Medieval Cookery: March 2013

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 29 Hare yne cyve

Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany (Beinecke MS 163)

This manuscript is dated about 1460.

The 200 (approx.) recipes in the Wagstaff miscellany are on pages 56r through 76v.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the Yale University Library website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, the letters thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2013 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

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29. Hare yne cyve
Smyte a hare in smalle pecys perboyle heme yne swete brothe withe hys owne blodd cast hyme yne a colde watyre peke hyme clene do hyme yne a pott claryfyde claryfye the brothe clene do ther to onyons & herbes mynsyde take hole clowys macys & powdyr & draw ther yne a lyoure of crustys with rede wyne boyle hit tyl hit be ynowghe sesyne hit up withe powdyre of gyngere venygere & salt & loke hit be a goode coloure of blode.

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"Civey" recipes usually involve meat and onions in a red-colored gravy. The meat is most commonly rabbit or hare, but can also be chicken.

There is a recipe in Noble Boke off Cookry for hare in civey, but the wording and instructions are notably different.

To make haires in covy boile a haire, rost hir and lard here then fry her in grece with pepper ale and onyons mynced small and colour it with saffron then lay the hair in a platter and pour on the covy and serue it. [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

Interestingly, the same source has a recipe for rabbit in civey that is a slightly closer match.

To mak conys in cevy smyt conys in small peces and sethe them in good brothe put ther to mynced onyons and grece and draw a liour of broun bred and blod and sesson it with venygar and cast on pouder and salt and serve it. [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

While there are numerous other recipes for rabbit or hare in civey, none of them that I have found include the step of putting the boiled hare in cold water and picking them clean.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 28 Purpayse or Venysone ine brothe

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28. Purpayse or Venysone ine brothe
Take chikenys of purpas and more of the fysche yf thu wylte chopp hit in pecys withe onyons & herbes cut grete & hole clowys & macys powdyre of pepyre & canelle & do to gedyre in a pott wythe fayre watyre or withe brothe of the fysche and withe a perty of wyne boyle hit up yf the fysche be goode hit wille a lay hit sylfe or els draw a lytylle lyoure of crustys & do ther to poudyre of gyngere & salt and make venysone in brothe in the same maner.

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That this recipe starts off calling for "chickens of porpoise" suggests that there was a copying or translation error somewhere. There are no other recipes that use this phrase, nor are there any that include all of the words "porpoise", "venison", and "chicken". The closest I could find to this one are the following recipes for fish in gravy.

Elys in Sorre. Take eles, and fle hem, and choppe hem in faire colpons, And wassh hem clene, and putte hem in a faire potte; and then take parcelly, oynons, and shrede togidre to the eles; And then take pouder of peper, and broth of fissh, and set hit ouer the fire, and lete hem boyle togidre; And then take a lofe of brede, and alay the brede in the the same broth, And drawe hit thorgh a streynour; And whan the eles ben almoost y-sodde ynowe, caste there-to; And lete hem boile togidre; and take hem vp fro the fire, and cast ther-to salte, vinegre, And serue hit forth. [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]

Sore Sengle. Take Elys or Gurnard, and parte hem half in Wyne, and half in watere, in-to a potte; take Percely and Oynonys and hewe hem smalle; take Clowes or Maces and caste ther-on; take Safroun, and caste ther-to, and sette on the fyre, and let boyle tylle it be y-now; then sette it a-doun; take poudere Gyngere, Canelle, Galyngale, and temper it vppe with Wyne, and cast on the potte and serue forth. [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 27 Purpayse yne Galanteyne

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27. Purpayse yne Galanteyne
Take purpays do a way the skyne cutte hit yne smal lechys no more thene fyngere or els take brede drawene wythe rede wyne put there to powdere of canelle powdyre of pepyre boil al sesone hit up wythe powdere of gyngere venegre & salte.

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Porpoise is commonly mentioned in fish-day recipes, and "galantine" dishes are also very common, so it is surprising that there aren't any other recipes for porpoise galantine in surviving cookbooks. The closest recipe I could find is the following one from Le Viandier de Taillevent.

Porpoise. Split it along the back, cook it in water, and slice it into strips like venison. Take some wine and water from your fish, grind ginger, cassia, cloves, grains of paradise, long pepper and a bit of saffron, [boil], and make a good clearish broth. It should not be too yellow. Serve it like a subtlety, with a White Dish. [Le Viandier de Taillevent (France, ca. 1380)]

The basic instructions are the same - slice the porpoise in strips, boil it in wine, and add spices - but the wording is different enough that it is not clear the recipes are related.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 26 Numbelys of purpas or of other fysche

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26. Numbelys of purpas or of other fysche
Perboyle the numbelys of purpays & thu wylte sum of the fysche cut hit smalle do hit yne a pott draw a lyoure of crustys withe brede wythe the same brothe & some what of the blode ande red wyne do hit to gedere yne a potte with powder of gyngere clowys and canelle boyle hit stere hit sesone hit up with powdere of gyngere venyggere and salte. Make numbelys of codlynge in the same maner ande of othere gode fysshe also & serve theme forthe.

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Once again we have a clear parallel to a recipe in A Noble Boke off Cookry - in this case recipe number 158. Recipes for porpoise kidneys/entrails seem to be very uncommon as I could not find anything else that came close.

To mak nombles of porpas or of other good fisshe and ye may cut som of the fisshe smalle and put it in the pot and draw a liour with cruste with the same blod and some of the brose and red wyne and put all to gedur in a pot and put thereto pouder of peper clowes and canelle and set it on the fyere and sesson it up with pouder guingere venygere and salt, and ye may mak nombles of congure codlinge or other good fisshe in the same manner and serue it. [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 25 Leche provene

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25. Leche provene
Take mylke of almondyes tempyre hit wyth wyne white wyne and take watyre percellye & oynons cut do there to elys choppyde & boylede do there yne saferone & hole pepyre & hole clowys sesone hit up withe powdyre & salt.

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This recipe is a very odd one. The combination of almond milk, eel, and onions is somewhat unusual in medieval English cookbooks, and the title doesn't make much sense and isn't similar to that of any other English recipe. However I did find the same recipe in the 14th century French source, Enseignements qui enseingnent a apareillier toutes manieres de viandes.

For milk of Provence - If you want to make milk of Provence, take almonds, then grind them and temper with wine and water, then take whole parsley and onions cut in rings and mix with eels, and fry all together; then take whole saffron and water and long pepper. [Enseignements (France, ca. 1300)]

The version in Enseignements highlights the issues in the Wagstaff version. The title is clearly mistranslated, turning "lait" (milk) into "leche" (slice), instead of being made with wine, the almond milk is tempered with "wine white wine", and the instruction to fry all the ingredients together was left out entirely.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 24 Felets yne galentyne

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24. Felets yne galentyne
Take the ribbys of a breste of porke fle of the skyne do the flesche one a broche roste hit tyl hit be almost ynowghe take hit of chop hit yne pecys do hit yne a potte withe onyons cut grete wythe clowys hole macyz quibibys do to gedyre & a quantyte of swete brothe draw a lyoure of paryngys of crystys of white bredde with good wyne and a lytylle blode & alaye hit a lytylle & do there to poudyre of pepyr a lytylle & a good quantyte of poudyre of canelle loke that hit be nott chargaunt sesyne hit up withe poudyre of gyngere & salt venygere & salt.

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This recipe is very similar to recipe 157 in A Noble Boke off Cookry.

To mak felettes in galentyne tak of the best of ribbes of pork and fley of the skyn and put the flesshe upon a broche and rost it till it be almost enoughe then tak it of and chope it in peces and put it in a pot with onyons butter and faire grece hole clowes maces quybibes and put it to gedur with a crust of bred and try it through a strener with whit wyne put ther to pouder of peper and put it in the pot and when it boilithe let it not be chargant and sesson it up with poudre of guingere and salt it and serue it. [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

There are several versions of this recipe in other surviving cookbooks, such as the example below from Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books, but only this version in Wagstaff and the one from A Noble Boke off Cookry specifically call for ribs of pork.

Fylettys en Galentyne. Take fayre porke, the fore quarter, an take of the skyne; an put the porke on a fayre spete, an rost it half y-now; than take it of, an smyte it in fayre pecys, and caste it on a fayre potte; than take oynonys, and schrede hem, an pele hem (an pyle hem nowt to smale), an frye in a panne of fayre grece; than caste hem in the potte to the porke; than take gode broth of moton or of beef, an caste ther-to, an than caste ther-to pouder pepyr, canel, clowys, an macys, an let hem boyle wyl to-gederys; than tak fayre brede, an vynegre, an stepe the brede with the same brothe, an strayne it on blode, with ale, or ellys sawnderys, and salt, an lat hym boyle y-now, an serue it forth. [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]