Medieval Christmas - Image by Dorothe from Pixabay

Lambreys for Christmas

Lambreys use their mouth, and rows of sharp, pointy teeth, to latch on to other fish, from which they suck tissue and fluids. Now, after feeling somewhat nauseated by the look of the delicacy, I wondered how a medieval chef would prepare such a fish.

I have already started preparing for Christmas. Our primary focus at this time of the year is to stockpile for the Christmas feast. We have some traditional family favourites and besides the usually hot weather in South Africa; we do a traditional cooked lunch. There are many South Africans who opt for a braai over Christmas, or as they call it in other countries, barbeque.

Why prepare so early? Well, our family is large and I don’t like to do all the shopping in a single month. It just creates too much pressure to lump all the expenses together at the same time.

It made me wonder what medieval kings and queens had for their festive feast. When I started researching it, King Henry III’s name popped up. He ordered 40 salmon, heaps of venison and boar meat and, “As many lambreys as possible.”

I am always looking for interesting dishes to add to my evil fantasy series. My regular readers have read about some dishes that I researched specifically to add to my books. So I was keen to find out more about this macabre looking fish. It turns out that lambreys are a bizarre looking eel-like, carnivorous, parasitic fish with circular rows of teeth.

Lambreys use their mouth, and rows of sharp, pointy teeth, to latch on to other fish, from which they suck tissue and fluids. Now, after feeling somewhat nauseated by the look of the delicacy, I wondered how a medieval chef would prepare such a fish.

So here is the recipe for those bold enough to try it out. After bleeding the lambreys by the mouth, they were boiled and then added to a sauce. The chef would grind some cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg with a mortar and pestle and mix the ingredients with red wine.

Honestly, I think I will pass. Just give me some good old gammon and some roast potatoes, washed down with champagne and finished off with some figgy pudding and custard. Henry III can keep his lambrey thank you very much.

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Books

Have a look at Kim’s books in the series.

Kim Vermaak is a South African born author, speaker, trainer and bookstore owner who has been an entrepreneur for over 20 years and in that time; she has helped hundreds of authors, brand managers and entrepreneurs build their brands. Kim’s super power is using the power of what many see as crushing events and using them to transform not only herself but the hearts and minds of others.

She was a winner of a Regional business award, a recipient of the Panache Woman of Wonder Award and has been featured in publications such as Cosmopolitan and Destiny Magazine and served as the vice chair for the Johannesburg Business Women’s Association.

Kim’s passion for bringing wisdom back into the art of storytelling touched the hearts of her medieval fantasy series but she also has a love for teaching authors to create strong foundations for building book-preneur businesses that help them turn their dreams of being an author into a reality. You can connect with Kim via her website, www.writelearnandearn.co.za or www.kimvermaak.com or via LinkedIn.

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