Battle of Arnhem +80

 'If in the years to come, you meet a man who says, "I was at Arnhem", raise your hat and buy him a drink.' War correspondent Alan Wood - 1944

80 years today, British and Polish paratroopers were 'jumping into hell'.

9 days later, they had been destroyed.
Of 10,000 men who had landed, 8,000 were killed, wounded or captured. The 1st British Airborne Division never saw combat again (though sections of it did).

Hundreds of men were left behind, hiding in German occupied territory. They were sheltered by the Dutch Underground, and many were rescued by MI9 and the Dutch Resistance. Others (astonishingly) made their own way out.

"In all my years as a soldier, I have never seen men fight so hard."
Wilhelm Bittrich, SS Commander, commenting on the British Paratroopers at Arnhem - September 1944

In 1969, the Parachute Regiment suggested to the Dutch people that the annual commemoration at Oosterbeek Cemetery should end, because enough time had passed to allow it to fade.
The Dutch were so absolutely and vocally opposed to that, it continues to this day, with locals and schoolchildren laying flowers on the graves of those lost.

My Grandad was at Arnhem.

Richmond Castle, Sunday Recipes

 Part two of the food we made at Richmond Castle

Garlic Soup

The herbs are all fresh, but if you can't get the fresh herbs you can use dried.  The olive oil can be extra virgin, but as it's for frying, I wouldn't worry about it too much - you could also use a rapeseed or sunflower oil.
The carrots I use are heritage varieties (depending on what it available - coloured varieties that taste very slightly different from normal carrots), but you can use just normal carrots.
The vegetable stock is from stock cubes or stock pots, but absolutely use fresh or home-made if you prefer.

Garlic, sliced
Shallots, finely chopped
Carrots
Double cream
Vegetable stock
Parsley, chopped
Thyme, chopped
Sea salt
Olive oil

Pan roast the garlic in olive oil, add the onions to brown slightly.

Put vegetable stock in a pot, and add the garlic, onions and carrots. Cook till tender.

Season to taste and add the herbs. Add the cream, and check the seasoning.

Pea Salad

The tins and frozen peas and beans are what I'm using at the event - any combination of fresh, frozen or tinned is fine, just make sure they're cooked to tender and cooled before you start.
The peas should be more petit pois kind if you can get them, because medieval people would have had the smaller 'field peas' not the modern marrowfat peas we have now.
When mixing the oil and vinegar, you want about three parts oil to one part vinegar.
I like to use Aspall's vinegar, because it's vegan, and I don't have to worry about sulphites (which is an allergen in most vinegars).  Also, it's just better than most.  You can also use verjus in place of the vinegar.

Tinned chick peas, drained
Frozen broad beans, defrosted
Tinned peas, drained
Fresh mint, chopped
Fresh chives, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
Olive oil
Cider vinegar
Sea salt
Black pepper

Drain and rinse the tinned veg.

Check whether the broad beans need to be cooked, if so, pre cook till tender and allow to cool.

Slightly squash the chickpeas and beans (not too much, we're going for different textures, not hummus).

Chop the herbs and mix into the beans. (I use my hands, a spoon is also ok.)

Sprinkle over salt and pepper to taste.

Mix together the oil and vinegar and sprinkle over.

Pancakes

These are not pancakes in the sense we mean in Britain (like crepes).  They're also not pancakes in the sense they mean in America (they're basically drop scones).
The closest thing to these pancakes that we have today is doughnuts.  If you've ever had fresh doughnuts from a van - that's what these are like.
This recipe does have quantities on it, which I use as a rough guide.  You can increase or decrease the amount as you wish, as long as you keep the ratio broadly the same.  
We have a coeliac, as I mentioned earlier, so I'm using gluten free flour - normal plain flour is fine too (plain because it's the yeast that does the work).  If using wheat, you can leave out the xanthan gum.  
The yeast I use is Allinson's Easy Bake dried yeast, because it's both really simple to use, and it's gluten free.
When I say 'deep fry', I don't use a deep fat fryer, I use a frying pan, but I do make sure there's a good pool of oil about 1-1.5cm deep.

Milk (750ml)
Yeast (1 tsp)
Egg whites (x6)
Plain flour (420g)
(Xanthan gum (1 tsp) - omit if not using gluten free flour)
Vegetable oil (something neutral with a highish smoke point, so rapeseed, or sunflower, etc) 

Sugar
Salt

Warm the milk slightly and dissolve the yeast into it.

Beat the egg whites, then mix the egg whites and the flour.  (If using the xanthan gum, add it to the flour.)

Add the yeast and milk to the mix a little at a time, beating till smooth.

'Deep fry' a dollop at a time, turn when lightly browned, and then drain.  (NB - they do not need to be perfect rounds - stray strands will crisp up nicely, just be sure to remove any burned bits.)

Sprinkle with a little sugar and some salt.

Elder sauce

This is a really easy fruit sauce.
I use foraged elderberries and blackberries. 
The blueberries are pretending to be our native British bilberries (or blaeberries), which are not grown commercially (I don't have any growing near me, so I can't forage them).  They're so closely related that they're effectively the same plant, but blaeberries are a bit smaller.

But the cool part about this fruit sauce is that you can use any fruit you want - I've even made it with apples and pears.
You can also use as much or as little of the sugar or honey as you like.

Elderberries
Blackberries
Blueberries (pretending to be blaeberries)
Brown sugar (or honey)
Water
(Sea salt)

Put the fruit in a small pan, with enough water to cover, and some sugar, to taste (or you can use honey).

Bring to the boil  and simmer till the fruit cooks down to a jammy consistency - add water if it boils dry, and give it a good mix every now and then.

Shortly before it's ready, check the flavour, and add more sugar / honey if it needs it, and a small pinch of salt.


Disclaimers -
If you're going to pick the yourself, make absolutely sure you know what you have before you eat it.  Check with multiple sources, books, websites (ideally not apps), Facebook groups, etc. 

Elderberries must be cooked before being eaten, because of the amygdalin that may be present that can convert to cyanide in your gut (cooking neutralises it).  Don't be scared by the word 'cyanide' - it's the same chemical present in apple seeds.

If you're pregnant or breastfeeding, skip the elderberries - there's no evidence that they're harmful, but equally no evidence that they're safe either.
Likewise, if you have any gastro-intestinal issues, best avoid, just to be safe.
And check drug interaction if you're taking medications - it's known that it can make certain drugs less effective.
Avoid if you have severe hayfever or allergic rhinitis.

Finally, I'm in the UK, where all our Elder trees are Sambucus Nigra, or the European Elder, and all are edible.  There are closely related members of the Sambucus family of plants in other parts of the world that have fruits that are toxic.  Make sure you know what you have before you consume it.

Pears in Brandy

Another simple one that's basically just a one pot simmer everything together dish.

Be aware, there may be alcohol in this dish after cooking (the brandy).


Pears, peeled, cored, and quartered
Water
Brandy
Honey
Brown sugar 
Galangal paste
Cinnamon, ground
Cloves, ground
Sea salt

Cook the pears in water, a little brandy and a very little sugar or honey.

Keep an eye on them, and if they boil dry before they're tender, top it up.

Once the pears are cooked to tender, remove them and set them aside.

Mix the honey, remaining brandy, and spices in another pot, and heat into a syrup - allow it to boil.

Serve with the sauce poured over the pears, and sprinkle a very little sea salt.

Prince Biskit

A simple medieval biscuit.  The original recipe says that the ingredients should be beaten together for one hour - it can be done in a food processor in a modern kitchen - just keep going till it won't mix any more.
I've included the xanthan gum in the recipe, which I've added because I'm using gluten free flour.  If you use normal wheat flour, this isn't needed.


Plain flour (500g)
Brown sugar (500g)
5 eggs
Caraway seeds (approx 6 table spoonsful)
Rosewater (approx 2 tablespoonsful)
(Xanthan gum, 1 teaspoon)

Beat together the ingredients.

Put spoonsful onto a baking sheet (spread out in case they spread)

Bake for 15 - 25 minutes at 160C.

Dandelion and Burdock

Dandelion and burdock has a much longer history than most people realise.  It started out as a fresh kind of mead.  That is, it was made and drunk within a couple of weeks, not left to mature and build the alcohol content.
This recipe may contain a little alcohol, because the alcohol is a by-product of the fermentation of the yeast, but it won't be that high.  If you want to know exactly how much you end up with, you can test it using a hydrometer and do the calculations to figure it out.
I use bottled mineral water to make this, but you can use ordinary tap water that's been left for a few days to allow any chlorine to evaporate (it won't work with chlorinated water, because the chlorine will kill the microbes).
The honey I use is Rowse brand ordinary runny honey, and their 'Dark and Rich' honey.
If you can't get fresh dandelion and burdock roots (and remember, if picking your own, be 100% certain it is what you think it is), you can buy dried, cut roots online - the burdock is often sold as 'burdock tea', and the dandelion as 'dandelion coffee'.  Just make sure it's only the root with nothing added.

The yeast I use is nothing special - ordinary Allinson's easy bake dried yeast.  It's gluten free, so I know I'm safe.  Any bread, beer or champagne yeast will do the job though.

4L water
Honey (approx 680g)
Burdock root, 150g
Dandelion root, 50g
Juice of one small lime
2.5 teaspoons dry yeast

Put the water in a large pan, with the dandelion root and the burdock root.  Bring to the boil and let it simmer for at least half an hour (steeping it longer will just increase the strength, like a tea).

Take it off the heat and allow it to cool.

Take a few spoonsful of the dandelion and burdock tea, and add it into the honey to make the honey more liquid and easier to mix in, then add it to the pan.  Add the lime juice too.

Strain the liquid into another big pan, or fermenting pot, so you get rid of all the bits of dandelion and burdock (they can now be discarded).  

Mix the dried yeast with a little warm (just above skin temperature) water, and let it stand for 10-15 minutes.  When it's started to foam, add it all into the pot, and mix it in.

Cover the pot loosely, and let it stand - ideally for a few days, but over night as a minimum.

Then you can decant it into bottles.  
NB - when you decant it, do NOT tighten the lid.  Ordinary bottles are fine (I clean then reuse the plastic water bottles that the water came in), but the yeast is still active, so if you tighten the lid, the bottle may explode.  The same goes for any bottle or container that does not have an air release cap on it.  
Check the bottle twice a day for the next week or so.  It will be ready to drink in a week or two.

(Note as this is a fresh mead, it is not be left to mature - as a result, the mead may still be cloudy after a week or two.  It won't have time to clarify, which happens after the microbes in the yeast die back, and the alcohol content increases.  The mead may still be cloudy.  This is perfectly safe to drink, and will not do you any harm - it's just the yeast in the mead.)

Richmond Castle Saturday Recipes

This is part one of two posts...

So, as well as being a costumer I do the cooking for my re-enactment group, Conquest.

We're doing an event at Richmond Castle this weekend, so I thought I'd share the recipes.

Please be aware these are much in the vein of actual medieval recipes, which don't contain ingredient quantities - though I try to write them with the items in the largest amount first.

Beef Stuffed with Lamb

Talk to your butcher to get a cut that will stand up to both being bashed, and being rolled and cooked relatively quickly.
Because the other ingredients (lamb, etc) are already cooked, you can cook the beef to your preference.  Just make sure it's cooked to a safe temperature - I use a meat thermometer to check on camp (which I really recommend, even in a home kitchen, they're really useful), but you can do it by hand or by poking with a skewer. 

Beef steaks, about 1.5cm or 2cm thick, (or a piece of beef that you cut up)
Minced lamb or minced mutton
Onion, very finely chopped
Cinnamon, ground
Pepper, ground, black
Ginger, ground
Nutmeg, ground
Cloves, ground
Sea salt
Vegetable oil

Lay the slices of beef on a chopping board. Cover with a clean cloth (in a modern kitchen, put between two pieces of cling film or paper parchment) and flatten slightly with a rolling pin or similar.

Fry off  the onion in a little vegetable oil till it softens.  Add the spices, including a little salt.  Add the minced lamb or mutton straight away, and fry till it's cooked through and slightly browned.  Drain the lamb / mutton.

Put a dollop of the lamb/mutton mix onto the beef, and spread out. Leave a gap without the lamb/mutton on at the end. 
Roll up the beef and tie securely with string.

Roll up the beef, and tie into place securely with string.

Either pan fry the rolls,  or gently roast on skewer gently until cooked.  (In a modern kitchen you can also cook it in an oven, about 180 till it cooks through, or you can cook it on a barbecue.)

To serve remove the string and slice.

Funges

When buying mushrooms, don't just get one kind.  Supermarkets have loads of different kinds these days.  At the weekend, I'll be using a combination of normal white closed cup mushrooms, chestnut mushrooms, portobellini mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and woodland mushrooms.  There's no need to peel the mushrooms, but obviously they should be washed.
The other mushrooms can be cut into large chunks (quarters or sixths, half if they're small), but for the oyster mushrooms, just tear them by hand.
For the mushroom stock I just use Knorr 'stock pots', but you can make your own if you prefer. 
There is no salt in the recipe because of the soy sauce, which should be added to taste.  The soy sauce is a replacement for a medieval fermented sauce called 'murri', which as far as I know, nobody has so far managed to recreate.  At least not safely.

Mushrooms, assorted, chopped
Mushroom stock
Leeks, finely sliced
Soy sauce, light
Cloves, ground 
Pepper, ground, black
Vegetable oil

Fry off the leeks and mushrooms.

Add the stock, cloves, pepper and soy sauce.

And then one of my favourite phrases from medieval recipes, 'cook it until it is done'.

Cucumber salad

You can dispense with the allium flowers and cucumber flowers if you can't get them - in the UK, I use westlandsuk.co.uk - if you omit the allium, I'd suggest adding in some chopped chives.
The galangal paste can be replaced with minced or grated fresh galangal if you prefer - I find the paste easier to get (though you can usually get fresh from The Spice Shop).
The garlic can be crushed in a garlic press in a modern kitchen (we don't have one in the group kitchen, because they didn't exist yet).  You could also use garlic paste.  If using jarlic, you'd probably need to do more chopping as it won't be fine enough.
For the cucumbers, cut them into four along the length (assuming normal size), then cut each piece into strips.  You can peel them if you prefer - or you can use them skin-on - your personal preference is fine.

Cucumbers, peeled and cut into strips
Fresh mint, chopped
Cucumber flowers
Allium flowers
Galangal paste
Garlic, minced 
Sea salt
Olive oil, ideally extra virgin

Mix garlic, galangal, salt, mint, and oil together.  (Put the other ingredients in a small pot and add a spoonful of the oil to get it started, then add more.)  Let stand to allow flavours to blend.

Arrange the cucumber and in a bowl, and coat with oil.

Add the flowers over the top

Rosehip Pudding

At the weekend, I'm using modern plant Elmlea (fake cream) to handle a lactose intolerance, but the standard recipe calls for double cream.  We whisk this lightly by hand, using a bunch of wooden skewers, to comply with modern food hygiene standards - medieval people would have used a birch whisk (made from twigs that had been stripped of their bark, and tied together at one end).  It's easier to thicken it if you let it come to room temperature first - this may not be a concern if using a modern whisk.
The xanthan gum is a replacement for a wheat starch, which you would cook in a solution with water, then add to the cream.  (We have a coeliac member, so I'm compromising.)  Because the xanthan gum doesn't need to be heated to thicken, we can skip that step.
The violet petals are a dressing - you could use any edible flower, including rose petal if in season, or candied petals if out of season.
The honey is added for flavour, not sweetness - you could also used a little dark brown sugar - not too much, we don't want the pudding to be too sweet.
The sugar added at the end is cut straight from the block.  The sugar can be bought as jaggery from Asian shops, but if you can't get it, sprinkle some normal brown sugar on top (not too much).

Double cream (plant Elmlea) - whisked
Rosehip syrup
Dark honey
Violet petals
Xanthan gum
Saffron
Cone sugar (jaggery)
Water (tiny bit)

Add warm water to saffron and let it sit (not loads, a couple of table spoonsful). 

Whisk the cream (or 'cream') till it thickens.

Add the saffron liquid and strands, gradually, to a couple of tea spoonsful of xanthan gum, stirring all the time to avoid lumping.
Add the rosehip syrup and the honey to the saffron liquid.
Mix the rosehip mixture into the cream (or 'cream').

Put it all in a serving dish, sprinkle with the rose petals, and some flaked sugar.

Eggs in Rosewater

This is a very... odd... dish.  It's like Turkish delight flavoured eggs.
The original recipe says to use just rosewater, but I've found that using half rosewater and half plain water is plenty strong enough.  Feel free to try it with just rosewater if you like.
Effectively what this is is eggs, separated, and just poached in rosewater.  Keeping the eggs separate is quite easy, as long as you don't break the yolk.

Egg yolks
Rosewater
Water
Cinnamon
Brown sugar

Put rosewater and water in small cauldron, about 50/50.

Mix some cinnamon and sugar together, and set aside.

When the water/rosewater is boiling (or at least hot), separate the yolks from the whites, and drop them into the water, without breaking the yolk and trying to keep them separate.

Let them cook till the yolks harden.  You're going for hard boiled egg consistency.

To serve, remove from the water, put on a serving dish, and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon mix.

Cardamom Cakes

These are medieval cakes - not necessarily the modern fluffy and light cake that we're used to - and not as sweet.

Plain flour (300g)
Butter (230g)
Brown sugar (200g)
Currants (150g)
1 whole egg, beaten
Juice of half a lime
10 cardamom pods, crushed

Cream the butter and sugar, then add in the beaten egg.

Mix in the other ingredients, and knead till well incorporated.  

Let the dough rest for about an hour (yes, dough, not batter).  Meanwhile, pre heat the oven to about 180C.

Form the dough into small rounds, about 2.5cm across or so, and place on a greased or lined baking tray.  Bake for around 10 minutes till they're firm.  They should not be particularly browned.

Allow to cool.

Dandelion and Burdock

Please see Sunday's recipe post, so I don't have to type it all out twice *grin*.

 

In April 1944, a ship that would eventually be known as Landfall floated out of a shipyard on the Tyne.
Her official name at the time was HM LCT 7074. She was a landing craft, one of many, for tanks and motorised vehicles, and she'd soon be part of history.

Late in May of 1944, a couple were married. George was in the army. June was a WAAF. They had lettuce and tomato sandwiches and Brown Ale to celebrate.

A week later, George was waiting his turn to leave his landing craft, watching his friends mown down in front of him.

In early June 1944, Maureen Sweeney worked at a weather station in neutral Ireland, with her future husband, Ted. Despite Ireland's neutrality, they continued to take weather readings in County Mayo, the first part of northern Europe to see the real weather, and send them over to London via the Irish Met Office.

The weather had been good in May, and Americans forecast that it would continue into June. The RAF, (perhaps being more familiar with a British summer), weren't so sure.

On the 2^nd - 3^rd of June, Ms Sweeney submitted a routine report – that there was a storm coming in. On the 4^th of June she got a phone call, not a normal event, from a woman with an English accent, asking her to check the figures again. They did, and there was a storm coming in.

Operation Neptune would be postponed by 24 hours.

When the 6^th June finally arrived, the storm had passed.

And then began the biggest invasion by land, sea, and air that the world has ever seen.

First came 23,000 airborne troops.
156,000 infantry (by the end of June, 900,000).
196,000 naval personnel.
7,000 ships.

And more than 12,000 aircraft (and their crews).

On that day, now forever known as D-Day, Britain, America, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Greece, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Denmark, and Luxembourg stood up to the might of Nazi Germany, who had swept across Europe and northern Africa, and said NO.

We should all know the rest of the bigger story. 20,000 men died in that invasion (on both sides). We must never forget it.

But the little stories...

Maureen and Ted only found out in 1956 how important their contribution had been. Eisenhower, when asked by John F Kennedy what he thought gave the Allies the edge on D-Day, replied that we had better meteorologists.
Maureen was awarded a medal in 2021 by the US Congress - she lived to be 100 years old, and died last year (2023).

Maureen and Ted Sweeney

George and June both survived the war, and spent 53 years together, till June died in the late 90s. George continued to live in the North East of England, and was awarded the Legion d'Honneur at St Nick's Cathedral for his actions on D-Day. He eventually moved south to become a Chelsea Pensioner, where he died in 2020, aged 98.

George Skipper

And that wee boat... HM LCT 7074 was decommissioned after the war. She became a floating nightclub in Liverpool, before being bought by a trust for restoration. They went bust, and she sank in her dock.
Years went by.
Then the National Museum of the Royal Navy got involved. It took over 100 dives, and nearly £1m (via a lottery grant), but she was refloated and transported to Portsmouth, where she was fully restored.
She's now on permanent display at the D Day Story museum in Southsea.
She is the last 'Landing Craft, Tank' in Britain.

Landing Craft, Tank, 7074

I decided to write this because the little stories are slowly passing out of living memory. We have the last few survivors with us – they're old. Obvs, if you were 18 in 1944, and you're still with us, you're now 98.

But they're the important ones. Every person involved, every ship, every aircraft, had a story.
.
And also because we still owe a debt to every one of them for what they did. My Grandparents' generation truly were awe inspiring, not only for their actions during the war, but for what they did when they got back – the UN, the ECHR, the ICC, the NHS... doing their best to make sure we wouldn't have to live what they did.

As that generation fades away, we must remember their stories for them.