Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [12] Pease Soop

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[12] Pease Soop. Boyle white pease as before, rubb them through a sieve, put to them stronge broath made of a Leg of Mutton or Beeff. Set them on the fire with some lemon peell, whole pepper, sume Nutmeg, and an Onion Stuck with cloves, Some sweet herbs. Then let them boyle together. Then take & cut the Onion and herbs, then put in some baccon & balls fryed & toasted braed in squar bitts, some buttered spinage & sorrel & Endiff, cut it it and give it a warme together, then serve it up.

I think this recipe qualifies as I referred to a recipe for pea "soop" in an earlier post, but it doesn't at all match this one.

To make green Peas Soop. Take half a bushel of the youngest Peas, divide the great from the small; boil the smallest in two quarts of Water, and the biggest in one quart: when they are well boiled, bruise the biggest, and when the thin is drained from it, boil the thick in as much cold Water as will cover at; then rub away the Skins, and take a little Spinage, Mint, Sorrel, Lettuce and Parsley, and a good quantity of Marigolds; wash, shred and boil these in half a pound of Butter, and drain the small Peas; save the Water, and mingle all together, and a spoonful of Pepper whole; then melt a quarter of a pound of Butter, and shake a little Flour into it, and let it boil; put the Liquor to the Butter, and mingle all well together, and let them boil up: so serve it with dry’d Bread. [The Compleat Housewife (England, 1729)]

In spite of the name, I think this recipe counts as YAVCRFPP.

[Bibliography] 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [11] Pease Pottage

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[11] Pease Pottage. Take a knockle of veal, Or a hough of Beeff, & boyle your stock well & straine it & make your gravie very strong. Season it with Cloves, Mace & Nutmeg, and Onion & Race of Ginger, & some sweet herbs. To make the Ragour, take Pullets, forst-meat balls & Ragour them, and if noe pease, take Spinage & chop it small & boyle it. You must must not put the spinage in till you send it up, & then put it in the Dish with the dryed bread & then run that over it. Garnish it with tongues & serve it away.

I am now going to just use the helpful abbreviation YAVCRFPP (Yet another very confused recipe for pea pottage).  Beef broth with spices and chicken meatballs for the soup base, but it this has to be the first recipe for pea pottage I've ever seen that might not actually contain peas.

[Bibliography] 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [10] Pease Pottage

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[10] Pease Pottage. When your Pease are boyled, Strain them & put them to boyle againe with some Parsley, Onions beeth [seethed?], Time, Mint, & Sorrell. Season it with peper, sault, & cloves, leting all boyle a quarter of an hour. Dish it up with a little Butter. Have ready some white bread dryed by the fire to put in the Dish. [M. Des Mastyr]

The inclusion of mint, sorrel, and parsley in the recipe above suggests a connection to this recipe which I mentioned earlier.

To make green Peas Soop. Take half a bushel of the youngest Peas, divide the great from the small; boil the smallest in two quarts of Water, and the biggest in one quart: when they are well boiled, bruise the biggest, and when the thin is drained from it, boil the thick in as much cold Water as will cover at; then rub away the Skins, and take a little Spinage, Mint, Sorrel, Lettuce and Parsley, and a good quantity of Marigolds; wash, shred and boil these in half a pound of Butter, and drain the small Peas; save the Water, and mingle all together, and a spoonful of Pepper whole; then melt a quarter of a pound of Butter, and shake a little Flour into it, and let it boil; put the Liquor to the Butter, and mingle all well together, and let them boil up: so serve it with dry’d Bread. [The Compleat Housewife (England, 1729)]

However this connection seems tenuous as there is a similar recipe from much farther back with similar ingredients.

Pease of all or the most of these forts, are either used when they are greene, and be a dish of meate for the table of the rich as well as the poore, yet every one observing his time, and the kinde: the fairest, sweetest, youngest, and earliest for the better sort, the later and meaner kindes for the meaner, who doe not give the deerest price: Or Being dry, they serve to boyle into a kinde of broth or pottage, wherein many doe put Tyme, Mints, Savory, or some other such hot herbes, to give it the better rellish, and is much used in Towne and Countrey in the Lent time,  especially of the poorer sort of people.  [Paradisi in sole paradisus terrestris, J. Parkinson (London, 1629)]

 

[Bibliography] 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [9] Green Pease Pottage

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[9] Green Pease Pottage. Take 3 quarts of Green Pease, boyle 3 pints of them, & afterwards stamp them in a Morter, & put a quart of the broath they were boyled into the pease & stir them altogether & strain or press as the substanse of the pease may all goe through & leave only the hulls, so the Broath will goe thick. Then season it, puting it over the fire, with a pint of Renish Wine, & beaten Cloves & Mace & Nutmegs & 3 Anchovis. Then boyle some forstmeat balls in it & put some Crust of Manchet in it being well dryed, & fry into it Chibbles, Parsley, & Spinage, and the head of a hundred of Sparagrasse being boyled. You may put some Stronge broath in it & sweet breeds of veale, roast al Couple of Chickents, lay them in the Middle of the Dish.  When you serve it up boyle a pint of Pease Green. Garnish the dishe with cut Oranges. You need not hacke the sweet herbs. Pinch the leaves of them & put them in a litle before you serve it up that they may be green. [note: Ant Morris]

Another very confused recipe for pea pottage, this one having asparagus and sweetbreads.  I don't have anything new to add at this point over the notes in the previous peas pottage recipe, but I may come back to it later.

[Bibliography] 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [8] Pease Pottage The Spanish Way

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[p3]

[8] Pease Pottage The Spanish Way.  Put 2 quarts of Pease a-boyling in broath. Season them with Nutmeg, Sault, Onion, sweet herbs, peper, a litle bacon stuffed with cloves. Take a quantity of spinnage, pound it in a Morter, then strain it, then brown some butter very thick with flower, then put in the Juice of spinage, and boyle it very well. Then strain the Pease through a Sieve with some of the same liquor they were boyled in 2 hours, then soak therein a french Loafe. Put some whole pease in it, then take 3 or 4 cowcumbers, pare them, take out the seeds & dice the outside, & fry them in butter. When they are brown, Boyle them in the Pottage and Dish it up with the Loafe in the Midle & Squeeze one Orange on it. [note: Mrs. Baxter]

To be honest, I really don't know where to go with this recipe. It doesn't look much like any of the pea pottage recipes I noted previously.

This recipe is essentially fried cucumbers, cooked in strained peas and spinach juice, served with a loaf of bread stuffed with whole peas, and garnished with orange juice. I find it somewhat bewildering.

[Bibliography] 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [7] Pease Pottage

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[7] Pease Pottage.  Take green pease being shelled & cleaned, put them in a Pickin [pipkin] of fair boyling watter. When they are boyled and tender, strain some of them to thicken the rest. Put to them a bundle of sweet herbs chops [chopped?],  sault and butter being through boyled. Dish them & Serve them in a Deep Dish with Sault and Sippets about them.

There are numerous recipes for pea soup in early European cookbooks, but there are two aspects of this one that are unusual. The first is the instruction to strain some of the peas to thicken the soup, and the other is the lack of additional ingredients such as onions or bacon.  These differences significantly reduce the number of related recipes in other sources.

While these two recipes from Arundel 334 do add bread and call for beef broth instead of water, they are still very similar to Williams':

Grene pesen (pease) to potage. Take yonge grene pesen, and sethe hom with gode broth of beef, and take parsell, sage, saveray, and ysope, and a lytel brede, and bray all this in a morter, and sume of the pesen therwyth, and tempur hit wyth the broth, and do hit in a pot to the other pesen, and let hit boyle togedur, and serve hit forth. [Ancient Cookery [Arundel 334] (England, 1425), as reproduced in  R. Warner's "Antiquitates culinariae" (1791)]

Grene pesen. Take grene pesen, and fethe hom with brothe of flesshe ; and take parfel, hyfope, and faveray, brayed with a lytel bred, and bray half the pesen withal, and streyne up al togeder, and al into the fame pot, do the remnant of the fame pesen, and let hom fethe; and serve hom forthe. [Ancient Cookery [Arundel 334] (England, 1425), as reproduced in  R. Warner's "Antiquitates culinariae" (1791)]

Here's another, slightly later version that also includes bread, but doesn't call for broth:

To mak yonge pessene tak pessen and par boille hem in water then gadar hem up and set the tone half upon the fyere with good brothe of beef and bray the remniant in a mortair withe parsley ysope and bred and draw it throughe a strener into a pot with the other pessen and boile it and salt it and serue it. [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

And another even later that mentions serving the soup over sops:

For White pease pottage.. Take a quart of white Pease or more & seeth them in faire water close, vntill they doe cast their huskes, the which cast away, as long as any wil come vp to the topp, and when they be gon, then put into the peaze two dishes of butter, and a little vergious, with pepper and salt, and a little fine powder of March, and so let it stand till you will occupy it, and the[n] serue it vpon sops. You may sée the Porpose and Seale in your Pease, seruing it forth two péeces in a dish. [The Second part of the good Hus-wiues Iewell (England, 1597)]

Searching through the more recent sources yields this match:

To make green Peas Soop. Take half a bushel of the youngest Peas, divide the great from the small; boil the smallest in two quarts of Water, and the biggest in one quart: when they are well boiled, bruise the biggest, and when the thin is drained from it, boil the thick in as much cold Water as will cover at; then rub away the Skins, and take a little Spinage, Mint, Sorrel, Lettuce and Parsley, and a good quantity of Marigolds; wash, shred and boil these in half a pound of Butter, and drain the small Peas; save the Water, and mingle all together, and a spoonful of Pepper whole; then melt a quarter of a pound of Butter, and shake a little Flour into it, and let it boil; put the Liquor to the Butter, and mingle all well together, and let them boil up: so serve it with dry’d Bread. [The Compleat Housewife (England, 1729)]

I'm starting to build a mental framework for early Welsh cookery and how it differs from that of England. The recipes so far seem to focus less on what could be considered "fancy" ingredients and tend to be more ... rustic?  We'll see if that holds up as we progress through the book.

[Bibliography] 

 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - Bibliography

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[note that this page is still being updated]

Bibliography

Ancient Cookery [Arundel 334], England, 1425

        as reproduced in  R. Warner's "Antiquitates culinariae" (1791)

The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, F. Farmer, Boston, 1924

The Compleat Housewife: or Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion, England, 1729

England's Newest Way in All Sorts of Cookery, H. Howard, England, 1708

Liber cure cocorum [Sloane MS 1986], England, 1430

A NEVV BOOKE of Cookerie, J. Murrell, England, 1615

A Noble Boke off Cookry [Holkham MSS 674], England, 1468

Paradisi in sole paradisus terrestris, J. Parkinson, England, 1629

        (reprinted in 1904)

The Second part of the good Hus-wiues Iewell, T. Dawson, England, 1597

Thomas Awkbarow's Recipes [MS Harley 5401], England, 15th c.

        (based on a concordance)

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [6] Onion Pottage

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[6] Onion Pottage.  Take a good store of sliced onions & fry them, then have ready a Pickin [pipkin] of Boyling Liquor over the fire. When the Liquor boyles put in the fryed Onions, butter & all, with peper and sault being to-all strewed together. Serve it on sops of french bread. [added later: or pine mollett]

This short recipe would be indistinguishable from the dozens of other recipes for cooked onions if it weren't for the instruction to fry the onions before boiling them. No doubt this is to give the onions (and the subsequent soup) some color.  ... Now that I think about it, this could be a precursor recipe for French Onion Soup.

There is a single, very similar English recipe in The Good Housewife's Jewell that is a close match for Williams':

A sop of Onions. Take and slice your Onions, & put them in a frying panne with a dish or two of sweete butter, and frie them together, then take a litle faire water and put into it salt and peper, and so frie them together a little more, then boile them in a lyttle Earthen pot, putting to it a lyttle water and sweet butter, &c. You may vse Spinnage in like maner.  [The Second part of the good Hus-wiues Iewell (England, 1597)]

In spite of the small number of examples, this recipe dies seem to have survived the tests of time, as the following recipe from the 1920s shows:

Onion Soup. Wipe, peel, and slice five small onions; put in a frying pan and cook in enough butter to prevent burning (stirring constantly) until soft. To six cups stock, add onions and salt to taste. Cut stale bread in one-third-inch slices and remove crusts. Toast on both sides. Place in tureen, sprinkle with three tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, and pour soup over bread just before sending to table. [The Boston School Cook Book, (Boston, 1924)]

As for the little note at the end of the recipe, I haven't the slightest idea what "Pine Mollet" is.

 

... I think I might make this soup later this week ...

[Bibliography] 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [5] Pottage Loraine

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[5] Pottage Loraine.  Make a good stock of broath of Veale, & Mutton, & Beeff, boyle it well, season it with peper, salt, cloves, mace, some Orange [orage?] & sweet herbs. The gravie must be made thus, then take Cappons, or Pheasants, or Partridges & roast them. Open the skine of the breast, & take out the Brawny part. Mince it very small, & hash it in some of the broath. Season it & squeez in the Juice of a Lemon. Then Mince a sweet breed & passe some spinnage & sorrell in brown Butter with a slice of Bacon Gravie.  Stove [toast?] sume sliced bread in a Dish with the broath, put in thy fowle, fill the Dish with the Gravie & herbs, put in the hash into the breast of the fowles, & Cast head it with Almonds beaten. Garnish the Dish with Sliced Lemon & scalded spinnage.

Much to my surprise, there's a modern recipe called "Pottage Lorraine".  It's a stew of carrots, onion, and beans cooked in veal broth, with cream ... so really the veal broth is all they have in common.

There's also a "Lorraine Soup" recipe which calls for broth, minced chicken, almonds, and lemon juice, which are also in the Williams' recipe.

[Bibliography] 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [4] Rice Pottage

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[4] Rice Pottage.  Take a chop of a Neck of Mutton & putt it in the pott with some watter and a quarter of a Pint of Rice well pickt & washed, & when you find the Rice is tender put in a bundle of sweet herbs & a blade of Mace, a Nutmeg grated, 12 Chesnutts, & as many wallnuts pickt clean, boyle all these till they be tender. The broath must not be to thick. The wallnotts & Chesnutts must some be shred very small, & some grosser, when the pottage is well boyled take out the herbs & spice, & put it in a Ladle full of gravie. Season it with sault. Thou may put in the Brain & wings of Pateridges or Capon or Pulletts.

This recipe seems a bit odd compared to older versions of rice pottage, as those are usually much simpler with fewer ingredients (e.g. rice boiled in broth, thickened with almond milk, and colored with saffron) .  That said, it does have a lot in common with the following 17th century recipe:

 

To boyle Pidgeons with Rice, on the French fashion. Set them to boyle, and put into their bellyes sweet Hearbes, viz. Parsley, tops of young Time: and then put them into a Pipkin, with as much Mutton broth as will couer them, a piece of whole Mace, a little whole Pepper: boyle all these together vntill your Pidgeons be tender. Then take them off the fire, and scum off the fat cleane from the broth, with a spoone, for otherwise it wil make it to taste rancke. Put in a piece of sweet Butter: season it with Uergis, Nutmegge, and a little Sugar: thicken it with Ryce boyled in sweet Creame. Garnish your Dish with preserued Barberyes, and Skirret rootes, being boyld with Uergis and Butter.  [A NEVV BOOKE of Cookerie (England, 1615)]

Both include mutton or mutton broth, "whole" mace, nutmeg, "sweet herbs",  and some kind of game bird.  The "sweet herbs" and whole/blade mace strongly suggests to me the recipes are connected -- though obviously not closely.

[Bibliography] 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [3] Pottage of Oysters

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[p2]

[3] Pottage of Oysters.  Open the oysters carefully, save all the liquor, to a pint of Oysters & their Liquor take a pint of watter, a pint of hard wine, a pint of strong Gravie of Mutton, a whole onion, a race of ginger, a bundle of sweet herbs, a Nutmeg grated, & some Bruised peper, & sault, a few chips of bread, when it hath boyled a while, take out the Onion herbs & spice, thicken it with the yolk of an Egg & a litle more gravie of Mutton. Thou may scrape in a spoonfull of paremes and [parmesan] Cheese, & take some Other Oisters & fri them like fritters to garnish the dish & to lay alover [all over] the Pottage, if you have Crawfish it will make so much the Better.

This is the last of the oyster recipes - at least for a bit.  So far the one thing we can tell about Merryell Williams is that she (or someone she liked) really liked oysters, otherwise why would they be the subject of the first three recipes she copied into the book?

We're on slightly stronger ground here that with the previous two as oyster pottage recipes aren't as uncommon.  That said, the three recipes from the more common medieval sources aren't much like Williams'.

For to make potage of oysturs. Perboyle þyn oysturs and take hom oute. Kepe welle þy bre with outen doute, And hakke hom on a borde full smalle, And bray in a morter þou schalle. Do hom in hor owne brothe for goode, Do mylke of almondes þer to by þe rode, And lye hit up with amydone, And frye smalle mynsud onyone In oyle, or sethe hom in mylke þou schalle. Do powdur þerto of spyces withalle, And coloure hit þenne with safron gode. Hit is holden restoratyf fode.  ["Liber cure cocorum" / Sloane MS 1986 (England, 1430)]

To mak potage of oystirs parboile your oystirs and tak them up and kep the brothe then chap them smale upon a bord and bet them in a mortair then put them in ther own brothe agayne put ther to almond mylk alay it up with amydon and mynced onyons worte or in mylk sethe it and do it to good poudure and colour yt with saffron and serue it.  [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

To make Potage of Ostyrs. Recipe ostyrs & perbole þam in fayr water, þan tak þam oute; þan schop þam small & bray þam in a morter; þan cast þam into þat same broth & put þerto almond mylk & amydon & myncyd onyons & bole all þise togydre; þan put in powdyr of gynger & colour it with saferon, & serof it forth.  ["Thomas Awkbarow's Recipes" / MS Harley 5401 (England, 15th century)]

Turning to the later sources I checked in the preceding recipes, the closest I could find were the following:

A Ragoo of Oysters.  Put into your Stew-pan a quarter of a pound of Butter, let it boil, then take a quart of Oysters, strain them from their Liquor, and put them to the Butter; let them stew with a bit of Eschalot shred very fine, and some grated Nutmeg, and a little Salt; then beat the yolks of three or four Eggs with the Oyster-liquor and half a pound of Butter, and shake all very well together till 'tis thick, and serve it up with Sippets, and garnish with sliced Lemon.  [The Compleat Housewife (England, 1729)]

To make Sause for Wild-Fowl. Take half a Pint of Claret, a little Oyster- liquor, a little Gravy, and three or four Shalots; let it boil a quarter of an Hour, with a little Grated Bread, and put to it two Anchovies minced, and a little Butter, and shake it well together, and put it to your Fowl, being Roasted, and serve them up.   [England's Newest Way in All Sorts of Cookery, H. Howard (1708)]

Of course neither of these are quite what we're looking for.  So far I'm not doing very well at finding predecessors for the recipes.  We'll have to see what comes after the oysters.

[Bibliography] 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [2] Oyster Sausages

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[2] Oyster Sausages.  Take a quart of large Oysters & Parboyle them and then let it be Cold. Then chop them with sage and sweet herbs very fine, then grate the yolks of hard Eaggs, and 4 or 5 Anchovies & a litle grated bread, peper, nutmeg, and a few Cloves beaten very small then work it up together, with 2 pound of the best suet, shreded very fine.

Here we have another weird oyster recipe.  The first thing I did was check The Compleat Housewife, but that would have just been too easy.

There is a recipe for oyster sausages in Modern Cookery for Private Families (Eliza Acton, 1859), but it surprisingly calls for cayenne and does not include sage.

OYSTER SAUSAGES. Beard, rinse well in their strained liquor, and mince but not finely, three dozens and a half of plump native oysters, and mix them with ten ounces of fine bread-crumbs, and ten of beef-suet chopped extremely small ; add a saltspoonful of salt, and one of pepper, or less than half the quantity of cayenne, twice as much pounded mace, and the third of a small nutmeg grated : moisten the whole with two unbeaten eggs, or with the yolks only of three, and a dessertspoonful of the whites. When these ingredients have been well worked together, and are perfectly blended, set the mixture in a cool place for two or three hours before it is used ; make it into the form of small sausages or sausage-cakes, flour and fry them in butter of a fine light brown; throw them into boiling water for three minutes, drain, and let them become cold, dip them into egg and bread-crumbs, and broil them gently until they are lightly coloured. A small bit should be cooked and tasted before the whole is put aside, that the seasoning may be heightened if required. The sausages thus made are extremely good : the lingers should be well floured in making them up.

 

I found several early and modern recipes for oyster sausages that were much simpler than the one above, but the majority of those were made for pork and oysters.

Most interestingly, I couldn't find any other recipes for oyster sausages that included sage. 

[Bibliography] 

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes (Peniarth MS 513D) - [1] Oyster Loaves

It's been a very long time since I've posted here - sorry about that.  The past few years have been interesting for us all.

Thanks to Johnna Holloway, I've learned of this late 17th century Welsh manuscript.  It's not properly medieval in itself, but after skimming through the recipes I have the distinct impression that many of them were copied from a pre-1600 CE source.  That suggests to me that it could be a very useful resource, especially given the scarcity of Welsh sources.

With that in mind I'm starting a new project of transcribing the manuscript.  I'll be posting entries for it here as often as I can, and eventually will make the transcription available for reading and searching on the website.

----

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes

Peniarth MS 513D

This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, letters like thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

[p1]

[1] Oyster Loaves.  Take a dozen of good oysters & Clean them as usuall, then boyl them in their own liquor till they be enough to Pickle, then take a fair Sweet Breed of veal, and Boyle it in water till it be enough to be eaten, but rather under than over boylid, your oysters must be under done,. When the sweet Breeds and osters be thus boyled shred the Sweetbreed into small squares about the bigness of French bean, & take the finns from the osters and put em altogether and grate over them half a nutmeg or more, and sprinkle also over them two penny-worth of Capers shreed as small as Dust, & a reasonable quantity of Peper & Salt according to your Palat and let them stand by, then take a Quarter of a Bint [pint?] of Gravie that is good and stronge. And shred into it half a Midling Oster, and half an Anchovie, & put it over a Gentle fire, till the anchovie be disolved then strain the gravie from the Onion into a Sauce-pan, to which put a quarter of a pound of fresh butter & shack it about the pan till be Melted thick, & then put in your prepared Oysters & Sweet Breeds and Sturr them Gently together till they be well mixt & put them by till the loaves be fryed as followeth.  Take 4 New French Rowles, & cut a peice Neatly out of the top of Each, No bigger than that your finger & thumb will jest goe in, & carefully take out all the crumbs as close as can, not to breake through the sides, when you thus ordered the Loaves, Gett a narrow Skellet barely wide enough for a loaffe to goe Cleverly in, & so turned, & putt into it a pound of fresh Butter without any watter and lett it boyle a litle, scuming it clean from the Butter-Milk, into the Boyling butter, put first one Rowle, And lett it take One or two turns Rounds, turning it that Each side may be fryed then take it up & lay it upon a plate to drain, the hole downwards & then put in another, till the Loaves be all fryed, & att last putt in the Bitts, that you cut out, and when they be Enough lay em to Drain, as the loaves. Then take your Loaves and fill them with your Oysters with a sweet-meat spoon, taking care that every part be full, & Close them with the piese, when you would Eat them, you must put them in an oven Moderatly hott for about a quarter of an hour themselves, Or with roasted fowles.

While I stated in the introduction that many of the recipes in this book seem like they were copied from an earlier source, this is not one of those recipes.  In fact, I couldn't find anything quite like this recipe in my usual collection of sources.

Oysters that are boiled and then pan-fried in butter?  No problem!

Add in Sweetbreads that have been similarly treated?  Sure ... wait, what?

Mix with gravy, anchovies, and onion juice?  Uh ...

Stuff into rolls that have been hollowed out and fried in butter?  ... I give up.

Both sweetbreads - and to a lesser degree, oysters - have fallen out of fashion in the past century or so.  That means that even though I've come across a lot of recipes for them in early cookbooks, I'm not likely to cook them (my family of taste-testers only have so much patience).  So I expected to find something at least vaguely close to this recipe.

Nope.  There was nothing similar in the online medieval sources, so I turned to my collection of print books.  Nothing there either.

I finally found a clue to the origin of this recipe when I came across this one for an oyster and sweetbread casserole.  It's attributed to Recipes of Early America by Helen Duprey, published in 1967 by Heirloom Publishing Co., New York.

It appears that Helen Duprey was also known as Helen Duprey Bullock, and that some of (all?) the recipes in Recipes of Early America may have come from The Williamsburg Art of Cookery, printed for Colonial Williamsburg in 1938.  That book includes the note: 

"Even as many of the recipes which it contains are taken or adapted from the first American cook book, which was printed at Williamsburg in 1742 by William Parks, so is this volume a typographical adaptation from Parks' The compleat housewife, or, Accomplish'd gentlewoman's companion." - A note to the reader, p. [275]

There are multiple editions of The Compleat Housewife: or Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion available online - a source I've been only vaguely aware of up until now because I'm pretty strongly focused on pre-1600 sources.  Sure enough, on page 10 of the 1729 edition (printed in London) the following recipe is given:

To Stew Oysters in French Rolls.  Take a quart of large Oysters; wash them in their own Liquor, and strain it, and put them in it with a little Salt, some Pepper, Mace, and sliced Nutmeg; let the Oysters stew a little with all these things, and thicken them up with a great deal of Butter; then take six French Rolls, cut a piece off the top, and take out the Crum, and take your Oysters boiling hot, and fill the Rolls full, and set them near the fire on a Chafing-dish of Coals, and let them be hot through, and as the Liquor soaks in, fill them up with more, if you have 'em, or some hot Gravy: So serve them up instead of a Pudding.

While there's no mention of sweetbreads, it's still pretty clearly the same recipe.  An interesting side note here: the use of the word "em" near the end of that recipe is actually telling as it appears multiple times in the Merryell recipe (which I expanded from the common contraction, 'em).

[update: 23-7-2022]

While looking for versions of the subsequent recipe, I came across the recipe below:

61. Oyfler Loaves.  Take French Rowls, cut a little hole on the Tops as big as half a Crown ^ then take out all the Crumb, but don’t break the Cruft off the Loaf: then stew some Oysters in their own Liquor, a blade of Mace, a little whole Pepper, Salt, Nutmeg and a little White-wine : skum it very well, and thicken it with a piece of Butter rowled up in Flour : then fill up the Rowls with it, and put on the piece again that you cut off: then put the Rowls in a Mazerene-dish, and melt Butter and pour it into them, let them in your Oven till crisp : let the Oven be as hot as for Orange-pudding.  [England's Newest Way in All Sorts of Cookery, H. Howard (1708)]

[Bibliography]