1. Blancmange, version 1
/Thank you Beatriz for starting me with comfort food!
Blawmanger
I used this A Boke of Gode Cookery recipe as my 'jumping off point for this 14th c. English dish.
Original recipe from Curye on Inglish: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth-Century (Including the Forme of Cury) by Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler (London: For the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1985).
"28. Blawmanger. Tak þe two del of rys, þe thridde pert of almoundes; wash clene þe rys in leuk water & turne & seth hem til þay breke & lat it kele, & tak þe melk & do it to þe rys & boyle hem togedere. & do þerto whit gres & braun of hennes grounde smale, & stere it wel, & salte it & dresch it in disches. & frye almaundes in fresch gres til þey be browne, & set hem in þe dissches, & strawe þeron sugre & serue it forth."
The Venture
Ingredients I used:
- 1 cup rice
- 3 cups Almond Milk (+ ca 1 cup chicken stock)
- 1 cup ground cooked chicken
- salt (to taste)
- sugar to garnish
Following the redacted recipe, I boiled the rice, milk and salt. The chicken was pre-cooked (poached) and ground with a meat grinder. I turned down the heat and allowed it to cook on low heat. I used basmati rice as suggested by Eadric in his version of blancmange, and found the dish was cooking dry before the rice was done, so I added a little extra chicken stock as needed.
As I was serving this as dinner to my non-SCA family, I substituted finely chopped chicken breast for ground dark meat and I think the richness of the dark meat would have improved the dish. This was indeed very white and in stark contrast to the roasted veggies I served on the side!
The verdict
Divided. A. and I liked it, S. found it a bit bland and T. avoids almonds on principle, but did eat one portion.
Revised version (originally posted to LiveJournal January 20, 2010)