FIG & RAISIN 'CREAM'

      Title: FIG & RAISIN 'CREAM'
  Categories: Medieval, Fruit
       Yield: 6 Servings
  
  
   Rapey.  Take half fyges and half raisouns; pike hem and waishe hem in
   water.  Skalde hem in wyne, bray hem in a morter, and drawe them
   thurgh a straynour.  Cast hem in a pot and therwith powdur of peper
   and oother good powdours; alay it vp with flour of rys, and colour it
   with saundres. Salt it, seeth it & messe it forth.
   
   125 g/4 oz well-soaked dried figs
       125    g/4 oz stoned raisins 275 ml/10 fl oz/1 1/4 cups red wine
   (not too dry) Good pinch of ground black pepper
       1/3    teaspoon ground cinnamon
       1/8    teaspoon ground cloves Soft dark brown sugar to taste 3
   teaspoons rice flour or cornflour A drop or two of red food colouring
   Salt to taste
   
   Drain the figs, reserving the soaking liquid.  Discard the stalk ends
   of the fruit and put them in a saucepan with the raisins and wine.
   Add the spices and a teaspoon of sugar and bring to the boil. Take
   off the heat and cool slightly, then turn the mixture into an
   electric blender and process until smooth.  Add a little of the
   soaking water if the mixture is stubbornly solid.
   
   Cream the rice flour or cornflour with a little more soaking water or
   wine and brighten the tint with a drop of food colouring. Blend the
   'cream' into the dried-fruit puree. Then return the whole mixture to
   the saucepan and simmer until it thickens slightly. Season with salt
   and a little extra sugar if you wish.
   
   The mixture can be served hot or cold over a sweet cereal dish, firm
   stewed fruit or - best of all- ice cream. Some versions in other
   manuscripts are stiffer and make a good filling for tartlets or fried
   puffs. One encloses the filling in pastry to make dumplings.
   
   from The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black Chapter 2, "Chaucer's
   Company" posted by Tiffany Hall-Graham
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