Venison - a Royal hunting perogative

Vegetarians should skip on down because I am "posting" about a venison stew I cooked last week. I  told my son it was a meat casserole, unwilling to be more specific in case he would not try it! That strategy paid dividends. I slow cooked it in the oven for most of the afternoon, creating a lovely wafting aroma. He remarked upon passing through the kitchen "that stew smells good!" Mission accomplished - and many root vegetables used up as well.

What a coincidence to find just this product in one's 'fridge!

It was a complete coincidence there was venison in the house. I had spent quite a bit of time reading about and "writing up" some historical aspects about deer because roasted venison was my latest line in 12th scale miniature Medieval and Tudor dollshouse food. I had literally just finished and looked in the fridge only to find these packets bought by my partner had bought the previous evening. My immediate thought was that I did not believe my eyes! But rapidly I realised how useful for blogging purposes. Last, I wondered how I could balance the strong taste so that everyone, including me, would eat the casserole. I knew I should probably use a lot of vegetables, and so a culinary plot was hatched....

Medieval Morsels one inch scale roasted venison for a Medieval or Tudor dolls house setting

I was not alone with grappling with the consequences of a strongly flavoured meat. In the Middle Ages and later in Tudor times venison was traditionally rubbbed with ground ginger and pepper, which served to hide the strong taste. Also, as a bonus, the spices stopped the meat tainting. Perhaps this practice is why we use the term "seasoning" for the process of hanging game for days or weeks to improve its flavour. Favourite medieval accompaniments were sauces, jellies or preserves using rowanberries, sloes, red currants, or cranberries. Our venison came with a sachet of red port, wine and plum sauce so taste values have changed little since Medieval times! For Medieval Morsels I produced a sauce of rowanberries for my 12th scale oven or spi-roasted venison haunches destined for a miniature Middle Ages or Tudor feast.

When the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, invaded England in 1066 he swiftly enclosed areas of "barren" land, Hampshire's New Forest area being the first in 1079, for his use as protected deer hunting grounds. Highly unpopular Forest Law benefited the beasts of the developing forests but at the expense of the local peasant population who were given small concessions to graze their livestock and gather fallen wood.  Hunting was an exclusive Royal pursuit enjoyed by the Sovereign and his (or her) favourite nobles. Charles II (1660-85) was the last Royal to hunt in Britain's forests. Venison was only eaten by the nobility- unless it had been poached at some considerable risk.

Britain had three species of deer in Medieval times, native red deer and roe deer, and the once native fallow deer which had been reintroduced by the Romans. Our shop bought venison was red or fallow deer, reared in Ireland or the UK and vacuum packed in Yorkshire! Today we also have exotic escaped species - muntjac and Japanese sika deer. The red and sika deer are intent on interbreeding apparently! So much so that pure bred wild species may be at risk. There's an unanticipated consequence.....

Pigeons galore!

Its late Spring in England so there are plenty of young fledgling birds around in gardens at the moment. My younger sister phoned excitedly last weekend to say that the mallard duck nesting in her garden had produced upwards of ten ducklings. What a responsibility! I am reminded that when she and I were young we followed the annual progress of robins nesting in the large, door-less and ramshackle shed-cum-garage at the bottom of our parents' garden. Baby robins are very appealing And trusting!). They have an unnaturally wide yellow "gape" and long wispy feathers intermingled with their emerging adult plumage. This "fuzzy" stage only lasts a few days after fledging - so cute when back-lit!

Adopted pigeon squab Charlie in the USA!

Baby robin. Image: copyright Sue Bryan

Blackbirds successfully breed where I live and I watch the progress of their young. Large (and rather stupid) wood pigeons have always frequented our garden too but I have to say I have never spotted a young one.

In Medieval times, domesticated pigeons provided a reliable source of winter protein for rural people of all classes. A chicken's reproduction dropped off in winter so the pigeon, with its long breeding season, provided a solution to this problem. MedievalMorsels produces 12th scale dollshouse miniature foods including oven roasted pigeon for a Medieval or Tudor feast or dining setting! Though equally acceptable in a witch or warlock diorama, a barbarian themed or fairy miniature setting.

Pigeons were first domesticated 5,500 years ago in Asia. The sub-species living alongside man are all descended from the Rock Pigeon. Though its unlikely that pigeon eggs were eaten as a product of pigeon husbandry, instead they were left to develop into squabs (young pigeons) destined for the pot or spit roast! In poultry terms, the first one inch scale miniature dollshouse food that MedievalMorsels modelled had to be the pigeon! And not the goose, capon, guineafowl or duck - all of which were eaten alongside wildfowl of all descriptions. I have yet to model most of these.

 Whole roasted pigeon for a Medieval or Tudor feast

How were the pigeons supposed to fly in?

Close to where I live is a track called Pigeon House Lane complete with its own "pigeon house", listed by English Heritage. But curiously this square stone building has no means of access for the birds so is probably a misnamed 19th or 18th century stable. See what you think - opposite!

Leicester - a fine city

Leicester is a fine city, it has a lot to offer the Medieval enthusiast! 

Recently there was much national, and indeed global, excitement when the presumed remains of King Richard III were discovered beneath the tarmac of a Leicester car park. The discovery of an almost complete skeleton was later confirmed by the University of Leicester to be Richard III, based on several combined lines of evidence - historical, archaeological and scientific . The last Plantagenet King of England died in battle on Leicestershire's Bosworth field in 1485 at the age of 32, defending his crown against Henry Tudor. The latter was the victor, becoming Henry VII and founder of the Tudor dynasty. 

The Plantagenet era (1216 - 1485) was a dangerous Medieval period for "those who fight" - Kings, Dukes, Earls, Barons, Knights, noble Lords, gentlemen and the armies that they raised. The other strata of medieval society - "those who pray" and "those who work" - might have hoped to survive the dynastic and political upheavals attendant in the Middle Ages. But for this they would have needed good judgement and some good luck as well... 

The author taking a sneaky peek in "that" car park back in 2012 

The trench where Richard III's remains were discovered

I was passing through Leicester this Easter. An elder sister is lucky enough to live near the centre of the city, proving very handy for the Richard III excavation back in 2012 and the still current Richard III exhibition, both close to the Cathedral. This time she recommended I visit the Medieval Guildhall also in the Cathedral precinct. The Guildhall is in fact a series of furnished halls and rooms offering plenty to admire...

I was particularly taken with the beautiful stained glass windows dating, it is thought, from around 1500. On closer inspection as an added bonus there was engraved graffiti from the 1800's. The vandals usually left their names and dates, but one wrote that the "..glazier is a fool.." Rather harsh I thought!

What remains of the origin window designs is thought to represent seasons of the year according to the Medieval agricultural calendar. This panel shows a peasant harvesting long stalked wheat with a scythe. (By comparison today's wheats, selectively bred, are much shorter.) Autumn harvest was an important and probably exhausting time. But once the harvest was safely gathered into the Manor or Abbey granaries there was much feasting and merry making by peasants courtesy of their Lord. Autumn aside, "villeins" had no choice but to work many days a week for their Lord, with little time spent on theie rented strips of land. In effect they provided slave labour. "Freemen", also peasants, earned a living from land they rented, but were obliged to give several days' labour without pay to their Lord at harvest time.

Most wheat was sold for profit to be consumed in the towns of cities. White, or more likely grey, "manchet bread" containing a high proportion of wheatmeal or flour was eaten only by "gentlemen". The lower social classes ate "maslin" bread with a much higher proportion of rye or barley than wheat, resulting in a heavy, dark loaf that wore down the teeth!

Medieval Morsels models "maslin" bread  

Medieval Morsels models white "manchet"  bread 

If you get a chance to visit  Leicester you should do so - it really is a fine city. And it just happens to be the home city long connected with the Thornton side of my family. My father and uncles - the four sons of a (steam) engine driver - all won county scholarships and attended Leicester's Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys during the 1920-40s. My father read for an external degree in mathematics at University College, Leicester - the University did not receive its own charter and was unable to award its own degrees until 1957. He proceded to do his teaching practice at Leicester Grammar School, then located next to the Cathedral.  He was actually learning his profession a mere stone's throw from the hastily interred, last mortal remains of heroic Richard III.   

Doll's house miniatures. Secure and happy in a tiny world?

Most of us, male or female, will have played "house" when young. However reluctantly in some cases.... Probably fewer of us will have had access to, or played with doll's houses. Or the furniture and miniature dolls that inhabit them and complete the role play. Here is some of the furniture that my younger sister and I used to "play doll's houses" growing up in King's Lynn, Norfolk .

Collection: Lucy  Britton (nee Thornton)

Normally we created rooms on any available floorspace using square wooden bricks to divide the living areas i.e we had no dollshouse superstructure! There was a large doll's house kept outside come rain or shine, its painted pitched roof must have shed rain well enough for it not to disintegrate in the wet.  It did have a full size electric switch at the base of, and a light bulb at the top of a staircase. But unfortunately not working! Probably in retrospect because there was no wiring to a source of electricity - this fact would have escaped me when young. I was forever optimistic of a lit bulb!


But even if the concept of dollshouse play has escaped the majority of readers, most of us will have had a doll to play with. That could have been a conventional female "dress-up" doll, a "baby" doll, or a male soldier or action figure. Dolls of one sort of another are far more common in history and across cultures than we might imagine. And some of these dolls have survived to tell their tales.

In his book "Great Tales from English History" Robert Lacey mentions a Medieval friar, Geoffrey of Lynn (formerly Bishop's Lynn but renamed King's Lynn following the dissolution of the Monasteries). His "Prompter for Little Ones" has a good claim to be the first child-friendly book, and it gives a rare glimpse into Medieval childhood. This prompter or dictionary set out the words a good medieval pupil would be expected to know - many of them to do with religion. But as Lacey notes "...defying the solemn tone, Geoffrey also listed the names of toys, games and children's playground pastimes. We read of ragdolls, four different types of spinning top, ...games..." Lacey goes onto tell us that Mudlarks on the River Thames have made some wonderful finds over the years. Including tiny pewter playthings dating back as early as the 13th century - miniature jugs, pans, other kitchen and cooking utensils - just about everything you would need to equip a doll's house. Along with small metal soldiers that included a knight in armour cast from a mould, so evidently mass produced for the children of well to do medieval clients. Lacey draws the obvious conclusion that medieval grwon-ups recognised and cherished the magic world of childhood.

So is it a really a "mad" pursuit , as thought by some, when evidently past a youthful age some of us become  "makers"or "collectors" -  allowing us to play once more with impunity.

Big on miniatures and lost in our tiny worlds...... Medieval Morsels, Abasketof  and many

MedievalMorsels   Etsy hop owner Mary

Abasketof ...Etsy shop owners Lucy and Gillian

other doll's house miniaturists love to pursue this hobby. Different maybe, but perfect in our own small way. [With thanks to a partner who could not stop himself coining these disparaging, but essentially tongue in cheek "put-downs" (the italics).]

Celebrating Shakespeare's birth and Tudor food!

On 23 April we celebrated the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, except that we don’t precisely know when he was born! But all is well. We do have a date, 26 April 1564, for his baptism at Stratford on Avon. April 23 is also St. George's Day, the patron saint of England (and many other countries besides but herein lies another Medieval story….) This, together with the fact that Shakespeare also died in Stratford on 23 April, makes his assumed birth date even more magical.  

First Folio edition, published 1623, seven years after his death

Elizabethan (Tudor dynasty) times in England coincided with the Renaissance raging in Europe - great advances were made in the arts and humanities, philosophy (which included science). Arguably Britain lagged behind countries such as Italy- the cradle of the High Renaissance - in some of these areas of learning. But Queen Elizabeth I’s love of drama and her patronage of Shakespeare turned out to epoch-making in terms of the world’s treasury of literature.

Shakespeare’s association with food likely started with his father, an official ale taster in Stratford whose job was to monitor the ingredients used by brewers and ensure they sold their ale at Crown regulated prices. Tudor society, and Medieval society before it, was highly regulated - the poor and the aspiring merchant class had to be kept in their place! Shakespeare used food in many of his plays: from memorable banquet scenes, to the use of food and feasting as metaphor.

Interestingly food in Tudor and Elizabethan times had not changed that much from the preceding five centuries following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, generally acknowledged to be the start of the Medieval era. Wooden trenchers had generally replaced bread trenchers by the 1550s. Pottage, pies and “blancmange” dishes were still popular. 

Medieval Morsels' range of Tudor doll's house miniature foods

There were some changes in Tudor fare though, the spoils from European exploration and inevitable conquests in the New World. But these found a footing only very slowly - imported foods were beyond the reach of most people. Sugar from cane remained a scarce commodity even for the rich, although we know that Queen Elizabeth I was extremely fond of it! Also introduced was the sweet potato, originally presented to Queen Isabella of Spain by Columbus, which was immediately popular in Elizabethan England.This probably illustrates a craving for sweetness in an otherwise monotonous Tudor diet. Too much meat was eaten the rich, and a monotonous cereal and pulse diet had to suffice for the poor. 

John Gerard, 1597, illustration Virginia potato

 It took another 200 years for the unloved white "bastard" or "Virginia" potato to become established as the nation's favourite. 
The sweet potato, not in fact a potato at all, was referred to by the Elizabethan herbalist and botanist John Gerard as the "common" potato. A topsy turvy world because today in England at least the reverse preference now applies! New World beans - haricot (navy), "french", kidney and green beans - arrived  from the West Indies in England via Italy, thanks to the influence of Pope Charles VII who received them in 1528 as a gift. The capsicum (bell, sweet) pepper and squashes also arrived from Mexico. In terms of cooking, brick lined ovens were more commonly found in the manor houses across the country, affording new possibilities of baking, dry roasting and braising.

Medieval Morsels models Tudor dollshouse food, 12th scale miniature food for your Tudor kitchen, Tudor dining scene, Tudor dollhouse, Tudor roombox or Tudor castle. Most of these foods would suit Dark Ages and Medieval settings too!

Shakespeare’s company performed on several occasions at court. On 23 December 1599  it is reported from the Council Chamber, Richmond Palace - in State papers no less - that "there is no other news than of dancing, plays, and Christmas pies….”  Queen Elizabeth I enjoyed dancing, so together with her love of drama and the sweet taste of sugar, I think we can see from the above remark that she had the holidays (holy days) of Christmas and their celebration well planned. Her break from State business was no doubt a well deserved one despite this apparently scathing remark by a court official.

Below - some food and drink mentioned by the Bard in his plays.

• Twelfth Night: Act 2, Scene 3  Do you think because you are virtuous, that there shall be no more cakes and ale

•  Othello: Act 2, Scene 3         Good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used.
• Henry V: Act 1, Scene 3         I would give all my fame for a pot of ale.
• As You Like It: Act 3, Scene 2    Truly, thou art damned like an ill roasted egg,
• Antony and Cleopatra: Act 2, Scene 1   Eight wild boars roasted whole at breakfast, but twelve persons there.
• Twelfth Night: Act 1, Scene 3    I am a great eater of beefd and I believe that does harm to my wit
•  Henry IV Part I: Act 3, Scene 1  O, he is as tedious as a tired horse, a railing wife; worse than a smokey house: I had rather live with cheese and garlic in a windmil, far, than than feed on cates (choice foods)...
• Richard III: Act 3, Scene 4      My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn I saw good strawberries in your garden there; I do beseech you send for some of them.
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Act 4, Scene 2    And, most dear actors, eat no onions or garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath; and I do not doubt but to hear them say, it is a sweet comedy
• Henry IV Part II: Act 5, Scene 1   A’ shall answer it. Some pigeons, Davy, a couple of short-legged hens, a joint of mutton….
•  Romeo and Juliet: Act 4, Scene 4           They call for dates and quinces in the pastry.
• King Lear Act 4 Scene 6   …... one that gathers samphire—dreadful trade!
• Macbeth: Act 5, Scene 3           What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug would scour these English hence
• Macbeth Act 4, Scene 3    What, all my pretty chickens and their dam?

Bringing home the bacon: commoners, tillage, tannage or pannage in England's  New Forest

The Sunday before Easter I joined my younger sister and brother-in-law, two of three brains behind  Abasketof...  at their stall at the ever popular Lyndhurst Doll's House Miniatures Fair, in the New Forest. My alarm failed to go off that morning (a mix up with am and pm would you believe!) so I did not arrive in time to help set up.  But, laden with the picnic lunch and supper provisions plus copious amounts of flasked tea, I walked in to find the public engrossed in browsing the many stalls of handmade dollhouse miniature crafts. Very kindly,  Abasketof...  found room to display some of my  MedievalMorsels range, alongside their beautiful 12th scale glass bowls of luscious fruits...
Lyndhurst is in the middle of Hampshire's New Forest. It is home not only to hardy ponies which take their name from it, but also to donkeys, cattle and pigs. All roaming freely under the ancient broad-leaved canopy. My sister told me that at the previous dollhouse fair a pig was spotted in the car park next door. But as we parked, I only saw a donkey in a long winter coat (!) taking a keen interest in a litter bin.

In 1067 William I (Normandy's William the Conqueror) created this royal hunting forest to protect the "beasts of the chase" - deer and wild boar - for his sport. Local peasants were no longer allowed  to enclose their land but instead were granted the right to graze their domestic animals "free range". By eating the gorse (furze) and brambles, the horses, cattle and sheep managed the undergrowth. The pigs - and the wild boar- also effectively "rotovated" the ground with their muscular snouts - good for soil fertility! Such grazing allowed forest saplings to emerge, so that just 20 years after the French invasion this former scrubby land was recorded as forest in the Doomsday Book inventory of 1086, describing Norman (French) land conquests across England.

Pottery mould of recumbent pig,
 provenance China. Collection: Liz Thornton 

New Forest Pigs. Copyright Jim Champion. Creative Commons Licence

                   
In the 13th century Henry III (King of  England but unpopular because he was absent a lot defending his vast continental empire across France and beyond ) gained some popularity amongst his English subjects by granting London citizens one free days hunting at Easter each year within a 20 mile radius of the city. Your common (no pun intended) or garden peasant was equipped with neither deer-hound, horse, nor even bowmanship skills to take down a deer but with stealth, patience and ingenuity he might have been able to bag one, or to bait and trap an unwary boar.

After the dollshouse miniature show we escaped to the forest edge to have our picnic supper. Medieval things always intrude into  my thoughts nowadays and we wondered about those foraging forest pigs. Was it tillage or tannage rights that were enjoyed in the New Forest by our porcine friends and their peasant owners? I had been doing some research on the domestication of pigs, including medieval pig husbandry, and a friend had been giving my sister the low down on New Forest commoners' rights knowing that she would be visiting the area. But still we could not remember the correct term. So I checked it out when I got home. It was neither tillage nor tannage - it was "pannage". Below is the first 12th scale porcine product I have modelled by way of a Medieval dollshouse miniature or dollhouse Tudor food.


The medieval rights of a commoner still  prevail in the New Forest. Explained on England's Forestry Commission website, they include: pasture (for ponies, cattle and donkeys); sheep grazing; fuel wood (fallen wood is now no longer foraged, but harvested wood is set aside on forest tracks for commoners to collect); and pannage for pigs in autumn. By this last concession excess beech nuts and acorns are removed,  which in excessive quantities are poisonous to ponies and cattle. Apparently over 300 commoners  exercise their medieval rights with more than 6000 animals grazing all year round, but not currently sheep! The reason we didn't see "spot a hog" was because it wasn't autumn (fall), whereas the last Lyndhurst dollhouse show was in October's autumnal pig pannage season. It all makes sense now!

We watched the grazing progress of about six young cattle downslope of us. They did not trouble us, but a rather lovely short-haired dog of some exotic pedigree did make a feeble attempt to ingratiate herself and share our picnic. Returning to the cars some fancy diversionary footwork was needed to outwit three curious ponies and get into cars unscathed - it was time to go!

Easter Eggs

Most of us love to eat a chocolate Easter egg. Especially if we have managed to give up chocolate for Lent. For the record, I only once succeeded in doing this. There can be great pleasure in giving Easter eggs too. And, confession time, when the parent of once very young children with lots of Easter eggs I sometimes used to "help" eat them after bedtime. But just the white chocolate eggs mind! Because we all know that too much chocolate of any colour can make small children hyper active ...

Eggs were classified as meat by the Church in Medieval Europe. They could not be eaten during Lent, so what could be done with surplus eggs? Well, they were coated in liquid fat or wax and set aside to keep (hopefully) until Easter Sunday. Some were coloured using extracts from a range of roots, wild berries or herbs. Coloured or not, these were truly Easter eggs!

Here are some lovely Burford Brown hen's eggs that I bought recently. Aptly named, some were a stunning chestnut colour. A similar brown to the French Maran's eggs I was lucky enough to spot some weeks earlier in the supermarket. But I cooked and ate these before I thought of taking a picture of them.

Around Easter time when I was young my mother, who was very artistic and always ahead of trend, would encourage my younger sister and I to "blow" and decorate eggs. We painted them, or applied a mosaic of coloured paper, small dried flowers, or both.  We used home-made flour paste, not shop-bought glue! Once dry, we varnished the eggs.

I remember the coloured paper was cut or torn from eye-catching full page advertisements in the colour supplements of the Sunday Times or The Observer. Thanks to my father, our house was full of "heavyweight" newspapers, and mathematics books. But not "ordinary" magazines unless you count Radio Luxembourg's Fab 208 teenage magazine, on standing order at the newsagent for my sister and me.


I don't recall my egg results at all - but my mother's were exceptional. Time consuming artistry, because she did have four daughters and several neighbours to make Easter gifts for! To the left is an egg she created for me more than 40 years ago.  Unbroken still, the colours are almost as vivid as when it was made. Thanks, I suppose, to that coat of varnish.

Inspired by today's feathery friends, the Burford Browns and the French Marans, I like to include dark brown speckled eggs for the Medieval or Tudor dollhouse kitchen in my  MedievalMorsels range.  But, convincing as this one inch scale dollhouse miniature food looks, in fact we cannot precisely tell what colours or how speckled eggs were back then. Today's breeds, all ultimately derived from the south-east Asian jungle fowl (species Gallus), bear little resemblance to the occupants of the medieval poultry yard. Chickens may need to be the subject of a future blog...