Fish fladen from Cod Pal Germ 551, section two

27 A good fladen (flat cake)

Item if you would make a fladen (flat cake) of fish, whichever kind they may be, take a thick almond milk well mixed with white flour and put in an apple or two and a little spices. Spread it out on a board, put it in an oven and let it bake etc.

This recipe has no parallel in section one. It is interesting in several regards, mainly in the question where the fish from the title comes into play. Fladen were flat baked goods, often involving a dough base and a topping. The distinction between them and a tart is fuzzy. It is possible that the fish was an ingredient in the dough base (we have recipes for doughs involving fish roe and fish), but I think it is more likely it was included in the topping and simply goes unmentioned.

I owe thanks to my friend Libby Cripps for pointing me to the as yet untranslated fifteenth-century culinary recipe collection that is bound with similar works on fabric dyes and on medicine in the Heidelberg Cod Pal Germ 551. It looks, at first glance, unexceptional, but I will try to keep up a flow of recipes and see whether it has anything of particular interest to offer.

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