To make a Tarte that is a courage to a man or woman
the good huswife’s jewell
Take two Quinces and two or three Burre rootes, and a potaton, and pare your Potaton and scrape your rootes and put them into a quart of wine, and let them boyle till they be tender, and put in an ounce of Dates, and when they be boyled tender, draw them through a Strainer, Wine and all, and then putte in the yolkes of eight Egges, and the brains of three or foure cocke Sparrowes, and Straine them into the other and a little Rose water, and seeth them all with Sugar, Synamon and Ginger, and Cloves and Mace, and put in a little Sweete butter, and set it upon a chafingdishe of coles, betweene two platter, and so let it boyle till it be something bigge.
A Tarte for Courage
Description
The "Courage" referred to in this recipe that this food might give someone is a euphemism for sexual prowess. Many things were considered aphrodisiacs at the time, which explains the Sweet Potatoes and, omitted here, the Cock Sparrow Brains. At the time, it was thought that consuming animals would lend you, temporarily, some of their temperament. Known to us now, but not to them, a Cock Sparrow's brain grows an additional 70,000 neurons or so during mating season. Even so, they weigh only fractions of a gram, and could provide absolutely no flavor or texture of note - brains of all kinds being somewhat bland and a little fatty. Not that I could source them readily anyway.
Burdock Root has fallen out of favor as an ingredient in our culture, but remains popular in some Asian cuisines. I was able to source mine from the local Korean grocery. I have seen other interpretations claim to recreate this tart, but without the Burdock, which seems like a futile exercise. The root gives the tart filling most of its flavor and body, and makes it truly unique to enjoy. Without it, the Quince and Sweet Potato remain and become the starts, whereas when made according to the full recipe they're barely noticeable.
As I have said in other recipes, the choice of tart shell is up to you. If you would like to try one of the Pastes presented elsewhere, by all means do. If you prefer to use store bought, there is no shame, whatsoever, in this and for this period, modern pie crust can be appropriate. It will work with any shell you choose, including gluten-free options. Packaged crusts are sold one of two ways, usually - either in a deep dish, fully formed frozen state or in a two-pack of rolled sheets. If you use the fully formed deep dish option here, it is ready to go out of the box. If you use rolled sheets, as I have, I recommend you use both. Do this by letting them come to temperature before unrolling, brushing all of the flour off of both sides of both sheets, then very gently moistening one side of one before placing the other directly on top and rolling it out to the size you need.
As you may be able to tell from the gallery, I chose to serve this with the "Snow" from the Dysshe of Snowe recipe - an extremely airy, sweet, rose scented whipped cream that attends beautifully for the modern diner. In the past, when not serving it with the cream, I have also brushed the top of the tart with Rose Water after cooling to add a burst of fragrance prior to the strong Burdock Root filling's taste when taking a bite.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Peel and chop finely or grate the Burdock Root, Quince, and Sweet Potato.I strongly encourage the use of a food processor, but a box grater will get the job done. This allows the vegetables to cook much more quickly, and breaking them down is crucial to a pleasant texture.
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Bring all of the ingredients except for the Rose Water, Butter, Eggs and Pie Crust to a very light simmer in a sauce pot.
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Simmer until the Burdock is tender, about 30 minutes
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Put the entire contents of the pot into a high power blender and puree as finely as possible.A food processor or powerful enough immersion blender can also work, but be careful with the hot filling
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Add the butter to the mixture and blend on low until emulsified,
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Add the Rose Water to the mixture and combine.
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Add the Egg Yolks only to the mixture and blend.Be sure the mixture has cooled to below 160°F before incorporating the Yolks. This should happen naturally, but they may scramble if the filling is still too hot.
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Pour the mixture into the raw tart shell and bake at 400°F until set, about 30 minutesThe Huswife's Jewell tells us "until it be something bigge" which I sincerely hope is meant as a bawdy joke. In any case, you will see the filling puff up as shown in the gallery.
