Medieval Mardi Gras

Thank you to my Patreon Patrons! ► / tastinghistory
Merch ► crowdmade.com/...
Instagram ► / tastinghistorywithmaxm...
Twitter ► / tastinghistory1
Tiktok ► TastingHistory
Reddit ► / tastinghistory
Discord ► / discord
Amazon Wish List ► amzn.to/3i0mwGt
Send mail to:
Tasting History
PO Box 766
Burbank, CA 91503
LINKS TO INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT**
Sony Alpha 7C Camera: amzn.to/2MQbNTK
Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens: amzn.to/35tjyoW
Saffron
Long Pepper
LINKS TO SOURCES**
Libro de arte coquinaria by Maestro Martino (In Italian): amzn.to/33ttocK
The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages by Terence Scully: amzn.to/3GSGbTT
RECIPE
2 quarts (2 liters) Meat or Chicken Broth
Pinch of saffron threads
2 cups (200g) freshly grated Parmesan Cheese plus more for topping
½ cup (110g) Ricotta
10 oz (280g) pork belly
6 oz (170g) boiled or roasted chicken breast, shredded small
6 tablespoons chopped Herbs of your choice
½ teaspoon Black Pepper or long pepper
⅛ teaspoon Cloves
¼ teaspoon Ginger
A mixture of sweet spices (powder douce - sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, little ginger and clove)
2 1/2 cups (300g) Flour
3 eggs
1. the pork in water for 90 minutes or until it's very soft, then chop it small. Either mince, or mix in a food processor, the pork, chicken, parmesan, ricotta, herbs, and the spices (minus the sweet spice mixture). Mix until you have a paste. Set aside and make the pasta dough.
2. Put the flour on the countertop and create a well in the middle. Crack the eggs into the well and, using your hands, mix the eggs together. Then, just a little at a time, start incorporating the flour. Keep working it in until you have a paste come together. Then knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it’s nice and smooth. Set it aside and cover it with a bowl to rest for at least 20 minutes.
3. Once rested, take about a 5th of it and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. This can be done with a rolling pin or pasta roller. Either way, roll it out, then fold it in thirds like a letter, and roll it again. Repeat 4 or 5 times. Then begin to roll it out as thinly as possible.
4. Lay the strip of pasta out on a floured surface making sure not to get any flour on the topside. Then spoon about a teaspoon of filling in a row down the center of the pasta leaving about an inch and a half between them. Fold the pasta over the filling and gently press around each one to seal in the filling. Then cut out the ravioli making sure they’re well sealed and set them on a dish. Repeat with the next piece of pasta dough. Don't attempt to roll out all of the pasta at once or it will dry out and become hard to shape the ravioli.
5. Once the ravioli are formed, boil the chicken broth with the saffron for 5 minutes, then add 4-6 ravioli at a time and boil for about 4 minutes or until the pasta is to your liking. Place on a dish and top with parmesan and sprinkle with the sweet spice mixture.
**Some of the links and other products that appear on this video are from companies which Tasting History will earn an affiliate commission or referral bonus. Each purchase made from these links will help to support this channel with no additional cost to you. The content in this video is accurate as of the posting date. Some of the offers mentioned may no longer be available.
Subtitles: Jose Mendoza - IG @worldagainstjose
PHOTO CREDITS
Mardi Gras 2019 in New Orleans: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommon..., via Wikimedia Commons
Green Man: By Wordandsilence1979 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
Venice carnival: By Anita Martinz from Klagenfurt, Austria - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikime...
Rio de Janeiro Carnival: Terry George from United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommon..., via Wikimedia Commons
#tastinghistory #mardigras #pasta

[@TastingHistory]

For a Shrove Tuesday deep dive, check out last year's video on pancakes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXWWiH6Yjc2gbK8

[@cousinjake7986]

Happy 2's Max, and Happy Mardi Gras

[@alexgeorge501]

Nice party outfit your Mimikyu!

[@FoodNerds]

I just adore 🥰 this Pokémon and I’m not a Pokémon collector so I don’t know which one it is so could some tell me so I could add this to my collection. It’s so adorable and would be wonderful to have in my Mardi Gras display.

[@alexgeorge501]

@@FoodNerds Mimikyu

[@nessuno9945]

Max, the ravioli seems dry because you have removed them from the broth with a 'spider' which drains away all the broth, and is an implement I doubt would've been used or available in the period. They would've served them, ladled-out or spooned-out into bowls, thus capturing the 'brodo' or broth, in which it would've definitely been served, especially since they used precious saffron to color the broth...why do that unless it too was to be consumed? Italians often eat tortellini and other filled pastas cooked and served in the broth.

[@roxannebeaman5645]

Max,my dog’s name is Ginger.Every time you say Ginger her eyes go wide and she stares at the t.v.😂

[@TastingHistory]

🤣

[@kateholland4102]

😂😂😂

[@slwrabbits]

what a smart girl!

[@kohinarec6580]

🐶❔❗

[@trinamorrison2570]

My husband had a dog named Fuzzball growing up. Same thing happened watching Star Wars when Han says to Chewie, "Laugh it up, Fuzzball!"

[@Dabednego]

A Farewell to Meat is my favorite Hemingway novel. He wrote it during his vegetarian phase, before The Old Man and the Seitan and just after For Whom the Beet Tolls

[@Dabednego]

Some people say The Soy Also Rises is better, though.

[@ThKiwi]

Omg I snorted my hot cocoa. XD

[@therealhellkitty5388]

The Hills Like Blancmange and the Snows of Tastee Freezaro are vastly overrated.

[@emc2862]

Pun pals! 🥰

[@cleoharper1842]

I have an Abhorrence of Spring Rolls because they make me Toot at First Bite 😳 See what I did there? First AND Last novels. Yes, I am that cool. 😊 💩

[@zenkakuji3776]

This may have been outlawed in Medieval Europe, but somebody forgot to tell the people in Köln (Cologne) Germany. Carnival begins on February 24th this year until March 2nd so you've got just enough time to get a plane ticket and grab your horns for the revelry! 🥳

[@SingingSealRiana]

not even corona stops them . . .

[@RosesAndIvy]

Same in the Netherlands! The south still celebrates carnaval every year

[@alexcarroll9774]

And Belgium and Netherlands, too. Basically many parts of traditionally Catholic Europe have this tradition, not just Cologne.

[@kiddracoify]

Carneval week starts on 24. this year. the whole season always starts on November 11.

[@johgu92]

And Mainz.

[@hiyahandsome]

My Italian grandparents made ravioli stuffed with cheese, veal and spinach for every Xmas Day feast. Those were eaten as the pasta course after their wonderful antipasto and before the meat course with all the side dishes. It was a lengthy process to make enough ravioli to feed all our family,15 hungry diners who looked forward to ravioli all year long. So we all pitched in to help under my uncle's supervision. Your making ravioli for Mardi Gras brought back happy memories, thanks, Max!

[@kathleenhensley5951]

Oh, yes, that would be quite a job! nearly heroic for the cook! I remember that custom too. Ravioli, Christmas day... wonderful sauce and whatever antipasto we could afford. Brings tears to my eyes.

[@joshschneider9766]

That sounds pretty darn good I'm gonna have to try that myself. I presume they used ricotta?

[@davidvanderwoude7911]

This series is a strong case that medieval food wasn’t the bland, mushy, unpleasant stuff people often imagine.

[@isobelcarroll1664]

Some times smaller ravioli is served in the broth, that would solve the dryness problem.

[@NoadiArt]

Smaller raviolis probably would also cook closer to the 2 minutes

[@paavobergmann4920]

@@NoadiArt for smaller, freshly made pasta, 2 minutes seems like a reasonable time. But the method of timekeeping by reciting a given text is actually pretty ingenius. I think it´s pretty precise if you get the rythm down.

[@Djynni]

Yes, you could serve the ravioli in the broth it was cooked in - good idea.

[@mordekaihorowitz]

Like German Maultaschen

[@patricktuminaro2248]

@@paavobergmann4920 Absolutely. These types of common prayers have a cadence to them which is commonly understood in an area so using this to meter time would make sense for society where it originated. Though with the reach of the church this should be fairly broadly translatable.

[@lellab.8179]

Given they are boiled in broth and not in water, I think they were meant to be eaten with the broth itself. We have a lot of ravioli/tortellini/casoncelli we eat in broth, here in Italy. That's probably why they were a little dry.

[@princesssookeh]

I think so too. Otherwise it's just a tragic waste of fancy-fied broth.

[@emilygillock3803]

DAAAAW The Mimikyu in the background looks adorable with his little Mardi Gras outfit!

[@GaldirEonai]

The paternoster timing method isn't found in modern _cookbooks_ much, but it's still very much in use among older generations or those who have recipes inherited from them.

[@Lemoncatsf]

My mom uses the Hail Mary to time boiling eggs 😂 🙏🏽

[@emmitstewart1921]

@@Lemoncatsf Sure beats, "one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three......".

[@kathleenhensley5951]

It reminded me of my grandmother putting little crosses on her homemade bread. My mother told me she did. Its actually a very good way to tell time.

[@NODnuke45]

Since Max said it was too short of a time just saying the prayer, I assume it means chant it slowly instead.

[@krankarvolund7771]

@@NODnuke45 He also said his raiviolis are too big, so that didn't help ^^

[@chefmdecamp]

A couple things to consider, if you found yourself lacking for a sauce, would be that these might be assumed to be served with some of the broth (perhaps just as much would come out if they were pulled out with a large ladle), as "ravioli in brodo" is a super, super traditional dish, and if you were to grate fresh parmigiano reggiano onto the hot brodo/broth and ravioli it would add the fat to dish that you wished for, as the oils from some of that freshly grated cheese would quickly incorporate into the broth as the cheese melted.

[@lydiathornton1999]

A pecorino or other sheep cheese would be wonderful too, as it's very fatty. Yum!

[@KRYMauL]

A bechamella sauce would be good too

[@dianapovero7319]

Also old recipes used "boil" to mean any temp which bubbled the water hence the term a rioling boil later written rolling boil, a light boil meant what we would call a simmer. Recipes back then were written with an asumption of understanding todays cooks do not have. I f you do not boill but simmer the safron broth you will taste the saffron, and it does seem like a good broth was the intent of the recipe, safron is expensive & cooks in the middle ages were paid to be showy, the medieval equivalent of " publish or perish.

[@mikah4973]

Hi Max, an actual historian. This recipe probably assumed you boil it in the broth you serve it with. This is a variation of a classic medieval recipe found across Italy and much of Europe.

[@uncledubpowermetal]

As a Catholic and a cook, I really like two Pater Nosters as a cooking measurement lol implementing IMMEDIATELY

[@mwater_moon2865]

In Latin? that might have been why Max was so short....

[@ValeriePallaoro]

@@mwater_moon2865 It made me want to look up and learn it just for the cooking.

[@SHADOW1414]

My great grandma was taught to use Hail Mary's to cook pizzelle. I guess you gotta keep time somehow before clocks were common.

[@alicetwain]

In Italian, a short amount of time is still called "un paternoster" and an even shorter time is "un fiat" (voluntas tua). In modern day Italy, meat filled ravioli are usually served as a soup in the broth they have been boiled in. I would suggest trying these as a soup too because that wonderful broth with saffron seems a bit wasted if you don't eat it. Anyhow, if you drain them you need to also add butter (not oil, unsalted butter!) And your pasta dough was just on point!

[@lauraslittlelife]

Speaking of ravioli and lent - may I present to you the hilarious (but probably completely made up) origin story of German 'Maultaschen'? In Southern Germany we have a dish called "Maultaschen" - they're essentially oversized ravioli (way bigger than 'half a chestnut' 😅). They're made by taking ground meat, mixing it with a generous amount of finely chopped herbs, and wrapping that mixture in pasta dough, giving the final product the appearance of... well, oversized ravioli. As I mentioned, these oversized ravioli are most commonly known as "Maultaschen" today, however, in Swabian German, one of the regional dialects, they're also referred to as "Herrgottsbscheißerle", which literally translates to "little deceivers of God". The origin story behind that name is quite funny: According to folklore, Maultaschen were invented by medieval monks who were trying to find a workaround for the ban on meat during lent. By grinding the meat into a fine paste, using herbs to dye said paste green, and wrapping the resulting mixture in pasta dough, they were trying to conceal the fact that they were eating meat from the eyes of the Lord - thus deceiving Him (or at the very least attempting to do so). 😅 This origin story is probably completely fabricated but I quite like the idea of it being true - I mean, you've got to admire that level of ingenuity, right?! 😄

[@sarahgilliss3503]

Sounds tasty!

[@binarysunsetoftwins9166]

Fellow Swabian here! Making 'Maultaschen' on Good Friday is probably my favorite tradition, there's nothing better than tasting your first homemade one after a year of that awful pre-made stuff from the store:)

[@lauraslittlelife]

@@binarysunsetoftwins9166 Couldn't agree more! I mean, the shop-bought ones are edible in a pinch (especially when chopped up and fried in butter 😅) but nothing compares to homemade Maultaschen. 🤤

[@NODnuke45]

After watching this episode and then reading this recipe, all while hungry, my appetite is strong enough to appreciate just about any food I'm about to go eat now. lol

[@fonkbadonk5370]

@@sarahgilliss3503 Oh they are. Served with a genorous portion of Käsespätzle, they are amongst the few traditional German dishes I as a (not from that region) German myself consider as one of my all time favourites. Sooo goooood!

[@kato6690]

In some areas of Alemannia in southwest Germany the "fasting night" before Ash Wednesday is still celebrated in public as described in the history section from 06:15 on - with traditional wood masks and costumes, often horned, some as specific animals. There are specific roles that are played which were first documented around the time this recipe is from, although most of the current costume styles are from the 16th and 17th centuries. It's interestingly also the same area where localized ravioli-style pasta in Germany - to some extent made much the same way as in this recipe - come from.

[@cahallo5964]

Alemannia is a part of Germany?, in Spanish we call the whole country Alemania

[@Erkorlad]

@@cahallo5964 Alemannia is a historical region, but within modern Germany's borders it'd be within Baden-Württemberg and Swabia. The Alemanni people were a Germanic people living in those regions (and also extending into areas of France like Strasbourg), and the modern German dialect is still known as 'Alemannic' German. Different countries have different names for Germany, depending on their historical encounters with them; France, Spain, and Turkey - among others - refer to the country as words descended from the Latin 'Alemannia', which itself simply comes from 'Alemanni' - the Alemanni peoples. Italy's name, for example, comes from Latin 'Germania', which ultimately comes from 'Germanus', a roman term for the germanic tribes to distinguish them from others (like the gauls).

[@cahallo5964]

@@Erkorlad Germania also exists in Spanish but it's not the common term

[@angelodiavolo3915]

Is crazy to believe that's pretty much exactly how my grandma used to make ravioli every Sunday. We Italians can really stick up to a recipe 😍

[@sabrina6720]

I was wondering what plush you have in the background for a Mardi Gras themed episode and I am not disappointed 🥳

[@leannsmarie]

Mimikyu was a fine choice, was it not?

[@blackdragon7979]

@@leannsmarie so that's who it was. I knew it was familiar, almost thought Pikachu in a mask but the ears weren't right. Agreed, it was a perfect choice

[@TioOlavoDoBaralho]

As a Brazilian, Carnival is a holiday very dear to me. I loved everything about this episode, from the recipe to the history. Your channel is a gem, Max!

[@anceptus]

Coming from the future to ask: how was your Carnaval this year, after three years of not being able to celebrate properly? Hope you had fun! Mine was chill but pretty good.

[@TioOlavoDoBaralho]

@@anceptus cathartic, liberating. Thanks for asking 😁👍

[@ohariana3150]

Mardi Gras and Tasting History are the only things to look forward to on a Tuesday 🎊🥳🎊

[@ommsterlitz1805]

Literarily means "Fat Tuesday" in French, they just know what's good in France 😅

[@folofus4815]

When I saw the Title, I was scared cause I thought Lent began tomorrow and I wasn’t ready! 😂

[@TastingHistory]

You have 1 more week 😁

[@NunontheRun]

@@TastingHistory we can make it Semaine Gras ! Fat Week!

[@zeideerskine3462]

You would probably love making and going into the history of Leberkäse (the greatest misnomer ever) and the gargantuan Ravioli made of them called Maultaschen or Herrgottsbescheißerle.

[@gamzee3610]

Maultaschen my beloved

[@hildahilpert5018]

Lieberkase means I believe liver cheese.My grandmother would make liver dumplings.She made griebenschmalz.Its rendered bacon fat with onions in it.She would save bacon grease and added onion to it. Daddy said they would spread it on bread and eat it .She also would use rendered goose or chicken fat to make special Christmas cookies.

[@zeideerskine3462]

@@hildahilpert5018 The "Leber" bit in Leberkäse refers to "Leib" or "Loaf". Although, indeed, "Leber" does mean "Liver" in modern High German. There is no liver in Leberkäse, though.

[@muadddib]

Maxs german is pretty solid, but I fear the Herrgottsbescheißerle might be a tad ambitious :D

[@scaevolaludens679]

huh, im realizing "carne levare" makes a lot of sense as in northern sardinian it's Carrasegare from "carnem secare", to cut meat

[@erraticonteuse]

"A Farewell to Meat", one of Hemingway's less successful works 😂 Also, have you considered looking into the history of cookbooks as fundraising tools? I was at a Smithsonian the other day and in the gift shop they had a reprint of "The Woman Suffrage Cookbook", which looked to be a pretty standard cookbook, but was originally published and sold to raise money for a suffragist organization.

[@TastingHistory]

That’s a good idea. It was quite popular to do so for all sorts of causes.

[@arnaudmenard5114]

I collect antique cookbooks myself, and it's rather interesting how some of the older ones are promotional tools or community made. I've got one from 1930 made by "the ladies's guild of Shawinigan falls" It's full of sponsorship for stuff like local stores and asbestos companies.

[@baldeagle5297]

@@arnaudmenard5114 Here in small-town America, we still do this, particularly churches.

[@ryand.3858]

@@baldeagle5297 I actually have a few of those from back in the 30’s, they belonged to my grandmother. It’s interesting because they always give credit to the person from the community that submitted that particular recipe. Sometimes it will include a couple sentences from the individual. I’m glad these still exist.

[@jackieheidorn5875]

Pancake dinners/breakfasts are also a good fundraising activity.

[@ROMANTIKILLER2]

In a town in Northern Italy nearby where I was born there is a peculiar tradition on Mardi Gras, namely the battle of oranges: the districts of the town have traditional teams joined also by people from the surrounding villages and town, and they battle one another by throwing a bunch of oranges. Spoiler alert: oranges in the eyes hurt.

[@marmotarchivist]

I love this. In the Fasnacht (Carneval) of Basel, there are also oranges. But because they are/were a bit more scarce on the northern side of the alps. So they were given out to children as a rare treat, rather than being used as a projectile weapon.

[@pepintheshort7913]

Ouch!

[@SoulSpectar]

I have never been more sad to have rather boring American traditions, than I am right now after reading about your birthplace. That sounds like a riot and a half!!

[@matthewtopping2061]

This is possibly the episode that makes me hungrier and more homesick than anything else. I've lived in Japan for over a decade, and it is impossible to find filled pastas here.

[@lindenshepherd6085]

Being in a place without stuffed pasta is the best excuse to start making them yourself! If you’re still living in Japan, you also have access to some of the best eggs in the world, if you’re so inclined to make your own ravioli!

[@EvilGreenHat]

It was so fun to try to translate the text at 1.05, I could not understand half of it and i am italian If you need help with italian translation and italian food tips just ask Max! I'll be happy to help! Nice video as always

[@diegostecca7319]

Uguale, capisco bene o male le carni e cosa vuole farci, ma il testo è davvero complicato da tradurre ahah

[@iorfidasimone]

Per dare ad intender qual carne merita andare arrosto, et quale allesso: carne grossa di bove , et de vacca vole esser allessa: carne de vitello, zio (?) e il pezzo davanti, e, bono allesso, et la lonza arrosto, et le cosseri (?) polpette: carne de castrone tutta bona allesso, salvo la spalla, ch e bona arrosto ecc ecc

[@artemisios]

@@iorfidasimone il pecto (petto) davanti/ le cosse (cosce) in polpette...

[@GG-uv9ok]

Could it be that you're supposed to eat the ravioli with the broth, like a soup? I have a feeling that this might be what's missing here.

[@TastingHistory]

Very possible

[@GG-uv9ok]

@@TastingHistory That might make sense why one would go to the trouble of putting saffron in the broth... I've seen a lot of ravioli and other stuffed pasta videos and often they are served in a shallow soup bowl with the broth ladled on top. Love the show, by the way.

[@gregmuon]

Quite likely. It's my understanding that pasta in broth used to be more common and perhaps the default. Fun fact: there's a special word in Italian for pasta that is _not_ in broth or soup: "pastasciutta," and it's still used by my older Italian relatives.

[@fabio1160]

Italian here, adding my 2 cents. Stuffed pasta in broth (or stock, rather) is a very normal thing, in Italy (especially in the Emilia-Romagna region, but also elsewhere). In fact, some would argue that "tortellini" or "anolini" (a type of small pasta "pockets", about the size of "half a chestnut", nudge-nudge wink-wink) are best served in hot meat broth, maybe with a sprinkle of parmigiano on top. The filling is also often meat-based for those dumplings (either the meat that was boiled in the same broth, or leftovers from a roast, or long-braised "stracotto" beef). Ricotta and cheeses are more often found in herb-based or potato-based ravioli nowadays, but the recipe above looks like something that can be found in Italy even present day.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

@@fabio1160 not even Italian .. and I would argue for your points agressively. Just on texture. If you don't serve them 'in-broth' then you have to put, sauce or (my favourite) a whole lot of very good butter with them to add that moisture and richness.

[@marmotarchivist]

I love that you used “The Ricotta Eaters” 6:36, it is one of the paintings that I still clearly remember from my visit in the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon. Concerning the festivities in Paris, I doubt that the interdiction by the Council of Basel would have had much influence. Unless, the local officials really used force, people usually just continued with their traditions. And there authorities were loath to forbid them, because that would make them unpopular, so they mostly let it slide, unless there was just an extraordinary amount of debauchery or violence. And in Switzerland, as in many other European countries, there are some continuous Carneval traditions, e.g. in the catholic Lucerne and ironically also in Basel, which became a reformed (swiss protestant) city, but not even the reformation could stop Carneval or Fasnacht as it is called there. And the wild men tradition is really fascinating to me. They are most prevalent in alpine regions, some appear during Careval season, some are part of the Saint Nicolas traditions in early December and in the mountain valley were I grew up, which is also a reformed rather than catholic region, we don't have a Carneval, but we have the Ubersitz festivities, which start on Christmas Day at midnight and last till New Year’s Eve. There are masked people that march in the streets, ringing big cowbells and playing the drums. In the past only unmarried men were allowed to do this and they chased or spooked unmarried women. There is the Schnabelgeiss, a creature half-goat half-bird that snatches the hats of the spectators with its long beak. Some of the masked men wear old, traditional womens clothes and some wear natural costumes, like the wild men, made out of pine branches, moss, bark and chamois pelts. And I recomend you google "Wilder Mann Charles Frégers" for some pretty pictures of European wild men.

[@flyingninja1234]

I find Italian cooking before tomatoes, to be quite fascinating. Supposedly carrots were used in spaghetti sauce, before tomato sauce.

[@laurenbeck2634]

Heads up Max - @ 2:29 the audio and subtitles say 1/8 teaspoon cloves but the printed instructions on the screen say 1/2 teaspoon cloves. Quite a difference and confusing for viewers not using audio. Awesome channel & amazing work. Thank you!

[@CadetKosmov]

It's better not to use a grinder for the filling. As the recipe says the best you can do is boil the meats together until so tender you can mix everything together with the cheese and ricotta. The texture while you chew the ravioli is completely different.

[@gandalfgrey91]

That King of fools thing seems like a carry over from Saturnalia

[@TastingHistory]

Very much so. Almost identical in the king of fools part.

[@laragiardini8119]

I strongly suggest to eat them with the broth. "Pasta in brodo" is very much delicious and oh so comforting 🙂 Thank you for another amazing video ❤

[@lydiathornton1999]

you'd get more of the saffron flavor that way too. Seems a shame to waste it, given how expensive and delicious it is!

[@MossyMozart]

@laragiardini8119 - That is undoubtedly why the recipe calls for making such small ravioli - size of "half a chestnut".

[@Mtonazzi]

A member of my reenactment group studied medieval music at college (she's now an orchestra director) and she taught us the Pater Noster as gregorian chant. It takes about 1 minute to sing, so cooking for 2 minutes was about right, rather than 4 minutes.

[@curtisdecoste9345]

Shoutout to Shrove Tuesday! 😂 I remember as a child we would hide coins in the pancakes and the lucky ones would find the coins … and also hopefully not choke to death on coins in your food. 🤪

[@LeesaDeAndrea]

Or break a tooth.

[@danielulz1640]

Kinda like the baby in the king cake.

[@suzannax]

My nan used to to that with Christmas pudding

[@Miarth3000]

we do the shame thing in new year's eve, hiding a coin in pie. the one who finds it is considered the lucky person of the year

[@mwater_moon2865]

In New Orleans style King Cake (a stuffed brioche more than a cake, although it *is* the cake Marie Antoinette famously referred to) there's a small baby or token (used to be a coin, and during the Great Depression it was a bean) intended to represent the baby Jesus a.k.a. "the king" added after it's been baked (slit the cake on the underside to insert) that if you got it meant you had good luck for the whole year, but for one little sticking point. Who ever got it had to bring the next cake. You'd bring them into school or work on Fridays between Jan 6 and Mardi Gras and my husband's grandfather told us that his mom basically said "You'd better not get the king (bean) or you're getting a hiding (beating) to go with it!" during the Depression. So as far as he was concerned, it was no amount of good luck!

[@GiangiotheDwarf]

My fiance recite the "pater noster" when boiling pasta XD It's neat to see how our cultural traditions (we're italians) go so back in time!

[@lydiathornton1999]

I've seen the use of Latin prayers as timers in French medieval recipe texts too. I bet it was all over Europe.

[@mimi_j]

Way to pray at all times loll that’s so funny

[@Miarth3000]

In Greece we celebrate on Thursday, instead, "Tsiknopempti" wich translates to Smoky/Grill Thursday. There are carnivals for four Sundays and big parades happen in a few cities. Basically two weeks before Lent we have Smoky Thursday where people eat a lot of grilled meat and drink. Then the last Sunday is the biggest carnival, on wich people stop eating cheese. Last but not least, the day after, Monday, is a holiday. We eat traditional Lagana (flat bread only made in that day), white beans on oven or other fasting foods (lentils, chickpeas), halva ( of semolina or tahini) , olives, and other pickles, and most importantly, fly kites in the suburbs!!! people usually go for picnic that day🃏🎭 🎊

[@AysKuz]

Karneval is really big in Cologne Germany. We also say to it the 5th season of the year. The official beginning is 11.11. every year. On that day people go out during noon and drink and celebrate. The "wild" time begins with Weiberfastnacht (this year 24h Feb) where women have the say. The following days every district of the city has it´s celebrations and parades. Monday is Rosenmontag and there is the big official parade of the city that also runs along the Cologne cathedral. Tuesday is Veilchendienstag and the last day of celebrations. Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the fun is over.

[@inkaraingod2507]

To preface: I love the show and this episode is no exception. But I was so full of hope when you told a story about carnival in Nürnberg, Germany, but when you tell me that New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro were the ones to keep the tradition alive? I cannot let that stand! The great (german) tradition of Weiberfastnacht is alive and well, just as street carnival and plays, dances and so on. German carnival may have had a short hiatus thanks to Napoleon, but it never really stopped and there are tons of traditions that are kept alive from that time and before. My favourite one, Weiberfastnacht, dating back to before Napoleon when nuns dressed up as men and washerwomen decided they would turn the world on its head by storming city hall to take control from the men - Weiberfastnacht, one of the first fights for equality between men and women ;-)

[@Nope-fd1sq]

This is so interesting Thank you for sharing it

[@jtplays7411]

I'm going to guess Wieberfastnacht means something like before fasting night.

[@inkaraingod2507]

@@jtplays7411 no, "Weiber" is basically a word for"women" and it is the women's day - storming city hall, dressing up as men, and more recently cutting off the tip of the men's tie as a sign of taking power from them, stuff like that

[@ValeriePallaoro]

I too 'love' Max, but his historical and contemporary knowledge (as well as his understanding of recipies) is much coloured by his American and Disney background. Sad ... and we can forgive him, but I often have to stop my self from rounding off at these lack of research skills. I also love the German traditions of Krampus and how while embracing Halloween (for all it's consumerism) it's still celebrated in a particularily German way. I didn't know about the carnivale though. Will have to have a good google then.

[@jgrandson5651]

The same still happens in Galicia, the most western land in mainland europe. Here carnival is a very rooted tradition, people dressed with traditional clothes and huge masks will hit you with different anoying objects if you are not in a costume. Also men dress like women, women like men, or like some politician or cleric, get wasted and then the local priest gets angry. Pretty good celebration.

[@cogsandglimmers]

This recipe sounds really neat because it's something that, before being explained in a much easier to understand way, I think I could definitely take a crack at it. It has fairly important measurements and that cook time is a bit of a fun method. Though, if I do make this, I'll still probably use your instructions instead

[@TuckerSP2011]

A fun episode Max. Some of the later episodes were quite grim, especially Roman and Viking based recipes. I definitely think you're supposed to serve the broth with the (much smaller) raviolis.

[@hellspawn22001]

Maybe it’s just me but I can’t hear the title burgermeister without thinking about those stop motion Christmas movies.

[@roxannebeaman5645]

Yes,The Burgermeister Meisterburger from Santa Clause is coming to town.😂

[@crabcultist4614]

Great video! As a New Orleanian myself it's great to see the history of my favorite holiday. I'd love to see you make a King Cake sometime, It's basically a law that you eat at least 10 during the season down here, and they have a fairly interesting history dating back to the 12th century.

[@anufoalan]

Who else would like to see a collab between Max and Anne from How to Cook That, she does some historical baking/confectionery videos and I think it would be super entertaining

[@chizzieshark]

Seconded!

[@mwater_moon2865]

I'd be amused, she did do a Victorian wedding cake that might make for a good THwMM, though to be fair, collabs between Aus and USA right now are gonna be iffy...

[@catc8927]

I’ve been thinking the same thing too! Watching how her kids react to historical recipes is part of the fun.

[@chesthoIe]

Here in Philly, we have the Mummer's Parade, where the local unions, real salt of the earth plumbers and electricians, all dress up in what seems to be half drag and half medieval court jesters, and parade themselves down Broad street and get drunk.

[@lawriefoster5587]

Yes and that is on New Years Day.

[@fedra76it]

Well, well... Max, you're quite proficient in making ravioli. The discoveries about your talents are endless! I too liked the boiling time instructions of this recipe; in the absence of watches they were somewhat useful. A friend of mine, to instruct his little kids about properly washing their hands during the pandemic, told them to keep soaping and washing while singing "Happy Birthday" twice.

[@augusthavince8909]

These look delicious. With closed captions on, when Max eats and chews the ravioli several times, you will read [CHOMP]. KZbin is making Max seem like a wild man to the hearing impaired.

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

hehe sneaky Jose

[@loonyTlu]

In Russia, Malsenitza literally translates to “Butter Festival”, as the Russian word for butter is Masla.

[@paulwagner688]

I'm listening to the history part and I'm thinking of Carmina Burana, with its themes of Fortune, Spring, Drunkenness in the Taberna, and Sex. Secular Flemish poetry at its finest. Thank you Carl Orff. For your music and your contributions to music education.

[@Meganedere]

I do love Mimikyu's lil costume for the holiday 🥺

[@TastingHistory]

He’s very festive

[@J_Gamble]

Great history! My Italian aunt used to make a special ravioli for special occasions. Ground blanched walnuts with plenty of nutmeg and a little clove. Reminds me of these :)

[@OrlindeEarfalas]

Another great episode, I loved all the research and illustrations! Some raviolis recipe include serving them in a bowl with the broth, so maybe that's why they seemed dry? Perhaps the sarffon flavor comes through when you eat it with a spoonfull of broth with it! :D

[@soxpeewee]

Or because they are too big

[@DoloresJNurss]

The phrase, "The game ain't worth the candle," came from outsiders observing Venetian Carnivale, which ended with a game involving drunken people snatching lit candles from each other, before all of the candles went out at midnight for the start of Lent. The problem was that every so often the game started fires.

[@mateus_o_oficial]

might have been a good idea to serve them with the broth...especially since it's colored with the saffron you might also want to serve that too, otherwise it's kind of a waste

[@pazzoacul6323]

I live in a small country side city in Italy and we still do make this recipe for Carnival but the ravioli are meatless, basically just ricotta and spices, and we deep fry them. I wonder if the "carne levare" thing got misunderstood over the years. The ravioli cooked in broth however birthed a different recipe altogheter: "tortellini in brodo" BTW the Pater Noster thing is very real

[@flameendcyborgguy883]

Well, in Poland it is not Tuesday but Thursday, but the gist is the same. It is still celebrated and in fact, kinda loved. We eat Polish donuts with rose jam, Carnaval Roses( if someone has the tenacity to make them :P) Cheaskacke round donuts, and so on. Even, though it is from my own experience in the matter, workplaces give out donuts to every worker.

[@bigred9428]

Really? I never heard of the day of the week being different. We never did anything for Tuesday, but always had fried flounder on Ash Wednesday. I liked the ashes and holy feeling, but I hated my mother's fried flounder.

[@catc8927]

Rose jam on donuts sounds amazing!

[@Cybonator]

Scotland and the towns around the Firth of Forth still have "Burry Man" festival where I guy wears a suit made entirely of burrs, runs around the town, getting free drinks

[@Lauren.E.O]

Pancakes and sleigh rides? Now THAT sounds like a fun holiday! 🥞 ⛄️

[@Arianrhod9]

Advice for working with saffron: gently toast over low to medium heat until it's nice and dry, then grind it in a mortar to form a powder. The powder will dissolve in liquid better, providing deeper flavor and better distribution.

[@dannyfriar5653]

Brilliant. Please can we have a follow up that looks at carnival in the Americas where carnival has an African influence (especially in the Caribbean).

[@psalm91rdwlkfpgrl]

ooh, that would be interesting!

[@pavanneveltman]

Are you sure you’re not supposed to serve the ravioli in the broth? Whenever I see recipes for holiday ravioli cooked in broth, they are served that way (check out pasta grannies). PS - this was a particularly awesome episode! 😃👏👏👏

[@NOISECAUSEDCANCER]

Yet another inspirational video , always leaving me in deep thoughts ... in Bulgaria we have a dish called maslenitsa , which is kind of bread with high content of fat and cheese :) it is often cooked in the winter season to early spring .

[@kathleenhensley5951]

It is amazing how little the recipe has changed over the centuries. My mother was native Italian and usually didn't put meat in her ravioli, that i can remember, but it is very close. I rarely put spices in my mine, though, I have experimented with fresh herbs from my garden. What is different is all the spices, but I think they would improve the taste. I know tomatoes hadn't made it over to Italy yet, (I mean in the medieval times, generally) but I'd be tempted to have a decent tomato sauce as dipping sauce, at least... or, as you said, sir, butter or olive oil. I'm alone now, but I might make myself some ravioli, I could freeze them and have them now and then. The store bought ones are so tasteless.

[@paulw6550]

Do not forget, the Burhger Meister in Neuremburg also outlawed toys. (except maybe yoyos)

[@jasonroskom7430]

Tasting History is making history! I can just see, vendors at Carnival will start serving this traditional meat day ravioli! Love what you do Max!

[@paulwagner688]

I just became a Dean of the Larder on Patreon. Been meaning to do this for a while, and now I have the means. You are one of the top highlights of my Tuesdays and I can't wait till I come home from school, relax with some wine, and enjoy. Always captioned because Jose is a genius.

[@Awoken_Remmuz]

Now I picture a modern cookbook go like this. "Now fry the ingredients for as long as it takes you to sing Dancing Queen by ABBA two times"

[@barbaros99]

Flashbacks to watching Hudson Hawk.

[@shaventalz3092]

"Blanch for the length of two Rickrolls."

[@lararabb8888]

I appreciate your honest assessment of the foods you cook. It lets us know whether it is worth our time & money to make the dish.

[@adambarron4015]

Forty days in Lent as the Sundays are considered mini-Easters. This also means that if one gives up something for Lent, they are allowed cheat days on Sundays. If you haven't tried it, toss a cheese ravioli with oil and either air fry or cook on a wire rack in a convection oven. Then serve with a dipping sauce.

[@KayElayempea]

I never actually counted or knew that you were allowed Sundays off until my sister told me last year.

[@dzhellek]

The lowliest person gets to be king. Kind of a back handed compliment. "Whoever sucks the most come and get your crown."

[@Chakfor]

Max, don't forget the Carnival tradition in the carribean. I was fortunate enough to enjoy Carnival in Trinidad & Tobago several years ago. Several of their traditions there mimic those discussed in this video. Also, the food in Trinidad is amazing! I think you might enjoy covering some of the recipes and how they resulted due to the slave trade and immigration to those nations.

[@Reynevan100]

This thursday in Poland we observe Fat Thursday, a day when we eat all sort of sweets and cakes and especially our doughnuts - pączki!

[@madcat789]

Raise thy thatched homestead, my good man!

[@TastingHistory]

🤣

[@sorbusaucuparia188]

Love to see Nürnberg mentioned again! And I love the detail on something I only vaguely remember the name of. "Schembart" means bearded mask, had to quickly look up how that was related to butchers :D My favourite carnival related food must be doughnuts (without a hole) but filled with rose hip jelly, which is apparently mostly unknown outside Franconia.

[@CiviteitRN]

About the coocking time, I remember that my grandmothers (and people of that age in general) boiled eggs in Hail Marys, as in for example, a soft voiled egg might take two HAil Marys and a hard boiled on four (dont recall if those where the exact numbers, but that is the idea)

[@bleutitanium6513]

Deep. That was really deep. "there can be no Batman without the Joker".... deep. Great episode. I've always wondered about Mardis Gras... thanks !!!

[@Gardeninginpearls]

Well “Victor”, that was a great episode! Thank you so much. I appreciate your research and visual presentation. Your humor is on point!

[@GiselleMFeuillet]

Last time I was this early, Venice didn't have a Carnival yet...

[@deirdrezema7123]

"Light butter sauce" sounds like an oxymoron to me.

[@sizer99]

As someone used to the 'put little dollops in individual circles, then fold' way of making ravioli/gyoza, I am *enlightened* by your ravioli strip technique! I always learn something from your episodes, but usually it's history, not a life-changing cooking technique like this!

[@tana3875]

Argent Android come the community post predicted correctly! Mardi Gras episode 💓 surprised it’s not King Cake though but ravioli sounds great

[@oldmanbiscuit7518]

I'm disappointed it's not funnel cakes

[@argentandroid5732]

I don't think I would have arrived at Medieval Raviolis on my own, lol. I should have realized that this is Max and he is going to go on way more of a deep dive. I really want to try those raviolis though, they look delicious.

[@foodislife3390]

I had similar ravioli whilst spending Christmas in Italy one year. They served the ravioli in the broth that they had presumably cooked them. Whilst it looked rather anemic, it was actually delicious!

[@CAMacKenzie]

"Let them boil for the time it takes to say two Pater Noster." But before you start making ravioli, make sure to wash your hands for the time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice.

[@toneddef]

Or the refrain of "Jolene", I've heard.

[@lilykep]

"Sweet Spices" really were the Pumpkin Spice of their day.

[@garibald2400]

Hi Max, have you considered doing an episode on Woolton pie? It was a meatless pastry dish that was 'popular' in the UK during the Blitz. Could use it as a vehicle to talk about the rising importance of food in modern total war. The Taste of War by Lizzie Collingham as a potential source.

[@TastingHistory]

I’ll hVe to look that one up

[@rosacanisalba]

@@TastingHistory the pastry used for it contained very little fat. Along with the national loaf and the abomination which wartime sausages became it shows just how the UK was reduced during WW2

[@davidonfim2381]

I kinda love the little swooshes on the e's at 1:25 I think they should make a comeback.

[@CyanideChamber]

It always makes me happy when I see one of your videos in my feed. Thanks for making these Max. ^_^

[@Elsenoromniano]

Carnival, Mardi Gras or Entroido is one of my favourite celebrations and particularly in my home Galiza, it has very peculiar traditions in some cities or villages that are just crazy and amazing. The most known are the Peliqueiros and their variations, people with very elaborate costumes and big painted masks that follow people with a stick and hit them in their butts, in some places throwing flour and egg as a prank is common, with some villages having actual flour battles (and in a couple of villages, a battle that involves mud and angry ants covered in vinager). And of course, all entroidos finish on ash wednesday with the funeral of the sardine, where a fake funeral is held for an efigie of a sardine before it is burned. Although the best version of the burial is in Pontevedra the efigy being burned is from Ravachol, a real parrot that existed in the early 20th century, and was trained to shout obscenities to priests and politicians, and I think there is no better representation of the Carnival spirit than a foul-mouthed colourful parrot that insults everyone, but is loved by the whole population. And as for food, pork reigns supreme, mostly boiled pork stews were the whole pork is served (head, chorizo, ribs, curated ham, boiled bacon) and filhoas (a type of thin crepe) orelhas (fried dough served with a mix of sugar, anisette and lemon zest) and lots of coffee liquor and herbs liquor to "help with digestion".

[@jarnvag1564]

Putting on skins n horns and running around howling in the streets? Sounds like a medieval furry convention to me

[@Digimistake]

This is the funniest comment I've seen on this channel

[@aidanfarnan4683]

*Some medieval priest* "And there was a great debauchery, where men and women became as beasts, hid their faces in masks, cross-dressed and partook in every vice of the flesh!” *Me* "Ah... Rainfurest."

[@markedis5902]

Sounds like a Thursday

[@ffwast]

*OH NO*

[@georgina_2746]

In some places in Germany they still do this! They try to keep that tradition alive.. which I think, while terrifying (at least when you see this as a 5 year old on tv) is a billion times better than blackfacing and dressing as indigenous people..unfortunately a lot of people here use carnival as an excuse to do that and saying it's not bad because it's "dressing up for fun"

[@squirrelknight9768]

Oh if you like the Nürnberg Karneval traditions, you'll love the Festival of the german Island Borkum called Klaasohm! It's a Tradition founded by whalers of old that took over the Island again after months on sea. A few chosen young lads dress up as small, middle and large "Klaas" and one cross dresses as "Wiefke" they run around the Island and raise all kinds of ruckus and at the end they "stage dive" from a pillar into the crowd! It's alotta fun

[@paavobergmann4920]

In southern germany, almost every (catholic) village has their own carneval (Fastnacht) "club" that have their special unique traditional dress with carved masks, and they meet for their dance-march-parade events (Umzüge), where they walk/hop/dance through the streets, play music, hit onlookers with dried pig´s bladders, or "abduct" them for a couple of meters, while everyone is getting merrily plastered. It´s quite the spectacle. I didn´t know there were similar events in the northern part, too. Interesting.

[@squirrelknight9768]

@@paavobergmann4920 Ich weiß, ich bin Franke 🤣 Bin wegen Arbeit in den Norden gegangen. Lebe mittlerweile in Hamburg.

[@paavobergmann4920]

@@squirrelknight9768 haha, bin auch Franke (HN), sitze auch wegen Arbeit in Schwaben.

[@Kirasuva]

Would the Pater Noster have been recited in Latin at the time? That may be a reason for it not being enough time. I'm just speculating of course.

[@paduanpigeon6229]

When my grandma was a child they would still make her learn it in Latin. So yea, it’s kind of a modern thing to know prayers only in Italian.

[@lydiathornton1999]

@@paduanpigeon6229 Yeah, I'm pretty sure all Catholics had to stick to Latin until Vatican II.

[@evelinharmannfan7191]

Measuring time in prayers was a widespread tradition in medieval times. I heard about it first in a crafts museum, in the context of dyer´s recepies.

[@elennapointer701]

That picture of Nuremberg at 10.45 will be familiar to anyone who's ever read 'The Faithful Executioner' by Joel Harrington - it's certainly the first place I saw the picture. The book is about Franz Schmidt, Nuremberg's long-serving public hangman (and head-chopper, and burner, wheel-breaker, whipper, mutilator, interrogator, torturer and, worryingly, medical doctor). Because being an executioner in Germany at this time was one of the most dishonorable trades a person could have, Schmidt was forced to live in the abbatoir district of the city (apparently in quite a nice house) and conducted his gruesome business outside the city's walls. At the bottom of that picture we can see Schmidt's actual place of work. The T-shaped structures are the gallows he would have used. There was a pit beneath them; the bodies were not cut down, but left to decay and then fall in bits into it. To the right of the gallows is what's possibly the most horrific place in medieval Nuremberg: that innocuous-looking grass-topped rectangular structure. This is the "raven stone" and it's where the bloodiest and nastiest public executions were performed - breaking on the wheel, quartering and burning at the stake. It's a good guess that the reason these horrifying structures are front and center in an otherwise quite attractive picture of a medieval city is that the city's Council, which probably commissioned the picture, wanted to warn any visitors who might be considering embarking on a life of crime in Nuremberg that if they did try anything, the raven stone was where they'd end up. At 13.18 is the 'Flesh Bridge', another of Schmidt's workplaces. This bridge was where public mutilations were carried out. Harrington mentions a specific instance in which an anonymous city worker (a glazier) had the tip of his tongue cut off by Schmidt as punishment for blasphemy. Body parts cut off by the executioner were then thrown into the river, hence why the bridge had that nickname. In the case of the glazier, though, Schmidt disagreed with the punishment and thought it was wrong, though he did it anyway. His disagreement was that he thought it was too mild. He wanted to cut out the whole tongue, feeling it was the least a blasphemer deserved, but he followed his orders and only sliced off the tip.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

I imagine a simple drizzle of browned butter would alleviate the dryness of the pasta while nicely complementing the sweet spice mixture.

[@MatConlon]

That pasta needs a sauce; my Italian friends would die of shock.

[@e.urbach7780]

Not necessarily; ravioli and tortellini are often served in broth in Italian families. Max should have left some broth on the pasta when he put it in his bowl!

[@SAOS451316]

the saying of pater nosters and other prayers was pretty much the standard way of measuring short lengths of time because they didn't have anything more precise than an hourglass, which wouldn't have been common in the home anyway. they would have been said in latin and with medieval cadence and tempo. everyone would know it from going to church and the church did like to be standardized. it's similar to how in america everyone can count seconds with the name of mississippi.

[@emaarredondo-librarian]

Old Chilean tradition (maybe in other places too): hard-boiled eggs are cooked in the time it takes to say three Creeds.

[@KnightsWithoutATable]

A little olive oil drizzled on pasta and then toss the pasta right after they are out of the water will keep them from sticking together. It will also help prevent the pasta from spoiling as fast when stored in the fridge as leftovers.

[@xxxoooyyyttt]

RAVIOLI RAVIIOLI GIVE ME THE FORMULONI

[@LunaVee3435]

In most of Italy we still have floats and parades and costumes for carnevale, most cities have their official "mask", an archetypal character representing jovial noblemen, pretty shepherdesses or clever and crafty lowborns, some of which were popular and widely known enough to be integrated into the commedia dell'arte, but most towns have their own less known versions of those characters as the local embodiement of carnevale. I'm not sure how it works in other areas but in my hometown the official mask is played by a man who's always a big part into the (almost year long) preparation of the festivities, while the character's wife is played by the girl who wins the sort-of-pageant they hold every year. They get to wear the traditional costume and lead the float parade around the city centre. What i like about carnevale back home is that every traditional borough, which are also the ones that build the floats for the parade, makes huge quantities of bean stew that gets distributed for free to anyone who simply lines up. It was a way to feed the poor during a festivity and it remained even when there were fewer hungry mouths in the city. It's still going today, they even adapted to safer covid measure these last 2 years, handing sealed boxes to your car instead of having you queue up on foot with your own pot.