Kitcheny goodnesses

The Consort and I went to England the third week of September, and we saw many wondrous things, including Dover Castle. Dover was built by Henry II as a guest house (a very fancy guest house, but where else would you put a foreign king?) but the site has been of military importance since the Iron Age and has been continuously garrisoned from shortly after Hastings until 1958. Dover is really a two-day day out, because there is just so much there to see--Roman, medieval, and both WW I and WW II. Mostly we spent our time in the keep and environs. English Heritage spent several years and a substantial amount of cash to "do it up right" and to show the keep as it would have been in 1184.


English Heritage's site about Dover.

The castle kitchens. Yes, it was really that dark.

 This time, without the fake sides of meat in the way.

And the hearth.

In general, the kitchen at Dover is not a place I'd like to try and cook in. Large, certainly, but not nearly enough light or ventilation. If I had to name a place, I'd have to say the Abbot's kitchen at Glastonbury Abbey (of which there are slides but none of them scanned) which although probably smaller is much better lit and ventilated. Glastonbury was the second-richest abbey in England, the first being Westminster. The kitchen was built in the 14th century.

Really nifty panoramic view of the interior of the Abbot's kitchen at this link.

More C&I photos and some handouts

I also uploaded another small batch of old C&I work, the Social Distinctions class handout, and the article I wrote for the North Star on spiced wine.

Pictures are up!

I have put the photos of the 12th Night A&S up where people can see them without having to log into the Northshield gallery, and also the C&I work that I have scans or photos of (there are a handful of photocopies that have yet to be digitized and uploaded) and a photo of my seax that I made at Quest 2006, for Wulfgyðe (my Angle-in-the-Danelaw alter-ego who is woefully underdeveloped) There's a photo of me filing it somewhere that I should put up. I apologize in advance for the purple hair.

Also I have finally found the notebook from 12th Night 2003 so I will be putting up those redactions as well.

Cheese biscuits, take 1...

The original, from the Dutch cookery manuscript "Wel ende edelike spijse", dated to approximately 1484.



1.21. Dough to make "pipes".
Take cheese from Gouda and eggs. Grind together with white flour. Lay it on dry flour and make small biscuits of it.

The other recipes are quite detailed about what one is supposed to do, then there's this one. What do they exactly mean by "make small biscuits," anyway? So this first attempt they will be drop biscuits.


2 eggs
1/2 c flour
1 cup finely grated Gouda cheese

Combine eggs and cheese, add flour gradually to make a sticky dough. Line a pan with parchment, sprinkle with an even coating of flour. Drop dough by spoonsful, flatten to 1/4" thick. Bake 15 mins at 350F.

Edwin thought they were too rubbery, but Edwin is notoriously picky. Edwin also thinks they should have salt in them. They are also bright yellow due to the notably intense yellow-orange yolks (from free-range chicken eggs) and the pale yellow cheese.

Next attempt: subject cheese and egg to the blender to better approximate grinding and then mix in the flour. I'm also thinking about trying them as more like a cracker than a biscuit. One could also reduce the amount of cheese, but one change at a time.