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Goutte Housekeeping
a column on medieval cookery

Stuffed Eggs

Euriol of Lothian

This recipe for stuffed eggs tastes very similar to a traditional deviled egg. It comes from An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the Thirteenth Century which has only the English translation of the recipes. The amount of herbs and spices I use make this recipe mild; increase these ingredients according to your own taste.

Translation of Original Recipe:
Take as many eggs as you like, and boil them whole in hot water; put them in cold water and split them in half with a thread. Take the yolks aside and pound cilantro and put in onion juice, pepper and coriander, and beat all this together with Murri, oil and salt and knead the yolks with this until it forms a dough. Then stuff the whites with this and fasten it together, insert a small stick into each egg, and sprinkle them with pepper, God Willing.

Redaction:

Cook eggs, split and remove yolks. Combine yolks with remaining ingredients. Stuff egg white with yolk mixture. Place egg whites together, secure with toothpick, sprinkle with pepper.

Special Notes:

Although the original recipe give no number of eggs to cook, I choose to redact the recipe for 8 eggs because the measurements for the other ingredients are common.

Murri is a salty sauce that is brewed, not unlike soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce. From the recipes noted in the Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the Thirteenth Century it appears that Murri is nearly as commonly used as soy sauce is in Chinese cuisine. A quick recipe for Murri can be found in A Miscelleny (6th edition), by David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook. This recipe calls for quinces, which are sometimes difficult to find depending on the time of year. If you have a chance to make Murri, you should have plenty of it for several other recipes. However, if you are not able nor inclined to make the Murri, I recommend to substitute 1/4 tsp. salt for the 1/4 tsp. Murri and pinch of salt. I don't find the substitution detracts from the dish due to the strong flavors of the onion juice and cilantro.

Source: An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the Thirteenth Century, a translation by Charles Perry found in A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Recipes edited by David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook.

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