Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 39 Capons yne conceps

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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39.  Capons yne conceps
Take capons halfe rostyde do hem yne a pott put ther to swete brothe & a perty of gode wyne stew hit up to gedyre that hit be ynowghe trye the brothe yf thu wylte thu may do ther to a lytylle lyoure of payndemayne take eyrone sodyne harde hew the white do ther to sigure safrone & salt set hit one the fyre whene hit boyles a lay hit up withe yolkes of eyrone loke hit be rennynge sesyne hit up withe poudyr of gynger & vergeys a rese the thyys & the whyngez & the brestz of the capons loke that they honge by ley hem yne disches plante heme withe harde yolkes of eyrone ande poudyr & the sewe a bovyne.

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There is a recipe in A Noble Book off Cookry that is clearly related to the one above, however it is much more abbreviated.

To mak capons in couns tak a capon and sethe it and hew it then grind pepper and bred and temper it with the capon then tak the whit of egg herd sodene and hew them small and boile the capons and colour it with saffron and lay yolks of eggs in the disshe hole and serue it.  [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

A recipe from Forme of Cury seems to be a much closer match, with much the same spicing and even including the instruction that the capon be half roasted.

Capouns In Councys. XXII. Take Capons and rost hem right hoot þat þey be not half y nouhz and hewe hem to gobettes and cast hem in a pot, do þerto clene broth, seeþ hem þat þey be tendre. take brede and þe self broth and drawe it up yferer, take strong Powdour and Safroun and Salt and cast þer to. take ayrenn and seeþ hem harde. take out the zolkes and hewe the whyte þerinne, take the Pot fro þe fyre and cast the whyte þerinne. messe the disshes þerwith and lay the zolkes hool and flour it with clowes. [Forme of Cury (England, 1390)]