The World That Was

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be taking a look at some pre-Roman cider, from Gaul! As most of our records come from Roman sources, we don't get much insight beyond "The Gauls are so different to us Romans, they don't even drink wine! They just drink fermented grains and fruits like barbarians" And while these are, inherently, totally biased records, they provide a decent look at what they drank! Since we know that apples were cultivated in this region, and has a history of cider production, we can assume that Gauls created archaic forms of cider - which I'll now attempt to do now! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! If you like what I make, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Ingredients Enough apples for 2-3L apple juice honey (to taste) dried yeast Special Utensils Glass Demijohn/Terracotta pot Siphon DISCLAIMER Before I begin, I have to reinforce that this is a...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'm going to be recreating a recipe for a German apple pie from the Registrum Coquine - the contents of which are suited for a middle-class palette of medieval European world In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Consider supporting me on Patreon if you like my recipes! Ingredients 6 apples 2 cups flour water butter (or oil) ground cinnamon ground nutmeg cloves (either whole or ground) honey Method 1 - Peel and Chop Apples To begin making an apple pie, we of course need apples. Though the original recipe doesn't state any particular apples, tart apples tend to make the best filling. Peel your apples, and chop them into fairly evenly-sized chunks so they cook evenly. I found that about 6 apples suited a pie fit for about four people. 2 - Prepare the Filling When your apples are chopped, go toss some butter (or oil) into a pot, and let it melt. When it's foaming,...

 Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! Today, I'll be taking a look at medieval Ottoman cuisine - specifically the food seen in ottoman courts! The recipe in question is cılbır, or poached eggs with herbal yoghurt. This is a simple yet tasty recipe that is still eaten today in Turkey! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Consider checking out my Patreon if you like these recipes! Ingredients (for 3 portions) 3 eggs 150g greek yoghurt freshly chopped parsley (or dill, or cilantro) 2 cloves garlic ground coriander Method 1 - Make the Yoghurt To begin with, we need to make a simple yoghurt for the eggs to sit on. Start this by finely chopping some fresh parsley - dill or cilantro would have also been used! Toss this into your yoghurt, along with a clove or two of crushed garlic. Mix all of this together, until it's very well combined. Leave it to sit aside while you poach your eggs. 2 - Poach the eggs Place a p...

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I'm making some hard-boiled eggs in a pine nut sauce, as recorded by Apicius. This is a quick and easy recipe that would have served as a cheap but filling meal for many Romans in antiquity - requiring at least eggs, pine nuts, and garum. However, the recipe recorded by Apicius gives us a glimpse at a more middle-class meal! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! If you like what you see, consider supporting me on Patreon! Ingredients 200g pine nuts (soaked overnight in water) 4 eggs 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp vinegar 1 tbsp garum (or fish sauce) pepper salt dried lovage (or celery seeds, ground) Method 1 - Prepare the Sauce To begin making this recipe, we need to soak our pine nuts in some water overnight. So start making this the day before you want to eat it! Place the soaked pine nuts into a mortar and pestle, and get to grinding. They should break down fairly easily. ...