Medieval recipe inspired by the Ménagier de Paris, displayed with a 14th-century glass and terrine, both discovered at Saint-Denis.
© C. Huyghens
If you do not have a mortar and pestle,a mixer may be used.
Make the dough for the crust using :
- 250g of flour,
- 50g of lard,
- 10cl of water
- 5g of salt/
Mix well and allow to sit for two hours.
Press the dough into an earthenware dish that has been greased with lard.
Pre-cook the crust for 15 minutes in a hot oven.
Finely chop :
- 100g of Swiss chard,
- 100g of spinach,
- a large bunch of parsley,
- a bunch of chervil
- a sprig of fennel,
- 3g of mint.
Place this mixture in a pestle with
- 100g of fromage frais,
- 50g of tomme cheese,
- 100g of grated cheese
- and 2g deach of powdered ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon.
Add 8 beaten eggs.
Add salt and mix well.
Pour mixture into the crust, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake in a hot oven (200°C) for 30 minutes.
Serve hot.
Claude Huyghens and Françoise Danrigal kindly donated this recipe-as well as the photograph displaying it with archaeological objects from Saint-Denis. For a number of years, they have been researching the cuisine of times past. In particular, they have contributed to the volume Fêtes gourmandes au Moyen Age (Feasts of the Middle Ages), Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1998.