Dutch-style still life of autumn fruits and vegetables representing the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving table. — *Still Life of Autumn Fruits and Vegetables* — shared image for the **Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series**, evoking abundance and the early-modern feast.

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Barberry Sauce for Roast Meats (1660) — A Tudor & Stuart Alternative to Cranberries

Part of the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series — exploring how early modern English cooks used tart, jewel-red fruits like barberries to brighten rich feasts in much the same way we use cranberry sauce today.

A Sharp, Scarlet Counterpoint to Roast Meat

Long before cranberries became iconic on American holiday tables, English cooks were using barberries to do a very similar job. These tiny, vivid red berries — the fruit of the shrub Berberis vulgaris — appear in 16th- and 17th-century English recipes as garnishes, pickles, and sharp, “cooling” sauces for goose, pig, pork, and rich pies.

In The Accomplisht Cook (1660), Robert May scatters barberries through pies and dressings, and suggests them in sauces for goose and other roasted fowl. Their bright acidity and ruby colour made them a perfect foil for fatty meats — a role cranberries would come to play later in colonial New England.

Barberries, Cranberries, and the Thanksgiving Table

Barberries in England: Barberries are native to Europe and western Asia. In early modern England they were valued both as a medicine and a culinary ingredient, especially for their sharp taste and striking colour. They were used in pickles, preserves, sauces, and as garnishes on rich dishes, and were common enough to appear repeatedly in British recipe books and household manuscripts.

Cranberries in North America: Cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) are native to North America. Indigenous peoples in New England and the Canadian Maritimes harvested them for food, dye, and medicine. Seventeenth-century English accounts of New England describe “craneberries” being eaten with meat and as part of pemmican-like preparations.

Parallel Uses, Different Histories: While there is no surviving English recipe that says “use cranberries where you would use barberries,” the two fruits occupy very similar roles:

Both are small, tart, scarlet berries.
Both were served with rich meats as a sharp, refreshing contrast.
Both appear in sauces, relishes, and preserves.

In England, barberries remain the canonical choice in the 17th century; in colonial New England, cranberries fill the local niche. For modern historical cooks in North America, cranberries can be a practical stand-in when barberries are unavailable — as long as we are clear that the substitution is modern, not Tudor or Stuart.

Period Sources: Barberries in Robert May’s Kitchen

Sauce for a Goose — Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (1660)

The following comes from May’s “Sauce for a stubble or fat Goose”, which gives two forms. The second explicitly calls for barberries in a rich apple-based sauce.

Source: Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (London, 1660), “Sauce for a stubble or fat Goose.” The full text is available via Project Gutenberg and early modern facsimiles.

Sauce for a stubble or fat Goose.
1. The Goose being scalded, drawn, and trust, put a handful of salt in the belly of it, roast it, and make sauce with sowr apples slic’t, and boil’d in beer all to mash, then put to it sugar and beaten butter. Sometime for veriety add barberries and the gravy of the fowl.

2. Roast sowr apples or pippins, strain them, and put to them vinegar, sugar, gravy, barberries, grated bread, beaten cinamon, mustard, and boil’d onions strained and put to it.

To Pickle Barberries Red — Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (1660)

May also gives directions for pickling barberries, which provide the preserved fruit used in sauces throughout the year.

Source: Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (London, 1660), section on pickles and preserves (often titled “To pickle Grapes, Gooseberries, Barberries, red and white Currans” and related entries).

To Pickle Barberries Red.
When your Barbaries are picked from the leaves in clusters, about Michaelmas, or when they are ripe, let your water boyl, and give them a half a dozen walms; let your pickle be white-wine and vinegar, not too sharp, so put them up for your use.

Modern Redaction — Apple & Barberry Sauce for Roast Meats

This redaction follows May’s second form of goose sauce: a tart-sweet apple base sharpened with vinegar and barberries. It pairs beautifully with roast goose, duck, pork, or turkey.

Ingredients

2 medium tart apples (Granny Smith or similar), peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup beer or water
2–3 tbsp sugar (to taste)
2 tbsp butter
2–3 tbsp pickled barberries or 2 tbsp dried barberries, soaked and drained
2–3 tbsp pan gravy or stock (optional but period-appropriate)
1–2 tbsp vinegar (wine or cider), to taste
1–2 tbsp fine breadcrumbs (optional, for thickness)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp prepared mustard (or 1/4 tsp dry mustard)
2–3 tbsp cooked onion, finely minced or sieved (optional, for the full “onion” version)
Salt, to taste

Method

Cook the apples. In a small saucepan, combine sliced apples and beer (or water). Simmer until the apples are very soft, then mash or puree them.
Build the sauce. Add sugar, butter, vinegar, cinnamon, mustard, and a pinch of salt. Stir in the pan gravy or stock if using.
Add barberries and body. Stir in barberries and breadcrumbs (if using) and the minced or sieved onion. Simmer gently for a few minutes until the sauce is thick and glossy. Adjust sugar and vinegar balance to taste.
Serve. Serve warm alongside roast goose, duck, turkey, or pork, with a spoonful of barberries in each serving.

Period Technique: May’s sauce is built on strained fruit, gravy, and aromatics. Breadcrumbs and onion help give body, while barberries provide bursts of acidity and colour.

Barberries vs Cranberries: For U.S. cooks, fresh or frozen cranberries may be used when barberries are unavailable. The flavour will be fuller and less sharp; reduce the vinegar and increase the sugar slightly to balance.

Quick Pickled Barberries (after May)

If you have access to fresh or frozen barberries (or dried barberries you plan to keep on hand), you can make a simple pickle inspired by May’s directions and use them throughout the season in sauces, salads, and garnishes.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh barberries (or 1 cup thawed frozen barberries)
1 cup white wine
1 cup white wine vinegar (or mild cider vinegar)
1–2 tbsp sugar (optional, for a gentler pickle)
1/2 tsp salt

Method

Blanch the berries. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the barberries, and let them have “half a dozen walms” — about 30–60 seconds of gentle boiling. Drain immediately.
Make the pickle. In a clean pot, combine wine, vinegar, sugar (if using), and salt. Bring to a simmer, then pour hot over the drained barberries in a clean jar.
Store. Let cool, then refrigerate. Use within a few weeks. Spoon the berries (and a little of their pickle) into sauces or onto roast meats for a sharp, period-inspired garnish.

Safety Note: This is a quick, refrigerator-style pickle. For long-term shelf storage, follow a tested water-bath canning method and acid ratios from a modern preserving guide.

Modern Mash-Up — Barberry & Cranberry Sauce

This final version is a modern fusion: a classic cranberry sauce brightened with barberries. It is not a period recipe, but it borrows May’s love of sharp, scarlet fruit to make something friendly for a contemporary Thanksgiving table.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
2 tbsp dried barberries, rinsed and soaked 10 minutes, then drained
or 3 tbsp drained pickled barberries
1/2 cup water or apple cider
1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
Zest of 1/2 orange
2 tbsp orange juice or extra cider
Pinch ground cinnamon
Pinch salt

Method

Combine the base. In a small saucepan, combine cranberries, water or cider, sugar, orange zest, and orange juice.
Cook the cranberries. Bring to a simmer and cook 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have burst and the sauce begins to thicken.
Add barberries and spice. Stir in the soaked (or pickled and drained) barberries, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Simmer 2–3 minutes more to soften the barberries and meld the flavours.
Adjust and cool. Taste and adjust sugar or acidity as needed. The sauce will thicken as it cools. Serve at room temperature alongside roast turkey, goose, duck, or pork.

Modern Note: Cranberries stand where early-modern cooks would have used barberries alone. The barberries add extra brightness and a nod to Robert May, while the cranberries keep the dish familiar on a modern Thanksgiving table.

Glossary

Barberries: Small, tart red berries from the Berberis shrub, used in early modern English sauces, pickles, and garnishes.
Walms: Brief boils; bringing a liquid back up to the boil several times.
Gravy: Drippings and juices from roasting meat, often thinned with stock or wine.

🥕 Dietary Notes

Vegetarian if made with stock instead of meat gravy (or omitted).
Gluten-free if breadcrumbs are omitted or replaced with a gluten-free thickener.
Vegan option: use plant butter and vegetable stock.

Sources & Further Reading

Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (1660).
Food-historical studies on barberries in British cooking and their later decline due to wheat rust concerns.
John Josselyn, New-Englands Rarities Discovered (London, 1672) — early English description of cranberries eaten with meat in New England.
Modern scholarship on the Columbian Exchange and New World fruits in European kitchens.

Part of the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series — Exploring how early modern English recipes—roasts, puddings, and sauces from Robert May and his contemporaries—might inspire today’s holiday table.

h2>Series Index – All Posts in the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series

AI Assistance Disclosure: Historical transcription, formatting, and redaction support were provided with the help of AI tools for research and editing. Some images were created or edited with AI tools. All historical interpretation and final text are curated and verified by the editor of Give It Forth.