Herbelade (Herb Pottage) — Harleian MS 4016 & Forme of Curye

Herbelade (Herb Pottage) — Harleian MS 4016 (c. 1450) & Forme of Curye (1390)

Detail from the Banquet du Paon (Chroniques de Hainaut, c. 1447–48) — the kind of noble feast where Herbelade might open the first course.

John Russell’s Boke of Nurture lists a “pottage of herbs, spice, and wine” in the first course of his Dynere of Flesche. See the full reconstructed menu here: A Dynere of Flesche — John Russell’s 15th-Century Menu. . Among surviving 15th-century recipes, the Herbelade from Harleian MS 4016 (c. 1450) matches that description exactly — a delicate, green, wine-scented broth thickened with bread and perfumed with gentle spice.

What “pottage” means here: a smooth herb-based soup or light stew served early in the meal — modestly thickened with bread or almond milk, spiced with ginger and saffron, and occasionally enriched with wine.

Original Text — Harleian MS 4016 (EETS 1888 p. 89)

Herbelade. Take persel, sawge, ysope, saveray, and tansey, and other gode herbys that ye may gete, and do hem in a potte; sethe hem; take brede y-grated, and temper it with broth, and do thereto, and sethe it, and serue it forth.

Modern English Rendering

Take parsley, sage, hyssop, savory, tansy, and any other good herbs you can find, and put them in a pot; boil them. Mix grated bread with broth (or wine), add it to the herbs, and simmer; then serve it forth.

Modern Recipe (Tested Redaction)

Yield: 6–8 servings • Time: ~20 min

• 3 cups mixed herbs – parsley, sage, savory, hyssop (or thyme), tansy (optional)
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth – replace up to 1 cup with white wine
• ½ cup breadcrumbs (or 2 Tbsp ground almonds for richer version)
• Pinch ginger, few threads saffron, and a little sugar (optional)
• Salt to taste

1. Blanch herbs 30 sec, chop fine.
2. Heat broth + wine; add herbs.
3. Stir in breadcrumbs (or almond flour) to thicken.
4. Season with ginger, saffron, pinch sugar, and salt.
5. Simmer 5–10 min until lightly thickened. Serve hot.

Flavor profile: fresh herbal green, gently spiced, and light on the palate — ideal first-course fare.

About Tansy: Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) was a common medieval herb with a strong, aromatic, slightly bitter flavor. Though best known for Lenten or Easter “tansy” dishes, it also appeared in savory contexts like Herbelade, valued for its warming, cleansing properties. Medieval herbalists classed it as “hot and dry,” balancing the “cold and moist” nature of green herbs, and believed it aided digestion after rich meats.

• Flavor: Bitter–spiced, similar to a cross of rosemary and sage; use sparingly in modern redactions.
• Availability: A hardy perennial, typically dried for winter use.
• Modern caution: Tansy contains thujone, a volatile compound that is both neurotoxic and abortifacient in high doses. Historically, tansy was used medicinally to induce menstruation or miscarriage — so it’s absolutely contraindicated during pregnancy. and should be omitted entirely, or used in the smallest of quantities; mild substitutes include thyme or a pinch of rosemary.