Medieval Christmas Feasts - The Boar's Head

My Favorite Medieval Christmas Music:

MEDIEVAL HIPPOCRAS based on the 1393 French recipe from Le Ménagier de Paris
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons Ginger
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 cup White Sugar
1 bottle Red or White wine

Whisk the sugar into the wine until dissolved. Mix the spices spices, well ground, into the wine (or put them in a coffee filter floating in the wine if you don't have a good cloth for straining). Let the spices stand in the wine for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight), then strain the wine through fine cheesecloth or muslin until the wine is as clear as you can get. This wine is best served after a day or two.

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Subtitles: Jose Mendoza | IG @worldagainstjose

PHOTOS
Butt of Wine: By Alx_Chief via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0

#tastinghistory #Christmas #medieval

[kayleeriley]

Hi Max, I just wanted to say that I am blind and you are so good at presenting the show that I don’t feel like I miss out on any details. I have also been struggling with an eating disorder relapse and you show helps me feel more comfortable with food again so thank you for that and You always make me smile. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

[The_Kentuckian]

I can just imagine the scene of Max walking into a butcher shop, asking for boar's head & the clerk starts reaching for the fancy deli meats, and Max reiterates, "No, A boar's head."

[anniebananie]

We are a community of Catholic nuns, and I have to tell you the story of our Christmas dinner. We had been gifted with a nice Christmas ham a couple of months ago, and were looking forward to a ham dinner on Christmas. Then a few weeks ago, a freak freezer incident thawed and destroyed our ham, leaving us bereft, grieving, and at a loss as to what to do to celebrate this most holy day of the year. We found this video, and decided to give this recipe a try - using a pork shoulder that we had procured (on sale!!). Our dinner was a glorious triumph, and we decided that we would like to make this recipe every year from now on!
As an aside, the Boar's Head Carol is a favorite of mine, since I was in a madrigal group back in high school!

[GyroCannon]

One thing that separated good content creators from great content creators is the consistent addition of subtitles and I greatly appreciate you for including them!

[wynjones]

Years ago I was a member of a Medieval re-inactment group and we hosted a winter feast. I made a cake in the shape of a boar's head, so I was thrilled to hear you mention that as an option. I researched, not as extensively as Max, and decided on a Victorian recipe called "Lady Baltimore Cake". The snout was a cupcake, it was iced in grey piping to look like fur, and had felt ears and clay tusks. And the Queen at the feast declared that it was too perfect to touch. The clean-up crew ate it the next morning.

[jennypaxton]

I do love the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it illustration of an industrious cat working hard at the butter churn! Cats doing human jobs in Medieval illustrations are such fun.

[nikkikeus]

Milo and Ollie are what made this episode complete. So cute!!!

[mickeymouse-nrns]

I want to thank Jose because the subtitles are a lifesaver, no I am not hearing impaired. But I am usually up in the middle of the night watching these videos or sometimes I'm watching them while I'm trying to put my toddler to sleep, and I rely on the subtitles so that I don't disturb the other people in my house that are trying to rest. This show really helps me with my anxiety, particularly when I have insomnia. I find Max to be quite soothing. He is funny and sweet and interesting and he helps me so much. Who knew a show about historical recipes (receipts) would reach so many people? I am so happy to witnesses both of your success. I wish you the best!!

[b.c]

I just realized that if you think of the 12 days of Christmas in the context of medieval Christmas it actually makes perfect sense and is legit kinda romantic. Like this guy throws you the party of the century and gets you jewelry? Total keeper.

[denniss]

I just this last week got the book for my Mom. She is in her upper 80's and unfortunately doesn't do computers or youtube. She is a retired teacher and librarian and she raves about your book. I am hoping she tries out some of the recipes as she is an accomplished cook. I need to get my own copy now.

[uberyoutuber]

If you’re making this for a holiday dinner you may want to cook it to 195F to avoid leaning on the overcooked side. When huge cuts of meat like this rest the temperature can still increase another 5 degrees. May not seem like too much, but it’s the difference between perfectly cooked and overcooked. I’ve done many cookoffs with briskets and shoulders and 195 is always my mark. Resting is important, DO NOT skip this step…EVER!

[PoppycockPrincess]

Every Winter my high school music department would put on a Madrigal Feast and it would include an actual (cooked) pig's head that would be carried out for The Boar's Head song.

[JamieDNGN]

In Poland we have a tradition of 12 christmas eve dishes, which curiously includes fish:
- Red barszcz with uszka (barszcz is the polish spelling of borscht, uszka [little ears] is a kind of very small pierogi); symbolises long life and beauty (the latter possibly connected to the old polish word kraśny/krasny which meant 'red, brightly coloured', and also 'pretty')
- Fish in jelly (fish is the symbol of Jesus Christ and of return to life - carp is nowadays considered traditional, but that wasn't always the case)
- Herring in oil or in sour cream (folk tradition says it's a symbol of fasting and renunciation)
- Fried carp (it's considered traditional, but in reality it has become "the king of the eve's table" due to its availability and cheapness in post-war poverty. By the time we got better, people have already gotten used to carp on the christmas dinner table)
- Christmas Eve Bigos (also called Xmas Eve Cabbage; cabbage symbolises vitality, health, and opulence. Fermented cabbage [like german sauerkraut] is considered to symbolise rebirth, and the peas and mushrooms added to it are meant to bring luck, abundance, and protection from disease)
- Greek-style Fish (it's actually a very polish thing, although inspired by greek psari plaki. It's basically bits of fish in a vegetable sauce)
- Kutia (Wheat, dried fruit, nuts, honey, and poppyseed mixed together; opulence, fertility, luck etc)
- Noodles with poppy (poppy in folk tradition is considered magical, and that it allows for contact with the dead, as well as that it brings fertility. Poppy is very heavily associated with christmas here, and poppyseed swiss roll is the must-have dessert on the table)
- Cabbage and Mushroom Pierogi (same symbolism as the bigos; I personally have never been a fan - I much more prefer the Ruthenian Pierogi (Pierogi Ruskie))
- Prune Kompot (Kompot is a drink/dessert of stewed fruit - never been much of a fan of it either, it always tasted watery to me and I really dislike watered down fruit flavours)
- makiełki or makówki (mostly a silesian (along the polish-czechian border) thing, once again, poppy stuff)
- mushroom soup

On another note, in Poland we have two pretty unique, or at least limited to the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and former Czechoslovakia, traditions: sharing 'opłatek', and setting an additional plate on the table.
Opłatek is essentially a very thin, very snappy bit of bread, usually with nativity scenes imprinted in them (usually sold by people from the local churches going door-to-door). Everyone has their own or at least their own bit of it, and we go around, each reveller breaks off a small bit of another's opłatek while wishing them things for the coming year (and often getting the answer "nawzajem", roughly meaning "right back atcha, ditto, and vice versa, you too"), and then they go to another until everyone has shared with each other. Tradition has it that animals who were given a bit of opłatek will talk when it's midnight (when everyone will be at the church for "Pasterka" [shepherds' mass, in reference to the shepherds being first to meet baby Jesus])
and the additional plate thing is for any sudden guests - be it a person in need, a family member who said they won't be able to come etc.

Edit: @icedcat4021 has kindly informed me that Opłatek and the extra plate are not limited to Poland, Lithuania, and part of Ukraine! I have edited the part appropriately. I apologise for my ignorance regarding the boundary of these traditions.

[taoailu]

Hi Max! The "King of the Bean" tradition lives on in a particular way in the Nordic countries too (and I'm sure elsewhere, in this form) by way of the Almond in the Porridge. An almond is placed into the family pot of rice porridge, traditionally eaten for breakfast or lunch on the 24th of December, and whomever finds the almond in their portion is given a little prize, traditionally a marzipan pig. It's quite fun! :D

[kimvibk]

Here in Denmark we have a tradition akin to 'King of the Bean' - we put a whole almond in the rice pudding (ris a l'amande), and whoever finds it receives a gift. The gift is called 'mandelgave' after the Danish word for almond, and children of all ages around the dinner table are competing to eat as much rice pudding as possible to get the almond.

[peabody]

"As we go medieval on Christmas".... I nearly spit out my hot chocolate. LOL

This is a Christmas ham gone hog wild! And it looks so very good, Max!

[ildzzux]

In Latvia, it is still traditional to cook a pig's head. A tradition that has sort of become more like a novelty, but is still around here and there

[MamaBear]

Back when I was about 6 or 7 years old (early 80's) my parents took us to a holiday feast where a pig's head was the centerpiece. I remember my dad poking out one of the eyeballs with a fork, placing it on a tortilla and added a couple scoops of salsa, he rolled up that eyeball taco and took a big, squishy bite. It gave me the heebie-jeebies, but my dad looked like he was in taco heaven!

[ladysoapmaker]

I'm a member of the Society of Creative Anachronism and one of the 12th Night feasts I went to, the cook made a boars head as the main dish. She got a pig's head from a local grocery store. If I remember correctly she made fake tusks from marzipan. Occasionally they have them in the store but you can order them if need be.
The kittens are adorable.

[yasaminwhy]

As a native Herefordian, thank you for actually looking the name up and pronouncing it correctly! So proud when my backwards backwater gets a mention 😂
And big kudos to you for even trying to get a boar's head. If nothing else, you brightened some butcher's day up no end!