Hebolas (recipe)
From Cunnan
Contents |
Period Recipe
From the Forme of Cury
- HEBOLACE. VII.
- Take Oynouns and erbes and hewe hem small and do þes to gode broth. and aray it as þou didest caboches. If þey be in fyssh day. make on the same maner with water and oyle. and if it be not in Lent alye it with zolkes of Eyren. and dresse it forth and cast þer to powdour douce.
Notes
- Hebolace. Contents, Hebolas; for Herbolas, from the herbs used; or, if the first letter be omitted (see the Contents), Chebolas, from the Chibols employed.
- aray. Dress, set it out.
- make. Dress. Vide Gloss.
- maner. manner.
- alye. Mix. V. Gloss.
- Eyren. Eggs. V. Gloss.
Modern Recipe
Translation
Take Onions and herbs and cut them up small and add to a good broth and arrange it as you did for caboches. If it is a fish day dress it in the same manner with water and oil. And if it is not during Lent mix it with egg yolks and dress it and sprinkle powder douce on top.
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions
- 2-3 cups of chopped fresh seasonal herbs (I used violet leaf, borrage leaf, parsley, rosemary, mint, thyme, sage)
- about 4 cups fresh broth or approx 2 cups stock + 2 cups water. Use vegetable or meat stock as suitable for your audience, or simply oil and water
- powder douche to taste (I used cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves)
- egg yolks (optional)
Method
- Chop up Onions and herbs.
- Add to a pot of warm stock - meat stock, or vegetable stock or a mix of water and oil for a vegetarian (fish day) option.
- Just prior to serving whisk in egg yolks (optional) and sprinkle spice mix on top
redaction notes
Array it as you did for caboches - Caboches in potage – recipe given in Forme of Cury, and Cabbages appear to be cooked in a broth and served as a pottage (as the recipe name suggests). Options such as cooking the onions in broth and then draining them before serving seem unlikely. Mixing in egg yolks would be easier to a liquid dish too.
Herbs chosen – according to seasonal availability. Parsley in seed wasn't very available, but other herbs are more perennial. All herbs used are known from medieval recipes, and I’m sure the recipe does not specify the herbs because it was aware that season and availability were more important than a fixed recipe. I decided not to use tansy (although available) for health reasons. Herbs in the rest of Forme of Cury: • Eowtes of Flessh uses Borage and violet (leaves?) in a similar broth situation. • Verde Sawse uses parsley, mint, wild thyme, sawge (sage), • Erbolat – parsley, mint, savory, sage, tansy, clarry(?), veruayn(?), rewe (rue), ditayn (dittany), fenel (roman fennel), southrenwode(?) • Salat - persel, sawge (sage), borage, myntes, fenel, ton tressis (cresses), rew (rue), rosemarye, purslarye (purslane)
Vegetarian dish – Allthough I’m sure medieval folks would refer to a meat containing stock as a good stock and prefer to use one such, since a fish day option was offered, I decided to redact this as a vegetarian dish, as there are too few such recipes. Vegetable stock would be a kind of halfway measure – more flavoursome than the specified oil and water (more like using a “good broth”)
Pouder douche – I wasn’t sure what recipe to use. [Forme of Cury] assumes it is so basic, it doesn’t seem to give a recipe for it. Please use whatever spice mix you think to be most accurate.
Teffania
Notes
The historical version of this recipe was taken from the Project Gutenberg e-text of the Forme of Cury.
Other redactions: http://www.kateryndedevelyn.org/eng1men4.htm
