Month: December 2019

My brother ye ben by nativité

Lullay My Father mm1-3_0001

Guerrieri: Lullay My Father (2019) (PDF, 52Kb)



Happy Holidays! This year’s card is a theologically and harmonically twisty Christmas carol, with a text freely adapted from a carol in the 15th-century Stanhope Abbey manuscripts.

In the spirit, here’s a 15th-century recipe (source) for fig turnovers:

Risshewes. ¶ Take figges, and grinde hem aƚƚ rawe in a morter, and cast a lituƚƚ fraied oyle there-to; And þen̄ take hem vppe yn̄ a vesseƚƚ, and caste there-to pynes, reysyns of coran̄ce, myced dates, sugur, Saffron̄, pouder ginger, and salt: And þen̄ make Cakes of floure, Sugur, salt, and rolle þe stuff in thi honde, and couche it in þe Cakes, and folde hem togidur as risshewes, And fry hem in oyle, and serue hem fortℏ.

[Rissoles. Take figs, and grind them in a mortar, and add a little frying oil to that; and then put them in a bowl, and add to it pine nuts, dried currants, minced dates, sugar, saffron, powdered ginger, and salt: and then make cake dough of flour, sugar, and salt; roll portions of the fig mixture in your hand, then wrap them in the cake dough, folding the dough together as rissoles; and fry them in oil, and serve.]