Recipes from John Crophill's Commonplace Book - 69 Kokeneye

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

This manuscript is dated before 1485.

The 69 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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[69.] Kokeneye
Tak fleysch of hennys & of capouns & lene of pork & hew the ton with the tother & onyons mynced in the broth.

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I could not find any other versions of this recipe. The text cuts off abruptly in the manuscript, with the last word written by itself near the center of the bottom margin, so it could be that there was more and that the full recipe might resemble something from another book. As it is, the few ingredients and the title offer little help.

One possibility is the recipe for "comyne sewe" from Liber. It starts similarly (albeit with veal instead of poultry) and the title is close enough to be a copyist error, but there are enough differences that any similarities could just be a coincidence.

For comyne sewe. ȝiff þou wylle make a comyne sew, Vele and motun and porke þou hew On smalle gobettis. put hom in pot With mynsud onyouns, ful wele I wot, And powder of Peper þou kast þerto. Coloure hit with safroune or þou more do, And drawȝe alyoure of browne crust eke To alye þis sew þat is so meke.  [Liber cure cocorum (England, 1430)]