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All text and pictures of
dishes are the intellectual property of Coquinaria and may not be reproduced
without permission and acknowledgement..
recipe
May/June 2008
Soupe and Civé, and Tasey
Egg recipes from the fourteenth/fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries
Dutch version
of this recipe
I love eggs. That's why you get these
recipes, from France and the Netherlands, from the fourteenth/fifteenth and
sixteenth century, savoury and sweet.
Eggs are very prominent in medieval cuisine, they are used as thickening agent
in sauces and stuffings, as 'guilding' (roast meat and pasties were pasted with
egg yolks), and of course there were dishes with cooked eggs, fried eggs, and
omelettes. A medieval recipe for stuffed eggs can
be found elsewhere on this site, on this page are a recipe for eggs 'poached' in
oil or fried eggs
(civé d'oeufz) with a mustard sop (souppe de moustarde), and an
omelette with gooseberries (tasey van stekelbesyen).
Souppe de moustarde and Civé d'oeufz
from the Viandier
The French recipes are taken from the Viandier,
one of the most influential medieval cookbooks. The oldest version of this text
is also one of the oldest surviving cookbooks from the Middle Ages. This oldest
version, probably dating from the end of the thirteenth century, is not a book
as we know it, but a scroll of parchment sheets glued together. De text has been
revised and extended several times during the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries. The writer was unknown, but as early as the fourteenth century the
Viandier was ascribed to Guillaume Tirel, nicknamed Taillevent (wind cutter,
that's how deftly he handled his knives). Since the oldest version dates from
before Taillevent was born (he lived from 1315 to 1395), he can't be the
original author of the cookbook, but it is not impossible that some time during
his impressive carreer (he was master cook for several French kings) he found
time to add to this collection of recipes.
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The Viandier remained a 'bestseller'
for centuries. In the fifteenth century there were no less than six printed
editions (incunabula), and it was reprinted (and revised) until 1604.
On the picture to the left is the oldest version of the Viandier, the
scroll with the name of the copyist, Petrus Plenus Amoris (Peter Full of Love).
After nearly three centuries, the first edition of the
Viandier as a historical text appeared, by J. Pichon and G. Vicaire (in 1892,
edition). On the internet you can find
lots of nineteenth-century editions of medieval texts, because these are free
from copyrights. But these editions aren't very reliable. Not only because there
have been discovered new manuscriptes since the nineteenth century, which help
better understanding and reconstructing texts, but also because the learned
men who practised the then new science of philology, felt they had to 'amend'
the medieval originals without accounting for the changes. Nonetheless, the
labour
of these pioneers, making accessible many medieval books, has been of great
worth (mind you, has been).
The souppe de moustarde is not really
a recipe for eggs, but the oil used to 'poach' the eggs in for the civé is
being reused for this dish. It seems therefore to be expected that the two
dishes were served at the same time. In my adaptation of the recipes I went a
step further, and blended the two recipes into one.
By the way, this souppe is not a soup, but a
sop: steeped bread, served with a more or less liquid sauce. The French
potage à la reine from the seventeenth century
is an example of a more liquid sop, and resembles the modern soup.
The original recipes from the Viandier
Both recipes are missing in the oldest version
of the Viandier, because they were originally at the top of the reverse
side of the scroll. And that top, with the beginning of the Viandier, is
missing. That is why I have cited another manuscript, the one Scully used for
his translation (Bibliotheca Vaticana, Regina 776 (olim 233 and 2159),
ff.48r-85r). (edition, recipes 83 and 84, pp.150/153).
Souppe de moustarde.
Prenez de l'uille en quoy vous avez frit ou poché vos oeufz, et du vin et
de l'eaue et boullez tout en une paelle de fer; et puis prenez la crouste
du pain et mettez haller sur le grail, puis en faictes morceaulx quarrez
et mettez boullir avec; aprés purez vostre boullon et ressuyez vostre
souppe et la versez en ung plat; puis mettez en vostre paelle de vostre
bouillon ung pou de moustarde bien espesse, et faictes tout boullir. |
Mustard sops.
Take oil in which you have fried or poached eggs, and wine and water. Boil
ecerything in an iron pan. Then take a bread crust and toast it, cut in
little squares and let boil with the rest. Then strain the cooking liquid,
drain the sops (the bread squares) and put them in a dish. Then add good
thick mustard to the cooking liquid in the pan, and let it all boil. |
Civé d'oeufz.
Pochez en huile, aprés frisiez oingnons en huile par rouelles et mettez
boullir avec du vin, du verjus et du vinaigre et faictes boullir tout
ensemble; et quant vous drecerez vostre boullon si le dreciez sur vostre
grain; et ne soit pas lyant; et puis faictes des Souppes en moustarde,
comme devant. |
Egg stew.
Poach in oil, then fry the sliced onions in oil, and let boil with wine,
verjuice and vinegar, and let everything boil together. And when you serve
your cooking liquid pour it over the eggs. And it should not be thickened.
Then make mustard sops as [described] above. |
The modern adaptation of the recipe:
Printout version
What does the recipe say? The eggs are being 'poached' in oil, or fried. Then
sliced onion is fried (in new oil?) and simmered with some wine, verjuice and
vinegar. This sauce is poured over the eggs. Then the mustardsop must be
prepared: toasted bread crusts that have been steeped in a mixture of oil (from
the eggs), water and wine, are drained and placed in a dish, the mixture is
brought to the boil with mustard and then poured over the bread. Let's just make
one dish out of these two recipes.
Concerning the poached eggs: whether that is done in water or oil, the result
should be solid egg white, and a yolk that is firm on the outside, but still
liquid inside.
For four persons.
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List of ingredients:
4 fresh eggs
2 large onions, sliced thinly
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 decilitre (1/2 cup) red wine
1 decilitre (1/2 cup) wine vinegar
1 decilitre (1/2 cup) verjuice or apple vinegar, or use
equal amounts of wine and vinegar
1 heaped Tbsp. thick mustard
4 thick cut slices of bread (white)
1 decilitre (1/2 cup) red wine and 1 deciliter (1/2 cup) water with 1 Tbsp. olive oil
salt (just in case)
Preparation in advance:
Toast the bread in the oven or on the grill.
Put wine, water and oil in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Preparation:
Fry four eggs. You can also poach the eggs as it says in the recipe, but you'll
need a lot of oil, at least half a litre (I used 8 deciltres). Heat the oil in a
small pan to 190 dgC/375 dgF. Break a fresh egg in a small bowl and let it slide
from the bowl into the oil. The egg will sink to the bottom. Don't panic, when
the egg white has congealed, the egg will come back to the surface of its own
accord. Then you can take the egg out of the oil with a skimmer and let it drain
on a paper towel. The egg will be done in about 15 to 25 seconds.
Fry the onion slices in the oil in which you fried the eggs (or use two
tablespoons of the poaching oil). When the slices are golden brown, add wine,
vinegar and verjuice. Reduce the liquids until half the amount, then stir in
mustard an perhaps a little salt. Steep the toasted bread in the warm
wine/water/oil mixture.
To serve:
Take four soup plates. Place a slice of bread in each. Scoop the fried onions
with sauce over the bread, then place a fried or poached egg on top of it. If
you prefer your bread crunchy, don't steep it.
Om een tasey van stekelbesyen te backen (To fry an omelette with gooseberries)
The recipe for omelette (tasey)
balances on te edge of what we could name the culinary Middle Ages. It is
taken from the
Seer excellenten gheexperimenteerden nieuwen Coc-boeck (The very
excellent and tried new cookbook) that the physician
Karel Baten (Carolus Battus) published as appendix to the second edition of his
translation into Dutch from the Medecyn Boec by the German Christopher Wirtsung in 1593. Battus
supplies us with several recipes for omelette, with smelt (small fish), apples
or pears, and this recipe with gooseberries. The use of ginger, cinnamon and
sugar is typically medieval. Rosewater is also used in medieval recipes, but was
especially popular during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At the end of
the sixteenth century the distinction between savoury and sweet was getting
clearer, but it was still not unusual to serve a sweet dish such as this
omelette together with meat or fish. In a modern menu this dush would be a
dessert.
The coal fire mentioned in the recipe was used for delicate dishes that burn
easily. It can be controlled better than wood fire, and produces less smoke.
The original recipe from the Coc-boeck
There is no modern edition of the Coc-boeck
of Karel Baten, but on this site you
can find a transcription.
Om een tasey van stekelbesyen te backen.
Neempt versche boter ende smeltse in een panne. Doeter dan soo vele
stekelbesyen in datse bycans twee vyngeren hooch liggen ende laetse met de
boter een weynich sieden tot datse maer recht hen coleur verloren hebben.
Clopt dan wel cleyn 7, 8 ofte 9 eyeren met wat gengeber ende wat rooswaters.
Gietet tsamen over de besyen ende latet so over een coolvyer backen dat niet
en brande. Als de tasey genoech gebacken is, so laetse properlick uut de
panne in de schotel rijsen datse niet en breke. Dan stroyter suycker ende
caneel op ende dientse. |
To bake an omelette of
gooseberries.
Take fresh butter and melt it in a pan. Add so much goosberries that they
are almost two fingers high, and let them simmer with the butter until they
have lost their colour. Then beat 7, 8 or 9 eggs with a little ginger and
rose water. Pour together over the gooseberries, and let it bake over a coal
fire without burning. When the omelette is done, let it glide from the pan
onto a dish without breaking. Then sprinkle sugar and cinamon on it and
serve. |
The modern adaptation of the recipe:
Printout
version
Compared to the recipes from theViandier
this is a simple one. But no less tasty. Gooseberries are available from June
on, so this is an ideal recipe for the early summer. When they are plentiful, or
you have your own gooseberry bush, you can freeze them so that you can make this
omelette all year round.
Another medieval Dutch recipe with
gooseberries is broiled mackerel with gooseberry
sauce.
For four persons.
List of ingredients:
500 gram (1 pound/3 cups) gooseberries
60 gram (1/4 cup) butter
6 eggs
1 tsp. ginger powder
1 Tbsp. rose water
together 1 Tbsp. sugar and cinnamon
Preparation in advance:
Clean and wash the gooseberries, remove any stalks.
Beat the eggs with ginger powder and rosewater.
Preparation:
Melt the butter in a frying pan that is not too large, take care that the butter
does not turn brown. Add gooseberries, they should completely cover the bottom
of the pan. Temper the heat, and stir the gooseberries around until they turn
soft and start to lose their colour. Pour the beaten eggs over the berries,
cover with a lid, and leave on a slow fire until the eggs are done. Slide the
omelette onto a plate very carefully to keep it from breaking, and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
To serve:
Cut the omelette into wedges.
Ingredients
All descriptions of ingredients
Gooseberry -
Gooseberries (Ribes grossularia) were not cultivated before the
thirteenth century, but they are indigenous to Europe.
Despite the English name, geese do not eat gooseberries. Some say that
gooseberries are thus called because of the great combination of gooseberry
saice with fatty meat, like that of goose or mackerel. In the North of France
gooseberry sauce was a classic accompaniment to mackerel, a fatty fish (the
French call the gooseberry groseille
maquereau or "mackerel berry").
In the nineteenth century it was believed that the Dutch name kruisbes
was derived from the Finding of the True Cross on May 3rd. But the medieval
names stekelbesij and kroeselbesij (the modern word kruisbes
is derived from this) indicate that it is the hairy skin that gave the berry its
Dutch name. (likewise in German: Stachelbeere)
Mustard
-
This has always been a popular
condiment. Mustard is made from the seeds of several species of the brassica-family
(cabbage). From some varieties the leaves can be eaten, and the seeds not only
serve to make mustard, but can also be pressed to yield a culinary oil, or
distilled to make a medicinal oil. There are black, white and brown mustard
seeds (from brassica nigra, sinapis alba en
brassica juncea), each with their own specific properties. The first to are
indigenous to Europe, the brown mustard has its origins in Asia. To make your
own medieval French
mustard.
Verjuice
-
The juice of sour, unripe grapes that was used in the Middle Ages and up to the
eighteenth century. You can still buy it, but you may have to look
for it. In the Netherlands verjuice was also made from unripe apples and sorrel.
You can use applecider vinegar as a substitute. Make your
own Verjuice.
Fresh eggs - To poach (or deep-fry) an egg,
you need fresh eggs. Eggs have, except for a yolk, two kinds of egg white, thick
and thin. The older the egg, the more thin egg white there will be. To get a
compact poached egg it is important that the egg white surrounds the yolk
as close as possible, and that's why you'll need an egg with a lot of thick
white. When you fry an egg, it's easy to see the difference between thick and
thin egg white.
Bibliography
The editions below are in my
possession. Links refer to available editions.
All books mentioned on this site
Carolus Battus, Medecyn Boec. [...] Hier is oock
toeghevoecht een seer excellenten gheexperimenteerden nieuwen Coc-boeck die noyt
hier te voren in Druck en is gheweest. Dordrecht, 1593 (internet
edition).
J. Pichon and G. Vicaire, Le Viandier.
1892, reprint 1967)
Internetedition.
Terence Scully, The Viandier of Taillevent. An edition of all extant
manuscripts Ottawa, 1988.
G. Vicaire, Bibliographie gastronomique, Paris, 1890
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