Cormarye – Spiced Wine Pork Roast (Forme of Cury)

Cormarye – Spiced Wine Pork Roast (Forme of Cury)

“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese. Used here as period context for spice-laden pork roasts such as cormarye.

Source: The Forme of Cury, c. 1390 (ed. Hieatt & Butler). Adapted in Redon et al., The Medieval Kitchen (1998).

Original Recipe

Take Colyaundre, Caraway, garlec ygrounde, powdour fort, and salt, medle all this togyder and lay it on a fylett of pork al holes, and lay it to roste; when it is rosted enough, take vinegre and wyne and the juyce of the pork, medle hem togyder, and serve forth.

Translation

Take coriander, caraway, ground garlic, strong spice powder, and salt. Mix all this together and spread it over a fillet of pork, pricking it well. Roast it. When it is cooked enough, take vinegar, wine, and the juices of the pork, mix them together, and serve it forth.

Modern Recipe

• 2–3 pound pork loin (or bone-in pork roast)
• 1 cup good red wine
• ½ cup broth (I use 50/50 chicken & beef)
• 4 large cloves garlic
• 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
• 1 tsp ground caraway seeds
• ⅓ tsp ground pepper
• Salt to taste

Make a marinade with wine, garlic, coriander, caraway, and pepper. Tie the roast (if necessary) and pierce it all over with salt. Place the roast in the marinade, turning to coat all over. Marinate a few hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roast pork about 90 minutes, basting frequently. Remove from pan and let rest. For sauce: bring pan juices to a boil, add broth, adjust seasoning, and serve alongside the meat.

Historical & Culinary Notes

Forme of Cury: Compiled around 1390 by the master cooks of King Richard II, this is one of the most famous medieval English cookbooks. The title means “Method of Cookery” (cury = cookery). It survives in more than a dozen manuscripts, including British Library Additional MS 5016. The collection shows the prestige of England’s royal kitchens, blending local ingredients with imported spices and wines. Cormarye appears consistently across versions, marking it as a court favorite. Read online at Archive.org.

Garlic: Rare in elite English recipes and classed as hot & dry in the fourth degree—dangerous in excess—yet valued in moderation as a digestive and cleanser. Its presence here shows courtly cooks embracing bold flavors tempered by wine and spice.

Wine Trade: The red wine reflects England’s Gascon ties. Bordeaux clarets flowed into London in the 14th century, serving as table drink and prestige cooking ingredient—signaling wealth and cosmopolitan taste.

Comparative Recipes: Pork roasts with garlic, caraway, and wine appear in French Le Viandier and German Küchenmeisterei, revealing a shared European palate that “corrected” pork with spice and acidity.

Ingredient Glossary

• Coriander seed: Earthy, citrusy; hot & dry (2nd degree). Warms the stomach, counters wind.
• Caraway seed: Gentle hot & dry. “Comforts the belly,” aids digestion of heavy breads/meats.
• Garlic: Hot & dry (4th degree). Powerful stimulant/cleanser; tempered by roasting and wine.
• Powdour fort: “Strong powder.” Pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, grains of paradise—warming spices to balance cold meats.

📌 Period Spice Mix – Powdour Fort

Reconstructed from English sources, a typical blend might be:

• 2 parts black pepper
• 2 parts ginger
• 1 part cinnamon
• 1 part cloves
• 1 part grains of paradise (or extra pepper if unavailable)

Italian and French kitchens used similar blends under different names, showing a shared European “spice logic.”

Comparative Spice Blends

Across Europe, cooks relied on premixed powders to season meats and sauces. Names varied, but the goal was the same: deliver heat and pungency to reinforce humoral “warmth” for heavy foods like pork.

Tradition	Name	Original Instruction	Typical Ingredients
England Forme of Cury, c. 1390	Powdour Fort (“Strong Powder”)	“Take pepper and gynger and a lytel clowes, and temper with sugur, and make it strong.”	Pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, grains of paradise
Italy Martino, Platina, 15th c.	Species Fortes / Specie Fine	Platina: “Fierce spices are pepper, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, saffron.”	Pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, saffron (sometimes nutmeg)
France Viandier, 14th c.	Poudre Forte	“Take fine spices, that is pepper, ginger, and cinnamon, and grind them together.”	Pepper, ginger, cinnamon, grains of paradise, nutmeg, cloves

Humoral Theory

Pork was classed as cold & moist, heavy to digest. Warming spices and sour wine “correct” it. Here, garlic, coriander, caraway, and powdour fort rebalance the meat, while wine/vinegar cut phlegmatic humors—making the roast more suitable even for delicate constitutions.

Why “Roast Course”?

Form & texture: Carved roast with sauce—the classic centerpiece.
Placement: After lighter pottages, before subtleties.
Balance: Spice-and-wine sauce keeps pork from feeling too heavy.
👉 Mark this as Roast Course in menus and feast notes.

Serving & Carving Tradition

Roasts like Cormarye were carved at table by a skilled officer. The Boke of Kervynge (Wynkyn de Worde, c. 1508) gives instructions for pork:

“Breke that brawn, lay it downe by the kylde, and chyne it fayre.
Chynne it by the rybbes, and lay it out fayre.”

Modern sense: Break down the roast, lay it along the backbone, slice neatly through the ribs, and present clean portions. Carving was performance as much as practicality.

Comparative Carving Instructions (from The Boke of Kervynge)

Meat	Original Instruction	Modern Sense
Pork	“Breke that brawn, lay it downe by the kylde, and chyne it fayre. Chynne it by the rybbes, and lay it out fayre.”	Along backbone; slice across ribs; serve in neat portions.
Beef	“Reere that beefe, and lay it downe, and chyne it fayre, and slyce it in the flanke.”	Joint, lay out, divide along spine, slice from flank.
Venison	“Laye it on the kylde, and slyce it fayre by the rybbes, and mynce it small with your knife.”	Lay along backbone, slice at ribs, mince finer portions.
Goose	“Reere that goose, and chyne hym, and slyce hym, and sauce hym.”	Joint, slice neatly, serve with sauce.

Serving Customs

Serve on trenchers (thick bread) to catch the sauce. Pair in a course with a lighter pottage or offer hippocras for balance.

Feast Planning Notes

• A 2–3 lb roast feeds 6–8 modern diners; scale with multiple roasts for feasts.
• Marinade can be made ahead; cook roasts sequentially and hold warm.
• Consider a brief tableside carving demonstration for pageantry.

🥕 Dietary Notes

• Gluten-free as written.
• Not suitable for vegetarians or vegans.
• Camping option: marinate in a sealed bag; roast on a spit or in a Dutch oven.

Sources & Further Reading

• Hieatt, Constance B. & Butler, Sharon, eds. Curye on Inglysch. Oxford, 1985. (Critical edition of the Forme of Cury.)
• Redon, Odile; Sabban, Françoise; Serventi, Silvano. The Medieval Kitchen. University of Chicago Press, 1998.
• The Forme of Cury. BL Additional MS 5016. Digitized at Archive.org.
• The Boke of Kervynge. Wynkyn de Worde, c. 1508. (EEBO.)
• Platina. De honesta voluptate et valetudine, c. 1470s. (Species fortes/dulces.)
• Maestro Martino. Libro de arte coquinaria, c. 1465. (Specie fine.)
• Taillevent. Le Viandier, 14th c. (Poudre forte.)
• Albala, Ken. Eating Right in the Renaissance. UC Press, 2002. (Humoral classifications of garlic, pork, spices.)

📖 This recipe is part of the Ceilidh 2001 – Fourteenth-Century Italian Feast .
Explore all dishes from this reconstructed 14th-century Italian banquet.