Tardpolenes Redaction
by Margaret FitzWilliam
of
Tardpolane
(custard tarts with fruit) [2 Anglo-Norman Culinary Collections, Constance B. Hieatt and Robin F. Jones, Speculum 61 vol. 4, 1986. Pp. 859-882]
The original text and translation:
Tardpolane
E une autre viaunde,
ke ad a noun tardpolane. Pernez flur e sucre e metez ensemble, e ke le past seit tempré oue let de alemaundes; a festes de cest past coffyns de hautesce de deus deis; e puys pernez
peires e dates e alemaundes
e figes e reysins, e metez liqur, de especeds, e braez les ensemble, e
jetez la moel de I'oef dedenz, e une pece de bon fomrage tendre, ne mye trop vieuz,
e de oefs asez; e pus metez au fb
e oignez les desus del moel de I'oef, e pus dressez.
Tardpolene [custard tarts with fruit]
Here is
another dish, which is called tardpolene. Take and
combine flour and sugar, and mix into pastry with almond milk; ,make
cases of this pastry two fingers in height; then take pears, dates, almonds, figs,
and raisins, and put in liquid and spices and grind together; add egg yolk and a
piece of good, soft cheese, not too old, and plenty of whole eggs; then put
them [the pastry cases filled with the above mixture] to cook; brush the tops
with egg yolk; then serve.
My redaction:
Pastry (adapted from a modern recipe)
1 ½ cups
white flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup salted butter, softened
4-6 Tbs. almond milk*
I have
adapted a modern tart crust recipe that I like, and omitted the sugar for my personal tastes.
Blend flour and butter together. Add almond milk by tablespoons, mixing with fork, until the dough
holds together but is not sticky. Roll
out to about ⅛-¼ inch thick
and cut out 4-inch rounds. Line floured muffin cups with the dough.
Filling
1 Bosche
pear, peeled, cored, and chopped 4 ounces dried dates 4 ounces dried figs
4 ounces raisins
5 T almond milk
½ cup ground almonds (from almond
milk)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 egg yolk
2 whole eggs
4 ounces grated farmer's cheese
2 egg yolks
Grind pears, dates, figs, and
raisins in food processor, adding almond milk as necessary, until they are
mush. Add the rest of the almond milk, the eggs, the cheese, and the spices,
and mix until thoroughly blended. Fill the pastry cases and bake for 30 minutes
at 350F. I omitted the final egg glaze in my initial redaction because I
dislike egg glazes. If used, beat the egg yolks with a fork, and apply with a
pastry brush. Glaze the tarts after baking and return them to the oven for a
couple of minutes, until the egg is set (to alleviate concerns about
salmonella).
*Almond milk
Grind ½ cup blanched,
slivered almonds in a food processor. Mix with 20 ounces of hot water, let sit.
Strain through a tea strainer, reserve the ground almonds. Store
in the refrigerator. Cool before using in the pastry, though, as the
heat will melt the butter.
Observations
I made
this recipe again some time later, after the dates had dried out, and needed help to make them
soft enough to grind well. The liquid that time was the warm water that I had
soaked the dates in it didn't seem to make much of a difference what liquid was used.
1 have,
since originally working on this recipe, read two other different redaction of
it. One contains cream cheese; the other merely says "soft cheese, e.g.,
farmer's cheese."
I suspect that what is sold in the Twin Cities as "farmer's cheese"
is not the
same thing as what is referred to in another of my cookbooks as "farmer or
pot
cheese", being a bit more like Monterey Jack or Muenster than cream cheese
or ricotta. I am going to try this recipe again using ricotta and see what
happens.