Recipes from John Crophill's Commonplace Book - 45 Freschure

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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[45.] Freschure
Tak the hert & the lyver & the blood of the hydes & sethz hem & hewe hem in a pot & do ther to qwyth gres & frye it & tak the blood & grynd it in a morter & tempre it up with red wyn & do it in the pot & tak myed bred & grynd it & tempre it up with aly tyl swet broth & lye it ther with wel chargeaunt [f.25v] & do ther inne good pouder & sugre florysch & serve it forth.

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The unusual name of this recipe quickly leads to a similar one from Ancient Cookery.

Frissure. Take hares hilt, and wasshe hom in brothe of beef with alle the blode, and boyle the blode, and skym hit wel, and then parboyle the hares, and chope hom, and frie hom in faire grees, and caste hom into a pot, and let hom boyle ensemble (together); and put therto onyons mynced, clowes, maces, pynes, and reifynges of corance, and draw up chippes of bred with wyne, and put therto; and also pouder of pepur, ande of canel, and sugre, and colour hit with saffron: ande in the fettynge doun alay (mix) hit with a lytel vynegur, and serve hit forthe.  [Ancient Cookery (England, 1425)]

Given that the Crophill version does not specify what kind of meat is to be used, I suspect that the name "freschure" is a corruption of "fresh hare". Based on the ingredients there appear to be related recipes in both Liber and Noble.

Harus in a sewe. Alle rawe þo hare schalle hacked be, In gobettis smalle, Syr, levys me. In hir owne blode seyn or sylud clene, Grynde brede and peper withalle bydene. Þenne temper hit with þe same bre, Þenne boyled and salted hit servyd schalle be.  [Liber cure cocorum (England, 1430)]

To mak hayres in sewe, tak a raw haire and chop hir in small gobettes and sethe hir in hir own blod thene temper it with ale pepper and bred and boile it and serue it.  [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]