Recipes from Richard II's time, late 1300s
Tartlettes Take pork ysode and grynde it small with safronn. Medle it
with ayren and coraunce and powdor fort and salt, and make a foile of
dowhg and close the fars thereinne. Cast the tartletes in a panne with
faire water boillying and salt. Take of the clene flessh withoute ayren,
and boile it in gode broth. Cast thereto powdor-douce and salt, and messe
the tartletes in disshes and helde the sewe thereonne.
Little Tarts Take cooked pork and grind it small with saffron. Mix it with
eggs, currants, strong powder, and salt. Make a thin leaf of dough and
enclose the stuffing in it. Cast the tartlettes in a pan of boiling salted
water. Take some unspiced meat without eggs, and boil it in good broth.
Add sweet powder and salt. Divide the tartlettes into portions in dishes
and pour the broth on top.
LITTLE TARTS Serves 6
For noodle dough:
2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
about 1/4 cup cold water
1. Sift flour and salt together.
2. Make a small well in the center of the flour, and pour egg and water
into it.
3. Combine all ingredients, mixing and kneading until a smooth, elastic
dough is formed (about 10 minutes).
4. Allow dough to sit for about 20 minutes.
5. Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out halves
one at a time into sheets almost paper-thin. Dough will be elastic, and
much determination is required in this process. Your task will be eased
by allowing a section of the dough leaf to hang over the table's side as
you roll.
6. Cut each sheet of dough into about 10 or 12 rectangular pieces.
For filling and broth:
3 eggs
1/8 tsp. saffron
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch mace
10 cubebs, finely crushed
1/4 tsp. aniseed
1/8 tsp. each cloves and nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 lb. ground pork
1/3 cup currants
6 cups chicken or beef stock
1. Beat 2 eggs, spices, and salt together.
2. Blend egg mixture, pork and currants.
3. Place a teaspoon of stuffing on each piece of dough.
4. Beat the third egg. Run this "paste" along the edges of each piece
of dough. Fold dough over stuffing so edges meet. Seal by pressing
edges together.
5. Bring stock to boil. Add tartlettes and any leftover stuffing,
reducing heat to a gentle boil.
6. Cook about 10 to 12 minutes or until noodle dough reaches consistency
you enjoy in spaghetti.
Slete Soppes Take white of leeks and slyt hem and do hem to seeth in
wyne, oile and salt. Rost brede and lay in dysshes and the sew above
and serve it forth.
Slit Sops Take the white of leeks and slit them. Boil them in wine,
oil and salt. Toast bread and place it in dishes with the stew above,
and serve it forth.
SLIT SOPS Serves 2
4 medium leeks
2 tbs. butter
1 1/2 cups dry white wine or 1 cup canned consomme plus 1/2 cup wine
1/4 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper
beurre manie: 2 tbs. flour blended with 1 tb. soft butter
sops: 1 - 2 slices toast, quartered, or 1/2 cup croutons
1. Remove green tops and roots of leeks. Cut white section in half
lengthwise and once across the middle. Wash thoroughly.
2. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. Toss leeks to coat, and saute
over a gentle flame until they begin to wilt (about 5 minutes).
3. Add wine, salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer an additional 10 to
15 minutes until leeks are done.
4. Blend in beurre manie to thicken just before serving.
5. Serve in soup bowls over toast or croutons.
Muskels in Brewet Take muskels, pyke hem, seeth hem with the owne broth.
Make a lyor of crustes and vynegar; do in oynon mynced, and cast the
muskels thereto, and seeth it, and do thereto powdor with a lytel salt
and saffron. The samewise make of oysters.
Mussles in Broth Take mussles and pick them over. Boil them in their
own broth. Make a thickener of bread crusts and vinegar. Add minced
onions and then the mussels. Cook it, adding some spices, a little salt,
and saffron. Prepare oysters in the same way.
MUSSELS IN BROTH Serves 4
3 pounds mussels, scrubbed and bearded
3 cups boiling water
1 large onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs. butter
3 tbs. finely ground bread crusts
2 tsp. (or more) vinegar
salt to taste
1/2 tsp. saffron
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper or cubeb garnish: minced fresh parsley
1. Plunge mussels into boiling water. Cover and cook over high flame
just until shells open (less than a minute).
2. Remove cooked m ussels with a slotted spoon. Strain broth through
fine mesh strainer.
3. Meanwhile, saute onion and garlic in butter in a heavy skillet until
onion is transparent.
4. Return broth to a pan. Add onion and garlic, bread crusts, vinegar,
salt, saffron and pepper or cubeb. Simmer, stirring until smooth and
well blended. Check seasoning.
5. Remove mussels from shells and add them to the broth.
6. Cover and simmer about 15 seconds.
7. Serve in soup bowls, garnished with parsley.
Gourds in Potage: Take young gowrdes, pare hem, and kerve hem on pecys.
Cast hem in gode broth and do thereto a good partye of oynonns mynced.
Take pork soden. Grynde it, and alye it therewith and with yolkes of
ayren. Do thereto safronn and salt and messe it forth with podor-douce.
Gourd Soup: Take young gourds. Pare them and carve them into pieces.
Cast them into good broth, adding a good portion of minced onions. Take
cooked pork, grind it, and mix it with egg yolks. Add saffron and salt
and serve it forth with sweet powder.
GOURD SOUP Serves 6
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large onions, minced
2 tbsp. butter
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
pinch saffron
1 - 2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
2 large zucchini, sliced; 2 large cucumbers, sliced and peeled; 1 small
pumpkin or 1 large butternut squash, skinned, seeded and cubed.
1. Brown the pork with salt in a heavy skillet. Drain off excess fat and
put aside.
2. Saute onions in butter until transparent.
3. Place stock in soup pot and add pork, onions, squash, spiced, brown
sugar, and parsley. Add salt to taste.
4. Simmer covered about 10 minutes or until squash is soft but firm.
Perrey of Peson: Take peson and seeth hem saft and cover hem til thei
berst. Thenne take up hem, and cole hem thurgh a cloth; take oynons,
and mince hem, and seeth hem in the same sewe and oile therewith; cast
thereto sugar, salt, and saffron, and seeth hem wel thereafter, and serve
hem forth.
Puree of Peas: Take peas and boil them until they are soft. Cover them
until they burst. Then take them out and strain them through a cloth.
Take onions and mince them and boil them in the same stew, adding oil.
Cast on sugar, salt and saffron, and boil them well after that and serve
them forth.
PUREE OF PEAS Serves 4
3 cups chicken broth
3 pounds green peas, shelled
1 large onion, minced
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3/8 tsp. salt
3/8 tsp. saffron
optional garnish: freshly ground pepper
1. Bring chicken broth to a boil.
2. Add remaining ingredients to the broth. Cover and cook over medium
flame about 12 to 15 minutes or until peas are soft.
3. Push ingredients through the fine blade of a food mill or puree them
in a blender.
4. Return the puree to a pot and simmer to rewarm.
5. Serve in soup bowls. Garnish with a twist of freshly ground pepper if
you like.
Gele of Fysshe: Take tenches, pykes, eelys, turbut, and plays. Kerve hem
to pecys. Scalde hem and waisshe hem clene. Drye hem with a cloth. Do
hem in a pane. Do thereto half vynegar and half wyne and seeth it wel,
and take the fysshe and pyke it clene. Cole the broth thurgh a cloth into
an erthen pane. Do thereto powder of peper and safron ynowh. Lat is
seet and skym it wel whan it is ysode. Dos the grees clene. Cowche
fysshe on chargeors and cole the seww thorow a cloth onoward, and serve
it forth.
Fish Aspic: Take tench, pike, eel, turbot, and plaice. Carve them into
pieces. Scald them and wash them clean. Dry them with a cloth, and put
them into a pan. Add equal part of vinegar and wine and boil it well.
Then take the fish and pick it clean. Strain the broth through a cloth
into an earthenware pan. Add ground pepper and a good amount of saffron.
Let it boil and skim the top when it is cooked. Remove all of the grease
(from the top). Place the fish on large platters and strain the stock
through a cloth onto it, and serve it forth.
FISH ASPIC Serves 4 - 6
2 1/2 pounds of one or a combination of the following: tench, pike, eel,
turbot or plaice, cleaned (include the bones and head of at least
one fish to provide the gelatin)
1 cup white wine
1 cup vinegar or 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup fish stock if you wish to
temper the acidity
1/4 tsp. saffron
1/8 tsp. (or more) freshly ground pepper
garnish: lettuce or watercress, and raw vegetables
1. Place fish (including head) in wine and vinegar and bring to a boil in
an earthenware or porcelain pan.
2. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until fish begins to flake.
3. Remove fish from liquid. Pick over fish and discard bones and head.
Break into chunks and place fish on platter. Set aside.
4. Strain fish broth through a fine-meshed strainer or a cheesecloth.
5. Return broth to pan and add saffron and pepper. Simmer over a gentle
flame for about 15 to 20 minutes, skimming the grease off occasionally.
Check seasoning.
6. Place fish in a mold. Pour broth over it through strainer.
7. Refrigerate a few hours.
8. Unmold and serve chilled over lettuce or watercress, decorated with
vegetables.
Tart de Bry: Take a crust ynche depe in a trape. Take yolkes of ayren rawe
and chese ruayn and medle it and the yolkes together. Adn do thereto
powdor gynger, sugar, safron and salt. Do it in a trape, bake it, and
serve it forth.
Brie Tart: Take a crust an inch deep in a baking dish. Take raw egg yolks
and "ruayn" cheese (it was a fine-quality fatty cheese made from the milk
of cows that had grazed on the autumn grasses of hayfields after the
harvest)and mix it and the yolks together. Add powdered ginger, sugar,
saffron, and salt. Put it into a baking dish, bake it, and serve it forth.
BRIE TART
First variation:
8 inch uncooked pie pastry
1 pound young Brie cheese
6 egg yolks, beaten
1/8 tsp. saffron
3/4 tsp. light brown sugar
3/8 tsp. powdered ginger
salt
Second variation:
8 inch uncooked pie pastry
1/2 pound young Brie cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/8-1/4 tsp. powdered ginger
1/8 tsp. saffron
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
salt
1. Bake pie pastry at 425f for 10 minutes. Let cool.
2. Remove rind from Brie. Optional: cut rind into pieces about an inch
square and sprinkle evenly on pie crust. This will give the tart a
stronger cheese flavor.
3. Combine Brie with remaining ingredients in a blender or with an egg
beater. Add salt to taste: the amount will depend on the age of the Brie
and whether or not you use the rind. Mixture should be smooth.
4. Pour liquid into pastry shell.
5. Bake at 350f for 30 to 40 minutes or until set and brown on top.
First variation serves 8 to 10; second serves 10 to 12.
Connynges in Cyrip: Take connynges and seeth hem wel in gode broth. Take
wyne greke, and do thereto with a porcion of vynegar and floer of canell,
hoole clowes, quybibes hoole, and oother gode spices, witih raisons,
coraunce and gyngyn ypared and ymynced. Take up the conynges and smyte
hem on pecys, and cast hem into the siryppe and seeth hem a litel on the
fyre and serve it forth.
Rabbits in Syrup: Take rabbits and boil them well in good broth. Take
Greek wine and add with it a portion of vinegar and ground cinnamon, whole
cloves, whole cubebs, and other good spices with raisins, currants, and
minced, pared ginger. Take up the rabbits and smite them into pieces, and
cast them into the syrup and boil them a little on the fire and serve it
forth.
RABBITS IN SYRUP Serves 4
2 1/2 pound rabbit (or chicken) cut into pieces
1/3 cup flour seasoned with salt & pepper
3 tbs. oil
3 cups Muscatel, Vernaccia, or any sweet, heavy wine (dessert wines)
4 tbs. cider vinegar
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup currants
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. freshly minced ginger
20 cubebs, finely ground
10 cloves, finely ground (scant 1/4 tsp)
1. Dredge rabbit in seasoned flour, and brown in oil in a heavy skillet.
2. In the top of a double boiler, combine remaining ingredients. Heat
and stir until blended. Check seasoning.
3. Pour syrup over the rabbit, stirring to combine the dregs. Cover and
cook over a gentle flame for about 40 minutes or until rabbit is tender.
Tartee: Take pork ysode. Hewe it, and bray it. Do thereto ayren, raisons,
sugar, and powdor of gynger, powder-douce, and smale briddes there among
and white grece. Take prunes, safron, and salt, and make a crust in a
trape and do the fars thereinne, and bake it wel and serve it forth.
Pork Pie: Take cooked pork. Cut it into pieces and pound it. Add eggs,
raisins, sugar, powdered ginger, sweet powder, small birds, and white
grease. Take prunes, saffron, and salt, and make a crust in a baking tin.
Put the stuffing in it, and bake it well and serve it forth.
PORK PIE Serves 4 to 6
10 inch uncooked pie pastry
1 cornish hen, quail, or squab, cut into about 8 pieces
1/2 cup flour, seasoned with salt & pepper
2 tbs. oil
1 pound lean ground pork
2 eggs
1/4 cup raisins
10 prunes, minced
1 tsp. light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
3/4 tsp. salt
3/8 tsp. saffron
1/2 tsp. ground anise
1 tsp. ground fennel
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1. Bake pie pastry at 425f for 10 minutes. Let cool.
2. Dredge pieces of fowl in seasoned flour and brown in oil until golden.
3. Combine remaining ingredients. Spread about a third of the mixture on
the pie pastry. Then distribute the pieces of fowl evenly on top of it.
Use the remaining pork mixture to cover the fowl.
4. Bake at 375f for 35 minutes or until pork is brown throughout.
Sawse Madame: Take sawge, parsel, ysope and savray, quinces and peers,
garlek and grapes, and fylle the gees therewith and sowe the hole that
no greece come oute and roost hem wel, and kepe the grece that fallith
thereof. Take gallyntyne and grece and do in a possynet. When the gees
buth rosted ynouh, take and smyte hem on pecys, and that, tat is withinne,
and do it in a possynet and put thereinne wyne, if it be to thyk. Do
thereto powdor of galyngale, powdor-douce and salt, and boyle the sawse
and dresse the gees in disshes, and lay the sowe onoward.
Goose in Sauce Madame: Take sage, parsley, hyssop, savory, quinces, pears,
garlic, and grapes, and fill the goose with it. Sew the hole so that no
grease can escaep, and roast it well. Reserve the drippings. Take
galantine and grease and put them in a small pot. When the goose is
roasted enough, carve it into pieces and put the stuffing and the pieces
into a pot. Add wine if it is too thick. Add powdered galingale, sweet
powder, and salt, and boil the sauce. Arrange pieces of the goose on
dishes and place the sauce on top.
GOOSE IN SAUCE MADAME Serves 8
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