Hi everyone. Welcome to Tasting History. I'm your host max Miller, and today it is
the second week of Lent, and I have given up absolutely nothing, but a lot of
people have. A lot of people give up chocolate for Lent, or alcohol, or eating
the little pieces of popcorn that fall out when you're at the movies and you
have to like pick it up off your shirt. Anyway a lot of people give things up
for Lent, and that is nothing new. In the Middle Ages there was a whole host of
things people gave up every single Lent. They couldn't eat meat. They couldn't eat
dairy. They couldn't eat basically anything from an animal. So today we're
going to explore some of the creative ways medieval chefs dealt with this
doctrinal dilemma and we are going to create our own sweet rice porridge with
dates, and almonds called a Bruet of Almaynne in Lent. today on
Tasting History. Now porridge was very common in the Middle Age. Not just for
the poor, for the wealthy too. It was just kind of a catch-all meal and it usually
had milk in it, but during Lent milk was ver boten. So what did they use instead?
Well you might be surprised to find that many medieval chefs turned to that most
favored drink of yoga moms and vegans world-over,
almond milk. What?! Almond milk in the Middle Ages?
Yes, almond milk in the Middle Ages. Just like today it was an excellent
substitute for animal milk and according to medieval physician Andrew Boorde it
doth comfort the breast, it doth mollify the belly and provoketh urine. I'm
pretty sure the almond milk industry just found its new slogan. It even came
in different flavors. You could use water for the original flavor, wine for you
know your savory meals, or in the 15th century recipe I'm using today sweetened
with honey. So let's get started for this almond milk you'll need 1/2 cup of
pulverized almonds. Now you can either pulverize your own or just buy almond
flour. It basically does the same thing. One and a half teaspoons of honey a dash
of salt and one cup of boiling water take your honey and your salt and pour
the boiling water over it and mix to dissolve.
Than pour the liquid over the pulverized almonds and allow to soak for about ten
minutes. Give it a stir occasionally with one hand and with the other hand go
ahead and smash the Like button, then hit that subscribe button tap the
notification bell so you can always stay up to date with Tasting History. Once
your 10 minutes is up strain it through a sieve into a bowl.
Now while almonds were a great substitute for milk, they didn't do much.
Now while almonds were a great substitute for milk they didn't do much
to address the main issue during Lent. You don't get to eat no meat. Now of
course people ate a lot of fish on fasting days. That's what Lent is kind of
known for, but back in the Middle Ages it wasn't just Lent. It was also every
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the year it's gonna get a little old, and if
you didn't live near an ocean then you ended up mostly eating salted cod and
herring, mmm. And in the words of one poor 15th century schoolboy "Thou will not
believe how weary I am of fish and how much I desire that flesh will come in
again for I have eat none other than salt fish this Lent and it has
engendered so much phlegm within me that it stops my pipes that I can scarcely
speak nor breathe." So whatever was this poor lad to do? Well let me answer that
question with a riddle: When is a poffin not a poffin? Answer: When it's a fish. Ohhhhh.
That's right in the Middle Ages they would do pretty much anything to
classify something as a fish. Basically if it had anything to do with water it
was a fish. Take the porpoise, clearly a mammal and they knew that back then but
because it swam they classified it and dolphins as fish so they could eat them.
I mean they swam so I get it. They were acceptable for the porpoise of eating,
but how about beavers? I imagine one monk said to another how are we going to
classify beavers as a fish? Well said monk - they do have fins kind of, that
paddle in the back, and its scaly like a fish so there you go,
beaver, fish, same thing. Okay but what about puffins? I mean that's a bird. You
can't let puffin, yes but a puffin lives on an island which is in the
ocean, and they often go into the ocean to feed on fish.
So puffins, fish same thing. So as you can see they were starting to stretch the
definition of fish pretty thin. You could even say that the definition was fluid,
that was the worst one yet. But the weirdest medieval fish had to be the
barnacle goose. See before they understood bird migration patterns
barnacle geese were never seen to be nesting in temperate Europe. They would
just kind of appear one day usually sitting out on you know floating logs,
and other driftwood there would also be barnacles attached to this driftwood, and
so people put it together that these geese don't come from eggs they hatched
from those barnacles, so they're piece of the ocean. So they're fish right? Anyway
they were good to eat for Lent. Now maybe you knew that almond milk wasn't just a
modern ingredient but what about mock meats surely things like tofurkey and
the impossible burger. That stuff is modern right? Nobody's going to make mock
meats in the Middle Ages. Oh ho ho ho, but they do laddie, they do. Medieval cooks love to
find ways to take Lent approved foods and turn them into non-Lent approved
foods like bacon. They would take strips of pink salmon, and mold white pipe roe
along the edges to make it look like bacon. Why? I have no idea but that was
nothing in comparison with the unholy abomination that is the mock egg. A 1430
recipe instructs the chef to take empty eggshells, and fill it with an almond
milk gelatin. Then take ground almonds, and create a circle in the center and
dye it yellow with saffron and ginger. So gross, but very popular in the 15th
century, how our palates have changed. So medieval people were willing to give up
a lot of ingredients during Lent, but there was one ingredient that was
just a bridge too far, and you butter believe it it was butter.
Years before the days of "I can't believe it's not butter" Europe was enamored with
the yellow spread, especially in France. By the 15th century breaking your fast
with butter in France was so common that the enterprising French church decided
to create an indulgence that would allow people to eat butter during Lent without
burning in hell. The city of Rouen collected so much money from the butter
indulgences that they were able to build a new tower under their Cathedral, and
dubbed the tower a Butter Tower. Delicious. And speaking of delicious
let's get back to our porridge. Now that we have our almond milk ready to go we
can create our Bruet of Almaynne in lente. All you'll need is one cup of the almond
milk, 1 tablespoon of rice flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 3 dates, 2
chopped and one minced. Now I've listed all the ingredients for this and the
almond milk in the description down below along with links to some of the
more uncommon ingredients. There are also the original medieval recipes if you'd
like to read them as well as the modern interpretations that I'm using toda. So
first take a saucepan and add your almond milk, the rice flour, the sugar, and
the finely minced date and whisk it all together and heat on medium until it
comes to a boil. Then turn it down to low and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes or
until the porridge gets nice, and thick. Every minute or so make sure to give it
a good stir with the whisk so nothing burns on the bottom. Once it's done
remove it from the heat, and strain it into a bowl then go ahead and dish it up.
This is either two small portions, maybe for dessert or one larger portion. Then
garnish it with the chopped dates and maybe toss a little more sugar on there
if want. Then go ahead and serve it forth. And so here we are,
Bruet of Almaynne in lente. Let's give it a shot.
Get some of those dates. That is delicious.
Make this. Go make this. It's not that hard, and it is delicious. Wow it's like a
warm hug. Now if you end up making your own Bruet of Almaynne in lente, make sure
to leave me a comment below, and let me know if yours is delicious as mine is,
because this is amazing. And even if you don't make it make sure to Like this
video, subscribe, hit the notification bell, and join me next time on Tasting
History. This would be a really good breakfast or anything. Lunch, dinner,
dessert. Awesome, really awesome. Hm! :)