Category: Cooking

Last weekend we returned to the Bard Graduate Center Gallery for their “Setting the Table” exhibit, which featured period books and artifacts focused on two aspects of upper-class formal dining: one side of the gallery featured cutlery and carving guides, while the other exhibited fine linens and elaborate folding techniques.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was more drawn to the knives and kitchen-related texts, while Alienor has spent the last week figuring out how to replicate some of the complex linen folds in paper. Continue reading Museum Visit: Renaissance Table Settings

This apple-and-cheese pie comes from a 16th C. German cookbook.

While apples and cheese are a classic snack pairing, their combination in this pie is pleasantly surprising. Continue reading Tortta von Epffel

This apple-and-pear pie comes from a royal cookbook of 14th C. England.

The use of saffron gives an interesting orange tint to the fruit. Continue reading Tartys In Applis

This spinach quiche comes from 14th C. France, where it was included in a book instructing housewives how to maintain their residence and carry out their wifely duties. While the marital advice is no longer relevant, many of the recipes are still quite useful. Continue reading Tourte Verte

This sweet onion quiche comes from 14th C. England.

(Ember days were three days of penance in each quarter of the liturgical calendar during which Catholics were instructed to abstain from eating meat and devote themselves to prayer.) Continue reading Tart in Ymbre Day