Sauce Sarsoun (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430) – Medieval Almond, Sugar & Pomegranate Sauce

Sauce Sarsoun – Almond, Sugar, and Pomegranate Sauce (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430)

Originally recorded in Harleian MS. 279, c.1430

Medieval cooks used jewel-like pomegranate seeds to decorate sauces and meats.

In fifteenth-century English kitchens, sauces were not mere accompaniments but important markers of taste and refinement. Sauce Sarsoun from Harleian MS. 279 is a striking example: a rich blend of almonds, almond milk, wine, and sugar, finished with the jewel-like brilliance of pomegranate seeds. It demonstrates the medieval love of almond-based cookery, the expensive allure of sugar, and the symbolic flourish of garnishes drawn from distant lands.

Original Recipe

.Cxxxij. Sauke. Sarsoun.—Take Almaundys, & blaunche hem, & frye hem in oyle oþer in grece, þan bray hem in a Mortere, & tempere hem with gode Almaunde mylke, & gode Wyne, & þen þe þrydde perty schal ben Sugre; & ȝif it be noȝt þikke y-nowe, a-lye it with Alkenade, & Florche it a-bouyn with Pome-garned, & messe it; serue it forth.

Modern Translation

132. Sauce Sarsoun — Take almonds, and blanch them, and fry them in oil or in grease, then grind them in a mortar and temper them with good almond milk and good wine, and then the third part shall be sugar; and if it be not thick enough, mix it with wheat starch and garnish it above with pomegranate and mess it; serve it forth.

Modern Recipe: Sauce Sarsoun

Serves 8

• 1 cup blanched almonds (or 1 cup unsweetened almond milk if substituting)
• 2 tbsp olive oil (or butter for richness)
• 1 cup almond milk
• ½ cup white wine (or substitute white grape juice with 1 tsp white wine vinegar)
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1–2 tsp wheat starch (or cornstarch) as needed
• Seeds from ½ pomegranate, for garnish

Method

1. Blanch the almonds (if whole), then fry them gently in olive oil until just golden. Drain and grind into a paste (or use prepared almond milk for speed).
2. Mix the almond paste with almond milk and wine in a saucepan. Stir in sugar.
3. Simmer gently until thickened, adding wheat starch if needed for body.
4. Serve warm, garnished with fresh pomegranate seeds.

Blanching & Frying Almonds in the Medieval Kitchen

How they did it, step by step:

1. Scald (“seethe”) to blanch. Cooks poured boiling water over whole almonds, let them stand 1–2 minutes, then rubbed off skins in a coarse linen or with cloths. The almonds were spread on boards near the hearth to dry so they wouldn’t sputter in hot fat.
2. Light fry in “oyl or grece.” Period directions call for frying in oyl (olive or nut oils when available) or grece (animal fat such as lard or drippings). The goal is a pale golden nut—just enough to deepen flavor and drive off moisture—not a dark roast.
3. Bray while warm. Warm almonds crush more readily; cooks pounded them in a heavy mortar with a splash of liquid to form a smooth paste.
4. Make almond milk. For sauces, the paste was tempered with warm water, wine, or broth and strained through a cloth (“selyng cloth”) to yield a fine almond milk, then simmered to body.

Modern cue: Briefly blanch, pat fully dry, then fry on medium heat in a thin film of oil or butter. Stop at light gold; over-browning turns the sauce bitter.

Historic Context

Almonds and Almond Milk

Almonds were a pantry staple in elite medieval kitchens, valued both for their flavor and their versatility. Almond milk stood in for animal milk during Lent and fast days, but it also carried prestige on secular tables. Its smooth texture made it ideal for sauces and stews where dairy might spoil.

Sugar and Status

Sugar was an expensive luxury in fifteenth-century England, imported from the Mediterranean and the Levant. Recipes that call for sugar in large quantities, such as Sauce Sarsoun (where one-third of the sauce is sugar), signaled wealth and refinement. Such dishes likely appeared at noble feasts rather than everyday meals.

Pomegranate as Garnish

Pomegranates were another imported delicacy, reaching England through Mediterranean trade. Beyond their tart flavor, they carried symbolic weight: fertility, luxury, and the exotic East. Garnishing with pomegranate transformed a simple sauce into a glittering centerpiece of the feast.

Sugar & Pomegranates: How Availability Shaped the Sauce

Sugar as signal. In fifteenth-century England, sugar arrived as imported loaves that had to be shaved or ground. Using a full third of a sauce’s volume as sugar (as Sarsoun specifies) marked the dish as elite. This sweet note helped define the prized “sweet-tart” balance at noble tables and nudged sauces away from purely sour or mustard-sharp profiles.

Pomegranate as flourish. Fresh pomegranates were seasonal and imported via Mediterranean trade. Sprinkling the bright arils over a pale almond sauce was theatrical: a sparkle of color, a tart counterpoint, and a visible sign of reach into distant markets. In practice, hosts used them sparingly—more garnish than bulk ingredient.

Practical ripple effects. Expensive ingredients encouraged small, intense portions and careful plating. They also reinforced almond milk’s popularity: almond bases carried luxury flavors smoothly, worked on fast days, and presented well under jewel-like garnishes.

Comparisons

This recipe stands alongside a broader European tradition of almond-based sauces. The Italian Libro di cucina includes a “Saracen-style sauce” of almonds, currants, spices, and verjuice. While the English version emphasizes sugar and wine, the Italian emphasizes spice and sourness, reflecting regional taste preferences. Both reveal the almond’s central role in medieval fine dining.

🍷 Liquid Options for Sauke Sarsoun

The original recipe calls for “gode wyne.” Depending on your pantry and needs, you can prepare this sauce in several ways:

Option	Ingredients	Notes
Wine (Historical)	1/4 cup lightly sweet white wine (Riesling, Muscat)	Closest to the original “gode wyne.” Adds fruit and mild sweetness.
Vinegar (Verjuice Style)	2 Tbsp white wine vinegar + 2 Tbsp water + 1/2 tsp sugar	Mimics verjuice — tart with balanced sweetness. Period-accurate alternative.
Fruit Juice (Allergy-Friendly)	1/4 cup white grape juice OR apple juice (splash lemon optional)	Gentle, sweet-tart flavor. Safe for those avoiding alcohol or vinegar.

Dietary Notes 🥕

• Vegetarian
• Vegan (if made with oil instead of butter)
• Gluten-Free (use cornstarch instead of wheat starch)
• Contains tree nuts (almonds)

What to Serve with Sauce Sarsoun (c.1430 Feast Pairings)

At table, Sarsoun is a “sweet, rich” counterpoint. It shines next to roasted or poached meats and poultry, and it sits comfortably among other almond-forward dishes.

• Capon in Consewe (same corpus): gentle, savory almond broth—serve Sarsoun alongside for a sweeter accent.
• Roasted capon, goose, pork, or mutton: the sweetness cuts richness; add a tart verjuice splash to the meat if you want contrast.
• Mortrews (thick pottage of meat and bread): alternate spoonfuls with a drizzle of Sarsoun for texture and flavor play.
• Ryse (rice) or Blancmanger: almond-based staples that harmonize with Sarsoun’s nutty profile on fish or flesh days.

Service tip: Present Sarsoun warm in small sauciers with a scatter of pomegranate arils at the moment of serving; refresh the garnish between courses to keep the “jewel” effect vivid.

Sources

• Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books, Harleian MS. 279, ed. Thomas Austin (1430).
• Libro di cucina / Libro per cuoco, 14th/15th c. Italian manuscript.
• Adamson, Melitta Weiss. Food in Medieval Times. Greenwood Press, 2004.

Final Thoughts

This sauce stole the show—I prefer it over the Capon in Consewe we also cooked. The sweet-and-sour profile really brightened the plate and made the dish more interesting. The pomegranate pips were a juicy surprise whenever you bit into one, adding sparkle and texture.

As with the Consewe, the chicken was finished in a hot oven to crisp the skin, which paired beautifully with the smooth, almond-rich body of Sauce Sarsoun.