You may be wondering what people ate and how food was prepared in Renaissance England. Of course they didn’t go around munching on turkey legs like we see at modern Renaissance Faires; turkeys came from the new world and didn’t exist in Europe at that time. Food was obviously of fairly good quality or we […]

Bread is having a culinary renaissance and it’s clear to see why with these feasts for the eyes!

Krista Bjorn shares recipes and ideas for a Medieval themed dinner party.

Inspired by the giant turkey legs at summertime Renaissance Festivals and State Fairs, these tasty chicken skewers are tender, sweet and spicy. A great combination for the grill!

Two ASU professors and a student learn how to bring food referenced from the memoirs of a sixteenth century nun to life.

You may be wondering what people ate and how food was prepared in Renaissance England. Of course they didn’t go around munching on turkey legs like we see at modern Renaissance Faires; turkeys came from the new world and didn’t exist in Europe at that time. Food was obviously of fairly good quality or we […]

We believe that a cookbook is not just a bunch of recipes, but a cultural document. American popular culture is ripe with references to ...

Kay gives her tips on throwing a Game of Thrones party with food, decorations and costume ideas on the cheap.

A Guest Post from Cassidy Cash In addition to the beer you’ve probably heard about being popular in the 16-17th century England (due to the poor sanitation of the water) Shakespeare’s lifetime saw a flurry of culinary oddities grace the tables of nobility and civilians alike. It wasn’t uncommon to see such surprises as hedgehogs, fish […]

Move over, pie—it’s time for a tart renaissance

To celebrate the first episode of the Borgias this past weekend, I decided to research some medieval Italian meals. Admittedly, when I think "medieval" I immediately think England, then France. Maybe Spain. I think roasted chicken, beef stews, and pastry. I was so curious to see what the medieval Italians did. Was it similar? Vastly different? How far does it depart from modern Italian cuisine, or what we consider Italian food today? I was shocked. It does not deviate on either end. It's both as medieval as English roasted chicken using the very same spices and preparations, and as "modern" as a bowl of macaroni or spaghetti. I am fascinated. Italian cuisine has stayed very much unchanged from 500+ years ago and I'm so happy for that. With an emphasis on using fresh, quality, preferably home-grown ingredients, simple dishes executed perfectly was the crux of Italian cuisine back then as it is today. Braises, stews, roasts, sausages, pastas all that we love today were also enjoyed in the same way by the Italians of 1500. So to celebrate the Borgias much in the same fashion as someone would in the time of the Borgias, I prepared this meal. The Menu Artichokes Old & New Roman Macaroni Pizza (for dessert) Wine We started out with some artichokes I had on hand from my local farm delivery. I wanted something simple and easy to prepare so I could focus my efforts on the pizza recipe, so I chose to do again my recipe for Artichokes Old & New. You'll notice below the dipping sauce was a lot lighter; I used apple cider vinegar this time instead of balsamic. Love it but prefer balsamic for this dish. Then the main course was a pasta dish. During the time of the Borgiask, Marco Polo had visited Asia already, bringing back with him pasta, ginger, and various other spices. The Italians took to the pasta very quickly, adapting it to use with their own local ingredients to obvious success. I don't know why, but I was surprised to first see any pasta recipes at all during the period. I was amazed how quickly the Italians not only accepted a foreign dish like noodles, but how quickly they understood it and adapted it. It's truly remarkable if you really think about it. Second, I was surprised to see how unchanged the pasta recipe from 500 years ago was compared to today's pasta dishes. I elected to do this very simple recipe that is considered classic Italian fare today: good pasta, good olive oil, good parmesan cheese. That's it. The cuisine that I know and love today, emphasizing fresh ingredients prepared simply but executed perfectly was the same exact philosophy of Italian cooks 500 years ago. And I love that. I relish in being able to participate in unchanged traditions, a fiber connecting me with ancestors past and people I didn't know or met in a place I've never been. And such is this pasta dish! Here's a delightfully simple and unchanged recipe for simple macaroni from The Neapolitan Recipe Collection by Terence Scully. "Macharoni Romaneschi. Piglia bella farina he fane pasta uno pocho piu grossa che quella dele Lasagne, et rivoltala in torno ad uno bastone, et taglia la pasta larga uno digito che resta como una stringo; et metteli a cocere in bono brodo ho in altra aqua secondo el tempo; et fa prima bulire l'aqua cum uno pocho de sale avante che li mette dentro li macharoni; et se li cocerai in aqua, mettelli dentro butiro freshco." --circa 15th century, Naples And the translation: "Roman Macaroni. Out of fine flour make a dough that is a little larger than for lasagna, and wrap it around a stick, and cut the dough the dough the width of a finger so that it stays like a ribbon; set it to cook in good broth or in some other liquid depending on the season; let the liquid boil first with a little salt before putting the macaroni in it; and if they are cooking in water, add a little fresh butter to it." Perfection. For my interpretation, I used boxed pasta because honestly, I have two small kids and a house to maintain. I was planning on asking The Hubsters to make pasta from scratch for this, but alas work intervened once again and De Cecco had to step in and man up in the pasta department. I also used both butter and olive oil. And then tossed it with some freshly chopped garlic, a small sprig of rosemary, and finely ground Parmesan-Romano and shaved Parmesan. Here is my adapted recipe: Macaroni Romano In The Style of Medieval Italy 1/2 lb dried pasta -- your choice 2 Tbsp kosher salt 1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp good butter 1 clove garlic, minced 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, left whole 1/3 cup finely ground Parmesano-Romano 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese Bring a pot of water to a boil. When boiling, season the water with the salt. Add the pasta and cook to package directions. Drain pasta. In the same pot the pasta boiled in, add the oil, better, garlic, rosemary, and drained pasta and toss to coat well. Add the cheeses and serve. Now that appetizer and main dish were consumed, it was time for dessert! Here I was most surprised. Shocked and fascinated would be more accurate actually. When we today think Italian we think pizza, right? Well, pizza was developed in Naples. So when I found a recipe for medieval napolize pizza, I jumped at the chance. Imagine my shock when I read it: pastry crust, rose water, dates, currants, sugar, paste. Huh?? Where's the tomato? The basil? The motherfuckingcheese for crying out loud???? Oh no....no this is a DESSERT PIZZA. I'll let you digest that for a second. One fabulously popular medieval Italian dessert was a pizza using not the yeasty dough we know and love and often bicker about which version is best from Chicago to New York (I still say Connecticut, by the way), but rather a pastry dough more like pie crust called "royal pastry." And it was topped with a paste made of pulverized dried fruits, nuts, and sugar that was spread like the tomato sauce today. And instead of pepperoni or basil they'd use dried up cookies much like miranges. INCREDIBLE. Here's the actual recipe with its translation from this fascinating website. "Per fare torta con diverse materie, da Napoletani detta pizza. Cap CXXI Habbisi oncie sei d’amandole ambrosine monde, & quattr’oncie di pignoli ammogliati mondi, & tre oncie di datoli freschi prive dell’anime, e tre oncie di fichi secchi, tre oncie di zibibbo senz’anime, & ogni cosa pestici nel mortaro, sbruffandole alle volte d’acqua rosa, di modo che venga come pasta, giungansi con esse materie, otto rossi d’ova fresche crude, oncie sei di zuccaro, un’oncia di cannella pista, un’oncia, e mezza di mostaccioli Napoletani muschiati fatti in polvere, quattro oncie d’acqua rosa, e fatta che sarà d’ogni cosa in una compositionne, habbisi la tortiera onta con un sfoglio di pasta reale, & il tortiglione sfogliato incirca non troppo grosso, & mettasi la compositione in la tortiera, mescolata con quattro oncie di butiro fresco, facendo ch non sia piu alta d’un dito, & senza esser copera facciasi cuocere al forno, & servasi calda, & fredda a beneplacito. In essa pizza si puo mettere d’ogni sorte condite." Translation: "To make a tart with various things, by the residents of Naples called pizza. Chapter 121. Have six ounces of peeled ambrosia almonds, four ounces of peeled soaked pine nuts, and three ounces of fresh dates with the seeds removed, three ounces of dried figs, three ounces of raisins without seeds, and grind everything together in a mortar, sprinkling every so often with rosewater, so that it becomes a paste, add to these things eight fresh raw egg yolks, six ounces of sugar, an ounce of ground cinnamon, an ounce and a half of Naples biscotti with musk, made into powder, four ounces of rose water. And make of all these things a filling. Have a greased pie plate lined with a sheet of royal pastry, and with not too large layered twisted pastry decorations around the rim. Put the stuffing into the tart, mixed with four ounces of fresh butter. Make it so that it isn’t any higher than a finger and without a (pastry) cover put to cook in the oven. Serve this hot or cold as one pleases. In this pizza one can put any sort of confit." Note: the ingredients for royal pastry are: flour, sugar, butter, rose water and salt. Naples biscotti are a almost meringue type confection of sugar, flour and eggs, baked twice until crisp. The probably provide both flavoring and a binding agent for this dish. And here is the recipe I myself adapted from this original and translation. Using dates, dried currants, almonds, and spices I tried to recreate the paste. I also made the pastry dough quickly in my food processor. Medieval Pizza for the royal pastry: 1 cup flour 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cubed 3-5 Tbsp rose water for the filling: 1 cup whole almonds 4 large dates, seeds removed 1 cup raisins 1 cup dried currants pinch of salt 1 egg yolk 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon about 1/8 cup rose water Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor and pulse until butter is the size of peas. Add the rose water and mix until a dough ball is formed. Remove dough, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold, 30 minutes. While the dough cools, prepare the filling. Place the almonds, dates, raisins, currants, and salt in the food processor (no need to clean it from the pastry dough work). Pulse until everything is ground finely, like you would if you were making pesto. Add the egg yolk and cinnamon and pulse again to mix in. Then removing the feeder tube above, turn the mixer on and while it's mixing, slowly add the rose water until eveyrthing comes together in a paste. You're looking for the consistency of peso here. Once combined and the desired consistency is achieved, set aside. Take the pastry dough out and roll it out on a floured surface. Gently form the rolled out dough into your tart pan (or whatever pie pan you are using). Trim off excess dough from the sides, then fill it in with the fruit paste. Smooth out the top and bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until pastry dough is golden brown on the edges and the filling is puffed up a little and set. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. I have to be honest, this wasn't my most favorite. I can say we should all lay down and thank the South Americans and the Spanish for bringing chocolate into our lives. Because if we had to eat desserts like this, then we'd always end the meal with cheese. The flavors were interesting and the use of rose water made for an incredibly aromatic dish. It really reminded me of this peculiar Middle Eastern dessert my grandfather would very occasionally bring us when I was very young. Maybe that's why I didn't care for this pizza that much, because I hated that other dessert. The Hubsters seemed to enjoy this though. And I posted it simply for the historical relevance and shock of being the first real pizzas. That said, I'm not abandoning the project and think I could work with this. It needs just a few more tweeks, some different fruit and nut combinations perhaps, to make it truly a lovely dessert pizza. Stay tuned!

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John and I just had the most AMAZING Game of Thrones dinner experience, but it's not fair because we don't watch Game of Thrones, so I'm going to share all the goodness here and trust you guys will appreciate it even more than we did. First, a little background: Our friends John and Anna love to host big dinner parties, and every Christmas, Easter, & Thanksgiving they throw open their home to all of us without family in town. They're basically our adopted local parents. In reality they're our friend Christie's parents, but now we lay claim and she has to share. Now, trust me, with Anna's cooking, you do NOT miss one of their dinners. Even if the theme is for a show you've never seen, like Game of Thrones. And let's get this out of the way real quick: John and I (that's my John, not host John) aren't GoT people. I'm squeamish and easily traumatized, and John won't watch anything with sexual violence, so GoT is a non-starter. Which is cool, just like it's cool if you like the show. Different death strokes for different folks, eh? That does mean we were clueless over pretty much everything at the party, though, so bear with me as I explain stuff I know NOTHING about. Oh, but I did find what I think is a pretty sweet hostess gift: There are versions of this on Etsy where they'll add in a custom name if you have more time, but since I only had a week I ordered this one from Amazon. And it's so pretty! This wasn't a costume party, but that's never stopped me and John before. He brought & distributed all our fur cowls from our Knights Who Say Ni cosplays: (Goes great with a polo, right?) (The sword belongs to our hosts, and is SUPER heavy.) Meanwhile I did my best with what I had in my closet: I wore my Hufflepuff cup necklace, because of course I did. Now, let's set the stage at John and Anna's place: Their house is lovely, for starters, and their decor is already kind of Thronesy, from what I can tell. (Anna is originally from Estonia, and they've traveled all over.) John even has furs and big swords mounted on the wall in his game room, ha. The plates and cups were especially in theme: And the table was set with candles, dragons, coins... ... and fun miniatures: You'll see the bread in a minute. It's worth the wait, I promise! We got there early that day to play Borderlands together (told you they're awesome), but here's the table later with everything lit up: Not related to the party, but look how pretty: I'm biased, since I bought this for Anna at an antique shop a while back. (Plus we painted all the walls! Just doing our part to keep getting invited to dinner, ha.) I love their Steampunk Mr. Toad art: And I don't understand why shirtless Jeff Goldblum was out, but I'm not complaining: #DecoratingGoals Ok, I've made you wait long enough. Let's get to: THE FOOD. This was the head of the appetizer table, pun intended: Ned's heads were chocolate dipped donut holes: You can't see it, but I'm shaking my (attached) head at this entire fandom right now. While giggling. Apparently Westeros is a terrible place to be headed. (Does that joke work? Westeros is a place, right?) We also had: I'm getting hungry again just looking at these. Drinks! "Bend the Mead" was my favorite pun - probably because it's the only one I understood. (They also had "Milk of the Poppy," and if that's a euphemism... don't tell me.) Here's what a Red Wedding looked like: Robyn (John & Anna's other daughter) mixed these up custom, and added a splash of red food coloring to each glass. I honestly don't remember what was in these... which may be a good sign? There were little gummy snakes all over the table, but I can't remember why. I'm guessing someone will explain in the comments, though. I'll also go out on a limb here and guess that GoT fans aren't easily offended, so... ENJOY: We did have someone explain the reference, yes, and again, SHAKING MY HEAD AT ALL OF YOU. Shame! SHAAAAAAME. Tasty little wieners, though. (And sausage balls, yum!) If you're lost, head to the comments; I'm sure someone there will do the honors. Though you might be better off not knowing, lol. Those were all just the appetizers we snacked on while milling around and chatting. Now on to the sit-down part of the meal: This one I *kind* of know, because of this cosplay: That's Beverly; she & her daughter Merrill are Epbot fans, so I've seen them the past few years at Dragon Con with this cosplay. (And they are THE best. Seriously. Mother-daughter goals.) Still not sure what she did, though. Huh. Pie for an entree AND dessert? Yes, please. We also had this trio of savory pies: The beef curry was sooooo gooooood. Apparently the Tarley Family died in a fire? So the morbidly hilarious theme continues. (As John was proof-reading this post for me I heard a sudden shout of laughter from across the house. "They died in a fire?! THAT IS SO WRONG! Bahahaha!" Yes, John, yes it is. :D Oh! Here's a real show-stopper: LOOK AT THE DIRE WOLF BREAD: We each got our own, and we had homemade cinnamon and blueberry butters to go with it. Oof. So good. My other favorite was the Winterfell Honey Chicken: I need to ask Anna for this recipe... and then get John to make it. We're not even CLOSE to finished with the meal, but we took a break here to go play a game. The game was called, "I Drink And I Throw Things" - another reference I actually understood, GO ME. I think this is essentially Beer Pong: We were told to stand across the room and chuck ping pong balls at a drinking glass. The ball had to bounce at least once before landing in the glass. As it turns out, this was completely impossible. There were 10 of us playing, and by round 5 we'd moved up to within two feet of the glass, added a second cup to double our chances, and STILL it was impossible. This is on their back porch - and there were 9 of us back here cheering and yelling. We were informed that dessert would not be served until someone won, so our attempts grew ever more desperate. We were all laughing at the futility of it all, hurling the ping pong balls - sometimes a few at a time - with the increasing conviction that this could not be done. Then, when we were on round 6 or 7, so at least twenty minutes and SEVENTY TRIES later... you guys, it finally happened. As if in slow motion, my ping pong ball bounced once, twice, and then... plink! Right in the glass. NOTHIN' BUT NET, BABY. You have never seen a celebration like the one that followed. The room ERUPTED. We screamed. We fist-pumped and double-high-fived. I think I did a victory lap. It lasted a solid two minutes. I even took a celebratory selfie, where my attempt at a badass smirk ended up looking more "mildly perturbed": IT WAS ME Really I think we were just relieved we could finally have dessert... until Anna reminded us there were TWO prizes, so someone else had to win. I'll spare you the next many minutes, but get this: the second person to win... WAS JOHN. So the two people who don't watch GoT won the two GoT glasses, ha. (Plus our own "Deal with It" glasses, so that's a plus.) Ok, now let's head back inside for our just desserts: Look how beautiful! And all handmade by Anna! These were my favorite. Nommmz. Declared the best Blueberry Tart any of us had ever had. Here's a look at my dessert plate: (I'm bad at serving pie. What.) And then, after we were stuffed beyond belief, out came the FINAL dessert course, "Oberyn's Surprise." Look at that piping detail! That's all Christie's handiwork; she helped her mom make these the day before. The teeth are little almond slices. Again, I've never seen the show, don't know who Oberyn is, so this really WAS a surprise. We were instructed to put our thumbs on Oberyn's eyes, and... SURPRISE! Also, ew. The insides were strawberry jello, which is surprisingly tasty with chocolate - who knew? And THAT, my friends, was our epic Game of Thrones dinner. I'll leave you with a fun group shot I took of our merry band pre-feast: Host John is next to my John on the right, and Anna is in the back, mid-window. If you ever get a chance to meet them, be SUPER nice, maybe offer to play Fallout 76 with John, and you, too, might get to feast with us some day. ;) (Thank you again, John & Anna! Love you both!) ****** If you'd like to help support Epbot and keep ridiculous posts like this coming, then please use my Amazon links to shop! (USA, UK, Canada.) It costs you nothing, but helps pay a few bills around here - which means the world to me and John. Thanks, gang! Love y'all to Westeros and back.

During this last week the authors of Haandkraft were all camped at Spøttrup castle in Salling, Denmark. We had a wonderful week, and got some time to try out a lot of stuff. One thing being cooking some medieval food. Of course there is no such thing as a truly authentic medieval dinner, but we made some food inspired by sources from the period. The course that got the best response were the pies, wich I will describe here. It won't be a specific recipe, as I don't have one. but I will give some pointers in what direction to go. Konzil von Konstanz (ÖNB 3044, fol. 48v), c. 1465-1475 To make pies you first need to make some dough. In this instance we made a so-called "Hot water-crust pastery"-dough, wich is mainly made from flour, water/milk and lard. 500 g wheat flour 2,5 dl water (or half water, half milk) 250 g lard The water/milk is brought to boil in at pot. When the lard is all molted the liquid is poured into the flour and mixed with a spoon. After this you should knead the dough until it is uniform and without lumps. Leave the dough to cool for a while. The cooler the dough the easier it will be to work with. Room temperature should be fine. We made two different types of filling. One with chicken and one with minced pork and beef. Chicken filling: Pluck the meat of one cooked chicken and roast it in butter, with some garlick, fresh ginger, thyme and cinamon. Season with salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar. Pork/beef filling: Roast some minced pork/beef in butter. Add chopped mushrooms, sage and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Shaping the pies: We shaped the pies using a small wooden bowl (ca. 15cm in diameter). First make a flat piece of dough about 5mm thick. Push it down into the bowl so that the edge go over the edge of the bowl, and place some filling in it. Then make a small disc to cover the filling, and cut the edges flush with the edge of the bowl. Fold down the edge, and make sure the folds stick in place. If you don't the pie will come open when you bake it. You could probably glue it with egg or water, to make sure it stays in place. Tip the pie out of the bowl, and poke a small hile in the top. After the pie has been baked you can pour different kinds of sauces into the hole or seal it with lard or butter. Bake the pies in the oven until thay are golden brown. In a normal oven that will be somewhere around 30 minutes at 200 degrees (celsius). We had a butter and honey sauce with these. Equal parts butter and honey melted togeather in a small pot and seasoned with a pinch of salt. Enjoy! (I know we did)

A curated list of historical cookbooks online, from Pompeii to WWI. Recipe books you can use for free.

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We've done salad in Redwall Abbey. Now it's time for our just desserts with seedcakes and custard inspired by Brian Jacques's Mattimeo.