by THFool Dagonell the Juggler

The theme for the AS 55 Scarlet Apron Cooking Competition, traditionally held at the Æthelmearc War Practice, is in! As the Sylvan Bard has already declared the rules for the next Sylvan Bard competition (keep tuned), I decided I should follow this example and give people plenty of notice for the next Scarlet Apron contest to be held at AE War Practice. The theme will be . . . *drum roll* . . . CHERRIES!

I made a lovely dish called Syrosye from Curye On Inglysch and discovered that because no amounts are given, it’s been redacted as everything from cherry soup to cherry bread. I’m curious what AE cooks would do with it. You are NOT required to use this recipe, other recipes will be welcome, however there are points for authenticity and documentation, so take that into consideration. Good luck!

Syrosye by THFool Dagonell

Original:

“To make a syrosye. Tak cheryes & do out þe stones & grynde hem wel & draw
hem þorw a streynoure & do it in a pot. & do þerto whit gres or swete botere
& myed wastel bred, & cast þerto good wyn & sugre, & salte it & stere it wel
togedere, & dresse it in disches; & set þeryn clowe gilofre, & strew sugre
aboue.”

My translation:
“To make Syrosye: Take cherries and do out the stones and grind them well and
draw them through a strainer and do it in a pot and do thereto white grease
(lard) or sweet butter and minced wastel (white) bread, and cast thereto good
wine and sugar and salt it and stir it well together, and dress it in dishes;
and set therein cloves and strew sugar about.”

My redaction:
Two packages frozen cherries, 10oz @, thawed
3 Tablespoons butter
4 slices bread, shredded,
1/2 cup red wine.
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
powdered cloves, powdered sugar

Run the cherries and their juice in a blender. Put the blended cherries,
butter, breadcrumbs, wine, sugar and salt in a pot and ‘stir it well together’.
Simmer on a low heat until it becomes warm mush. Serve into bowls and sprinkle
with powdered cloves and powdered sugar. Use a delicate hand with the cloves,
it’s a strong spice and a little goes a long way. If you don’t have a light
touch, omit the cloves entirely. Serve hot.

Notes:
One of the advantages of owning a chest freezer is that my wife and I can buy
frozen food in bulk. We bought a case of assorted packages of frozen fruit
and put them in the freezer. The original recipe called for cherries, so I
used two packages of cherries, but you could use any fruit, frozen or fresh.
The word ‘syrosye’ does not appear anywhere in any of my cooking glossaries,
so I looked it up on Google and got nothing but other redactors translating
the exact same recipe. Since amounts and specifics are never mentioned in the
original, translations vary wildly. Some use few breadcrumbs and call the
result a soup, others use lots of breadcrumbs and result can be eaten with a
fork. I went with the latter. They are also evenly divided on whether to use
white or red wine. It was dark red cherries, and I had red wine on hand, so
I used red wine. I used powdered cloves so there would be no surprises biting
down into something soft and finding something hard. This would make a very
nice dessert for a feast.

Reference:

Constance B. Hieatt & Sharon Butler (ed.), Curye On Inglysch, Book III, Utilis Coquinario, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1985.