Medieval Cuisine @ Deerfield Library on June 13th 7 PM

Medieval Cuisine

Tuesday, June 13, 7 p.m.

Meg Bowman, Whole Foods Market Deerfield, has an M.A. degree in Medieval Studies. She will offer an entertaining discussion of medieval cuisine and provide samples. Special attention will be paid to table manners and food pairings from medieval cookbooks.

Co-sponsor: Deerfield Area Historical Society.

Deerfield Library
920 WAUKEGAN ROAD
DEERFIELD, IL 60015
847-945-3311

Well, this certainly turned out to be a lot of fun. The speaker was entertaining and had some fun tidbits to share -- most significantly, that folks during the Middle Ages didn't eat badly and didn't spice things to cover up the taste of stuff gone bad, they simply ate a lot more seasonally and almost always locally. Palates were generally different from today, as lines blurred between sweet and savory, but things were still, on the whole, wholesome and tasty. To prove her point on the tasty part, the speaker had prepared four dishes from medieval cookbooks (two of which she was donating to the library, should you wish to check them out).



Cathy2 sent me this photo of the four dishes. Not very appetisingly displayed, but they ranged from pleasant to so good we went back for several more helpings. Clockwise, from the grainy looking substance on the right: bulgar cooked in chicken broth (the least interesing dish); roasted, butter-basted chicken mixed with a sauce made of herbs and crushed almonds (wow--just sensational); a savory pie with spinach, chard and two cheeses (another crowd pleaser -- hard to choose between the chicken and the spinach pie), and finally, rose pudding with dates. The roses used in this recipe were organic roses from Whole Foods --we were warned against picking anything from our gardens, where pesticides and plant foods make the roses less than delightful. (Not mentioned was that, most hybrids don't have the level of fragrance needed to prepare a delightful confecion such as this.) Anyway, most of the group went wild over this. I thought it was tasty, but it reminded me, too, of handcream. But then, it was pretty much nothing but cream, sugar, and rose petals.

Great evening.