To Make Callishones – Elizabethan Coriander Marchpane Candies (John Murrell, 1621)

Callishones drying on the stovetop — fragrant marchpane sweets gilded with coriander and gold dust.

Updated: October 30, 2025 | Originally Published: 9/17/2015

Part of the Baronial 12th Night series.

To Make Callishones – Coriander-Scented Marchpane Candies

This elegant sweetmeat comes from John Murrell’s A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen (1621), a household guide filled with refined banqueting recipes — comfits, marchpanes, fruit pastes, and perfumed lozenges meant to close an Elizabethan feast. Callishones (or calysons) were pressed from almond paste and spiced with coriander and musk, then dried into aromatic lozenges.

The Elizabethan Banqueting Course

In the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, a banqueting course was a distinct final act of a feast — a separate table laden with sugarwork, spiced wines, candied fruits, comfits, and perfumed pastes. These dishes were not meant to fill the stomach but to delight the senses and demonstrate refinement.

The fashion for such displays began in the Tudor court and reached its height under Elizabeth I, when sugar was imported from Madeira, the Azores, and later the Caribbean. Wealthy hosts commissioned sugar plate sculptures and marchpane castles, while smaller households imitated them with printed or molded sweets like callishones. The very word “banquet” came to mean not a meal, but a ceremonial table of confections.

Surviving accounts from royal and noble households show that banqueting rooms were sometimes separate from dining halls — built atop towers or in garden pavilions — so that guests could “walk to the banquet” after dinner and admire both the view and the artistry of the table.

How to Make Elizabethan Fruit Pastes & Marmalades (Quince, Peach & Plum)

Paste of quince (amber), apricot (yellow), and strawberries (red).

Originally published: December 2020
Updated: October 24, 2025

Sweet Preserves for a Banquet Table

In the Elizabethan era, fruit pastes—sometimes called marmalades or “chardequynce”—were glittering jewels of sugar, fruit, and spice. They appeared at the close of grand meals as part of the banqueting course, alongside marchpane, candied spices, and comfits. Far from our modern breakfast spreads, these were confections of luxury—delicate, perfumed, and designed as edible art.

My earliest experiment with fruit paste was a quince paste, followed by a Spanish-style marmalade made with dates, powdered pearls, and gold leaf. Since then, I’ve made pastes of apples, raspberries, strawberries, apricots, and plums. For our Baronial Twelfth Night, the table featured a full assortment of these sparkling fruits.

Historical Context

The first fruit pastes appear in late medieval manuscripts such as *A Leechbook* (Royal Medical Society MS 136, c.1444) and continue into the Tudor and Elizabethan printed cookbooks like A.W.’s A Book of Cookrye (1587) and John Partridge’s The Treasurie of Commodious Conceits (1573). These recipes often recommend honey or sugar as preservatives, with quinces or wardens (a firm pear) providing natural pectin. Sugar was believed to “close the stomach” and aid digestion—so these confections were thought medicinal as well as delightful.

By the late 16th century, “marmalade” had expanded beyond quince to include peaches, plums, and even medlars. Unlike modern spreads, these were boiled until firm and cut into decorative shapes, sometimes impressed with moulds and dusted with sugar to gleam like gemstones.

The very word marmalade comes from the Portuguese marmelada, meaning a preserve of quince (marmelo). It entered English through imported Iberian sweetmeats and gradually expanded to mean any thick fruit conserve. Only in the 17th century did citrus marmalades—especially bitter orange—become fashionable in England.

Sugar, Trade, and Luxury

In the 1400s and early 1500s, sugar was a costly import from Mediterranean trade routes, used sparingly in medicines and aristocratic kitchens. By Elizabeth’s reign, Caribbean plantations and new trade networks made sugar more available, transforming what had been a medicinal luxury into a fashionable indulgence. Elaborate sugarwork became a mark of refinement—these pastes were served on gilded dishes at banquets to showcase both taste and status.

Period Tools & Presentation

Household inventories list *marmalet boxes*—small wooden or pewter containers used to store fruit pastes—and carved boxwood moulds for shaping them into knots, roses, or heraldic badges. Displayed among marchpane and candied fruits, these confections were edible sculptures. At feasts, they were offered in the banquetting house alongside spiced wine, wafers, and sugar plate, eaten in tiny bites rather than spread on bread.

Humoral Theory Notes

According to Galenic medicine, quinces and other tart fruits were considered cold and dry in the second degree, balancing the hot and moist qualities of meats and wines. The addition of sugar, cinnamon, and ginger “warmed” the mixture, making it more agreeable to the stomach. Thus, fruit pastes served both as decoration and as digestive aid.

Iberian Influence

England’s fascination with “Spanish marmalades” reflected the influence of Iberian confectionery traditions using honey, rosewater, and spice. Early imports were prized gifts, inspiring English cooks to recreate them at home. A.W.’s peach marmalade and Partridge’s plum version show how continental recipes adapted to local fruits and English tastes.

Italian Renaissance Spit Roasted Beef made with Salted Brisket & Served with Sweet Mustard Sauce from Scappi

Animal detail from medieval illuminated manuscript, British Library Harley MS 3244, 1236-c 1250, f47r

Arrosta — the grand roast course of a Renaissance feast — was far more than just meat on a spit. In Bartolomeo Scappi’s Opera (1570), the arrosta included an impressive variety: spit-roasted meats, braised vegetables, elegant sauces, pasta, and even colorful jellies. This was the third course of our 12th Night 2024 feast, following the Alesso course. It showcased the depth of Italian Renaissance cooking, balancing hearty dishes with refined accompaniments.

For this feast, we adapted Scappi’s recipes for a modern feast kitchen, using brisket in place of a full rack of beef ribs, seasonal vegetables, and accessible modern cooking methods — without losing the rich flavors of the originals.

Historical Context: The Arrosta in Renaissance Dining

Bartolomeo Scappi, personal chef to several Popes, published his monumental cookbook in 1570. His work captures both grand courtly dining and practical Lenten fare. The arrosta course was often the centerpiece of a meal, designed to impress guests with skill, abundance, and variety. Alongside the expected roasts, Scappi included vegetable dishes, pasta, and desserts, showing the Renaissance love for balanced and abundant tables.

In Renaissance banquet tradition, the arrosta — literally “roast” — was more than a single dish. It was a set course, positioned after the boiled meats (al lesso) and before the final sweets, and served as a showcase for the host’s wealth, skill, and access to prime ingredients. In Italian and broader European practice, this course could include not only spit-roasted meats, but also fried, grilled, and baked dishes, as well as richly sauced accompaniments.

Theory of Digestion and Humoral Balance

The Renaissance kitchen did not operate solely on taste — it was deeply influenced by the Galenic theory of digestion. According to this model, digestion happened in stages, with foods progressing from lighter and moister to heavier and drier as the meal went on. Roasted meats were considered among the “drier” preparations, especially when spit-roasted over open flame, which was thought to reduce their innate moisture. Without correction, such dishes were believed to tax the body and cause imbalance in the humors, particularly in those of “dry” constitution.

To make these roasts more healthful and digestible, period cooks paired them with moistening sauces — sweet, tart, or spiced — that counterbalanced dryness. This is why Renaissance cookbooks, including Bartolomeo Scappi’s monumental Opera (1570), often present roast recipes alongside multiple sauce preparations. In our feast, this principle is reflected in the Salsa di Mostardo amabile (sweet mustard sauce) and the walnut-garlic sauce served with the beef.

Variety Within the Roast Course

While the name suggests a single cooking method, the arrosta could include:

• Spit-roasted meats — large joints of beef, lamb, game birds.
• Grilled dishes — chops, skewers, or offal.
• Fried items — fritters, pastries, and delicate morsels.
• Baked pies and pasties — often with meat or cheese fillings.

This variety allowed the cook to display mastery over multiple techniques while still keeping within the course’s “dry” category in humoral terms.

Salting as a Preservation Technique

Our beef for this course followed a process rooted in Renaissance preservation methods. Salting was one of the most important means of keeping meat edible beyond the immediate slaughtering period, especially before reliable cold storage. Coarse salt (often mixed with aromatics like fennel, coriander, or garlic) was rubbed into meat to draw out moisture through osmosis, inhibiting bacterial growth. In larger households and urban kitchens, salted meats allowed for advance preparation and easier provisioning — vital for feast service where dozens or even hundreds of guests might be served.

In Scappi’s recipes, salting could be brief — just hours — for seasoning and texture, or extended over several days for preservation. The salted pressed beef method we adapted for our brisket echoes both preservation and seasoning traditions, ensuring flavorful meat that holds its structure through long, slow cooking. In feast context, the ability to produce such meat out of season or far from slaughter was a mark of logistical skill and kitchen sophistication.

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Menu

1. Per arrostire allo spiedo un carré di costolette di manzo – To spit-roast a rack of beef ribs (Brisket substitution) 
2. Per brasare le cipolle intere in quaresima – To braise whole onions in Lent 
3. Salsa di noci e aglio – Walnut and Garlic Sauce 
4. Salsa di Mostardo amabile – Sweet Mustard Sauce 
5. Per far diverse minestre di zucche Turchesche – Turkish Squash 
6. Tortelletti d’herba alla Lombarda – Herb tortellini in the Lombard Style 
7. Gelo in bocconcini di piu colori piatti – Jelly in small bites, of many colors