Continued from Cuisine of My Ancestors: Tudor English
My Norman ancestors arrived in England following the Norman Conquest in 1060. So I focused on 1000s to 1100s for my research time frame. The Normans have a Danish heritage. In the 900s, when the Viking Rollo raided and conquered the area he become the first Duke of Normandy. William the Conqueror was the 7th Duke of Normandy. But, I could find nothing related to the foods they ate and cooked. So for our Norman dinner, I focused on the traditional dishes of Normandy today.
Normandy is a coastal province of Northern France.
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| You can see why it was so easy for them to invade England. |
So what kind of foods are we looking at? Normandy has a cooler climate than
the rest of France, which is reflected in the fruits and vegetables that grow
there:
- apples (lots of apples) and pears
- apple juice
- apple cider (hard, 2-3% alcohol)
- apple brandy called Calvados
- both cider and Calvados are common ingredients in Norman recipes
- cabbage (grown at least since the middle ages)
- leeks
- root veggies such as potatoes, carrots, parsnips
As a coastal province, its cuisine features:
- lots of seafood
- also pork, lamb, chicken
- sausage (a smoked pork sausage)
Side note on the
Normandy is also dairy country:
- butter
- cream (in sauces)
- cheese, especially Camembert. The origin of Camembert is typically dated from 1500 or 1700s, but it may have been made as early as 12th century.
Menu
Camembert
Normandy Pork Chops
Normandy Vegetables Brunoise
Pan Brie
Tarte Normande
Apple Cider
Recipe Notes
- The 4 C's of Norman cooking are said to be: cider, Camembert, cream, and Calvados.
- The Camembert wasn't featured in any of the recipes, so we had it as an appetizer with chunks of the pan brie and a glass of cider.
- I want to mention that in my research, I found a lot of traditional recipes, but often with variations. I chose the simplest and the modified those.
- I was able to find hard apple cider locally, but not Calvados. What I finally found (on Amazon) was apple brandy extract. I reasoned that the alcohol would evaporate in cooking anyway, so what I was going after was the flavor. The product description said it's similar to Calvados, so it's the one I got.
- The cream used in the original recipes is thick cream rising from fresh whole milk. I used my frozen goat cream.
Appetizer: Camembert, Pain Brié, and Apple Cider
In a formal dinner in France, the cheese course is generally between the main course and dessert. Since Dan and I are just plain folk, we had our cheese as our appetizer. The recipe for the Pan Brie is further down the page.
It was our first time tasting Camembert. I had hoped to find one produced in Normandy, where it holds --- status, but this one just said "imported." I thought food products were supposed to tell the country of origin, but apparently not.
Entrée: Normandy Pork Chops
- 4 pork chops or pork cutlets
- 2 tbsp butter (to cook the chops)
- 4 apples peeled, cored and finely sliced
- Squeeze of lemon juice (to prevent the apple from browning)
- 1 tbsp butter (to cook the apples)
- ¼ cup apple juice
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 or 2 tsp Calvados (I used 1/16th tsp apple brandy extract)
- Salt and pepper to season
To prepare
- Season pork chops with salt and pepper to taste.
- Peel, core and slice apples, then set aside in cold water with a touch of lemon juice to keep from browning.
- Heat butter in skillet on medium heat. When butter foams, add pork chops and cook at med-high for 5 minutes on each side, then 5 minutes again on the first side gain. Cover and continue to cook. I added a little water to the pan to keep everything from sticking.
- While the pork chops are cooking, cook the apples in a hot frying pan on medium-high with the butter.
- Make the sauce for the pork and apples from the caramelized cooking juices, apple juice, cream, and cook for a minute or two until thick. Add the apple brandy extract.
- Top the hot pork chops with the apples, then pour the sauce over all. Heat thoroughly and serve.
Vegetable: NormandyVegetables Brunoise (adapted from a recipe for lamb)
There's an Americanized frozen vegetable medley called "Normandy
Vegetables," "Normandy Blend," or "Normandy Style Vegetable Blend"
(depending on the brand), but that's not what I made. My Normandy inspired
vegetable for this dinner was adapted from a
recipe for lamb with figs and vegetables. I omitted the lamb, figs, and curry powder, and substituted locally
available versions of the other ingredients. It was very good. You can
follow the link for the original recipe, below is what I did.
Recipe
- ½ small cabbage
- 2 parsnips
- 2 carrots
- 1 red onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup apple juice
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- sea salt, pepper
- knob of butter
Bread: Pain Brié
Pain Brié is a wheat bread, originating in Spain. wheat, originates from Spain. It was
introduced into Normandy in 1588 after the shipwreck of the Spanish vessel Calvador. It takes its name from the brie, which is a tool used during
the kneading process of this bread.
There are numerous recipes on the internet for it. I ended up combining several of them while I worked out American amounts and baking temperatures.
Sourdough
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tsp dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl, combine the bread flour, yeast, and salt. Gradually add the water, mixing thoroughly. It will be sticky. Cover with a tea towel and let rise at room temperature for at least 2 hours (overnight is better).
Bread dough
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tsp dry yeast
- 2 tbsp butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
To make
- Add the bread dough ingredients to the sourdough. Mix well, and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise for one hour.
- Divide dough into three balls and allow to rise about 1 hour.
- Place a pizza stone and pan of water in the oven and preheat to 450°F (230°C). Sprinkle the stone with flour and with a peel, transfer the bread onto the stone. Make 5 parallel cuts in each loaf with a sharp knife.
- Bake 5 minutes at 450°F (230°C), then 15 minutes at 425°F (220°C). Remove from stone and cool on racks.
Dessert: Tarte Normande
Shortcrust:
- 1¼ C flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ C sugar
- ½ C butter, cut in small cubes
- 2 egg yolks
Mix flour, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Work in butter with your
hands until evenly crumbed. Stir in egg yolks. Place in tart pan and press
evenly to fill the pan. May refrigerate until ready to use.
Filling:
- 4 apples, peeled, cored, quartered, and cut into 12 slices
- 2 eggs
- ½ C sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream (I used my goat cream)
- 2 tbsp Calvados (I used 1/8 tsp apple brandy extract)
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
To make:
- Whisk eggs and sugar, add cream and extract and whisk in. Add flour and whisk until blended.
- Line shortcrust with apple slices in circular pattern, two layers. Pour cream mixture over all. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 45 minutes or until apples are tender and filling is set. Server warm or at room temperature.
Takeaways
- I will in no way call my creations authentic, but they were tasty modifications of traditional Norman recipes. It was interesting to use readily available different ingredients for different flavors.
- I know to us moderns, the use of so much cream is quite luxurious. But for rural folk with dairy animals, cream is abundant. I skim and freeze most of our goat cream, so I had it available for my Normandy dinner.
To close, here's the link to my Norman Christmas song. It is sung in Latin because that was the church language of the time. But there's also a video of a modern gentleman speaking the old Norman French, aka Viking French, just to give you an idea of the language.
Next post, our Viking meal.
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