginger, sugar, pastry

Hares in Papdele: Hare, commercial venison broth, powder douce (spices), pasta



Course 2
Wild Boar: Boar

Galyntyne Sauce: Bread, galingale (spice), cinnamon, ginger, salt, vinegar

Gyngauer Sauce: Bread, ginger, salt, vinegar

Gaunceli for gees Sauce: Garlic, saffron, salt, cow’s milk

Pynnonade: Almonds, egg yolks, pinenuts, oil, powder douce (spices), sugar, salt, alkanet (colouring spice) and possibly rice flour

Benes yfryed: Beans, onions, garlic, saffron, oil, powder douce (spices)

Spynoches yfryed: Spinach, powder douce (spices)


Course 3
Rysshews of fruyt: Figs, raisins, wine, apples, pears, powder forte & powder douce (spices), oil.

try these people ( www.sca.org ) find your local group and someone can direct you to the best person to help you. for spices you need contact sandsofthyme@comcast.net great selection and sells at events in the East, Alantia and aethelmeark kingdoms and also by mail





The consumer Foods information on foodaq.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007 FoodAQ - Terms of Use - Contact us - Privacy Policy

Food's Q&A Resources