Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 122 Pyes of flesch capons and fesaunttes

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 © 2014 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

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122. Pyes of flesch capons and fesaunttes
Take good beef & sethe ther with pork wele or venyson hewyn small do ther to [f.71r] poudyr of pepyr canell poudyr of clovis gyngour & mynsyd datys yf thu wilee & reysons of coraunce & medyll hit with venyggour safron & salt & take hit in thy moneys if hit be welle sesond than couch hit in large cofyns & close yn capons or fesauntes hole or yf thu wilte cut hit in pecys colour hem well with safron & put ther yn othir wylde foule what thu wilte & plant hit with half yolkes of eyron & strew on clovis macys & datys mynsyd corans & quibibis close hem & bake hem longe & sokingly & serve hem forth with the fyrst cource.

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This recipe is a match for recipe 61 from A Noble Boke off Cookry.

To mak pyes of flesche of capon or of fessand tak good beef pork vele and venison hew it smalle do ther to pork of peper clowes maces guinger and mynced dates and raissins of corans mete it with malmsey or vergius and cast in saffron and salt and luk it be welle sessoned then couch it in a large coffyne and couch in the capon or fessand hole and if ye wille smyt them in peces and colour them with saffron and put in it other wild foule if ye wille and plant ther in hard yolks of egges and strawe on clowes maces dates mynced raissins of corrans quybibes then close them up and bak them and serue them.  [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

The combination of capon and pheasant in a pie, along with the other meats listed, is unusual.  I have not found any related recipes in other contemporary sources.