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Family and Friends learn to cook like the Tudors

On the 19th October a group of north Surrey dwellers decided to learn to cook Tudor food in Winkhurst Tudor kitchen.

There was Liz and her family and friends who were all very new to cooking like a Tudor farmer! And myself and Melanie showed the group how to cook over the open fire.

As the workshop leader I suggested foods that the group might like to try: peas pottage, cheese and onion chewits, hot water crust pastry, bread and finally a dessert of apple moyse.

Melanie my assistant cook was all hands on deck showing everyone where all the utensils, food and fire wood were kept in amongst the darker corners of the kitchen where things often get lost. Melanie taught one party member, new to baking, how to make bread dough for the first time in her life.

The group all kept the fire going through out the day, not an easy feat when simultaneously stirring a cauldron of hot peas pottage and dropping pastry chewits into bubbling hot oil.

A piece of meat was wrapped up in some hot water crust pastry and hurled directly onto the hot embers… it did cook slowly and was the last item off the fire.

All the food I had suggested for cooking was created, very impressive, and we even sat outside to eat. I think that our peas needed a few more days boiling (but that is very Tudor!), the apple moyse with rose water was lovely and the chewits were polished off before any of us had properly sat down to eat!

Afterwards Liz sent me an email describing how she went home and finished off baking the bread dough and she was enthusiastic about remaking the Apple Moyse.

I think that they were all amazing cooks, they all just got on with it and that is quite something because it is incredibly difficult cooking around that open, smoky, fire.

Thank you Liz and your party for all throwing yourselves in whole heartedly to a day of Tudor cooking.

“Small Beer and the Upper Crust”
14th September 2008.

The day was all about exploring the history of bread and beer (or ale in Medieval terms). We explored all the way back to the ancient Britons and all the way forward to the late Victorians.

I say ‘we explored’ because on the day the Museum had a good amount of help with exploring this area of history from the following people:

In Whittaker’s Cottage, two Victorian ladies were cooking up some Sunday treats including hot figgy pudding. Being avid supporters of the temperance movement they were firmly against the consumption of alcohol and instead were major advocates of tea drinking. (1)

The Tudor Group brought to life the 17th century house Poplar as a Tudor pub (know as an “ordinary”) and they baked and brewed for us in the Winkhurst Tudor kitchen. Their clothing was amazing and I had a go at playing a strange Tudor board game. They also gave very interesting talks on the differences between an inn, an alehouse, a tavern, and a public house. (2)

Butser Ancient Farm encouraged all sorts of people to grind down some grain using the ancient quern stone methods and Butser’s Archaeological Director, Steve, gave a splendid talk about ancient farming methods. (3) & (4)

CAMRA successfully raised the public’s awareness of the important need to preserve our pub and ale heritage.

Ballard’s Brewery spent the day showing children and adults alike the wonders of live yeast growing under a microscope and using their taste buds to try the Ballard’s ale and smell various types of barley grain. (5)

Up in medieval Hangleton Cottage were a group of brewsters and bakers who enticed visitors into their cottage. They sat visitors down on the fleece-covered wooden stalls and let them experience life during the 1400’s. (6)

Slindon Bakery delivered a talk about their own experiences of operating as a modern day Craft Bakery and they handed wonderful hand made mini-loaves to all participants. Yummy. (7)

Saturday 24th May 2008 - Tudor Laundry

Lye Making: .......... on this day I was having a go at demonstrating to our museum visitors how to make Lye. My Lye looked a dark murky brown colour.....quite a strange looking liquid for getting greasy stains out of my Tudor linens.

The Bucking Tub: .... I have to say that I think that I need a bit of practise with my bucking tub however the next stage is great.....
 

Using the battledore: ......if you ever need a stress reliever then give Tudor laundry a go. Here I am hitting out the dirt and it is an excellent feeling!!!!!
 

23rd March 2008
Easter Sunday in Winkhurst Tudor kitchen. 

The first job for the day was to light the fire to get the embers hot enough for cooking our three Easter meats. The meats which we had chosen to cook for the day were veal, chicken and lamb.

During the Tudor period Easter Sunday was an important Feast day because people were released from the restrictions of the Lent diet and were once again allowed to indulge in luxurious foods like meat and dairy. Veal used to be eaten at this time of year because the stomach of an un-weaned calf was required for use in the summertime dairying process.

Once the fire was hot enough we loaded our meats onto the spit and kept a good eye on the meat making sure that the fire was burning at a steady rate and that the meats were constantly rotated. We also made some meat sauces and the ingredients for these sauces included yogurt, cream and butter. We were making full use of the opportunity to cook with dairy products.

Towards the end of roasting our meat we ground up some bread crumbs and added them to the basting mixture which was then poured in successive bouts over the hot meat.

21st March 2008
Good Friday Bake in the Winkhurst Tudor Kitchen. 
 

The day was very cold and we all felt slightly on edge because we were unsure what the weather was going to bring us. Working in the Tudor kitchen on cold days can be quite a challenge because of the fact that as we are interpreting the farmworking community in the mid 1500’s so having very expensive glazed windows was not an option.

We had our wood piled up ready for the 'Big Bake'. The faggots ready for the bread oven and the thicker wood for the open hearth fire.(1) The first job for our team of six cooks today was making the dough. We used whole meal stoneground flour, from the Museum’s Mill and live yeast from Ballard’s Brewery.

Vicky and Melanie bolted the wholemeal flour using a sieve. This method makes a whiter flour because the bran is removed from the bread. The fine white flour is used to bake high status Manchet loaves and this type of bread would have been for the diet of the Yeoman Farmer and his direct family. The left over bran was added into the other whole meal dough mix. (2) & (3)

Sally and Ann made up more bread dough using the stoneground wholemeal flour. (4) They went on to enrich some of the breads with expensive ingredients in order to make them celebration loaves for Easter Day. The loaves were enriched with either marchpane (marzipan) or currants. One of these Easter loaves would have been left as a loaf to be used throughout the year to cure anyone who fell ill. It was believed that the Easter bread contained special qualities which represented eternal life and a small amount of this loaf grated into the food would cure those who felt ill.

We then fired up the bread oven and once the bread had proved next to the open fire it was placed in the bread oven and the door was sealed on using a paste of flour and water.(5)  We then waited for the baking to finish, something which we have to estimate and whilst waiting Jo showed Ann how to Lucet which is an ancient way of making a cord. Ted cleaned out the dough troughs.

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14th March 2008 - Training Course in Tudor Cooking

This entry was written by Katie Gilbert, a work experience school pupil who joined in with our training course in Tudor cooking.

'On the 14th March 2008 the Interpretation Department ventured upon traditional Tudor cooking alongside a small group of volunteers. The day was treated as both an exercise to train those on the course and as a demonstration to the public. Commencing with tea and biscuits, the individuals on the course were given sheets displaying various Tudor recipes and were told to select the dish that today they would prepare. After which they were left to their own devices, accomplishing smaller preparatory tasks such as deciding on an appropriate location in which to light the fire and washing the tables with warm water and salt (antibacterial spray used prior: of course non-Tudor!) as was the traditional Tudor method.

Next was the much more difficult task of the cooking itself, which could have proved even more so had the instructions not been translated from their original old English phrasing. However, amounts were not specified and amidst the confusion all four dishes were prepared using rough estimations and despite doubts proved to be successful. Throughout the process of waiting for pots of various ingredients to boil by the fire visitors entered the kitchens, genuinely interested in the staffs vast knowledge of not only their own dish, but also the building itself and Tudor Catering.

Just before lunch all the dishes were prepared, some were even offered to the public as they passed through. Then, briefly we discussed finding better methods of allowing visitors to taste samples and next left for lunch.

Upon returning there was little left to do, other than clean up after ourselves. We scrubbed down the tables once again in the traditional Tudor manner, with warm water and salt and we’re taught how to clean cauldrons more effectively by smearing ash around the interior and washing it out with water. The remains of our food which now looked far less appealing) where disposed of and the cauldrons and pottery were returned to their rightful places.'
 

Sunday 10th March 2008 - Salting Fish and household chores.

Here at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum we are trying out some new ideas. Back in the Tudor period a housewife, living on a farm would have been using salted fish to cook with throughout the period of Lent. So I am in the Winkhurst kitchen having a go at salting my own fish: plaice, trout and mackerel to see how my good my preserving techniques are.

I am dressed in period clothing which has all been hand stitched by our museum Needlework Group. The group comprises of an amazing group of needle workers who meet here at the museum once a month and stitch away. Because the Tudor clothing is hand stitched it does take a long time to create one set of clothes ... a number of months in fact.