For to Make Murrey -- a Mulberry Pudding

My mulberry tree is producing great quantities of fruit this year.  I've been sharing with friends and finding different ways to utilize this bounty.

Project Gutenberg's digital version of The Forme of Cury, a collection of recipes from the late 1300s AD England, which can be found here, offers an intriguing, simple dish that I would call a dessert, but could also be served as side dish to a robust main course.

I interpret it as a pudding, that is, a thickened, sweetened dish flavored with fruit juice.  Back then it was called Murrey:

XXXVII. FOR TO MAKE MURREY [1].

Tak mulbery [2] and bray hem in a morter and wryng [3] hem thorth a cloth and do hem in a pot over the fyre and do thereto fat bred and wyte gresse and let it nazt boyle no ofter than onys and do thereto a god party of sugur and zif yt be nozt ynowe colowrd brey mulburus and serve yt forthe.

[1] Morrey. Part II. No. 26. [2] This is to be understood pluraly, quasi mulberries. [2] Read wryng. For see part II. No. 17. 2B. Chaucer, v. wronge and ywrong. [sic]

In other words,

Take mulberries and pound them in a mortar and wring them through a cloth and cook them in a pot and add fat bread [crumbs] and lard and let it not boil more than once and then add a good amount of sugar and if it is not colored enough, pound mulberries [and add them to it] and serve it.

My Redaction

2 cups mulberry juice (see My Notes below)

1 tablespoon shortening or lard  (I used vegetable shortening)

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups bread crumbs (dried, not fresh)

That is about 4 pounds of mulberries!

Put the juice and shortening into a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the fat is melted.  Add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved.  The juice might be steaming at this point.

Add the breadcrumbs.  Stir and cook over medium or lower heat -- as the mixture thickens, the heat may need to be reduced and the mixture stirred more often so it cooks without scorching.

Cook until the mixture is thick enough to pile up on itself when a spoonful is scooped up and dropped onto the rest.

Serve warm or chilled.

My Notes

The fresh mulberries went into a blender, which is a modern version of braying them in a mortar.  😀

Then I put the resulting puree into a cloth bag, closed the top with my hand, and used the other hand to start squeezing the juice out into a measuring cup.  The bag kept the seeds, stems, and some of the pulp out of the juice.  The juice was not clear and that did not matter to me.

I changed the order of mixing because I knew the bread crumbs would thicken the mixture, and I wanted the fat melted and the sugar dissolved before that happened.  Part of redacting is finding my way through the recipe to determine quantities.  I wanted to know that I added enough (but not too much) fat to achieve a good mouthfeel.  The same for sugar -- was it sweet enough but not too sweet?  I taste along the way, and I felt that the breadcrumbs would shift that test enough to make it hard to tell.

Early heating -- juice and melting shortening

So feel free to follow the order given in 1390 with my measurements.  

Also consider using butter instead of vegetable shortening or lard.  Be aware that your butter is probably salted, which will change the flavor -- it might even make it taste sweeter.

My bread crumbs were made from a few days old, slightly stale French bread loaf, so probably not a "fat bread".  If your crumbs are fresh, you made need a larger quantity to achieve a good thickness.  If they are very dry, you might need less.

The mixture with the bread crumbs did boil but only ever-so-slightly, more like a few "blurps" in the thickened version.

I felt the color was right, so I did not add any more berries or juice.

Starting to get thick

The Verdict

Still warm and very thick

We tried it still very warm from the pan, then cool, and then thoroughly chilled.

We felt it was thick enough even while warm to be just right.  It had a good mouthfeel: enough to taste rich (but not overwhelming) and substantial.  There were chewy bits from the larger chunks of bread crumbs, which we liked.

My guest taster, not knowing all that went into it, could taste the mulberries, thought there was lemon juice in it, that the sweet-tart balance was just right, and enjoyed it very much.  He liked it even more when it was cooler, and his favorite was when it was thoroughly chilled.

I agreed with his flavor assessment.  I liked it best warm or cool.  I liked it chilled but I felt the fat amount was too much; if I planned on serving it chilled, I would reduce the fat to probably 1 teaspoon.  I did not like the feel of grease on my lips while eating it chilled.

I wondered if it would be better with less sugar, and he felt that it would be too tart that way.  My mulberries were a mix of very ripe, ripe, and somewhat under ripe fruit, so the amount of sugar may vary depending on the overall sweetness of the juice.  

We both felt that the murrey did not need any spices.  The fruit flavor was dominant and didn't need enhancement from spices.  We wanted to taste the mulberries!

Success!

It would make a good side condiment to roast meat, especially when warm or cool.  But also as a dessert.  If a dessert, I think I would add some fresh berries on top when I served it.

Would 1/2 cup sugar to 2 cups juice have been considered a goodly amount in 1390?  I don't know, but the goal is always to produce a dish that is tasty, and I think I accomplished that.

I think the technique would translate well to using store-bought pomegranate or cranberry juice.  The sugar amount would have to be adjusted, so start off with less and add while tasting to get to just barely sweet.  The idea is to let the fruit flavor shine through.

Another variation idea is to mix some fresh pieces of mulberry into the finished pudding.  Or garnish the top with pieces or a whole berry or two, depending on the size.