Medieval Poulty, or A Recipe and a Battle Scene Danielle Mead Skjelver What follows is not precisely scholarly, but it is one of those delightful byproducts of scholarly work that feed our curiosity. A few years ago, I was working with a German mercenary's sketchbook. In the top right corner of one of his sketches, in a different hand there was a recipe for pigeon. Someone had decided to use the sketch below as scratch paper, or had used this recipe in military circles and wished to associate it with this particular sketchbook. Given that the recipe suggests using either urine or salt water, it seems safe to assume that this may have been used on military campaigns where one was plentiful and the other perhaps not. This recipe does not produce a strong flavor. It simply brings out the bird's natural flavors while the juices are retained in the meat with a crisp skin on the outside. It is excellent. Below are • the recipe as I used it • a picture of the finished product with chicken • the full sketch of the 1502 Siege of Älvsborg, Sweden • the raw transcription of the recipe (Not every word is legible.) • the remaining text from the sketch. 1  Recipe You will need • honey • good coarse salt ("salt water or pee water" your choice) • water • oil (extra light olive oil works well) • oats and oatbran (or a modern oat flour) • 2-3 pound chicken (free range makes a difference) There are no quantities in the recipe, so here is what I did: To make a medieval style oat flour, I filled a quart sized mortar and pestle about 1/2 full of oats and ground them to a coarse flour. I added 1 tbsp coarse salt, ground some more. I then added 1/3 cup oat bran and ground some more. The recipe calls for either oat or barley flour. The above oat flour worked well. I would not use a modern milled flour, because the flour would be too fine. A coarse texture works well. Split the chicken and laid it flat on a tray. Heated 1/4 c water, 1 tbsp coarse salt, and 3/4 c honey over medium heat and stirred until salt was dissolved. Brushed the top of bird with the honey, salt water mixture, flipped it over, brushed the bottom of the bird, flipped it back, and brushed the top one more time. Flipped it again, brushed the bottom with oil, and sprinkled the grain mixture all over the bottom and patted it into the oil. Flipped the bird, brushed the top with oil, and covered it with the grain mixture, patting it onto the bird. Skjelver, Recipe and a Battle Scene | 2 I used all of the grain mixture but not all of the honey mixture. The recipe says "a little honey and salt water or urine water." Using more of the honey mixture might give it a stronger flavor. We laid it on the grill for 1 hour and 15 minutes, turning it 1/4 turn every 15 minutes. The last 15 minutes, it was flipped upside down to ensure that the top was well marked. The Finished Product Using Chicken Skjelver, Recipe and a Battle Scene | 3 The Full Sketch Venst Paul Dolnstein, Siege of Älvsborg, 1502 Transcription of the Recipe According to the staff at the Thüringisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Weimar, this page of the sketchbook was lost during WWII, so I have only a low quality copy. Everything else on the page was legible, but the recipe was too unclear in my copy. I have provided Lars-Olof Larsson's cautious transcription but no translation as he provides the transcription only "with reservations." His transcription appears in "Göteborg förr och nu," 18 (1982): 90. Skjelver, Recipe and a Battle Scene | 4 The German Recipe - with reservations (pun intended): Item gnommen j fl geglüett vnnd den dawben dy fittichen do mit vorsengit flewgt eyne wegk wen man sye flitzenn lest Item leyman clein gecloppffet Salcz wasser ader pruntz wasser honig dar vnder gemülbe genommen bej den öll slahern vnnd haffer gersten adder wiß dis alleß vnder eynander gemacht donnc mit dem salcz wasser vnnd daß in daß daw ben hawß geschutt auch ist eberwurtz gut dar vnder gesnitten The Remaining Text - the Actual Point of the Sketch Top Left: das sloß heist elspurgk 1 jn [crossed out word] norweden 2 habn dj tewtschn knecht 3 ir xviij c geslagen xiiij me 4 man do waß herr sigmundt 5 list ein oberster hawbtman 6 das geschach mitwoch vor 7 Jacobs tag do man schreib 8 me iiiijc ij Jar 9 The castle is called Älvsborg 1 in [crossed out word] Norway. 2 The German soldiers, 3 18 hundred of them, vanquished 14 thousand 4 men. There Lord Sigmund 5 List was a high commander. 6 This happened on the Wednesday before 7 St. Jacob's Day in 8 the year one thousand five hundred two. 9 Skjelver, Recipe and a Battle Scene | 5 Bottom Right - Center: adj 1502 jar 1 das sloß is hultzen vnd ist mit wasen gedekt 2 vnd leit hoch jn aler gestalt wie hie das hat der 3 list jn dreyn tag genommen daß lag hat 4 pawls von tolnstain mit fleiß gemacht 5 ale venster mit donner püxen. 6 In the year of our Lord 1502 1 The castle is wooden and is covered with turf 2 and lies high in all parts as it does here. This 3 List took in three days. The camp 4 Paulus von Dolnstein made with diligence. 5 All the windows [were equipped] with thunder guns. 6 Skjelver, Recipe and a Battle Scene | 6