Tag Archives: (culture) French

Scroll: The Prayer Book of Michelino da Besozzo Folio 5

Scribal Arts,
Folio 5 of the 1410 Italian Manuscript: The Prayer Book of Michelino da Besozzo

Baronial Level Scroll, Barony of Sacred Stone in Atlantia
Award: Defenders of The Sacred Stone
Recipient: Jenna Fairhaven
Completed: 23 Sept 2017

Scroll wording, design, calligraphy, penciling, inking, and painting all completed by Lady Prudence the Curious.

Materials Used
Paper – Winsor & Newton Artists’ Water Colour Paper HOT PRESS – 12 x 9 inch, 140 pound

Pen – Manuscript fountain calligraphy pen filled with Dr. Ph. Martin’s Black Star waterproof India Ink. Nib was B2 or B3.

Paint – Winsor & Newton Designers Gouche colors of Olive Green and Winsor Green for the leaves and vines (with highlights in Imitation Gold); Brilliant Violet and Light Purple (lightened a breath with Premium White) for the flowers, initial “J”, and scroll work around the initial and the “We” (with highlights in Premium White). Raised goldwork created with Liquitex Basic Acrylic Gesso tinged with red paint, and then covered in Winsor & Newton Calligraphy Ink – Gold. Some outlining – especially of the initial – done with Micron as well as Artist Loft illustration pens in the 0.1 to 0.5 range.

Pencil lines removed include scribal lines to write on, the outline for the initial, and the freeform of the vinework to figure out where the gold leaves needed to go.

Tools – Paint brushes, mechanical pencils, Westcott white eraser, Ames lettering guide, and T-square ruler. Water cups, eye drops, and small paint pallet were used to mix and store paints.

Challenges: In this case I took on the assignment when I shouldn’t. I have too many commitments, as always, but I so wanted to paint something, anything I took on five assignments with plenty of time – or so I thought. Pennsic troll just killed me. I ended up starting this two days before the event, which is good because the baronage move their court up a day to Friday evening. Otherwise the date on the scroll would have been wrong. I completed it early Saturday morning and brought it to the event to be given out.

I am very pleased with the scroll work around the opening letter and around the initial. This is something I had just started to work on before I packed up all my paints to move.

The flowers surprised me with the little bit of gold in the middle of each flower, and the leaves have a light hatchwork of gold for highlighting. I needed to add a breath of white to the Light Purple; WN Light Purple is very dark, but it was the best match to the other purple for the flower, so adding a little permanent white brought the color out a bit more for the eye to see – but also means the color will be impossible to match in the future.

What I would like to improve – the leaves and the flowers are not quite right for matching the original manuscript. The leaves were more rounded than pointed, except for the gold leaves. Some of the flowers are close in appearance and others are a little off.

I fought the fountain calligraphy pen the entire time. In my hiatus, Micheal’s art supply switched from two fairly good fountain pens (Panche and Os…something) to the much poorer quality product of Manuscript. I’m going to have to figure out how to use a dip pen because this is unacceptable. On the plus side the scrollwork around letters will only get better, as will the whitework and goldwork highlights. Still a whole new skillset to master will take years, worth it, but years.

Click on for full size version

Scroll Wording as meant to be read in court:
We are Marc Baron and Alianor Baroness. Know ye the Sacred Stone Baronial Birthday, on September twenty-second in the year of the Lord two thousand and seventeen and anno societas being fifty-two, we invited

Jenna Fairhaven

into Our Defenders of the Sacred Stone for her exemplary service as Baking Champion.

NOTE: “by our hands” was added as the calligraphy was being worked on because, well I didn’t have enough text on the final line to look balanced.

 

Recipe: Leeks and Onions in Milk

Consumables, Recipes, , , ,

Leeks and onions in milk (Poreaux et Oignons avec Lait)

(article originally published February 2011, Phoenix, Barony of Sacred Stone)

French Recipe – Le Menagier de Paris (1393)

Porée blanche est dicte ainsi pour ce qu’elles est faite du blanc des poreaux, à l’eschinée à l’andoulle et au jambon, ès saison d’automne et d’iver à jour de char; et sachez que nulle autre gresse que de porc n’y est bonne.

Et premièrement, l’en eslit, lave, mince et esverde les poreaux, c’est assavoir en esté, quant iceulx poreaux sont jeunes: mais en yver quant iceulx poreaux sont plus viels et plus durs, il les convient pourboulir en lieu esverder, et se c’est à jour de poisson, après ce que dit est, il les convient mettre en un pot avec de l’eau chaude et ainsi cuire, et aussi cuire des oignons mincés, puis frire les oignons, et aprés frire iceuls poireaux avec les oigons qui jà sont fris; puis mettre tout cuire en un pot et du lait de vache, se c’est en carnage et à jour de poisson; et se c’est en karesme l’en y met lait d’amandes. Et se c’est à jour de char, quant iceulx poreaux d’esté sont esverdés, ou les poreaux d’iver pourboulis comme dit est, l’en les met en un pot cuire en l’en les met en un pot cuire en l’eaue des saleures, ou du porc et du lart dedans.

Nota que aucunesfois à poreaux, l’en fait lioison de pain.  (MP 139-140)

Translation – Redon p.66

White porée is so called because it is made with the white of leeks (served) with pork loin, andouille, or ham on meat days in autumn and winter.  And note that no fat other than that of hog is suitable for this.

First, pick through, wash, slice and éverder the leeks if they are young, i.e., in summer; in winter, when they are older and tougher, it is better to boil them than to éverder them.  And if it is a time of abstinence, after having prepared them as indicated, you must put them in a pot with hot water and cook them; also cook sliced onions, fry them, and then fry the leeks with them; then cook everything in a pot with milk, whether it is a meat day or a day of abstinence; but if it is Lent, substitute almond milk.  And if it a meat day, when the summer leeks have been éverdés or the winter leeks boiled as indicated above, put them to cook in a pot together with the water from slat meat or with pork and pork fat.

Note: Sometimes a bread liaison is made from the leeks (MP 139-140).

COOKBOOK INTERPRETATION: Redon on pages 189 to 190 gives their interpretation of the dish. Did not include it here due to copyright restrictions.

MY INTERPRETATION: For 16 people at a Feast

Equipment

Sink Stove top Cutting Board
Pot, Cooking Knife
Frying Pan Sieve/Cor. Wooden spoons
Serving bowls and spoons Measuring cup (wet)

Ingredients

2  leeks
1 onion (White or Yellow)
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil or lard or butter
Water and salt

Process

  1. Slice and carefully wash the leeks. You may do the root only, or include the stem.
  2. Cook in boiling salted water for a few minutes. Drain and return to the saucepan.
  3. Peel and slice the onion. Sauté over low to medium heat in 2 tablespoons oil until it is very tender but not browned.
  4. Combine the onions and leeks (in the saucepan). Add the cream and cook for 10-30 minutes more over low heat.  Watch carefully and stir regularily.
  5. This can be let to simmer several hours if timing of feast requires it.

Comments

The recipe is period to late 15th century France, and can be found in Le Menagier de Paris.

I choose to include the green stem because I found that the bright green peeking through the mass of white to be beautiful.  I chose to boil the leeks and not include them when frying the onion because 1) it created two different tastes and 2) it saved time during the mass production of feast.

I used the milk/cream mixture as period milk would not be homogenized and that gives a higher fat feel to the tongue.

Bibliography

Redon, Odile, Francoise Sabban & Silvano Serventi.  Translated by Edward Schneider.  The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy.  The University of Chicago Press: Chicago.  1998.

Banham, Debby.  Food and Drink in Anglo-Saxon England.  Tempus Publishing Limited: Stroud, Gloucesterershire.  2004.