The Danish siege of Old Älvsborg Fortress in 1502, in a war between King Hans’ Danish army and Sten Sture the Elder’s Swedish army. Drawing from c. 1502 by the German soldier of fortune (Landsknecht) Paul Dolnstein, who himself participated in the Danish army. Photo: Swedish National Heritage Board / Flickr
What follows is not precisely scholarly, but it is one of those delightful byproducts of scholarly work that feed our curiosity. A few years ago, I was working with a German mercenary’s sketchbook. In the top right corner of one of his sketches, in a different hand there was a recipe for pigeon. Someone had decided to use the sketch below as scratch paper, or had used this recipe in military circles and wished to associate it with this particular sketchbook. Given that the recipe suggests using either urine or salt water, it seems safe to assume that this may have been used on military campaigns where one was plentiful and the other perhaps not.
This recipe does not produce a strong flavor. It simply brings out the bird’s natural flavors while the juices are retained in the meat with a crisp skin on the outside. It is excellent.
Medieval Poultry, or A Recipe and a Battle Scene
By Danielle Mead Skjelver
What follows is not precisely scholarly, but it is one of those delightful byproducts of scholarly work that feed our curiosity. A few years ago, I was working with a German mercenary’s sketchbook. In the top right corner of one of his sketches, in a different hand there was a recipe for pigeon. Someone had decided to use the sketch below as scratch paper, or had used this recipe in military circles and wished to associate it with this particular sketchbook. Given that the recipe suggests using either urine or salt water, it seems safe to assume that this may have been used on military campaigns where one was plentiful and the other perhaps not.
This recipe does not produce a strong flavor. It simply brings out the bird’s natural flavors while the juices are retained in the meat with a crisp skin on the outside. It is excellent.
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