Province of the Mists Boar Hunt 2001
German Feast Relishes

• Lemon chopped with sugar and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds - Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch, 1581
• Marinated Beets with horseradish - in red wine vinegar and red wine with spices - Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch, 1581
• A condiment of Cucumber - in white wine vinegar with spices, saffron, and mustard - Ein Buch von Guter Spise
• A condiment of Red Cabbage - in red wine vinegar with honey and spices - Ein Buch von Guter Spise
• Pickled Button Mushrooms - in white wine vinegar and white wine, with spices and fresh ginger - "Lady Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book", late 16th century & "Sir Kenelme Digbie's The Closet Open'd", mid-17th century

Lemon and pomegranate relish

Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch

37. Lemon chopped with sugar and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds.

makes 10 small bowls

10 medium lemons
5 pomegranates
plenty of granulated sugar

1. Peel pomegranates, separating seeds into a large bowl, removing all pith. Pomegranates contain tannin and will stain clothes and hands. Be sure to wear an apron - and latex gloves if you wish. Sprinkle seeds with sugar.
3. Chop lemons up completely and finely, removing only the seeds.
5. Mix with pomegranate seeds.
4. Sprinkle with lots sugar. Let stand. Add more sugar as necessary.

Marinated Beets with horseradish

Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch

3. Rote Ruben: Red beets preserved with small cut horseradish/ anise/ coriander/ and a little caraway/ special if the beets are cut/ marinated in half wine and half vinegar.

makes about 1 gallon

10 large red beets, cut into medium-small chunks
2 cup red wine
2 cup red wine vinegar (white or cider will do)
1-1/2' fresh horseradish root, peeled and cut into slivers
1-1/2 TB salt
1 tsp whole anise seed
1 tsp whole caraway seed
2 tsp whole coriander seed

1. Cut up beets.
2. Combine all ingredients except beets in a pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer 5 minutes
3. Add the beets and heat through.
4. Place in jar or crock and let mellow for at least 24 hours, up to two weeks in a cool place.

A condiment

Ein Buch von Guter Spise

48. Ein condimentlin. Flavor caraway seeds and anise with pepper and with vinegar and with honey. And make it gold with saffron. And add thereto mustard. In this condiment you may make sulze (pickled or marinated) parsley, and small preserved fruit and vegetables, or beets, which(ever) you want.

A condiment of Cucumber

makes about 1 gallon

5 cucumbers, peeled
3/4 tsp whole caraway seeds
3/4 tsp whole fennel seeds
3/4 tsp whole dill seed
1 tsp whole peppercorns
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup honey
2 cup white wine vinegar to cover, more as needed (white will do)
1/4 tsp saffron
1 TB powdered mustard

1. Grind caraway, fennel, and dill seeds with salt and pepper.
2. Mix in vinegar and honey.
3. Add saffron and mustard.
4. Put in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the honey melts into the vinegar. Remove from heat.
5. Put prepared cucumbers in warm marinade and let stand for at least 1 hour.
6. Taste - adjust seasonings as needed. Keep covered in a cool place until feast.

A condiment of Red Cabbage

makes more than 1 gallon - but i managed to jam it into a one-gallon container

4 heads of Red Cabbage, cored and shredded
1 TB whole caraway seeds
2 tsp whoe anise
2 tsp whole peppercorns
1 tsp salt
4 cups red wine vinegar
2 cups honey

1. Grind caraway seeds with aniseed, salt, and pepper.
2. Mix in vinegar and honey.
3. Add saffron and mustard.
4. Put in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the honey melts into the vinegar. Remove from heat.
5. Put prepared cabbage in marinade and let stand for at least 1 hour.
6. Taste - adjust seasonings as needed. Keep covered in a cool place until feast.

NOTE:
While based on the same recipe, the pickles didn't taste the same because I made the pickling liquids different.

Pickled Button Mushrooms

Lady Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book, 16th century

To Pickle Mushrooms Take your Buttons, clean ym with a sponge & put ym in cold water as you clean ym, then put ym dry in a stewpan & shake a handful of salt over ym, yn stew ym in their own liquor till they are a little tender; then strain ym from ye liquor & put ym upon a cloath to dry till they are quite cold. Make your Pickle before you do your mushrooms, yt may be quite cold before you put ym in. The Pickle must be made with White-Wine, White-Pepper, quarter's Nutmeg, a Blade of Mace & a Race of ginger.

Sir Kenelme Digbie's The Closet Opened, 17th century

Pickled Champignons Cut the great ones into halves or quarters, seeing carefully there be no worms in them; and peel off their upper skin on the tips: the little ones, peel whole. As you peel them, throw them into a basin of fair-water, which preserves them white.

Then put them into a pipkin or possnet of Copper (no Iron) and put a very little water to them, and a large proportion of Salt. If you have a pottle of Mushrooms, you may put to them ten or twelve spoonfuls of water, and two or three of Salt. Boil them with a pretty quick-fire, and scum them well all the while, taking away a great deal of foulness, that will rise. They will shrink into a very little room. When they are sufficiently parboiled to be tender, and well cleansed of their scum, (which will be in about a quarter of an hour,) take them out, and put them into a Colander, that all the moisture may drain from them.

In the mean time make your pickle thus: Take a quart of pure sharp white Wine Vinegar (elder-Vinegar is best) put two or threee spoonfuls of whole Pepper to it, twenty or thirty Cloves, one Nutmeg quartered, two or three flakes of Mace, three Bay-leaves; (some like Lemon-Thyme and Rosemary; but then it must be a very little of each) boil all these together, till the Vinegar be well impregnated with the Ingredients, whch will be in about half an hour. Then take it from the fire, and let it cool.

When the pickle is quite cold, and the Mushrooms also quite cold, and drained from all moisture: put them into the Liquor (with all the Ingredients in it) which you must be sure, be enough to cover them. In ten or twelve days, they will have taken into them the full taste of the pickle, and will keep very good half a year. If you have much supernatant Liquor, you may parboil more Mushrooms the next day, and put them to the first. If you have not gathered at once enough for a dressing, you may keep them all night in water to preserve them white, and gather more the next day, to joyn to them.

Pickled Champignons, my way

makes about 1-1/2 gallons

A. Make pickling liquid

3-1/2 quarts white wine Vinegar
3-1/2 quarts white Wine
3/4 cup plus 2 TB whole peppercorns
1/2 oz. whole Cloves
7 Nutmegs, quartered
14 flakes of Mace
21 Bay-leaves
7" fresh ginger

1. Mix vinegar with Pepper, Cloves, Nutmeg, Mace, Bay-leaves and sliced Ginger.
2. Bring to boil and simmer until Vinegar is well impregnated with the Ingredients, about half an hour. Add a few spoonfuls of water if the liquid shows signs of evaporating.
3. Remove from fire, and let cool, leaving all spices in it.

B. Prepare Mushrooms

14 quarts Button Mushrooms, well cleaned and halved or quartered
4 cups water
7 TB Salt

1. Clean mushrooms just before cooking.
2. Put mushrooms in a non-iron pot with water and salt.
3. Bring to boil, then simmer. They will shrink into a very little room. Parboil until tender, about 15 min.
4. Drain, and let cool.

C. Pickle the Mushrooms

1. When both pickle and mushrooms are cold, put mushrooms in spiced liquid (with spices). If there isn't enough liquid to cover, make more pickling liquid.
   
2. Keep in a cool place for 10 or 12 days.
   
3. If you have too much liquid, parboil more mushrooms the next day, and add them.
   
4. Keep covered in cool place until feast.
   
5. If for immediate consumption, pour pickling liquid on mushrooms while they're hot. Cool before eating.