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Discussion of Ingredients and Methods:
For this entry I have decided to use peaches. Peaches in period would have been smaller and a little more tart.
Peaches were available in Anglo-Saxon England as early as the 10th and 11th century, it would stand to reason that
they were well used by the period of this recipe. For that reason winter peaches work very well. I have made a two
crust pie, tarts I believe are generally open faced, but experimenting with this recipe I have found that it is very
juicy, making a two crust pie a better idea. I have used milk in place of cream in the recipe, because so small amount
would mean I wasted the rest of the carton. I did however use whole milk.
In the recipe for the paste there are extra ingredients listed at the end of the recipe, but I have take them
to mean that you can change the crust to whatever dish you are making. If you have a beef pie, add beef broth
to the crust. Since this crust was to be used for a fruit pie, I made the crust with the sugar and saffron,
broth would be inappropriate for this recipe. The sugar and saffron were added to the dry ingredients of the
crust, if you merely sprinkle them into the pie shell you would be flavoring the filling not the crust.
I did experiment with using a spoon to stir, but hands really do work better in this process,
please note for sanitary reasons I wore plastic gloves while mixing the dough.
This is a very juicy pie, for that reason I did not choose to drown my fruit in the wine.
Wine brings out the flavor of fruit, it should also color the peaches a little.
Spices: All of these spices are in period as they are mentioned in the original recipe.
Saffron - botanical name crocus sativus is derived from the dried stigmas of the purple saffron crocus,
it takes anything from 70,000 to 250,000 flowers to make one pound of saffron. Records detailing the
use of saffron go back to ancient Egypt and Rome where it was used as a dye, in perfumes, and as a drug,
as well as for culinary purposes. It reached China in the 7th century and spread through Europe in the
Middle Ages. Most notably within my research were the towns of San Gimignano, in Italy and Saffron
Walden which is in the north-west corner of Essex, England. Saffron Walden produced enough saffron
to create enough wealth within the community that it changed the towns name to include Saffron.
In 1228 the Town Council of San Gimignano paid its debts, incurred during the siege of the "Castello della Nera",
partly in money and partly in saffron. In 1276 the Council introduced taxation on imports and exports.
The export duty produced such a great deal of money that in 1295 the Council decided that it was worth
assigning two officials adept in the weighing of saffron to be permanently present at the gates of the
City where the export duty was levied.
Culpeper's The Complete Herbal, 1649 - SAFFRON
The herb needs no description, it being known generally where it grows.
Place : It grows frequently at Walden in Essex, and in Cambridgeshire.
Government and virtues : It is an herb of the Sun, and under the Lion, and therefore you need not
demand a reason why it strengthens the heart so exceedingly. Let not above ten grains be given at one
time, for the Sun, which is the fountain of light, may dazzle the eyes and make them blind; a cordial
being taken in an immoderate quantity, hurts the heart instead of helping it. It quickens the brain,
for the Sun is exalted in Aries, as he hath his house in Leo. It helps consumptions of the lungs,
and difficulty of breathing. It is excellent in epidemical diseases, as pestilence, small-pox, and measles.
It is a notable expulsive medicine, and a notable remedy for the yellow jaundice. My opinion is,
(but I have no author for it) that hermodactyls are nothing else but the roots of Saffron dried; and
my reason is, that the roots of all crocus, both white and yellow, purge phlegm as hermodactyls do;
and if you please to dry the roots of any crocus, neither your eyes nor your taste shall distinguish
them from hermodactyls.
Saffron powerfully concocts, and sends out whatever humour offends the body, drives back inflammations;
applied outwardly, encreases venery, and provokes urine. The use of it ought to be moderate and reasonable,
for when the dose is too large, it produces a heaviness of the head and sleepiness. Some have fallen into an
immoderate convulsive laughter which ended in death.'
Cinnamon - It has a long history; Egyptian embalming mixtures; Roman costly purchases.
It is largely responsible for the 1400's world exploration Cinnamomum zeylanicum originates
from the island Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon), southeast of India.
Culpeper's The Complete Herbal, 1649 Cinnamonum. Cinnamon, and Cassia Lignea, are hot and dry in
the second degree, strengthens the stomach, help digestion, cause a sweet breath, resist
poison, provoke urine, and the menses, cause speedy delivery to women in travail, help
coughs and defluxions of humours upon the lungs, dropsy, and difficulty of urine.
In ointments it takes away red pimples, and the like deformities from the face.
There is scarce a better remedy for women in labour, than a dram of Cinnamon newly
beaten into powder, and taken in white wine.
Ginger - Ancient texts of the Chinese, Indians, and other Middle East cultures include references
to ginger as a culinary and medicinal spice. By the Second Century A. D., dried or powdered ginger
was being exported from China via caravans to flavor the foods on the Romans' tables. It remained
popular throughout the centuries, despite the fact that it was an imported food and therefore quite
expensive. In Elizabethan England a pound of ginger was worth the price of a grown sheep. Nevertheless,
it was the most common spice used, after pepper. This high cost of importing spices they could not
grow domestically (including ginger) was a significant impetus in the great exploration voyages of
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In folklore, ginger is associated with heat, and therefore
hot tempers. In Medieval times, it was believe that ginger could make a person more lively. This
association with liveliness and heat seems to have rubbed off onto people with red hair, who were
generally believed to be more susceptible to having a hot temper. How did the connection between
ginger (which is more of a blond color) and red hair came about? My best guess is that it may have
to do with the color of pickled ginger, which is bright red. Culpeper listed ginger as a root that
was hot in the 3rd degree, which was also associated with the color red and temperment.
Oven Type: Since I live in a small house with no available fireplace or woodburning oven,
I used a conventional gas oven to bake my pie. In period, if they had access to an oven,
they would have baked the pie in a wood burning, front loading oven with a wooden or metal
door. Since this is a late period recipe the oven would have been made of brick or stone with
the coals banked in front of the oven opening to allow the oven to evenly heat without a
temperature drop when the door was opened. The pie would have been put in and out of the
oven with a pele which was a long handled paddle or clamp which allowed the person to position
it in the back oven where it would have been the hottest or most evenly heated area.
The distribution of heat in this type of oven is very different from the ovens that we use today.
One way in which you can get a similar heat distribution is to bake the pie on a stone, such as
a pizza stone. I also used a glass pie pan which helped in the correct distribution of heat.
I work up most of my feast recipes one at a time in this manner, deciding which ones
I like well enough to serve to my guest. This makes an excellent dish for a feast,
it is not overly time consuming, can be prepared the day before (provided there is
adequate refrigeration), and it is (besides being very tasty) decorative. All feast dishes
should be rated individually for their visual presentation as well as their overall taste.
Then the dish should be combined with other dishes from the same period and country that
compliment one another to be the basis for each course in your feast.
Ideally this pie should be presented to your guest warm or slightly hot, straight from the ovens.
But we do not always work in ideal conditions, it also taste good cold. I hope you enjoy the pie,
and that you might want to try the pie in other the other fruits mentioned in the original recipe.
I have done other fruits but found that I like the peach pie the most personal preference,
the ginger especially with the peach has a good flavor.
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Julglogg