Soppes Dorre (Golden Sops)

Toasted white bread with sweet spices, white wine, and thick homemade almond milk

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City/Region: England

Time Period: c. 1450

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Some medieval people ate breakfast sometimes. It depended on things like your social status and job, your age, and what part of the Middle Ages it was. Bread, cheese, and ale were common breakfast items, and sops are mentioned in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. There are a lot of variations of sops, but essentially it’s toast that’s soaked in some kind of flavorful liquid like wine or ale.

This recipe for golden sops uses white bread that is soaked in white wine and topped with almond milk that has been simmered until it resembles a thin custard. I was worried that the wine would dominate the flavor, but it doesn’t. What comes through most are the warm spices and light sweetness that remind me of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Delicious.

“Soppes Dorre.
Take rawe Almondes, And grynde hem in A morter, And temper hem with wyn and drawe hem throgh a streynour; And lete hem boyle, And cast there-to Saffron, Sugur, and salt; And then take a paynmain, And kut him and tost him, And wte him in wyne, And ley hem in a dissh, and caste the siryppe thereon, and make a dregge of pouder ginger, sugur, Canell, Clowes, and maces, And cast thereon; And whan hit is I-Dressed, serue it forth fore a good pottage.”

— Harleian MS. 4016, c. 1450

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Ingredients:

Powder Douce*

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace**

Almond Milk

• 1 cup (150 g) raw almonds
• 3 cups (710 ml) water, plus extra for soaking
• 1 cup (235 ml) white wine

Sops

• 2 cups (475 ml) almond milk made with wine, recipe above
• A pinch saffron
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Several thick slices of white bread
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) white wine, more or less as needed

*Feel free to use whatever spices you like in whatever quantities you like. These kinds of spice mixtures varied a lot, so use what you like.

**See notes below.

Instructions:

1. For the poudre douce: Mix the sugar and spices together and set aside.
2. For the almond milk: Place the almonds in a bowl and cover them with water. Soak them overnight.
3. The next day, they should be nice and plump. Drain them.
4. Place the soaked almonds, 3 cups of water, and 1 cup of white wine into a blender. Blend for about a minute, or until the mixture is smooth.
5. Pour the mixture through a nut milk bag or fine cloth, squeezing out as much of the liquid as possible. Measure out 2 cups for the sops and use the rest however you like.
6. For the sops: Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C).
7. In a medium saucepan, bring the 2 cups of almond milk to a gentle simmer. Stir in the saffron, sugar, and salt. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until it starts to thicken, about 10 minutes.
8. While the almond milk mixture thickens, place your bread slices on a baking sheet and bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until they have started to turn golden brown. Turn the slices over, then bake for another 4 to 5 minutes, or until they’re nicely toasted.
9. While the toast is still hot, place a slice (or however many you want) in a shallow bowl or other dish, and drizzle it with the white wine. You want to add enough to moisten and soften the toast, but not so much as to make it soggy.
10. Once the almond milk mixture has thickened so that it is like a thin custard, pour some of it around the toast and a little over the top. The amount you use is up to your taste. Sprinkle it with a large pinch of the poudre douce, and serve it forth.

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Notes

• Mace comes from the outside of a nutmeg seed and tastes similar to nutmeg with notes of cinnamon and black pepper. It's used in a lot of historical recipes and is definitely worth getting.