In a rare twist of fate, I was able to attend Tudor-Con. Because of COVID it was remote and not at their usual location out east, and I was naked cartwheels happy over it.
Being married to an Asian man who wouldn’t feel comfortable dressing up in Medieval attire, and I who would want to go all out, attending in person wasn’t an option. He doesn’t want to go and I don’t want to go without him. I could use a reason to wear a tiara all day. But we’ll get to that. But first.
While doing Tudor-Con, I met all kinds of people all with different levels of knowledge and interests regarding Medieval times.
Some were all about the music, some were all about the food, others were all about the knights and jousting, and a whole bunch of us were Tudor-obsessed. I am setting a trilogy in that period and I wanted to be able to describe what the average family ate, and the only way to accurately do that is to eat it. So, I made a pottage from a 500-year-old recipe that I got from Tudor-Con. The recipe that was given was more of a pick one from group A, two from group three sort of recipe. I think no matter what you use, it will be delicious. Legally I can’t give you the whole recipe, but I will leave links at the bottom of this post if you want to learn more. For this post, I used the following ingredients.
Ingredients
¼ cups of breadcrumbs, or more if you want the broth to be extra thick.
Spices: I used salt, pepper, rosemary, basil, bay leaves, garlic, nutmeg, cinnamon, and oregano, all of them were available and used during the Tudor timeline. I did not measure it but don’t go overboard. I used mostly fresh spices.
1 handful of dried dates, chopped.
1 cup of Farro
Butter and olive oil (because I was too chicken to buy lard).
1 cup of beer (I used this fancy-schmancy Scottish ale.)
1 32 oz carton of chicken broth
1 32 oz carton of vegetable broth
(I used Swanson’s in the carton)
2 cups of water.
Fresh vegetables I used: One medium-sized onion, four carrots, different colors, two parsnips, two leeks, a pound of mushrooms, a can of kidney beans (rinsed).
I used about a pound of mutton… it should come in stew-sized pieces. If not, your butcher can cut it up for you.
From this spot on it becomes super easy.
In a medium/large soup pot, brown the mutton with a splash of olive oil, and a good-sized chunk of unsalted butter. Cook on high to brown meat then add the mushrooms, about three minutes after that add in the onions and leeks. Turn it down and add the chopped garlic, salt, and pepper and sauté until the onions are translucent and the leeks have softened up a bit.
At this point, pour in one carton of chicken broth and a cup of water. Let this come to a boil, turn down to medium-high heat, and simmer until the liquid has decreased by half.
Then add the beans(rinsed) and the vegetables. Add all spices, make sure they are off their stems if you use fresh. The bay leaves need to be removed before serving, note how many you decide to put in the pot. Add a cup of water and a cup of beer to cover vegetables. Let cook until just before your root vegetables are nearly cooked through. Grab a piece of carrot or turnip with a fork and if the fork can pierce the turnip, look at it, if you’re still not sure…give it a grain or two of salt and eat it. You’ll know if it’s cooked through.
At this point pour in the vegetable broth and a cup of the farro and let it boil until the farro is tender. For a thicker broth you can mix in the breadcrumbs, croutons, or even flour and milk. I added breadcrumbs and a bit more butter.
The picture below is what it looks like served up. My family loved it and I am now allowed to make “Tudor Food” whenever I want.
#Wear a Crown For Pottage Day
In closing, leave a comment, let me know if you’ve made it. And if you feel like it, top your hairdo off with a tiara before serving.
Enjoy!
Alex
#WearaCrownForPottageDay