OLDEST ENGLISH APPLE-TART

To justify the name of this blog, and only weeks before this season's apples disappear from our markets in the Northern hemisphere, I'd like to share this post. You can find hundreds of recipes for excellent apple-tarts but nothing like this. Not just because it seems to be the oldest known recipe for English apple-tart but also thanks to its golden-colored look.

There is a bit of history about tarts in general that you can find in most encyclopaedias, such as the Wiki. The most important fact about early versions (think late Middle Ages) is that both sweet and salted fillings could be baked in shells not meant for eating. So you might just as well fill the ingredients into a glass pan and scoop out the portion that you need. Another fact is that medieval tarts were open. No lids of shortcrust pastry with or without custard, as in the 18th century recipes which have been served at Jane Austen's table. The filling were often savory but eggs and fruit were also used, particularly since the 15th century. 

A cook in his kitchen (15th c. woodcut)

In common with several desserts available in modern households, medieval tarts were mainly enjoyed by the rich who could afford the milk, eggs, and spices for the filling. Their cooks included tarts in their banquet menus that could be flavored with cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon. These were imported from the Middle-east. Due to their rarity and high price, they were sold in tiny portions and used in moderation. The much beloved saffron was added to sweet and salty dishes, both for its taste & color and is the ingredient that makes the tart featured below extravagant.

Until the early Modern period, even brown sugar fell into the category of spices. It was the only kind used, and very much in demand for luxurious treats. If you abstain from eating unrefined sugar for a couple of weeks (or more, if you belong to those addicted in the 'white death'), you may end up in thinking like Middle Age people, who valued the taste of sugar as highly as that of any other spice. As is known, (dried) fruit and honey were the first sweeteners available to man so early versions of fruit tarts rarely used sugar.

Death of Wat Tyler (from a 14th c. manuscript)

   

 

The following recipe is in the public domain and said to be the oldest version of English apple-tart. It's part of a collection published in 1390 under the title The Forme of Cury, by the Master cooks of King Richard II. To be precise, the recipe we're looking at belongs to Ancient Cookery, a minor collection dated from 1381 which is annexed to the newer one. Even if we didn't know that, we might have guessed its origin and purpose: to be served at royal tables. Medieval recipes are not very detailed as to the amount of ingredients or method of preparation because they were addressed to people who already knew how to cook. The recipe at hand probably graced the dinners of King Richard II. In the year of the earlier collection's publication, the 14-year-old sovereign was almost besieged in the Tower of London by angry peasants who burnt down a palace, killed two officials, and even blocked the River Thames. Pestered by the Black Death and its subsequent problems, those people never laid their hands on the delicious apple-tart, which I have tried to re-create.

'for to make tartys in applis'. Tak gode Applys and gode Spycis and Figys and reysons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed colourd wyth Safroun wel and do yt in a cofyn and do yt forth to bake wel.

 

 

OLDEST ENGLISH APPLE TART

This is a sugarless dessert so it's best to make with very ripe fruit.

 

I n g r e d i e n t s

170g plain flour

100g cold butter

1/2tsp salt

1tbsp vanilla sugar

1 small egg

1tbsp cold milk

6 apples

2 pears

0,2g saffron threads

1 cinnamon stick

4-5 whole cloves

4 dried figs

50g raisins

M e t h o d

1. Knead the flour, cold butter, salt, vanilla sugar, egg and cold milk together. Roll out the dough and fit into a buttered 28cm tart pan crimping the edges with your thumb. Chill until needed. 2. Let the figs and raisins soak in lukewarm water for 30 minutes, then strain. Set the oven at 190C. Peel, core and quarter the apples and pears. Boil in a saucepan along with the saffron, cinnamon and cloves. Remove the fruit and process in a blender. 3. Prick the dough, fill with rice and bake for 25 minutes. Spread the mashed fruit evenly on the crust, placing the raisins and dried figs here and there. 4. Bake at 180C for 15 minutes, covering with aluminum foil if necessary. Serve warm.