Food: Spiced Chicken with Quinces

[lyorn]

30. Ein gut spise.

Nim hüenre. die brat niht volle gar. entlide die zu morseln. und laz sie sieden nur in smaltze und wazzers. und nim eine rinden brotes und ingeber und ein wenic pfeffers und anis. daz mal mit ezzige. und mit dem selben sodich in. und nim vier gebraten küten. und daz condiment dar zu. der hüenren. laz ez wol da mit sieden. daz ez werde eben dicke. hastu niht küten so nim gebraten bieren. und mach ez da mite. und gibz hin und versaltz ez niht.
(Source: Das Buoch von guoter Spise, Würzburg ca. 1350, also here.)

siderea (on LJ) described her attempt at it here , and it sounded easy and tasty to me. But she found that it turned out bland, so when I tried it, I went about it differently.

I used:
- one chicken leg with skin and bones
- a Turkish pear quince, about 350 grams
- about a teaspoon of ghee (did not have smaltze, i.e. lard)
- half a teaspoon instant chicken broth to make up for not having all parts of the hüenre
- two fresh twigs of rosemary, as I did not have anise and do not especially like it
- a small tablespoon of finely grated fresh ginger
- a small teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
- a splash of very tart Italian red wine
- a splash of apple vinegar
- half a teaspoon of brown sugar because that wine might as well have been vinegar
- two tablespoons of plain store-bought bread crumbs
- a little salt.

I polished, washed, and quartered the quince, and cut out the stem, blossom and core. That was a lot easier than the internet had led me to believe. Then I cut it into bites.

Heated a large pan on the stove on "high", put the ghee in, spread it, then put in the whole, still frozen chicken leg, skin side down, and the quince. Put a lid on, and shook the pan occasionally to move the contents around, until they browned. Poured in some hot water, deglazed, put in more hot water, the rosemary and the instant broth, turned heat down to medium, and let it boil for about 30 minutes. Checked every five to ten minutes if it needed more water, stirred, and de-glazed as needed.

After 30 minutes, I got out the chicken leg, peeled the meat from the bones and cut it into bits, then put everything, bones included, back in. Added the ginger, pepper, wine and vinegar, and a little more water, left the pot open and let most of the fluid boil away (still on medium heat), stirring often. That turned things nicely mushy.

Got out the bones and the wooden part of the rosemary. Added the bread crumbs, stirred, put the lid back on, and took it off the stove to thicken some more.

Added a little salt, and ate half of it with a slice of whole grain rye bread with sunflower seeds. So, this feeds two, if they are not very hungry.

I was very happy with it, a delicious mix of sweet, sour and spicy, very smooth mix of tastes. No single taste is really dominant, but the distinctive note was provided by the quince.

Have to feed this to my gaming group one of these days. (All but one of them are, or have been, medieval re-enactors, so the dish might be familiar to them.)

Comments

[siderea]

I don't like anise -- at least not in anything else -- but I like it in this dish (or did the way sichling made it), so I recommend trying it, if you can bum some off someone else and not buy a whole jar yourself. Part of what is stylistically characteristic of medieval German cuisine -- which it yummy and totally worth exploring as ethnic cuisine in its own right -- was the use of seasonings, which notice are all spices and no herbs in this autumn-seasonal meat dish.

I'd send you a tablespoon, but (1) transmitting mystery powers through the mail tends to make the authorities agitated (2) mine isn't ground anyway and (3) the expense an trouble may not be worth it.