Auter Brawn en Peuerade | Medieval Pork Pottage with Pepper Sauce (Harleian MS 279)

Auter Brawn en Peuerade, a medieval pork pottage with pepper sauce from Harleian MS 279.

Originally published March 14, 2016. Updated June 24, 2026 with expanded historical notes, feast placement discussion, color theory context, internal links, and a copy-friendly modern reconstruction.

Auter Brawn en Peuerade, or "another brawn in pepper sauce," is a fifteenth-century English pork pottage from Harleian MS 279. It combines pork, onions, broth, wine, vinegar, pepper, saffron, and warming spices into a richly colored dish that sits somewhere between a stew, a sauce, and a medieval pottage.

This recipe is especially useful because it appears alongside another version of Brawn en Peuerade. The earlier version is based more heavily on wine, while this "auter" version begins with a strong broth of beef or capon. Together, the two recipes show how medieval cooks could adapt the same flavor family to different ingredients, textures, and service styles.

Why this belongs with the pottages: Although the dish contains sliced pork, the meat is cooked and served in a seasoned liquid thickened with bread, wine, and vinegar. It is not a dry roasted, fried, grilled, or baked meat dish. This is best understood as a Pottages & First Course Dishes recipe.

What Is Peverade?

The word peuerade, or peverade, refers to a peppered sauce or broth. Pepper sauces appear throughout medieval European cookery, often combining sharp, sweet, and warm flavors. In this recipe, the pepper is supported by cinnamon, cloves, mace, vinegar, wine, saffron, and saunders. The result is not simply "hot" in the modern chili-pepper sense. Instead, it is aromatic, warming, sharp, and savory.

This makes Auter Brawn en Peuerade a useful comparison to recipes such as Fylettys en Galentyne, another highly seasoned medieval meat preparation where sauce is essential to the identity of the dish.

What Is Brawn?

Modern readers often associate brawn with head cheese or pressed meat, but in medieval English usage the word could refer more broadly to flesh suitable for cooking, especially pork or boar. Wild boar was highly valued, but modern pork is a practical and accessible substitute for most home kitchens.

Pork appears frequently in medieval and historical cooking because pigs were useful, efficient animals. They could be raised in woodland margins, fed on scraps and mast, and preserved as bacon, ham, sausage, or salted meat. For more pork-centered historical recipes, see Brawn with Mustard, Thus You Must Roast a Pig, and Petaso Paro Mustacei.

The Original Recipe

The original source may be found in Thomas Austin's edition of Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books: Harleian MS 279 (ab. 1430), Harleian MS 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS 1429, Laud MS 553, and Douce MS 55.

.xxxij. Auter brawn en peuerade. Take myghty brothe of Beef or of Capouu, an thenne take clene Freysshe Brawn, an sethe it, but not y-now; An jif it be Freysshe Brawn, roste it, but not I-now, an than leche it in pecys, an caste it to the brothe. An thanne take hoole Oynonys, and pylle hem, an thanne take Vynegre ther-to, and Canelle, and sette it on the fyre, an draw yt thorw a straynoure, and caste ther-to; then take Clowys, Maces, an powder Pepyr, an caste ther-to, and a lytil Saunderys, an sette it on the fyre, an let boyle tylle the Oynonys an the Brawn ben euyne sothyn, an nowt to moche; than take lykoure y-mad of Bred an Vinegre an Wyne, an sesyn it vp, an caste ther-to Saffroun to make the coloure bryth, an Salt, an serue it forth.

Translation

Take strong broth of beef or capon, and then take clean fresh brawn and boil it, but not completely. If it is fresh brawn, roast it, but not completely, and then slice it in pieces and add it to the broth. Then take whole onions and peel them. Add vinegar and cinnamon, set it over the fire, strain it, and add it to the broth. Then add cloves, mace, powdered pepper, and a little saunders. Set it on the fire and let it boil until the onions and brawn are evenly cooked, but not overcooked. Then take a thickening made of bread, vinegar, and wine, season it, add saffron to brighten the color, add salt, and serve it forth.

How This Version Differs from Brawn en Peuerade

The earlier Brawn en Peuerade recipe relies on wine as the primary cooking liquid. This "other" version begins with a strong broth, then uses wine and vinegar as part of the thickening. That changes the character of the dish. The wine-based version is richer and sharper, while this broth-based version is rounder, softer, and closer to what most modern cooks would recognize as a stew or soup.

The bread thickening is also important. Rather than making a thin broth, the cook is instructed to season the dish with a mixture of bread, vinegar, and wine. This gives body to the liquid and helps the sauce cling to the pork and onions. The final dish should not be watery, but it should not be stiff either. It belongs in that medieval middle ground where sauce, broth, and pottage meet.

Saunders, Saffron, and Medieval Color Theory

Modern cooks are often surprised to find saunders, or red sandalwood, in medieval recipes. Saunders contributes a faint woody note, but its primary purpose is color. When simmered in liquid, it gives a reddish or ruddy hue. Saffron, added near the end, brightens the color and adds its own golden warmth.

Medieval cooks cared deeply about color. Food was not only meant to taste good. It was meant to look impressive, costly, and carefully made. Red, gold, green, white, and black foods all had places on the medieval table, and cooks used ingredients such as saunders, saffron, parsley, alkanet, and almond milk to create visual contrast.

Did you know? Saunders behaves almost like a medieval food dye. It adds far more color than flavor, making it useful in sauces, pottages, and feast dishes where appearance mattered. For more on this topic, see The Importance of Color in Medieval Cooking.

A Medieval Cook's View

From a humoral perspective, pork was often considered cold and moist. The generous use of pepper, cinnamon, cloves, mace, wine, vinegar, and saffron would have helped balance those qualities with warming and drying ingredients. Whether every diner thought consciously in medical terms is impossible to say, but recipes like this one show how medieval cooking often combined flavor, digestion, color, and bodily balance in the same dish.

This also helps explain why the dish works so well. Pork can be rich and heavy, but the vinegar, wine, and pepper cut through that richness. The onions add sweetness, the bread thickens the sauce, and the broth carries everything together.

Modern Reconstruction

Auter Brawn en Peuerade
Medieval pork pottage with pepper sauce

Serves: 1 as a hearty meal, or 2 as a first course or side portion
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup strong broth, beef, chicken, capon, or a 50/50 mixture
• 1/4 pound roasted or cooked pork, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/3 cup pearl onions, peeled
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 whole cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon mace
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon saunders, red sandalwood, culinary grade if available
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons red wine
• 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
• Pinch of saffron
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Warm the broth in a small saucepan with the saffron and saunders until the liquid begins to take on a ruddy color.
2. Add the pork, onions, cinnamon stick, cloves, mace, and pepper.
3. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the onions are tender and the pork is heated through.
4. Meanwhile, combine the bread crumbs, red wine, and red wine vinegar in a small bowl. Let them soak until softened.
5. Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves from the broth.
6. Stir the soaked bread mixture into the pot and simmer until the broth thickens to a pottage-like consistency.
7. Salt to taste and serve warm.

Cook's Notes

This is a wonderful soup-like pottage and has gone onto my "must serve at a future event" list, whether for a luncheon or a feast. The sliced pork in my original version was a little difficult to eat, so in the future I would cut the pork into bite-sized cubes instead. That small change would make the dish easier to serve and eat, especially in a feast setting.

I would also consider increasing the wine slightly for a sharper version, though the broth-based version has a lovely balance of savory, peppery, and gently acidic flavors. The pepper adds a very pleasant bite without overwhelming the dish.

Serving This at Feast

This dish would work especially well as part of a first course or pottage service. It is substantial enough to feel satisfying, but still wet and spoonable enough to belong among broth-based dishes rather than among dry roasted or baked meats.

For feast service, I would prepare the pork in small cubes, keep the onions whole if they are small, and hold the finished pottage gently over low heat. If the sauce thickens too much, add a little broth or wine to loosen it. If it is too thin, add a small amount of bread crumb slurry and simmer until the texture returns to something "as pottage should be."

As an alternative, the pork could be sliced and served over bread sops with the peppered broth spooned generously over top. This approach would be closer to many medieval serving styles, where bread often functioned as both a starch and a utensil, soaking up the richly flavored liquids. The bread would absorb the wine, vinegar, spices, and broth, creating a satisfying dish that stretched the meat while making full use of every drop of the sauce.

Kitchen Copy

This copy-friendly version is formatted for kitchen use and for pasting into The Steward's Table if you would like to scale the recipe for a luncheon, dayboard, or feast.

AUTER BRAWN EN PEUERADE Medieval Pork Pottage with Pepper Sauce Serves: 1 as a hearty meal, or 2 as a first-course portion Ingredients: 1 cup strong broth, beef, chicken, capon, or mixed 1/4 pound roasted or cooked pork, cut into bite-sized pieces 1/3 cup pearl onions, peeled 1 cinnamon stick 2 whole cloves 1/8 teaspoon mace 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon saunders, red sandalwood, culinary grade if available 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons red wine 2 tablespoons bread crumbs Pinch of saffron Salt to taste Method: 1. Warm the broth in a small saucepan with the saffron and saunders until the liquid begins to take on a ruddy color. 2. Add the pork, onions, cinnamon stick, cloves, mace, and pepper. 3. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the onions are tender and the pork is heated through. 4. Combine the bread crumbs, red wine, and red wine vinegar in a small bowl. Let them soak until softened. 5. Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves from the broth. 6. Stir the soaked bread mixture into the pot and simmer until the broth thickens to a pottage-like consistency. 7. Salt to taste and serve warm.

The Steward's Table: Need 8 servings, 25 servings, or a full feast batch? Copy the Kitchen Copy above into The Steward's Table to scale the ingredients, prepare a kitchen copy, and print your working recipe.

At Your Table

If you were serving Auter Brawn en Peuerade at feast, would you keep the pork sliced as written, cube it for easier service, or substitute boar if you had access to it? Would you make the broth-based version, or compare it directly with the wine-based Brawn en Peuerade? Share your thoughts in the comments. I would love to know which version belongs on your table.

Explore More

• Harleian MS 279 Recipe Index
• Brawn en Peuerade
• Fylettys en Galentyne
• The Importance of Color in Medieval Cooking
• The Steward's Table

AI assistance note: This post was updated with the assistance of ChatGPT for structure, SEO, accessibility, and expanded educational content. Historical interpretation, recipe testing, and final editorial choices remain my own.

Labels: English, Harleian MS 279, Medieval Recipes, 15th Century, Pottages & First Course Dishes, Pork, Sauces & Condiments, Feast Planning, Historical Reference, Food History