That's Not Mrs Beaton! - Medieval English Cookery Quiz

Answer: Garlic

"Pill garlec and cast it in a pot with water and oile and seeŝ it, do ŝerto safroun, salt, and powdour fort and dresse it forth hool".

Aquapatys was a dish, served hot, consisting of cloves or bulbs of garlic that had been first boiled and then simmered in a mixture of water and oil and which was then seasoned using saffron, salt and pepper before being served.

Ignoring the fact that Aquapatys makes an appearance in a cook book written for the King of England, the use of saffron in this dish demonstrates quite clearly that Aquapatys was something that would only ever be encountered in a wealthy household.

Answer: Swan

Also known as Chawdron or Chawd-wine, this pouring sauce, Chawdoun for Swannes, is a type of giblet gravy and although it was a principally an accompaniment to Swan, it was served with other species of game birds and waterfowl.

The recipe method instructs the chef to simmer the fat and giblets of the swan, remove any bones such as those in the neck and chop the flesh into small pieces. Form a layer of bread in a dish and soak with wine and the salted blood of the swan. Season with pepper, salt and cloves, add the chopped giblets and sauce and serve with the roasted bird.

Answer: Blancmange

A far cry from what we refer to as blancmange today, in the 14th and 15th centuries 'blank maunger' was a hearty savoury pot dish with a hint of aniseed to add a little sweetness and depth of flavour. The dish was fashionable and highly favoured during this period as it was said to symbolise purity.

Comfits are small confections more familiar to us today in the form of liquorice torpedoes. For many centuries these small candies were made using dried fruits, nuts and other spices, aniseed being particularly popular, although they were also prepared using coriander and caraway seeds. Confections known as kissing comfits appeared during the 16th and 17th centuries and were used as breath fresheners using ingredients such as musk and ambergris as flavourings.

Answer: Pork

"Take Oynouns and erbes and hewe hem small and do ŝes to gode broth and aray it as ŝou didest caboches. If ŝey be in fyssh day make on the same maner with water and oyle and if it be not in Lent alye it with zolkes of Eyren and dresse it forth and cast ŝer to powdour douce".

Also known as Herbelade, the ingredients for this dish varied as to whether it was being prepared during the week or on a Friday or religious holiday especially during Lent when both meat and fish were substituted with 'zolkes of eyren' or egg yolks but in the main Herbolace was made using minced pork.

In the recipe you may have also noticed the term 'caboches' which was the medieval English word used to describe cabbage leaves, implying that Herbolace was a form of stuffed leaf of the type that would be encountered today in the dish known as dolmades.

Answer: True

"Take gode broth and do in an erthen pot, take flour of payndemayn and make ŝerof past with water. And make ŝerof thynne foyles as paper with a roller, drye it harde and seeŝ it in broth take Chese ruayn grated and lay it in disshes with powdour douce. And lay ŝeron loseyns isode as hoole as ŝou mizt and above powdour and chese, and so twyse or thryse, and serue it forth."

There is no disputing the fact that Loseyns as a dish bears a great resemblance to Lasagne, although this dish is not as recent a development as we think; similar dishes are known to have existed as far back as the time of the Roman Empire in the 1st Century CE. Similarly, it is also believed that the name of this dish stems from the earlier Lossenges which was made with distinctly shaped pasta sheets.

Answer: Consistency

"Take benes and seeŝ hem and grynde hem in a morter and drawe hem up with gode broth an do Oynouns in the broth grete mynced an do ŝerto and colour it with Safroun and serue it forth."

In old English the term 'drawen' was believed to have referred to its very thick consistency. The recipe itself requires the chef to grind soaked beans add them to stock which is then thickened using roughly chopped onions and finally coloured and flavoured with saffron.

Answer: Cherries

This pudding or sweet dessert known as Chireseye was a cold puree of cherries blended with wine, butter and sugar which was thickened with breadcrumbs. A modern version of this dish is known as Ripe Tart which takes its name from the village of Ripe in the southern county of Sussex. Ripe Tart is very similar in appearance to the modern Bakewell Tart, the stoned cherries enveloped and baked in a batter made from sugar, egg and ground almonds. Chireseye was usually served decorated with edible flowers; in the case of the 'Forme of Cury' recipe these being clove gilly-flowers. It is certain that back in the fourteenth century, an ingredient as exotic and expensive as clove gilly-flowers would have been imported from the Near East, with the most likely source being Turkey.

The recipe continues: "Feyr gres or boter and bred of wastrel ymyid and of sugur a good party and a portion of wine and wan it is well ysodyn and ydressyd in dyschis, stik therein clowis of Gilofr and strew ther'on sugur."

Answer: Hawthorn

This simple but very flavoursome dessert is a combination of almond milk, breadcrumbs, honey and sugar. The hawthorn flowers with which this dish was decorated on serving were usually arranged in such a way as to resemble a rose flower and have been described as having a very subtle apple-like flavour... I have prepared this dish in accordance with this recipe and it tastes delicious!

"Take and make good thick Almond milk as tofore, and do therein of flour of hawthorn and make it as a rose and serue it forth."

Answer: Hedgehog

Careful scrutiny of the method and the positioning of the almonds may have provided a clue to the answer to this question. The description of the prepared almonds, cut long and sharp resemble the spines found on the Hedgehog, everybody's favourite garden visitor.

"Take groundyn Porke, and knede it with Spicerye, with pouder Gyngere, Salt and Sugre; ŝen sewe hem with a fayre ŝrede, and putte hem in a Spete as men don piggys; take blaunchid Almaundys, kerf hem long, smal, scharpe. Prykke ŝe yrchons, putte in ŝe holes ŝe Almaundys. Ley hem ŝen to ŝe fyre; when ŝey ben rostid, dore hem sum wyth Whete Flowre, & mylke of Almaundys an serue forth."

Answer: Chewetes

Chewetes or Chewitts were tiny, single mouthful pies that were prepared using a variety of fillings. As with Herbolace, the filling would have been dependent on the day of the week or on the religious calendar.

Recipes for a 'fleshe day' required the chef to "take there meat of Pork and carve it all to pieces and hens therewith and do it in a pan and fry it and make a coffin as to a pie small and do therein. Do thereupon yolks of eggs, hard, powder of ginger and salt, cover it and fry it in grease. Otherwise bake it well and serve it forth."

On those 'fysshe days' the method was very similar; the greater part of the filling consisted of Turbot, Haddock, Codling or Hake flavoured with dates, raisins, pepper and salt. On occasion these little fish pies might also be stewed or baked in a mixture of wine, sugar and ginger before being served.