Shakespeare's Kitchen (3 page)

SERVES 4

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows …

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM,
2.1

 
T
HE BEAUTIFUL COLORS,
the presentation, and the wonderful light flavors of this dish typify the sophistication of Elizabethan cuisine. Many types of edible flowers were used in cooking, both for their visual appeal and for their taste. Flowers were not set out onto the table in vases, but rather the dinner platters and the food itself were considered the decoration and were enhanced with flowers. Cookbooks of the time even list instructions on salads “for shewe only” with details on creating large elaborate “flowers” made of various cut vegetables and herbs.

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

1 large Vidalia onion, sliced paper-thin

1 salmon fillet, cut into 4 strips (about 12 ounces)

¾ cup edible violets

1.
    Place the vinegar, sugar, and lemon juice in a small bowl and slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss the onion in the vinaigrette and set aside.

2.
    Preheat the grill. Lightly coat the salmon with a little vinaigrette and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until firm.

3.
    Place a mound of the onion in the center of each plate and top with a piece of salmon. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over the salmon and arrange the violets on the salmon and around the plate.

ORIGINAL RECIPE:

An other [Sallets for fish days]

Salmon cut long waies with slices of onyons upon it layd and upon that to cast Violets, Oyle and Vineger.

THE GOOD HUSWIFES JEWELL,
1587

Spring Pea Tortellini

SERVES 8 TO 10 (APPROXIMATELY 80 TORTELLINI)

 … and I remember the wooing of a peascod instead of her,
from whom I took two cods and, giving her them again, said
with weeping tears ‘Wear these for my sake.’

AS YOU LIKE IT,
2.4

 P
EASCODS, OR PEA PODS,
usually gathered in springtime, were exchanged as a token of love. An old English proverb states, “Winter time for shoeing, peascod time for wooing.” According to Elizabethans, if you tugged a pea pod off the vine and it stayed intact, it meant someone was in love with you.

If you don’t want to make the tortellini, you can get almost the same taste combination by tossing one pound of cooked spaghetti with the pea mixture and sprinkling on the delicious and unusual Parmesan-cinnamon topping.

2 large eggs

3½ cups flour

½ cup white wine

1 small onion, minced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound fresh shelled peas, parboiled (or frozen petite peas, thawed)

1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese

1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon freshly milled black pepper

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

2 quarts
Renaissance Stock

12 sweet pea flowers (optional)

1.
    Combine the eggs, flour, and wine in a large bowl and mix with a fork until the dough begins to come together. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, or until it feels velvety. Cover well with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for up to 3 hours.

2.
    Cook the onion and olive oil in a sauté pan over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 1 minute. Let cool to room temperature and purée until smooth. Place the ricotta cheese, ½ cup of the Parmesan cheese, the nutmeg, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the pea purée and mix well.

3.
    Roll out one fourth of the dough at a time into a paper-thin sheet and cut out circles with a 3-inch ring cutter. Place a teaspoonful of the filling in the center of each pasta circle and fold in half, pinching the edges to form a tight seal. Pinch the two ends of each half circle together to form the tortellini. Repeat the process with the remaining dough. The tortellini can be placed on a floured baking sheet, covered in plastic wrap, and refrigerated for up to 4 hours.

4.
    Combine the remaining 1 cup Parmesan cheese, the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl.

5.
    Bring the Renaissance Stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the tortellini and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they float. Remove from the stock with a slotted spoon and drain well.

6.
    Toss the tortellini in the Parmesan mixture and spoon onto the center of each plate. Arrange the sweet pea flowers over the tortellini and serve immediately.

ORIGINAL RECIPE:

Tortelleti, of green Pease, French Beans, or any kind of Pulse green or dry

Take pease green or dry, French beans, or garden beans green or dry, boil them tender, and stamp them; strain them through a strainer, and put to them some fried onions chopped small, sugar, cinamon, cloves, pepper and nutmeg, some grated parmisan, or fat cheese, and some cheese curds stamped.

Then make paste, and make little pasties, boil them in broth, or as beforesaid, and serve them with sugar, cinamon, and grated cheese in a fine clean dish.

THE ACCOMPLISHT COOK,
1660

Crab with Pistachios and Pine Nuts

SERVES 4

 O
NE OF THE ORIGINAL
garnishes suggested for this dish was buttery biscuits. For feasts given by the wealthy or noble, the pastry might have been shaped in the family crest or coat of arms. Interestingly, in 1596, Shakespeare officially registered his own family coat of arms. Demonstrating his love of word play, he selected a crest that featured a long spear, an obvious pun on his last name. For your own Shakespeare pun garnish with asparagus spears!

¼ cup pine nuts

¼ cup pistachios

6 ounces crabmeat, cleaned

¼ cup white wine

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 large egg, beaten

¼ cup dried bread crumbs

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

⅛ teaspoon salt

2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick

1 teaspoon dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Asparagus spears, blanched (optional)

1.
    Place the pine nuts and pistachios in a double layer of plastic bags and pound them a few times with a meat mallet. (They should still be fairly coarse.)

2.
    Combine the crabmeat, nuts, wine, nutmeg, egg, bread crumbs, lemon juice, parsley, and salt (omit salt if canned crab is used) until well mixed.

3.
    Preheat the broiler. Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop about 2 tablespoons of the crab mixture at a time onto a greased baking sheet and pat gently to form a dome shape. Broil for 6 minutes, or until light golden at the edges.

4.
    Place the orange slices on a baking sheet and sprinkle with brown sugar and butter. Broil for 1 minute, or until they just begin to brown.

5.
    Place 4 crab cakes in the center of each plate and arrange the orange slices around the plate. If using, garnish with asparagus spears.

Dried Plums with Wine and Ginger–Zest Crostini

SERVES 8 TO 10

Sir, she came in great with child; and longing, saving
your honour’s reverence, for stewed prunes …

MEASURE FOR MEASURE,
2.1

 T
HIS SIXTEENTH-CENTURY
recipe calls for the dried plums to be served in a tart as part of the first course. However, in another cookbook of the time,
L’Opera,
by Bartolomeo Scappi, published in Italy in 1570, a similar dried-plum mix is served on toast points as an appetizer, as suggested here.

The striking contrast of the ginger and lemon zest against the dark purple plums makes this unusual appetizer both beautiful and delicious.

1 cup red wine

2 tablespoons sugar

6 ounces pitted dried plums

1 2-inch cinnamon stick

1 loaf French baguette bread

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

2 tablespoons finely julienned fresh ginger

Zest of ½ lemon

1.
    Place the wine, sugar, dried plums, and cinnamon stick in a nonreactive saucepan. Simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes, or until the mixture is thickened. Remove the cinnamon stick and mash the dried plums with a fork.

2.
    Preheat the broiler. Cut the baguette into ¼-inch-thick slices and place on a baking sheet. Brush the slices with the olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Toast under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes, or until light golden brown.

3.
    Spread 1 tablespoon of the warm plum mixture on each toasted bread slice and sprinkle with the ginger and lemon zest.

ORIGINAL RECIPE:

To make a tartes of proines

Put your proines into a pot, and put in red wine or Claret wine, & a little faire water, stirre them nowe and then, and when they be boyled enough, put them into a bowle and strain them with sugar, synamon, and ginger.

THE GOOD HUSWIFES JEWELL,
1587

Damson plums were a favorite Elizabethan fruit and “eaten before dyner, be good to provoke a mans appetyde.” They were also popular dried into prunes. It is unclear why, perhaps because they allegedly inflamed men’s appetites, but stewed prunes were a favorite dish at Elizabethan brothels and also were a synonym for prostitutes. Shakespeare mentions prunes in that context in
King Henry IV, The Merry Wives of Windsor,
and
Measure for Measure.

Prawns in Citrus Cream

SERVES 4

 T
HE COMMON MAN
ate prawns and shrimp simply prepared, just boiled and dipped in vinegar. Shellfish were also appreciated by the upper classes, and this more elegant dish combining prawns and succulent oysters was designed with them in mind.

1 lemon

1 orange

2 tablespoons whole-wheat flour

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

2 tablespoons canola oil

4 medium-large oysters, shelled

1 teaspoon butter, unsalted

12 prawns (or shrimp), peeled and deveined

¼ cup cream

4 bay leaves

1.
    Zest the lemon and set aside the zest. Remove the remaining white pith and cut the lemon into ¼-inch-thick slices.

2.
    Zest the orange and set aside the zest. Remove the remaining white pith and cut the orange into ¼-inch-thick slices.

3.
    Place the flour in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Dredge the oysters in the flour and cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Wipe out the pan. Melt the butter in the pan, add the prawns, and cook for 3 minutes on each side, or until pink and firm. Add the lemon zest, orange zest, and cream and cook until just warm.

4.
    Place shrimp in the center of a serving platter and arrange the oysters around them. Spoon the sauce over the shrimp and oysters. Alternate the orange and lemon slices with the bay leaves around the outside of the serving platter.

ORIGINAL RECIPE:

To fry Oysters

Take two quarts of great Oysters being parboil’d in their own liquor, and washed in warm water, bread them, dry them, and, flour them, fry them in clarified butter crisp and white, then have butter’d prawns or shrimps, butter’d with cream and sweet butter, lay them in the bottom of a clean dish, and lay the fryed oysters round about them, run them over with beaten butter, juyce of oranges, bay-leaves stuck round the Oysters, and slices of oranges or lemons.