"Ye be welcome. Wyll it please youe to sytt or stonde be the fyre a litell while? The nyghtes be prety and colde now. A roste apple ye shall have, and fenell seede. Mor we wyl not promyse youe."
A Fifteenth Century Schoolbook, p. 74, no. 307
A Boke of Gode Cookery is James Matterer's collection of Medieval recipes which he has translated and adapted for the modern cook. James has been preparing Medieval food since 1979 and has been working from period sources and creating his own contemporay redactions since 1989. Each recipe here is derived from his own personal experience in the recreation of that dish.
Each recipe contains the original documented Medieval version, followed by James' modern translation and redaction, along with notes and a bibliography of the period source. See his web page for the links to metric, celsius, & gas mark equivalencies for measurements & temperatures.
A: Clarrey. Take kanel & galinga, greyns de paris, and a lytel peper, & make pouder, & temper hit wyt god wyte wyne & the thrid perte honey & ryne hit thorow a cloth.
Claret. Take cinnamon & galingale, grains of paradise, and a little pepper, & make powder, & mix it with good white wine & the third part honey & run it through a cloth.
· 1 bottle (750 mll) of an inexpensive, sweet white wine
· 1 -2 cups honey
· 1 tbs. each cinnamon, galingale (or substitute ginger), & cardamon
· 1 tsp. white pepper
· cheesecloth
Bring the wine and honey to a boil; reduce heat & skim off the scum as it rises. Taste for sweetness; add honey as necessary. Remove from heat, stir in spices, and allow to sit covered for 24 hours. After sitting, the spices will create a thick residue which will settle to the bottom. Using a ladle, pass the wine into another container through a strainer lined with 2 or 3 layers of cheesecloth to remove the spices, being careful to leave as much of the spice residue in the pot as possible. Bottle. Make at least 1 month before serving. A good Clarrey aged for a year or more is exquisite!
Clarrey was wine to which honey and spices were added; the name comes from the Latin vinum claratum, which means "clarified wine." The name survives today as claret, a dry, red wine
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In the Middle Ages, animal milk was, of course, not refrigerated, and fresh milk did not stay fresh for long. Most cooks simply did not use much milk as the short shelf-life of the product made it a difficult ingredient to depend upon. Many recipe collections of the time advise that cooks should only rely on milk that comes directly from a cow, something not possible at all times, and purchasing milk was a dubious practice, for streetsellers of milk often sold wares that were either spoiled or diluted with water. Milk's use had to be immediate, in cooking or by turning into cheese & butter. It was these difficulties that forced Medieval cooks to look upon milk with great reluctance, and so having milk in the kitchen was usually unheard of.
Rather than animal milk, Medieval cooks turned to something they could depend upon, and that was the milky liquid produced by grinding almonds or walnuts. This liquid, high in natural fats, could be prepared fresh whenever needed in whatever quantities. It also could be made well ahead of time and stored with no danger of degeneration. Because of its high fat content, it, like animal milk, could be churned into butter, and because it was not animal milk, it could be used and consumed during Church designated meatless days.
Almond milk was used extensively in period; all existing cookbooks call for it, and it must have been found in literally every Medieval kitchen. It's the prime ingredient in many, many recipes, and the modern cook recreating Medieval food will have to learn its production in order to prepare the most common of dishes. Fortunately, it's easily made. I prefer the recipe of Terence Scully, as printed in Le Viandier de Taillevent, p. 315:
1 cup ground almonds
2 cups boiling water
Combine almonds and water. Steep for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sieve the mixture to remove coarse grains OR (preferably) blend mixture in electric blender until grains are absorbed. Yield - 2 cups almond milk
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A WASSAIL ( Traditional Yuletide drink))
1 pint grape juice
1 six oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 cups water
1 tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 bottle Sauterne
red food coloring (optional)
orange slices (for garnish)
whole cloves (for garnish)
Combine all ingredients except Sauterne in large saucepan; heat almost to simmering. Add Sauterne and continue to heat, but do not boil. Red food coloring may be added if desired. Adorn orange slices with cloves; place Wassail in a heat-proof punch bowl and garnish with the orange. Serve at once. Serves up to 12.
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An Olde Fashioned Mead (Russian)
18 liters water
8 kg. honey
1 package champagne yeast
1/2 cup ale or beer
crust of one roll
1 tsp. hops
4 gr. cardamon
1 1/2 gr. cloves
Mix water & honey; boil on low heat until reduced to 9 liters. Remove from burner and cool. Completely dissolve the yeast in the ale or beer. Remove the crust from the roll, soak in the beer yeast and put into mead. Add hops. Remove roll 1 hour after fermentation begins. Strain mead and pour into a keg. Add the spices wrapped in cheesecloth. Seal keg well and store in cold place (on ice or vault) for 12 days. Bottle, seal, tar (gum or wax) and store in cold place. Ready to serve in 2 months.
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GLUG
First brewed by the Wizard's Guild of Rhydderich Hael, members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
1 gallon dry red wine
1 lb. raisins
3 cups sugar
1 qt. whiskey
3 cinnamon sticks
24 cloves
24 crushed cardamon pods
Place cinnamon sticks, cloves, and cardamon in a cheesecloth sack. Bring all ingredients except whiskey to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool before adding whiskey. Leave the bag of spices in for 12 hours; remove and bottle.
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Potus Ypocras.
Take a half lb. of canel tried; of gyngyuer tried, a half lb.; of greynes, iii unce; of longe peper, iii unce; of clowis, ii unce; of notemugges, ii unce & a half; of carewey, ii unce; of spikenard, a half unce; of galyngale, ii unce; of sugir, ii lb. Si deficiat sugir, take a potel of honey.
Hipocras Drink. Take a half lb. of cinnamon; of ginger, a half ib.; of grains of paradise, 2 ounces; of long pepper, 3 ounces; of cloves, 2 ounces; of nutmeg, 2 ounces and a half; of caraway, 2 ounces; of spikenard, a half ounce; of galingale, 2 ounces; of sugar, 2 lb. If there is no sugar, use 2 quarts of honey.
1 bottle (750 mll) of an inexpensive, sweet red or white wine
1 - 1 1/2 cups sugar (OR: 1 - 2 cups honey)
1 tbs. each of ginger, cinnamon, cardamon, white pepper, clove, nutmeg, & caraway seed
cheesecloth
Bring the wine and sugar or honey to a boil; if using honey, skim off the scum as it rises. Taste for sweetness; add honey or sugar as necessary. Remove from heat, stir in spices, and allow to sit covered for 24 hours. After sitting, the spices will create a thick residue which will settle to the bottom. Using a ladle, pass the wine into another container through a strainer lined with 2 or 3 layers of cheesecloth to remove the spices, being careful to leave as much of the spice residue in the pot as possible. Bottle. Make at least 1 month before serving. The older it is, the better.
Ypocras was a very popular Medieval beverage, and many different directions for preparation still exist. Also called Hipocris, the drink is named after the famous physician Hippocrates.
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