Ryse of Fleysche, Furmente, & Makrows

Now for some Medieval Starches

*now reorganized for easier reading!*

Medieval Macaroni & Cheese, Medieval (English!?) Lasagna, Medieval Cream of Wheat (with what animal!?) and Medieval Rice (pilaf or pudding? you decide...)

A couple very simple ones and one which is a bit more complex.

I made the mistake of thinking that the rice and furmente were each too short and simple to require an entire posting.  Now I realize that I have underestimated my ability to spew information, opinions and speculation. This post has become quite an undertaking. This will be a long one. 

These recipes come from the Rylands Library MS known as "forme of cury."  This title comes from the 1790 Samuel Pegge transcription of presumably this very MS along with another similar, slightly more contemporary scroll of recipes.  He chose the title from the introductory page which explains when and why the book was compiled and begins the English part with "Thys fourme of cury..." which means this method of cooking or this cooking method i.e. this cookbook.  *My favorite of the medieval sources, maily because I can see the original MS and shoot down assumptions and transcription errors from the likes of Pegge, who really did a fine job, but made a few mistakes.  I find the original MS easier to understand.

Ryse of fleysche is simply rice to be eaten on days when you can eat meat, or, naturally, if the first part is true, with meat.  It is a basic rice made with (meat) broth, almond milk, saffron and salt.

Furmente is wheat gruel, something like bulgur or farina.

Makrows is a simple pasta served with cheese and butter.  Loseyn was apparently pronounced "lasan" and appears to be a basic predecessor of the dish we know by a similar name.  This is less surprising than one might think, as "Forme of cury" is basically the earliest known cookbook (yes there are other recipes and compilation which predate it, but none of a similar nature or, I suspect, an actual book.)  

These recipes come from the Rylands Library MS known as "forme of cury."  This title comes from the 1790 Samuel Pegge transcription of presumably this same MS along with another similar, slightly more contemporary scroll of recipes.  He chose the title from the introductory page which explains when and why the book was compiled and begins the English part with "Thys fourme of cury..." which means this method of cooking or basically this instructional book of cooking.

 I will reserve my comments for with my recipes and notes on each recipe.  No special equipment is required, though the recipes suggest a ceramic pot (probably to prevent uneven heating in metal and thus scorching.  The only somewhat unique ingredients are almond milk and wheat grains.

Here are my transcriptions/translations:

Ryſe of eyſche

Forme of cury original MS
 pgs 14v&15r -Ryland Collection

Ryſe of eyſche- Take rys & warſche ђē clene & do ђē ī an erthen pot wþ gode broth & lete ђem seeþ wel. afť ward take almaňd mylke & do þ’to and colo’ ђt w^t safroň & salt ђt and meſſe ђt forth.

Modern English translation:

Rice for/with Meat

Take rice & wash them clean & do them in an earthen pot with good broth & let them boil well.  Afterward, take almond milk & do thereto and color it with saffron & salt it and mess it forth.

My recipe:

Saffron Rice

2c long grain rice

2c broth

1 1/2c Almond milk

1/2c almond milk (optional)

1 tsp kosher salt (more to taste)

1/4 g saffron

2 Tbsp butter or oil(optional)

Procedure:

1. In a 2-3 qt sauce pan, preferably one with a well fitting lid, put your broth, the larger part of the almond milk, salt, and butter or oil, and bring it to a boil. (When using oil I prefer to lightly toast the rice in the oil, enough to warm it and evenly coat all the grains, then add the liquid.)
2. As soon as it comes to a boil, add the saffron, give it a very quick stir, cover it and reduce the heat.  On an electric stove I recommend moving from the original burner to a smaller one turned to a low setting.  
3. Allow it to remain at a low simmer for 25-30 minutes. When the liquid has been fully absorbed, and/or the grains are softened through, remove from heat and fluff it with a fork, and allow the excess steam to come off of it. 
4. If you have opted for it you can add the extra almond milk now, give it a good stir and allow it to warm.  You can use more if you like, the consistency should be either moist or like a rice pudding (however thick or runny you like it.) See my notes on this.
5. Serve it hot. about 12 small (1/2 c) servings

NOTES:

• Ingredients:
• Rice- I prefer a long grain starchy rice for this, the best I think being basmati as it has a wonderful texture and its own aromatic quality which lends itself well to use with saffron. Other good choices would be a jasmine rice or just any long grain white variety.  depending on the final texture you want, even using arborio and preparing it like a risotto would work. I suppose some would assume that brown rice is the more period appropriate choice, but I strongly disagree with this presumption.  I have read of evidence potentially dating back more than 8500 years of the cultivation of rice, the practice of milling surely is not so recent as the past few centuries. The typical processing of rice involves drying, hulling, and milling.  Milling (removing the pericarp or basically the bran) was particularly important for the purpose of storage ( and I suspect the digestive comfort of those who subsist primarily on rice.)  At this time rice would have come from Spain (likely) or the east, rice travelling very far would most certainly have become rancid far to quickly if it were not milled (thus "white.")  A number of recipes I have read actually tell the cook to make sure the rice is milled. It also seems clear that milled wheat was in use. 
• Broth- "Gode Broth" is not a recipe or a specific kind of broth, despite the impression some would like to give you.  One website has posted a recipe for "gode broth" which is nothing more than a mix of broth and stock from another recipe that has breadcrumbs added to it.  How is your recipe for broth going to have broth as a major ingredient?  It is just one person's way of doing things. Do not fall for the ridiculous notion that somehow this is how you should make broth. I prefer chicken broth both for its color and flavor in this dish.  Any good broth will do.  Beef adds a nice richness.  Be wary of vegetable broths that taste too strongly of celery. If the broth is fresh, you can use some of the fat with it instead of butter or oil.
• Almond milk-  common enough these days.  Simply a liquid made from pulverizing almonds with water and straining.  Recipes I have read have ranged from 1/4c of almonds thrown in a blender the 2 c water added and blended again until milky, then strained (more can be made from the lees) to 1c of almonds soaked for a day then drained and blended with 2c water, etc.  Id say do the soak and do about 1:3.5 almonds to water.  It should be easily found in most supermarkets in the US though.  A discount store common in my region, and the majority of Europe, Aldi (who also owns Trader Joe's,) carries a a low price, nice quality almond milk.
• Saffron- this amount is a tiny pinch, and should be enough, but feel free to adjust the amount for color and flavor- so long as you can afford it. If you buy it bulk, (1 oz as opposed to 1 or 2 g) it costs 60 to 75% less, but then you have a whole lot of it...
• Cooking time- I find that it almost always needs the full 30 minutes, but pay attention as it comes to a finish,removing it completely from the heat and giving a little extra time works ok. If you have the proper pan for it, I find that moving it to an oven instead of simmering is a good method.
• Final texture-  I prefer either a light fluffy pilaf or a thick creamy style.  I find that the extra almond milk if often needed just to get the rice fully cooked, let alone make it wet. The recipe never calls for a cover, which means the standard steeping/steaming method of preparing rice may not have been used.  I will point out the addition of the almond milk then saffron toward the end.  It instructs the cook to color it with saffron.  In order for this to happen two things are required, steeping and stirring.  There are a couple of possible resulting textures.  One option is that the cooking method is somewhat similar to what we do currently, but not letting it steep covered requires that it have an excess of liquid to finish, and that it boil until nearly fully cooked. In this case, the addition of the almond milk would slow and finish the process, and the added saffron must be allowed some time to steep and the salt would have to be mixed through.  This could result in rice similar to a modern pilaf, but with a slight starch sauciness to it from all the boiling and the excess liquid. The second possibility is that the rice is boiled until it is thick and starchy and the almond milk is added to bring it to the desired consistency, and the saffron allowed to steep a bit then stirred through the thick 'pudding.'  I prefer the former concept, by taste and because most of the later recipes either call for rice to be drier fluffed grains or to be stirred or ground well and finished with almond milk and sweetened as a pudding.

Furmente

Forme of Cury original MS pgs 57r 58v
'Furmente with Porpays'
Ryland Collection

(From) 'furmente wt porpays'- tak clene whete & bete hyt smale in a mort’ & fanne out clene þe douſt. & þāne waysch hit clene & boyle hit tyl hit be tendur & broken. & þāne tak þe secunde mylke of almaňd9 & do þ’to. Boyle hē to gyd’ tyl hyt be stondyng & tak þe furſt mylke and alye hit up wt it … and do safroň to þe furmente... and s’ue hit forth.

Furmente (from "furmente with porpoise")

Take clean wheat & beat it small in a mortar & fan out clean the dust. & then wash it clean  & boil it til it is tender and broken. & then take the second milk of almonds & do thereto.  Boil them together til it is standing(thickened/'dry') & take the first milk and mix it up with it...and do saffron to the furmente... and serve it forth.

My recipe:

Furmente

There are 3 ways to approach this.

1 c Bulgur

1 c almond milk

1c water

1 1/2 to 2 c almond milk

1/2 tsp kosher salt

tiny pinch of saffron

or

1 c farina or cream of wheat

1 c almond milk

1c water

1 1/2 c almond milk

1/2 tsp kosher salt

tiny pinch of saffron

or

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 c wheat berries

water

2 1/2c almond milk

1/2 tsp kosher salt

tiny pinch of saffron

Procedure:

The first parts of the process are done already with bulgur and farina so I will list the procedure for them first.

1. In a large sauce pan, put the 1c almond milk and the water with the salt and your bulgur or farina(stir farina well)
2. Bring it to a boil.  bulgur: set off and cover, let sit for about 20 min. farina; reduce to a low simmer, cook for 10 minutes while stirring well.
3. Put saffron in remaining almond milk. Let steep for a few minutes then add to wheat, stir through well.
4. Add remaining almond milk and saffron.  Stirring, bring to a low simmer then remove from heat. 
5. Stir again, should be the consistency of a porridge (farina should be smooth)
6. Serve. Makes about 4 cups.

wheat berries procedure:

1. Put wheat in blender or processor, or mortar. pulse a few times or pound them in mortar, until the berries are broken up.  
2. Sift with a fine strainer (for larger consistency, use a finer mesh and keep what stays in it, or simply blow off the dust & hulls with a fan, for finer, use a slightly larger mesh ans use what sifts through. grind it more if you need.) you should have about 1 c of cracked wheat
3. Put the wheat in a sauce pan with an excess of water (around 4 cups), skim off any floating hulls, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer
4. Allow the wheat to completely soften and burst open (a bit like popcorn or sometimes rice)
5. Drain it completely
6. Add salt & 2 c almond milk, bring to a boil. Reduce to desired consistency. Take off heat.
7. Put saffron in remaining almond milk. Let steep for a few minutes then add to wheat, stir through well.
8. Serve.

NOTES:

• On Porpoise! Yes porpoise, as in 'yum, dolphin meat.' No, not the fish, mahi mahi, that is called dolphin by so many, they mean the seafaring mammal.  Porpoise.  Seems odd, but not really shocking.  Why not, it was one more option for fish days and probably was pretty good.  I guess Flipper made us all see them as friends not food, but really people have long eaten sea mammals, and some still do. 
• Ingredients
• Almond milk- the recipe calls for second and first milk. The first milk being richer, used for finishing the furmente and the second for cooking.  First milk is simply the milk from the first use of the almonds, second milk is the milk made from the strained out almonds from the first milk.
• Water- if you are serving this as a savory side- use stock, whatever kind is appropriate with the other dishes.  I like chicken for it for the same reasons I like it with the rice.  I can't imagine fish fume being very good in it, though a shrimp or shellfish stock might do well in it if you serve in along with seafood. (mmm, shrimp furmente with broiled lobster tail all drizzled with buerre blanc or a white wine-mornay sauce, maybe with a little fresh tarragon... sweet salivation!)  In the case of the  wheat berries, perhaps don't use stock in place of the water- it would be a bit of a waste- use half stock and half almond milk for the latter parts.
•  Wheat-  a coarser grain (like bulgur or just barely cracked wheat berries) lends it self better to a drier grain like consistency, like rice or tabbouleh (which is bulgur.)  For this result, simply dont add so much almond milk to finish.   The finer ground wheat works better as a porridge, like grits, creamy polenta, or oatmeal that hasn't been turned into a rubbery lump. Other grains will work here too, quinoa, oats, or barley, maybe do pasta instead and use couscous...
• The process-  the process in the original recipe takes raw wheat, cracks it, blows off the hulls and finer bits and soaks/soften/expands it before the final cook which is in almond milk, then almond milk is added at the end to stop the cooking, reach desired consistency and blend the saffron through.  With bulgur and farina you have sort of skipped to the final cook step.  The bulgur is dry so it must have time to re-absorb the moisture, which isn't a factor in the original recipe.  The farina is also dry, but is fine enough that it can absorb all the moisture it needs while it is cooking.  When you are working with whole wheat berries, you should remove the hulls, or at least break them up, or they can be a bit unpleasant.  You have total control of how you want them if you work from wheat berries, you can do them whole or just split , or grind them down to a farina consistency. Remember that the finer you grind them, the less volume you have, and the harder it becomes to separate the hulls. I personally have a preference for the whole grains.

Makrows

Forme of cury Pg 46r
'Makrows'
Ryland Collection

Makrows Tak and make a thỹne foyle of dowh & kerue it on pecys and cast hỹ on boylỹg wat’ & seeþ it wel. Take cheſe & grate hit & butt’ moſt cast bynethen & a boue as lofeyns and s’ue hit forth.
From “loſeyns”...tak flo’ of payndmayn & make þ’of past wt wat’ and make þ’of thynne foyles as paÞ wiþ a roller. Drye hit hard & seeþ hit ī broth...

Makrows

Take and make a thin leaf of dough & cut it in pieces and cast them in boiling water & seeth it well.  Take cheese & grate it & butter mostly, put beneath and above as loseyns and serve it forth.

From "Loseyns" ('Lasangna')

... take white bread flour & make thereof paste (pastry dough) with water and make thereof leaves(sheets) thin as paper with a roller. Dry it hard & boil it in broth...

My Recipe:

Makrows

4c bread flour 

over 1c luke warm water

1/4c butter

1/4c grated hard cheese

Procedure:

1. Working either in a large bowl or on a large board, slowly integrate a small sprinkle of the water into the edge of the flour, bringing it together with your fingers or a fork into a loose dough, as with a pastry dough. Pull the moistened part away and repeat. Continue doing this until all of the flour has been moistened. You should probably use a bit more than a cup of water- this varies with weather and flour.
2. Bring all the dough together on the board or clean floured work surface and begin kneading.  Fold the dough toward you, press down and forward, turn it a quarter turn and repeat. When the dough has come together as a mass (not just crumbling apart,) set the dough aside for a bit and scrape your surface clean of dry bits of dough and clumps, and dust the board with flour.
3. Knead the dough for 5 or 6 minutes, dusting the board with flour as needed.  The dough should be just slightly sticky. When the dough becomes elastic, you're about halfway there.
4. Wrap the dough up and let it rest for 10 or 5 minutes.
5. Clean your surface again and dust well with flour. using a rolling pin dusted with flour, roll your dough into a thin sheet, between 1/8' and 1/16" thick.  
6. Cut into strips the size you desire, or random like strappata. Let them dry just a bit.
7. To cook get a large pot of lightly salted water boiling.  Drop the pasta in and let in boil for a few minutes, the thinner it is the faster it will cook.  It will be soft and heated all the way through.  It should not taste raw or doughy. 
8. Toss in butter and grated cheese and serve.

NOTES:

• Ingredients:
• Flour-  the original recipe calls for flour which is fine white bread flour.  This and gluten content are why I have called for bread flour, but AP may serve just as well.
• Butter- I prefer working with unsalted, then adjusting salt as needed, the cheese will be salty so wait until it is added to adjust salt.
• Cheese- I think a hard cheese is the best option here. Parmesan would be excellent. It may well mean just a simple cheese like a farmers cheese, it must have been pressed, dried and likely aged in order to be grated, so it does not mean a fresh cheese or curds.  In modern terms this is macaroni and cheese so while I don't recommend a modern cheese, go with your taste on it. The cheese for loseyns is specified, likely referring to a type of aged cheese that has some similarity to brie, but that isn't the case with this dish.
• Building a dough- the classic method is to make a mound of flour with a well in the center for a liquid and to slowly integrate the flour inward.
• Sticky? It will be a bit at first. if it is really bad just continue to work the flour into it.  It will get drier as you knead.
• The need to knead- this is an eggless pasta, which means you need to use the protein in the wheat to form some structure, because the eggs aren't there to do it. You also don't have any shortening (fat) to keep it tender. This is both good and bad. We knead the dough in order to work the proteins into a good structure to hold it together. Otherwise we would just end up with a pot full of floury water and some tiny little dumplings.  This is why we want the dough to become elastic. the less you work the dough, the easier it will be to roll and the more tender the pasta will be, however, the less you work it, the more it will fall apart. So make sure it becomes elastic, but don't go wild on it.
• Rolling-  be patient with the dough, and keep rolling ALL of it.  Keep changing the direction of your roller, flip the dough every once in a while.  Keep your board dusted so it doesn't stick too much, but in the end, once you've cut it, you can probably scrape it off just fine, it doesn't need to be whole like a pie crust.  Concentrate on thinning out the thick parts, because an elastic dough will stretch in the middle and get paper thin while the edges are 1/2" thick.  For a thick pasta I wouldn't go thicker than 1/8" (roughly 2.7mm) unless you want to cook them a little differently, say boil them then saute in butter, etc. no need to go thinner than 1/16"(about 1.5mm) but you can, especially if you decide to use semolina and dry your pasta before you cook it.
• I mentioned it earlier, but did you perhaps guess about the etymology of the name of this dish? Makrows- macaroni. Macaroni served with butter and cheese- familiar to most every American child for sure, and likely others.

So today we have covered rice, cream of wheat and mac & cheese.  Everyday medieval...

 I did the transcriptions and created the recipes and pulled all the information from memory.

Citations:

Aside from the recipes and images from "Forme of cury" c.1390 from the Rylands Collection, this one is all me. 

Category: Medieval side dishes