Shakespeare's Kitchen (7 page)

2 large onions, diced

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 turnip, peeled and diced

1 parsnip, peeled and diced

5 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups finely chopped assorted greens (such as spinach, endive, chicory, and parsley)

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried hyssop (optional)

½ teaspoon dried marjoram

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

4 whole cloves

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup currants

½ cup pitted and chopped dried plums

2 tablespoons verjuice

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

1.
    Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot and add the beef, lamb, pork, veal, and chicken. Cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, or until all the meat is browned. Remove the meat from the pot, add the onions, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, or until soft. Increase the heat to medium-high and add 4 cups of water to the pot, scraping loose any drippings. Bring to a boil and add the meat, half of the sweet potato, half of the turnip, half of the parsnip, the scallions, greens, thyme, hyssop, marjoram, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally.

2.
    Add the currants, dried plums, and the remaining sweet potato, turnip, and parsnip and cook for 30 minutes. Add the verjuice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3.
    Ladle the stew into shallow bowls and garnish with the chopped parsley.

The original recipe refers to the serving platter as a “charger,” from the Old French for something used for loading. Another term for a dish or platter then was
trencher,
from the French
trancher,
to slice. Both terms originate in the Middle Ages when there were no plates. Instead, stale bread was sliced and meat and other food was placed on it. The used bread was then given to the poor or to livestock. The word
trencher,
however, remained the term for dishes even later when they were made of wood or other materials.

Beef Stew with Chestnuts and Onions

SERVES 4

 H
ASH,” THE ORIGINAL
title for this recipe, comes from
hacher,
French for chop. The French influence on English cooking is seen in this dish with its slow simmering of meat, wine, and herbs. The chestnuts are a wonderful natural thickener and add sweetness to this family-pleasing dish.

1 pound beef stew meat, cubed

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 large onions, sliced

1 quart
Renaissance Stock

1 cup red wine

¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

8 ounces chestnuts, roasted

4 ½-inch-thick slices French bread

1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

1.
    Sear the stew meat in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Add one of the onions, the Renaissance Stock, wine, nutmeg, cloves, and half of the chestnuts to the pan and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 2 hours, covered, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining onion and cook for 45 minutes. Add the remaining chestnuts and cook for 15 minutes.

2.
    Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the bread slices on a baking sheet, brush on the remaining olive oil, and sprinkle with the parsley. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

3.
    Ladle the stew into 4 bowls and top each bowl with a slice of the toasted bread.

ORIGINAL RECIPE:

To Make all manner of Hashes, First of raw Beef

Mince it very small with some Beef-suet or lard, some sweet herbs, pepper, salt, some cloves, and mace, blanched chestnuts, or almonds blanched, and put in whole, some nutmeg, and a whole onion or two, and stew it finely in a pipkin with some strong broth the space of two hours, put a little claret to it, and serve it on sippets finely carved, with some grapes or lemon in it also, or barberries, and blow off the fat.

THE ACCOMPLISHT COOK,
1660

Sallet

CHAPTER THREE

CARROT AND SHRIMP SALAD

RENAISSANCE GARDEN

SPRING LETTUCE WITH CHIVE FLOWERS

ENDIVE TOPPED WITH PERIWINKLES

WINTER SALAD WITH RAISIN AND CAPER VINAIGRETTE

WATERCRESS WITH ROASTED PARSNIPS

MEDITERRANEAN ORANGE AND CAPER SALAD

SALLET OF LEMMONS

GRILLED TUNA WITH CARROTS AND SWEET ONIONS

WATERCRESS SALAD WITH SHERRY PEARS

 … pick a sallet another while, which is not amiss to
cool a man’s stomach this hot weather.

HENRY VI,
PART II, 4.10

 
This passage
refers to the Renaissance belief that lettuces are “cooling” to the system. The theory that all foods possess some degree of hot, cold, dry, and moist originated in ancient Greece with the philosopher Aristotle and with the father of medicine, Hippocrates.

Combining certain foods was thought to be especially healthful, and balancing foods by pairing them with their complements was seen as particularly important. In fact, the classic salad of lettuce with oil and vinegar comes from that medical model. The so-called “cool and moist” lettuce was balanced by the oil (“hot and dry”) and vinegar (“cool and dry”).

Carrot and Shrimp Salad

SERVES 4

 T
HE SHREDDED CARROTS
in the original recipe were arranged in the shape of a fleur-de-lis with the shrimp placed on the inside of the flower to form its center. In this modern version I cook the shrimp in carrot juice for added carrot flavor and sweetness.

8 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

½ cup carrot juice

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

3 large carrots

Zest of ½ lemon

8 lemon wedges

1.
    Marinate the shrimp in 6 tablespoons of the carrot juice and the lemon juice for 1 hour. Place the shrimp and the marinade in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until just done. Drain the shrimp, mince, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until chilled.

2.
    Place the vinegar in a small bowl and slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3.
    Grate the carrots and toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons of carrot juice and the vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4.
    For an Elizabethan touch, arrange the grated carrots in a flower shape on the serving platter. Spoon the shrimp on the carrots to form the center of the flower. Sprinkle with the lemon zest. Serve with lemon wedges.

ORIGINAL RECIPE:

Another [Sallet for fish days]

Carret rootes being minced, and then made in the Dish, after the proportion of a flowerdeluce, then picke Shrimps and lay upon it with oyle and Vineger.

THE GOOD HUSWIFES JEWELL,
1587

In winter, carrot juice was added to butter to achieve the golden glow of butter churned in the summer when the cows ate richer grasses. Writing about carrots, the fifteenth-century cookbook author Platina notes, “There is nothing more pleasant to eat than this.” Introduced into England by the Romans in the first century, carrots reached a height of popularity in the early 1600s as a Lenten food, for their resemblance to meat.

Renaissance Garden

SERVES 6

 T
ALL ROSEMARY BRANCHES
ornamented with fresh cherries anchored in lemons halves, as called for in the original recipe, were a typical Renaissance salad garnish. Other elaborate instructions in this recipe specified that the salad be served on a substantial platter suitable for a roast and that height be added by placing a roll under the greens. Boiled eggs studded with almonds and dates alternated around the platter with clusters of capers and candied orange and lemon slices. This attention to detail attests to the special status given salads in Shakespeare’s day.

¼ cup verjuice

¼ cup grapeseed oil

2 teaspoons light brown sugar

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

6 cups assorted fresh herbs and baby lettuces (such as flat-leaf parsley, mint, endive, spinach, mesclun mix, or basil)

¼ cup capers, rinsed and drained

¼ cup golden raisins

½ cup blanched, slivered almonds

¼ cup currants

8 pitted dates, quartered lengthwise

6 dried figs, thinly sliced

4 long, sturdy fresh rosemary branches (optional)

2 large lemons, halved (optional)

12 fresh or candied whole cherries (optional)

2 large lemons, thinly sliced (optional)

¼ cup
Candied Citrus Peel
(optional)

1.
    Whisk together the verjuice, grapeseed oil, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2.
    Combine the herbs and lettuces, capers, raisins, almonds, currants, dates, and figs in a large bowl. Add the vinaigrette and toss until well coated.

3.
    If you are re-creating the original salad presentation, press 1 rosemary branch into the rounded end of each lemon half. Using the stem, a wire, or ribbon, attach 3 cherries to each rosemary branch.

4.
    Invert a small bowl or place a dinner roll in the center of a very large serving platter for additional height. Arrange the salad mix over and around the bowl. Place the rosemary branches at the 4 sides of the platter and arrange the lemon slices and citrus peel around the platter.

5.
    For an even more elaborate traditional Elizabethan garnish, alternate lemon slices topped with capers with quartered hard-boiled eggs, candied orange peel, and egg “porcupines” made by inserting almond and date slivers into hard-boiled-egg halves.

In Shakespeare’s time olive oil was the most prized of all oils for salads. Grapeseed, walnut, and almond oils were also frequently used in salads and cooking. Rapeseed oil, now known as canola oil, was another kitchen staple.

You will not see balsamic vinegar mentioned in any of the Elizabethan salad recipes. Balsamic vinegar was only used medicinally back then.

Spring Lettuce with Chive Flowers

SERVES 6

And I think this word ‘sallet’ was born to do me good …

HENRY VI,
PART II, 4.10

 T
HIS LEMONY
vinaigrette purée of chives with their springtime purple flowers perfectly complements delicate pre-summer baby lettuces and herbs.

The original recipe calls for the washed salad greens to be dried “in a strainer.” Many of the simple kitchen appliances we take for granted today, such as salad spinners, had to be improvised in Shakespeare’s day. A whisk was made with thin willow twigs tied together, and icing was brushed on with a rabbit’s foot or bird’s feather. A bale of hay hanging from the ceiling served as a knife holder, while quills were used to close the ends of stuffed fish or meats, much as we use toothpicks today.