MILK, MEMORY AND CHEESECAKE
To celebrate Shavuot and Jewish Culture Month, the Jewish Square Mile Foundation and the Shoreditch Trust brought a centuries-old recipe back to life.
Our event in May brought together cheesecake decorating, a talk by food historian Dr. Maria Diemling and a taste of floden – a dairy pie from the Middle Ages.
Images: Sophie Shaw for Jewish Culture Month
Meg Hepher, one of our trustees and a member of the Worshipful Company of Bakers, developed this recipe using ingredients that would have been available in the 13th century, and it was baked on the day by Rinkoff Bakery. Fancy trying it for yourself? Here’s the recipe:
Medieval dairy pie
ingredients
PASTRY
200g wheat flour — it would not be inauthentic to use a mix ofwhite and wheat flour
140ml water — use a little more if the mixture appears too dry
Pinch of salt
FILLING
300g fresh curd cheese — ricotta or cottage cheese (well drained) canbe used as a modern-day alternative.
2 eggs
4 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons chopped, dried figs
method
1. Mix the flour and salt and gradually add water.
2. Knead until smooth.
3. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
4. Beat the eggs, then mix into the cheese.
5. Stir in the honey and dried figs.
6. Roll out the pastry into circle.
7. Lightly smear a shallow pie tin with butter.
8. Line the tin with the pastry.
9. Spoon the mixture into the pastry-lined tin.
10. Bake for approximately 40 minutes at 160°C (fan).
Images: Sophie Shaw for Jewish Culture Month
The taste test
We were thrilled that ITV London came along to sample the pie.
The event was supported by the City of London Corporation’s Stronger Communities Fund.
