Getting Medieval

More Medieval Cooking Tips

I normally don't get personal on this blog. For one, it's deadly boring to readers. And two, I just don't like to do it. But I will mention something here about my current diet. My husband and I are doing the Atkins thing. Which is to say, we don't eat carbs or sugar--not easy during this festive time of the year. But since I have lost 20 pounds while eating butter and cream and really no exercising, I can hardly complain. (We'll get medieval here in a minute, I promise.) So as I love to cook and one of the many things I love to cook are sauces and gravies, I found myself in a conundrum as to what to do about thickeners. A roux is out. And then I smacked myself on the forehead. Our medieval brothers and sisters used the friendly almond for their thickening chores. Almond meal, to be precise. And what made me think of that was the package of almond meal I bought from Trader Joes to use as breading (works great, by the way).

Almond milk--a blend of almond meal and water--was a staple in medieval households. Used for all sorts of cookery, but also in place of cow or goat milk which was too precious to be drunk. They had to make the more stable cheese from it, refrigeration being problematic. And so if you wanted something milk-like you would turn to this concoction (just be careful not to use bitter almonds or you might end up with homemade cyanide.) Almond meal was used as a thickener for gravies and stews. And it still works great. It doesn't give anything an almond flavor either. So it's good to know we can still benefit today from the cookery of that long-ago era of yesterday. I plan on sharing more recipes with you as I have done before. Hopefully, I will have my medieval feast in the near future to share with you, along with embarrassing pictures.

Now. Slice of cockatrice anyone? 

We Are Sparta!

So I finally watched 300, the movie about the Spartans 5th century BC altercation with the Persians, given to us by Sin City author Frank Miller. Not medieval, but something that puts us in the same mindset as any true warrior. I must say, I have far more testosterone that is good for me. I was pumping my fist in the air and yelling, "Yeah!" when those Spartan fellows were whacking away at the baddies. Fantastic use of lighting/CGI atmosphere. And lots of blood a-flowin'. Or spurting. Or splashing. Interestingly enough, the Spartans didn't get any on 'em. Now that's some neat fighting.

And like the newest Beowulf movie treatment, I found myself liking it for plunging us into the mindset of the people in the era. We are warriors as we watch. A much better history lesson than many a professor can lecture. Hell, I wanted to pick up my sword and slay some enemies of Sparta, too. But only if I got myself six-pack abs like those guys. Only those who workout get to be true Spartans. The last time I saw a row of six-packs like that I was standing at the refrigerator section at a 7-Eleven.

Anyway, I mention this because it is something so important to my character Crispin Guest. He, too, is a warrior, though he is gelded, if you will, due to his lack of a sword. But I love getting into that mindset; that one man against all odds; the singular warrior. It seems hopeless to him, too, but he knows with his knight's heart that he will prevail.   

         

Roaring Lion Award

Getting Medieval is the happy recipient of the A Roar for Powerful Words Award/Nomination by the Shameless Lions Writing Circle. This is how they explain it on their site. They wish to "encourage and celebrate good, powerful writing on the Internet/blogosphere... A Roar For Powerful Words is the chance to scream from the mountains the good news about the powerful posts that are produced every day in the blogosphere, despite what some mainstream columnists and journalists claim. This is also a good chance to examine exactly what it is that makes writing good and powerful."

As a sort of award chain letter, I must also nominate/award five other blogs. Not sure exactly what this means but it's always nice to be recognized. I must thank Nan Hawthorne for her kind words and for her awarding me this.

I Get Interviewed for a Change!

My very first interview, in fact! And a podcast, no less. Fear not, if you are podless. You can still download it to your computer and listen online. Go to Chivalry Today and to podcast #16. I share billing with the Jedis (I kid you not!) While you're there, do a little shopping for the budding knight in your life. Scott Farrell, the owner and presenter on the site, does educational presentations to schools. I bet your kid's school could benefit from one of these visits. Give him a shout.

Dead Bishop's Society

Time to bone up on your history! 600 year old bones of bishops were dug up about fifty years ago out of Whithorn Priory in Galloway. So where have they been sitting all this time? Anyway, this story from BBC News tells us that they knew they were bishops--buried between 1200 and 1360--but didn't know exactly who they were. See what happens when you don't put labels in your underwear? But with radiocarbon dating, they identified the graves of bishops Walter (died 1235), Gilbert (d. 1253)--whose grave was the original burial place of bishop John,(d. 1209)--Henry (d. 1293)--that's the picture above--Michael (d. 1359), and Thomas (d. 1362). I guess the age of the bones determined who they were. The article doesn't go into those specifics.

They were also able to identify their diets (high quality meat and fish) and also found the cool stuff they were buried with, like cups and croziers.

A few grave questions about this story, though. The research was carried out by Edinburgh-based Headland Archaeology on behalf of Historic Scotland, but what about the Church? Will there be a hue and cry over digging up these poor guys like we get when Native American graves are excavated? Will they be put back? Will their relatives want them reburied? Will there be a bone of contention or will there be stiff competition about where they end up? Can I stop making puns about this? Who can say?   

 

My Holiday Gift Ideas

This time I get to speak up. You still have time to run out to the bookstores for Hanukkah (well, not much time) and for Christmas, of course. These are some thoughts for the kiddies (but actually, I like them, too!)

   

Here's a pretty nifty book full of artsy projects for the budding knight or dame. Literally, some Hands-On History. Fun.

Quite the "illuminating" experience. You, too, can imagine yourself a monk in a chilly old carrel, painting in a manuscript. Except this time you can use crayons! Neat black and white line drawings of famous and not-so-famous manuscripts.   

From School Library Journal: "Simple but well-done basic historical information provides better-than-average insight into social forces that moved societies from the medieval era to the Renaissance and into later periods of unrest and revolt. In both books, two-page sections introduce facets of everyday life and culture, social structure, government, and factors that led to change. Colorful, eye-pleasing illustrations, reproductions of period artwork, maps, and cutaways of buildings, plus large print result in an attractive, easy-to-read format."

For the fashion doyens. Line art to color. Shows very well the details in medieval clothing and armour.

Get out your grey crayons. Intricate drawings are fascinating in and of themselves. No need to add color but why not? Things were a lot more colorful in the Middle Ages than our Victorican ancestors would have liked us to believe.

Might have shown this one to you last year, but it's still worth a look-see. Again, detailed illustrations of daily life. Well done.

Now, how about a little mood music. We have several selections of medieval Christmas fare, or at least medieval-sounding Christmas fare.

   

With such composers as Hildegard von Bingem and Alfonso X, this will get your Yule log burning.

The Anonymous 4 does it again with On Yoolis Night. You can trust this group to perform well and in character.

And now for something completely different. If you are a bit weary of the regular Christmas music and long for something a bit...well...creepier (think Ghosts of Christmas Past and Yet to Come) this is the album for you. Christmas, medieval, but then some. 

Medieval Hanukkah

Growing up Jewish in a Christian America was sometimes trying, especially when my family was of the reformed variety. Christmas couldn't be avoided. It was everywhere in shops, on television in the children's fare of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and on the radio with Christmas carols bombarding the airwaves. Little wonder the little Jewish girl comes to look on at Christmas with brightly shining eyes.

But it was the Dickens Christmas of roast goose and wide-skirted carolers; Father Christmas and plum pudding (of which I had never partaken), that captured my imagination.

Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights that rolled around usually at the same time as Christmas, just couldn't hold a candle. Er...

But it is a holiday with many meanings and expresses many events at once. The medieval Jew embraced it: the idea of the smaller army of Jews rising up to conquer their gentile oppressors. Always a popular theme with Jews in Europe when they were ousted from so many places as they had been in the Holy Land. They related.

Given that this is a holiday with no biblical source (the Books of Maccabees where at least part of the Hanukkah celebrations can be found, are listed in Christian bibles, which are apocryphal to Jews and not considered part of the canon), there was a clash between those rabbis who followed oral rabbinic traditions and those that were strictly biblical. (The same clash occurs between Protestants and Catholics regarding traditions with a small "t" and Traditions with a large "T". In the Last Supper, for instance, where the gospels say that Jesus is reclining at table is a perfect example of the importance of following tradition with a small "t". Biblical commandments in Exodus have God exhorting Moses to instruct the people to eat their Passover standing up as a people in flight, ready to high-tail it when the time is right. But sometime between the time of Moses and the time of Jesus, Jewish tradition changed to the partaking of the Passover in a reclining position. As it says in the Haggadah (the prayer book used during the Passover Seder) the Egyptian Hebrews stood to eat just as a slave stands to eat in the presence of his master. But to recline is to exclaim one's freedom. Thus Jesus, as a good Jewish boy, follows Jewish tradition rather than God's biblical command.) The source for Hanukkah, or the Dedicating of the Temple, comes from something called the Megillit Antiochus or the Scroll of Antioch, dating from somewhere between the 2nd and 5th centuries AD (there's more on that on the Jewish Encyclopedia.) The Books of Maccabees talks about a re-dedication of the Temple by Judah Maccabee, his brothers, and his army, but never specifically mentions a miracle, only that the celebration should last for eight days, which, indeed, most Jewish holidays do. (In Jewish numerology, Seven is the perfect number: seven days of creation. But the number eight--God--is beyond perfect. Eight days old a boy is circumcised and brought into the covenant. Eight days for most Jewish celebrations.) It is this scroll that gives us the story of the miracle of the oil.

The Story: Around 175 BCE, Antiochus IV Epiphanes King of Greek Syria and other places, ruled over the Jews and outlawed Judaism, ordering a statue of Zeus to be erected in the temple. The Maccabees revolted, won, and worked to reconsecrate the Temple, getting all that nasty gentile stuff out of there, building a new altar, etc. In order for the re-dedication to be complete, the menorah or candelabrum or multi-burning oil lamp was to burn for seven nights, but there was only enough consecrated oil to burn for one day and there was no time to get more. But it miraculously burned for eight days. Thus the eight day celebration.

In the middle ages, the Megillit Antiochus was read aloud in synagogues much as Purim, another rabbinically declared holiday and another tale about Jews rising up against their oppressors, was celebrated. Jews reenacted the lighting of a menorah in the synagogues as well as in their homes. The proper way to light a menorah is to have it in a doorway. Not quite practical, so the next best thing is to have it in a window, fulfilling the rabbis decree to show the miracle to the world (which is why there are all those public displays of menorah lighting. It is NOT the Jewish answer to a public lighting of a Christmas tree. If anything, it's the other way around.) 

Though for all that, Hanukkah was never a huge holiday. It was just one of many. Certainly not a High Holy Day like Rosh Hashonnah (Jewish New Year) or Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). It was another reminder to Jews of God's miracles and His dedication to the Chosen People no matter where they found themselves and under what circumstances.

The tradition of giving a gift for each day of the holiday is more a reflection of their Christian neighbors during a gift-giving season than part of any older tradition. The Eastern European tradition of eating foods cooked in oil, however, can be more gratifying if not cholesterol building. Because it is a feast of oil burning, foods such as latkes (potato pancakes) and donuts are part of the fare. Can't knock that. Playing the dreidel is supposed to be a reflection of a game that the Maccabees played while waiting to attack their enemies. It's like dice. It's a gambling game.

Incidentally, you haven't miscounted when you see a menorah and wonder why it has nine places for candles instead of only eight. The center place is for the shamash or helper candle. It merely lights the other ones.

So next time you see a menorah and hear about Hanukkah, don't do what my Christian contemporaries did when I was a child (and still hear on occasion); don't compliment the Jew on "their Christmas". Appreciate it on its own level, its ancient and varied traditions. And have a latke. They're tasty.   

   

            

Holiday Mystery Picks

I asked a cadre of my favorite writers and a few librarian pals to recommend some book gifts for the holidays. As modest as they are, don't forget these remarkable writers themselves and their own books (I've pictured a few here).

Let’s see what’s on offer:

Rhys Bowen: My favorite books recently have been The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones, not exactly a mystery but a novel celbrating food in Chinese culture. Also enjoyed her Lost in Translation, about the missing skull of Pekin Man--fascinating. And I'm just reading Interred with their Bones, by Jennifer Lee Carrell--a mystery/thriller about a Shakespeare manuscript. Obviously I've got a thing about missing documents at the moment! And I've been on a China kick this year and heartily recommend Lyn Hamilton's The Chinese Alchemist.

Suzanne Arruda: I just finished reading BEAU GESTE by P.C.Wren (since I picked up a 1926 copy for a quarter at a library book sale). It was fabulous. I'd recommend anyone read it for some good old French foreign Legion, and fighting to save a lady's honor, and all that historical stuff. Now I'm asking my hubby for a copy of the sequels, BEAU SABREUR and BEAU IDEAL. I'm also a sucker for any other H. Rider Haggard books.

I know these are "old" books, but that makes them Historical historicals in a way.

Librarian Patty Anderson: I'm a library director at a small university in Rapid City, SD. We're a "science/technology" library so recommending mysteries of any kind is unusual. However to friends my current recommendations are:

Chris Grabenstein's Ceepak mysteries (Tilt-A-Whirl / Mad House / Whack-A-Mole) Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire mysteries (A Cold Dish / Death Without Company / Kindness Goes Unpunished)

Kathy Lynn Emerson: Hmm. So many books to choose from!! I'd pick C. S. Harris's WHY MERMAIDS SING, Kasey Michaels's BOWLED OVER, and Charlaine Harris's AN ICE COLD GRAVE. Sorry, only one historical, but they're all mysteries.

Neil Plakcy: Great idea! Here are a couple of books I've loved this year that I think would make great gifts: Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter, by Blaize Clement. Dixie Hemingway is a former police officer in Sarasota, now working as a pet sitter after a traumatic incident. When one of her clients is murdered, Dixie investigates, with the help of her brother, a fire fighter, and his lover, an undercover cop. Beautiful writing, great setting and an intriguing plot.

Second Sight, by Zoe Sharp. The second of the Charlie Fox books to be published in the US, this one finds Charlie and her boyfriend, Sean Meyer, guarding a British woman who's just won the lottery and is in search of her long-lost father in the US. Charlie's a terrific character, and the writing here is crisp and moves the action along briskly.

Lord John and the Private Matter, by Diana Gabaldon. If you like historical mysteries, you'll love this one, a real page-turner set in 1757 in London. In a men's lavatory, Lord John Grey snatches a glimpse of the genitalia of his cousin's fiance-- and realizes that the man has syphilis. While trying to find a way to prove this "private matter," and protect his young cousin, he gets involved in solving the murder of a man from his regiment, a suspected smuggler.

And here are two on my own Christmas list: Murder in the Rue Chartres, by Greg Herren and Sundowner Ubuntu by Anthony Bidulka (right now only available in a Canadian edition; US edition this spring.)

Happy holidays!

Simon Levack: Here are a few that I'd be delighted to receive, with a word or two about why I'd want them:

I. J. Parker, Island of Exiles - the fifth of the Sugawara Akidata mysteries, set in Heian Era Japan (ie the 11th Century) - I find the setting of these books irresistible and admire the way the hero has grown in stature as the series has progressed. The latest one looks more intriguing than ever, with a background (a prison camp) that must be truly bleak.

C. J. Sansom, Sovereign - the great strength of these books, historical mysteries set in the England of Henry VIII, is the central character. Matthew Shardlake is a lawyer and a former crony of Thomas Cromwell, disillusioned by the realities of religious reform and embittered by his condition (he is a hunchback in a time when such people were viewed with fear and suspicion). Shardlake is a truly three-dimensional character, full of flaws and anything but heroic, and if his third outing is as good as the first two then there's a lot to look forward to.

I've not yet got around to reading any of Bernard Cornwell's series about Alfred the Great, but I intend to start with The Last Kingdom before long. Cornwell of course needs no introduction and there are bound to be strong, compelling characters, lots of action and an impeccably researched background.

One old book that I should like is Mary Renault's The Mask of Apollo, about a Greek tragic actor, Nikeratos, at the close of the 5th Century BC. It is the only one of her books set in ancient Greece I have not read, the others include The King Must Die, The Last of the Wine and the Alexander Trilogy, and every one of them is as near perfect as historical fiction can be, written by an author whose craftsmanship and love for her subject shine from every page.

Finally - for a bit of light relief and a change from historicals - Philip Reeve's Starcross, the sequel to last year's Larklight. Reeve is a phenomenon. His Hungry Cities books, beginning with Mortal Engines, gave us an unforgettable, tragicomic tale of a dystopian steampunk future. These latest are probably best described as a Victorian scientific romance for younger readers, but don't let that put you off - Reeve is one of those authors who couldn't write a dull sentence if he tried, and while I may read Starcross in an hour I shall relish every second of it.

Librarian Molly MacRae: Thanks for opportunity to push more books on kids. I’m in the children’s department of the Champaign Public Library in Champaign, Illinois.

I love the Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer. Enola, fourteen, is the much younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft. Springer writes with the flavor and cleverness of Conan Doyle. Enola is a smart, strong, girl protagonist. There are two titles in the series so far: The Case of the Missing Marques and The Case of the Left-Handed Lady. The books are attractive, with good cover art.

My other favorite this year is the Harriet Bean series by Alexander McCall Smith. The books are new in the U.S., though they’ve been out in Britain since the early 90s. Harriet is a resourceful nine-year-old whose absent-minded father is an inventor of useless things. The stories have madcap twists and turns. Titles are: The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean, Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats, and The Cowboy Aunt of Harriet Bean. These books are also attractive, with bright covers and appealing illustrations by Laura Rankin.

(For adults I’d recommend my own novel, Wilder Rumors, the story of a shady museum curator, a small Blue Ridge Mountain town, burglary, rumors, and murder, but that might be a bit too pushy.)

Patricia Wynn: To Darkness and To Death, Julia Spencer-Fleming,Thomas Dunne Books, Hardcover/ 2005 --Anything by this outstanding author is worth reading.

Historicals: No Mortal Reason, Kathy Lynn Emerson, Pemberley Press, Trade paper/ 2007. Third in the Diana Spaulding Mystery Series, set in 1888, and featuring a “girl-reporter” modeled after Nellie Bly. This series is great fun, very well researched escape fiction.

(1)Silver Lies 2005 and (2) Iron Ties 2006, Ann Parker, Silver Rush Mysteries, Poisoned Pen Press. I believe both are out in hardcover and trade paper now. Ann Parker’s books immerse you instantly in the mining days of Leadville, CO. Hard hitting drama with extraordinary texture.

Mark of the Lion: A Jade del Cameron Novel, Suzanne Arruda, NAL, 2006. Set in colonial Kenya. A fascinating look at the British Colonial Period for anyone like me who is keen on Africa and its wildlife.

And thank you all for your enlightening and diverse picks!