recipe for pottage
Recipe for pottage…
4 pints of water 2 leeks 2 sticks of celery 2 onions 1/4 firm white cabbage without outside leaves 4 oz white breadcrumbs a few saffron strands 2 tsps salt ground black pepper
Prepare the vegetables and boil whole or in large pieces for 10 minutes.
Drain and cut into thick slices. Add meat stock to vegetables.
Continue to simmer until the vegetables are soft.
Stir in the breadcrumbs, saffron and plenty of seasoning.
Bring back to the boil and cook for 2 - 3 minutes.
Skim off any excess fat before serving.
Pease porridge in the pot nine days old, fairly well summarizes the technique of stew preparation in Shakespeare’s day. A thick soup would have been left cooking for days at a time, with new vegetables, stock, and bits of leftover meat continually added. This Italian version contains rich duck meat, a delicious and unusual addition to pea soup.
Serving size
Serves 8 to 10.
Ingredients
2 slices thick-cut smoked bacon1 large red onion diced 1 quart of stock 1 pound dried green split peas, rinsed 1/2 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper 1 tablespoon salt1 tablespoon crushed aniseed 1 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 cup shredded smoked duck breast
Cook the bacon in a large saucepan over medium heat for 7 to 10 minutes, or until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan, cut into small pieces, and set aside. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Add the stock, peas, bacon pieces, and 2 cups of water, and simmer for 1 hour, skimming away any impurities that rise to the top. Add the pepper, salt, and aniseed and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and duck, and serve immediately.
Original recipe from The Accomplished Cook, 1660:
Boil green pease with some strong broth, and interlarded bacon cut into slices; the pease being boiled, put to them some chopped parsley, pepper, aniseed, and strain some of the pease to thicken the broth; give it a walm [warm it] and serve it on sippets, with boiled chickens, pigeons, kids, or lambs heads, mutton, duck, mallard, or any poultry. Sometimes for variety you may thicken the broth with eggs
You can find recipes in the Shakespeare’s Kitchen: Renaissance Recipes for the Contemporary Cook.
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