Title: Medieval Baked Stuffed Fish
Categories: Medieval Seafood
Yield: 6 Servings

A Pudding in a Tench--Take your Tench and drawe it very clene and cut it not over lowe. Then take beets boyled, or Spinage, and chop it with yolks of hard Eggs, Corance, grated Bread, Salt, Pepper, Sugar and Sinamon, and yolks of rawe Egges, and mingle it togither, and put it in the Tenches belly. Then put it in a platter with faire water and sweet butter and turn it in the Platter and set it in the Oven, and when it is inough: serve it with sippets and poure the licour that it was boiled in upon it. --A.W., A Book of Cookrye

Any hollowed-out space, such as the cavity of an eviscerated fish, invited the Elizabethan cook to create a "pudding" for the stuffing. In this case, the tench, a fresh-water fish related to carp, is filled with an unusual stuffing of spinach or beets, egg yolks, spices, and currants for a striking, tasty dish.

1 5-6 pound carp or fish of your choice, cleaned and ready for baking Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 2 cups cooked, chopped spinach or diced beets 2 egg yolks 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon Pinch sugar 1/4 cup bread crumbs 2 tablespoons currants 1 cup white wine or water 3 tablespoons melted butter 6 slices toast

1. Sprinkle the inside of the fish with salt and pepper. 2. In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients except wine, butter and toast. 3. Place mixture in fish cavity and close with skewers or toothpicks. 4. Set stuffed fish in a large roasting pan. Pour wine or water over fish. 5. Brush fish liberally with melted butter and pour remaining butter into pan. 6. Bake uncovered at 400F about 1 hour or until fish flakes, basting about every 20 minutes. 7. Carve fish and serve each portion on a slice of toast, spooning wine sauce over top.

from To The Queen's Taste by Lorna J. Sass "Entrees" posted by Tiffany Hall-Graham From: Barry Weinstein Date: 04-19-95 By fatfree-request@fatfree.com on Jun 16, 1997

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