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.

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