Give it Forth: Eat Like a King: Savoury Tostyde – Digby’s 17th-Century Cheese Toasts (The Closet, 1669)

Savoury Tostyde – Digby’s 17th-Century Cheese Toasts (Curia Lunch)

Savoury Tostyde – Digby’s 17th-Century Cheese Toasts (The Closet, 1669)

Kenelm Digby’s The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt., Opened (1669) is a treasure of early-modern foodways—wines, remedies, and practical dishes gathered on his travels. “Savoury Tostyde” reads less like a fixed recipe and more like a method for luxurious cheese toasts: melt “quick, fat, rich, well-tasted” cheese into used, seasoned butter (from cooking asparagus, peas, or meat gravies), optionally fold in asparagus, bacon, onions, chives, or anchovies, and serve molten over white-bread toasts; scorch the top for drama.

Original Text (Digby, 1669)

Cut pieces of quick, fat, rich, well tasted cheese, (as the best of Brye, Cheshire, &c. or sharp thick Cream-Cheese) into a dish of thick beaten melted Butter, that hath served for Sparages or the like, or pease, or other boiled Sallet, or ragout of meat, or gravy of Mutton: and, if you will, Chop some of the Asparages among it, or slices of Gambon of Bacon, or fresh-collops, or Onions, or Sibboulets, or Anchovis, and set all this to melt upon a Chafing-dish of Coals, and stir all well together, to Incorporate them; and when all is of an equal consistence, strew some gross White-Pepper on it, and eat it with tosts or crusts of White-bread. You may scorch it at the top with a hot Fire-Shovel.

Modern Recipe A — “Crack Cheese” (Beloved Redaction)

Recipe courtesy of David Friedman & Elizabeth Cook

½ lb (225 g) butter
½ lb (225 g) cream cheese
⅛ lb (55 g) Brie or other strongly flavored soft cheese
¼ tsp white pepper
Optional: chopped asparagus tips, crisp bacon/ham, sautéed onions, or minced anchovies
To serve: toasted white bread

Gently melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.
Add cream cheese and Brie; whisk constantly to keep the mixture from separating until smooth and creamy.
Season with white pepper. Fold in any optional add-ins.
Serve hot over toast (or in a bread bowl with dippers). For a browned top, broil briefly.

Modern Recipe B — Historically Faithful Savoury Tostyde

Closer to Digby’s method: seasoned “used” butter, aged cheese, rustic melt

½ lb (225 g) flavored butter (ideally butter reserved from boiling asparagus/peas or roasting meat; or make your own by gently frying onions or bacon in butter, then straining solids)
½ lb (225 g) aged, crumbly cheese (Cheshire if available, otherwise sharp white cheddar), cut in small chunks
Optional: asparagus tips, thin bacon/ham slices, chopped onions, chives, or a few minced anchovies
To serve: slices of toasted white bread
Finishing: coarse white pepper

Warm the flavored butter in a heavy pan or chafing dish over very low heat.
Add cheese chunks and stir gently as they soften; aim for a molten, rustic mixture rather than a perfectly smooth sauce.
Fold in optional add-ins just until heated through.
Season generously with coarse white pepper.
Spoon over toast or bread crusts. For period theater, finish under a broiler (the “hot fire-shovel” effect).

Why Earlier Redactions May Miss Digby’s Intent

Cheese style: Digby names Brye (Brie) and Cheshire. Cheshire was a firm, aged, crumbly cheese; Brie was soft-ripened and rich. Equal-parts cream cheese shifts the dish toward a modern fondue.
Used butter: He calls for butter that has already “served” vegetables or meat—i.e., seasoned with pan juices. Modern plain butter loses that savory depth.
Texture: Digby says “incorporate,” not “whisk to silk.” Expect a molten, chunky melt—closer to rarebit’s ancestor than to a smooth béchamel-style sauce.
Mix-ins matter: Asparagus, bacon, onions, anchovies are part of the fun—omitting them flattens the 17th-century character.
Service: On toast, optionally scorched on top. That’s gratin energy, not a bowl of dip.

Cheese Substitution Notes

Matching “quick, fat, rich” cheeses with modern options:

Cheshire → Sharp white cheddar or another firm, crumbly English-style aged cheese.
Brye (Brie) → A ripe Brie or Camembert (soft and runny near the rind).
Cream cheese: Convenient but not period; yields a smooth sauce rather than rustic melt.
Farmer’s cheese: Mild and crumbly; pair with sharp cheddar for flavor if using.

Best supermarket blend: ½ sharp cheddar (for Cheshire) + ½ ripe Brie (for Brye).

🥕Dietary Notes

Vegetarian: Yes if skipping bacon/anchovies.
Gluten-free: Serve with GF toast or vegetables.
Not vegan: Dairy-heavy by design.

🍞 Make Your Savoury Tostyde Shine

Leon’s Reserve Farmhouse Cheddar – a modern stand-in for medieval English cheeses like Gloucester or Cheshire. Perfect for melting on toasted bread.

Rustic handcrafted bowl for serving medieval dishes — Handcrafted Serving Bowl – bring your dish to the table in rustic style, echoing medieval dining traditions.

Affiliate note: These links help support Give it Forth at no extra cost to you.

FAQ – Savoury Tostyde

Is this Welsh rarebit? Earlier cousin. Rarebit (18th c.) is a smooth ale/mustard-spiked sauce; Digby’s is a rustic melt on seasoned butter.
Why “used butter”? Early-modern kitchens reused flavorful butter from veg/meat cookery—like pan drippings for instant depth.
Do I need white bread? Digby specifies white toasts (a luxury signal). Any good toasting loaf works; white keeps it period-correct.
How to “scorch” safely? Use your oven’s broiler to brown the surface (the modern salamander).
Make-ahead? Yes. It will firm as it cools; reheat gently and stir.

🍽️ More from the Curia Lunch

Sources

Kenelm Digby, The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt., Opened (London, 1669).
Modern redaction courtesy of David Friedman & Elizabeth Cook.

Originally published: 10/21/2017. Updated: 2025-09-17.

Savoury Tostyde – Digby’s 17th-Century Cheese Toasts (The Closet, 1669)