“To make a pye of alowes…“
a propre new book of cokerye
Take a legge of mutton and cutte it in thin slices / and for stuffing of the same take persely tyme and saueri / and chop them small / then temper among them three or foure yolkes of harde egges chopte small / and small reysyns / dates cutte with mace and a litle salte / then role them togyther. This dooen make your pye and laye all these therin / then ceason them with a litle suger and synamon / saffron and salte / then cast vpon them the yolkes of thre or foure harde egges and cut dates / with small resynges so close your pie & bake hym. Then for a sirrup for it take tosted brede and a litle claret wyne and strayne theim thyne togyther / and put there to a litle suger / synamon and gynger and putte it into your pye / and then serue it forth.
Alowes (“Alouettes Sans Tête”)
Description
I must immediately begin by saying that I took more liberties than usual with this recipe - not the flavors, but the form. I did make the dish as described and found the incredible amount of effort to be of questionable value to the dining experience. That being said, you could use the proportions I have provided to execute the recipe as described in the original as I also did.
Though few recipes from the period survive, we know that "Alowes" of Beef and Lamb were served regularly from non-recipe sources. This particular recipe is special because it puts the Alowes into a pie with other ingredients and a syrup or sauce. Alowes comes to us from the original name "Alouettes Sans Tête" or "Headless Larks" in French. A dish by that name with some similarities survives to this day. The dish is one of thinly sliced meat folded and rolled around a stuffing and then simmered in a sauce, the little parcels resembling songbirds without their heads as they might also have been served.
For my recipe, I preserved the unique period flavors while reformatting the dish into something more familiar to the modern diner - a sliced roast of sorts. You could use any kind of roast for this. In these photos, I've used Eye of the Round which was reverse-seared by being held at 130°F in sous-vide for 24 hours and then finished in a hot oven. For the event, I will use Ribeye roasts. Prepare any Beef or Lamb roast in a way you like best, slice it into portions, and proceed with the recipe as directed for a fine result. As with other recipes from this historical context, I use a dark colored rosé wine as a stand-in for their Claret. This recipe takes the traditional stuffing ingredients and turns them into the Egg & Herb Dressing, and the other elements filling the pie, including the syrup, into the Spiced Claret Wine Sauce. The garnish for the dish is extrapolated from earlier recipes in French cuisine and for want of not wasting perfectly good Eggs when the dish really needs something to help its curb appeal.
Ingredients
The Roast
Egg & Herb Dressing
Spiced Claret Wine Sauce
Instructions
Egg & Herb Filling
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Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until fully combined, forming a sticky brown paste
If you do not have a food processor, cut the Dates small, then grind everything together with your mortar and pestle
Spiced Claret Wine Sauce
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Cut the dates into small pieces
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Combine all of the ingredients in a small sauce pan and simmer until the fruits are completely soft, about 2-3 minutes
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Blend the sauce until smooth using an immersion blender
You can also use a standard blender, but this must be done hot, so take care. You may also leave the sauce un-blended as it would have appeared in the pie.
The Roast
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Slice your finished Roast into 8 portions
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Spread about a teaspoon of the Egg & Herb Dressing onto one side of each of the slices of Roast
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Arrange the slices of Roast on your serving dish and pour the hot Spiced Claret Wine Sauce over them
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Garnish with chopped Parsley and the finely chopped Egg Whites from the Hard Boiled Eggs above
