A Good Cloth is Always Neat

One of the basic rules for me: keep your headcloth (wimple, scarf, veil, coiffe etc) as neat as you can. I am usually a big fan of big and untidy tidy, as often seen on the early Flemish masters, or I like my wool headcover for really cold days. The cloth is handwoven, with the frilled edge created during the weaving by additional weft threads.

For the Christmas-Celebration last year neither of my go-to styles would do, as it was organised by a Basel groupe, so my style needed to fit in more with theirs.

I nicked some of their pictures what show my attempt to blend in, I think it's not too bad

Photo: Not too bad for a style long not worn by me...

Photo: Compagnie Basilisk

I used big fake braides made from unspun flax, made a new quick silk fringe (met his end by my cat the night after, I woke up to the whole thing kaput and all over the living-room floor), and wrapped my headcloth in a way what would be both warm and appropriate for the styles worn in Basel &  Alsace.

The new silk fringe
Photo: A. Reeves

Lighting the candles for mass.
Photo: Compagnie Basilisk

Made of Almonds and Spice and Everything nice...

While taking the Online class by FutureLearn  by the University of Reading and Royal Historic Palaces (I can only recommend signing up for it too. It’s great fun, not too much to digest and yields some nice recipes and cook-alongs at https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/royal-food ) there was the mentioning of Marchepan for Christmas and as banquet course for a Medieval & Tudor feast.

Last year I was invited to join the Christmas celebrations of the local Basel group, and I thought I’d prepare something small to take along what follows the feast-theme and would be something I could enjoy as well. Impressions of the Christmas-Celebration can be seen here

A baker at work, from a 15th century Franciscain Missel
© Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon (Ms 514, f. 6v)

So Marchepa(i)n* it was. Below the modern variation I worked with.

2 part of white powdered almonds**

1 part of powdered cane sugar**

As much orange flower water or rose water as necessary to form a dough.

It would translate to 200grs almonds, 100 gr sugar, 1-2 Tablespoons of flower water.

Mix almonds and sugar, add the flower water gently, little by little, until you achieve a mass what looks a bit like store bought marzipan.

Do not overmix, else the almonds start loosing their natural oil, and everything separates.

Form your Marchepains (I just cut them into shape, and was happy with it) and bake them in a moderate oven (150°C) for 20-30 minutes, until they start to turn slightly golden.

To decorate: Either use some egg-white and gold foil (if you want to be really fancy), or just some flower water with powdered sugar and some crushed dried flowers, or some food colouring (e.g. beetroot-juice for a nice pink)

I left mine with just a bit of icing sugar and flower water.

My fance not so fancy cut shapes.
I used parchement paper to separate the layers, as I made about 30 pieces.

The old fashioned way would be: Blanch almonds, peel them (great fun…), then grind them in a mortar, then add the sugar.

Careful again not to overwork them, else they separate.. like curdle and whey.

They are light and fluffy when freshly out of the oven, and a tad chewy the next day. I guess one could bake them a bit longer, to have more of a chewy cookie. I was a bit worried that the orange-flower scent would be too soapy for modern palates, but it evened out well with the almonds and the sugar.

*(spelling is optional… if you want to google it, skip the “i” and you’ll get English language results)

** I used organic ingredients for two reasons: powdered cane sugar isn’t a supermarket staple here, and beet sugar wasn’t used in the time period. So I had to pop by our local organic store for the sugar, and as they also had the powdered almonds, I figured I’d save myself a lot of work and use the already powdered blanched almonds. Generally I prefer to cook with organic local ingredients, as I think farmers deserve a decent income and I don’t like the thought of my veggies being transported over hundreds or thousands of kilometres.

Further reading:

https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/explore/henry-viiis-kitchens/#gs.hP9HDoI

https://www.historyneedsyou.com/blog/marchpane-c17th-marzipan-recipe

http://www.yac-uk.org/activity/bake-tudor-marchpane

What news Madam?

Almost 6 years since the last entry.

One might think I gave up the middle-ages entirely...
I don't do many events, and even less blog about it. Yet I was active, just more backstage as headcounter and organiser of a rather well known reenactment group than on the virtual plane.
On the sewing front - there were new items made, some eaten (by the bane of all reenactors - moths!), new friends made, some others lost to the summerland.

In the last couple of months medieval activity started to intensify again, and I found that I would like to have an archive to look back on things, like I have for the period around 1800.

I didn't sew any new things this year, or rather, I didn't finish them (apart from new stockings and a pair of new sleeves) A new kirtle* is still in the making, the sleevils are waiting now for months to be done.
I organised two events though, Köniz & Lenzburg, and I think the participants were more or less happy with my work, and we are already working a couple of months on Nykobing 2018.
I took up the harp 3 years ago, and waited 16 months for my little gothic one (not an exact replica, but the medium range, until I am proficient enough to upgrade), what requires me to take time to practice.
And last, but not least - I've got married in 2012 (and yes, Monsieur did come along to a travel to 1461 this year)

What I've found over the past few years -  and it rings as true today as it did in the past - that Slow-Reenactment actually works out for me.

Slow-Reenactment translates into "Don't buy / make quickly, but wait until you can afford to buy or to make the best quality of the item you need."
Believe me, it takes a lot of stress out of the hobby, and gives me the liberty to concentrate on other things, like the background work within our group.

My dresses are still decent, even if a couple of years old (admittedly, the indigo starts to fade or rub off at some bits), and a couple of stains won't wash out, yet a pair of new pin-on sleeves made the whole dress good for another year and satisfy my female vanity.
If I am invited to any event (apart from our own events I rarely participate, I neither have the health nor the time for field camps anymore), I have all I need, and even more important - it's a small enough baggage bundle that I am actually able to transport it myself on public transportation!

a quite moment in Köniz.
Photo by SD Reeves

So, what is brewing?
- I'd like to go to Dijon this winter, to see if I can't find some more input for a work about fashion we're editing.
- I'd like to finally finish the sleevils of that kirtle*
- To find time for my tablet woven belt. I know, a weekend would do, and I have my hopes set on the Christmas break.
- Practice writing. I need a better hand to note down music, my current scribbles are a disgrace.
- Add some bits and bobs to this blog as I go along.

*I use kirtle as the most easy to understand description of what I am working on. Depending on where you are, it can also be called: a dress, a gonne, ein Kleid, ein Hauskleid, une robe etc.