Balloke Brothe – Medieval Eel Broth (Harleian MS. 279, ab. 1430)
Eel from the 13th-century Ashmole Bestiary
Source: Harleian MS. 279, ab. 1430, recipe xxv.
📜 Original Recipe
xxv - Balloke Brothe. Take Elys and fle hem, an kytte hem in gobouns, an caste hem in-to a fayre potte with fayre water; than take Percely and Oynonys, an schrede hem to-gederys nowt to smal; take Clowes, Maces, an powder Pepyr, an caste ther-to a gode porcyon of wyne; then take 3est of New ale an caste ther-to, an let boyle: an when the Elys byn wyl y-boylid, take fayre stokfysshe, an do a-way the skyn, an caste ther-to, an let boyle a whyle; then take Safroun and Salt, an a lytil Venegre, an caste ther-to, an serue forth.
Petaso, or pork, was widely enjoyed in Ancient Rome. In this dish, it is sweetened with honey and figs and served alongside mustacei—wine cakes traditionally baked atop bay leaves for flavor. These cakes were often served at celebrations, symbolizing hospitality and indulgence. Recipes for mustacei appear in Cato the Elder's De Agri Cultura, one of the oldest surviving Latin texts.
Did You Know? Mustaceum comes from "mustum"—fresh grape must—used to flavor celebratory cakes in Roman weddings and feasts.
Modern Interpretation
Ingredients – Pork & Broth
2 pounds smoked ham
2 ½ cups pearl barley
10 dried figs
1 celery stalk
10 peppercorns
1 cup honey
Instructions
Soak ham overnight. Discard water.
In a pot, cover ham with fresh water. Add barley, figs, celery, peppercorns, and ½ cup honey.
Boil, skim, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove meat and reserve broth. Cool, then glaze with remaining ½ cup honey.
Sweet Wine Sauce
1 ¼ cups red wine
1 ¼ cups raisin wine (or substitute sweet red wine)
½ tsp ground black pepper
Simmer wines and pepper until reduced slightly. Serve as sauce with pork.
Sweet Wine Cakes (Mustacei)
2 cups flour
2 tbsp lard
2 oz grated cheese
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp aniseed
3–4 tbsp red wine
Bay leaves
½ tsp dried yeast
Rub lard into flour. Mix in cheese, cumin, and aniseed.
Dissolve yeast in wine with bay leaf. Remove bay leaf and mix into flour.
Knead dough, divide into 8, shape into buns. Place on greased tray. Cover and let rise 1½ hrs.
Bake at 375°F for 25–30 minutes until golden.
Serving Suggestions
Slice glazed pork and serve with the wine reduction sauce and a warm mustaceum. Ideal paired with olives or soft cheese for a full Roman plate.
Lucanicae, the seasoned sausages of Roman origin, were named after the region of Lucania in Southern Italy. Roman soldiers are said to have learned the technique of stuffing spiced meat into casings from the Lucanians. These sausages are the ancestors of modern varieties such as Italian luganega and Spanish longaniza.
Did You Know?
The Roman author Varro writes: “Lucanicae are so called because soldiers learned to prepare them from the Lucanians: they stuff minced meat into casings made from intestines, along with various seasonings.” – Varro, De Lingua Latina 5.22
For more on ancient Roman sausage-making, see the digitized Latin and English text of Apicius – De Re Coquinaria.
Modern Interpretation
This simplified grilled version uses bulgur to approximate the grainy texture of some Roman forcemeats and mixes pork and beef for richness. Pine nuts add a distinctly Roman touch.
Ingredients
1 pound ground meat (beef and pork blend recommended)
4 tbsp bulgur
1 tsp ground pepper
2½ tsp liquamen (or substitute fish sauce)
2 tbsp pine nuts, roughly chopped
Salt to taste
Instructions
Boil the bulgur in enough water to cover until tender. Drain and cool.
In a bowl, mix the cooked bulgur with the ground meat, spices, pine nuts, liquamen, and salt.
Shape into small sausage patties (or stuff into casings if preferred).
Grill until thoroughly cooked and lightly charred.
Note: This version was chosen due to limited event facilities—a primitive site with no kitchen, only a grill and hose for water.
Serving Suggestions
Serve Lucanicae warm or at room temperature alongside Piadina (Roman Flatbread), olives, and mustard made from pine nuts and honey.
What did early medieval Scandinavians eat? It is an intriguing question that is difficult to answer. Part of the difficulty is that what has been written about them, was written after their time period, and is considered by many modern historians to be inaccurate.
Some information is available through what has been written within the Icelandic Sagas. Another resource that has provided a wealth of information is the excavation of midden pits, latrines, and old fireplaces. By recovering the remains of plants and animals as well as the various kinds of cooking vessels archeologists and food historians are able to hypothesize what could have been eaten based on what has been discovered.
This is an example of such a recipe. I took two recipes, one for Kettle Worms from Daniel Serra's "An Early Meal" and the other for Guest House sausages, and combined them to create my own sausage.
Bronwyn's Kettle Worms to be Eaten Cold with Mustard- Serves 8
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound 80/20 ground beef
2 slices of uncured bacon minced
1 small apple cut into small dice
1 shallot (you could use ramps, leeks or wild garlic)
Thyme, salt, and pepper to taste
Plastic wrap
Instructions
Mix together the first three ingredients along with a couple of tablespoons of water until the meat becomes sticky
Add apples, shallot and your seasoning, and continue to mix until all are well incorporated
Divide the meat mixture into fourths. Roll each out into a log of similar size and shape.
Wrap each in plastic wrap and tie off the ends. NOTE: The plastic wrap will be taking the place of sausage casings you would need to remove if serving cold.
While you are wrapping your meat, place a pot of salted water on the stove and bring it to a simmer.
Place your sausages into the water and allow to simmer until they are cooked through. Remove from the heat.
NOTE: If you have a smoker, prepare it, and smoke your sausages instead. Instead of cooking them thoroughly in the water, cook them only long enough that they will hold together. Remove the plastic wrap, and then smoke overnight or for several hours. I personally find that simmering them first in the water keeps them moist.
I used commercial whole grain stone ground mustard, but if you are looking for one that is slightly more fitting, I recommend this recipe for mustard.
For more information on what has been discovered (food and cooking ware), I recommend the following resources:
Hald, Mette Marie et al. "Fragments Of Meals In Eastern Denmark From The Viking Age To The Renaissance: New Evidence From Organic Remains In Latrines". Journal Of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol 31, 2020, p. 102361. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102361. Accessed 12 Sept 2022.
Hurstwic: Food, Diet, And Nutrition In The Viking Age". Hurstwic.Org, 2022, http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/food_and_diet.htm. Accessed 12 Sept 2022.
København, Nationalmuseet. "Meat And Fish". National Museum Of Denmark, 2022, https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/food/meat-and-fish/. Accessed 12 Sept 2022.
Viking Diet: Why You Should Eat Like The Vikings Did!". Sons Of Vikings, 2021, https://sonsofvikings.com/blogs/history/eat-like-a-viking. Accessed 12 Sept 2022.
The walls are up! The tile is laid and waiting to be grouted. I am excited to see the kitchen coming back together again. I've gotten response with putting together these kinds of posts. Today's post features five different recipes for stewed beef, each unique, each delicious. I hope you try them and let me know how you liked them. Soon, very soon....I will be back to interpreting again.
Simply click the link to be taken to the page to find the recipe. Please leave me a message and let me know if you would like to see more posts like this.
Thank you!
To stew Fillets of Beefe(Madge Lorwin's Dining with William Shakespeare) Tender slices of beef, stewed in wine, lemon and herbs. I make this in the crockpot and serve it over rice. It is a welcoming dish to come home to after a hard day at work. Picture at right is part of the cooking process. Despite constantly thinking "I need a picture of the final product" I never take one.
.viij. Venyson with Furmenty. - Two recipes combined to create a comforting and tasty dish. Venison (or beef) simmered in broth, wine, and vinegar seasoned with parsley, sage, pepper, mace and cloves. Hearty and filling when served over rice or furmenty (a creamy porridge of cracked wheat scented with saffron), or even a big chunk of bread to soak up all the flavorful broth--it would be a crime not to! You must try this.
.xxiiij. Drawyn grwel. - An unctuous and savory soup made from ground beef, cooked in a broth, thickened with oatmeal and seasoned with parsley and sage. This recipe was amazing and has changed my (and the taste testers) opinions on what gruel should be. Despite rumors to the contrary, gruel is not a flavorless, thin watery soup of unknown origin. The oats add a subtle nutty flavor, the meat is tender and the water and broth thicken considerably once cooked. A worthy dish to be served to kings and peasants alike.
.xxxvij. Autre Vele en bokenade. - Veal (or beef) and thin slivers of onions stewed gently in an almond milk based broth, flavored with warm and exotic spices and sweet currants and thickened with rice flour. Yum!! This was a beautifully easy and quick recipe to throw together, and I suspect it could be made in a crockpot. It absolutely fit the bill of "comfort food".
Since my kitchen is being remodeled and I am unable to cook I thought I might try something a little different. The plumbing and electric have been completed and the tile is laid, simply waiting to be grouted. Soon, very soon....I will be back to interpreting again.
Simply click the link to be taken to the page to find the recipe. Please leave me a message and let me know if you would like to see more posts like this.
Thank you!
Harliean MS 279 (about 1430) Smale Byrdys y-stwyde- Small Birds Stewed - chicken or other small fowl stewed gently in a flavorful broth made of wine, seasoned with onions, saffron, and medieval spices. When this was tested the commentary ran from unintelligible mumbling around spoonful's of soup, to groans of pleasure and an excited exclamation of "You have GOT to get this recipe to my mom".
Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) -.xv. Bowres- Braised Fowl - duck, goose, or another form of fowl is braised in a flavorful broth of ale, sage and salt and served as a soup. The taste testers squabbled over who would get to eat the rest of it.
Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - .lxxxx. Hennys in Gauncelye- Chicken in Garlic Cream Sauce - a classic dish that is still enjoyed in modern times. A beautifully golden cream sauce, seasoned liberally with garlic served with chicken. Fit for king!
Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430) - Chykonys in bruette - Chicken in Broth - What could be simpler then pieces of tender chicken in a flavorful broth seasoned with pepper, saffron and ginger? Simple and filling.
Harleain MS 279 (ab. 1430) Henne in Bokenade - Stewed Chicken in Sauce - This is a very comforting and filling dish, which could be made as saucy or as brothy as the cook desires. This dish is on my "must serve at a future feast" list. Tender bits of chicken served in its own broth, thickened with eggs and seasoned with sage, hyssop, parsley, mace, saffron and a bit of vinegar. It caused quite the uproar with the taste testers, who finally battled it out with a game of paper, rock and scissors to see who scored the leftovers.
Sometimes in cooking we’re presented with a mystery: a damaged manuscript, a missing line, or a cryptic instruction that leaves us guessing. In Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (Harleian MS. 279, ab. 1430) there are several incomplete recipes. Vyande Ryalle — “Royal Dish” — is one of them. Enough survives to tempt a reconstruction, but not enough to be certain. Below is what I’ve been able to glean, why I suspect a missing element, and a cautious modern interpretation. Consider it a working theory, not gospel.
The Forme of Cury has a similarly named dish but it doesn’t resemble this one. The closest parallel I’ve found is Brawn Ryal in the Wagstaff Miscellany (Beinecke MS 163), which repeats many of the same actions and explains ways to color the dish. That parallel is what led me to my “best guess” below.
What does “Vyande Ryalle” mean?
Vyande/viand could mean any “food” or “dish,” later narrowing toward meat. The Middle English Dictionary also glosses viande as elaborate preparations “boiled in almond milk or wine, thickened and colored yellow.” That aligns neatly with what we see here: almond milk, rice flour to thicken, and a directive to “color the sewe.”
Original Text & Facing Translation
Harleian MS. 279: .Cxlij. Vyande Ryalle.
.Cxlij. Vyande Ryalle. — Nyme gode Mylke of Almaundys, & do it in a potte, & sette it ouer þe fyre, & styre it tyl it boyle almost; þen take flour of Rys & of þe selue Mylke, an draw it þorwe a straynoure, & so þer-with a-lye it tylle it be Chargeaunte, & stere it faste þat it crouste noȝt; þen take [gap: ] owte of grece, & caste it þorw a Skymoure, & colour þat Sewe þer-with; þan take Sugre in confyte, & caste in y-now; sesyn it with Salt & ley þre lechys in a dysshe, & caste Aneys in comfyte þer-on, & þanne serue forth.
Modern Sense Translation
142 – Royal Dish. Take good almond milk in a pot and warm it, stirring until it almost boils. Take rice flour mixed with the same milk, strain it in, and thicken until it’s substantial, stirring so it doesn’t crust. Then take [gap] out of grease and cast it through a skimmer, and color the sewe (sauce) therewith. Add sugar in comfit to taste; season with salt; lay three slices in a dish, strew with anise in comfit, and serve.
Note: The neighboring recipe .Cxlj. Noteye colors a similar almond-and-rice base with the expressed juice of young hazel leaves, and includes minced pork or capon. Hazel leaves are indeed edible when young (foraged greens), which supports “coloring the sewe” with plant juices in this family of dishes.
What might be missing?
The line “take [gap] out of grease, and cast it through a skimmer, and color that sewe there-with” suggests something fried in fat/grease, then used to color (or enrich) the sauce. Possibilities:
Saffron in grease (a common coloring method), then strained in.
Meat/fish offal or brawn rendered in grease (cf. Brawn Ryal), strained to tint and enrich.
Plant juice (e.g., hazel leaves) expressed and combined with grease, though Noteye adds the leaf juice directly.
The Wagstaff Miscellany recipes for Brawn ryal / brawn sypres / brawn bruse align strongly: blanch almonds, make hot almond milk, thicken, season sweet-sour, color with saffron (or other agents), then cut in leches (slices) to plate — and even garnish with anise in comfit, just like Vyande Ryalle. There’s also a Lenten fish version using stockfish soundes and eels, and a spectacular “egg-shell” presentation layered white/yellow/white.
Where does it appear on menus?
Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books places Vyand Ryal in the second course on both a fast-day and a meat-day menu — consistent with a dish that can be prepared either flesh-day (brawn/pork/capon) or Lenten (fish), and colored variously (saffron, plant juices, etc.).
Similar Recipe Titles
Forme of Cury [Rylands MS 7] lists Vyaund ryal with wine or rhenish wine, clarified honey, rice flour, spices, saffron, sugar cypress, mulberries or sanders, boiled “stondyng.” Different formula, same “royal” naming.
