Medieval Cooking and Almond Milk

Almond Milk...a definitively wonderful, delicious, healthful substitute for cow's milk.  It's nutty flavour lends itself beautifully to baked goods and sauces, it's easy to make at home - and for those who need to avoid soy (or soymilk), it's an invaluable addition to any vegan kitchen.  Personally, the only real competition to almond milk's "awesomeness" is rice milk - to me, they are par and I love them both equally.

Almonds originated in the Middle East, eventually making their way to Europe.  This helped form the almond's illustrious history during medieval times.  During the middle ages (5th - 16th century Europe) the eating norms were much, much different than today.  Two of the greatest paradigm differences were the inability to keep food cold, and the unavailability of many foodstuffs we take for granted today like white sugar, tomatoes, potatoes and corn just to name a few.  Spices and herbs that were available, were usually not affordable to working class.  This also applied to many meat products too.

Meat, especially beef, was expensive for peasants and they were normally not able to afford such luxuries, so instead had diets that mainly consisted of fava beans, rye, barley, buckwheat, oats, and of course almonds!  This was especially true during the later centuries after advances in agriculture.  Vegetables were in!  So ultimately, believe it or not, vegetarianism/veganism was practiced during the medieval times (albeit usually involuntarily). 

Almond milk was a staple for the medieval peasant family.  Due to cow's milk spoiling very quickly and being normally turned to cheese/butter, the masses caught onto the almond's versatility.   One of the greatest advantages of using almond milk during the middle ages was that it was perfectly fine to consume during Lent.

Almonds (particularly almond milk) permeated into almost every type of dish, and if you look back into medieval cookbooks, they are everywhere.  Yes, medieval cookbooks do exist, and if you're interest in culinary histories I highly recommend checking some out.



References:
http://www.medievalcookery.com/
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/prescotj/data/viandier/viandier1.html
http://www.medievalcookery.com/

Food Facts: Seitan

Seitan... to be honest I find most people (Vegan or otherwise) don’t really know what Seitan is, but have probably tried it at some point. It is popular in Asian (particularly Chinese, and even Buddhist) cuisine under the pseudonym of “mock duck”.

What is Seitan? Seitan is the protein (gluten) of wheat. It is an ancient, natural food that is an excellent analogue to meat (particularly beef). Traditionally, Seitan is made by making dough and running it under a stream of water until all the sugars (starch, carbs) wash away and all that is left is the gooey, stringy protein known as gluten.

Seitan is a phenomenal source of protein with about 31 grams of protein per 4 oz serving. Beef has about 36 per 4 oz serving so it's a great comparable. Isn’t that awesome!?

While meat is slightly higher in protein, it also contains nasty additions like saturated fat, cholesterol… and bad karma (ok judgement call on me, you certainly don’t have to agree). Seitan on the other hand is zero fat, and has no cholesterol or saturated fat. It has a few carbs in there, but it comes from flour so this is to be expected.

The downside to Seitan is that it is not a complete protein, like soy, for example. That being said, as with other sources of plant proteins – this fact is hardly an issue as long as you eat a varied diet of legumes and leafy greens!

Of course, a warning: if you are allergic to gluten (celiac) then please do not eat Seitan! I suppose this is obvious, but I understand that the awesome-ness of gluten is tempting to try!

So, what does gluten taste like? Firstly, the texture is chewy and a slightly tough; like overcooked meat. You need a sharp or serrated knife to cut through it easily (especially raw). The flavour, (which is always subjective) to me, is pretty bland but slightly yeast-y? Even nutty. The blandness is good for incorporating it into meals - although it is definitely more flavourful than tofu.

My opinion is that home-made Seitan is much better than store-bought. This may sound gross but I personally feel like store-bought is reminiscent to dog food. So I never eat store bought Seitan plain. When I am in a jam, I grind it in the food processor and make it into a “veef” – which is my version of veg ground beef. Recipes to come!

I hope you enjoyed the info on Seitan and encourage you to try it and see for yourself. Happy Cooking!



References:

http://www.essortment.com/all/whatisseitan_rkgb.htm
http://www.vegan-nutritionista.com/vegan-protein.html
http://www.archure.net/salus/protein.html