Vyolette: A 15th-Century Violet Almond Custard from Harleian MS. 279

Vyolette: A 15th-Century Violet Custard from Harleian MS. 279

Vyolette, a delicate medieval custard celebrating one of spring's most cherished flowers.

First published: April 20, 2016
Updated: June 26, 2026

Among the first flowers to announce the return of spring, few were as admired by medieval gardeners, physicians, and cooks as the fragrant March Violet. Long before edible flowers became fashionable in modern kitchens, sweet violets were cultivated for their beauty, preserved in syrups and conserves, infused into oils and honey, and transformed into elegant dishes such as this remarkable custard from Harleian MS. 279.

Unlike many modern floral desserts that rely upon extracts or artificial flavorings, Vyolette asks the cook to work directly with fresh blossoms. The flowers are gently cooked, pressed, and blended into almond milk before being thickened into a silky custard. The result is subtle rather than perfumed, allowing the delicate fragrance of the violet itself to remain the centerpiece of the dish.

Historical Context

The flower called for in this recipe was almost certainly the Sweet or March Violet (Viola odorata), a plant prized throughout medieval Europe for both its fragrance and its versatility. Writing in A Nievve Herball (1554), Rembert Dodoens distinguished the richly scented garden violet from its weaker wild cousin, describing the cultivated flower as possessing a "very pleasant and amiable smell." He notes that these violets flowered in March and April, giving rise to the familiar English name "March Violet."

The Sweet or March Violet (Viola odorata) from Rembert Dodoens' A Nievve Herball (1554).

By the early seventeenth century, John Parkinson observed that generations of careful cultivation had produced garden violets that were "fairer in colour, and peradventure of a better scent than when they grew wild." His descriptions of single, double, white, and purple March Violets reveal that these flowers were not merely gathered from hedgerows but intentionally grown in gardens for both ornament and household use.

Our companion article, Of March Violets: Medicinal and Culinary Lore, explores the rich botanical, culinary, and medicinal history of this remarkable flower, including period herbals, violet syrup, violet honey, and additional historical recipes.

Household Context

Fresh violets were among the earliest gifts of spring, making them a naturally seasonal ingredient. Le Ménagier de Paris, the late fourteenth-century household guide known in English as The Good Wife's Guide, instructs gardeners to lift violet plants into pots before winter and shelter them in a cellar or protected place during severe frosts. During mild days the plants were carried back into the fresh air and watered carefully before being returned indoors. Such advice demonstrates that prosperous households deliberately cultivated violets rather than relying solely upon wild flowers.

The same household tradition also records violets decorating elegant dishes. One recipe for aspic jelly directs the cook to garnish each serving with white violets, pomegranate, bay leaves, and colorful dragées before presentation. These references remind us that medieval cooks valued flowers not only for their flavor but also for the beauty they brought to the feast table.

Luxury household accounts likewise record the purchase of violets alongside costly imported sugar, mastic, and spices, illustrating that fragrant flowers were considered worthy companions to some of the finest ingredients available to elite kitchens.

The Manuscript

This recipe appears as .Cxxv. Vyolette in Harleian MS. 279, one of the most important surviving collections of fifteenth-century English cookery. Unlike the manuscript's other recipe for Vyolette, which combines violets with dried fruits, warming spices, and saffron to create a substantial almond pottage, this version is remarkably restrained. It allows the flower itself to remain the principal flavor, supported only by almond milk, a starch thickener, and sugar or honey.

The manuscript also offers an interesting choice between almond milk and "good cow's milk," reminding us that medieval cooks readily adapted recipes to both the liturgical calendar and the resources available in their own kitchens. Almond milk was especially common during fasting periods, while fresh dairy was equally acceptable when dietary restrictions permitted.

The Original Recipe

.Cxxv. Vyolette. — Take Flourys of Vyolet, boyle hem, presse hem, bray hem smal, temper hem vppe with Almaunde mylke, or gode Cowe Mylke, a-lye it with Amyndoun or Flowre of Rys; take Sugre y-now, an putte þer-to, or hony in defaute; coloure it with þe same þat þe flowrys be on y-peyntid a-boue.

Translation

Take violet flowers, boil them, press them, and grind them finely. Mix them with almond milk or good cow's milk, then thicken the mixture with amidon or rice flour. Add enough sugar, or honey if sugar is unavailable. Color the finished dish to resemble the violet flowers themselves.

Murrey: A Mulberry-Colored Medieval Pottage from Harleian MS 279

First published February 7, 2016. Updated June 19, 2026.

Murrey served over sops of bread. The rich reddish-purple color appears to have been one of the defining characteristics of this family of medieval dishes.

Medieval cooks paid attention to color in ways that modern diners often overlook. Color was not merely decoration. It could signal status, season, symbolism, feast day, humor, or even the identity of a dish.

Murrey is a perfect example. At first glance, the Harleian MS 279 recipe looks like a thick meat preparation made from pork, veal, broth, bread, honey, ginger, galangal, and saunders. When I first reconstructed it in 2016, I described it as another meat sauce. Years later, with more manuscript evidence in hand, I think that interpretation was too narrow.

Murrey appears to belong to a wider medieval tradition of color-defined dishes. The word itself refers to a dark reddish-purple, mulberry-like color. Related recipes appear in several medieval sources, sometimes made with almonds and wine, sometimes with meat, sometimes with actual mulberries, and sometimes adapted for fish days or flesh days. What unites them is not a single ingredient list, but a color, a texture, and a culinary idea.

Why this recipe matters: Murrey is more than a medieval meat dish. It appears to be part of a family of mulberry-colored preparations that show how medieval cooks used color to define food. The Harleian version is best understood as a thick pottage rather than a modern sauce.

Cawdelle Ferry: A Medieval Wine Caudle from Harleian MS 279 (c. 1430)

Cawdelle Ferry: A Medieval Wine Caudle from Harleian MS 279

First published February 2, 2016. Updated June 19, 2026.

Cawdelle Ferry, a spiced wine caudle thickened with egg yolks.

Cawdelle Ferry is one of those medieval recipes that refuses to sit politely in a modern category. It is made from wine, egg yolks, sugar, saffron, and spices. It is warmed gently, stirred until thick, and served with white powder scattered over the top.

In the original version of this article, I described it as a wine pudding. That was not entirely wrong, but it was incomplete. Cawdelle Ferry is better understood as a medieval caudle: a warm, often restorative preparation that could range from drinkable to spoonable depending on how it was thickened.

What makes this recipe especially interesting is that it was not a one-off curiosity. Versions of Cawdelle Ferry appear across English culinary manuscripts for more than a century, using wine, sugar or honey, saffron, egg yolks, bread, almonds, starch, rice flour, raisins, and spices. This is not just a recipe. It is a recipe family.

Why this recipe matters: Cawdelle Ferry helps us understand the medieval caudle as something more complex than a hot drink. Across several manuscripts, it appears as a fortified wine preparation thickened into a rich, nourishing dish that sits somewhere between drink, pottage, custard, and pudding.

Lyode Soppes: One of England's Earliest Bread Puddings

Lyode Soppes: A 15th-Century Bread Pudding from Harleian MS 279

First published January 13, 2016. Updated June 19, 2026.

Lyode Soppes, a sweet custard pottage served over fine white bread.

If modern bread pudding has a medieval ancestor, Lyode Soppes is one of the strongest candidates I have found. Recorded in Harleian MS 279 around 1430, this dish combines rounds of fine white bread with a gently thickened custard of milk, egg yolks, sugar, and salt.

But is it truly bread pudding, or is it better understood as a sweet custard pottage? The answer is, deliciously, both. Lyode Soppes is not baked like modern bread pudding. The bread is cut into round sops, placed in a dish, and covered with warm custard. The manuscript itself tells us to serve it “for a potage.”

This has long been one of my favorite breakfast recipes from the manuscript. It is simple, comforting, and surprisingly familiar. Across nearly six centuries, bread, milk, eggs, and sugar still know how to sit together at the table.

Why this recipe matters: Lyode Soppes documents bread served with custard in a fifteenth-century English cookbook. It is best understood as a sweet custard pottage, but it also sits very close to what modern cooks would recognize as an early form of bread pudding.

Oyle Soppys (Oil Sops): Medieval Onion Soup Recipe with Ale | Harleian MS 279

Oyle Soppys, or Oil Sops, a medieval onion and ale soup from Harleian MS 279

Published: December 24, 2015
Updated: June 18, 2026

Few recipes in Harleian MS 279 demonstrate the ingenuity of medieval cooks quite as clearly as Oyle Soppys. Built from onions, ale, bread, oil, and a handful of seasonings, this fifteenth-century onion soup transforms simple household ingredients into a satisfying and economical first course.

When researching medieval pottages, two recipes immediately caught my attention: Soupes Dorroy and Oyle Soppys. Both recipes begin with onions, yet they produce remarkably different dishes. Soupes Dorroy relies upon wine and almond milk to create a rich golden broth, while Oyle Soppys turns instead to ale, producing a humbler but no less interesting soup.

At first glance, Oyle Soppys appears almost too simple to merit attention. There are no elaborate garnishes, expensive meats, or complex preparations. Yet recipes like this offer an important reminder that medieval cooks spent far more time preparing practical daily meals than creating the grand dishes that often dominate modern discussions of historical food.

The result is a medieval onion and ale soup that reveals not only what people ate, but how cooks stretched common ingredients into nourishing meals suitable for households, travelers, and large feasts.

Reconstructing an Anglo-Saxon Feast: Ceilidh XVI Revisited (2003–2026)

Reconstructing an Anglo-Saxon Feast: Ceilidh XVI Revisited (2003–2026)

What began as a simple update to an old feast post became something much more interesting: a return to the table with better sources, sharper questions, and a little culinary archaeology.

Ceilidh XVI, March 29, 2003. An Anglo-Saxon inspired feast revisited more than twenty years later through updated sources, culinary archaeology, and historical reconstruction.

Original Feast Record: This post revisits an Anglo-Saxon inspired feast cooked for Ceilidh XVI on March 29, 2003, and later documented on Give It Forth in 2015.

Read the preserved original feast post here.

In March of 2003, I prepared an Anglo-Saxon inspired feast for Ceilidh XVI. At the time, I relied heavily on the sources available to me, especially Mary Savelli’s Tastes of Anglo-Saxon England. Twelve years later, in 2015, I documented the menu and recipes on Give It Forth. Now, more than two decades after the feast itself, I am returning to that table with fresh eyes.

This revisit is not meant to erase the original feast. The old post remains part of the record: a snapshot of what I knew, what I could access, and how I interpreted Anglo-Saxon foodways at the time. Instead, this new hub gathers updated research, source links, and revised questions as I work through the menu dish by dish.

Some recipes may stand up better than expected. Others may need to be reframed as interpretive, Roman-influenced, or modern stand-ins. A few may even prove more historically thoughtful than their critics have allowed.

Culinary Archaeology Note: For this revisit, I am separating the original feast record from the updated research. The 2015 post preserves the menu and recipes as they were remembered and recorded. This hub asks what we can learn now by returning to the sources.

The Original Menu

First Course

• Mearh Smeamete – Sausage Casserole
  Updated recipe post: Mearh Smeamete – Reconstructing an Anglo-Saxon Sausage Delicacy
• Hlaf – Bread
  Updated recipe post: coming soon
• Æppla Syfling – Apple Butter, or Savory Apple Sauce?
  Updated research post: Æppla Syfling: Following the Trail of an Anglo-Saxon Apple Butter
• Caules Wyrtmete – Cabbage Salad
  Updated recipe post: coming soon

Second Course

• Hriðer Smeamete – Stewed Beef
  Updated recipe post: coming soon
• Beren Briw – Barley Polenta
  Updated recipe post: coming soon
• Hunigbæe Moran – Honeyed Carrots
  Updated recipe post: coming soon

Third Course

• Sciellfisc – Shellfish
  Updated recipe post: coming soon
• Brǣdan Fisc – Fish Baked with Coriander
  Updated recipe post: coming soon
• Pisan – Peas with Salt and Oil
  Updated recipe post: coming soon

Fourth Course

• Sumerlio Mearhgehæcc – Summer Pudding
  Updated research note: coming soon
• Hunigæppel – Honey Nut Cakes
  Updated recipe post: coming soon

Anglo-Saxon Dining at a Glance

• Seasonality mattered. Fresh foods, preserved foods, dairy, fish, and meats all followed the rhythm of the year.
• Bread was central. Many meals were built around bread with an accompaniment, relish, cheese, meat, fish, or pottage.
• Boiling and stewing were common. These methods made practical use of tough meats, salt meats, grains, legumes, and vegetables.
• Food and medicine overlapped. Medical texts regularly used common kitchen ingredients such as apples, herbs, honey, vinegar, butter, milk, and ale.
• Sharp sauces had a purpose. Tart fruit, vinegar, herbs, and spices could help balance rich foods and aid digestion.

Why Revisit This Feast?

Anglo-Saxon food is difficult to reconstruct. Unlike later medieval English cookery, we do not have a large body of direct culinary recipe collections from the period. Instead, evidence must be gathered from many places: medical texts, herbals, glossaries, food rents, archaeology, monastic rules, later culinary traditions, and comparative Roman or early medieval sources.

That means any reconstructed Anglo-Saxon feast requires caution. It also means that some older reconstructions, especially those written for practical cooks, may be more thoughtful than they first appear. They may not always show their full source trail, but that does not mean there was no trail.

One of the most interesting examples from this feast is Æppla Syfling, originally presented as “apple butter.” At first glance, the recipe looks odd to modern readers: apples, apple juice, honey, black pepper, mint, and cumin. But when examined beside Ann Hagen’s work on Anglo-Saxon food, Bald’s Leechbook, and Apicius, the dish begins to look less like a sweet spread and more like a tart, savory sauce meant to accompany meat or fish.

Food as Medicine in Anglo-Saxon England

One of the most useful ways to understand this feast is through the idea that food and medicine were not sharply separated. Anglo-Saxon medical texts often use ordinary ingredients: apples, herbs, butter, honey, vinegar, milk, ale, grains, and meats. These foods could nourish, strengthen, soothe, stimulate, cool, warm, or aid digestion.

This does not mean every meal was planned according to the fully developed humoral theory familiar from later medieval medicine and cookery. But it does suggest that Anglo-Saxon cooks and healers understood food as something that affected the body. A dish could be pleasurable and practical. A sauce could taste good and help rich food sit better in the stomach.

Food as Medicine: The pantry and the pharmacy were close neighbors in early medieval England. Herbs, fruits, honey, vinegar, dairy, and grains appear in medical texts not as exotic curiosities, but as everyday materials used to restore, strengthen, soothe, and balance the body.

Medical and herbal texts circulating in Anglo-Saxon England also support this broader food-as-medicine context. The Old English Herbarium, derived from the late antique Herbarium of Pseudo-Apuleius, survives in several manuscripts and belongs to the same world of practical plant knowledge as the leechbooks. These texts show a culture in which herbs and foods were understood through their effects on the body.

For this feast, that matters. Mint, cumin, pepper, vinegar, honey, apples, and other ingredients were not merely flavorings. They carried associations with digestion, appetite, preservation, and bodily comfort.

Bald’s Leechbook, a 10th-century Old English medical manuscript preserving remedies using familiar foods and herbs, including preparations involving apples, mint, cumin, and pepper.

Source Spotlight: Bald’s Leechbook

Bald’s Leechbook is a 10th-century Old English medical collection. It is not a cookbook, but it is filled with preparations using familiar foods and herbs. That makes it valuable for understanding how Anglo-Saxon people thought about ingredients, digestion, and bodily effects.

The apple preparation that seems most relevant to Æppla Syfling involves sour apples or crabapples with mint, pepper, and cumin in a digestive context. This does not prove that the dish was served at table exactly as Mary Savelli reconstructed it. It does show that apples, herbs, and warming spices belonged together in an Anglo-Saxon medicinal-food vocabulary.

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Roman Echoes: Apicius

Roman Influence: Apicius preserves a number of sharp, savory sauces that combine herbs, spices, honey, vinegar, and fish or shellfish broth. These are not Anglo-Saxon recipes, but they help show a wider ancient and early medieval taste for sweet, sour, herbal, and savory combinations.

A Roman parallel? John Edwards’ The Roman Cookery of Apicius includes cumin sauces for oysters and shellfish using mint, cumin, pepper, honey, and vinegar. While not Anglo-Saxon, these flavor combinations help contextualize the sharp, herbal qualities of Æppla Syfling.

This matters because Mary Savelli’s apple recipe includes honey, mint, cumin, and pepper: a combination that looks much less strange when compared with Roman sauces for fish and shellfish. The Roman evidence does not make Æppla Syfling Roman, but it helps explain the culinary logic behind a sharp, spiced sauce served with rich or savory foods.

Case Study: Æppla Syfling

The apple dish may become the first full deep-dive in this revisit because it reveals how complex early food reconstruction can be.

Mary Savelli’s recipe uses apples, apple cider or juice, honey, black pepper, mint, and cumin. At first glance, calling this “apple butter” encourages modern readers to imagine a sweet spread for bread. But the evidence points in another direction.

• Hagen: Fruit sauces could accompany meat and fish and help “cut the fat.”
• Bald’s Leechbook: A preparation involving sour apples or crabapples appears with mint, pepper, and cumin in a digestive context.
• Apicius: Roman sauces for shellfish include sharp combinations of pepper, mint, cumin, honey, vinegar, and broth.

Taken together, these sources suggest that Æppla Syfling may be more plausible as a savory apple sauce than as a modern-style apple butter. It may belong beside sausage, pork, beef, or fish rather than on breakfast toast.

Working Interpretation: Æppla Syfling was likely tart, herbal, lightly sweetened, and digestive. A modern reconstruction should probably lean toward crabapples or tart apples, less honey, and a sauce-like texture rather than a heavily reduced preserve.

Full research post: Æppla Syfling: Anglo-Saxon Apple Butter or Savory Apple Sauce? 

Reconsidering Mary Savelli

Tastes of Anglo-Saxon England has often been criticized because many of its recipes are interpretive. That criticism is understandable. Anglo-Saxon cooking sources are sparse, and modern readers often want direct manuscript recipes with clear instructions.

However, this revisit suggests that at least some of Savelli’s reconstructions may deserve a more generous reading. The apple dish, for example, appears to draw from a recognizable source pattern: Hagen’s discussion of fruit sauces, Bald’s Leechbook and its apple preparation, and Apicius as a comparative model for sharp, spiced sauces with honey, mint, cumin, and pepper.

That does not make the reconstruction certain. It does make it historically defensible. For Anglo-Saxon foodways, where the evidence is fragmentary, that distinction matters.

What I Would Change Today

Revisiting a feast after more than twenty years feels a little like opening an old cookbook written by another version of myself. Some choices still surprise me. Some make me wince a little. Others, unexpectedly, make more sense now than they did then.

Historical cooking changes as research changes. Revisiting old work is not about proving younger versions of ourselves wrong. It is about understanding the choices we made, learning what we missed, and asking better questions. Sometimes old recipes need correction. Sometimes they need context. And sometimes they turn out to have a better source trail than expected.

That is what makes this revisit so exciting. It is not simply a recipe update. It is a chance to ask how Anglo-Saxon people may have thought about food: as nourishment, medicine, status, seasonality, pleasure, and comfort.

Recipe Status and Research Notes

As I revisit each dish, I will sort the recipes into broad categories:

• Historically Grounded: Recipes or dishes with strong support from Anglo-Saxon sources or foodways.
• Interpretive Reconstruction: Dishes built from plausible ingredients, methods, archaeology, or comparative evidence.
• Roman or Classical Influence: Recipes drawn from Apicius or other Roman sources used to fill gaps or show culinary continuity.
• Modern Stand-In: Dishes included for feast service, seasonality, or practical reasons but not directly Anglo-Saxon.

This does not make the original feast “wrong.” It makes the update more transparent. Readers can see where the evidence is strong, where it is speculative, and where the cook made practical choices.

Updated Recipe Links

As each recipe is revisited, I will add the updated posts below.

• Mearh Smeamete – Sausage Casserole 
• Hlaf – Anglo-Saxon Bread (coming soon)
• Æppla Syfling – Apple Sauce, Not Apple Butter?  
• Caules Wyrtmete – Cabbage Salad (coming soon)
• Hriðer Smeamete – Stewed Beef (coming soon)
• Beren Briw – Barley Pottage (coming soon)
• Hunigbæe Moran – Honeyed Carrots (coming soon)
• Sciellfisc – Shellfish (coming soon)
• Brǣdan Fisc – Fish Baked with Coriander (coming soon)
• Pisan – Peas with Salt and Oil (coming soon)
• Sumerlio Mearhgehæcc – Summer Pudding (coming soon)
• Hunigæppel – Honey Nut Cakes (coming soon)

Frequently Asked Questions About Anglo-Saxon Food

Did Anglo-Saxons use spices?

Yes. Pepper, cumin, coriander, and other seasonings appear in medical, herbal, and comparative culinary contexts. Imported spices were not everyday peasant staples, but they were known and used in elite, medical, and monastic settings.

Was Anglo-Saxon food bland?

Not necessarily. Herbs, vinegar, honey, dairy, salt, preserved foods, and imported spices could create complex flavors. The surviving evidence suggests a cuisine that could be sharp, herbal, rich, smoky, sour, sweet, and savory.

Did Anglo-Saxons eat apples with meat?

Direct culinary recipes are scarce, but evidence from Ann Hagen’s work, Bald’s Leechbook, and later medieval English foodways suggests that fruit sauces could accompany meat and fish. Tart apple preparations may have helped balance rich foods.

Was food considered medicine?

Often, yes. Anglo-Saxon medical texts regularly use ordinary foods and kitchen ingredients. This does not mean every meal was medicinal, but it does show that food and bodily health were closely connected.

Did Anglo-Saxons use humoral theory?

Anglo-Saxon medical culture inherited ideas from classical and late antique medicine, but the elaborate humoral meal planning familiar from later medieval Europe was not yet fully developed. It is safer to speak of digestive logic, bodily effects, and food-as-medicine rather than fully formalized humoral dining.

More Like This

• Ceilidh XVI – March 29, 2003: Original Feast Record
• Five Medieval Breakfast Dishes Worth Waking Up For
• Medieval Cooking Basics: Spice Powders
• Dent-de-Lion: The Dandelion in Medieval Cuisine
• Medieval Wortes and Buttered Greens

Sources and Further Reading

• Original Give It Forth feast record: Ceilidh XVI – March 29, 2003
• Mary Savelli, Tastes of Anglo-Saxon England. Anglo-Saxon Books, 2002.
• Ann Hagen, Anglo-Saxon Food: Processing & Consumption. University College London, 1992.
• Thomas Oswald Cockayne, ed., Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England.
• Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England, Volume II.
• Apicius, Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome, translated by Joseph Dommers Vehling.
• Herbarium of Pseudo-Apuleius, Old English herbal tradition.

Next in this series: The first full recipe investigation will look at Æppla Syfling and ask whether this so-called Anglo-Saxon “apple butter” is better understood as a tart apple sauce for meat and fish.

What do you think? Would you spread Æppla Syfling on bread, or serve it beside roasted meat?

Medieval Braised Cabbage with Marrow Bones – Caboges from Harleian MS 279

Medieval Braised Cabbage with Marrow Bones: Caboges from Harleian MS 279

Caboges, a medieval braised cabbage dish from Harleian MS 279, served here with bread.

A humble dish of cabbage can still surprise you.

When I first made this recipe for Caboges from Harleian MS 279, I expected something plain and useful: boiled cabbage, perhaps a little broth, a serviceable green thing on the side of the table. Instead, I found tender cabbage braised in rich broth, scented with saffron, thickened with fine bread, and finished with marrow from the bones. It was cabbage dressed for court.

Even sworn cabbage haters tried it and wanted more. Success!

This recipe is one of several vegetable-forward dishes from Harleian MS 279, a 15th-century English cookery manuscript edited by Thomas Austin in Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. It belongs in the same delicious family as medieval wortes, Whyte Wortes, Lange Wortys de Chare, and Joutes.

What Are Caboges?

Caboges is the Middle English form of “cabbages.” But this is not simply boiled cabbage. The recipe directs the cook to clean and parboil the cabbage, press it dry, chop it, and then cook it again in fresh broth with marrow bones. The broth is thickened either with grated fine bread or with a strained meat gruel. At service, the marrow is knocked from the bones and placed visibly in the dish.

That finishing touch matters. This is where the recipe moves from plain vegetable cookery into feast-worthy food.

Why Was This Medieval Cabbage Recipe Fit for a Feast?

Modern readers often imagine medieval vegetable dishes as plain or rustic, but medieval cooks knew how to elevate simple ingredients. Here, cabbage becomes noble through treatment:

• It is cooked twice for better texture and flavor.
• It is simmered in fresh broth rather than plain water.
• It is enriched with marrow bones.
• It is colored and scented with saffron.
• It is thickened with grated fine bread into a soft pottage.

The cabbage may be inexpensive, but the broth, marrow, saffron, bread, fuel, and kitchen labor all add value. This is one of the joys of medieval cooking: the simplest vegetable can become something luxurious when handled with care.

How Would Caboges Have Been Served?

Caboges would likely have appeared among the wortes, pottages, or vegetable dishes of a medieval meal, served alongside roasted meats, meat pies, bread, or other greens. The marrow bones and saffron suggest a dish meant for a table with resources, not merely a plain household cabbage. This is the kind of recipe that reminds us that medieval feast food was not only about spectacular meats and subtleties. Sometimes the quiet dish at the side of the table was doing serious work.

Why Did Medieval Cooks Use Bread to Thicken Soup and Pottage?

Bread appears throughout medieval cookery as a thickener for sauces, pottages, broths, and stews. Before modern cornstarch, commercial thickeners, or the familiar flour-and-butter roux, cooks often relied on grated bread, soaked bread, ground almonds, egg yolks, or strained grain and meat mixtures to give body to a dish.

In this recipe, the manuscript calls for fayre brede, or fine bread. For a modern kitchen, a day-old manchet or other good white bread works beautifully. It grates more easily than very fresh bread and dissolves into the broth, creating a smooth, velvety texture. I originally made this with grated Rastons, but manchet is likely the better everyday recommendation for readers who want to recreate the dish.

Bread also reflects the no-waste wisdom of the medieval kitchen. Yesterday’s loaf could become today’s sauce, sop, trencher, or pottage. In Caboges, the bread is not filler. It is the quiet magic that turns broth into something spoonable and satisfying.

Why Does the Recipe Offer Bread or Meat Gruel?

The recipe gives two ways to enrich and thicken the dish: grated fine bread, or a strained gruel made from fresh meat. The bread version is more approachable for a modern kitchen and produces a smooth pottage. The meat-gruel version would have made the dish even richer, especially in a busy medieval kitchen where broth, meat, and strained cooking liquids were already part of the day’s work.

Why Do the Marrow Bones Matter?

The marrow bones are not incidental. The recipe tells the cook to boil the cabbage with marrow bones, then knock out the marrow and lay two or three pieces in the dish at service. That means the marrow is both flavoring and garnish.

For modern cooks, bone marrow can feel unfamiliar, but it brings deep richness. Think of it as the medieval equivalent of finishing a dish with butter, olive oil, or the most luxurious spoonful of beef essence imaginable. If you make your own stock with marrow bones, do not waste the marrow. Use it. The manuscript wants you to.

Cabbage in Medieval Food Philosophy

Cabbage and other brassicas were useful, filling, and widely eaten, but they could also be considered coarse, windy, or difficult if poorly prepared. This recipe manages cabbage through careful technique. Parboiling softens and tames it. Pressing removes excess water. The second cooking in broth makes it nourishing. Saffron adds warmth and fragrance, while bread gives the broth body. The result is not limp cabbage water, but a carefully balanced pottage.

Historic Recipe

The recipe below is from Thomas Austin’s edition of Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Harleian MS. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1429, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55.

.iiij. Caboges. Take fayre caboges, an cutte hem, an pike hem clene and clene washe hem, an parboyle hem in fayre water, an þanne presse hem on a fayre bord; an þan choppe hem, and caste hem in a faire pot with goode freysshe broth, an wyth mery-bonys, and let it boyle: þanne grate fayre brede and caste þer-to, an caste þer-to Safron an salt; or ellys take gode grwel y-mad of freys flesshe, y-draw þorw a straynour, and caste þer-to. An whan þou seruyst yt inne, knocke owt þe marw of þe bonys, an ley þe marwe .ij. gobettys or .iij. in a dysshe, as þe semyth best, & serue forth.

Modern Translation

Take good cabbages, cut them, pick them clean, and wash them well. Parboil them in clean water, then press them on a clean board. Chop them, and put them in a clean pot with good fresh broth and marrow bones, and let it boil. Then grate fine bread and add it, and add saffron and salt. Or else take good gruel made of fresh meat, strained through a strainer, and add that. When you serve it, knock the marrow out of the bones and lay two or three pieces of marrow in the dish, as seems best, and serve it forth.

Modern Recipe Notes

This interpretation follows the breadcrumb-thickened version of the recipe rather than the alternate strained meat gruel. The first boiling softens the cabbage and removes some of its stronger edge. Pressing the cabbage keeps the final dish from becoming watery. The second cooking in broth gives depth, while the grated bread thickens the broth into a soft pottage.

The saffron is included in the original recipe, but I mark it as optional for modern cooks because of cost. If you have it, use it. It adds color, fragrance, and a little medieval splendor.

Simple ingredients: cabbage, broth, bread, saffron, and marrow.

Egges yn Brewte (Poached Eggs in Spiced Milk with Cheese) — Gentyll Manly Cokere, MS Pepys 1047 (c. 1490)

Delicate poached eggs in a ginger–saffron milk broth with melting cheese, served on toasted sops.

Originally published 10/20/2017 - updated 9/17/2025

In Middle English, brewte/brewet means a seasoned liquid—broth or thin sauce—used to cradle simple foods. This version from the Pepys manuscript gently poaches eggs and “tempers” the pan with sweet milk, ginger, pepper, and saffron, finishing with shaved cheese. Serve over sops (toasted bread) to catch every drop. It’s fast, elegant, and right at home in our Curia Regis brunch set.

🍳 Did you know? Manuscripts vary. Pepys 1047 specifies milk and cheese; related “brewte” dishes elsewhere take a light meat or almond stock brightened with verjuice or vinegar. Both approaches are period—choose what fits your table.

Source: Gentyll Manly Cokere, MS Pepys 1047 (c. 1490).

Original Text (c. 1490)

Egges yn Brewte. Take water and seethe it. In the same water breke thy egges and cast there-in gynger, peper, and saffron; then temper it up with swete mylke and boyle it. And then carve chese and caste thereto smale cut; and when it is ynogh, serve it forth.

Gloss: Temper with sweet milk = enrich the cooking liquid with dairy; sops = toast laid in the dish to soak the sauce.

Modern Recipe — Poached Eggs in Saffron Milk with Cheese (serves 6–8)

Feasting on Fish: Five Historical Recipes from Harleian MS 279

Five Medieval Fish Recipes from Harleian MS 279

Iuselle of Fish, adapted from Harleian MS 279 — a delicate almond milk and saffron broth served with root vegetables, fruit, and rustic bread.

From fasting feasts to Friday fare, fish played a key role in medieval English cooking. Harleian Manuscript 279, compiled around 1430, contains dozens of fish recipes revealing the rich, layered flavors and creative preparations used in upper-class kitchens. Below are five standout dishes from that manuscript, all adapted or interpreted for the modern cook.

1. Tench Three Ways

Read the full recipe and interpretation

This unique entry shows off the versatility of medieval fish cookery. The tench is served boiled, in a broth, and roasted — each with different sauces or seasonings, ranging from parsley-based green sauce to a pottage enriched with almond milk and spices.

2. Mortrews of Fish

Read the full recipe and interpretation

Here, fish is cooked and then pounded smooth with breadcrumbs and flavorful ingredients like almond milk, saffron, and sugar. Served warm and thick, this dish is a satisfying meatless main and an excellent example of medieval texture-forward cooking.

3. Sturyon in Broth

Read the full recipe and interpretation

This spiced broth balances vinegar, pepper, and saffron to create a sharp yet warming sauce for chunks of fish — originally sturgeon, but modern substitutions like salmon or cod work just as well.

4. Iuschelle of Fish

Read the full recipe and interpretation

“Iuschelle” refers to a gently spiced dish, somewhere between a stew and a sauce. The fish is flaked and simmered in almond milk, saffron, and breadcrumbs, yielding a light but elegant presentation that fits well as a first course.

5. Roseye – Fish in Rose Sauce

Read the full chicken version (fish variation included)

Although your blog post features the chicken version, the original recipe allows for fish as well. The dish combines fried fish with a saffron-almond-rose sauce colored naturally with rose petals. It’s a fragrant, subtly sweet, and visually stunning dish — perfect for a final course or Lenten feast.

Historical Context

Harleian MS 279 reflects the dietary rules and creativity of the 15th-century English court. With meat forbidden during fast days, cooks leaned into fish, legumes, and dairy alternatives like almond milk. The use of fragrant spices, vinegars, and herbal sauces made these dishes anything but bland — and many remain surprisingly approachable for the modern table.

Want to Try One?

Leave a comment or tag me if you cook one of these! For printable versions, check out the recipe cards on Ko-fi. You can also browse other fasting-friendly or Lenten dishes using the tags at the bottom of each post.

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🐚 More Historical Shellfish Recipes

• Oystres en Broth (ixl)
• Oystres in Gravy Bastard (xl)
• Oysters in Brewet (lxxxxij)
• Welks in Bruette (lxxxxiij)

Explore more Fish Recipes and Fasting Dishes on the blog.

Sources: Harleian MS 279, Curye on Inglysch, Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books

Pressmetzen zu Ostern – German Easter Custard Bread (1544 Medieval Recipe)

Pressmetzen zu Ostern – German Easter Custard Bread (1544 Medieval Recipe)

Pressmetzen zu Ostern, Precedella, Torten von Epffel, and Sugared Mint Leaves

Pressmetzen zu Ostern – A Custard-Filled Sweet Bread for Easter

This beautiful, custard-filled Easter bread was the festive centerpiece of our GTOD Vigil dayboard. Inspired by Volker Bach's recreation of an Easter Feast, and drawn from the 1544 cookbook of Balthasar Staindl, it combines enriched dough, homemade “egg cheese,” saffron, raisins, and almonds in a vibrant wreath. Known as flecken, these breads were blessed for Easter and meant to be both celebratory and sacred.

Special thanks to Volker for the inspiration. If you’ve never explored Culina Vetus, his work on historical German cuisine is a treasure trove of ideas.

Ingredients for Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp yeast (or 1 packet)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg

To Make the Dough:

Stir together flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix melted butter, milk, and egg. Add wet to dry and knead until smooth (5–7 minutes). Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Egg Cheese (Ayerschotten):

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 6 egg yolks or 3 large eggs
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp sugar

Whisk all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat slowly, stirring constantly, until curds form. Cool to room temperature, drain in cheesecloth with a weight to press out liquid. Can be made a day ahead.

Filling Additions:

• 2 eggs
• ~1/3 cup breadcrumbs
• 1–2 tbsp sweet cream
• Pinch of saffron
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 1/4 cup chopped figs
• 1 egg yolk (for glazing)

Assembly and Baking:

1. Combine egg cheese with eggs, breadcrumbs, cream, saffron, and sugar. Stir in raisins.
2. Roll dough into a rectangle. Spread the filling, fold and shape into a ring.
3. Let rest 20 minutes. Top with figs and almonds.
4. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 20 minutes.
5. Brush with egg yolk. Bake another 15 minutes until golden.

🌞 Medieval Breakfast Spotlight:
While more often associated with feasting days, Pressmetzen makes a rich and satisfying morning meal — especially on Easter Sunday. Custardy, fruity, and slightly sweet, it pairs beautifully with warm milk or spiced wine.

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🍽 Explore More Medieval Breakfast Recipes:

• Rastons – Egg-enriched bread for soaking in broth
• Soupes Dorye – Toasted bread in spiced almond milk
• Lyode Soppes – Early custard-style bread pudding
• Soupes Jamberlayne – Bread soaked in mulled wine
• Egges yn Brewte – Poached eggs in spiced broth
• Eyron en Poche – Poached eggs with herbs in sauce
• Pressmetzen zu Ostern – Spiced Lenten breakfast bread
• Spiced Apples and Pears – Stewed fruit with wine and spice
• Fennel and Bacon Bread – Rustic loaf with herbs and meat
• Frumenty and Venyson – Cracked wheat porridge with game

☕ Looking for even more morning inspiration?
Don’t miss the original article: Breakfast: Five Medieval Banquet Dishes »

Poached Eggs in Sweet Ginger Sauce – Cj. Eyron en Poche (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430)

Poached Eggs in Sweet Ginger Sauce – Cj. Eyron en Poche (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430)

.Cj. Eyron en poche. - Eggs Poached

This is one of the first recipes I’ve found in Harleian MS. 279 (c.1430) that specifies to “poach” the food. Poaching is a moist-heat cooking method with ancient roots, mentioned as early as De Re Coquinaria and formalized further in cookbooks like Le Viandier de Taillevent. While poaching became popular in the 17th century, here we see it clearly practiced over a century earlier.

My grandmother taught me to poach eggs using a whirlpool method and a dash of vinegar to set the whites—exactly how I approached this recipe. The final dish is delicate and beautiful, the egg nestled in a sweet milk-thickened sauce with saffron and ginger. It looks like a fried egg but surprises with subtle sweetness and savory warmth. Ideal for a luncheon or medieval dayboard!

Opinions varied: one tester wanted it sweeter, another preferred savory, but I enjoyed the balance. I’m tempted to riff on it with cumin or mustard—more like Hennys in Gauncelye.

🍳 Medieval Breakfast Spotlight: Poached Eggs in Ginger Milk Sauce

This early 15th-century dish offers a delicate twist on breakfast eggs. Poached gently and served in a sweet milk sauce seasoned with ginger and saffron, it blends savory and sweet in a surprisingly modern way. Try it with toast soldiers or crisped manchet bread.

Original Text – Harleian MS 279

.Cj. Eyron en poche.
Take Eyroun, breke hem, an sethe hem in hot Water; þan take hem Vppe as hole as þou may; þan take flowre, an melle with Mylke, & caste þer-to Sugre or Hony, & a lytel pouder Gyngere, an boyle alle y-fere, & coloure with Safroun; an ley þin Eyroun in dysshys, & caste þe Sewe a-boue, & caste on pouder y-now. Blawnche pouder ys best.

Modern Translation

Take eggs, break them, and cook them in hot water; then take them up as whole as you may; mix flour with milk, add sugar or honey and a little ginger, and boil all together. Color with saffron. Lay your eggs in dishes and pour the sauce above. Sprinkle with white powder (blanche powder).

Interpreted Recipe (Serves 8)

For the Eggs

• 8 eggs
• Water
• 1 tbsp white vinegar

For the Sauce

• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tsp sugar or honey
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• Pinch of saffron
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Poach eggs using your preferred method. I bring water to a boil, add vinegar, lower to a simmer, create a whirlpool, and gently drop in the egg. Turn off heat, cover, and let sit 5 minutes. Don’t touch it—trust me.
2. While the eggs cook, make a slurry with flour and milk. Whisk until smooth. Add remaining milk, sugar or honey, ginger, saffron, and bring to a simmer. Stir until thickened.
3. Place each poached egg in a dish and spoon sauce around. Finish with a dusting of white powder (optional).

Similar Recipe

Fourme of Curye [Rylands MS 7] (England, 1390):
.lxxxviij. Pochee. Tak ayroun & breke hem in scaldyng hote water, & whanne they ben soden ynowgh, take hem up, & tak yolkes of ayroun & rawe mylke & swyng hem to gyder, & do therto poudour ginger, safroun & salt...

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🍽 Explore More Medieval Breakfast Recipes:

• Rastons – Egg-enriched bread for soaking in broth
• Soupes Dorye – Toasted bread in spiced almond milk
• Lyode Soppes – Early custard-style bread pudding
• Soupes Jamberlayne – Bread soaked in mulled wine
• Egges yn Brewte – Poached eggs in spiced broth
• Eyron en Poche – Poached eggs with herbs in sauce
• Pressmetzen zu Ostern – Spiced Lenten breakfast bread
• Spiced Apples and Pears – Stewed fruit with wine and spice
• Fennel and Bacon Bread – Rustic loaf with herbs and meat
• Frumenty and Venyson – Cracked wheat porridge with game

☕ Looking for even more morning inspiration?
Don’t miss the original article: Breakfast: Five Medieval Banquet Dishes »

Vyolette: A 15th-Century Violet Custard

Vyolette: A 15th-Century Violet Custard

This creamy, lightly floral custard is adapted from Harleian MS. 279, one of the earliest English recipe collections. Violets, celebrated for their sweet scent and gentle flavor, were often used in both food and medicine in medieval Europe.

Original Recipe:
.Cxxv. Vyolette.—Take Flourys of Vyolet, boyle hem, presse hem, bray hem smal, temper hem vppe with Almaunde mylke, or gode Cowe Mylke, a-lye it with Amyndoun or Flowre of Rys; take Sugre y-now, an putte þer-to, or hony in defaute; coloure it with þe same þat þe flowrys be on y-peyntid a-boue.

Interpreted Recipe (Serves 8)

• 1/3 cup fresh violet petals, cleaned and washed
• 1 cup almond milk or milk
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• 1–2 tbsp sugar or honey, to taste

Place petals and milk in a pot on low heat. After 10–15 minutes, once the color has steeped into the milk, add rice flour and sweetener. Stir constantly until thickened to a custard-like consistency. Cool slightly and garnish with fresh violets.

Kitchen Notes

This dish was a unanimous favorite among taste testers. The delicate lavender color and sweet, floral flavor delighted everyone. It’s a perfect springtime offering and has made its way onto the “must serve at feast” list.

Historical & Culinary Notes

• Violets were often preserved in syrup or candied for use in winter months.
• John Parkinson, in Paradisi in Sole (1629), wrote that “the blew Violets are much used in Possets, Syrups, and Conserves... and to comfort the heart.”
• A Book of Fruits & Flowers (1653) describes violets in both culinary and medicinal applications, including comfort syrups and conserve of flowers.
• According to The Garden of Pleasant Flowers, violets were admired for their cooling, moistening properties—ideal for spring dishes in humoral diets.

Related Resources:

• How to Candy Flowers
• Violet Syrup
• Flavors of the Flower: 5 Medieval Recipes Using Edible Blooms

⚠️ Reminder: Always use organically grown or culinary-grade flowers. Never consume flowers from florists or treated ornamental plants.

References & Resources

• Parkinson, John. Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris (1629). A foundational English gardening text blending botanical, culinary, and medicinal knowledge. Read on Project Gutenberg.
• A Book of Fruits & Flowers (1653). A 17th-century household manual offering flower-based recipes for food, drink, and medicine. Read on Project Gutenberg.
• MedievalCookery.com. Searchable transcriptions of medieval English and European cookbooks.

Kitchen Adventures – SCA Feast (Ceilidh XVI March 29th, 2003)

Ceilidh XVI – March 29, 2003

Featuring several recipes from Mary Savelli’s Tastes of Anglo-Saxon England

First Course

• Mearh Smeamete – Sausage Casserole
• Hlaf – Bread
• Æppla Syfling – Apple Butter
• Caules Wyrtmete – Cabbage Salad

Second Course

• Hriðer Smeamete – Stewed Beef
• Beren Briw – Barley Polenta
• Hunigbæe Moran – Honeyed Carrots

Third Course

• Sciellfisc – Shellfish*
• Brǣdan Fisc – Fish Baked with Coriander*
• Pisan – Peas with Salt and Oil*

Fourth Course

• Sumerlio Mearhgehæcc – Summer Pudding***
• Hunigæppel – Honey Nut Cakes

Caveat: It has been 12 years since this banquet was cooked. Once again, many of my redactions have been lost to time. Several recipes, denoted with an asterisk (*), are my best guesses on food that could have been served based on archaeological digs and cooking methods. The “Fish Baked with Coriander” is Roman in origin, as are the Honey Nut Cakes. Summer pudding is modern in origin. I have taken my best guess on the names for the items that are not Anglo-Saxon in origin.

Image taken from Jen Delyth Celtic Art Studio

Mearh Smeamete – Sausage Casserole

Serves 6

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1 pound pork sausage
• 1 large apple, chopped
• ½ tsp. each salt and cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. each black pepper and cardamom
• 2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• Approximately 2 cups cubed bread
• 1 large baking dish

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease the casserole dish with butter and line the bottom of the dish with half of the bread. Heat oil and sauté the onion and sausage. Stir the apple into the sausage mixture and spoon it over the bread in the casserole dish. Sprinkle with seasonings and vinegar; set the dish aside.

In a saucepan, melt the butter, stirring in the flour to form a roux. Add the milk all at once and stir until thickened and bubbly. Spoon this mixture over the sausage and apple. Top with the remaining bread and bake in a casserole, uncovered, for 30 minutes (Savelli, 2002).

Hlaf – Bread

Guests were offered rye, oat, and wheat breads purchased at the local bakery. The bakery uses sourdough starter to make its bread.

Æppla Syfling – Apple Butter

Makes 1½ cups

• 2 medium apples, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 cup apple cider (or apple juice)
• 2 tbsp. honey
• ⅛ tsp. ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp. each dried mint and cumin leaves

Boil the apples in the cider for 30 minutes or until soft; purée. Thoroughly mix the remaining ingredients into the apple purée and cool.

Caules Wyrtmete – Cabbage Salad

Serves 4

• ½ head of cabbage, shredded and rinsed
• 2–4 spinach leaves, torn and rinsed
• 1 small leek, chopped fine
• ½ cup fresh or frozen peas, cooked and cooled
• ½ cup feta cheese, cubed
• ¼ cup cider vinegar
• ½ cup olive or salad oil
• ¼ tsp. each salt and pepper, or to taste

Toss the vegetables together in a large bowl. Mix together the salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar and pour over the salad, tossing gently. Top with cheese.

Hriðer Smeamete – Stewed Beef

Serves 4–6

• ¼ tsp. saffron threads
• 1 tbsp. hot water
• 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 1½ to 2 pounds stewing beef or beef brisket
• 2 tbsp. oil
• ¾ cup dried breadcrumbs
• 1 small apple, chopped
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup dates, chopped
• ½ cup honey
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. each ground black pepper and cinnamon
• ¼ cup apple juice (or dry red wine)
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 baking dish

Preheat oven to 375°F. Crush the saffron and add it to the hot water and vinegar; set aside. Brown the beef in the oil and set aside. Grease the casserole dish with butter and spread ½ cup of breadcrumbs in the bottom of the dish.

Spread the beef, fruit, saffron water, and other spices evenly over the crumbs. Mix the honey with the wine and gently pour this mixture over the beef. Spread the remaining breadcrumbs over the beef and dot the crumbs with butter. Bake for 45 minutes or until done.

Beren Briw – Barley Polenta

• 1 cup barley
• 4 cups water
• 4 radishes, minced
• 2 tbsp. butter
• ½ cup water
• 1¾ cups beef broth or stock
• ½ tsp. salt
• ⅛ tsp. cinnamon

Soak the barley in water for four hours. Drain the water and reserve the barley. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and sauté the radish. Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pan with a lid, and let the mixture simmer until the barley is tender, approximately 40–60 minutes.

Hunigbæe Moran – Honeyed Carrots

Serves 4–6

• 1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. honey
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ⅛ tsp. ground ginger

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and cook the carrots until tender, approximately 10–15 minutes. Drain well.

Melt the butter in the saucepan and stir in the honey, salt, and ginger. Add the carrots and toss gently to coat. Heat through and serve warm.

Sciellfisc – Shellfish*

Mussels were served for the shellfish course. Mussels were likely known to the Anglo-Saxons and may have been gathered from coastal waters and estuaries. They were served simply with butter.

Brǣdan Fisc – Fish Baked with Coriander*

Serves 4–6

• 1½–2 pounds firm white fish
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• ¼ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place the fish in a lightly greased baking dish. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle evenly with coriander, pepper, and salt. Bake uncovered for approximately 20–30 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily.

This dish is Roman in origin and inspired by recipes found in Apicius.

Pisan – Peas with Salt and Oil*

Serves 4–6

• 2 cups peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• Salt to taste

Cook the peas until tender and drain. Toss with olive oil and salt before serving.

Sumerlio Mearhgehæcc – Summer Pudding***

Serves 6–8

• 1 loaf firm white bread, crusts removed
• 4 cups mixed summer berries
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. water

Combine the berries, sugar, and water in a saucepan and cook gently until the berries soften and release their juices.

Line a bowl with slices of bread. Spoon the berry mixture into the bowl and cover with additional bread. Cover and chill overnight. Unmold and serve cold.

Note: Summer pudding is modern in origin and was included as an interpretive dessert.

Hunigæppel – Honey Nut Cakes

Makes approximately 12 cakes

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup honey
• ½ cup chopped nuts
• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together all ingredients until combined. Spoon onto a greased baking sheet and bake for approximately 12–15 minutes, or until lightly golden.

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Final Notes: This feast represented an early attempt to reconstruct Anglo-Saxon foodways using the sources available at the time. While some dishes were based on historical texts and archaeological evidence, others were interpretive in nature. As additional research becomes available, these recipes may continue to evolve.