Ingredients
1 1/2 lb pork or veal, cubed
1 1/2 cup water
1 pastry for 8 double pie crust
6 tbsp chopped dates
6 tbsp currants
2 tsp salt
5 saffron threads
3/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground mace
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup red wine
1 tbsp wine vinegar
10 egg yolks
Directions
From a manuscript in the British Library known as Harleian 479,
dating from around 1420; recipe adapted from a version developed by
David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook.
In saucepan, simmer meat in water 20 minutes. Drain. Line 8" square
baking dish with pastry. In bowl, combine meat, dates and currants.
Place meat mixture into pastry-lined dish.
In bowl, combine salt, saffron, ginger, pepper, mace, cloves, wine,
vinegar and 9 egg yolks, reserving 1 yolk, and pour over. Cover with
top crust, crimp well, make triangular cuts in center and fold tips
back.
Beat reserved yolk (save whites for another use) and brush on crust.
Bake at 375'F. until crust is browned and meat is heated through,
25-30 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings.
Servings: 8 servings
Chawetty's (15th Century Meat Pie) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Meat; Pie
The History of Recipes
Historians have traced the existance of recipes way back into distant history, certainly as far back into history as the ancient Egyptians, and quite possibly further than that. Interesting though that maybe, sadly, these old recipes were just very basic pictorial recipes for preparing meals.
During Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius assembled a number of documents detailing recipes enjoyed by wealthy Romans. In his works, Apicius recounts how the meals were separated into starters, entrees and dessert, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. This early Roman chef tells us how the chefs of Roman times were skilled in the use of many different aromatic flavours, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks like thyme, rue and dill. Over the following few hundred years, the upper-class families of the West competed to serve the most exotic meals, and because of this the best chefs and their recipes became highly prized. Even so, it was during the 1800s that haute cuisine and recipe publications reached a high level of popularity. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, devoted much of their lives to collating, trying out, and publishing recipes to help cooks of their time. By the arrival of the 20th century, cookery publications were highly popular mostly due to higher levels of literacy, people having increased free time and disposable income. |
We hope you enjoy this Chawetty's (15th Century Meat Pie) recipe.
