Recipes from John Crophill's Commonplace Book - 2 Browet of Almayne

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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[2.] Browet of Almayne
Tak almonde melk lye it with amydon ore with bake flour colour it with saffron force it with good pouder of ginger & canel & galingale. Tak parterkes & chykenes & hewe hem on quarterrys do the melk over the feyre & boylle it do in thi fleysch seson it with sugre.

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There are numerous versions of this stew in other sources. The variations in the recipe’s name are interesting in that they either to reflect the use of almond milk, or they imply a German origin (Allemagne is the French name for Germany).

The ingredients and the instructions to color the stew it with saffron make the following two recipes the closest match.

To mak Bruet de almondes tak almond mylk and alay it with amydon or with whet flour bulted coloure it with saffron and fors it with pouder of ginger canelle and galingale then tak pertuche or chekens and sethe them and hew them in quarto and set the mylk on the fyere to boylle and florish it with pouders and serue it.  [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

Breuet de almonde. Take gode almonde mylke anon, And loke þou lye hit with amydone, Or with flowre þat is bake. Coloure hit with safron, I undurtake. Fors hit with powder of þy male Of gyngere, canel, and galingale. Take pertrykes and chykyns and hom wele sethe. Hew hom in quarters fayre and smethe. Do þat mylke over þo fyre þat tyde, And boyle and sett hit doune besyde, And florysshe hit with powdur, as I þe kenne, Þou may have more menske emong alle menne. [Liber cure cocorum (England, 1430)]