Two Crows Inn
On the Table Week 10
Two Crows Inn
The cardinal is sorely missed
If you sat in front of Wolsey under suspicion of heresy, you had a good chance of getting your preacher's license and your diner back and being kissed goodbye with a kiss of peace. His tranquilizers for an overzealous Thomas More were syllabub or fresh strawberries. It's hard to rant about heretics while eating and the world looks much better on a full stomach, even for More.
Those days are over.
Wild Strawberries and a Carnation in a Wan-Li Bowl, c. 1620 by Jacob van Hulsdonck (artist) Flemish, 1582 - 1647, National Gallery of Art, Washington
Some good advice
This week we get a hangover preventative from Wyatt senior: drink a bowl of milk and eat some stewed quinces in honey. But as it is always the case, Thomas Wyatt can't imagine that his own father was once young and asks Cromwell whether this could really help. Thomas can obviously imagine Cromwell as a party animal in his youth.
What else was on the table?
Spiced wafers stamped with the badges of the Tudors, perfumed with rose water. And once again, Cromwell turns out not to be a fan of the English cuisine outside London1: He tells Anne they serve pudding made of oatmeal mixed with the blood of cattle in the North and throw severed heads on your lap. He thinks he knows what Anne wants: a poached breast of chicken.
He is right in this case. But I hope he remains cautious and doesn't start to believe that he knows Henry and Anne inside out. Magdalen of Night Light by Georges de La Tour, between 1640 and 1645, Louvre Museum
Two Crows Inn
This week was very sad and difficult to read. That's why I've been doing something a bit silly this week to distract myself: It's now the tenth week of WolfCrawl and a menu that incorporates as much as possible of what has been on offer so far in terms of culinary delights would look like this. Voilà the menu of the Two Crows2 Inn:
MENU
SOUPS
Bowl of Chicken Broth
Charles Brandon: Soup with delicious game meat from the ducal forests of the Duke of Suffolk
MAIN COURSES
Kate’s Hot Pies according to an old recipe of the Cromwell family
Fried Eggs spiced up with Nutmeg and Saffron
Beef Olives stuffed with Sage and Majoram
The Two Crows Inn Salad: Lettuce, Smoked Eel and Apples with Lemon and Honey Marinade served with freshly baked Bread
Thurston Surprise: Our Chef de Cuisine knows 100 ways to prepare Herring, Cod and Eel. Let us surprise you with what he conjures up on your plate today.
Tender Roe Deer Ragout “Cranmer”
Chicken á la Anne Boleyn, a lightly poached breast of chicken, sliced into a cream sauce with tarragon
For your information: We do not serve songbirds!
DIET CUISINE
Cream Cheese More, stomach cleaner
Lord Chancellor’s More's Stew, flesh of some sort with a gritty sauce like Thames mud
DESSERTS
Almond Cream Henry &Anne flavored with Rose Water and petals of Roses and candied Violets
Fresh Brambles with Yellow Cream and Cinnamon Wafer
Orange Tarte
Our Sweet Allrounder Plate: Raisins, Sugared Fruits of the Season, Sugared Almonds
Syllabub served with seasonal fruit (strawberries, cherries, pears, plums) or nuts
CHEESE
Putney Cheese, matured for at least one year in the cellars of Austin Friar
Spanish Royal (not always available)
The Two Crows Gift Shop
HONEY from the Austin Friar´s beehives
MARZIPAN FIGURES: Choose from our wide range of figures e.g. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey*, Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master Simon Haisell*, King Henry VIII, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell*.
New on offer by popular demand and made from our finest marzipan: Stephen Gardiner
*Decorative objects, please do not eat.
PRESERVED AUTUMN FRUITS - currently on special offer: take 2 jars pay one: Quinces in Honey
Chapter II about his time in Yorkshire “Oh and the food. Five miles inland, and no fresh fish”. Wolsey “…what do they eat?” “Londoners”
The coat of arms of Cromwell actually depicts two Cornish choughs, but I like this name better for an inn.
I would like to book a table, pleeeeaaaseee???
😂👍🏻👏🏼🥇