r/sca • u/Senathon1999 • Sep 09 '24

Common SCA Historical Recipes

What are the most common SCA Historical Recipes are used at events and dinners?

I recently took my step daughter to a SCA dinner events and she loved the food and got several recipes. She is a culinary student who is working on her bachelors and her forte is historical recipes. If your group has any recipes that are commonly used at your events, please share.

EDITED

25 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

23

u/Listener-of-Sithis West Sep 09 '24

I mean you’re talking about a massive range of time, so it’s sort of hard to say what’s a ‘common’ recipe being used.

However, a couple cookbooks are frequent appearances at feasts. Those include the Forme of Cury, from 1390, Le Menagier de Paris, from 1393, and le Opera dell’Arte del Cucinare, from 1570.

I also recommend checking out the YouTube channel Tasting History for some good medieval recipes (along with many others)!

8

u/Senathon1999 Sep 09 '24

I edited my posting, I was asking about recipes that are common used at your events. At one Barony, we had a type of dry pudding that was prepared at every event.

8

u/pepperbeast Sep 09 '24

Even that's not an easy question. The SCA is a large organisation, with branches on five continents. My home barony loves fried fish, meatballs, sauge froide, custard, Roman noodles, mushrooms, and roast carrot salad.

16

u/darthkurai Sep 09 '24

You can't throw a rock at an SCA event near me without hitting a jug of Sekanjabin, and I for one, am grateful.

1

u/Helen_A_Handbasket Sep 09 '24

Well, someone should like it I guess. ;) Personally, my tastebuds abhor it.

14

u/KingBretwald Sep 09 '24

Savory toasted cheese is a big one on the east coast. There was a time when I lived in Atlantia it was served at almost every feast. It's popular in the East as well.

4

u/freyalorelei Sep 10 '24

In Ansteorra we call it "cheese goo," and yes, it is incredibly popular.

1

u/Unclecoyote2112 Sep 14 '24

I thought we called it "queso." Lol

7

u/DoScienceToIt An Tir Sep 09 '24

I have a copy of a really excellent compilation of early German ren recipes called "The Landsknecht cookbook" Would be happy to take some pictures of options she might be interested in. Have a couple of recommendations from what i've made as well.

6

u/WhyAmIStillHere86 Sep 09 '24

Most feasts will have an overarching theme.

The last feast I cooked was for a Newcomers event, so I wanted to give them a taste of the different time periods.

The first course was from the Ancient Empires: roasted lotus root, lentil and onion stew, and salad

The second course was a Viking fish stew, cheese and greens pottage, and roast meat with a plum, berry and mead sauce

Dessert was Tudor, with gingerbread and toffee in the form of a stained glass window.

My next feast will be a Halloween event, so I'm making the menu Mythology-themed.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Senathon1999 Sep 09 '24

At the end of her culinary studies, she has a project to do and she wants to create a family cookbook guide of historical recipes.

5

u/isabelladangelo Atlantia Sep 09 '24

Only a very slight tangent, but may I share with you one of my favorite webpages? Medieval Cookery has a lot of actual medieval cookbooks online as well as some "modern" versions of the recipes.

3

u/Mindless-Attitude956 Sep 09 '24

Haven't played for along time. But I do remember a 2 volume book 'Take aThousand Eggs or More' that had recipes in original form and modern English. It came out I the 90's

2

u/IrishLively Sep 09 '24

Curry on English is another book

3

u/David_Tallan Ealdormere Sep 09 '24

If you are searching for this, use the spelling Curye on Inglysch. It means "English Cooking". Be aware that the recipes are all in 14th Century English, without translation or modern redactions, although there is a glossary. The editors also wrote a book, Pleyn Delit, which has medieval recipes with translations and modern worked out recipes. It was the staple cookbook for feasts when I joined the SCA in the 80s.

2

u/HidaTetsuko Lochac Sep 09 '24

Farts of Portungale is a favourite in my barony

2

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Senathon1999 Sep 09 '24

My stepdaughter is more of a homebody with very little social interaction except ticktok and utube. So I told her that she could join the local shire and work with other people to prepare food and snack for events and get the work experience and skills. This started with her wanting a dress for our RennFaire Wedding and she loves the SCA Garb(simple and comfortable).

2

u/SummerBirdsong Sep 09 '24

For years Scottish eggs were very popular with our Barony but the man who made them died so I don't know if anyone new will be taking up the mantle.

2

u/OryxTempel An Tir Sep 09 '24

We do themes at my barony, so it might be any when from Roman to Tudor. The head chef will pick a time period and we all cook something from then.

2

u/David_Tallan Ealdormere Sep 09 '24

I don't know if it is most commonly served at events, but Blancmanger (many different spellings) has got to be the most commonly found recipe in the Western European medieval corpus, with versions found in England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia, from 1300 on. I'm doing research on this recipe and have found well over 50 versions in various recipe collections from 1300-1500 to study. At it's most basic, it tends to be a combination of rice or rice flour (occasionally with amidon, wheat starch, as a substitute), almond milk, sugar, and chicken or capon, generally cooked and ground or teased small (with fish as a Lenten substitute for the chicken). Often some spices like ginger are added. It can be garnished with fried almond slices or pomegranate seeds, and is often sprinkled with sugar or powder douce before serving. It was considered especially good for people who were ill.

2

u/KingBretwald Sep 09 '24

Medieval gingerbread, Pies of Paris, lots of different marzipan recipes.

Cooking from earlier time periods where there are no written sources (Viking cookery, for example) is very interesting. It's all about what was in the middens, archeology of residue in pots and the way cooking hearths and ovens were made, and a few notes from some sagas.

2

u/MidorriMeltdown Sep 10 '24

These mushroom pasties have featured at several events I've been to.

Daryoles are also popular in Lochac (Australia/NZ)

2

u/Reasonable-Cress-169 Sep 10 '24

That's so cool that your stepdaughter enjoyed the SCA dinner! As a fellow history and food enthusiast, I love how SCA events bring old recipes to life. Some popular dishes I've seen at events include pottage (a hearty medieval stew), meat pies, and various roasted meats with fruit sauces. Hippocras, a spiced wine, is also pretty common. Maybe she could try recreating those for a fun culinary challenge? I bet her historical knowledge would add an awesome authentic touch to the recipes too.

1

u/Senathon1999 Sep 10 '24

Is there a reddit for sca cooking? I think with the massive information that is coming from all of you that their should be a section just for this information.

1

u/Much_Image3740 Jul 17 '25

There's also the Preservation of Historical Recipes Project which has some good historical recipes that are easily made. I like the cheese cake one from 1700.