Hwit Moos

White Mush (Bread Budding)

Source:Libellus de Arte Coquinaria a comparative analysis of 4 manuscripts, dating from the 13^th century, collection of 35 recipes in three languages... Danish, Icelandic, & Low German.

Original Recipe:

Quomodo temperetur cibus qui vocatur hwit moos.

Man skal takæ søt miælk, oc wæl writhet hwetebrøth oc slaghnæ æg, oc wæl writhæt safran, oc latæ thæt wællæ til thæt warthær thiuct. Sithen latæ thæt up a dysk oc kastæ I smør, oc strø a pulvær af kaniæl. Thæt hetær hwitmoos.

Translation: (Translation from Libellus de Arte Coquinaria: An Early Northern Cookery Book)

How to prepare a dish called White Mush.

One should take fresh milk, and well crushed wheat bread and a beaten egg and well ground saffron, and let it cook until it becomes thick. Then place it on a dish, and add butter, and sprinkle on powdered cinnamon. It is called “White Mush.”

My Interpretation:

Take milk and butter put them into a sauce pan. Cook on medium heat until butter has melted. Take beaten eggs and add the sugar, cinnamon, and salt to them, mix well. Cube the bread slices. Then fold the bread slices into the egg and spice mixture. Mix the egg mixture and the milk mixture in a casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Notes:

Although this recipe does not call for sugar, I wanted to make this as a sweet dish to show it as an ancestor to a modern bread pudding.

References:

"The Socalled Harpestreng Cookbook." Monumenta Culinaria Et Diaetetica Historica. Ed. M. Kristensen. Thomas Gloning, 18 July 2000. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. <http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/harp-kkr.htm>.13th Century "K" Codex of Libellus de Arte Coquinaria.

Grewe, Rudolf, and Constance B. Hieatt. Libellus De Arte Coquinaria: An Early Northern Cookery Book. Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2001. Print.A comparative analysis of 4 manuscripts, dating from the 13th century, collection of 35 recipes in three languages... Danish, Icelandic, & Low German.