[Smashy the Hammer] [An Aspiring Luddite]
I carry no phone
An aspiring Luddite
In a wired world.
[Jeff Berry]
Jeff Berry is an early adopter of the Internet and the Web, a late adopter of Twitter, and declines to adopt Facebook. With the death of Google+, he's experimenting with federated platforms. He admins a medievalist Mastodon instance, and can found on t he PlusPora diaspora pod. He hates cell-phones.


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Concerning Fish and Sauces Suitable for a Prince

His Highness Prince Yannick of Insulae Draconis inquired of me concerning the usages of fish and sauce which might be suitable for him in his high estate and which might fit with his energetic pursuit of the arts of venery and of war, that is of the practice of arms with bow and sword. Fish is, of course, a dangerous food, being cold and humid in the third degree.1 This danger can be moderated both through cooking and through the use of appropriate sauces. I, therefore, undertook an investigation, at royal command, into a dish that might please my Prince's palate, without endangering his health.

Frying and baking are the best methods for correcting these faults, as is well known in all civilized places. In Paris, it is the custom before frying fish, to dust it with the flour, and I find this lends a pleasant texture to the fish.2 A certain householder in that city often recommends that the fish be served with a 'sausse vert,' a green sauce as we would say.3 The green sauce which is native to Insulae Draconis may be found in a recipe of the cooks of good King Richard, second of that name, which I include here in its entirety.

Verde sawse. Take persel, mynt, garlek, a litul serpell and sawge; a litul canel, gynger, piper, wyne, brede, vyneger & salt ; grynde it small with safroun, & mess it forth.4

The virtue of such a sauce is clear. Bread is warm, even unto the second degree; wine is warm and dry; vinegar, while cold, is yet warm; garlic is warm in the fourth, and dry in the third, possibly dangerous in itself, but good to counteract the nature of the fish; sage is warm, all agree, but authorities differ as to whether it is humid or dry; of the other ingredients I will not speak.5 To please His Highness, lend strength to his limbs, balance his humours, and give vigour to his actions, I thus recommend the following:

Prepare the fish by removing the bones and skin, for such coarse matter is not suitable for a royal plate. Cut it into smaller morsels, dust the morsels with flour, the finest that may be found, and fry them gently in the oil of the olive - for our Prince deserves such a rich oil from a distant land. I am told that fish prepared in a similar fashion may be found in the cookshops of our great cities, though made in the fashion of a fritter, and such things might suffice, should circumstances require it.

Before doing so, prepare the sauce. It seems to me that the virtue of many of the herbs lies in the colour, especially for a green sauce, and the difference of opinion concerning sage concerns me greatly, thus I recommend using of parsley a great handful, and of mint, sage, and wild thyme (serpell), only as much as you may have conveniently to hand. The wholesomeness of garlic can not be denied, and three cloves provide the benefit without yet overwhelming a noble palate. Those of a rougher disposition may use more as suits their nature. One half a small spoonful of salt and of pepper, and but half that measure of ginger, provide a pleasing taste. The third part of a cup of bread, dried and grated, gives body. If you have the sweet vinegar called balsamico, four large spoonfuls should be added. If you have only the rougher sorts of vinegar, allay it with water to one part in three or four.

Serve it forth to the Prince!

So ...

The Prince was looking for something like a period version of 'fish fingers,' to keep his protein and blood sugar in a good place at events, and asked me to see what I could find. That may or may not have been a wise decision ... however, for those who are looking to keep him hale and healthy during the reign, I provide this article.

Although I didn't find the sort of crusted or battered fish that immediately comes to mind when one hears 'fish fingers,' as noted above, floured and fried fish is pretty common. I've used both haddock and hake, floured in plain flour, and fried in olive oil until done. Any firmish white fish would serve, however. I'm expecting the sauce to carry the flavour, so I don't even season the flour. Commercial fish fingers would do in a pinch. Filets, of course, are preferred, and His Royal Highness doesn't like the skin, so remove it as well, if needed.

The sauce is:

  • a big handful of parsley
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1/3 cup / 100-112 grams of bread crumbs
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 4 Tbs of balsamic vinegar. If you're using red wine or malt vinegar, dial it back to 2 -3 Tbs and make up the difference with water
Run it all through a food processor, or use a mortar and pestle if you're hardcore. This is much better if it sits overnight.

Alexandre d'Avigné, loyal servant of the Crown


1. Luisa Cogliati Arano, ed., The Medieval Health Handbook, TACUINUM SANITATIS, (New York: Braziller, 1976), Black and White Plates, A: Tacuinum of Liege, #60.
2. Gina L. Greco and Christine M. Rose, eds., The Good Wife's Guide, Le Ménagier de Paris, (Ithica,NY: Cornell University Press, 2009), 305-310. There are numerous references to flouring and frying - entries 182, 188, 211-213, etc.
3. Le Ménagier de Paris on pbm.com. This is a transcription of the 1846 Pichon Ménagier in French. This is the relevant page, the recipe for "LIMANDES" includes the 'sausse vert,' which Greco and Rose (cited above) translate as green sauce, for obvious reasons.
4. Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler, eds., Curye on Inglysch : English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth Century (Including the Forme of Cury), (London: Early English Text Society, 1985), 130, #144.
5. Arano, The Medieval Health Handbook, A: Tac. of Liege, #32-33, #56, #59; B: Tacuina of Paris, etc., #97. There are other sources which could address the other ingredients but I think that's quite enough for now, don't you?

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Luddite'sLog, 6 March 2017
© 2017 Jeff Berry
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