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Fake fish: Medieval apple pie
during Lent
(printout version recipe March/April 2003, 2 pages A4 Introduction
to recipe and illustrations)
The spelling in the recipe is exactly as in
the original manuscript. This means that -even for Dutch people- it will be more
difficult to understand. For example, "j"and "i" were
interchangeable. Read "jn" as "in".
The manuscript, which is conserved in the Royal Academy in Gent (Belgium) as
nr.15, is a convolute. It consists of several seperate smaller manuscripts,
which at some point in time were bound in one volume. There were four such
manuscripts, three with mainly culinary recipes, the last with medicinal
recipes. The culinary parts of KA Gent 15 have been published by W.L. Braekman (1986).
The recipe for fake fish also appears in the "Nyeuwen coock
boeck" (New cook book) by Gerard Vorselman from 1560 (ed. Mrs
Cockx-Indesteege).
More on the manuscript KA Gent 15 you can find in "'Ende dienet ter tafelen'.
Culinaire recepten uit de Middeleeuwen" ("'Serve it forth'. Culinary
recipes from the Middle Ages" by C.Muusers , in the volumel Een
wereld van kennis (A world of knowledge), pp.147-167.
This contains also a number of recipes from the manuscript with an adaption.
The original text as given in the manuscript.
| Om gheuormde wijs te maken in die wasten ende oeck calfsoeren. | To make formed fish during
lent and also calf ears. |
| stoet jn enen mortijer vijf of sees appellen schon gheschelt sonder kersel huijs ende doter jnne van ghestoten amandellen of gheroost pepercock met een lutel sofferaens ende backt dese jn olye of mackt groten wijs backse gheuerwet ende van gheghat jnden ouen | Crush in a mortar five or six apples, peeled and cored. Add sugar, ginger and cinnamon, and add some pound almonds or toasted gingerbread with some saffron. Bake this in oil. Or make a big fish: bake this in the oven, painted and with some holes in it. |
| Item calfs oeren maeckt aldus nempt gheplet deck sausijer ronde maeckt dat dobbel ende dan slaet die tve langen eynden te samen ende dan nempt scherp eynde tussen tve wijnhgheren ende steckt jrst dat runt ende en luttel daer nae met allen ende als dit stijf is nempt dat wijt ende doet daer jnne vanden vorseyde stof sonder sieden ende dijnt dat. | Calf ears are made thus: Take the flattened dough, rounded like a saucer. Make it double, and take the two long ends together. Then take the pointed end between two fingers, and put first the rounded end in [the boiling oil], and shortly afterwards the whole. Take it out when it is crunchy, and put some of the afore mentioned stuffing in it without boiling [it], and serve it. |
The recipe for fake fish.
| the
dough: 500 gram (1 pound) flour 125 gram (1/2 cup) oil (neutral of taste) 40 gram (1/3 cup) ground almonds 3 decilitre (1 1/4 cup) water 1 tsp. salt some whole or sliced almonds to make scales if you want to |
the
stuffing: 3 apples 90 gram (1/2 cup) cane sugar 1 tsp. ginger 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. saffron 2 slices gingerbread, lightly toasted en crumbled, or 40 gram (1/3 cup) ground almonds |
Preparation in advance: Prepare the dough by mixing all
the ingredients well together. The given quantities are relative: you may have
to add water or flour accorling to wether the dough is too crumbly or sticky.
Knead until you have a homogenous dough. Cover with plastic foil and let it rest
for an hour in the refrigerator. Half an hour before you want to roll the dough,
take it out of the refrigerator.
Make the stuffing: Put everything in the blender.
Preparation: Preheat the oven at 200oC. Divide
the dough into two. Roll out the first part to an oval form. Use a pizza roller
or a knife to cut out the form of a fish. Arrange the fish on a baking tray.
Sprinkle some toasted breadcrumbs on the dough, to absorb the moisture of the
stuffing. Spread the stuffing on the dough, leaving free the outer rim of the
dough.
Roll out the second part of the dough, and cut the second fish, which is to
cover the stuffing. Make two holes in it, one where you would expect the eye of
the fish, and another near the tail. Place this second fish on the stuffing, and
press the rims of the two fish well together. Now you can form fins, tail,
gills, scales, whatever you want, to give your fake fish a realistic
appearance.
place the fake fish in the middle of the oven, bake for 45 to 60 minutes.
To serve: This applepie can be served either hot or cooled to room temperature.
In the fifteenth century this "fish" would have been served
alongside with real fish. Now we serve applepie for dessert, or with tea or
coffee.
However, this applepie is spicier then the average modern applepie, especially
when it is made with gingerbread instead of ground almonds.
Gingerbread:
The "peperkoek" or "ontbijtkoek" that you can buy in Dutch
supermarkets is made of rye flour, honey and spices. Although probably not the
same thing as meant in the original recipe, it can be used as a substitute. But,
since the recipe mentions ground almonds as an alternative, you could use these
instead.
Saffron:
The orange-red stigmas of a crocus. In medieval times (as in modern times) it
was used to colour dishes yellow. When using gingerbread in this recipe instead
of ground almonds, you can leave out the saffron. The colouring of saffron is
too subtle to compete with the dark colour of toasted gingerbread.
Ground
almonds: You can buy ground almonds (they are the main component of
marzipan), or grind the almonds yourself. Ground almonds are used in the same
way as grated cocnut is: you can make almond milk, to thicken sauces with. The
almond milk can also be used to make almond butter (like peanut butter!). During
Lent almond milk was an important substitute for milk and eggs in recipes.
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