Noteye
(Nutty)

Origin: English      Period: Medieval

Original Recipe

The recipe below is derived from Harleian MS 279, [Cxlj.] [31] which dates to circa 1420 CE:

Noteye. Take a gret porcyoun of Haselle leuys, & grynd in a morter as smal as thou may, whyl that they be onge; take than, & draw vppe a thrift Mylke of Almaundys y-blaunchyd, & temper it with Freysshe brothe; wryng out clene the Ius of the leuys; take Fleysshe of Porke or of Capoun, & grynd it smal, & temper it vppe with the mylke, & caste it in a potte, & he Ius ther-to, do it ouer the fyre & late it boyle; take flour of Rys, & a-lye it; take & caste Sugre y-now ther-to, & Vynegre a quantyte, & pouder Gyngere, & Safroun it wel, & Salt; take smal notys, & breke hem; take the kyrnellys, & make hem whyte, & fye hem vppe in grece; plante ther-with thin mete & serue forth.

The translation being:

'Nutty'. Take a great portion of hazel leaves, and grind them in a mortar as small as you may, while they are young then take and draw up a thrifty milk of almonds, blanched, and mix it with fresh broth; wring out clean the juice of the leaves, take flesh of pork or of capon, and grind it small, and mix it with the milk, and put it in a pot, and add the juice to it, and put it over the fire and let it boil. Take rice flour and thicken it; add enough sugar to it, and some vinegar, and powdered ginger, and plenty of saffron, and salt. Take small nuts and break them; take the kernels and blanch them, and fry them up in grease, stud your meat with them, and serve forth.

Modern Redaction

Nutty

Ingredients:

450g lean pork or chicken
300ml Almond Milk
600ml fresh, green, young, hazel leaves
1l water
4 tbsp rice flour
1 tsp dried ginger
large pinch of saffron
200g hazelnuts
50g butter
salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Preparation

First prepare your hazel leaves. Pick only young and fresh leaves pack them down into your container so that you have between 600ml and 1l in total. Wash the leaves then chop them roughly and if you're being authentic prepare a paste by mashing them in a pestle and mortar with a little water. Alternatively make a paste of them in your food processor with just enough water to form a smooth paste. Meanwhile cut your meet into small cubes, bring a 1l pan of water to the boil and add your meat to this. Bring to the boil then simmer for twenty minutes. This makes your basic broth. For a more flavoursome version add a few vegetables and some herbs.

When the broth is ready pour about 250ml of the hot broth onto your hazel leaves and allow to steep and cool. When the hazel leaf mixture is clear strain through muslin into a large pot (make sure to squeeze out the last of the juice). Meanwhile take the meat out of the broth and mash to a smooth paste with a pestle and mortar or in your food processor. Take your almond milk and add 200ml of water (the original recipe calls for a weak (ie thrifty) almond milk solution. Add this to the hazel-leaf juice in the pan along with the meat paste. Bring the mixture to the boil and turn down to a simmer. Whilst the pottage is thickening prepare the hazelnuts by chopping roughly and frying lightly in the butter.

Meanwhile add rice flour to the pottage to thicken and flavour with a large pinch of saffron and a teaspoon of dried ginger. Season with salt and pepper.

When the pottage is sufficiently thick for your taste tip into a serving bowl and sprinkle the nuts on top. Serve immediately.

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As a guide 1 US cup of flour = 4 1/2 oz = 140g (this applies to breadcrumbs, ground almonds etc
1 US cup of butter/margarine or sugar = 7 oz = 200g

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