MARCH 10 • 2022 | 39
almond milk, called “Blank-
Mang (White Food), also
includes rice. Here is their
recipe, with the spelling and
a bit of the vocabulary mod-
ernized:
BLANK-MANG
Take capons (chick-
ens) and seethe (simmer)
them, take them out (of
the broth). Take blanched
almonds, grind them
and mix them with the
same broth. Wash the
rice and put it into a pot.
Put the milk in and let it
seethe. Then take the
meat of the chickens, tear
it small, and add there-
to. Take white grease,
sugar and salt, and add.
Let it seethe. Then dish
it up and decorate with
anise seeds in comfit
(sugar coated), red or
white. And with almonds
fried in oil and serve it
forth.
King Richard II’s master
cooks, like other med-
ieval cookbook writers,
left out a lot of information
that we would want to
see in a recipe: amounts,
proportions and exact
procedures. In a modern
cookbook, it might look
something like this:
Ingredients
½ cup of almonds, plus a few
almonds for the garnish.
Chicken: A whole chicken, or
about two pounds of chicken
parts.
1 cup of rice
1 tbs. of sugar
A bit of oil
Salt to taste
Directions
Prepare almond milk,
using a half cup of
blanched almonds and
a cup or more of water
or chicken broth (see
sidebar for how to make
almond milk).
Cover the chicken in
water and bring to a roll-
ing boil. Then turn off the
heat, cover the pot, and
let the chicken rest in the
hot water (now you have
chicken broth).
Add the rice to the
almond milk with a table-
spoon of sugar and cook
the rice in a casserole dish
until it is nearly done.
You can debone the
chicken and shred it into
small pieces, as in the
English recipe, but I sus-
pect the rabbinic chefs
simply cut the chicken into
parts. Add the chicken to
the rice and almond milk
in the casserole, and finish
cooking. If you need addi-
tional liquid to cook the
rice, use the broth from
the chicken.
The English recipe
calls for garnishing with
anise seeds coated with
dyed sugar (comfit) and
fried almonds. Rabbi
Luria would approve
of the almond garnish.
Other medieval recipes
call for spicing chicken
in almond milk with rose
petals, ginger and/or saf-
fron. Chicken in almond
milk has a delicate flavor,
though, so you might want
to go easy on the spices.
Rachel Lorenz, who
posts about medieval
cooking as the Creative
Contessa, mentions that
the master cooks’ version
of Blank Mang “seems to
be a solid dish — all liquid
is absorbed. We know
this because some of the
recipes call for molding it,
which means that there
can be no liquid left.”
The rabbis’ version,
however, probably left
the chicken in pieces,
surrounded by liquid
almond milk. It is, as
Rabbi Eybuschutz says,
“extremely delicious.”
How to Make
Almond Milk
Many medieval recipes
provide information about
how to make almond milk.
Modern equipment makes
the process less difficult.
The easiest procedure
involves buying premade
almond milk at your gro-
cery, but that product
may have many other
ingredients. You can find
instructional videos on
how to make almond milk
on YouTube; a nice one
appears at the Creative
Contessa.
The Creative Contessa,
Rachel Lorenz, starts with
whole raw almonds. She
puts the almonds in boil-
ing water to remove the
dark skins (blanching). You
can also buy blanched
almonds. King Richard II’s
cooks’ recipe, like many
medieval recipes, calls
for blanched almonds,
although you can make
almond milk from whole
almonds.
Moderns make almond
milk by grinding blanched
almonds in a food proces-
sor or blender, then cook-
ing the ground almonds in
about twice their volume
of water. Some cooks use
more water, which yields a
thinner, less creamy bev-
erage.
The liquid in the blend-
er works as almond milk,
but medieval recipes
call for one more step,
straining the almond milk
by squeezing it through
a cloth or strainer. What
remains in the strainer
is almond flour, a good
ingredient in baked goods.
The liquid that passed
through the strainer is
almond milk as described
in the old recipes.
Michigan delegates at the BBYO convention
BBYO
BBYO Holds Largest
Jewish Gathering Since
Pandemic Began
More than 3,000 teenagers from 40 coun-
tries attended a BBYO convention in what
is believed to be the largest Jewish gather-
ing since the beginning of the pandemic.
A release from the organizations said
the event at the Baltimore Convention
Center running Feb. 17-21 focused on
Jewish philanthropy and Jewish education.
Speakers included Mike Posner, a
Grammy-nominated singer and songwrit-
er; Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of New York’s
Central Synagogue, who fielded calls from
the hostage-taker in last month’s assault on
a Texas synagogue; A. J. Dillon, the Green
Bay Packers running back, and Zach
Banner, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive
tackle; Nikki Fried, Florida’s Agriculture
Commissioner who is running for gov-
ernor; and Jurney Smollett, an Emmy-
nominated actress.
Strict COVID protections, including
proof of vaccination, testing and masking,
were in place throughout.
BBYO, the former B’nai B’rith Youth
Organization, describeså itself as “the
leading pluralistic Jewish teen movement.
”
As is customary, delegates chose to
rally around a local organization to collect
donations for those in need. This year
they donated school supplies, fidget toys
and health products to the St. Francis
Neighborhood Center, Baltimore’s oldest
youth enrichment center whose mission is
to end generational poverty.
By Ron Kampeas, JTA