The World That Was

Hello and Welcome to The World That Was! This week, I'm going to be recreating a simple carrot and coriander soup that was popular in medieval French cuisine - the simple Potage de Crécy. Although I'm using orange carrots, which were rare in antiquity, carrots, parsnips, or any combination of these would work well here! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! Check out my Patreon for some more recipes! Ingredients (for 2-3 portions) 1 onion (or an equal volume to the amount of carrots) chopped 3 carrots (or an equal volume to the amount of onions) diced 2 cloves garlic olive oil ground coriander 500ml stock (e.g. chicken, vegetable, etc.) Method 1 - Prepare and Cook Onion To begin with, we need to peel and chop one whole onion. Onions of all kinds were a staple of most cuisines from the neolothic period to modernity, as they're hardy, filling vegetables that have a multitude of uses. In any case, chop this int...

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, we'll be taking a recipe from Le Ménagier de Paris - The Goodman of Paris - and recreating some grilled steaks from the 14th century. This book isn't explicitly a cookbook, but moreso a glimpse at everyday life in Paris in the 1300s - including descriptions of social norms - a relative rarity for medieval literature! In any case, let's now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! If you like my recipes, consider supporting me on Patreon! Ingredients (for two steaks) 2x cuts of beef (I used striploin, but other cuts work just as well. Adjust cooking time as necessary) 3tbsp red wine vinegar 2tbsp Seville orange juice (or 2tbsp orange juice + 1 tsp lime juice) pepper salt cinnamon oil or fat (for cooking) Method 1 - Prepare the Meat To begin with, we need to deal with our meat. Start by seasoning each side with some salt and freshly-ground black pepper. The original recipe claims that venison...