A Crown Tourney Soup

At the crown tourney of King Edward Grey and Queen Thyra Eiriksdottir in Endewearde, the feast was inspired by medieval Polish recipes.  In the first course, a soup with parsnips and cabbage was served that was so delicious, I had to have the recipe.  Head chef, Lady Leofwyn Wytleseie was kind enough to share it with me.  When my next door neighbor gave me some of his freshly dug parsnips, I knew just what to do with them. 

I modified Lady Leofwyn's dumpling recipe a little as her recipe called for barley flour and mace, which I didn't have, and as I wasn't creating dumplings for 150 people, I opted to cook them right in the soup.  The results were delicious.  Also, since I was cooking them in the soup, I cut her recipe in half so that I would have room for them and all the soupy goodness as well. 

Although I don't have the original recipe which I like to post to share the original source, the recipe itself comes from Food and Drink in Medieval Poland by Maria Dembińska.  

Duszony Por z Pasternak i Gier 
(Stew of Parsnips, Leeks, and Alexanders)

4 pounds leek greens (use the leafy part that is normally discarded
3 pounds small parsnips, trimmed, pared, and sliced on a slant to resemble thick potato chips
2 cups sliced leek, white part only
2 cups white cabbage, shredded as for sauerkraut
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, sliced in half lengthwise
6 tablespoons honey
1/8 teaspoon ground saffron
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cumin1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup coarsely chopped alexanders (leaves and small stems only)

Boil the leek greens in 1 gallon of water until soft and until the stock is reduced by one-fourth (about 1 hour). Strain and reserve the liquid, discarding the leek greens. Put the stock in a stewing pot with the parsnips, sliced leeks, cabbage, onion and garlic. Cover and stew 45 minutes, or until the parsnips are tender, then add the honey, saffron, cinnamon, salt, and vinegar. Stew 15 minutes, then add the alexanders. Let the alexanders cook for about 5 minutes, then serve immediately over pieces of stale manchet bread or cheese dumplings.

NOTES:  As the hour was late when I started this dinner, and people were getting very hungry, I opted to use some homemade turkey broth that I had on hand rather than use the leeks to create the base for the soup.  Alexanders or black lovage is a spring plant that is part of the Umbelliferae family (carrots, celery, fennel, dill, caraway, anise, etc).  Reports are that it tastes a little like celery.  Or asparagus.  Or parsley.  Or pepper.  Or chicken.  Well, maybe not that last one, but there does seem to be disagreement as to what it tastes like.  As celery seemed to be mentioned most often, and I had celery in the fridge, I substituted celery for the alexanders.  It was still delicious.

Cheese Dumplings

1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp butter, melted
6 oz feta cheese, crumbled
3 eggs

In a bowl, mix bread crumbs, flour, and nutmeg together.  Stir in butter and feta, making the mixture as crumbly as possible.  Add the eggs, until a soft dough has formed. 

When the soup is just about done, make balls about 1 to 2 inches with the dough and drop them into the hot soup.  When they rise to the surface, the soup (and dumplings) are done.