Flampoyntes

PERIOD: England, 14th century | SOURCE: Forme of Cury | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: A pork & cheese pie, decorated with pastry triangles

ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

192. Flampoyntes. Take fat pork ysode. Pyke it clene; grynde it smale. Grynde chese & do þerto wiþ sugur & gode powdours. Make a coffyn of an ynche depe, and do þis fars þerin. Make a thynne foile of gode past & kerue out þeroff smale poyntes, frye hem & put hem in þe fars, & bake it vp & c.

- Hieatt, Constance B. and Sharon Butler. Curye on Inglish: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth-Century (Including the Forme of Cury). London: For the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1985.

GODE COOKERY TRANSLATION:

Flan Points. Take fat pork boiled. Pick it clean; grind it small. Grind cheese & add with sugar and good powders. Make a coffin (pie shell) that is an inch deep, and put the filling in it. Make a thin sheet of good pastry & carve out of it small points, fry them & put them in the filling, & bake it up & serve.

MODERN RECIPE:

• 1 & 1/2 lbs. pork roast, boiled and diced small, fat & bone removed (reserve broth - see note)
• 1 & 1/2 cup shredded cheese (see note)
• sugar to taste - up to 1/4 cup
• 1 & 1/2 Tbs. ginger
• 1 tsp. each cinnamon & cloves (see note)
• pastry dough for a 9-inch pie shell, with extra pastry for points
• 2 Tbs. oil for frying

The original recipe calls for a piece of fatty pork, which would have added extra moisture to the pie filling. Today's cuts are usually leaner, preferably so; to compensate for dryness, the broth should be used to thoroughly moisten the filling. This will produce a far more satisfactory pie with no sacrifice in taste. Remember: meat pie fillings should always seem a little too moist, almost slightly runny, before baking.

Period medieval cheeses to use include: Brie, Camembert, Mozzarella, Provolone, & Farmers.

The spices in the original recipe are simply referred to as gode powdours, leaving the cook to determine by choice or preference what seasonings would be appropriate. The ginger-cinnamon-clove mixture works very well, but today's cook is still free to choose a variety of period spices and combinations. Sage, savory, hyssop, galingale, cubeb, pepper, mace, etc., are all acceptable.

Hint: add salt & pepper and a healthy shot of wine to the broth while cooking the pork.