How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip A ...

A Flaune of Almayne
Ancient Cookery p. 452 (Good)
First take raisins of Courance, or else other
fresh raisins, and good ripe pears, or else good
apples, and pick out the cores of them, and pare
them, and grind them, and the raisins in a
mortar, and do then to them a little sweet cream
of milk, and strain them through a clean strainer,
and take ten eggs, or as many more as will suffice,
and beat them well together, both the white and
the yolk, and draw it through a strainer, and
grate fair white bread, and do thereto a good
quantity, and more sweet cream, and do thereto,
and all this together; and take saffron, and
powder of ginger, and canel, and do thereto, and a
little salt, and a quantity of fair, sweet butter,
and make a fair coffin or two, or as many as
needs, and bake them a little in an oven, and do
this batter in them, and bake them as you would
bake flaunes, or crustades, and when they are
baked enough, sprinkle with canel and white
sugar. This is a good manner of Crustade.
⅔ c raisins ¼ t ginger
3 pears or apples ½ t cinnamon
½ c whipping cream ½ t salt
3 eggs, beaten 5 T butter
4 T breadcrumbs 9" pie crust
pinch of saffron 1 T sugar + 1 t
cinnamon
A blender works well as a substitute for a
mortar to mash the apples and raisins; mix the
liquids in with the apples and raisins before
blending. Bake at 375° for about an hour.
Sprinkle on cinnamon sugar.
Torta of Herbs in the Month of May
Platina p. 136 (book 8) (Good)
Cut up and grind the same amount of cheese
as I said in the first and second tortae [“a pound
and a half of best fresh cheese”]. When you have
ground this up, add juice from bleta, a little
marjoram, a little more sage, a bit of mint, and a
good bit of parsley; when all this has been ground
in a mortar, add the beaten whites of 15 or 16
eggs and half a pound of liquamen or fresh
butter, and mix. There are those who put in some
leaves of parsley and marjoram that have been
50
cut up but not ground, and half a pound [surely
a typo for half an ounce, as in the previous recipes
in this cookbook] of white ginger and eight ounces
of sugar. When all of these have been mixed
together, put this in a pot or deep dish that has
been well greased on the coals at a distance from
the flame so that it does not absorb the smoke;
and stir it continually and let it boil until it
thickens. When it is nearly done transfer it into
another pot with the crust and cover it with your
lid until it is all cooked with a gentle flame. When
it is done and put on a plate, sprinkle it with best
sugar and rose water.
[Notes: earlier torta recipes refer to a
pastry crust rolled thin and both top and
bottom crusts. “Blette–Name given in some
parts of France to white beet or chard.”
Larousse Gastronomique.]
¾ lb Monterey Jack double 9" pie crust
⅜ c spinach or chard [¼ c parsley]
¼ t marjoram [2 t marjoram]
½ t sage [¼ oz ginger]
1 t fresh mint [½ c sugar]
½ c fresh parsley 1 T sugar
5 egg whites ¼ t rosewater
¼ lb butter
Grate cheese. Spinach or chard (measured
unchopped) is chopped and ground in a
mortar with a T of water to provide spinach
juice. Mix the juice with the marjoram, sage,
mint, and ½ c parsley—all fresh if available,
and remove the stems from the parsley—and
grind in mortar or food processor; mix with
grated cheese. Beat egg whites lightly, melt
butter and add; put in pie crust and cover with
top crust. Adding additional chopped but not
ground parsley and marjoram is an option;
sugar and ginger, for a dessert pie, are another
option (ginger seems to mean fresh ginger
root, which should be finely chopped). Bake
at 400° for 10 minutes, then at 350° for about
another 40 minutes, then sprinkle with mixed
sugar and rosewater.