16^th Century: Shortcrust Pastry

Most medieval recipes for tarts and pies do not tell you anything about the kind of pastry that should be used for the crust. Recipes usually only describe how to make the filling. Contrary to what has been assumed, most pie and tart pastry was eaten and edible. Sometimes just the sides and top were removed.

This sixteenth century recipe is one of the earliest for making shortcrust pastry. The addition of eggs and saffron give it a wonderful flavour.

To make