A quick update for anyone whose imagination was captured by the post on medieval bread making: Aleksandra from the Evendine Sourdough Bakery sent a photo of a trencher loaf she made (and served with pottage) for a medieval event in Evesham. I can only wish I’d been there.
She was working from a recipe in Food and Drink in Medieval Poland: Rediscovering the Cuisine of the Past, by Maria Dembinska.
Trencher loaf, made by Evendine Bakery.
Notes from the U.K. 
I’m sure it must be turnip, but that looks a lot like potato. It does look a lot like I imagine a trencher would look like: just a round loaf cut in half. I think I’m going to have to go and cook my dinner now, as that lovely-looking bread is making me hungry.
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I know. That’s spectacular looking bread.
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Our library has the book! Just requested it, the bread bowl looks great! Thanks for the share.
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Great!
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I’ve had those in both Poland and Lithuania. You eat the soup or the hotpot or whatever’s inside, then eat the bread. No washing up. Brilliant idea!
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It looks like something that would need a serious appetite or two people.
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That looks really good.
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It does to me too. You can see how good the texture is.
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I ate sth like that in Prague. They said it’s one of the national dishes there. Once you eat what’s inside (usually meat and potatoes), you finish the bread. I loved the idea.
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The bread would be wonderful by then.
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It sure was.
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Yummy! A local pub used to do beef stew in either bread or a giant Yorkshire Pudding.
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I can imagine it getting messy with stew if you’re not careful, but delicious all the same.
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That does look yummy. I’d always imagined trenchers to be sort of oval shape, not sure why, but round ones look good! My gran would do the same sort of thing with a big round Yorkshire Pudding, sunday lunch inside it, that was yum too.
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That does sound good. I imagined trenchers being rectangular and flat, and I’m not sure why either.
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Like the bread bowls which are made to serve soup and chili. “Everything old is new again.”
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I’ve seen that done, but not with good bread.
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That looks delicious!
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I know. I have to stop looking at it. It’s making me drool.
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That looks entirely too delish for its own good! :D … must be eaten poste haste. :D
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At least virtually.
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😊
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Wow. She’s really talented.
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Absolutely.
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That’s a meal fit for the field! Looks amazing! I’m pretty sure the Poles fought my ancestors several times throughout history. I wish they had brought back that recipe, so I could’ve grown up eating trencher avec potage, instead of rotfruktsgryta.
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Every so often, something worthwhile comes out of wars and conquests, in spite of all the awful stuff. So yes, I can see how this would’ve been a gift to any culture. But I asked Lord Google about rotfruktsgryta, and although I’m not sure what it is it does look delicious.
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It depends on the cook’s imagination. Boiled root vegetables can be delicious, or they can be bland mush. Bread is always bread though (unless it’s gluten-free! 😂)
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I’d have to disagree on the bread. Since I retired, I’ve started making bread regularly and once you learn a few tricks you can change the texture so that a simple loaf of bread becomes something gorgeous. It will spoil you forever for store-bought bread. And gluten-free bread? I’ve never tried making it. Good bread, for better or worse, is all about the gluten.
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Thank you! I agree about the gluten. I experimented with breadmakimg a little myself in my thirties, when my grandfather was still alive, He was a well practiced bread baker, and we bonded over our experiences. I bought a twenty-pound bag of flour from Costco one year, and the bread wouldn’t make itself.
Perhaps, I should have specified that I prefer even mediocre baguette to world class root vegetable stew. Alas, pithiness is sometimes sacrificed in online comments.
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Very true.
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I should’ve specified “my mother’s rotfruktsgryta.”
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Which is bland of herb nor spice.
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I begin to understand.
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Of course!
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I should’ve specified “my mother’s rotfruktsgryta.”
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Oh so tempting
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Isn’t it just?
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If you want an ancient taste like no other, try Beremeal from Orkney and make a simple bannock.
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Bannock I’ve heard of. Beremeal I haven’t. Sounds like as good a reason as any to go to Orkney–something I’d love to do if we ever get past this damn pandemic.
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I know that the Mill in Birsay actually posts it if you ask nice. 🍞
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Hmmm. I’ll ask Lord Google to direct me to it.
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Last time I was there, Fergus Morrison (1982-1993) was so knowledgeable and helpful, he really knew his stuff and proud of the place. I imagine he has passed on the baton to another.
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With 11 years of being the miller, helping keep the tradition alive and well, this is not how many see their jobs in the modern world. I hope I’m wrong and that others take on the pride of doing things to the best of their ability and helpfulness.
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It’s rare, I think, for people to have that opportunity, but it does still happen now and then–and what a joy it is.
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Ok, no the problem was that i was leaving my message but an issue came to my network….
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Thanks, Vrishty. I will definitely browse more and may follow. I’m overwhelmed and try not to follow more blogs than I’ll actually read, so I won’t make promises.
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