Title: Jowtes with Almond Milk
Categories: Medieval Soup
Yield: 6 Servings

Iowtes of almound mylke. Take erbes; boile hem, hewe hem, and grynde hem smale. Take almaundus iblaunchede; grynde hem and drawe hem vp with water. Set hem on the fire and seeth the iowtes with the mylke, and cast thereon sugur & salt, & serue it forth.

900 g/2 lb spinach 125 g/4 oz inner green part of leeks (see method) 2 TBSP chopped fresh herbs (e.g. chives, or Welsh onion, thyme and hyssop) 1.1 litres/ 2 pints/ 5 cups water 125 g/ 4 oz ground almonds 15 g/ 1/2 oz/ rice flour or cornflour Salt and pepper Pinch of sugar Pinch of grated nutmeg or grated lemon rind (optional)

This filling soup is a rich dark green when prepared with winter leaves. It probably made an entire meal for the brothers when on their Lenten diet.

Prepare the spinach by taking off the stalks and washing the leaves thoroughly; it should weigh about 700 g/1 1/2 lb when prepared. Strip the green ends of the leeks to expose the tightly folded green part at the top of the white stem; slice it across thinly. Strip the herb leaves off their stems and chop them. Put all the greens and herbs into a large stewpan and add 1.1 litres/ 2 pints/ 5 cups water. Bring to simmering point, cover and cook gently until the leek slices are just tender.

Put the ground almonds and flour in a saucepan. Add enough cold water to make a smooth cream.

Drain the spinach, reserving the cooking liquid. Chop and puree most of the spinach in a food processor, keeping a few whole leaves for garnishing. Stir in the almond 'milk' and about half the reserved spinach liquid; add the flavourings. Return the mixture to the pan and simmer, stirring, until well heated through and slightly thickened. Add extra liquid if you wish; serve in a tureen with the garnishing leaves on top.

from The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black Chapter 3, "Life in the Cloister" posted by Tiffany Hall-Graham From: Tiffany Hall-Graham Date: 05-24-94

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