Selle de Chevreuil – Saddle of Venison

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Quickly sear and brown all over a saddle of venison in a large covered pot in graisse. Remove saddle from the heat and cool to the touch. Drain pot of excess fat, but do not disturb the crusty bits on the bottom of the pan.

Stir together a portion of butter and a dollop of prepared mustard. Slather all over roast and roll to coat in finely minced carrot, apple, squash or pumpkin. Sprinkle with freshly cracked pepper.

Place saddle back into large pot, cover and set into the slow coals at the back or side of the fireplace (375ºF oven). Do not remove cover for at least an hour. Begin to check on the doneness of the roast, and baste carefully with any juices that have collected on the bottom of the pot. When the roast has cooked to your desired taste, remove to a platter and keep warm. Degrease the pot and add enough verjus or vinegar to deglaze pot. Push pan juices through a sieve and serve over slices of roast.

The vegetable or fruit coating keeps the roast moist without the addition of barding and adds an indefinable something to the gravy. The amount of butter and mustard may preclude the use of salt, but adjust seasoning to your taste.

Venison available here.

Anchois - anchovy

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Anchovy, a small fish of the sea, usually preserved in salt in small barrels; one usually makes salads of them--it is the most common way to eat them; wash [soak] them in wine or water, then split them in two [at this point you may have to clean them if they were preserved whole--innards & fins] & remove fillets; properly arrange them on small lettuces & garnish with fresh chervil. Puréed anchovy is used in ragouts, as well for fat [days] as for thin [fast days]. Fry them if you want crisp anchovies for hors d’œuvres after dipping them in a batter made with water, flour, an egg, a little salt & pepper; serve with a drizzle of orange juice & [sprinkle with] fried parsley.

La nouvelle maison rustique, ou, Économie generale de tous les biens de campagne: la manière de les entretenir & de les multiplier : donée ci-devant au public / par le Sieur Louis Liger. Paris : Saugrain, 1755, Tome II, IV. Part. LIV. IV. Chap. I. La Cuisine. B., p. 795-796.

Anchois, petits poissons de mer qu’on apporte tout confits au sel dans de petits barils; on en fait ordinairement des salades, & c’est la façon la plus commune de les manger; on les lave pour cela dans du vin ou de l’eau, puis on les fend en deux & on leve l’arrête du milieu; on les arrange proprement sur de petites laitues & l’on garnit de jeune cerfeuil. On fait aussi un coulis d’anchois, & il entre dans plusieurs ragouts, tant gras que maigres. On frit si l’on veut les arêttes d’anchois qui ont servi, après les avoir trempés dans une pâte faite avec de l’eau, de la farine, un œuf, un peu de sel & poivre; ils servent de garnitures ou hors-d’œures, avec oranges & persil frit.

Boulanger - World Bread Baking Day 2007

Today is World Bread Baking Day 2007, hosted by Zorra. For those of you who do not bake, or who do not have an oven, a trip to the local bakery will allow you to purchase breads in the sizes and shapes of those of the 18th Century. Breads are still raised on a couche or in baskets prior to being shoveled into the oven with a peel. Very hot ovens and bursts of steam create that crackly crust we are so familiar with, and a frugal cook will save all those crumbs for additions to broiled toppings and extenders for use with ground meat dishes.

North American women have always made their own bread; each individual farmstead had its own bread oven. This was not so in France where picking up a fresh loaf from the baker was a daily occurence.

New bakeries, no matter the expertise of the baker, do not produce as fine a loaf as they will as they age. The secret? The more that yeasts are encouraged through the process of dough making, rising and baking, the better the quality of wild yeasts present in the space and, therefore, the better the bread.

So in celebration of this World Bread Baking Day 2007, I urge you to either stop by the corner bakery and pick up a loaf, from dark peasant rye to the whitest baguette, to eat with your soup, or if you do bake, try Bernard Clayton, Jr's books of recipes for French breads, loaves just like those eaten in the 18thC! And Zorra's roundup of World Bread Baking Day 2007 will surely present you with many delectible bread variations with which to try your hand at bread baking.

Bécasses - Woodcock

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This recipe is an example of how different modern cooking is from the “old ways.” My French readers will have to comment on the current addition of innards [other than cooked, mashed liver to act as a liaison] and faisandée techniques as still in use today—in America, I do not believe they are the norm.

Woodcocks with wine. Divide the woodcocks in four, remove the insides [*see note following] & put them aside to thicken the sauce; put your woodcocks in a pan with sliced truffles, calf sweetbreads, mushrooms & will foam [a type of mushroom], & brown them altogether in melted fat, & moisten it with ox juice [sweated meat, cooked slowly to remove the juice—think bouillon or consommé]; season with salt, pepper, Welsh onion [scallions], & add two glasses of wine; bring to boil & when that is well cooked, stir into the sauce the insides* of the woodcocks which you have reserved to bind the sauce, & serve hot with the juice of lemon or orange which you will press above [at the last minute].

*innards as thickening or binder [La Cuisine, Raymond Oliver. Tudor, New York, 1969: p. 526-528] “Pluck the snipe [or woodcock] without drawing it [not removing innards] and bard it [prick it—wrap in bacon--I use turkey or beef bacon or chicken or goose fat pounded and tied around bird] … cook it … Remove gizzard from the bird’s innards and discard it. Put the [rest of the] innards on a plate and mash them with a work. … simmer with smashed bones, strain and serve over meat. … Do not draw the plucked snipe [woodcock], but bard it and tie them, place on spit. Fry bread slices in goose fat, rub with garlic and place in a dripping pan under spit or rotisserie pin, so that the juices from the roasting bird[s] will fall on the bread. The bird is cooked when its interior juices start flowing, that is, in about 15 minutes. Remove from spit and remove bard and innards. Throw away the gizzard, but mince the other innards and spread them on the fingers of toasted bread [from the dripping pan]. Season slices with salt and pepper and fry slices again, spread side down, in a little butter or goose fat. Put bird on a very hot dish, and flame with rum. Cut into halves and put each half on a slice of the fried bread that absorbed the cooking juices. Serve immediately. … Pluck and draw the bird. Discard gizzard; mince the rest of the innards and combine with salt pork [turkey or beef bacon] and … and stuff bird with this mixture, sew it closed and truss it.

La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange, translated Paul Aratow. Ten Speed Press, 2005:p. 397-8. “Woodcock and snipe is only roasted or prepared in a salmi. To develop ita aroma, it should be lightly “cured” (faisandée – it must hang for several days between killing and cooking [it implies the point just before mortification immediately preceding the extreme state of decomposition). … Do not gut the woodcock [but do pull the gizzard through the neck of the bird before spitting]. … bard and cook … heat butter in a small saucepan; add the intestines and season lightly; cook on gentle heat. Then smash them into a purée. Spread this purée on the fried crouton [as in Oliver’s description above]. Deglaze pan with cognac and strain sauce through a chinois and serve with game.

Bécasses au vin. Coupez les bécassess en quatre, ôtez-en les dedans & les mettez à part pour en faire une liaison, mettez ensuite vos bécasses dans une casserole avec des truffes coupées par tranches, des ris de veau, des champignons, des mousserons, & passez le tout ensemble avec lard fondu, & le mouillez de jus de bœuf; assaisonnez le tout de sel, poivre, ciboule, & y mettez deux verres de vin; faites bouillir le tout, & quand cela sera bien cuit, vous délayerez bien dans la sauce le dedans bécasses que vous avez reserve pour lier la sauce, & vous les servirez chaudement avec un jus de citron ou jus d’orange que vous presserez dessus.
* * * * *
Woodcocks in Salmi [ragout of game previously roasted]. Roast them with the pin [rotisserie], & when they are half-cooked, cut them in pieces & put them in a pan with wine, according to the quantity of the woodcocks; there add chopped truffles & mushrooms, a little anchovy & capers, good seasoning [salt & pepper], & cook until done: draw up the woodcocks [onto serving plate] & keep warm while binding the sauce with some good purée [of previously cooked and reduced and puréed vegetables and their seasoning juices]. Squeeze the juice of an orange into the sauce and serve warm.

Bécasses en Salmi. Faites-les rôtir à la broche, & quand elles seront à demi-cuites, coupez-les par morceaux & les mettez dans une casserole avec du vin, y en mettant ce qu’il en faut suivant la quantité des bécasses; ajoutez-y des truffes & des champignons hachés, un peu d’anchois & de câpres, bon assaisonnement, & faites cuire le tout: étant cuit, liez la sauce avec quelque bon coulis; ensuite dressez les bécasses & les tenez chaudement sans qu’elles bouillent. Auparavant que de servir, vous y presserez un jus d’orange, & servirez chaudement.

La nouvelle maison rustique, ou, Économie generale de tous les biens de campagne: la manière de les entretenir & de les multiplier : donée ci-devant au public / par le Sieur Louis Liger. Paris : Saugrain, 1755, Tome II, IV. Part. LIV. IV. Chap. I. La Cuisine. B., p. 799-800.

La nouvelle maison rustique - New Country House

An amazingly popular French version 'L'agriculture et maison rustique' was first published in Paris 1564, it became a Renaissance bestseller with at least 80 editions by the fall of Napoleon. The work was translated into the English, German, Dutch, Italian and Scandinavian languages. It is a veritable encyclopedia of country living, with large sections on orchards and fruit.

"This work contains all that relates to the goods of countryside, the means of improving them, of increasing, of maintaining and of putting forward. Choice, acquisition, masonry, different productions, and all that is relative; grounds, wood, meadows, vines, etc; horses, cattle and other animals. Best culture of the grounds and the gardens; the most essential matters of the rural right; hunting; fishing, and recreations of the countryside; a small treaty of botany and pharmacy, with simple and easy remedies. Finally practical operations and of arts and the trades most useful for the countryside. The whole enriched by figures, and made more useful, even essential to the owners of the grounds, the amateurs, administrators, managers and farmers." cited 10-4-07 http://www.histoire-genealogie.com/spip.php?article669

A true handbook of agriculture, the New Country House proposes to answer all the questions of an owner concerning the maintenance of his field and the art of controlling its personnel.

My copy of the 10th edition, 1755, has at the very end of Tome II a small section on recipes from which I will share some of the best dishes that can still be replicated today--enjoy!

Biche - Hind [female red deer]

Hind is good only when it is quite young; its flesh is rather delicate & agreeable: it has [as] much [flesh] in ratio to the flesh of the stag & is cooked in the same way; but it is softer & more insipid flesh. It is eaten roasted, & for that soak in a marinade after having pricked it [larded or wrapped] with a little bacon. Baste it while roasting; & when cooked put capers & a little flour in the drippings with a little lemon, & simmer the sauce. It can also be eaten with a sweet sauce, made with vinegar [to deglaze the pan], pepper, cinnamon & sugar, & one whole shallot.

La nouvelle maison rustique, ou, Économie generale de tous les biens de campagne: la manière de les entretenir & de les multiplier : donée ci-devant au public / par le Sieur Louis Liger. Paris : Saugrain, 1755, Tome II, IV. Part. LIV. IV. Chap. I. La Cuisine. B., p. 800.

Biche, n’est bonne que quand elle est bien jeune; sa chair est assez delicate & agreeable: elle a beaucoup de rapport à la chair du cerf & s’accommode de même; mais elle a la chair plus molle & plus fade. On la mange rôtie, & pour cela on la fait tremper dans une marinade après l’avoir piquée de menu lard. On l’arrose en la faisant rôtir; & étant cuite on met des câpres & un peu de farine dans son dégoût avec un peu de citron verd, & on la fait mitonner dans la sauce. On la mange si l’on veut à la sauce douce, avec vinaigre, poivre, canella & sucre, & une échalotte entiere.

Aloyau -- Sirloin

Sirloin in ragout. Take a sirloin of the first part, degrease [cut off extra fat] & prick it [wrap it with well seasoned bacon], cook it with the pin [rotisserie]; being half-cooked, remove it from the pin & put it in a pot with juice of ox [jus--which see], some mushrooms, truffles, morels, artichoke bottoms—all well chopped, season with salt & pepper to taste & add a bouquet of sweet herbs; cover the pot & cook gently on embers: when cooked to desired doneness, slice the sirloin & serve it with a ragout of calf sweetbread, foie gras, truffles, mushrooms, morels, willfoam [mushrooms], artichoke bottoms, asparagus tips & salt and pepper to taste; pour a coulis [made from pan drippings, jus and puréed vegetables] above your sirloin & serve warm.

La nouvelle maison rustique, ou, Économie generale de tous les biens de campagne: la manière de les entretenir & de les multiplier : donée ci-devant au public / par le Sieur Louis Liger. Paris : Saugrain, 1755, Tome II, IV. Part. LIV. IV. Chap. I. La Cuisine. B., p. 795.

Aloyau en ragout. Ayez un aloyau de la premiere piece, dégraissez-le & le piquez du côté du filet de gros lard bien assaisonné, faites-le cuire à la broche; étant à demi-cuit, vous le retirerez & le mettrez dans une marmite avec jus de bœuf, un peu de champignons, un peu de truffes, morilles, de quelques culs d’artichaux, le tout haché, assaisonné de sel, poivre & un bouquet de fines herbes seulement pour donner gout; on couvre la marmite & on le laisse cuire ainsi doucement sur la braise: étant cuit à propos, on tire l’aloyau, & on le sert avec un ragout de ris de veau, de foies gras, de truffes, champignons, morilles, mousserons, culs d’artichaux, crêtes & points d’asperges & bon assaisonnement, le tout bien lié d’un bon coulis & de bon gout; vous le jettez dessus votre aloyau & le servez chaudement.
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Stuffed sirloin. When your sirloin is almost cooked with the pin, take some of the flesh of the middle and chop quite small with bacon, beef marrow, sweet herbs & good trimmings, as one has just explained to the ragout above, & good seasoning; then you stuff them your sirloin between the skin & the bone; & repin upon the rotisserie properly, for fear the flesh does not fall into the dripping pan while completing cooking: when fully cooked & being table ready, remove the skins [bacon wrappings] to have freedom to eat it with a fork or spoon.

Aloyau farci. Votre aloyau étant Presque cuit à la broche, vous prenez la chair du milieu que vous hachez bien menue avec du lard, moëlle de bœuf, fines herbes & bonnes garnitures, comme on vient d’expliquer au ragout ci-dessus, & bon assaisonnement; ensuite vous en farcissez votre aloyau entre la peau & l’os; & le recousez proprement, de peur que la chair ne tombe dans la léchefrite en achevant de cuire: étant cuit à propos & servi sur la table, on ôte les peaux pour avoir la liberté de la manger avec une fourchette ou cuiller.
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Roast sirloin. Have a sirloin of such size as you wish, cook it with the pin, take care that it is not cooked too much, for fear it does not lose its juice--if you want to eat it rare & red in its juice. Those which do not like it quite so rare, cut it by sections and place slices in a [chafing] dish, then add a little water, pepper, salt, a dash of vinegar & some chopped chives, & make it boil [in the chafing dish]; then serve. Some, who leave it on the pin, eat it with a caper sauce & with the anchovies, which is done thus: One washes well three or four anchovies [removes the salt], and the edges [fins], & chops them, then puts them in a pan with capers & well seasoned ox jus; one only heats this sauce & serves it under the sirloin.

Aloyau rôti. Ayez un aloyau de telle grosseur qu’il vous plaira, faites-le cuire à la broche, prenez garde qu’il ne soit trop cuit, de crainte qu’il ne perde son suc: il veut être mange saigneaux & rouge dans son jus. Ceux qui ne l’aiment point si peu cuit, le coupent par tranches dans un plat, puis y mettent un peu d’eau, du poivre, du sel, un filet de vinaigre & quelques ciboulettes hachées, & le font bouillir un moment sur le réchaut; on le set ainsi. Quelquez-uns, au sortir de la broche, le mangent avec une sauce aux câpres & aux achois, qui se fait ainsi. On lave bien trios ou quatre anchois, on en ôte les arêtes, & on les hache, ensuite on les met dans une casserole avec des câpres & du jus de bœuf assaisonné de sel & de poivre; on fait seulement chauffer cette sauce & on la sert sous l’aloyau.
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The ox juice [jus] is made this manner. Take a piece of beef rump, cut it by sections & lay it in a pot, cover well with a lid, then put paste around [seal with a paste of water and flour], so that it is air-tight; put it on a small fire & one lets it sweat [cook very slowly in the embers] two hours; then [use a knife to cut the flour seal open] & draw the juice to use as needed.

Le jus de bœuf se fait de cette maniere. Prenez un morceau de bœuf de cimier, coupez-le par tranches & le jettez dans une terrine que vous couvrirez bien de son couvercle, puis mettez de la pâte autour, en sorte qu’il n’y ait point d’air du tout; on le met sur un petit feu & on le laisse suer pendent deux heures; en-suite on tire le jus & on s’en sert dans le besoin.

Boucons - rolled veal fillets with mushroom ragout

Boucons, is a ragout which is done as follows: take small sections of fillet of veal a little long & thin & flatten by pounding; then take as many raw ham & bacon plugs as fillets and arrange them perpendicularly on your sections, putting a bacon plug & one of ham on each, sprinkle on a little parsley & chopped Welsh onions [scallions], & season them with fine spices & sweet herbs [traditionally a blend of four herbs — Parsley, Chervil, Chives and Tarragon]. Roll them properly [tie securely] & sear until well browned & add liquid for braising--cover pot: when cooked and tender, degrease, remove to a hot dish to keep warm. Prepare a mushroom ragout in the pan drippings and serve ragout over boucons.
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Boucons, est un ragout qui se fait ainsi: vous prenez de petites tranches de rouelle de veau un peu longues & minces & vous les applatissez sur une table; ensuite vous prenez de gros lardons de lard & autant de jambon crud, rangez-les en travers sur vos tranches, y mettant un lardon de lard & un de jambon, poudrez-les d’un peu persil & de ciboules hachés, & assaisonnez-les de fines épices & de fines herbes. Vos tranches étant garnies de ces lardons, vous les roulez proprement & les mettez cuire dans une marmite à la braise: étant cuites, vous en égouttez la graisse, vous les dressez dans un plat, puis vous les servez avec un ragout de champignons par-dessus.

La nouvelle maison rustique, ou, Économie generale de tous les biens de campagne: la manière de les entretenir & de les multiplier : donée ci-devant au public / par le Sieur Louis Liger. Paris : Saugrain, 1755, Tome II, IV. Part. LIV. IV. Chap. I. La Cuisine. B., p. 802.

fillet of veal image

rouelle de veau paupiette image La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange,translated by Paul Aratow. Ten Spreed Press, 2005, p. 280.

Today, Bouc[h]ons are known variously as corks or rammers or jammers, or beggars' purses. They are a bite-sized morsel, usually cooked [sometimes steamed] in a casing of dough, as in dumpling, or in a mold. Restaurants, paricularly in Lyon, where one can get a quick bite are also called bouchons. And for all you chocoholics, there are cork shaped chocolates filled with marc.

Champignons ragoût - mushroom ragout

Mushroom Ragout. After they are well cleansed [brushed off], pass them in the pan with very fresh butter, parsley and chibol [scallions] minced, season and stove [cook] them, and when you are ready to serve, put into it the juice and peel of lemon and serve.

The French Cook, François Pierre La Varenne, Englished in 1653, p. 96.

Beignets à fleurs d'courges & Fromage

My squash and pumpkins do not realize that Fall is coming on--they are still producing a bumper crop of blossoms. Today I picked all of the ones that have not set fruit and fried them up for supper.

Fritter (Beignet) Batter
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup flour
sticks of cheese 1/2" x 2"
fresh or dried herbs, optional for flavor
salt and pepper
olive oil & butter for frying

Beat egg whites until stiff. Beat yolks separately; add salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of fresh or dried herbs. Stir whites into yolk mixture.

Stuff sticks of cheese into blossoms, dredge in flour, then into fritter batter. Fry at medium low heat in melted olive oil and butter. Serve with cold beer and crusty bread--welcome to Fall!

World Bread Baking Day '07

kochtopf is hosting World Bread Baking Day 2007 on Tuesday, October 16th. You can also access last year's entries. Now, where's my bench flour?

Pain de Seigle Sisteron - BBD#3

BBD#3, Sourdough Rye Bread is a new challenge in baking bread. Here is a sourdough rye from Provence, Pain de Seigle Sisteron, or Sisteron Rye Bread. Makes two loaves.


Take a one pound lump of dough from a previous baking of white bread, known as a chef, and put it in a bowl with 2 cups of warm water [this chef contributes the sourness that we associate with rye bread]. Squish the dough ball between your fingers until mostly dissolved in the water. Add 1 package of yeast, 1 tablespoon salt, 4 cups stone ground rye flour; stir with a heavy wooden spoon until the dough is no longer sticky. Be patient--it will take quite a few turns of the spoon. Sprinkle one hand full of white flour onto bread board and dump rye dough onto the board; knead the white flour in and pat the dough into a round ball. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double in bulk.

When double, punch down and allow to rise again.

Shape dough into two flattened disks. Place on baking sheet or pan which has been greased and sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover. Allow to double in bulk once more.

Slash a circle on the middle of each loaf.

Bake at 380F for 45 minutes.

Cook's Note: As you can see from the picture, I did not have a razor blade or baker's lame (razor blade in a tool). I used a knife tip to slash a circle in my bread top after it had risen and just as it went into the oven [this caused it to deflate and didn't give it a chance to raise again]. I think I would have been better off to slash it when first shaped for the last rising--this would have allowed the circle on top to raise somewhat independently--and I think the loaf would have been prettier and would have looked more like the original loaves.

Rye bread is better eaten the next day and the day after that … The flavor increases with age. This bread is amazing!

Recipe: The Breads of France and how to bake them in your own kitchen, Bernard Clayton, Jr.

Rossoli

Most of us do not have access to stills today. I suggest pouring measured boiling water over your petals and spices in a glass jug. Cover and allow to cool. Add your cooled sugar syrup and stir; and spirits and stir again. Cover and allow to steep for several weeks. Filter and bottle; store in a cool place for several more weeks before drinking. You may leave out the carmine, but as a result, your liqueur will be only slightly pink.

Rossoli: You will take musk roses, Spanish Jasmine, orange flowers [four ounces each], cinnamon [one half ounce] & [12] cloves [if clove is too strong for you, use common garden pinks flowers {œillet}, again four ounces]. When you choose well, according to what we said, you will put the whole in the Still, according to quantities' prescribed in the receipt, with [four pints] water, & will distil these matters with simple water, on a medium fire; when this receipt is distilled, you will dissolve sugar [two and three-quarters pounds] in this distillation, & when it is molten, you will pour into this distilled syrup [one bottle] brandy, or the spirit of wine [marc], according to quality or the force [proof] which you will want to give to your liquor; this being made, you will colour your liquor a crimson red [cochinille or carmine]. [Filter and bottle; store in a cool place for several weeks before drinking.]

Dictionnaire Portatif de Cuisine, d'Office, et de Distillation. Chez Vincent, Paris 1767, p. 286.

Rossoli
Vous prendrez des roses musquées, un peu de lys, du jasmine d’Espagne, de la fleur d’orange, de la cannelle & du clou de girofle; le tout avec leurs qualités décrites dans chacun de leurs chapitres. Quand vous aurez bien choisi, selon ce que nous avons dit, vous mettrez le tout dans l’alambic, selon les qualités presecrites dans la recette, avec de l’eau; & vous distillerez ces matieres avec de l’eau simple, sur un feu tant soit peu vif: quand cette recette sera distillée, vous ferez fonder du sucre dans cette distillation; & quand il sera fondu, vous verserex dans ce syrop distillé de l; eau-de-vie, ou de l’esprit de vin, selon la qualité ou la force que vous voudrez donner à votre liqueur; ceci étant fait, vous colorerez votre liqueur un rouge cramoisi.

Cook's Note: Carmine is cochinille/cochineal, red coloring matter derived from the carapaces of beatles that chew on Cacti in the American Southwest and Mexico--used since Spanish conquest times.

Although I have reproduced the recipe as it was written in the 17-18thC, carmine/cochineal has proven to be highly allergenic today.

Cheat and use food coloring or just be happy with the light pink color from the petals.

Hypocras

Hypocras can be a refreshing drink over ice in the summer, or when heated in winter will warm the soul.

Take two pints good wine, put it into a non-reactive pot that will not cause an off-taste. Add one and one half pounds sugar or brown sugar, a little cinnamon, ginger the size of a hazel nut, two seed strands of long pepper, twelve cloves, nutmeg flower or two blades of mace, a Cox's orange pippin peeled & cut in round slices; let the whole soak approximately half an hour, covered. Then half-crush a dozen sweet almonds in a mortar with a little sugar, & add a little orange flower water. At this point if you want to add two amber grains & one musk grain, crush your amber & musk with the almonds and sugar, & place crushed nuts, sugar and flavorings into a cotton straining bag [jelly bag or cotton lined filter], & pour hypocras back forth over the grains and crushed nuts – from one pot to another; if you want to keep it more than eight days use lemon instead of apple.

Le Cuisinier François, De LaVarenne. Chez Jaquez Canier, Paris, 1680, 11 Edition, p. 384-5

Prenez de bon vin, le mettez dans quelque vaisseau bien net, & qui ne puisse pas donner de mauvais goust. Mettez dedans du sucre ou castonnade, un peu de canella, du gingembre la grosseur d’une noisette, du poivre long deux brains, douse cloux de girofle, de la fleur de muscade, ou massis deux feüilles, une pomme de reinette pelée & coupée par roüelle; laissez le tout tremper environ demie heure, tenez le couvert, puis pilez une douzaine d’amandes douces à demise pile, & les mettez dans vostre chasse quand vostre sucre sera fondu, & que vous serez prest à passer vostre hypocras, mettez dedans un peu d’eau de fleur d’orange, & le passez sur vos amandes, & le passes trios ou quatre fois: si vous le voulez ambret & musquer, broyez vostre amber & musc dans un petit mottier avec un peu de sucre en poudre, & le mettez dans du cotton, ou filasse, & l’attachez au bas de vostre chausse, & passes l’hypocras par dessus; si vous voulez le garder plus de huit jours, n’y mettez point de pomme, n’y de citron. Il faut à deux pintes de vin environ une livre & demie de sucre, deux grains d’ambre, & un grain de musc.

Lammas, Cross Quarter Day

Today, August 1st, a cross-quarter day known also as Lammas, carts wheel past my house loaded with grain for the granary. Since the grain is being harvested, now is the perfect time for bread baking. Flour ground today shouldn’t have to be sifted to remove weevils before adding to the sponge or levain to create loaves.

Bread: it is prepared in every village, that is to say wheat, or rye, or of a mixture of both, [into a] tiny well in the flour, one kneads in a little hot water, also putting in a little salt & the leaven, to cause it to rise by fermentation, a kind of homemade bread, lighter and skillfully made, artisanal without their [professional baker’s] help. It is the food of the common man, wholesome, very nutritious, & that which is appropriate for him, in all the states which one can suppose.

Dictionnaire Portatif de Cuisine, d'Office, et de Distillation. Chez Vincent, Paris 1767, p. 113.

Pain: c’est une preparation du bled, soit froment, ou seigle, ou d’un mélange des deux, réduit en farine, qu’on pétrit avec de l’eau un peu chaude, en y mettant un peu de sel & du levain, pour lui donner, par la fermentation que ces substances excitant, une sorte de cuisson anticipée, & plus de legérete qu’il n’en adroit sans leur secours. C’est d’aliment ordinaire de l’homme, le plus sain, le plus nourrissant, & celui qui lui convient le mieux, dans tous les états qu’on puisse supposer.