Tudor Appetizers: Entrées de Table from The Accomplisht Cook

Tudor Appetizers: Entrées de Table from The Accomplisht Cook

Editor’s Note: As autumn turns to feast season, the next several posts on Give It Forth explore a different kind of Thanksgiving table — one inspired not by Pilgrims and pumpkins, but by the kitchens of Tudor and Stuart England. These 16th- and 17th-century dishes, drawn from sources like Robert May’s The Accomplisht Cook (1660), showcase the foods and flavors that would have graced a festive English winter board. Presented here in modern form, each recipe offers a way to bring history to an American Thanksgiving — blending Old World elegance with New World abundance.

Historical Note: The Tudors and Stuarts did not celebrate Thanksgiving as we do in America today. This series simply imagines how dishes from their winter feasts — roasts, “made dishes,” and spiced pies — might have found their way, in spirit and flavor, to the modern table. It’s a chance to explore the shared themes of gratitude, abundance, and seasonal celebration across centuries.

A clove-studded roast turkey in the Tudor–Stuart style, served with citrus, herbs, and bread sippets. Here it stands in for the “entrance to the table” in Robert May’s 1660 kitchen.

If the roast turkey is the great centerpiece of a holiday table, then the entrées de table are its graceful opening act. In the mid-seventeenth century, English cooks like Robert May borrowed the French idea of “made dishes” — elegant, composed plates of meats, vegetables, and fruits — and set them out as an entrance to the table: the first sight that greeted guests as they sat down to dine.

They are, in many ways, the ancestors of our modern appetizers: small, complex, carefully arranged dishes meant to delight the eye as much as the appetite.

“Another made Dish in the French Fashion”

Another made Dish in the French Fashion, called an Entre de Table, Entrance to the Table.

Take the bottoms of boil’d Artichocks, the yolks of hard Eggs, yong Chicken-peepers, or Pidgeon-peepers, finely trust, Sweetbreads of Veal, Lamb-stones, blanched, and put them in a Pipkin, with Cockstones, and combs, and knots of Eggs; then put to them some strong broth, white-wine, large Mace, Nutmeg, Pepper, Butter, Salt, and Marrow, and stew them softly together.

Then have Goosberries or Grapes perboil’d, or Barberries, and put to them some beaten Butter; and Potato’s, Skirrets or Sparagus boil’d, and put in beaten butter, and some boil’d Pistaches.

These being finely stewed, dish your fowls on fine carved sippets, and pour on your Sweet-Breads, Artichocks, and Sparagus on them, Grapes, and slic’t Lemon, and run all over with beaten butter, &c.

Somtimes for variety, you may put some boil’d Cabbidge, Lettice, Colliflowers, Balls of minced meat, or Sausages without skins, fryed Almonds, Calves Udder.

This is less a single recipe than a palette of ingredients: delicate pieces of poultry, artichokes, asparagus, grapes, potatoes, skirrets, pistachios, cabbage, and cauliflower — all gently stewed in white wine and butter, then arranged over carved sippets (toasted bread) and finished with lemon and more butter. It is sophisticated, seasonal, and abundantly flexible, just as a modern appetizer spread might be.

Historical Note: What Is an “Entre de Table”?

In early modern menu language, an entré(e) or entre de table was a “made dish” that entered the table with the first course. Rather than a single roast, it was a composed plate or platter: small pieces of meat, vegetables, and fruits layered together in a rich broth or sauce. These dishes sat between the great roasts and pies, offering variety and visual interest. They are close cousins to what we would now call appetizers or small plates.

Glossary: Sweetbreads, Sippets & Pipkins

Sweetbreads: The delicate thymus or pancreas of calf or lamb, prized for its tender texture. In modern kitchens, you can substitute small pieces of chicken thigh or breast for a similar feel.

Lamb-stones, cockstones & combs: Period terms for various small offal pieces and cockerel combs used as delicacies. For most modern cooks, diced chicken or turkey can stand in.

Knots of Eggs: Tiny curds or clusters made by stirring beaten egg into hot liquid, or small egg yolks poached together.

Pipkin: A small earthenware pot used for gentle stewing over coals.

Sippets: Thin slices or shapes of bread, toasted or fried, used to soak up sauces and form the base of a dish.

A Tudor Appetizer for the Modern Table

May’s original reads like the sketchbook for an entire appetizer board. For a modern kitchen — and a manageable Thanksgiving menu — we can adapt his ideas into a single, elegant warm starter: a shallow dish (or individual plates) of gently stewed chicken, artichokes, asparagus, and grapes in a white wine and butter sauce, served over crisp sippets of bread.

This version keeps the essence of the entre de table — rich, green, and bright with fruit — while using ingredients most of us can find at the market.

Entrée de Table: Chicken, Artichokes & Asparagus in White Wine

Serves 4–6 as a small starter.

Ingredients

• 2 cooked artichoke bottoms or 6–8 artichoke hearts, quartered
• 2 small chicken breasts or 4 chicken thighs, diced in small “bite” pieces
• 2 egg yolks, hard-boiled and quartered (optional, for garnish)
• 6–8 asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into short lengths
• 1 small potato or 2–3 baby potatoes, diced and pre-boiled until just tender
• 1/2 cup (75 g) green seedless grapes, halved or a mixture of grapes and fresh cranberries (for a tart, “gooseberry” note)
• 2 Tbsp shelled pistachios, lightly toasted
• 2–3 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) chicken stock or light broth
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) dry white wine
• Pinch of mace or a small grate of nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Juice of 1/4–1/2 lemon, plus thin lemon slices for garnish
• Fresh parsley or marjoram for sprinkling (optional)

Modern substitutions: For accessibility, this version uses chicken and artichokes in place of May’s original offal and skirrets. Parsnips or small potatoes make excellent modern substitutes if desired.

For the Sippets

• 4–6 slices firm white or manchet-style bread
• Butter or olive oil for brushing
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Prepare the sippets. Heat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Trim the crusts from the bread and cut each slice into neat shapes (triangles, diamonds, or rounds). Brush lightly with butter or oil, sprinkle with a little salt, and bake on a tray until golden and crisp. Set aside.
2. Sauté the chicken. In a shallow pan, melt 1 Tbsp of butter over medium heat. Add the diced chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook just until it loses its raw color, but do not brown heavily.
3. Add wine, broth, and seasoning. Pour in the white wine and stock, add a small pinch of mace or nutmeg, and bring to a gentle simmer.
4. Stew the vegetables. Add the artichoke quarters, pre-boiled potato dice, and asparagus pieces. Let them simmer softly until tender, 5–8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add fruit and pistachios. Stir in the grapes (and cranberries, if using) and pistachios. Cook just a few minutes more, until the fruit is warmed through but not collapsing.
6. Finish with butter and lemon. Stir in the remaining 1–2 Tbsp of butter until the sauce looks glossy. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. You are looking for a balance of richness and gentle tartness.
7. Assemble the plates. Lay 1–2 sippets in the bottom of each warm plate or shallow bowl. Spoon the chicken, vegetables, and fruit over the bread, making sure each plate gets a little of everything. Garnish with pieces of hard-boiled egg yolk, thin slices of lemon, and a scatter of parsley or marjoram.

Served this way, the dish feels both historical and familiar: something between a warm composed salad and a light stew, rich with butter and wine but brightened by fruit and lemon. It makes a lovely first course before the turkey appears, or a special “cook’s treat” on a smaller feast day.

A Simplified Entrée de Table for the Modern Feast

If you’d like to capture the spirit of May’s Entrée de Table without the full stew, you can present the same flavors as a single, composed tray. This approach works beautifully as a starter for a Thanksgiving meal, or as a shared “first course” board before the main roast. It’s simple to prepare and easy to scale for any number of guests.

To prepare: Arrange the following on a large shallow platter, either warm or at room temperature:

• Chicken or Turkey Bites: Sauté small pieces of chicken or leftover turkey in butter and white wine with a pinch of nutmeg or mace and salt. Arrange them at the center of the tray.
• Artichokes & Asparagus: Steam or roast artichoke hearts and short-cut asparagus pieces. Drizzle with a little melted butter or olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, then place beside the meat in loose overlapping rows.
• Fruit Accent – Grapes or Cranberries: Scatter fresh halved green grapes (or lightly simmered cranberries for a tart “gooseberry” note) across the dish for brightness and color.
• Crunch & Texture – Pistachios and Sippets: Toast thin bread slices or baguette rounds brushed with butter, and sprinkle the tray with a few chopped pistachios for contrast. Use the bread as edible scoops or a base for the other ingredients.
• Finish & Garnish: Drizzle the entire tray with a spoonful of melted butter mixed with a dash of lemon juice and white wine. Garnish with quartered hard-boiled eggs and a few sprigs of marjoram or parsley.

Served this way, the dish feels halfway between a warm composed salad and a charcuterie board. It honors the “made dish” tradition of the seventeenth century while fitting easily into a modern feast — elegant, flavorful, and entirely manageable for today’s kitchen.

Mix-and-Match: A Tudor-Style Appetizer Board

May’s original text invites experimentation. If you are planning a larger gathering, you can turn his entre de table into a small sampler of plates, each echoing part of his list. For example:

• Artichoke & Grape Tartlets: Small pastry shells filled with diced artichoke hearts, grapes, and a spoonful of the white wine-butter sauce.
• Asparagus & Pistachio Spoons: Steamed asparagus tips with melted butter and pistachios, served in small tasting spoons.
• Potato & Herb Bites: Coins of boiled potato topped with minced herbs and a drop of lemony butter.
• Cabbage & Lettuce Fry: Briefly sautéed cabbage and lettuce in butter and pepper, served warm over small sippets.

None of these are strict reconstructions, but all are faithful to May’s pantry and his love of layering textures: tender, green, tart, and rich together on one plate.

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

Continue the series:
🦃 Robert May’s Roast Turkey (1660) | 🍇 Entrées de Table – Tudor Appetizer Board | 🌿 Green Pudding of Sweet Herbs