Poudre Forte Recipe- Game of Thrones Food Recipes

What is Poudre Forte?

Poudre Forte, or “Strong Powder,” was another of the commonly used spice mixes in the Middle Ages. Powder Forte was a generic name for a spice blend used in the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. The scents are reminiscent of holiday baking—clovey, but with a lovely bite to it.

Poudre forte is a spice mix that was used throughout medieval Europe and is still used today by culinary recreationists. Just as when we say "Italian seasoning", there was no set list of ingredients, rather just the spirit of an idea that you attempted to capture. It may well be that various merchants selling it would even have kept their ingredients secret.

The actual components of Poudre Forte may vary, but poudre forte is usually based on cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and black pepper, four of the most important spices of the early spice trade. We've added grains of paradise to round out the flavor. A sweetly aromatic blend with a good bite, it can be used liberally in all manner of both sweet and savory dishes. This blend is salt free.

Recipes in surviving cookbooks from the Late Medieval and the Renaissance periods, besides specifying individual spices and seasonings, often call for the use of particular spice blends. These blends have a number of names and generally serve different purposes. Among them are:

Poudre Douce = Sweet Powder
Poudre Blanche = White Powder
Poudre Forte = Strong Powder
Poudre Fine = Fine Powder
Gode Pouder of Spycery = Good Spice Powder
Salsa Commun = Common Seasoning

It is a mix you would have on hand, just as we would have curry powder and "poultry seasoning" on hand today.

The blend known as Fine Spices or Fine Powder is perhaps the most common of these spice blends. There are, however, very few actual recipes or lists of spices for such a powder. Fine Spices or Fine Powder is used in a wide range of dishes, from soup to meat to vegetables, and occasionally in dishes we in the 21st century would consider dessert. Generally the exact blend is not specified and only a few cookbooks include recipes or ingredient lists for any of these spice blends. For example, all editions of Le Viandier call for "Fine Spices", but he never gives a recipe or listing of just which spices he means, although he does include a list of necessary spices for the kitchen.

Further, Medieval and Renaissance cookbooks, both handwritten and printed on a press, since they were often compendia of recipes from more than one source, were not always consistent in their terminology for spice blends. For example, the Vatican manuscript of Le Viandier calls for "Spice Powder" in the first part and for "Fine Powder" in the second, yet these terms appear to be used to indicate something similar if not the same. Unfortunately, no version of Le Viandier has a recipe for either of these spice powder blends.

Powder-fort … seems to be a mixture likewise of the warmer spices, pepper, ginger, &c. pulverized. —THE FORME OF CURY, 14TH CENTURY

Poudre Forte Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground mace
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon long pepper or grains of paradise (optional)


PROCEDURE:

1) Combine equal parts of all spices and store in a small airtight bottle.


Substitutes:

6 parts pumpkin pie spice to 1 part black pepper


Literature and Lore

Powder-forte... seems to be a mixture likewise of the warmer spices, pepper, ginger & etc. pulverized... it is called strong powder...”. Samuel Pegge, "The Forme of Cury - A Roll of Ancient English Cookery". 1790.


If you like spices, you should try to learn more about it at List of Common Herbs and Spices and Their Uses and also try this healthy- Sister's Stew Game of Thrones Food Recipe.


References:

Have you tried Tyrion Lannister's favorite lamprey pie, or Daenerys Targaryen mouth-watering honeyfingers? Then you are missing a lot! 

If you are a true fan of the critically acclaimed Game of Thrones HBO TV series. You should taste some of the food if not all in the TV Series.

Taste the food at the King's Landing. Buy the A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook at Amazon.com using this link and you get a 10% discount and FREE shipping if you order the hardcover version.

Cuenca, Vincent F. 2001. Libro de Cozina: The "Libro de Cozina" of Master Ruperto de Nola, 1529 edition. Full translation with commentary by the translator. Self-published. Poison Pen Press.

de Nola, Ruperto. 1997. Libro de Guisados Manjares y Potajes, intitulado Libro de Cozina. Miguel de Eguia, Logroño, 1529. Facsimile reproduced without commentary, notes, etc., by Librarias "PARIS-VALENCIA S.L.", Valencia (Spain).

Friedman, David D. (SCA: Duke Sir Master Cariadoc of the Bow). 1998. A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks, 2 volumes. Self-published, seventh edition. Has translations of Le Viandier and Le Menagier.

Redon, Odile, Françoise Sabban, & Silvano Serventi. 1998. Edward Schneider, translator. The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London:(original French edition 1993).

Santich, Barbara. 1984. "L'influence italienne sur l'évolution de la cuisine médiévale catalane." in Manger et boire au moyen age: Actes du Colloque de Nice, 15-17 octobre 1982. 2 vols. Centre d'études medievales de Nice. Les Belles Lettres, Paris.

Santich, Barbara. 1995. The Original Mediterranean Cuisine: Medieval Recipes for Today. Chicago Review Press, Chicago.

Scully, D. Eleanor and Terence Scully. 1995. Early French Cookery: Sources, History, Original Recipes, and Modern Adaptations. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.

Taillevent. Le Viandier, edited by J. Pichon and G. Vicaire. 1967. Le Viandier de Guillaume Tirel dit Taillevent. First edition, 1892. Second edition 1893. Third edition edited by S. Martinet. Slatkine Reprints, Geneva.

Wheaton, Barbara Ketcham. 1983. Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300-1789. University of Pennsylvania Press.



Have you tasted the Pulled Pork Parfait Original Recipe at Miller Park?

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