Feasting Medieval Style

To recreate an entire Medieval feast would probably require more room, time, and patience than you have. However, it is simple enough to get a taste of the Middle Ages at your own dining table. The following recipes are straightforward, and only barely adapted for the modern kitchen.

You will be making pork pea soup and honey mead. At an actual Medieval feast, you would serve the soup in a trencher, a bowl made of carved-out bread. You would be given a spoon, but you would need to bring your own knife to the table. Forks were still science fiction.

Amounts are given Medieval-style--that is, spice and add to taste. For the soup, you will want to make certain you add three cups of liquid (chicken broth) for every one cup of split peas you use.

PORK PEA SOUP

Ingredients:

A generous portion of Canadian bacon (the closest thing we have to what a Medieval chef would have used), sliced

Dried, split green peas

Chicken broth (see above note)

One head of garlic, cloved and chopped (yes, use the WHOLE head)

Sliced carrots

One onion, diced

Bay leaves

Honey to taste


PREPARATION:

Begin with the chicken broth. Bring it to a slow boil in a large pot. Gradually add the bacon, garlic, bay leaves, onions, and carrots to flavor the broth. When this has come to a boil, stir in the peas. Leave this all to simmer for 2-3 hours, or until the peas have broken down into a paste. Add honey and serve hot.

HONEY MEAD

Ingredients:

1 quart of spring water

1 cup honey

1 sliced lemon

Nutmeg

Pinch of salt

Juice of 1/2 lemon


PREPARATION:

Boil the first four ingredients together, preferably in a non-metallic pot. Scrape off the scum which rises to the top with a wooden spoon. When there is no more scum rising, add the salt and the lemon juice. Strain the mead, and let it cool before serving.

NOTE: This is non-alcoholic mead.