Bring Back Old Bread

[William Unsicker]

You know, modern bread does not taste as good a homemade bread. Can we bring back Ainchente bread? Turnip Soup? Hearty red-meat-stew? 

 

There are so many types of medieval fare that would probably taste good, but have been lost. 

Lets bring back medieval fare!

[LadyWYT]

4 hours ago, William Unsicker said:

Hearty red-meat-stew? 

Doesn't even need to be redmeat. Rotisserie chicken from the local grocery store(or roast your own), eat part of it for a meal or two, and use the rest for chicken soup after using the bones to make stock. Opportune time to use up whatever vegetables you have lingering in the fridge, like that last bit of celery or carrots, or the last two potatoes you don't otherwise know what to do with. Season to taste. This typically makes enough soup to last a few days, though it depends too on how many people it needs to feed. Either way, very tasty and nutritious, and easy to make.

 

4 hours ago, William Unsicker said:

modern bread does not taste as good a homemade bread

Honestly depends on which brand one buys, and how good one is at making bread. I think one of the biggest differences is that homemade bread doesn't tend to be as sweet(doesn't use as much sugar as store-bought) and doesn't tend to have the same shelf life since it's not loaded with preservatives. Not saying that all store-bought bread is like that, mind you, but it is something to keep in mind when purchasing bread versus making it yourself.

In the event you make bread yourself and it ends up a little on the dense side, try pairing it with soup, stew, or some sort of gravy that it can soak up. Or soak it in cream and honey/jam for a dessert. 

4 hours ago, William Unsicker said:

There are so many types of medieval fare that would probably taste good, but have been lost. 

Lets bring back medieval fare!

I'm not sure the dishes have been lost, as much as it's the case of changing tastes and different available resources. Likewise, it's not possible to replicate some dishes exactly, since what we consider an apple now might be quite a bit different than the apple variety a medieval recipe describes. Based on what I've seen on Max Miller's "Tasting History" channel, a lot of old recipes aren't that specific when it comes to ingredient amounts or bake times and temperatures...at least, not as specific as many modern recipes. Rather, the recipes go by appearance, consistency, and taste.

I'm also not entirely sure, but I think some old recipes were less about how tasty the food was, and more about how expensive the ingredients were. If you were rich enough to afford it, you'd have spices like saffron(difficult to acquire and expensive) and avoid using things like garlic, since that was an ingredient that most any peasant could acquire.

In any case though, I do agree, it's beneficial to bring back certain aspects of medieval-style cooking. Ironically, I've heard this is part of the reason that English cuisine gets joked about as much as it does; it's still quite reliant on cooking traditions that date back to the medieval times(like relying on herbs for seasoning), instead of changing to fit whatever idea happens to be popular in the present.

[ThornRanger]

Love home cooked soup. Poultry is usually quite a site cheaper around these parts, and we will often cook up some turkey burger and portion enough out for a large pot of soup that usually lasts the five of us a couple days. Besides the typical additions of potatoes, carrots, celery, broccoli stalks and mushrooms.. We also like to add a few cans or cups of beans into the pot too, to really bulk it up. Hard to beat that with a side of fresh corn bread. 
Another thing that works pretty sweet is just breaking down the chicken/turkey and freezing it to take a little here and there to bulk up a quick ramen or some other noodle dish. 

[William Unsicker]

I wrote more of a story for creative film, and will be posting it in the story section.