Subject: Oculis Exciditis...

From: [email-masked] (Leigh Ann Hussey)
Date: 8 Feb 93 19:49:45 GMT

Greetings to the Rialto from Siobhan!  And a hearty hey there to
rec.food.historic from Leigh Ann.

I'm posting this article here, because it may not be deemed acceptable
for TOURNAMENTS ILLUMINATED (to which I'm also sending it), and I'd
really like people to see it; also, people on r.f.h may not get TI,
even if the article does end up therein.  I worked pretty hard on this
feast, and would like others to reap the benefits of my experience (and
errors!).  I haven't yet submitted it to TI, so if you have any editorial
comments, I'll receive them gratefully.  Without further ado:

OCULIS EXCIDITIS PORCUS DIMIDIUS FACTI
--------------------------------------
or, How to Pig Out with 130 of Your Closest Friends

In the Fall of 1991 I was approached by the Seneschale of Mountain's
Gate (Placerville) with a proposal: since she liked my cooking so much,
would I be willing to cook the feast for the Investiture of the Prince
of Cynagua at the end of January.  Without hesitation (hah!) I warmly
agreed.  After all, I didn't have to raise the money, I didn't have to
do the shopping (well, not much anyway), all I had to do was dream up a
menu, cook it, and feed it to people!  Easy, yes?  Well...

ASSEMBLING THE MENU
-------------------
First I needed a theme for the feast, so I inquired of the incipient
Prince's persona choice, which turned out to be Saxon.  I daydreamed
about mead benches and antler-crowned halls, the smoking blaze in the
middle of the hall, the rushes on the floor and the dogs begging for
scraps, and said, "Well, first thing, we have to have a whole roast
pig."  Luckily for me, one of the local Barons is a butcher by mundane
trade, and was able to procure said porker for me at a reasonable
price.  LESSON ONE: Make friends with your butcher, share your plans
with him.  He may get as enthusiastic about it as you are.  He advised
me to get, not a suckling pig at 40 pounds, but a full-grown pig at
closer to 100 pounds; apparently, around here at least, the price break
is substantial.  When I later found out exactly how many people I was
to feed, I was heartily glad we got the big pig.  My "feastocrat" asked
me, "Have you ever cooked a whole pig before?"  "No," said I, "but I
have books..."  I can hear you wincing from here.  I only mention it
for the purpose of explaining the title of this article; in Mrs.
Child's AMERICAN FRUGAL HOUSEWIFE, from 1833, she explains how to cook
a whole pig, giving the following memorable benchmark: "When the eyes
drop out, the pig is half done."  What with one bit of advice and
another, we decided that it would be best to start the pig the night
before, and give it 24 hours to cook.

For the rest of the feast, I wanted to stay as early as possible --
1400 or better, and was mostly successful.  Some of the recipes are
from manuscripts dated to around 1450, which I considered a reasonable
margin.

I decided to be brash, bold and egotistical, and not rely on anybody
else's recipe interpretations.  In the end, I did have to use a couple,
but the bulk of the recipes are my own developments.  I raided Butler
and Heiatt's CURY ON INGLYSHE for most of the original recipes, and
vol. 2 of TAKE A THOUSAND EGGS... for the rest.  I thought about what
would be available in England, in the winter, in Alden's "time", and
produced the menu that follows.

I include, where I had them, the period redactions (I've substituted
"th" for "thorn" -- my apologies to the purists), and my translations.
The recipes themselves, and the expanded ingredients to feed about 100
are at the very end of the article.  One note for the adventurous folk
who might want to derive their own recipes from the period texts (and
why shouldn't you?  I wanted to...): I discovered that much of my
"armchair cooking" -- brainstorming recipes on paper -- worked out
exactly right in the kitchen, with the exception of some minimal changes
to spicery.  I commented on this to a friend of mine who's done a great
deal of this sort of thing, and she said, "Well, that's not surprising.
When you're doing these things, it's more important to be fluent in
cooking than it is to be fluent in Middle English."

Feast for Cynagua's Winter Investiture, AS XXVII
------------------------------------------------
First Remove
------------
Caboches in potage.  Take caboches and quarter hem, and seeth hem in
gode broth with oynouns ymynced and the whyte of lekes yslyt and ycorue
smale.  And do therto safroun & salt, and force it with powdour douce.
(Forme of Cury)
[Cabbages in soup.  Take cabbages and quarter them, and seethe them in
good broth with minced onions and the white of leeks slit and cut
small.  Add saffron and salt, and enforce it with sweet powder.]

Divers cheses, fruytes & noteys, ayren pickle

A soteltey

Second Remove
-------------
Chicones in mose.  Tak blaunched almaundes & grynde hem smale & tempere
hem with clene watere, & do hem in a pot & put therto floure of rys &
sugre & salt & safroun, & boyle hem togedere.  & ley the 3elkes of
harde sothe eyren in disches, & tak rosted chikenes & tak the lemes & the
wynges & the braun, & cut that other del on lengthe, & ley it in the
disches with yolkes and take the sauche and hilde hit into the disches
& do aboue clowes & serue it forth.
(Utilis Coquinario)
[Chickens in mousse.  Take blanched almonds and grind them small and
mix them with clean water, and put them in a pot with rice flour and
sugar and salt and saffron and boil them together.  And lay the yolks
of hardboiled egs in dishes, and take roasted chicken legs and wings
and breasts (cut lengthwise), and lay it in the dishes with the yolks,
and take the sauce and pour it into the dishes, and sprinkle cloves
over, and serve it forth.]

Elys in counfy.  Tak eles & fle hem & cut hem on thynne gobetes, & frye
hem in oyle dolif, & pynes therewith; & tak bothe togedere & couche hem
in blaunche poudere, & in ceucre, & couche aboue poudere of gygere as
the quantite of thy seruise nedeth, & than take blaunched almaundes &
grynde hem smal & tempre hem with whit wyne; & streyne hem, & cast hem
in to a pot alle togeder. & tak poudere of clowes & of maces & of
quybibs & of peper, & cast therto & boyle hem in alle in fere, & salt
it, & when it is dressed florshe it aboue with myced gyngere that is
fayre pared & tryed.  
(Utilis Coquinario)
[Eels in confit.  Take eels and flay them, and cut them in thin pieces
and fry them in olive oil with pine nuts.  Take both (eels and nuts)
and roll them in white powder and sugar, and sprinkle over it powdered
ginger according to the amount of eels, and then take blanched almonds
ground small and mixed with white wine -- strain them and throw all
into a pot together.  Add powdered cloves, mace, cubeb, and pepper, and
bring to a boil, add salt, and then sprinkle over it minced (fresh)
ginger peeled and chopped.]

Gos farced.  Take Percely, & Swynys grece, or Sewet of a schepe, &
parboyle hem to-gederys til they ben tendyr; than take harde yolkys of
Eyroun, & choppe for-with; caste ther-to Pouder Pepir, Gyngere, Canel,
Safroun, & Salt, & grapis in tyme of yere, & clowys y-nowe; & for
defawte of grapis, Oynons, fyrst wil y-boylid, & afterward alle
to-choppyd, & so stuffe hym & roste hym, & serue hym forth.  
(Leche Vyaundez)
[Stuffed goose.  Take parsley, and bacon grease or sheep suet, and
parboil them together until they are tender; then take chopped
hardboiled egg yolks and add powdered pepper, ginger, cinnamon, saffron
and salt, and grapes in season, and enough cloves (and for default of
grapes, chopped parboiled onions), and so stuff him and roast him and
serve him forth.]

Samoun fresch endored & rostyd.

A soteltey

Third Remove
------------
Pigge ffarced.  Take rawe egges, and draw hem yorgh a streynour, And
then grate faire brede; And take saffron, salt, pouder ginger, And suet
of Shepe, And do medle all togidre into a faire vessell, and put hit in
the pigge wombe Whan he is on the brocche, And then sowe the hole
togidre; or take a prik, and prik him togidur, And lete him roste.
(Harleian ms 4016)
[Stuffed pig.  Take raw eggs and run them through a strainer, and then
grate nice bread, and take saffron, salt, powdered ginger, and sheep
suet, and mix all together in a bowl, and put it in the pig's cavity
when he is on the spit, and then sew the hole together, or take a spike
and spike him together, and let him roast.]

Benes yfryed.  Tak benes and seeth hem almost til they bursten.  Take
and wryng out the water clene.  Do therto oynouns ysode and ymynced, and
garlec therwith; frye hem in oile other in grece, & do therto powdour
douce, & serue it forth. 
(Forme of Cury)
[Fried beans.  Take beans and boil them almost until they burst, then
drain.  Add minced parboiled onions, and garlic; fry them in oil or
grease and add sweet powder, and serve it forth.]

Pasternakes

To make gingerbrede.  Take goode honye & clarefie it on the fere, &
take fayre paynemayn or wastel brede & grate it, & caste it into the
boylenge hony, & stere it well togyder faste with a sklyse that it bren
not to the vessell.  & thanne take it doun and put therin ginger, longe
pepere & saundres, & tempere it vp with thin handes; & than put hem to
a flatt boyste & strawe theron suger, & pick therin clowes round about
by the egge and in the mydes, yf it plece you, &c.  
(Sloan ms. 121)
[To make gingerbread.  Take good honey and clarify it on the fire, and
take good everyday bread or leftover bread and grate it, and cast it
into the boiling honey and stir it well together quickly with a spatula
(?) so it doesn't scorch.  Then take it off the heat and add ginger,
long pepper and sandlewood, and knead it; and then put it in a flat box
and sprinkle sugar on it, and stick cloves around the edge and in the
middle, if it pleases you, etc.]

A soteltey

Fourth Remove
-------------
Tartys in applis.  Tak gode applys & gode spycis & figys & reysons &
perys, & wan they arn wel yrayd colour wyth safroun wel & do yt in a
cofyn, & do yt forth to bake wel. 
(Diuersa Servicia)
[Apple tarts.  Take good apples and good spices and figs and raisins
and pears, and when they are well arrayed, color well with saffron and
put it in a pie shell, and set it to bake well.]

Rysshews of fruyt.  Take fyges and raisouns; pyke hem and waisshe hem
in wyne.  Grynde hem with apples and peers ypared and ypiked clene.  Do
therto gode powdours and hole spices; make balles therof, frye in oile,
and serue hem forth. 
(Forme of Cury)
[Rissoles of fruit.  Take figs and raisins, pick them over and wash
them in wine.  Grind them with apples and pears pared and picked
clean.  Add good powders and whole spices, make balls of the mixture,
fry in oil, and serve them forth.]

Daryols.  Take creme of cowe mylke, other of almaundes; do therto ayren
with sugur, safroun and salt.  Medle it yfere.  Do it in a coffyn of ii
ynche depe; bake it wel and serue it forth. 
(Forme of Cury)
[Darioles.  Take cream of cow milk or of almonds; add to it eggs with
sugar, safron and salt, and mix it.  Put it in a pie shell two inches
deep, bake it well and serve it forth.]

COOK UNTIL DONE
---------------
It was a marvelous pig roaster.  It had a bed for coals, and an
automatic spit-turner, and when we had spitted the pig and set it
turning, it looked like all would go stupendously.  But the wind blew a
gale all night, and while it didn't put the coals out, it did slow the
cooking such that the next day at 2:30 pm, while the skin had cracked
off the back, the spine of the pig had separated in several spots, and
grease continued to drip appetizingly into the fire, the meat was still
cool inside.  LESSON TWO: If you're not roasting in a pit, or in a
massive indoor fireplace, make sure your roaster has a cover.  LESSON
THREE: When faced with the possibility of serving your guests uncooked
pig, act decisively.  I directed the men to hoist our half-roasted
friend off the stand, bring her inside and take the spit out.  I then
took a cleaver, cut her in three pieces (just behind the shoulders and
just ahead of the hams), and we stuffed the pieces in the oven.  We had
chicken pieces still to roast, so instead of roasting them, we grilled
them over the coals in the pig roaster.  Ditto the salmon, wrapped in
foil.

After three hours at 350 F, the meat thermometer rose with gratifying
speed when Ernie slid it into the haunch, and we knew we'd won.  Now we
only had to figure out how to present what the people had expected to
be a whole roast pig.

AND SERVE IT FORTH
------------------
In the long run, it worked out perfectly.  I had fancied the idea of
the Princess's Champion carving the hero's portion -- there turned out
to be two co-Champions.  We were provided with a litter on which to
bear the pig to the hall: a 1/4" piece of plywood supplied with 1x1s to
give it a "lip", supported by a sort of St. Andrews cross (2x4s going
diagonally across under the board, with the ends carved for handles).
We arranged the three parts of the pig, covered the seams with greens
and strewed greens and apples liberally around her, and marched her
into the hall to general acclaim.  The two champions, having had a
dramatic argument over who got to carve the pig, both drew swords and
gave hacks at the pig -- Miracle! it came right apart, they must be
true heroes!  Well, you get the point.  A little bit of "business" can 
go a long way toward covering up potential embarassment.

RECIPES
-------

Caboches in potage
------------------
1 head cabbage, cored and quartered         2 qts chicken broth
2 onions, chopped                           whites of 4 leeks, chopped
1/4 t each saffron or turmeric, cinnamon, sugar, cardamom, galangal
1 t salt

Heat a little oil in the soup pot and cook the onions until they're 
translucent, then add the broth, bring to a boil, add the cabbage, leeks
and spices, and cook until the cabbage is as done as desired.

Expansion: 14 heads cabbage, 28 onions, 7 gallons broth, 28 leeks, 5 T
salt, 3.5 t each of other spices.

Ayren pickle 
------------
Note: I got this recipe from THE CRAFT OF THE COUNTRY COOK

1 doz hardboiled eggs, shelled              2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 lb whole pearl onions, peeled           1t salt
2.5c cider vinegar                          4T honey
1/4t each: cinnamon, cloves, allspice, mace, dill, tarragon, 
grains of paradise; a shake of turmeric

Put eggs in hot, sterilized canning jars.  Boil all the other ingredients
in a saucepan, simmer 5 min.  Pour the hot liquid over the eggs in jars,
covering eggs completely.  Seal jars, cool, and store in a cool place.

Expansion: 9 doz eggs, 4.5 lb onions, 11 pints + .5 c vinegar, 1 head
garlic, 3 T salt, 2.25 c honey, 2.25 t spices

Samoun fresch endored & rosted
------------------------------
Note: this dish is listed in one of the menus from Cosin ms V.III.11(c),
from the 14th century (as I found it in CURYE ON INGLYSCH), but no
recipe is given, so I made one up based in part on a similar glaze for
chicken described in TAKE A THOUSAND EGGS.  In the case of this feast,
as I mentioned, we had to cook the salmon in foil over coals, so when
the oven was clear of pork, we set the salmon in the oven for a little
bit longer, glazing it then rather than before.

1 whole salmon
stuffing: 2 c ground hazelnuts in 1/4 c honey melted with 1/4 c butter
glaze: 4 egg yolks, beaten with 1T flour, 1t ginger, 1/2 t pepper, 
pinch saffron, 1t salt

Stuff the salmon, then glaze and roast at 350deg F for 15 min per inch
of width (1/2 hour for a 2" thick salmon); baste occasionally with
leftover glaze.

For the feast we made three such salmon, so the proportions should be
easy to figure out...

Gos farced
----------
Note: this recipe is from Renfrow's TAKE A THOUSAND EGGS OR MORE, vol. 1

8 lb goose               2 small onions, chopped or 1/2 c seedless grapes
1c chopped parsley       1/2 c chicken broth
2 T bacon fat, lard, or sheep suet	
1 t salt           1/4 c water         2 t powdered ginger
3 hard-boiled egg yolks                1/2 t powdered cinnamon
dash pepper                            pinch saffron

Put parsley, water, broth, fat, and onions (or grapes) in a pot and
bring to boil, cook for 5 minutes, then remove pot from the heat.
Strain out the parsley and onions (or grapes) and mix them in a bowl
with spices, salt and egg yolks.  Stuff the bird, roast it at 350deg F
F for 2.5-3 hours or until the juice runs clear when you poke the
bird.  Drain the fat from time to time.

For the feast, we only roasted one goose, for the high table.

Chicones in mose
----------------
16 chicken parts -- legs, thighs, half breasts     1 doz hardboiled eggs
2.5 c water              1/2 c rice flour
1 c blanched almonds     1T sugar, 1/2t salt, pinch saffron, ground cloves

Roast chicken parts at 425deg F for 15-20 min, or till the skins are
golden brown.  Remove egg yolks (discard whites), and chop coarsely,
then put them in the serving dish.  When the chicken is done, lay it on
top of the egg yolks.
Chop up the almonds in a blender/food processor until they're pretty
small, but not yet powdery.  Add 1c of the water, and process again.
Then add saffron, sugar, salt, and flour and process, adding the
remaining water gradually.  Pour the mixture into a pot, bring to a low
boil, stirring frequently.  Don't let burn!  Let sit for at least 10
min, for the saffron to come to full flavor -- it will continue to
strengthen (up to a point).  If need be, the sauce can be reheated.
Just before serving, pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle clove
over the top, and "serve it forth"!

Expansion: 100 pieces of chicken, 7 doz hardboiled eggs, 7 c blanched
almonds, 4qts + 1.5 c water, 6.5 c rice flour, 1/2 c sugar, 1 T salt,
saffron and cloves to taste.

Elys in counfy
--------------
2 eels, skinned and sliced crosswise     1 T ginger mixed with 1 T sugar
1/2 c pine nuts                          1 c blanched almonds
1 T olive oil                            1 c white wine
1/2 t each: cloves, mace, pepper         a little fresh grated ginger

Heat olive oil in a pot and fry the eel slices with the pine nuts.
Grind the almonds together with the wine.  Put the ginger/sugar mixture
in the pot and stir around 'til each eel slice is coated.  Add the
almond milk and other spices, cook just until hot through, sprinkle
with salt to taste and just before serving top with grated fresh
ginger.
If folks don't find this appetizing (no comments about Lord Randall,
thanks), feed them roast eels with the following white garlic sauce
from LE VIANDIER DE TAILLEVENT 3 cloves crushed garlic mixed with 3
slices worth of bread crumbs, moistened to whatever seems like the
right consistency (about that of Mexican salsa) with a mixture of
1/2 white grape juice and 1/2 vinegar.

For the feast, we went light on the eels, for fear of there being not
much enthusiasm for them, but to our astonishment, they were eaten all
up.  Expansion: 6 eels, 1.5 c pine nuts, 3 T oil, 1.5 t cloves/mace/pepper,  
3 T sugar/ginger, 1 c almonds, 3 c wine...

Pasternakes
-----------
Note: this dish is also in one of the Cosin ms. menus, though no recipe
is provided...

1 lb chopped parsnips            1t cinnamon, 1/2t nutmeg
1 lb chopped carrots             2T butter

Boil the vegetables until soft, drain off the water.  Mash them together
with the spices and butter, serve hot.

Expansion: 7 lb parsnips, 7 lb carrots, 2 T + 1 t cinnamon, 3.5 t
nutmeg, 1 and 2/3 cubes butter.

Benes yfryed
------------
Note: I chose favas for this dish, because as far as I know they are among
the few shell beans native to the old world.  The dried ones soak up a
phenomenal amount of water, as we discovered (we used the small variety
of dried favas -- about the size of a garbanzo/chickpea -- rather than
the lima bean size), so don't be surprised if there are leftovers.

3c fava beans (if dried, soak overnight first; if canned, rinse the salt away)
1 chopped onion, 2 chopped cloves garlic
1/2t each sugar, and powders of: cinnamon, cardamom, galangal

Boil favas until the skins curl up when blown upon (if they were dried);
drain them well.
Heat 2T oil in a pan, throw in onions and spices first, then the beans,
stir the mess around 'til hot through.

Expansion: 5 lb favas, 3 onions, 1.5 t spices, 6 T oil.

Pigge farced
------------
100lb dressed pig
basting sauce: garlic, rosemary and sage in about 1c olive oil
stuffing: 1 loaf's worth of DRIED (this is important! we used fresh bread,
  and the stuffing turned into an unappetizing brown mess which we had
  to throw away and rinse from the cavity before I could chop up the pig
  and put the parts in the oven) bread crumbs mixed with 6 beaten eggs,
  1 big pinch saffron, 1 T ginger, 2 t salt.

Wash the pig and dry it -- prop open the jaws with a block of wood or a
rock.  Brush the sauce all over the skin, stuff with the stuffing and
sew or skewer the cavity closed.  Cook @ preheated (!) 350deg F for ~15
min/pound -- about 30 hours should do it, so start the night before.
To be sure, stick a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the haunch,
and accept it as cooked if the thermometer reads 160deg F.

Hot water pastry for "Coffyns"
------------------------------
Note: this is a classic recipe.  I derived mine from a variety of
(admittedly late) historic sources, among them Mrs. Beeton's household
management book, and Mrs. (not Julia) Child's AMERICAN FRUGAL HOUSEWIFE.

1 lb butter                        1 c water
2 lb flour                         2 T salt

Boil water & butter together; mix flour & salt; let the water cool a
bit, then pour and work it into the flour, until the dough is soft but
not sticky.  Chill at least 30 min.  Shape the dough into boxes (or
whatever shape), and let sit before filling.

Expansion: 30 lb flour, 15 lb butter, 2 qts water, 2 c less 2 T salt

Tartys in applis
----------------
2 apples, chopped                  2 pears, chopped
1/2 c figs, chopped                spices:  nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves
1 c raisins                        pinch of saffron

Chop and mix together the fruits and spices, and put them in small tart 
shells.  Bake @ preheated 350deg F for 30 min.

Expansion: 25 lb apples (we used 2 no.10 cans' worth), 25 lb pears, 5 lb
figs, 10 lb raisins.

Rysshews of fruyt
-----------------
1 c figs                           1 pear, pared & chopped
2 c raisins                        white wine
2 apples, pared & chopped          1/2c flour

Soak the figs & raisins in wine to cover for about 1/2 hour, then drain
and chop all the fruits fine -- mash the raisins first, they'll make a
paste to hold the stuff together.  Add allspice, nutmeg, sugar,
cardamom and galangal to taste, drop by spoonfuls into hot oil and fry
they'll be crunchy and caramelized on the outside, still soft on the
inside.

Expansion: 5 lb figs, 20 lb raisins, 25 lb apples, 12.5 lb pears, 2 gal
wine, 12.5 c flour.

Daryols
-------
I used a mixture of cream and thick almond milk for my kitchen test; at
the actual feast, we ran low on almonds, so used less almond milk, and
it worked fine anyway.

1.5c cream                          1/2c sugar
3 eggs + 1 yolk                     1/8t saffron powder
1/2 c blanched almonds, blended fine with 1/2c water     1/4t salt

Bake in little coffyns 2" deep  bake the shells first at 425deg F until
they just begin to brown, then reduce the heat to 325deg F, fill the
shells with the custard and bake again for 30-35 min until the custard
is set and the shells are golden brown.

Expansion: 1 gal cream, 5 c sugar, 5 c almonds, 33 eggs (24 + 9 yolks),
4 c water, 1 t saffron, 2 t salt

Cake-style Gingerbread for the Royal Arms Soteltie
--------------------------------------------------
Note: I chose to leave out the sandalwood (saundres) which, Leche Vyaundez
indicates, is only to make it red, since I want to use red in the
decoration -- I found red sandalwood, incidentally, at my local occult
bookshop...  LV also suggested the cinnamon.)

4 c honey                       1 t white pepper
1 lb breadcrumbs (a loaf's worth - use cheap bread)
sugar to sprinkle on top       1 T ginger           whole cloves
2 t cinnamon

If you plan to draw with the sugar, mix it up with powdered
spices/herbs: Gules - cinnamon or sandalwood; Vert - dried parsley or
mint; Or - turmeric; etc.
Boil the honey, skimming any foam that forms.  Throw in the breadcrumbs
and stir constantly, until the bread has soaked up all the honey.  Stir
in the ginger, cinnamon and pepper.  Turn it out and knead it until it
is smooth, adding a little flour if necessary if the dough is too
sticky.  Then put it in a square pan.  Set whole cloves in the top in a
pattern (in this case, we used them to outline the armorial charges),
then sprinkle the colored sugars where desired -- think of sandpainting...

Stiff Gingerbread for the Heorot Soteltie
-----------------------------------------
Note: this recipe comes from (this time) Julia Child.  I don't presume
that the idea of gingerbread houses is period, but I wanted all my
sotelties to be edible, and I was trying to keep to the Saxon theme.
Alas, the gingerbread Grendel didn't hold up in the oven, so we painted
him on the side of the house with royal icing.

2 sticks butter                            1 t ground cloves
1 c dark brown sugar                       1 t nutmeg
1 c white sugar                            2 t ginger
4 eggs                                     2 t cardamom
1/4 t salt     4-5 c all-purpose flour     2 t cinnamon

Cream butter and sugars together; beat in eggs and seasonings and beat
for 2 minutes more.  Gradually beat in as much flour as possible, until
the mixer clogs (or your spoon threatens to break...).  Turn out onto a
floured board, vigorously knead in more flour until dough is VERY
stiff, then wrap airtight and refrigerate at least 12 hours.  To shape,
roll chilled dough to 1/4 in.  and cut shapes as desired  keep the
dough cold.  Preheat oven to 350deg F, bake the pieces 12-18 min or
until they feel dry and firm to the touch and the edges are just
browning.  Cool on a rack, and assemble.

Arielle's recipe for royal icing to hold the house together:
------------------------------------------------------------
3 egg whites                   1/2 t cream of tartar
1 lb confectioner's sugar, sifted

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a small bowl until foamy;
slowly beat in sugar until frosting stands in firm peaks and is stiff
enough to hold a sharp line when cut through with a knife.  Keep bowl
of icing covered with damp paper towelling while working, to keep it
from drying out and getting too stiff.  Store leftover frosting in a
tightly covered jar in the fridge.

Arielle's Marzipan for the Black Swan Soteltie
----------------------------------------------
2 c almonds (not blanched), ground
1-2/3 c sifted powdered sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 t lemon juice or orange flower water

Mix together & knead into a smooth dough.  Wrap and keep in a cool
place until ready to shape.  (You may need, as we did for the swan's
neck, to use a dowel or two to keep some of the shapes in place)

Bibliographical Notes: my source for the recipe texts is mainly Heiatt
and Butler's redaction CURYE ON INGLYSCH.  The stuffings for the goose
and pig come from Cindy Renfrow's TAKE A THOUSAND EGGS OR MORE.  The
original manuscripts date as follows:
Diuersa Servicia: c. 1381
Utilis Coquinario: c. 1425
The Forme of Cury: c. 1400
Leche Vyaundez: c. 1420
Harleian 4016: c. 1450
Sloan 121: c. 1450

BIBLIOGRAPHY
------------
Child, Lydia Marie.  THE AMERICAN FRUGAL HOUSEWIFE, 12th ed. (1833).
   Facsimile edition published by Applewood Books, Cambridge MA in
   cooperation with Old Sturbridge Village (date not recorded,
   but ISBN 0-918222-98-2)
Hieatt, Constance B. and Sharon Butler.  CURYE ON INGLYSCH.  Oxford
   University Press (English Text Society), 1985.
Katz, Pat.  THE CRAFT OF THE COUNTRY COOK.  Point Roberts, WA: Hartley &
   Marks, 1988.
Prescott, James, trans.  LE VIANDIER DE TAILLEVENT.  Eugene, OR:
   Alfarhaugr Publishing Society, 1989.
Renfrow, Cindy.  TAKE A THOUSAND EGGS OR MORE. (both volumes) Published
   by the author, 1990.