Recipes from John Crophill's Commonplace Book - 7 Conyes in Grave

Recipes from John Crophill's Commonplace Book (Harley MS 1735)

This manuscript is dated before 1485.

The 68 recipes in John Crophill's Commonplace Book are on pages 16v through 28v.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the British 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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[7.] Conyes in Grave
Take conyes & sethz hem wel tak hem up & wasch hem in cold water tak melk of almonds lyze it up with [f.18v] amydon or with myed bred force it up with ginger & with clowes boille it on the fyer hew the conyes & do ther to seson it up with wyn & sugre.

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This is one of the more common recipes, with almost every contemporary source having one or two different versions. As with other recipes in Crophill, the versions from Liber and Noble are particularly close. Others, such as the one from Forme of Cury, tend to add sugar and leave out the wine.

Conyngus in gravé. Sethe welle þy conyngus in water clere, After, in water colde þou wasshe hom sere, Take mylke of almondes, lay hit anone With myed bred or amydone. Fors hit with cloves or gode gyngere. Boyle hit over þo fyre, Hew þo conyngus, do hom þer to, Seson hit with wyn or sugur þo.  [Liber cure cocorum (England, 1430)]

To mak conys in graue fley your conys and wesshe them and sethe them then take almond mylk and alay it with bred or whit amydon and fors it with clowes and galingale and boile yt welle and hew your conys and boile yt welle and hew your ceripe and put them ther to and sesson it with wyne and sugur and serue it.  [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

Connynges In Grauey. XXVI. Take Connynges smyte hem to pecys. parboile hem and drawe hem with a gode broth with almandes blanched and brayed. do þerinne sugur and powdour gynger and boyle it and the flessh þerwith. flour it with sugur and with powdour gynger an serue forth.  [Forme of Cury (England, 1390)]