To Make a Pie of Aloes is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for a classic pie of strips of cooked lamb or mutton stuffed with egg yolks and herbs that are rolled and baked before being finished with a boiled red wine sauce thickened with bread. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of: To Make a Pie of Aloes.
To make a pye of alowes.
Take a legge of mutton and cutte it in thyn ſlyces, and for ſtuffing of the ſame take perſely, tyme and ſauerye, and chop them ſmal, then temper among them thre or, iiii. yolckes of harde egges chops ſmal, and ſmall reyſons, dates cutte with mace, and a lyttle ſalte, then laye all theſe in the ſtekes, and then role them together. This done make youre pye , and laye all theſe therein, then ceaſon theym wyth a lyttle ſuger and ſynamon, ſafron & ſalte, then ca.st vpon theym the yolckes of three or foure harde egges, and cut dates, wyth ſmall rayſynges, to cloſe youre pye , and bake hym. Then for a ſyrope for it, take rooſted breade, and a lyttle claret wyne , and ſtrayne them thyn togeather, and put thereto a lytle ſuger, ſynamon, and gynger, and putte it into youre pye, and then ſerue it forthe.
Modern Redaction
The word 'aloe' is the Old French for lark. Originally they were rolls of meat with various stuffings that were prepared by roasting on a spit. As they cooked they were similar in appearance to small birds (without heads, feet, and wings), hence the name.
Ingredients:
left-over roast leg of lamb or leg of mutton
4 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh thyme, minced
2 tsp savory, minced
4 hard-boiled egg yolks, chopped
2 tbsp raisins
6 dates, pitted and finely chopped
1/4 tsp ground mace
salt, to taste
enough Elizabethan pie crust dough for a 22cm diameter double-crust pie
300ml claret wine (this is red wine, mulled with spices and honey, see the Medieval Recipe for Clarrey for how to prepare it
4 tbsp toasted bread, crumbed in a food processor
2 tbsp brown sugar
ground cinnamon and ground ginger, to taste
Method:
Slice the lamb into long, thin slices. Mix together the thyme, savory, parsley, egg yolks, raisins, dates, mace and salt in a bowl until you have a paste-like mixture.
Spread about 1 tsp of this mixture over each strip of lamb. Take just over half your pastry and roll out until large enough to cover the base and sides of your pie dish.
Take the covered lamb slices and roll them up tightly lengthways so that the stuffing is enclosed in the meat. Arrange these in the pastry shell, filling the pie completely. Now take the remaining pastry and roll out large enough to form a lid. Use this to cover the pie then crimp the edges securely together. Trim off any excess.
Take a sharp knife and cut a cross in the centre of the pie (this should be about 5cm in diameter). Now, using the point of the knife carefully peel back the cut points of pastry to leave a hole and a decorative pattern around it (you will add the gravy through here).
Sit the pie on a baking dish then transfer to an oven pre-heated to an oven pre-heated to 1807#x00B0;C and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through.
In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Pour the clarrey into a pan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the bread crumbs and continue simmering until the sauce has thickened (about 20 minutes). Press this mixture through a fine-meshed sieve then stir in the sugar until dissolved and season to taste with cinnamon and ginger.
Place back on the heat to keep warm. As soon as the pie emerges from the oven pour in the clarrey syrup. Serve any remaining syrup to accompany the pie.
