Recipes from John Crophill's Commonplace Book - 49 A Tarte of Fysche

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

-=-=-

[49.] A Tarte of Fysche
Tak figgs & waysch hem & grynd hem [f.26v] smal tempre hem with vinegre tak freysch samoun haddokes perches & pykes tak out the bonys bray hem to gidre in a morter tak poudre of ginger & galingale & meng with al tak maces & qwybibes & clowes & do ther to al hole & sugre gret plente tak ther of & do in thi cofyn a smal couche tak elys & lamprouns and frye hem to gidre in oyle de oyle & lay ther in a couche of the brayed mete & do ther to botre of almaunde melk covere it with past colour it with inne & with outen.

-=-=-

This recipe appears to be a common fish-day tart, but as with the previous recipe I could not find any clear matches. There are several recipes with similar aspects, the closest of which I've included below.

Tart for Lenton. Take figges and raisinges, and wassh hom in wyne, and grinde hom, and appuls and peres clene pared, and the corke tane out; then take fresh samon, or codlynge, or hadok, and grinde hit, and medel hit al togedur, and do hit in a coffyn, and do therto pouder of ginger, and of canelle, ande clowes, and maces; and plaunte hit above with pynes, or almondes, and prunes, and dates quartert, then cover thi coffyn, and bake hit, and serve hit forthe.  [Ancient Cookery (England, 1425)]

TART DE BRYMLENT. XX.VIII. VII. Take Fyges & Raysouns. & waisshe hem in Wyne. and grinde hem smale with apples & peres clene ypiked. take hem up and cast hem in a pot wiþ wyne and sugur. take salwar Salmoun ysode. oþer codlyng, oþer haddok, & bray hem smal. & do þerto white powdours & hool spices. & salt. and seeþ it. and whanne it is sode ynowz. take it up and do it in a vessel and lat it kele. make a Coffyn an ynche depe & do þe fars þerin. Plaunt it boue with prunes and damysyns. take þe stones out, and wiþ dates quarte rede dand piked clene. and couere the coffyn, and bake it wel, and serue it forth.  [Forme of Cury (England, 1390)]

Tart de ffruyte. Take figges, and seth hem in wyne, and grinde hem smale, And take hem vppe into a vessell; And take pouder peper, Canell, Clowes, Maces, pouder ginger, pynes, grete reysons of coraunce, saffron, and salte, and cast thereto; and then make faire lowe coffyns, and couche this stuff there-in, And plonte pynes aboue; and kut dates and fressh salmon in faire peces, or elles fressh eles, and parboyle hem a litull in wyne, and couche thereon; And couche the coffyns faire with the same paaste, and endore the coffyn withoute with saffron and almond mylke; and set hem in the oven and lete bake.  [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]

The phrase "oyle de oyle" in the Crophill version is most certainly a copyist error for "oyle de olive" (olive oil).