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Bursen
Bursen is a traditional Medieval recipe for a classic dish of boiled pork or pig's intestines coked in broth and wine that's mixed with leeks, thickened with a blood and breadcrumb mixture and flavoured with vinegar and onions. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Medieval version of: Bursen.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
65 minutes
Total Time:
85 minutes
Serves:
6
Rating: 
Tags : Pork RecipesBread RecipesVegetable RecipesBritish RecipesEnglish Recipes
Original Recipe
Bursen
(from A Forme of Cury)
Ꞇe þe wite of leꝯ slype ē +̅ creꝺe ē mal· ꞇae noumbles of wyn +̅ ꝑboile ē broꞇ +̅ wyne · ꞇae up +̅ ꝺreſſe +̅ ꝺo þe lee þe broꞇ · eeþ +̅ ꝺo þe noumbleꝯ þꝯ ꞇo · mae a lyo of breꝺe · bloꝺe · +̅ ỽynegꝯ +̅ ꝺo þꝯꞇo pouꝺo forꞇ · eeþ oynos mynce hē +̅ ꝺo þꝯꞇo þe elf wyſe mae of piggꝯ·
Translation
Bursen
Take the white parts of leeks, slice lengthways and shred finely. Take swine entrails and parboil them in broth and wine. Remove and slice then cook the leeks in the broth. Boil and add in the entrails. Make an admixture of bread and blood with vinegar and add to the broth. Boil onions, mince them and add to the broth. In the same manner, you can make this with a pig.
Modern Redaction
The recipe here gives two versions. A cheap version using pig's intestines and an alternate using pork flesh. I will give a version of this dish using collar of pork (a relatively cheap cut), but a version using pig's intestines would be the same, with the exception that the intestines will need to be boiled longer to make them tender.
Ingredients:
6 large leeks, white parts only
750g
collar of pork or cleaned pig's intestines
300ml wine
1l
Gode Broth (without breadcrumbs)
100g breadcrumbs
200ml pig's blood (or six egg yolks whisked and made up to 200ml with water or wine)
4 tbsp cider vinegar
4 medium onions
Method:
Slice the collar of pork into thick slices and place in a large pan. Cover with the wine and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for about 40 minutes, or until the meat is almost tender. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.
Slice the leeks lengthways then shred finely. Add to the stock left in the pan and bring to a boil. Cook for a few minutes then chop the pork into serving-sized pieces and add to the pan. Bring back to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Work together the breadcrumbs and blood (or egg yolk mixture) until smooth. Work int tow ladlefuls of the stock to temper then pour the breadcrumb mixture into the pan with the pork and leeks. Work to combine, add the vinegar and simmer gently until thickened (but do not allow to boil).
In the meantime, boil the onions for about 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain, chop finely and add to the stew. Serve hot.
Find more Medieval recipes as well as more recipes from the Forme of Cury here.
