Vyande Ryalle (Royal Dish), Harleian MS. 279 — A Cautious Reconstruction

Updated August 19, 2025 with additional sources, context, and a best-guess interpretation.

Detail of a thinking figure from the Luttrell Psalter (BL Add. MS 42130) — My thinking cap! Detail from the Luttrell Psalter (British Library Add. MS 42130)

Sometimes in cooking we’re presented with a mystery: a damaged manuscript, a missing line, or a cryptic instruction that leaves us guessing. In Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (Harleian MS. 279, ab. 1430) there are several incomplete recipes. Vyande Ryalle — “Royal Dish” — is one of them. Enough survives to tempt a reconstruction, but not enough to be certain. Below is what I’ve been able to glean, why I suspect a missing element, and a cautious modern interpretation. Consider it a working theory, not gospel.

The Forme of Cury has a similarly named dish but it doesn’t resemble this one. The closest parallel I’ve found is Brawn Ryal in the Wagstaff Miscellany (Beinecke MS 163), which repeats many of the same actions and explains ways to color the dish. That parallel is what led me to my “best guess” below.

What does “Vyande Ryalle” mean?

Vyande/viand could mean any “food” or “dish,” later narrowing toward meat. The Middle English Dictionary also glosses viande as elaborate preparations “boiled in almond milk or wine, thickened and colored yellow.” That aligns neatly with what we see here: almond milk, rice flour to thicken, and a directive to “color the sewe.”

Original Text & Facing Translation

Harleian MS. 279: .Cxlij. Vyande Ryalle.

.Cxlij. Vyande Ryalle. — Nyme gode Mylke of Almaundys, & do it in a potte, & sette it ouer þe fyre, & styre it tyl it boyle almost; þen take flour of Rys & of þe selue Mylke, an draw it þorwe a straynoure, & so þer-with a-lye it tylle it be Chargeaunte, & stere it faste þat it crouste noȝt; þen take [gap: ] owte of grece, & caste it þorw a Skymoure, & colour þat Sewe þer-with; þan take Sugre in confyte, & caste in y-now; sesyn it with Salt & ley þre lechys in a dysshe, & caste Aneys in comfyte þer-on, & þanne serue forth.

Modern Sense Translation

142 – Royal Dish. Take good almond milk in a pot and warm it, stirring until it almost boils. Take rice flour mixed with the same milk, strain it in, and thicken until it’s substantial, stirring so it doesn’t crust. Then take [gap] out of grease and cast it through a skimmer, and color the sewe (sauce) therewith. Add sugar in comfit to taste; season with salt; lay three slices in a dish, strew with anise in comfit, and serve.

Note: The neighboring recipe .Cxlj. Noteye colors a similar almond-and-rice base with the expressed juice of young hazel leaves, and includes minced pork or capon. Hazel leaves are indeed edible when young (foraged greens), which supports “coloring the sewe” with plant juices in this family of dishes.

What might be missing?

The line “take [gap] out of grease, and cast it through a skimmer, and color that sewe there-with” suggests something fried in fat/grease, then used to color (or enrich) the sauce. Possibilities:

Saffron in grease (a common coloring method), then strained in.
Meat/fish offal or brawn rendered in grease (cf. Brawn Ryal), strained to tint and enrich.
Plant juice (e.g., hazel leaves) expressed and combined with grease, though Noteye adds the leaf juice directly.

The Wagstaff Miscellany recipes for Brawn ryal / brawn sypres / brawn bruse align strongly: blanch almonds, make hot almond milk, thicken, season sweet-sour, color with saffron (or other agents), then cut in leches (slices) to plate — and even garnish with anise in comfit, just like Vyande Ryalle. There’s also a Lenten fish version using stockfish soundes and eels, and a spectacular “egg-shell” presentation layered white/yellow/white.

Where does it appear on menus?

Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books places Vyand Ryal in the second course on both a fast-day and a meat-day menu — consistent with a dish that can be prepared either flesh-day (brawn/pork/capon) or Lenten (fish), and colored variously (saffron, plant juices, etc.).

Similar Recipe Titles

Forme of Cury [Rylands MS 7] lists Vyaund ryal with wine or rhenish wine, clarified honey, rice flour, spices, saffron, sugar cypress, mulberries or sanders, boiled “stondyng.” Different formula, same “royal” naming.

Interpreted Recipe (Best-Guess), Serves 1 as Main or 2 as a Side

This is a cautious reconstruction based on Harleian MS. 279 with parallels from Wagstaff. It may not reflect the original with precision, but it behaves like the described dish and follows the technique family.

Ingredients

1 cup almond milk (made with water, wine, or light stock)
1–2 Tbsp rice flour (gluten-free thickener)
Optional color/enrich: a pinch of saffron infused in warm grease/fat; or a few spoonfuls of strained pan-grease from cooked meat/fish
Protein (choose one, optional): ~4 oz pork, capon/chicken, or firm fish/eel, roasted or fried, then sliced
Sugar in comfit (to taste)
Salt (to taste)
Anise seed comfits for garnish

Method

Warm the almond milk over gentle heat until it just begins to simmer.
Whisk rice flour with a little cold almond milk; strain into the pot, whisking to avoid lumps. Cook, stirring, until thickened and chargeaunte (substantial).
If using meat/fish, cook in grease/fat, then slice. Optionally strain a spoonful or two of that hot grease through a skimmer and whisk it into the sauce to “color” and enrich. For yellow, infuse saffron in the warm grease before straining in.
Sweeten to taste with sugar in comfit; season with salt.
For the “three leches” presentation, pour the thickened mixture into a small dish and chill until sliceable; cut 3 slices onto a plate and arrange protein alongside or atop. Garnish with anise comfits and serve. (Warm service is also acceptable: plate slices of meat and spoon the hot almond-rice sewe over, then garnish.)

🥕 Dietary Notes

Gluten-free as written (rice flour).
Dairy-free (almond milk base).
Vegan option: omit meat/fish and use saffron or herb juice for color; skip animal fats.
Allergens: tree nuts (almonds). Substitute oat/rice milk if needed.

Sources & Further Reading

Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books: Harleian MS. 279 (Austin, ed.).
Wagstaff Miscellany (Beinecke MS 163), recipes 89–90 — Brawn ryal (flesh & Lenten versions), coloring & presentation notes.
Forme of Cury [Rylands MS 7], Vyaund ryal.
Etymonline: “viand” for semantic drift.
On edible young hazel leaves as forage, see general foraging references re: Corylus avellana (young spring leaves).