Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 79 Mortruys of flesch

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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79. Mortruys of flesch
Take brawn of capons & porke sodyn & groundyn tempyr hit up with milke of almonds drawn with the broth set hit on the fyre put to sigure & safron when hit boyleth take som of thy mylke boylyng from the fyre & aley hit up with yolkes of eyron than hit be ryght chargeaunt styre hit wel for quellyng put ther to that othyr & stere hem to gedyr & serve hem forth as mortruys and strew on poudyr of gynger.

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This recipe is similar to the "blanched mortrus" recipe in A Noble Boke off Cookry, but that one is thickened with rice flour rather than the eggs.

To mak blanched mortrus tak and sethe hennes and freche pork to gedur then bray unblanched almondes and temper them with clene brothe and alay the fleshe small ground ther to put ther to flour of rise and do all to gedur and cast in pouder of guingere and sugur and luk it be not thyn salt it and serue it.  [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

There are several other recipes for mortrews, but none are a close match.  Interestingly, all of them also call for rice flour, which leads me to wonder if that ingredient was accidentally left out of the Wagstaff version.

Cxx - Whyte Mortrewys of Porke. Take lene Porke, and boyle it; blaunche Almandys, and grynd hem, and temper vppe with the brothe of the porke, and lye hem vppe with the Flowre of Rys, an lete boyle to-gederys, but loke that the porke be smal grounde y-now; caste ther-to Myncyd Almaundys y-fryid in freysshe grece; then sesyn hem vppe alle flatte in a dysshe; throw ther-to Sugre y-now and Salt; and atte the dressoure, strawe ther-on pouder Gyngere y-mellyd with Almaundys.  [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]

lxix - Whyte Mortrewes. Take Almaunde Mylke and Floure of Rys, and boyle it y-fere; thenne take Capoun and Hennys, and sethe hem and bray hem as smal as thou may, and ly (Note: Allay; mix) it with an Ey (Note: Egg) or to, and also a-lye it vppe with the mylke of Almaundys, and make hem chargeaunt as Mortrewes schuld be, and dresse hem forth, and caste Canel a-boue, or Gyngere. Blanke pouder is best.  [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]

Mortrews Blank. XX.II. VI. Take Pork and Hennes and seeþ hem as to fore. bray almandes blaunched, and temper hem up with the self broth. and alye the fleissh with the mylke and white flour of Rys. and boile it. & do þerin powdour of gyngur sugar and look þat it be stondyng.  [Forme of Cury (England, 1390)]