Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 145 Heyron Rostyd

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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145. Heyron Rostyd
Let a heyron blode in the bouth as a crane & cut a wey the bone in the nekke & let the hed sit styll to the sknyn of the neke draw hym at the wente do hym on a spitte & wynd the skyn of the neke a boute the spitte & putt the hed yn at the golet as of a crane & breke awey the bone fro the necke to the fonte [f.73r] and lett the skyn be still & cut a wey the whyngys by the iounte nexte the body & bynd the leggys with the skyn of his legges to the spitte rost hym reys his leggys & hys whyngys as of a crane & sauce hym with poudyr of gyngour venygour & mustard & set hym forth.

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This recipe is a match for recipe 82 from A Noble Boke off Cookry.

A heron let hym bled in the mouthe as a crayne skald hym and draw hym at the vent and cut away the bone of the nek and let the hed be on stille with the skyne of the nek and folde the nek about the broche and put the hed in at the gollet as a crayne and brek away the bone from the kne to the foot and let the skyn be hole and cut the wings at the joint next the body then put hym on a broche and bynde the leggs to the spit with the skyn of the leggs and rost hym and raise his leggs and his wings as a crayne and sauce him with vinegar mustard poudered guinger and salt and serue it.  [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

Aside from having some of the instructions in a different order, where the Noble version has "from the knee to the foot" the Wagstaff version has "from the neck to the font". I believe the noble version is correct in this case. It is also odd that both versions appear to have the wings cut off but then go on to "raise the wings" for presentation.

There are also two versions of this recipe in Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books.

Heron rost. Capitulum c.x. Take an heron, and lete hym blode in the mouth as an crane, and scalde hym and draw hym att the vent as a crane; and cutt awey the boon of the necke, and folde the necke a-boute the spite, and putt the hede ynne att the golet as a crane; and breke awey the boon fro the kne to the fote, and lete the skyn be stille, and cutt the wyng att the Joynte next the body, and putt hem on a spite: and bynde hys legges to the spyte with the skynne of the legges, and lete rost, and reyse the legges and the wynges as of a crane, and sauce hym with vynegre, and mustard, and pouudre of gyngeuere, and sett hym forth.  [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]

Heron rosted. Take a Heron; lete him blode as a crane, And serue him in al poyntes as a crane, in scalding, drawing, and kuttyng the bone of the nekke a-wey, And lete the skyn be on, and roste him and sause him as the Crane; breke awey the bone fro the kne to the fote, And lete the skyn be on.  [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]