Oatmeal Bruet

This is an unfinished recipe, even though I have served it. I used it in a vegetarian version using ground almonds and no broth. It is not impossible to make without measurements because you make the oatmeal groats separately and then add the sauce which means that if there is some of either left over there is no problem. With the sauce you can personalize it: more or less sweetness, more or less sourness, more or less spiciness. I would advise playing with those elements to find your own level and flavour notes.

My advice to a medieval cook who is just starting out- get whole grains and by that I mean shaped like the grain, not processed. So oats groats, whole barley, rye, wheat, spelt and brown rice should be tried at least once. Buy just a cup to experiment with and cook them exactly the same way and see the differences in texture, flavour, the liquid left in the pot, the stickiness and all the other differences that make these grains such an important part of the medieval diet. Modern cooks are used to working with highly processed grains and medieval cooks used those same grains in many different capacities. They each have their own strengths and work in different ways to make a dish special. Rolled oats will not work in this dish in the same manner because they absorb liquid in a different rate, because they get mushy faster and because the feel in the mouth is radically different.

Verjuice is not vinegar but it is an acid note in a recipe. So just as lemon juice is an acid note but no one would say that it is the same as vinegar, neither is verjuice. It is available in middle eastern markets and a medieval cook needs to find an oppurtunity to try it experimentally to understand how it works differently to produce flavour results.

I will be posting measurements at some future time but I encourage new cooks to experiment with those two elements- whole grains and verjuice as an alternative to vinegar.

Oatmeal bruet- whole oat groats, verjuice, white wine, almond milk, white ginger, grains of paradise, sugar, saffron

. An oatmeal bruet of capons: and to give understanding to him who will make the oatmeal bruet of capons, let him take his fat first-year capons and pluck them cleanly and wash them well and properly, and then put them to cook and meat therewith, that which it needs, that is in the season of winter good fresh chines of pork and pigs' feet, and if it is summer good kid and veal and salt pork as is needed, which should be very well cleaned, washed, and parboiled a little beforehand. And those who are making it would be well advised, the day before he makes the said oatmeal bruet, to arrange that he has good whole oats and pick over and clean them very well and grain by grain so that there remains nothing but the pure grain, and then wash it very well in three or four changes of lukewarm water and then put it to boil in fair water in a fair and clear and clean pot; and let him do this according to the quantity which he is ordered to make. And when it is half cooked draw it out and remove it and take it out of the pot and the water in which it has boiled, and put it back to boil in fair, clear, and clean water and put it back to cook for an hour or so. And when it is boiled enough let him put it to rest until the next day. And according to the quantity of the bruet which he has been ordered to make let him arrange that he has almonds and blanch, clean, and wash them very well, then bray them in a mortar and moisten them with the capon broth and draw them up with it, and according to the quantity of the said potage which he wants to make let him put in some of the said broth, and let him flavor it with verjuice and white wine; and according to the quantity of the said bruet which he is making let him put in spices, that is white ginger and grains of paradise, and strain all this with the almonds; and, all this being strained together, let him arrange that he has according to the quantity of the broth a clear, fair, and very clean pot and put them in, and then put them to boil over a fair and clear fire, and put in a great deal of sugar according to the quantity of the said broth, and salt in measure and a little beaten saffron to give it a little color. And then take the said oatmeal which he has resting, and separate the water from it with a good strainer, and check and see that there is nothing in it that should not be there; and, this being done, put it into the said broth above made and devised. And, this being done, take out onto fair and clean boards the said capons and meat, and then arrange the said capons and meat on fair serving dishes and then put the said oatmeal bruet on top.



Boil the oat groat until they are tender and strain out the liquid remaining. Put aside while you make the Sauce. Mix almond milk with the oat water and flavor with verjuice and white wine bring to a boil and add sugar, ginger, grains of paradise, salt and saffron. Add the groats to the broth and serve forth.