How to Bake Medieval Rastons | The Life of a Miller

These buttery stuffed loaves would be served alongside a hunk of meat at a medieval feast. They're a great twist on a typical loaf of bread.
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MENTIONED LINKS
Medieval Trenchers: • How to Make a MEDIEVAL...
RASTONS
ORIGINAL 15TH CENTURY RECIPE (From Harleian Manuscript 279)
Brede and Rastons: Take fayre Flowre and the whyte of Eyroun and the yolke, a lytel. Than take Warme Berme, and pute al these to-gederys and bete hem to-gederys with thin hond tyl it be schort and thikke y-now, and caste Sugre y-now there-to, and thenne lat reste a whyle. An kaste in a fyre place in the oven and late bake y-now And then with a knyf cutte yt round a-bove in manner of a crowne, and kepe the crust that thou kyttest, and than caste ther-in clarifiyd Boter and Mille the comes and the botere to-gederes, and kevere it a-yen with the crust that thou kyttest a-way. Than putte it in the ovyn ayen a lytil tyme and than take it out, and serve it forth.
MODERN RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
- 450g flour (All-Purpose, Whole Wheat or Bread Flour)
- 2 egg whites, 1 egg yolk (plus an optional yolk for an egg wash)
- 2 heaping tablespoons (25g) brown sugar
- 1 cup warm ale
- 1 packet (7g) dry yeast
- 1 stick (113g) butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
METHOD
1. Warm the Ale to between 90°F and 100°F (32-28°C), then mix in the yeast and allow to bloom. Once foamy (about 10 minutes), add the egg whites and 1 yolk and the sugar and mix together.
2. Sift flour into a large bowl and whisk in the salt. Add in the ale mixture and combine. Once the dough comes together, turn out onto a surface and knead until dough is smooth. Set in a bowl and cover and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
3. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
4. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 3 equal pieces (or as many rastons as you would like), and form into round loaves. Place loaves on a lined baking tray and allow to rise another 20 minutes.
5. Once risen, brush the loaves with the extra egg yolk (optional) then score the top of the loaves and bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes. One baked, allow to cool on a wire rack.
6. Melt the butter over a low heat or in the microwave.
7. Once the loaves are cool, cut a zigzag pattern around the top of the loaf and remove the lid. Pull out all of the inside and crumb it into a bowl, then pour melted butter over the crumbs and mix together. Return the crumbs and any remaining butter to the hollow loaves and place lid back on. Warm in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Then serve it forth.
VIDEO CREDIT
Winchester City Mill - UKWMO • Winchester City Mill H...
#tastinghistory#Rastons #bread #baking #medievalfood

[@SANDMANN517]

Interesting fact about the Washburn Mill explosion. The Owner of the mill, Cadwallader, felt so bad about the death of his employees that he payed a lot of money designing a filtration system for the mill and shared his patent with mills around the world free of charge to prevent it from happening again.

[@newsupermariobros.uworldla5626]

Wish we had more businessmen like that today! He was also one of the Union's generals in the Civil War, and frequent Senator and Governor of Wisconsin. Ulysses S. Grant called him "one of the best administrative officers we have."

[@thisbushnell2012]

I recall a story told in my childhood (grandmama?, auntie?) about a case brought before a French magistrate of a widow who was accused by the local baker of cheating him out of a full measure of butter from her one milk cow. She protested her innocence, declaring that she knew she was giving him a full pound of butter, because she always weighed it out against a full pound loaf of the baker's bread.......

[@slwrabbits]

oof, BURN

[@mjp152]

Former fire fighter here - the dust explosions Max describes here can be quite terrifying. When I was in my second month of training our instructors wanted to illustrate this to us - so they put a bag of flour on top of a small explosive charge and poured out a small puddle of gasoline around it. The idea is that the charge simultanously spreads out the flour so it mixes with air and ignites the gasoline - and the open flame then ignites the flour. Told us to get 50m back and then they set it off. Biggest fireball I have ever seen. Then we did it again because it was also awesome.

[@antonnurwald5700]

Nice. Our chemistry teacher showed us a VERY SMALL flour explosion in class. Just a pinch of flour can explode quite impressively. Last year we went to our fire department's summer fair at a local volunteer fire station with the kids. They demonstrated why you shouldn't try to extinguish a grease fire with water. Some of the other kids started crying.

[@Nahar4546]

There used to be a grain station not too far from my house until it burned down a few years back it was crazy how fast and hot that dust burns

[@bcosican2694]

Was this bread like a brioche max?

[@stevemanart]

I have since tried this recipe, but I added some caramelized onion jam to the filling. Had it with a simple skirt steak. It was one of the best meals I've had in years.

[@smileysatanson3404]

sounds delicious too

[@Kaijugan]

Sounds tasty

[@VirtuousPraiseworthy]

I'm drooling hearing about it.

[@annasstorybox7906]

Ad some garlic and herbs. Honestly this recipe sounds like the medieval/self made version of those frozen baguettes stuffed with garlic butter or herb butter that are usually sold as a BBQ item but can also be baked in the oven...

[@kellyhiggins2867]

Millers and bakers were both suspect. There were strict laws standardizing how many loaves of bread could be yielded by one standard sack of flour. If a baker stretched his four and produced undersized/underweight loaves, he could find himself docked (jail), pilloried or even lose a finger as punishment. To make sure that they didn't accidentally get caught doing this (selling underweight) and as bread was bought in large volumes in days of olde, the prudent baker would add an extra loaf to each dozen, just to be sure the weight was OK. And that is where the tradition of the baker's dozen (13) comes from.

[@NM-wd7kx]

The other way of stretching flour would be adding chalk, which would've been bloody unpleasant to eat a lot of

[@WASDLeftClick]

Hah, that’s interesting. I always rationalized the baker’s dozen as bakers making 13 of something when someone ordered a dozen so the baker could eat the extra on the down-low.

[@WhyDoBabiesStareAtMe]

@@NM-wd7kx As far as taste, possibly. On a chemicle level, not really. Chalk is calcium carbonate, which is exactly what they make Tums and the majority of antacids out of. If anything, that would just cure a few cases of indigestion.

[@NM-wd7kx]

@@WhyDoBabiesStareAtMe I believe it does block you up terribly though, which is never going to be a good time. As far as flavour - given how much sawdust people will eat in a rice crispy treat I suspect most wouldn't notice a small amount. How much active ingredient is in a standard dose and how does that compare to say, half a loaf of stretched bread?

[@naerwyn239]

@@NM-wd7kx Yeah but while one miller might add chalk, if the baker adds alum, we get bread with baking powder! So the buyer ends up winning in that town! :D

[@VenerabIe]

"I love bread... and that is why it PAINS me that-" Clever... very, very clever. (:

[@sparkletone1684]

I caught that too!

[@jemadamson2715]

What

[@cerberaodollam]

@@jemadamson2715 bread = pain in French

[@jemadamson2715]

@@cerberaodollam homan how fun 😁

[@parkchimmin7913]

@Sir Underbridge **laughs in la chocolatine**

[@scottlee5588]

"That's why scarface loved flour so much" & the Raston song... This man is a national treasure

[@shevahauser1780]

i was not expecting that song, but i am so here for nerdy max

[@kentuckylongrifle8640]

Bakers and Millers also suffered from "Baker's Lung". This was caused from breathing in all that suspended flour particulate matter. My best friends father worked in a bakery all his life and died in his early 50's from it. This was the late 1980's. As always, Great Episode!

[@arthas640]

Yeah it's also one of the leading causes of e.coli and a few other food born illnesses. Based off what I've read often when it comes to people getting sick off cookie dough it's from the uncooked flour, not the uncooked eggs making you sick

[@muurrarium9460]

People still die of it. I met this guy in his halfway 30's only a few years ago .. almost no lungcapacity left. Fine baked goods definitely come at a price... :( (and quite unnecessary, we have the meansn to provide airfiltration and proper ventilation. Poor guy.)

[@arthas640]

@@muurrarium9460 That is crazy since ventilation is pretty cheap, even a few residential fans like a whole house fan or some large bath fans would do the trick. Failing that it's good to wear masks in the food industry in general so a surgical mask, N95, or painters mask would all work since the particulates are relatively large (when you cough for example the droplets are around 0.5-16 microns, smoke is 2.5 microns, drywall dust is 10+ microns, and flour is around 15 microns).

[@muurrarium9460]

@@arthas640 I know, so shocking! :( (No house-painter around hear wears masks, when they paint with brushes or rollers, anyway. Only those who spraypaint cars etc. do.)

[@smpsailor]

It's sarcoidosis . Pizzeria workers who make dough fresh can suffer from it too

[@wy4553]

That song was wonderful and the addition of Gaston's muscles on the bread was hilarious!

[@TastingHistory]

Thank you!

[@MtnBadger]

@@TastingHistory Pardon my ignorance... Who is "Gaston?" :)

[@TastingHistory]

@@MtnBadger He's the villain from Beauty and the Beast

[@MtnBadger]

@@TastingHistory Why, of course he is. How silly of me (I did know, just no context). Did you see my post about working on a mill in the 80s? Constant battle with grain dust dangers, static electricity, idiots with cigaret lighters, open-belt "elevators," tons of big machinery, etc. It's always dangerous by the very nature of it. Just like in the bomb dump, in the military, there are no lighters/open flame allowed in the plant. In the break room, there's an electric element that screws into a light socket that heats up when you push a button (looks like a giant cigarette lighter in a car) and that's the only place you can light a cigarette (or smoke it). A feed mill, flour mill, grainery, etc. is one of the most inherently dangerous places you can work because there are so many unpredictable ways to start an explosion at any given time. All you can do is follow the rules and try to "keep everything clean." It's like trying to keep the dust off a dirt road... 😆

[@TastingHistory]

@@MtnBadger I did! Crazy to think that the issues were still happening that recently; and actually still do!

[@caro1ns]

3:17 Max: I need a history hat. A million besotted viewers instantly start sewing, crocheting, knitting, carving history hats.

[@ragnkja]

Carving? Felting would be more practical.

[@cimmerianj8997]

I was hoping the raston itself, after the crown-shaped cut, would become the history hat.

[@BLS31]

I was thinking more a mortar board for a history hat.

[@lotharbeck71]

@@BLS31, one of those floppy styled doctorate ones.

[@catherinemontrose2102]

The black sock-hat Chaucer was wearing in the picture would be awesome with today's outfit!

[@manon_0411]

Fun not-so-fun fact, one of my ancestors or close relative of a direct ancestor was a miller and died when he got sucked into the milling contraption by accident. I thought it was a stupid and horrible way to die but didn't know it was that common without the protective stuff around the mill. I know about this ancestor because a cousin of my grandpa spent his life researching and looking into reports and townhall registries in order to rebuild our family tree. He got all the way back to 1610 so he did a pretty good job!

[@flashbackfrank8781]

Good job modern day scribe! 👍

[@johnjacobjingleheimer-schm8283]

Musical geek here, and your Raston song made me snort laugh so loud my sleeping dog jumped, lol. So stupid and yet so damn funny. It made me a subscriber, and I now have your channel playing while building minecraft stuff with my nephew. Keep up the great content, I'm definitely a new fan.

[@IntrepidFraidyCat]

That song caught me off guard and made me snort laugh too 😆

[@merlgray1901]

The Raston song had me dying! You're killing me with all these great recipes.

[@TastingHistory]

Oh good! I worried that it might be hokey, but then again, I’m hokey so I guess it works.

[@Javer80]

@@TastingHistory Haha, I guess it might have been too much if you had bigged it up a bunch beforehand. But you didn't - just led into it with a single, matter-of-factly-delivered line, and it's over in 15 seconds. Plus it's our first exposure to your singing voice (I know I'm not the only one who's been curious). I think it worked out fine.

[@killerduckboy3]

@@TastingHistory It was great!

[@jetownsend1]

@@TastingHistory I liked the video and subbed to your channel because of the Raston song.

[@jacksparrowismydaddy]

you had me at that song. if I wasn't already subscribed that woulda done it.

[@rkstevenson5448]

Fun fact: when I was a combat engineer in the Army, one of the things we learned to do was use a package of flour to create an implosion. We called it a flour bomb or dust bomb. It was pretty effective at taking down small buildings, lean-tos, etc.

[@rosemariestudy7781]

WoW! good to know!!

[@MtnBadger]

I worked in a feed mill AND was a munitions systems specialist in the Airforce. Technically, a flour bomb would produce an EXplosion. ;)

[@rosegreensummer]

culinary terrorism!

[@kathleenmetzler6894]

depressing, but interesting lol.

[@Phhase]

@@MtnBadger I'd think it would be both, first the fuel-air mixture explodes, then the resulting vacuum implodes.

[@noxaurum1]

I want a T-Shirt that says 'Good Job Medieval Scribe'

[@TastingHistory]

I’ll get on that 😁

[@TheMimiSard]

I have to say I appreciate the little detail of explaining the older meaning of the word "corn". I spent most of my life thinking of the word as a synonym for maize, so when I was looking deeper into Lord of the Rings deep lore (meaning stuff that you need to dig into the "History of Middle-Earth" series) I was confused by the phraseology of the origin of Lembas talking about the corn it is made from originating in Valinor. Now yes, it is well-known that Tolkien has some mentions of New World foods being in Middle-Earth - a land often considered to basically be a mythical prehistoric Europe - but the lembas story did not sound like it was talking about maize, so it sent me looking into the word "corn" to find it's older meaning is basically a synonym for "grain" - that is the generalised use to speak of multiple types of grass seed cereals.

[@cerberaodollam]

Oh wow, that gave me a flashback to teen me full-on headcanoning Valinor as the US.

[@WabbitHunter68]

My ex-mother-in-law used to work in a biscuit factory in London. She once told me that they regularly evacuated the site if too much flour was in the air. It's surprisingly easy for it to cause an explosion.

[@kinndah2519]

Wow! Interesting. I wonder how many times that'd happen on a regular basis.

[@WabbitHunter68]

@@kinndah2519 Sadly she never said.

[@Kremit_the_Forg]

@Mel Hawk Funfact: Bärlappspores / Lycopodium is used in special effects for creating huge fireballs. It is usually blown with high pressured air and then lit on fire. You can do the same thing with flour, it doesn't look as good as with Lycopodium but the option is there.

[@endurance8910]

didnt the great fire of london start in a bakers, in 'pudding lane'.... from flour dust igniting 😮

[@WabbitHunter68]

@@endurance8910 Yeah, it started in pudding lane and finished at pye corner..

[@941mj]

Fun fact: the surname Miller is pretty common in America but pretty rare in Britain. Because of the stigma against millers, they began to change their names in England at about the same time as people were going to America. For some reason, Millers who went to America chose to keep their names, so it survive there even though it has mostly died out in the UK.

[@Mchand007]

Hi, what is the stigma against millers in Britain? Kind of important job in agriculture, right?

[@941mj]

@@Mchand007 I mean there isn't one anymore... in medieval times you didn't just buy flour, you bought grain and took it to a miller and the miller gave you back flour. Millers had a reputation for skimming profits (by mixing lower quality flour in with good stuff) and shortchanging people (by weighing their grain incorrectly). They were also generally wealthier than the average medieval rural peasant, and people don't tend to like people who are richer than them. A modern day equivalent would be a guy named Joe Landlord or Brad Stockbroker.

[@Mchand007]

Thanks for the background 🙂

[@StevenCampsOut]

@@941mj Or Joe Blow your coke dealer who thinned the good stuff with Baking Soda...

[@PurtyPurple]

@@941mj Reminds me of the Canterbury Tales: the description of the Miller in the Prologue was exactly as you described.

[@gozerthegozarian9500]

Miller work hazards fun fact: In medieval Germany, millers were suspected of being sorcerers/in league with the devil, due to the occasional flour dust explosions, which were ascribed to dark magic. This folk belief prevailed even beyond the Middle Ages, it was used by novelist Ottfried Preussler in his YA novel "Krabat and the Sorcerer's Mill" which was made into a movie some years ago.

[@user-nw8nu1hc8b]

Same beliefs were in Eastern Europe as well. Poor millers! All that superstitious on top of their hard and dangerous job!

[@hazel7296]

A year later and these have remained in my standard rotation. I use them for breakfast a lot, but instead of liquid butter I toast the insides in the pan with butter, scrabbled eggs and some crumbled sausage. Twice a week at minimum I do this.

[@thessie]

Phwoar. I need to try that

[@Skorpychan]

That sounds AMAZING. I should try that.

[@fynworld]

It's hard to believe such a professional and well presented channel has so few subscribers. I hope this blows up eventually. Thank you for the recipe and the history lesson.

[@TastingHistory]

Thank you! I hope it blows up too 😁 And how nice to know it comes off as professional because I’m anything but. 🤣

[@KnightedDawn]

Oh, it will most certainly eventually blow up. Far too much talent here for things to go otherwise.

[@stephaniealdaz4243]

HONESTLY! I just discovered it today and I'm in love!!!

[@icanucan6262]

I too discovered this channel this morning and subscribed, and by the look of it so did roughly 3,000 other people! Great content, both the food and the history.

[@HeidiSanToro]

@@TastingHistory it is and its fun. My new favorite channel 💖💖💖

[@joshuasutton3461]

The only time my father and I came to blows was because of a fight over whether a raston was bread or pastrie

[@TastingHistory]

🤣

[@robinlillian9471]

Pastries are a type of bread. They are laminated breads like croissants, which can be sweet or savory. You came to blows over idiocy.

[@joshuasutton3461]

Hey, bud. That was a joke referencing the video.

[@deendrew36]

@@robinlillian9471 pretty sure that was just a little bit of tongue-in-cheek hyperbole. 🙄

[@helema23]

its bread pudding

[@veronicapost9126]

Love your videos! Milling is a dangerous profession! I grew up next to a large grainery in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The entire neighbourhood was evacuated one day because some equipment was causing sparks inside one of the buildings. I learned that an explosion would have destroyed several city blocks!! Luckily nothing happened and Halifax avoided having a second famous explosion.

[@purcascade]

Well that's good. The first one was certainly bad enough to last a while.

[@davidwoodard4113]

My brother in law worked at the Cargill plant in Dayton, Ohio. Cargill is known for corn products. Especially corn syrup. They were very careful to check each worker for anything that might cause a spark and, even with all the precautions they took, they had explosions on a regular basis. The silos there were designed to contain the explostions.

[@patmurphy389]

Hence the old adage: Keep your nose to the grindstone(because you could smell the flour/corn burning) Thank you for the video & recipe! (one of my grandfather's worked at an old mill in North Carolina many years ago, the mill is no longer there, but I do have a picture of him in his mill which I hang proudly on my wall)

[@TastingHistory]

I didn’t know that! That’s a great tidbit. I love finding out where sayings come from.

[@patmurphy389]

@@TastingHistory glad I could help

[@HaydenX]

When you say "the mill is no longer there"...I assume it was just the standard passage of time and not a mill explosion?

[@patmurphy389]

@@HaydenX yes, haydenx, it originally started as a grist mill, then they later turned it into a wood mill. It has been torn down since then.

[@HaydenX]

@@patmurphy389 I had to ask given the context...good to know.

[@Lu-vo8zv]

I just made these to surprise my mom, she loved them so much she asked me to make them again tomorrow! Thank you so much for this video! :)

[@TastingHistory]

Yay! Glad they turned out well.

[@adampovey6926]

As an ex-medieval reenactor I love this series you are doing. I'd call the dough you're using in this an enriched bread dough.

[@TheRukisama]

Loving the raston song lol. This is one of the most interesting channels I've seen on YT.

[@0nlyRenzo]

Damn, imagine stuffing garlic butter in there and some herbes de provence

[@50Street21]

I'm with you on that. What a brilliant idea.

[@ragnkja]

0nlyRenzo I wouldn’t be surprised if they flavoured the butter occasionally.

[@0nlyRenzo]

@@ragnkja My mind instantly went "GARLIC BREAD" because, well, it seemed quite obvious to the point I'm surprised it's not on the main recipe. But you're right, truffle butter or whatever else could be really good

[@jeromethiel4323]

OMG, primitive garlic bread! That would have been tasty as heck. Heck, just the butter itself would have made that a decadent treat.

[@goldilox369]

I was thinking that I would definitely put herbs in that. It would be like stove top!

[@clippedwings225]

Dust explosions are no joke. It's like a thermobaric bomb made of flour.

[@TastingHistory]

When I read about this phenomenon, I was flabbergasted. I actually thought it couldn’t be true; flour seems so innocuous, but there it is.

[@TacDyne]

@@TastingHistory Here's another fun fact to go along with the exploding flour. Powdered blood, when drawn through a vacuum, creates a potentially lethal static charge.

[@seanheath4492]

Causing one is actually a plot point in Timeline by Michael Crichton and (on a smaller scale) Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett.

[@krivdik]

@@TastingHistory Flour can be actualy used as a makeshift explosive compount if you have the right container and initiation device and it is quite powerful, same goes with Ammonium Nitrate which is quite common in various plant fertilizers is usualy used in civil explosives, but also very,,,very popular in the middle east for construction of IEDs.

[@sonipitts]

@@TastingHistory If you've never seen the Mythbusters crew create a giant coffee creamer cannon, you should check it out (there's usually a few versions of the clip floating around on YT). It was downright terrifying.

[@alexsis1778]

Something else good to point out about the dangers of flour is just how grain silos are built. If you've ever seen one they're massive concrete cylinders with (these days) a corrugated metal roof. This is because even regular grain has a tendency to explode so the silos are designed to channel that blast up through the relatively weak roof. Grain explosions are common enough most silos are made like this so once you grind it down to be an even finer material it only gets worse.

[@whoisgtsdk]

The fact that there hasn't been a "pièce de rastonce" joke here is both impressive and criminal.

[@territimmerman140]

Well played, well played!

[@paulnorton5670]

my grandmother made a very similar Rastons. She used old beer - stale, wholewheat flour, and grown yeast that was used to make ginger beer. It really was delicious. I never knew what is called until now. thank you for sharing.

[@jallenecs]

Lol, your story reminded me of my dad. He taught chemistry and physics for thirty years. Every year, in his advanced chem classes, he did all sorts of fascinating experiments. One of them included making what he called a "flour bomb." It was a shoebox, a teaspoon of bread flour, and a system he's rigged up to Get a spark into the contraption. It would blow up perfectly every year; impressed the hell out of the students, lol.

[@slwrabbits]

My favorite chemistry teacher liked to do the gas-filled soap bubbles exploded with a candle on a meter stick trick. He always made sure it was after the school day and with the blinds closed so he wouldn't get in trouble ...

[@RomanvonUngernSternbergnrmfvus]

There’s a seen in baki the grappler where a guy blows up a dojo with a couple sacks of flower, you and your dad might get a kick from it.

[@ryandoyle3413]

Yeah, powder fires are cool to demonstrate! Terrifying on the industrial scale though, lots of silo explosions and sugar factory fires in history

[@bumblebee560]

As a baker myself, this was very interesting! Brewing and baking have a long history together for the obvious reason: yeast. Bread could be made to rise with help from brewers yeast like he shows here, or from yesterday's fermenting uncooked dough (the origin of the sourdough starter). 😄

[@acegulliver5414]

Is... Is the Pikachu in the background wearing a Team Rocket uniform?! An amazing cook, history buff, and singer all rolled into one. A trifecta of goodness. And the Pokemon is a delightful bonus. I love this channel!

[@karenballe1050]

I am a Miller's daughter and I am proud of it. I remember my dad warning me to say away from the open moving machine parts. We had the mill from the early 1900's to around 1978. So a lot of time was lovingly spent there.

[@BleachDemon707]

"Good job, mideval scribe" "THANK YOU!" ... Classic. 😏

[@KelseyDrummer]

I watched that four times. So funny.

[@meganday9829]

I lost it

[@anti-ethniccleansing465]

@@KelseyDrummer 01:48 for anyone else who wants to replay it. 😁

[@EmilyJelassi]

I made this (several small ones) to accompany last night’s dinner, lamb chops. I added a bit of caramelized onion to the buttered bread crumbs and it was delicious!! My family loved it. And the Gaston song was perfect! 😊❤

[@cairneoleander1061]

The Team Rocket Pikachu as a likely reference to the sordid tales of thieving millers...you really are the rare type of gem that brings my life joy. Your WIT! Goodness!

[@elleharrer4981]

"Wheat was the corn of the "upper crust"" I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE, SIR! I found your channel yesterday and I've really been enjoying your videos. I look forward to more!

[@MarschelArts]

I quite like the way old and medieval recipies are written. It's terrible for a beginner, but once you have some cooking experience and a feel for ingredients, they naturally encourage experimentation. Also, since mesurements tended to be less standardised back then, it was propably better that way.

[@EtherDais]

Just like the inch and foot, the cup also changed according the anatomy of the present king, or not

[@Thoroughly_Wet]

They weren't intended to be exact receipes to be followed anyways. Manuscripts such as these were written by a chef to boast And share with other chefs what they had made for nobility.

[@Katharina-rp7iq]

They were actually intended to keep it in the family so to speak. If a cook took an apprentice there was usually some kind of relationship and later on the books only served to help the established cooks. Now if you're a scullery maid or day laborer and want to try to learn a more skilled job like cook the books will be almost useless to you and the established cooks aren't threatened by ppl learning recipes for the upper class. Chances are, if you don't get an apprenticeship you'll never get to taste the better spices or use a sophisticated oven (getting an oven to the right temperature was a real art!) for example so...yeah. Keep the secrets in the family.

[@EtherDais]

@@Katharina-rp7iq cool insight

[@MarschelArts]

@@Katharina-rp7iq Thants interesting, Thank you for the Info! I haven't seen it from that perspective. Sounds like the guild system to me. Either you work or apprentice at the guild, or you're out.

[@beans1557]

You’re right about carbohydrate dust still being a very real problem 😂 I am working on building a mill designed to make pellets of hay or wood for fuel. When we test run it we do not DARE close the doors.

[@JennRighter]

It’s been said, but the song was amazing, my favorite part. I’m a lover of puns and you do them well, and a lot of them. They’ve gone over my head at times and then several seconds later I’m thinking “wait....I get it now”! Basically I love history, food, food history, music and puns, lol. Basically I’ve found my home.

[@Dollfaceyourfear]

The Raston song was pure gold. I'm so glad I came across this channel.

[@RosieDuck]

DUDE THE RESTON SONG 😂😂 it caught me unaware and i literally coughed my coffee up

[@schelles_xviii]

SAME I choked on my water when I got to that part LMAOOO

[@GhostOfSnuffles]

Medieval upper class hated millers because they were one of the few professions that they were required to pay for. Most upper class got to use the services of the peasants for free as part of the system of taxation, for example they could demand a farmer plow a portion of their land to cover their taxes, millers were paid on the spot for their services since they were the very few of the peasant class with expertise to properly run the milling equipment, and since millers took that payment out of the flour they milled from people they were cast as thieves.

[@averylawton5802]

I know a double post I don't care I just came from your Titanic video and I thought occurred to me that I've learned to appreciate through your series is just how hard life used to be compared to how easy it is for most people nowadays when it comes to food in our lives. You do an amazing job placing Within the daily lives of people where food preparation was and how much time and effort it used to take up compared to today where you can pretty much just find any of these used to be hard ingredients without any effort. we can eat and enjoy such nutrition that honestly would have seemed like a tall tale not that long ago

[@jessicawhitehall4150]

Just found this channel and I'm enchanted! Recreating old historical recipes with a handsome and knowledgeable presenter, and way too much butter? Yeah I'm in.

[@TastingHistory]

Thank you! "Handsome and knowledgeable presenter" will be going on my business cards. 😂

[@sanddry738]

1:48 *medieval scribe appreciation* Seriously I’m loving these videos and how its a mix of interesting history and just cooking.

[@emilyb4583]

I worked in a historical (about 175 years old) mill a couple of summers. We had three lines up from different periods during the mills history that are up and running (the stone wheel for wheat flour, the corn system, and most recently they finished restoration on the triple grinder for fine white flour) and ran them twice a day on weekends, though we didn't often run anything through them (long story short we had a limited supply of corn donated each year, so we did sometimes let kids toss ears of corn down the chute into the corn system). The engineering, for something built by hand in the first half of the 1800s, is amazing... and even more amazing is that any of the workers survived (nobody was killed by the machinery at this particular mill, though there was a murder once) because we run the mill SLOW and with a lot of safety measures in place and we still station workers by a series of emergency shut-offs in case anything goes wrong. There was one time when a belt was slipping and we just kept smelling the faint scent of something burning but it took AGES to find the source of the smell. I'm sure it was hilarious to watch out of context as all the workers were doing our best bloodhound impersonations.

[@didisinclair3605]

My dear, I could watch you forever. You are such a gift.

[@Cadwaladr]

The Washburn A mill was the biggest flour mill in the world. After it blew up, they built a new one, which was again the biggest in the world, until the Pillsbury A mill opened the next year across the river. The second Washburn mill stood for 111 years, and then it burned down in 1991, and now it's a museum. There's some nice ruins all over the place around there. I love ruins. I'm from Minneapolis, if you hadn't guessed.

[@TastingHistory]

If I ever get to Minneapolis, I’ll have to check them out. What an interesting part of history.

[@DinoSarma]

Yes! I remember going to that one park where the Mississippi river begins, and taking the guided tour of the structure they had there. The park ranger explained about how all those mills along the river blew up because of the flour situation. It was fascinating. Minneapolis is a very cool city. Had lots of fun.

[@Cadwaladr]

@@DinoSarma The park where the Mississippi River begins is Itasca State Park, and it's about 200 miles from Minneapolis.

[@DinoSarma]

@@Cadwaladr It was that one that's across the way from that one milling place. It's been too long., and I can't remember it for the life of me. It has that bridge.

[@Cadwaladr]

@@DinoSarma the whole riverfront in Minneapolis is a park, but I'm guessing you're talking about the Stone Arch Bridge, so I know what area you're talking about.

[@theresaperez7808]

History AND cooking!?!? This is the best damn content on the Internet.

[@carbine090909]

Quickly becoming the channel I look forward to the most.

[@peterthierrry902]

I am an old man now, but long ago my grandfather took me to a friend's place of work. That friend was a baker, and I was shaken out of bed at 4:00 in the morning. We went to a local bakery not a quarter of a mile from our home. Inside he introduced me around, and then a bell went off and everybody sprung into action. The oven door was opened and the place was filled with the scent of fresh bread. The baker pulled a whole loaf out, cut off one end, threw in a whole stick of butter, then recapt and shook it. The bakers, granddad and I tore into it like ravenous hounds. I guess everything that's new is old. I later spent a whole decade learning how to bake bread, especially sheepherder's bread. I had forgotten this until just now. What a gift. Thanks. Peace,

[@TheUberjonny]

Oh young Mr. Miller! Seeing you stir with your knife made me go “eek” When I was a boy, I was always told that: “stirring with a knife is stirring up strife”. Keep yourself happy and healthy, go ahead and dirty a spoon next time. Really love your content, you are wonderful.

[@Blinnebots]

The history section on millers was so fascinating! I actually read an amazing microhistory for my historical methods course last semester centered around a miller and his confrontations with the Church. Not about food but definitely a stellar read if you're interested; "The Cheese and the Worms" by Carlo Ginzburg. My professor pointed out (building on your point about millers being disliked) is that millers were often on the edge of town, making them physically and metaphorically outsiders relative to most of their town. They often absorbed all the gossip of folks waiting for their flour and travelers going in and out of town. In times where new or different ideas were unwelcome, millers were often considered suspicious at best and dangerous at worst.

[@rahbee6266]

So I use this recipe as a base for all the bread I make at home (more than I care to admit without owning a stand mixer) and I get nothing but compliments. Thanks for the great content.

[@jun_bnb2474]

I am rewatching these old videos of yours, for ✨writing purposes✨, and I'm glad I did since I rediscovered your Raston song!

[@eboracum]

A pikachu with a Team Rocket uniform on in the background! What kind of madness is this?!

[@TastingHistory]

It’s a topsy turvy world we live in.

[@kyrab7914]

Because team rocket is criminals! And millers... Yeah

[@melifer1]

The Scarface reference was so unexpected, I laughed so hard I dropped my phone.

[@SpamEggSausage]

say challo to ma leel fran

[@NioneAlmie]

Your Raston song was absolute pure joy. I've been so depressed for weeks now, and that was the strongest rush of any happy feeling that I've had in a while. Thank you.

[@ranthalling]

I also love bread - and I love the way you are presenting ALL of your 'Tasting History' vids.

[@magicmon]

It's like watching your incredibly likeable dad make videos, everybody loves him and your cringing in the corner

[@gravedigger1454]

Here in Germany the word "Korn" pretty much refers to all sorts of grain like wheat, rye, etc. I guess the best translation in english would be "kernel". "Korn" also refers to an alcoholic drink (about 40% of alcohol) kind of like rum, made from grain.

[@averagehotleafjuiceenjoyer161]

Yep! 'Grain' is probably the most accurate translation though.

[@reticulatedtiger]

Coincidentally, the other day I read that Corned Beef, which is salt-cured, is named after the coarse rock salt grains called corns. In this case no corn involved as I'd always thought and thus totally irrelevant. 😉

[@flannerypedley840]

Corn was used that way in early meodern English too.

[@floppywalrus409]

It also refers to a nu-metal artist lmao

[@fionapaterson-wiebe3108]

With the recent shortages of hand sanitiser, there was a number of presentations on KZbin, advising people to use , ‘grain’ alcohol cut with a moisturiser as an alternative. The Germanic, ‘korn’ and the English, ‘corn’ come from the same root.

[@ryanhurst6882]

Your channel gives me that warm fuzzy feeling I had watching PBS as a kid.

[@Aramis419]

Whooooaaa!! Just stumbled across this video (as opposed to the most recent). Our young Max done growed up over 2 years!

[@danielmaynard6837]

If Gaston was an egotistical baker you're Raston song would definitely be his theme. Job well done sir

[@Xeno_the_Robot]

Pray tell me that "It 'pains' me" was an intended pun?! I just found your channel, and I'm already in love. Beautiful concept, wonderful presentation!

[@TastingHistory]

Oh it was so intended. I was worried people wouldn’t get it, but I thought commenting on it would demean the pun. 🤣

[@Oktopia]

Today we were blessed with the dulcet tones of Max's singing voice. *applauds

[@susannial9249]

These short episodes are fascinating. They are packed with tasty morsels and wonderful history. Thank you.

[@wingy200]

Oh my the Raston song caught me off guard and I belly laughed...

[@TastingHistory]

At least it was a good reaction.

[@wingy200]

@@TastingHistory "I'm especially proud of my hist'ry baking!" "My what a bite that Raston!" xD

[@grandcarriage1]

History hat. I’m thinking a tiara, myself. Everyone needs a tiara, and they’re much easier to manage than a full on crown. GOLD STAR FOR YOUR RENDITION OF GASTON/RASTON. Who said Musical Theatre wouldn’t pay!

[@weldonwin]

Personally, I think the History Hat should be an Indiana Jones style Fedora. A Pith Helmet would also be acceptable, although that is more of an expedition hat

[@FishLunchy]

PAPAL TIARA PAPAL TIARA PAPAL TIARA

[@clockworkmonsters8590]

@@weldonwin Can he stick a feather in it and call it macaroni? XD

[@northstarjakobs]

Fun fact! The former Washburn mill ruins now host a museum called the Mill City Museum which teaches about the history of Minneapolis and stuff like that. It's a regular field trip destination for schools in the twin cities and the surrounding suburbs, and it has a beautiful view of St. Anthony Falls, which powered the original mill. Definitely, a good visit if you're in Minneapolis, especially if you're visiting with kids (there's a lot of hands-on attractions that are sure to entertain).

[@ericthompson3982]

Your adorable nerd jokes are one of the several things that keep me coming back.

[@aro7889]

Bet it would be amazing if you mixed in some brown sugar, cinnamon, and a bit of nutmeg with the butter and crumbs. (maybe some honey too)

[@TastingHistory]

I think that would have been great! If you try them, let me know how they go. Sugar and spices always make everything nice. 😁

[@theofficialinali]

Perhaps some powder douce?

[@wingy200]

A hearty bread pudding in a bread bowl. I would probably buy that at a restaurant. Gotta have the nutmeg.

[@Jacob-rx1du]

TastingHistory I was thinking you could toss some shredded chicken inside.

[@fionapaterson-wiebe3108]

Yum! Of course at the time this recipe was common, spices were so crushingly expensive, the head cook kept them in a locked box. So those additions would make a bread fit for a king.

[@RayIveySeriously]

2. "Faux Barm" is the name of my Enya Tribute Orchestra

[@TastingHistory]

🤣

[@mirjamleesalu5188]

The Raston song was my favourite part! More singing, thank you very much!

[@Reeacat]

That Reston song was perfection.

[@1337SJLewis]

Stumbled onto this channel an hour ago Now in hooked. I love the presentation, candor, and attitude. You're a natural host, my friend. The combination of history and well presented cooking class is honestly a brilliant idea.

[@mm0901]

I’m a Miller too... well, married a Miller. Funny to hear these things about my husband’s ancestors! 😅

[@alantremonti1381]

The defensiveness for millers, and therefore Millers, was fantastic lol.

[@Shadowlan2082]

Not only did you 'nail' it with the recipe but you TOTALLY 'NAILED" it with the Raston ie Gaston song (Timestamp 14:34-14:47). See this is yet another reason why I LOVE your channel. I've been watching since your second episode and can't wait to see all the new, well old, things to come.

[@rockyraab8290]

Max, I don't know if you'll see this after four months but...Eating too much bread is "gluteny"

[@user-nw8nu1hc8b]

At least I see that and I’ve found it so hilarious, that I was giggling aloud XD

[@markheithaus]

😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@gooddaytoyou5256]

amazing

[@FoodNerds]

😂😂

[@lynx1710]

I'm going to have to chew that one over...

[@theofficialinali]

Explosions, name puns, and a song, oh my! :D

[@TastingHistory]

All the things you need for an exciting video. 😆

[@thecraftycyborg9024]

There’s a large candy manufacturing plant near the town I live in. It blew up a few years back- but the owners were quick to reassure everyone that the building was designed to handle that kind of explosion!

[@maxlutz3674]

I like that channel. Little snippets of history that deserve to be remembered combined with recipes for dishes with flavours and aromas that deserve to be savoured. I really like that the ingredients are easily available and the dishes are easy to recreate. A big thank you for the nice presentation and the amount of effort and research that surely went into your presentations.

[@trekadouble757]

"rastons": you pronounced it correctly, but in the modern french pronunciation. I am impressed at how good you pronounced the "on" sound. Sadly, this is not necessarily how it would have sounded like in medieval times. I don't know how hold the recipe is. In ancient french, this would have been pronounced "raston-n-s". Note that there were not silent lettres in ancient french, except only three words. Even words like "croient" (use google translate to hear) would have had all their lettres pronounced.

[@namedrop721]

Oh man I want a time machine and will happily speak old french with the letters

[@kaitnip]

So then closer to Latin, that's what you're saying. Figures, I think. And for me it would have been so much simpler.

[@kareemseifeldin7805]

(Yes, yes, I know, old post, etc): This recipe is from the 15th century--i.e. late medieval and arguably Renaissance. If this video from NativLang (kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2O3iHV4rdybmLc) is to be believed (and I see no reason not to, his research seems pretty solid), nasalization was just about starting to be a thing in French around this time. So Matt's pronunciation is probably just about accurate.

[@Jaegurmangensun]

Im currently in the middle of a binge of all of your content and I am loving it!!! I thank the Algorithm Gods for leading me here; here's hoping you get a TON more well deserved views!

[@TastingHistory]

Thank you! It’s definitely doing its job today 😁

[@heleneh-t5723]

Found your channel through the live stream you did with Townsends - love the intersection of history, cooking / baking, literature, and modern pop culture & humor. Right on! Keep it up 👍🏼

[@themacgyverkitchen]

Only found this channel in the past few months, so now I am binge-watching all the earlier ones. This one is so great! I don't know why I never thought about how flammable flour is before! Seems obvious when Max explains it. Also very cool to know that the word "corn" was be used for all grains- etymology nerd here! I absolutely love your work Max.

[@Mariana-gb2dz]

I clicked in one of your videos by accident, I stayed because this channel is absolutely amazing and you are an excellent host. I'm loving it.

[@TastingHistory]

Thank you! Sometimes accidents are good 😁

[@superXlilXcutie]

I'm glad I'm not the only one using quarantine to do medieval recipes and I'm excited that this channel exists!

[@PheelinGoodOfficial]

My favorite KZbinr of all time, without question.

[@susan3200]

Great episode. Love your thoroughness in research, your sense of humor and your wit. Thanks for another historic recipe to try!

[@sorileathegreat]

I know you were referring specifically to milling when you were talking about explosions, but thought you'd find it interesting that the most recent incidents occurred in as recently as 2017 and resulted in several deaths. (At grain elevators) Grain dust explosions are far too common, even with safety measures in place. (Btw, my husband is a flour miller.) 🙂

[@EvilSandwich]

I work in a candy factory, and powdered sugar has very much the same hazard. We have to get recertified every year on how to handle dust accumulation safely. I imagine that your husband's job has similar Hazard training?

[@sorileathegreat]

@@EvilSandwich yes, they have several qualifications they have to pass yearly

[@ragnkja]

A new type of grain elevator thar is particularly suited for that application was invented as late as 2003, and it’s remarkably simple: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5fYYWZ8Yq6Unpo

[@e1357]

A grain elevator in the town I grew up in lost a building to a dust explosion, wouldn't surprise me if someone thought it was a good idea to try smoking in there because the total braincell count of the whole town could be counted with just your fingers and toes.

[@Chris-iy4ql]

Production value keeps getting better and better. Love it.

[@TastingHistory]

Thank you! I’m finally figuring out how to light myself.

[@theofficialinali]

@@TastingHistory On fire? Being a Miller, you know...

[@sarahbyington2440]

first day starting work at a malt making plant, they traumatized me with a video of how my plant was going to blow up and showed those mills from the 80s blowing up, have a great first day at work! (modern mills do have really good ventilation and vacuums to reduce the risk of exploding)

[@voxiesundragon]

that medieval scribe’s voice was spot on, good sir!!