White Dish of Chicken with Almonds
The 'white dish' par excellence: shredded chicken breast pounded, bound with almond milk and rice, lightly sweetened. Soft, warm, and easy to swallow, it was considered the ideal food for the sick and weak stomachs.
The 'white dish' par excellence: shredded chicken breast pounded, bound with almond milk and rice, lightly sweetened. Soft, warm, and easy to swallow, it was considered the ideal food for the sick and weak stomachs.
Under the walls of Acre, the fever gripped me harder than Saladin himself: my nails fell out, and no roast could pass my lips. My physician had me served the white dish, all white as befits the sick. We pound tender chicken flesh, drown it in almond milk and rice, barely sweetened with honey, with no strong spice that might heat the blood. Warm and soft, it little by little gave me back the strength to mount again. Do not scorn this pale bowl: it kept me alive.
- •Chicken breast — one cooked breast (mild protein)
- •Almond milk — to cover (white binder, possible on lean days)
- •Rice — a handful (thickener)
- •Honey or sugar — a touch (light sweetness)
White Dish of Chicken with Almonds
The 'white dish' par excellence: shredded chicken breast pounded, bound with almond milk and rice, lightly sweetened. Soft, warm, and easy to swallow, it was considered the ideal food for the sick and weak stomachs.
Why this dish? At the siege of Acre, Richard was laid low by a painful fever (the 'leonardie'/arnaldia) that made his nails and hair fall out. The medicine of the time prescribed 'white' and warm dishes for the sick: this white dish of pounded chicken and almond milk is exactly the convalescent food for a bedridden king.
Under the walls of Acre, the fever gripped me harder than Saladin himself: my nails fell out, and no roast could pass my lips. My physician had me served the white dish, all white as befits the sick. We pound tender chicken flesh, drown it in almond milk and rice, barely sweetened with honey, with no strong spice that might heat the blood. Warm and soft, it little by little gave me back the strength to mount again. Do not scorn this pale bowl: it kept me alive.
Ingredients (period version)
- Chicken breast — one cooked breast (mild protein)
- Almond milk — to cover (white binder, possible on lean days)
- Rice — a handful (thickener)
- Honey or sugar — a touch (light sweetness)
Ingredients
- Poached chicken breast — 1 (about 150 g) (protein)
- Unsweetened almond milk — 500 ml (creamy base)
- Short-grain rice — 60 g (thickener)
- Honey (or a little sugar) — 1 tsp (sweetness)
- Salt — 1 pinch (discrete balance)
- Sliced almonds — a few (decoration)
Method
- Poach the chicken breast, drain, and shred very finely (pound or blend for an authentic effect).
- Cook the rice gently in almond milk until tender.
- Add the pounded chicken, stirring over low heat until a thick, white cream forms.
- Sweeten very lightly with honey, season with a pinch of salt, and serve warm, sprinkled with sliced almonds.
How it was made : Medieval 'blanc-manger' was not a dessert but a dish of meat (poultry or fish on lean days) pounded and bound with almond milk and rice. Its whiteness and mildness classified it among the 'healthy' foods of humoral dietetics, recommended for the sick and convalescent — as Richard was at Acre in 1191.
The contemporary twist : Mould into a pearly quenelle on a slate tile, with toasted almonds and fleur de sel, as chic 'comfort food'.
Sources : Le Viandier de Taillevent (blanc mengier) · Le Ménagier de Paris · Accounts of the Third Crusade on Richard's illness (Itinerarium peregrinorum)
Richard the Lionheart · Charactorium