Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - Cix.Gelye de chare &Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - Cx. Gelye de Fysshe

These two particular recipes from "Two fifteenth-century cookery-books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55" by  Thomas Austin could be mistaken for modern dishes known as "aspics".  An aspic is gelatine made from meat stock that is molded and include pieces of meat, fish or eggs. All aspics are gelatine, but not all gelatines are aspics.  The primary difference being the sweetness of the dish; aspics are savory, and gelatines are sweet, with medieval and rennaissance aspics falling somewhere in the middle of the two making them the precursor's to the fancy modern day dishes we know today. 

The oldest evidence of the making of gelatine can be found in the Nahal Hemar Cave near Mt. Sedom in Israel.  During the excavation it was discovered that numerous cave paintings,  baskets and utinsels contained collagen that was derived from animal skins. It was used as a glue to bind pigments found in cave paintings and to provide a waterproof barrier for baskets, cloth and other containers. It is theorized that the glue was obtained through boiling of animal hides. 

Hide glue and gelatin we eat are "the same thing".  If you are interested in trying to make a similar glue you can find instructions on the Practical Primitive website here (I would not advise eating it).  If you would like to learn more about the scientific/technical aspects of hide glue click here

Important Disclaimer: Knox Gelatine, which is what I used to prepare the gelye de chare in the past is -not- derived from the animal hide but is made from bones and therefore is not vegetarian.  

The Roman historian Pliny writes about "fish-glue", a process that produced a thin, honey like substance that when mixed with other items could be used to remove wrinkles and plump the skin.  The instructions he gives bear a closer resemblence to the instructions to make Gelye of Fleysshe. 
Fish-glue effaces wrinkles and plumps out the skin; being boiled for the purpose in water some four hours, and then pounded and kneaded up till it attains a thin consistency, like that of honey.  -- The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 6 of 6, by Pliny the Elder

The earliest recipes I was able to locate for making gelye dishes come from the 1300's.  The first being for fish from Enseignements qui enseingnent a apareillier toutes manieres de viandes (1300's).

If you want to make fish jelly, break the back of the fish and cut it into pieces, that is to say: carp and tench, bream and turbot, and put to cook in good, strong wine; Then take cinnamon, ginger, long pepper, galingale, lavender and a little saffron; Then grind and put all together; And when you strain it of the fire, then in take out the fish in a bowl and pour thereon; and if you see that it is too thick, then sieve it and let it cool until the morning, and by then take it likewise like jelly.

The second from 1381 for a meat jelly from MS Douce 257

For to make mete gelee þat it be wel chariaunt, tak wyte wyn & a perty of water & safroun & gode spicis & flesch of piggys or of hennys, or fresch fisch, & boyle þam togedere; & after, wan yt ys boylyd & cold, | dres yt in dischis & serue yt forþe. 
.Cix. Gelye de chare.—Take caluys fete, & skalde hem in fayre water, an make hem alle þe whyte. Also take howhys of [leaf 20.] Vele, & ley hem on water to soke out þe blode; þen take hem vppe, an lay hem on a fayre lynen cloþe, & lat þe water rennyn out of hem [supplied by ed.] ; þan Skore*. [Scour. ] a potte, & putte þe Fete & þe Howhys þer-on; þan take Whyte Wyne þat wolle hold coloure, & cast þer-to a porcyon, an non oþer lycoure, þat þe Fleysshe be ouer-wewyd*. [See other Cookery, No. 174, wese. ] withalle, & sette it on þe fyre, & boyle it, & Skeme it clene; an whan it is tendyr & boylid y-now, take vppe þe Fleyshe in-to a fayre bolle, & saue þe lycoure wyl; & loke þat þow haue fayre sydys of Pyggys, & fayre smal Chykenys wyl & clene skladdyd & drawe, & lat þe leggys an þe fete on, an waysshe hem in fayre water, & caste hem in þe fyrste brothe, an sethe it a-ȝen ouer þe fyre, & skeme it clene; lat a man euermore kepe it, an blow of þe grauy. An in cas þe lycoure wast*. [Waste. ] a-way, caste more of þe same wyne þer-to, & put þin honde þer-on; & ȝif þin hond waxe clammy, it is a syne of godenesse, an let not þe Fleyshe be moche sothe,*. [boiled. ] þat it may bere kyttyng; þan take it vppe, & ley it on a fayre cloþe, & sette owt þe lycoure fro þe fyre, & put a few colys vnder-nethe þe vesselle þat þe lycoure is yn; þan take pouder of Pepir, a gode quantyte, & Safron, þat it haue a fayre Laumbere coloure, & a gode quantyte of Vynegre, & loke þat it be sauery of [supplied by ed.] Salt & of Vynegre, fayre of coloure of Safroun, & putte it on fayre lynen cloþe, & sette it vndernethe a fayre pewter dysshe, & lat it renne þorw þe cloþe so ofte tylle it renne clere: kytte fayre Rybbys of þe syde of þe Pygge, & lay ham on a dysshe, an pulle of þe lemys of þe Chykenys, eche fro oþer, & do a-way þe Skynne, & ley sum in a dysshe fayre y-chowchyd,*. [Y-couched; laid. ] & pore þin*. [Thine. ] gelye þer-on, & lay Almaundys þer-on, an Clowys, & paryd Gyngere, & serue forth.

109. Gely of Flesh - Take calves feet, and scald them in fair water, and make them all the white.  Also take hooves of veal, and lay them on water to soak out the blood; then take them up and lay them on a fair linen cloth, and let the water running out of them; then scour a pot and put the feet and hooves there-on; then take white wine that would hold color, and caste there-to a portion and none other liquor, that the flesh be over-washed withal, and set it on the fire and boil it and skim it clean; and when it is tender and boiled enough, take up the flesh into a fair bowl, and save the liquor well; and look that you have fair sides of pigs, and fair small chickens well and clean scalded and draw, and let the legs and the feet on, and wash them in fair water, and caste them in the first broth, and boil it again over the fire, and skim it clean; let a man evermore keep it, and blow off the gravy. And in case the liquor waist away, caste more of the same wine thereto, and put your hand there-on and if your hand wax clammy, it is a sign of goodness, and let no the flesh be much boiled that it may bear cutting; then take it up and lay it on a fair cloth and set out the liquor from the fire, and put a few cloths underneath the vessel that the liquor is in; then take good powder of pepper, a good quantity of saffron, that it have a fair amber color, and a good quantity of vinegar, and look that it be savory of salt and of vinegar, fair of color of saffron, & put it on fair linen cloth, & set it underneath a fair pewter dish, and let it run through the cloth so oft till it run clear: cut fair ribs of the side of the pig, and lay them on a dish, and pull of the limbs (?) of the chickens, each from the other, and do away the skin, and lay some in a dish fair y-couched (laid) and pour your gely thereon, and lay almonds, thereon and cloves and paired ginger, and serve forth.

.Cx. Gelye de Fysshe.—Take newe Pykys, an draw hem, and smyte hem to pecys, & sethe in þe same lycoure þat þou doste Gelye of Fleysshe; an whan þey ben y-now, take Perchys and Tenchys, & seþe; & Elys, an kutte hem in fayre pecys, and waysshe hem, & putte hem in þe same lycoure, & loke þine lycoure be styf y-now; & ȝif it wolle notte cacche,*. [stick; see other Cookery, No. 174. ] take Soundys of watteryd Stokkefysshe, or ellys Skynnys, or Plays, an caste þer-to, & sethe ouer þe fyre, & skeme it wyl; & when it ys y-now, let nowt þe Fysshe breke; þenne take þe lycoure fro þe fyre, & do as þou dedyst be*. [By, with. ] þat oþer Gelye, saue, pylle þe Fysshe, & ley þer-off in dysshis, þat is, perche & suche; and Flowre hem, & serue forthe.

110. Gely of Fish --Take new pike, and draw them, and smite them into pieces, and boil in the same liquor that you do gely of flesh; and when they been enough, take perch and tench, and cook, and eels, and cut them in fair pieces and wash them, and put them in the same liquor, and look your liquor be stiff enough, and if it would not catch (stick?), take sounds (swim bladder) of watery stockfish, or eel skins or plaice, and caste thereto, and cook, and cook over the fire and skim it well; and when it is enough, let not the flesh break; then take the liquor from the fire, and do as you did with the other gely, save pile the fish, and lay there-of in dishes that is, perch and such; and flower them and serve forth.


Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - Trype de Motoun ix. & lx. Trype of Turbut or of Codlyng

Tripe of Mutton and Tripe of Turbot or of Codling


Caveat: I have not tested this recipe because I do not have access to the ingredients. If someone does move forward to test it, I would welcome feedback on tweaks that may be needed to improve the recipe.

Mutton Tripe

Offal is not something we eat a lot of in the states. Of the various kinds of organ meats that are offered tripe is one of the more commonly eaten ones. The Two fifteenth-century cookery books: Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55 by Thomas Austin contains recipes for two kinds of tripe, tripe of mutton, and tripe of fish. I present them below.


What is tripe? Tripe is the edible lining of an animal's stomach and comes from cows, pigs, goats or sheep. When I think of tripe, I think of the "honeycomb" tripe that comes from a cow's stomach. In fact, the honeycomb is only one of four different kinds of tripe found.


Plain tripe is the lining of the first stomach (rumen) of a cow and it appears flat and smooth. The second kind of tripe is the honeycomb tripe that is found in the lower part of a cow's second stomach (the reticulum). The third kind of tripe is book tripe, which contains many folds giving it the appearance of a book. It is found in the third stomach of a cow, the omasum, and is also known as bible tripe. The fourth kind is known as reed tripe and it is found in the cow's fourth stomach, the abomasum.


Lamb tripe is the lining of a lamb's stomach. It is smaller and thinner than the more familiar beef tripe. Straight from the stomach it is olive green in color and requires meticulous cleaning and some bleaching to become the pale color we are familiar with.

The tripe itself has a very mild almost neutral flavor, likened to a taste between liver and heart because it adopts the flavor of the surrounding organs. It is the texture that makes it special. When properly cooked it should be chewy, soft enough to bite through, and unctuous.


Fortunately, most tripe that is purchased today has already been cleaned and bleached. However, it still requires a few hours of preparation before it can be used. The process starts with washing the tripe and cleaning it to remove any remaining fat or fiber found in the folds. It must then be scrubbed with vinegar (or lemon) and salt, soaked in water, cut into small pieces, and then poached until tender. Once it is tender, it can then be cooked in whatever recipe you choose to use it in. Can you imagine how difficult this process would have been starting with the green tripe fresh from the slaughter?


Are there substitutes for tripe? Unfortunately, there is no direct substitute for tripe. However, I did discover recipes for Menudo which substituted pork chops, chicken, or beef, for the tripe component. I also found several recipes where oyster mushrooms were used in place of tripe. I personally am unable to purchase tripe in a small enough quantity to make a test recipe, so I have chosen to substitute lamb for the tripe component when I test the recipe below.


What is the difference between lamb and mutton?


Wikipedia offers a direct answer to this question.


Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, Ovis aries. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton.

Original Recipe


.ix. Trype de Motoun.—Take þe pownche of a chepe, and make it clene, an caste it on a pot of boylyng water, an skyme it clene, an gader þe grece al a-way, an lat it boyle tyl it be tender; þan ley it on a fayre bord, an kyt it in smale pecys of the peny brede, an caste it on an erþen pot with strong brothe of bef or of moton; þanne take leuys of þe percely an hew hem þer-to, an let hem boyle to-gederys tyl þey byn tender, þan take powder of gyngere, and verious, þan take Safroun [supplied by ed.] *. [Added from A. ] an salt, and caste þer-to, an let boyle to-gederys, an serue in.


My Interpretation

9. Tripe of Mutton - Take the paunch (belly) of a sheep, and make it clean, and cast it on a pot of boiling water, and skim it clean, and gather the grease all away, and let it boil till it be tender; then lay it on a fair board, and cut it in small pieces of penny bread, and cast it on an earthen pot with strong broth of beef or of mutton; than take leaves of the parsley and hew there-to, and let them boil together till they be tender, than take powder of ginger, and verjuice, than take saffron, and salt, and caste there-to, and let boil together, and serve in.


Ingredients


1 pound tripe, prepared as above (sub pork, chicken, beef, or mushrooms)

4 cups beef broth

1 tbsp. chopped parsley

1/4 tsp. ginger (I used powdered)

1/2 cup verjuice (see below to make your own)

Pinch of saffron

Salt to taste

Opt: Pepper to taste


Instructions


Note: This recipe could be interpreted two ways, the first is to cut the tripe into pieces the size of "a penny loaf of bread", which is how I have read it. However, you could thicken the broth with bread crumbs if you prefer to have more body to the broth. I would suggest about half a cup of bread crumbs once the broth is brought to boiling.


  1. Bring beef broth to boil with verjuice and seasonings.

  2. Add tripe and cook until beef broth has slightly reduced.

  3. Serve.

My suggestion for serving if you have not thickened the broth is to add a slice of bread to the bottom of the bowl and the tripe on top.


Original Recipe


.lx. Trype of Turbut or of Codelynge.—Take þe Mawes of Turbut, Haddok, or Codelyng, & pyke hem clene, & skrape hem, & Wasshem clene, and parboyle hem in gode Freysshe broþe of Turbut or Samoun, or Pyke; þan kytte Percely smalle, & caste þer-to, & kytte þe Mawys of a peny brede, & caste alle togederys in-to a potte, & let it boyle to-gederys; & whan þey bin soþin tendyr, caste þer-to Safroun, & Salt, & Veryous, & pouder Gyngere, & serue forth.


My Interpretation


60. Tripe of Turbot or of Codling - Take the stomach of turbot, haddock, or codling and pick them clean and scrape and wash clean, and parboil them in good fresh broth of turbot or salmon or pike; then cut parsley small and caste there-to, and cut the stomach of a penny bread, and cast all together into a pot, and let it boil together, and when they be boiled tender, cast there-to saffron, and salt, and verjuice, and powder ginger and serve forth.


Ingredients


1 pound fish maw (sub turbot, haddock, or cod)

4 cups fish broth

1 tbsp. chopped parsley

1/4 tsp. ginger (I used powdered)

1/2 cup verjuice (see below to make your own)

Pinch of saffron

Salt to taste

Opt: Pepper to taste


Instructions

Prepare as above.


The word maw actually means stomach or gullet, and, as such, the term for this product is a bit of a misnomer as it is really the ‘Swim bladder’ of certain bony (non-cartilaginous) species of fish. The swim bladder is a gas-filled sac that lies in the belly and allows the fish that possess them to maintain and control buoyancy at different depths (Sybaritica, Sybaritica & Sybaritica, 2021).

The fish maw is an ingredient that is still used in Asian cooking and is considered one of the four delicacies of the sea. Those who have eaten fish maw say that it has no taste on its own, but takes on the taste of the ingredients it is cooked with. Unfortunately, fish maw is not an item that I have easy access to. I would have to purchase it through Amazon, and it is available only in dried form. If you are interested in attempting this recipe fish maw can be purchased here: Palamaki Dried Fish Maw


Bonus Recipe - Verjuice


Ingredients


6 pounds of unripe grapes


Instructions


1. Rinse grapes very well

2. Place grapes (stems and all) into a large bowl

3. Using gloved hands, crush the grapes. You want to use gloves because unripe grapes are very acidic and may irritate your skin. Alternatively, you can crush it with a potato masher, or the bottom of a jar.

4. Strain juice through a fine mesh sieve, coffee filter, or cheesecloth.

5. Pour the juice into a mason jar and use it as needed.


Notes:


The juice can be stored for up to three months in yorefrigeratorter. It will separate and change color from green to yellow to brown. This is normal and does not affect the flavor.

Sources


Lamb And Mutton - Wikipedia". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_and_mutton. Accessed 18 Aug 2022.


Panch - Yorkshire Historical Dictionary ". Yorkshiredictionary.York.Ac.Uk, 1312, https://yorkshiredictionary.york.ac.uk/words/panch. Accessed 18 Aug 2022.

Sybaritica, D., Sybaritica, F., & Sybaritica, F. (2021). Fish Maw or 魚肚 - An Introduction. Retrieved 8 October 2021, from https://sybaritica.me/fish-maw-or%E9%AD%9A%E8%82%9A-an-introduction/


Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books : Harleian MS. 279 (Ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (Ab. 1450), With Extracts From Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55 / Edited By Thomas Austin". Quod.Lib.Umich.Edu, 2022, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/CookBk. Accessed 18 Aug 2022.


Yusuf, Zerrin. "What Is Verjuice (Verjus) And How Do You Make It? - Give Recipe". Give Recipe, 2011, https://www.giverecipe.com/homemade-fresh-verjuice/#tasty-recipes-11467-jump-target. Accessed 18 Aug 2022.