Food & Drink in Medieval Poland

[JustJohn or JJ]

Description

Lavender vinegar, saffron wafers, chicken baked with prunes, pears stewed with cucumbers and figs . . . there is something wonderfully inviting about the unusual and exotic flavors that came to the medieval Polish table. By turns robust and refined, and capturing all the richness and complexity of Poland in the Middle Ages, this is cookery that flourished at the crossroads of Western and Oriental foodways.This is the first book of its kind in English to explore the fascinating culinary history of medieval Poland. It represents the fruits of a twenty-year collaboration between two distinguished food historians, William Woys Weaver and the late Maria Dembinska. Freely adapted from a pioneering work first published by Dembinska in 1963, this new edition explores the subject of Polish medieval cuisine through archaeology, material culture, and ethnography, along with other perspectives and techniques. Topics examined include not just the personal eating habits of kings, queens, and nobles but also those of the peasants, monks, and other social groups not generally considered in medieval food studies.To appreciate the tastes and textures of medieval Polish cookery, there is simply no better way than to experience the food firsthand. Weaver has included thirty-five carefully reconstructed recipes, from courtier's pottage, a one-pot dinner popular with rich peasants and petty nobles, to game stewed with sauerkraut, to a court dish of baked fruit, to Polish hydromel, an easily made drink flavored with honey and fennel. With ingredients such as rosewater, cucumbers, saffron, and honey, these recipes will intrigue anyone who loves the art of cooking.

[kaima]

Sept 12, 2013 8:02:07 GMT -7 JustJohn or JJ said:

Now this is INTERESTING! How did our people live back then? Looking on Amazon they want $51. Another site quotes $29 as the original price, and for those of us looking for a good deal, there is the free PD version at
www.reenactor.ru/ARH/PDF/Dembinska.pdf

[JustJohn or JJ]

A recipe transcribed from the book.


Game Stewed with Sauerkraut (Mizkulancja, lub Bigos)

Bigos is one of those Polish dishes that has been romanticized in poetry, discussed
in its most minute details in all sorts of literary contexts, and never made in small
quantities. Historically, it was made at royal banquets or to guests at meals following
a hunt. It was made invariably from several types of game and stewed during
the winter. Bigos has gradually assumed the character of a Christmas and
Easter dinner in Poland, and today the recipes are as varied and as complex as any
Italian recipe for tomato sauce. In fact, some Poles even add tomato sauce to the
mixture. (It does not need it.)

In the manor house where my grandfather was born, the bigos was kept warm
in a compartment in the great trle stove that heated the parlor where guests were
received. It was handed out as a welcoming snack served on poppy seed toast, along
with a glass of iced vodka or champagne. While Polish villagers often make a
plain version of bigos in huge cauldrons over an open fire for wedding fiests, real
bigos is best when it a baked very slowly at a low temperature in a ceramic pot.
The evaporation alone should be enough to thicken it. Furthermore, it should not be
served until at least one day old, preferably three; it needs time for the flavors to
fuse into a highly complex and concentrated taste.

The old-style recipe that follows has been written so that the bigos can be made
according to modern cooking techniques. However, one key feature that cannot be
altered is the flavor of the various meats; If they are not spit-roasted, they should be
grilled over a barbecue so that there is a pronounced browned meat taste. The precise
choice of game is entirely personal, but by implication the meat is first marinated
before it is roasted, so this adds a further dimension to the complex flavor.


Serves 16 to 18 as hors d'oeuvres

Combine the sauerkraut and cabbage in a deep baking dish or heavy
stew pan. Add the bacon and stock.

Cover and braise 40 minutes or stew over medium heat so that most of the liquid cooks out. While braising, pour 3 cups (750 ml) boiling water over the mushrooms and
infuse until soft. Remove the mushrooms and cut Into shreds, reserving 2 cups (500 ml) of the strained liquid

Remove the bacon from the cabbage mixture and coarsely chop it into small bits. Put the bacon in a skillet and brown lightly over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and brown lightly for 3 minutes, then cover and sweat over low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onion becomes yellow. If too dry, add excess mushroom stock to moisten.

After the onions are cooked, add the bacon and onion mixture to the cabbage, along with the mushroom infusion and the mushrooms.
Stir well so that the cabbage turns light brown, then add the
meats, wine, and spices. Stew over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring
often so that most of the liquid is cooked out. Remove from the
heat, cover, and set aside to cool. Store in a cold place at least one day
before reheating to serve. Best if made several days in advance.

Ingrediants:

2 pounds (1 kg) sauerkraut

1 pound (500 g) white cabbage,
shredded as for sauerkraut

8 ounces (250 g) streaky country
bacon cut into 4 pieces

3 cups (750 ml) well-savored
ham stock or game stock

3 ounces (90 g) dried mushrooms

1 cup (200 g) coarsely chopped
Onion

6 ounces (181 g) pitted prunes
or a mix of prunes, dried cherries,
and dried pears, coarsely chopped

8 ounces (2S0 g) spit-roasted elk or bison
Cut into 1/2- inch (1 cm) dice

4 ounces (125 g) spit-roasted
rump of wild boar cut into 1/2- inch
(1 cm) dice

4 ounces (125 g) spit-roasted
pheasant or peahen, cut into
1/2- inch (1 cm) dice

4 ounces (125 g) spit-roasted
ham, cut into ½ - inch ( 1 cm) dice

4 ounces (125 g) veal sausage,
cut in half lengthwise and sliced

4 ounces (I25 g) smoked sausage,
cut in half lengthwise and sliced
2 cups (500 ml) red wine

1 teaspoon ground cubebs (appears to be a berry spice)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon (15 ml) honey
(optional)

[Jaga]

John,

this books is probably very interesting. I have a similar one about Polish old cuisine.
Bigos is really a very good food and this is just a time of a year to start eating it again!