Tag: Renaissance Magazine

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Traditional Food Preservation Techniques With A Modern Twist – Part II

Part II: Flavored Salts and Sugars, Oils, and Extracts
In the previous issue of Renaissance Magazine, I wrote about how a well-stocked pantry or larder was essential to any kitchen.  It doesn’t matter the size of the kitchen, but food preserving helped keep food longer.  In this issue, I will focus on flavor enhancements including flavored sugars, salts, oils and vinegars as well as making your own extracts.  Although some of the enhancements were not widely used until well after the Renaissance period, they can complement any dish from any time period.  In addition, they make lovely gifts to your loved ones.

Flavored Salts and Sugars
Many of us are familiar with cinnamon sugar that topped our toast.  This is a similar process, but instead of blending powdered spices with sugars and salts, an older method is to let the sugar or salts absorb a lot of the essential oils from the fresh herbs and spices.

This is a fairly easy process.  You will need a ceramic dish such as ramekins.  Place a layer of salt or sugar at the bottom of the dish.   Sweet things should be applied to the sugar (nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, clove, citrus zest, or cinnamon) and savory things would be applied to the salt (garlic, rosemary, chilies, etc.)  Place the chosen flavor on top of the bottom layer of salt or sugar and begin layering.

Once the layering is finished, place the dish in a low heat area so the flavor infuses with the salt or sugar.  Salt requires a higher heat (200 degrees) for an hour and sugar requires a lower heat (100 – 150 degrees) for two hours.  The flavoring would need to be stirred occasionally within the sugar or salt to ensure thorough blending.  Place in an airtight container and serve as needed; it is important that the flavored sugars and salts are not cooled, as it will halt the flavor from disbursing evenly.

Extracts
Like the sugars, extracts are easy to make.  Finding a sweet spice (nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, clove, citrus zest, or cinnamon) and placing it into a clean bottle that can be sealed.  The ingredients will need to be either cracked (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, or ginger) or sliced thinly (vanilla and citrus zest.  Add a strong flavorless liquor such as Everclear or Vodka and seal shut in a dark place.  The longer the combined ingredients sit sealed with occasional shaking, the stronger the extract will become. Through this process, I have made vanilla, ginger, and various citrus extracts.

Flavored Oils & Vinegars
Flavored vinegars and oils require heating the liquid before adding the herbs or spices.  By using savory herbs such as rosemary, basil, thyme, or peppers, one can create a wonderful addition to their kitchen. To begin, slowly heat the vinegar or oil.  While it heats up, chop the herbs into large pieces and add them to the mixture.  It is important that you do not let the pot boil.  By simmering it and bottling it in small amounts, it prevents waste.  The flavored oils should be chilled as they spoil very quickly and should be used within 2 – 3 weeks.  The acids in the vinegars will keep longer than the oils and can be kept for months.  The flavored vinegars make a nice addition to olive oil for dressings and marinades.

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Traditional Food Preservation Techniques With A Modern Twist – Part I

Part I: Smoking and Salting Meats

Smoked Pork Shoulder


A well-stocked pantry or larder has always been essential to any kitchen.  It doesn’t matter that the kitchen is in a castle, a manor house, or ship.  A good cook knew how to make food items last over journeys aboard ships or long winters.  Below I have offered a variety of techniques to keep your food longer.  Many of these techniques can be used to create fantastic dishes and wonderful gifts to your loved ones.

Smoking Meats
Smoking meats were another way of preserving them.  Unlike the salting process, smoking adds a tastier element to the meat. As a note, I feel safer eating smoked versus salted meats.  Smoking meats require a lot less time than the salting process, so the rewards come quicker. Basically it comes to hours versus days. Although salting has been around for centuries, I grew up with smoked meats and still enjoy them today.

The process is quite easy; obtain wood chips (found in the same location as the charcoal briquettes) and soak them overnight in water.  Once done, place the soaked wood chips in the bottom of the pot or tray.

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Haggis

Many of my ancestors hailed from Scotland.  As a member of the Lindsay clan, I have had the opportunities to try

Traditional Haggis

many traditional Scottish recipes including haggis.  Most people assume haggis is a Scottish dish; however haggis-like dishes have been traced back to the Romans and are mentioned in “Homer’s Odyssey.”  Other variations have been found in Scandinavian culture and among other regions.  But, it is the Scots who made haggis famous.  Haggis usually consists of cheap cuts of meat, suet, sheep liver, intestines, and oatmeal.  In the United States, similar dishes have evolved including Scrapple, hashes, and meatloaf.

One of the largest challenges making traditional haggis is locating the sheep’s stomach, a key ingredient in preparing haggis.  I have found that sheep’s stomachs are very easy to come by via butchers who cater to the Amish customers or who provide other old world ingredients.  A sheep’s stomach is quite large.  If you feel as though a lot of people may not enjoy this dish, I would recommend cutting the stomach in half and reducing the recipe to limit any wasted food. 

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Recipe for Romance

The tales of love and romance are not a modern one. The earliest tales of romantic work can be traced to the Acritic songs from the Byzantium Empire. These songs were introduced to the French and Italian knights during the occupation after the 4th crusade and influenced their songs and stories. Similar traditions existed in Northern Europe and were in the form of great epic sagas and took place in exotic locations, usually having mythological elements and dangerous quests.

The earliest medieval romances dealt heavily with themes from folklore, which diminished over time. During the early 13th century romances were increasingly written as prose.  As these romances gained popular favor, clerical critics of the late middle ages thought that romances were harmful worldly distractions from more religious or moral works.  By the 17th century, many secular readers would agree with the religious leaders, as they felt romantic stories were trite and childish.

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Middle Eastern Pasta

Growing up and attending modern schools, I heard the story about how Marco Polo brought pasta to Europe from the Far East.  In fact, pasta was already established in southern Europe by the time Marco Polo began his journey along the Silk Road.

What I later learned was that products similar to pasta existed during the 1st century AD (the Etrusco Roman era). Made from durum wheat and water, “lagane” was very similar to modern lasagna. However, instead of being boiled, it was cooked in an oven along with chickpeas and spices.

 

Conquered cultures have often adopted languages, foods, sciences, and arts from invading cultures. The Arab invasions of the 8th century were no exception and impacted much of the culinary cuisines along the Mediterranean Sea and this includes what we now know as pasta.

Modern pasta is usually served with a sauce that is tomato-, vegetable-, seafood-, meat- or cream-based.  But that was not so in the early versions of pasta.  The Arab version of pasta contained cinnamon, clove, dried fruit like figs and raisins and it tasted both semi-sweet and semi-spicy.  As time went on, invaded cultures began changing this recipe to fit their own ideals and tastes.  The exotic spices were removed as people began adding their own items to the dish – vegetables, calamari (squid), fish, pork, and chicken.  Sauces were developed when cooking the aforementioned items in olive oil or butter, with wine and, once reduced (cooked-down), they were added to the pasta.

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