Take Spinnage and seeth it in water and salt, and when it is tender, wring out the water betwéene two Trenchers, then chop it smal and set it on a Chafing∣dish of coles, and put thereto butter, small Raisons, Sinamon, Ginger, and Suger, and a little of the iuyce of an Orenge and two yolks of rawe Egges, and let it boile till it be somewhat thicke, then toste your toste, soake them in a little Butter, and Suger, and spread thinne your spinnage vpon them, and set them on a dish before the fire a litle while, & so serue them with a litle suger vpon them.
You’ll find the original in The Second Part of the Good Hus-wives Jewell from 1597.
Spinach on Toast
I was first introduced to this delightful spinach dish at The Known World Cooks & Bards event in September 2024. Not only is it a relatively easy vegetarian dish, but with a little tweaking you can make it vegan if you like by omitting the egg and butter. It’s also a fairly safe way to slowly introduce those who are new to a medieval flavor profile. It’s small enough to politely eat only one if the palate doesn’t quite know what to do with orange and cinnamon and spinach.
I found that it’s easily a finger food as long as the toast doesn’t soak up too much moisture.
Recipe
2 bags of frozen spinach
5 oz currants
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
20 oz orange juice
3 egg yolks
3 Tbsp butter
French bread cut in 1/4″ slices (or to your preference)
Combine all of the above EXCEPT for the bread. Simmer for at least an hour, until most of the liquid cooks off but the mixture is still wet.
Toast the bread and butter on one side. Top with the spinach mixture. The original says “thinly” but I ended up on the generous side. Pop into the oven to re-warm, serve hot.
This amount will probably serve 10-12, each person having 3 slices. I had a party of six, and it was twice as much as I needed (with each person having two or three helpings.
Other notes
I omitted all sugar from my redaction. Today’s orange juice is already sweet enough and I felt the tart balance was fine without any added sugar.
