This dish comes from Libro di cucina/Libro per cuoco known as the Anonimo Veneziana. This is an Italian text from the late 14th or early 15th century.

I have seen this dish interpreted for feasts as a casserole with layers of turnips and cheese, but this rendition is great for outdoor cooking and in demos.  It is quite simple. but at the same time provides a visual that spawns questions in a demonstration situation.

• Whole Turnips

• Cheese (Edam or other sweet, mild cheese)

• Sugar

 Roast turnip in coals, (Yes, set it right down in the coals. Heap some around it and over it if you have enough.) till it tests done with a sharp knife poked in the top. It should give some like cooked carrots or parboiled red potatoes but not be mushy. Sides will be charred and blistered.  Let cool until it can be handled, then peel off char and rest of skin and slice thin. Slice cheese and make a sandwich with two slices of turnip.  Slip into skillet and let cheese melt (A hot lid over the 'sandwiches' will help) sprinkle with sugar and serve warm. People who liked turnips raved about this dish, people who weren't crazy about turnips still often found it tasty.

You don't often see recipes that reference powered sugar.  I had  assumed that the work to get powered sugar by grinding it in a mortar would be a long difficult task. Turns out it isn't. This past year I was able to purchase some sugar cones to use for our Junefaire Display Kitchen and chopped off a few chunks to use as an interactive display intending to let people have a whack at the medieval food processor. Grinding the sugar down into a powered consistency proved to be quite easy with only a few minutes of effort.

This did not have the ultra fine powdery consistency of commercial confectioners sugar but was far finer than baker's sugar.  What was particularly surprising was the difference in taste. There was a liveliness to the flavor of the sugar that is noticeably missing from commercial powdered sugar. This is probably due to the anti-caking agents, such as corn starch, added to it.

Original text:

 Armored turnips
To make armored turnips, put the turnips to cook in the fire (embers) and when they are cooked peel them and cut into thin slices.  Take sweet cheese and make thin slices.  Between each slice of turnip put one (slice) of cheese and let them melt well together.  If you want you can put them with a hot lid above and they will be done, then powder them with sugar, etc.

Above - Turnip  roasting in the coals. This one has just been turned over. Note the charred skin on top. When fully cooked and tender the turnip skin will be heavily charred, more so the larger the turnip. This also makes the turnip easier to peel.

Other Vegetable Recipes

• Armored Turnips

• Carrots Apician

• Chard Pie

• Lentil Cucumber Salad

• Marinated Mushrooms ala May

• Minted Cucumber Salad

• Mushroom Patina

• Onions in Sauce

• Parsnips Apician

Other recipes from this manuscript

• Armored Turnips 

• Imperial Fritters

• Ravioli

• Sweet and Sour Sauce for Pork

• White Fritters  

Other Italian recipes:

• Dulcamine  

• Ofella   

• Onions in Sauce 

• White Torte