For my challenge, I”m going to create an early 16th C. German middle class woman’s outfit.  It will include a Hemd (German word for a chemise); a blue, wool Hausfrau gown with black velveteen guarding, similar to the dress above; a Gollar, which is similar to a Flemish partlet; and a Steuchlein (German cap) and veil.  All fabrics come from my rather large stash, except for the blue wool for the gown, which I purchased on sale for $85.

I already started the gown, which I’m very excited about.  The bodice has a simple, square cut neckline & a front closure.  The skirt is hand pleated with rolled pleats & then hand sewn to the bodice.  The entire gown is lined with muslin to strengthen and protect the garment.  I’m so very excited about the rolled pleats.  This is my first try at making them, and I’m quite pleased with how they’re coming out so far.  When I was researching the gown, I read several articles that speculated on the type of pleats used.  The most common theories I found are that they are either cartridge pleats or rolled pleats, due to the way the skirt puffs out at the hip.  I used cartridge pleats on a houppelande I made last spring and my experience is that they do not leave the same full length drape that I kept seeing in paintings of the Hausfrau gown.  With that knowledge in hand, I decided to try the rolled pleats, as I had read on several sewing sites that these pleats do drape the full length of the fabric.  I’ve already sewn two thirds of the skirt in place and the pleats look amazing!  I tried to share my excitement with my husband, but I received that sort of blank look that indicated he really didn’t understand what I was talking about, although he did attempt to be encouraging.

The only other part I’ve started is the Steuchlein, which is made from a lovely striped linen.  The main part of the cap is finished, but I made the stuffed roll at the back too short to create the “halo” effect desired, so I’ll have to remove it and try again.  My steuchlein will not be nearly as large as the one in the above painting.  I’ll add more examples later, along with some photos of my work so far.

http://coteduciel.org/challenge.html

I’m looking forward to this weekend’s taste-test.  If it goes well, I’ll not only have gained a new skill, but found an economical way to celebrate with friends!

So–we gave the mead an initial taste test, & although it was not fully aged, it had the delicious flavor of a sweet, honey orange soda, with about the same alcohol taste as cider that’s been sitting open for a week or two.  I determined to let the second bottle sit for a month & open it at Great NorthEastern War, a weekend event we go to each June.  Sadly, about two weeks before the War, I was awaked at three a.m. by something that sounded like the kitchen mantle had fallen from the wall & all it’s contents crashed to the floor.  When I rushed to discover the source of this calamity, although relieved that my antique clock was still sitting soundly on it’s shelf, I was saddened to find that the remaining bottle of mead had exploded all over my small kitchen.  I’ll be trying this recipe again soon, being much more careful about checking that pressure is released from the bottle regularly.

This book is a classic in medieval studies, and I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it.  Essentially, ten friends go into the country for ten days and every day they each take a turn telling a story, leaving the reader with a total of 100 short stories.  This makes the book wonderful for reading a bit at a time between the regular tasks of a hectic life.  The stories are both entertaining and divulge a glimpse of the day to day life of a variety of fourteenth century characters.  Boccaccio brilliantly uses his stories to make social commentary in a lighthearted manner.  This commentary, in itself, gives great insight into the workings of an educated medieval mind.

Boccaccio also uses great nuance to create the characters of the ten friends.  A good deal can be learned about each of the friends, not only through their actions and interactions, but also by the nature of the stories each of them tells.  Because they each tell only one story per day, it takes a bit of extra attention to coalesce the stories throughout the  400+ page book into each individual’s personality, but it is well worth the extra effort; giving more depth to each character and a greater understanding into their interactions with one another.

Although the Decameron was considered scandalous by certain contemporaries of Boccaccio, to the modern eye, any part that may be considered indelicate works only to bridge the divide between modern and medieval culture by accentuating our similarities.

"The Presentation in the Temple", Rogier Van der Weyden, 1455.

Magdalena (right wing of Braque family triptych), Rogier Van der Weyden, 1450.

A couple months ago, I started a replica of the gown in Rogier Van der Weyden’s painting “The Presentation in the Temple”.

As this painting shows mostly the back and side of the gown, I’ve also used his painting of Magdalena to create the front of the gown, because the seams at the shoulders match those of the “Presentation” and it seems logical that these gowns are most likely the same pattern.

The paintings do not adequately depict the lower portion of the gown, i.e. how many gores there are and where the seams lie, therefore, I am working on the presumption that it would be constructed similarly to a basic kirtle.  (I’ll blog about kirtles later, promise!)

To start the gown, I cut four rectangles to reach from just below the shoulders to the floor and basted the front and back seams in a straight line.  Then I added strap-like pieces at the shoulders (the cap-sleeves will later be attached to these).  The strap-pieces measured 4″X18″ to start, but they’ll be trimmed after everything fits properly.

Once the height was adjusted, I marked the side-seams for fit and sewed them in place.  Then I checked the back seam again, made some adjustments, stitched it, removed the basting and tried it on again.  Because this is a pattern draft/drape hybrid, many fittings are required.

Next, I cut two trapezoids for the shoulders.  They started as rectangles, but I trimmed them to fit properly and now they measure 14″ at the shoulder (top edge in picture), 19.5″ at the sleeve (bottom edge), 10″ at the front seam and 9.25″ at the back seam.  These were a little tricky to make fit properly; they didn’t want to lay flat where the bodice, shoulder & sleeve all meet, but I hand basted them in place, rather than using pins, and then they behaved nicely.

At this point, I need to add the skirt gores, add the extra pieces of cloth at the decolletage (I should have done this before I sewed the shoulders on, oops!), and add the triangular piece of fabric at the back.  Then I’ll flat fell the seams, hem the bottom, finish the sleeve and neck edges, and add lacing in the front.

Stay tuned…I’ll be adding more details and pictures as I get more done.

Cosman starts the book with a chapter giving an overview of medieval feasting.  She gives several examples of feasts from period literature, along with a number of sample menus.  As though painting a picture, she describes the feast hall layout and decor along with the accompanying serving vessels and other accoutrements in vivid detail.  She then brings the hall to life by discussing the entertainments performed at the medieval feast, the ceremony, etiquette, and manner of serving and the cultural attitude toward feasting.

In the following chapters, she discusses the vast ingredients used in medieval cookery, some of which are quite exotic to the modern mind.  She then moves on to sauces, spices, baked goods, potables and subtleties.  Next, she enhances the readers image of medieval food by discussing the markets,  merchants, legal rules and regulations pertaining to the sale of foods, systems of weights and measures, water systems within the city and laws pertaining to pollution.

Finally, the last section of the book provides some ideas for recreating your own medieval feast along with the hundred or so recipes.  This is the one section that I believe could be improved in future editions.  The recipes, while quite interesting and well organized, only show the author’s redaction of these recipes without providing the text from  the original manuscript.  As a curious reader, this would not be particularly detrimental, however, the serious historical cook will prefer to see the recipes in their original state in order to interpret the descriptions themselves.  (Many historic recipes do not provide exact measurements of ingredients, therefore different cooks may interpret the same recipe in different manners, resulting in quite unique dishes.)

All in all, I’m quite pleased with the new addition to my library and look forward to trying out the recipes, then sitting down to nibble, possibly while reading one of the texts from the extensive bibliography.

Spice Cake with Heraldic decor (Not a period recipe)

We hosted a pot-luck dinner last night and I tried out four delicious recipes. The first two were from “The Medieval Cookbook” by Maggie Black. First was Frumenty, a cracked-wheat, porridge type dish that was eaten as a side-dish by the wealthy & as a main course by everyone else. I made this in the Norman fashion, thickened with egg yolk & flavored with saffron, however rather than using beef stock, I used vegetable broth, because one of our guests is vegetarian & I wanted everyone to be able to try it. It was quite tasty and filling in a healthy-feeling sort of way. I’ll probably be making it again in the future, but because of its mild flavor, I’ll be using it as a side-dish.

The second recipe was Mushroom Pasties. Pasties are a bit like a small, single serving sized pie, which I understand are still popular in the British Isles. I made this recipe as a single, large pie to save preparation time and it seemed to work out quite well. Considering the few ingredients, (the filling is basically mushrooms & a small amount of cheese seasoned with some olive oil, pepper, salt & mustard powder) they were surprisingly flavorful. Fortunately for and previously unknown to me, a large portion of our guests are not fond of mushrooms, so half a pie was left for me to munch on.

The Medieval Cookbook is well laid-out, organizing the recipes into sections according to different situations including foods for traveling, monastic foods and feasting. It also includes a chapter on herbals and simples, although the publishers include a disclaimer regarding the use of the recipes. Ms. Black keeps the book a good read with her informative introduction and by starting each chapter with some information on the social atmosphere the recipes would have been found in. It’s also quite delightful that each recipe is included as it was originally written, just above her interpretation of it.

The third recipe was for a White Leach, a type of sweet made with milk & gelatin flavored with rosewater, which I learned at the Simple Fancy Desserts class I took at the Great Northeastern War in July. The class, taught by Mistress Caryl de Trecesson, was quite informative and incredibly tasty, as she brought samples of nearly all the recipes for us to try. Much to my delight, the leach came out exactly like the one I had tried in class. It was simple and inexpensive to make, as well as light and tasty (we all win!). You can view Mistress de Trecesson’s website at http://www.dragonbear.com/

The final recipe I made was a middle-eastern drink called Sekanjabin. It’s minty, refreshing and wonderful to have on a hot day. I received this recipe from an incredibly helpful woman at the Eastern Kingdom party at Pennsic in 2005. Unfortunately, I never learned her name, so I am unable to credit her properly. To make sekanjabin, simmer two cups sugar with one cup water, add a handful of fresh mint leaves & continue to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the syrup tastes quite minty (be careful when testing this, because the syrup will be very hot! I burned my tongue in my haste to taste!). When the syrup is sufficiently minty, strain it into a glass jar, then add one cup of white vinegar. Store tightly covered for up to two weeks; mix with water to your taste-bud’s preference. I found that this amount of syrup made about two gallons of sekanjabin. Although I learned this recipe in 2005, this is the first time I’ve made it myself & I was quite pleased with the results. In future, I will use a scant cup of vinegar, as I thought it was a little strong.

Altogether, I was quite pleased with my first attempt at medieval cooking. The pot-luck was a complete success, although I am convinced that my taste-buds are more adventurous than most. Some folks weren’t fond of the sekanjabin and I find that most people find the flavor of rose to be a little too unusual for their comfort. I did, however, warn everyone that this would be a bit experimental, so they knew what they were getting into and had enough delicious food to eat nonetheless.

I encourage you all to try your hand at medieval cooking & taste something new every chance you get!