Medieval Braised Greens in Beef Broth - Lange Wortys de Chare

Medieval braised greens in beef broth with saffron and bread-thickened pottage

Lange Wortys de Chare, medieval braised greens simmered in beef broth and thickened with bread.

Much like Caboges, this dish of mixed greens braised in beef broth is far better than it appears at first reading.

A simple dish of greens? No. This is kale and collards, or other sturdy greens, first parboiled, then simmered again with beef, marrow bones, saffron, salt, and grated white bread. The result is not a sad little bowl of boiled leaves. It is a savory, bread-thickened pottage with rich broth clinging to the greens.

At a glance: This is a 15th-century English greens recipe from Harleian MS 279. The greens are cooked twice, enriched with beef broth and marrow bones, seasoned with saffron and salt, and thickened with grated white bread.

That is what medieval cooks did so well. They took humble ingredients and gave them structure, seasoning, fat, and patience.

What Is Lange Wortys de Chare?

Lange Wortys de Chare appears in Harleian MS 279, a 15th-century English cookery manuscript edited by Thomas Austin in Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. The title may be understood as long wortes, or leafy greens, cooked with flesh. In this case, the flesh is beef with marrow bones.

This recipe belongs to the same family of medieval greens and vegetable pottages as Medieval Wortys, Lange Wortes de Pesoun, Joutes, Whyte Wortes, and Caboges.

Why Did Medieval Cooks Boil Greens Twice?

This recipe asks the cook to parboil the greens first, then cook them again in the beef broth. That may sound redundant, but it is an important part of the method.

Many sturdy greens, especially members of the brassica family such as kale, collards, cabbage leaves, and mustard greens, can be bitter or tough. The first boiling softens them and removes some harshness. The second cooking gives them flavor. Plain water takes something away; broth gives something back.

Kitchen lesson: The first boil tames the greens. The second boil feeds them. This is the difference between plain boiled greens and a medieval pottage worth serving.

That is still good kitchen sense. Modern cooks do similar things with collards, kale, mustard greens, and other bitter greens when they simmer them with stock, fat, smoked meat, or seasoning. Medieval cooks were not merely enduring greens. They were making them delicious.

Caboges and Lange Wortys: Cousins in the Pot

Caboges and Lange Wortys de Chare use nearly the same technique. Both recipes begin by parboiling the vegetable, then cooking it again in broth with marrow or marrow bones. Both use saffron and salt. Both are thickened with grated bread.

The difference is the vegetable. Caboges uses cabbage. Lange Wortys de Chare uses leafy greens. If Caboges is the cabbage cousin, Lange Wortys de Chare is the earthier, greener sibling.

What Greens Can You Use?

I used a mixture of kale and collards, which works beautifully. Both are sturdy greens and fit well with the medieval idea of wortes or coleworts. Other good choices include mustard greens, turnip greens, beet greens, cabbage leaves, or a mixture of bitter and mild greens.

I would avoid using only tender spinach unless you want a very soft result. Spinach cooks quickly and does not behave like kale or collards in a long simmer. This recipe wants greens with some backbone.

Best modern greens: kale, collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, beet greens, cabbage leaves, or a mixed pot of sturdy bitter greens.

For a deeper discussion of medieval wortes, coleworts, and the brassica family, see my post on Medieval Wortys.

Why Add Bread to Braised Greens?

The manuscript calls for a loaf of white bread to be grated into the pot. This is not filler. Bread was one of the great medieval thickeners, used in sauces, soups, stews, and pottages. Grated white bread dissolves into hot broth and gives it body, turning thin cooking liquid into something soft, rich, and spoonable.

For modern cooks, day-old manchet or another fine white bread is ideal. It grates better than fresh bread and thickens the broth more smoothly. Add it slowly, stirring well, because bread clumps are stubborn little gremlins.

Why This Dish Belongs at a Feast

Greens were inexpensive, useful, and widely available, but this recipe is not plain poverty food. Beef, marrow bones, saffron, white bread, and the labor of cooking the greens twice all raise the dish. It is budget-friendly compared with showier meats, but still rich enough to belong on a feast table.

This would be an excellent dish for an SCA feast. It is affordable, flexible, and deeply period in technique. It can be served brothier or thicker, lighter on the greens or packed with them. Greens cook down dramatically. A great heap becomes a much smaller pot. That is what greens do.

Greens and Humoral Balance in the Medieval Kitchen

Medieval cooks did not think about food only in terms of flavor. Food was also understood through the lens of humoral theory, in which ingredients were believed to possess qualities such as hot, cold, moist, or dry. Leafy greens were often considered cooling and moistening foods, useful in balancing richer or warmer dishes.

Yet greens could also be viewed as difficult if eaten raw or prepared poorly. This may help explain the careful treatment in recipes such as Lange Wortys de Chare. First the greens are parboiled, softening harshness and bitterness. Then they are cooked again in rich beef broth with marrow and saffron, ingredients associated with warmth, nourishment, and comfort. Bread thickens and softens the dish further, creating something more balanced and sustaining.

Humoral note: The greens begin as cooling, moist, and potentially harsh. The broth, marrow, saffron, and bread transform them into a warmer, richer, more sustaining pottage.

In other words, medieval cooks were not simply boiling vegetables. They were transforming them into food considered more agreeable to the body as well as the table.

Historic Recipe

The recipe below is from Thomas Austin’s edition of Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Harleian MS. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1429, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55.

.j. Lange Wortys de chare. Take beeff and merybonys, and boyle yt in fayre water; þan take fayre wortys and wassche hem clene in water, and parboyle hem in clene water; þan take hem vp of þe water after þe fyrst boylyng, an cut þe leuys a-to or a-þre, and caste hem in-to þe beff, and boyle to gederys: þan take a lof of whyte brede and grate yt, an caste it on þe pot, an safron & salt, & let it boyle y-now, and serue forth.

Modern Translation

Take beef and marrow bones, and boil them in clean water. Then take good greens and wash them clean in water, and parboil them in clean water. Take them up from the water after the first boiling, cut the leaves in two or three pieces, and put them into the beef, and boil together. Then take a loaf of white bread and grate it, and add it to the pot with saffron and salt. Let it boil enough, and serve it forth.

Modern Recipe Notes

This interpretation uses kale and collards as the greens, homemade beef stock as the broth, grated bread as the thickener, and saffron as the seasoning. If you have marrow from making the stock, add it at the end so it remains visible and rich.

The original recipe begins with beef and marrow bones boiled in water. For modern kitchens, prepared beef stock is easier. Homemade stock made with marrow bones is ideal.

Wild Brassica oleracea, ancestor of cabbage, kale, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, and related greens

Wild Brassica oleracea, ancestor of many familiar greens and cabbage-family vegetables. Image originally linked from kottke.org.

Modern Recipe: Medieval Braised Greens in Beef Broth

Original Servings

Serves: 1 as a main dish, or 2 as a side dish

Ingredient List

1 to 2 large handfuls kale, collards, or mixed sturdy greens, cleaned and chopped
1 cup beef stock, preferably homemade from beef and marrow bones
2 to 3 tablespoons grated day-old manchet or fine white bread
Pinch of saffron, optional but recommended
Salt, to taste
Reserved marrow from stock bones, optional but excellent

Instructions

Bring a pot of clean water to a boil. Add the greens and parboil until they begin to soften, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Drain the greens well. Press or pat them dry with a clean towel. Greens hold more water than you think.
Gently heat the beef stock with the saffron until the broth takes on color and fragrance.
Add the drained greens to the broth and simmer until they reach your preferred tenderness. I like a little bite, so I cook them about 5 more minutes.
Add the grated bread slowly, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring well after each addition. Let each spoonful dissolve before adding the next.
Continue simmering until the broth thickens into a soft pottage or gravy-like broth.
Transfer to a serving bowl. If using marrow, add it on top while the dish is hot so it warms through.

Scaled Servings

Scaled version: Serves approximately 8 as a side dish

Scaled Ingredient List

2 to 2 1/2 pounds kale, collards, turnip greens, mustard greens, or mixed sturdy greens, cleaned and chopped
8 cups beef stock, preferably homemade from beef and marrow bones
1 1/2 cups grated day-old manchet or fine white bread, added gradually and adjusted as needed
Generous pinch of saffron, optional but recommended
Salt, to taste
Reserved marrow from stock bones, optional but excellent

Scaled Instructions

Bring a large pot of clean water to a boil. Add the greens and parboil until they begin to soften, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Drain the greens very well. Press or pat them dry to remove excess water.
In a large pot, gently heat the beef stock with the saffron until colored and fragrant.
Add the drained greens to the stock and simmer until tender.
Add the grated bread gradually, stirring well after each addition. Start with about 1 cup, then add more as needed until the broth thickens.
Continue simmering gently until the broth coats the greens.
Transfer to a serving dish. Add pieces of warm marrow on top before serving, if using.

Feast cook reminder: Greens collapse. Buy and prep more than seems reasonable. The pot will look dramatic at first, then shrink into obedience.

Scale / Print Notes

This recipe scales well, but greens shrink dramatically. Start with more greens than you think you need. A pot that looks alarmingly full at the beginning will settle into something much more reasonable after the first boil.

For feast service, the greens can be parboiled and chopped ahead of time. Finish them in the beef broth closer to service, then thicken with bread shortly before serving. If the pottage becomes too thick while holding, loosen it with additional warm broth.

Do not add all the bread at once. It is much easier to thicken gradually than to rescue a pot full of bread lumps.

Cook’s Notes

This dish can be brothier or thicker depending on your preference. If you want a spoonable pottage, use the full amount of bread. If you want braised greens with a lighter broth, use less.

If you are using marrow, add it at the end. The broth will be hot enough to warm it through, and the marrow should remain visible on the dish.

Vegetarian Adaptation

The original recipe is not vegetarian because it calls for beef and marrow bones. For a vegetable-forward adaptation, use a strong vegetable broth made with mushrooms, onions, carrots, celery, parsley, and a little miso or soy sauce for depth. Finish with olive oil or butter instead of marrow.

This is not a strict reconstruction, but it preserves the basic medieval technique: greens cooked once in water, then cooked again in a flavorful broth and thickened with bread.

A Note on Wild Greens

Many edible wild greens can be cooked in similar ways, but forage with care. Know exactly what you are picking, avoid areas treated with herbicides or other chemicals, and harvest responsibly. When in doubt, do not eat it. Medieval cooks knew their local plants; modern cooks need to be just as careful.

Serving Suggestions

Serve Lange Wortys de Chare with manchet, Rastons, roasted meats, meat pies, or other medieval pottages. It also works well as a greens dish in a feast where richer meats need something earthy and slightly bitter beside them.

More Medieval Greens and Vegetable Pottages

Frequently Asked Questions

What are medieval wortes?

Wortes are cooked greens or potherbs. In medieval recipes, the term can include brassica greens such as kale, cabbage leaves, collards, and mustard greens, but it may also include other leafy herbs and vegetables depending on the recipe.

Can I use kale or collards for Lange Wortys de Chare?

Yes. Kale and collards are excellent choices because they are sturdy greens with enough texture to survive parboiling and simmering in broth.

Why did medieval cooks boil greens twice?

The first boiling softens the greens and removes some bitterness. The second cooking in broth adds flavor and turns the greens into a richer dish.

Why is bread added to the greens?

Grated bread thickens the broth. This was a common medieval technique for making sauces, stews, and pottages more substantial.

Is this recipe vegetarian?

The original recipe is not vegetarian because it uses beef and marrow bones. A vegetarian adaptation can be made with strong vegetable broth and olive oil or butter, though that changes the historical character of the dish.

Is this similar to modern collard greens?

In spirit, yes. Both rely on sturdy greens cooked with flavorful liquid and richness. The medieval version uses beef broth, marrow, saffron, and bread rather than the seasonings common in modern southern-style greens.

How does humoral theory apply to this recipe?

Leafy greens were often considered cooling and moistening. In this recipe, they are parboiled, then enriched with beef broth, marrow, saffron, and bread, making the final dish warmer, richer, and more sustaining.

Source

Austin, Thomas, ed. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Harleian MS. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1429, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55. Early English Text Society, 1888.

This post was originally published on December 13, 2015, and has been updated with expanded historical context, clearer cooking instructions, SEO improvements, humoral notes, and additional links to related medieval greens and pottage recipes.

AI-assisted disclosure: This updated article was developed with AI assistance for organization, formatting, and editorial expansion. Historical interpretation, recipe testing, and final editorial direction remain my own.

Medieval Braised Kale and Collards in Beef Broth (Lange Wortys de Chare)