Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 169 Dyghtyng of All Maner of Fisch Troughte Boyled

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 © 2015 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

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169. Dyghtyng of All Maner of Fisch Trought Boyled
Take a troughte nape hym yn the hedde make the sauce of fayre watyr percelley & salt when hit be gynnyth to boyle scome hit clene draw the troughte at the bely yf thu wilt have hym rounde cut hym at the bakke yn twe placys or iij & draw hym at the thorthe nexte the hedde as thu doust a round pyke and the sauce ys vergeys serve hym cold couch on foyles of [f.75r] percelley or els sethe the pouch as thu dost the pouch of the pyke & mynse hit with g[ra]vy and poudyr of gynger and serve hit forth.

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This recipe is a match for recipe 104 from A Noble Boke off Cookry.

To boill a trout tak and nawpe hym in the hed and mak a sauce of faire water and salt and parsly and when it begynnythe to boile strene it then drawe hym at the belly and ye will haue hym rond cutt hym in the backe in ij or iij places and drawe hym iij stoches by the hed then sethe hym and serue hym furthe with vert sauce cold and foilis of parsly, or els sethe the pouche as ye do of a pik and mynce it with the grave and do that to pouder of guinger and serue it.  [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

There is also a version in Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books.

Troute boyled. Take a troute, and nape him; And make faire sauce of water, parcely, and salt, and whan hit bigynneth to boile, skeme hit clene; and drawe him in the bely; and if thou wilt haue him rounde, kut him in the bakke in two or thre places, but no3t thorgh, And drawe him in the sket (Note: Douce MS. skoch) next the hede, as thou doest a rounde pike; and the sauce is verge sauce; or elles seth the pouche as the dost the pouche of a pike, and myce hem with the grauey, and pouder of ginger; and serue him forth colde, and cast the foiles of parcelly, y-wet in vinegre, on him in a dissh.  [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]

The title of the Wagstaff version appears to be a concatenation of a section heading ("Dyghtyng of All Maner of Fisch") and the recipe name ("Trought Boyled"), though in the manuscript it is all on one line with no separator between the two and with the whole line being underlined in red.