Grand Order of Knights Templars

Cormayre

 

This is an exceptionally simple and very tasty recipe. The combination of coriander and caraway, a bit unusual for medieval English recipes, gives the meat and the sauce a strong, complimentary flavor.

2 lbs. pork loin 
1 1/2 tsp. coriander 
1 1/2 tsp. caraway 
1/2 tsp. pepper 
1/2 tsp. salt 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
2 cups red wine 
1 cup broth 

Mix spices and garlic with wine and pour over pork in a roasting pan. Cover and bake at 350° until cooked through, basting regularly. Strain the drippings from the roasting pan into a saucepan, along with the broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve sauce with pork.

 

Mawmenee

 

A dish of poultry smothered in a sweet, spicy white wine sauce with dates and pine nuts. The original recipe calls for chicken, however I used seitan instead of the meat so that the final dish would be an excellent alternate vegan dish for a vegetarian at a meat-heavy feast. Seitan is a chewy product made from wheat gluten, with a texture that mimics that of chicken quite nicely. While it was developed in Asia well before the medieval period begins, it was not used in England in the middle ages.

2 cups Reisling white wine 
4 Tbsp. sugar 
1/2 tsp. ginger 
1/4 tsp. cinnamon 
1/8 tsp. ground cloves 
1 tsp. olive oil 
1/4 cup chopped dates 
1/4 cup pine nuts 
1 package of chicken-style seitan 
red sandalwood, to color appropriate shade of red 

Set the wine to boil and dissolve the sugar in it. Then add the spices to the wine base, and then color it with red sandalwood until it becomes reddish. Meanwhile, brown dates and pine nuts in olive oil, and then add them to the wine base. Allow to boil gently until reduced a little into a sauce-like consistency. Drain the water from the package of seitan and pull it apart with your fingers into bite-sized pieces. Add the seitan to the wine base, and heat until the seitan is hot.

 

Stuffed Piglet

 

There are a large number of medieval recipes in which a pig, goat, or sheep is stuffed. This one is quite easy, especially if an 8 pound portion of pork loin is used instead of a whole piglet. Tie the pork loin closed with string, or wrap it in a netting of fat if you can get one from your local butcher.

This recipe is good on its own, but would also be excellent served with a sauce like yellow pepper sauce.

4 eggs 
8 slices bread, ground 
1/2 cup raisins 
1/2 tsp. ginger 
1/2 tsp. salt 
1/4 tsp. pepper 
pinch saffron 

Pass eggs through a strainer, discarding any "stringy bits". Add ground bread and raisins. In a small bowl, mix spices well. Add the spices to the eggs and bread, and mix well. Stuff piglet and bake at 350°F until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160°F.