Bruet of Almayne (Spiced Wine Broth) — Harleian MS 279 (c. 1430)
Detail from the Banquet du Paon (Chroniques de Hainaut, c. 1447–48) — feasts like these inspired Russell’s Dynere of Flesche.
In John Russell’s Dynere of Flesche, a “pottage of spice and wine” appears beside Herbelade as part of the first course. The closest surviving analogue is Bruet of Almayne from Harleian MS 279 (c. 1430): a smooth, aromatic broth of wine, almond milk, and warming spice. Where Herbelade is cool and green, this dish is rich and golden — together balancing the table in taste and humor.
What “Bruet” means: from Old French bruir, “to boil” or “brew.” In medieval English cookery, a bruet was a seasoned sauce or broth — rich, spiced, and served as an early-course pottage or accompaniment to meats.
Why “of Almayne”?Almayne = Germany. Late-medieval English kitchens borrowed Central European taste for wine-forward, spice-laden sauces. This “German-style” bruet showcases almond milk, white wine, and warming spices (ginger, galingale, cinnamon, cloves, mace), yielding a golden, aromatic pottage.
Spice Note – Galingale vs. Ginger:Galingale (or galangal) was a favorite medieval spice imported from the East Indies, resembling ginger but sharper and more peppery.
English cooks often paired the two — ginger for warmth, galingale for brightness — in “Almayne” and “Lombard” dishes influenced by continental taste.
In modern kitchens, you can substitute extra ginger or a touch of cardamom for a similar aromatic lift.
Original Text — Harleian MS 279 (EETS 1888 p. 23)
Bruet of Almayne. Take Almonde mylke and Wyne, and drawe it with powder of Gyngere, of Galyngale, of Canelle, of Clowys, and of Maces, and let hit boyle; and take brawne of Capoun or Hennys, and small cutte, and cast therto; and when hit is boyled, then serve hit forth.
Modern English Rendering
Take almond milk and wine, and blend it with powders of ginger, galingale, cinnamon, cloves, and mace. Bring it to a boil. Add diced cooked capon or chicken, simmer briefly, and serve hot.
Modern Recipe (Tested Redaction)
Yield: 6–8 servings • Time: ~25 min
2 cups almond milk
1 cup white wine
1 ½ cups cooked chicken or capon, diced small (optional for pottage)
¼ tsp each ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, galingale (or nutmeg), and mace
Pinch saffron (optional for color)
1–2 tsp sugar (optional, period-accurate)
Salt to taste
Heat almond milk and wine together over gentle flame.
Add spices, saffron, and sugar; stir well.
Add diced chicken if using; simmer 10–15 minutes until fragrant.
Season with salt and serve warm as a lightly thickened broth.
Flavor profile: warm, spiced, subtly sweet — the golden mirror to Herbelade’s green herb pottage.
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.
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
Blanch herbs 30 sec, chop fine.
Heat broth + wine; add herbs.
Stir in breadcrumbs (or almond flour) to thicken.
Season with ginger, saffron, pinch sugar, and salt.
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.
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.
Ground almonds mixed with water – the basis of almond milk, a medieval staple.
Almond Milk in the Middle Ages — History, Humors & Uses
Originally Published 11/10/2015 / Updated 10/1/2025
“The more things change, the more they remain the same.” That phrase feels especially true when we look at almond milk. Today, we reach for it as a dairy-free alternative in lattes or smoothies. In the Middle Ages, cooks turned to it for many of the same reasons: dietary restrictions, health, and versatility.
Almond milk appears in nearly every major medieval cookbook — from the English Forme of Cury (c. 1390) to French texts like Le Viandier. Whether thickened into custards, stirred into pottages, or sweetened for desserts, it was a foundational ingredient in European kitchens from the 13th–15th centuries. Understanding almond milk helps unlock a whole category of medieval recipes.
Origins & Spread of Almonds
The almond tree (Prunus dulcis) is native to the regions of modern-day Iran and Central Asia. Cultivation spread westward along trade networks into Persia and the Mediterranean by the first millennium BCE. The Greeks and Romans knew almonds well — Roman authors like Pliny the Elder mention them, and they were commonly served at banquets.
Through Roman expansion and later Arab influence in Spain and Sicily, almonds became established throughout southern Europe. By the 9th–10th centuries, almond-based dishes appear in Arabic medical and culinary texts, praised both for flavor and for their gentle, “cooling” effect in humoral medicine.
Almonds on the Move: From Orchard to Feast Table
Italy & France: Almonds were cultivated in Mediterranean orchards and imported inland. French and Italian manuscripts from the 13th–14th centuries make frequent use of almond milk in sauces, custards, and pottages.
England & Germany: By the late Middle Ages, almonds were arriving in northern ports like London, Lübeck, and Hamburg. They were expensive imports, sometimes listed alongside spices and sugar in customs rolls. Their cost gave them a dual role: practical (for fast days) but also a marker of wealth and status when used lavishly in feasts.
Monastic & noble kitchens: Monasteries, bound by fasting rules, relied heavily on almond milk. Nobles embraced it for both practical and prestigious reasons, often specifying “thick” almond milk in their cookery books.
In this way, the humble almond traveled thousands of miles — from Asian orchards to English feasting halls — and almond milk became one of the most common “dairy substitutes” in medieval Europe.
Why Almond Milk Was Essential
Religious fasting: Animal milk was prohibited on fast days. Almond milk allowed cooks to create “dairy-like” dishes during Lent and other observances.
Shelf life: Fresh cow’s milk spoiled quickly. Almonds, stored dry, could be turned into fresh milk on demand.
Status & luxury: Almonds were imported and costly, signaling refinement at noble tables.
Versatility: Used in both savory and sweet contexts — soups, sauces, blancmange, custards, even beverages.
Almonds & Humoral Theory
In Galenic medicine, almonds were considered “hot and moist.” Almond milk, tempered with water, was thought gentler on the stomach than cow’s milk and was prescribed for the sick or those with delicate digestion. This idea echoes modern perceptions of almond milk as “lighter” and easier to digest.
How It Was Made
Medieval almond milk was made almost exactly as we do today:
Soak whole almonds, then grind them to a paste with a mortar and pestle.
Mix with warm water, wine, or broth depending on the recipe.
Strain through cloth to produce a smooth liquid.
The ratio determined the thickness. Recipes often call for “thick” almond milk when a rich base was needed, or a thinner version for soups and sauces. Sweetening with sugar, honey, or rosewater was common, while savory versions might use broth or even wine.
Uses in Medieval Cookery
Savory: In sauces like Rapeye, in fish pottages, or as the base for meatless soups.
Sweet: In blancmange, rice puddings, and custards.
Feasts: Almond milk was prepared in large quantities ahead of service — much like we buy cartons today.
Originally published 3/26/2017 / Updated 10/1/2025
What is “Rapeye”?
The name can sound jarring to modern ears, but in Middle English it had an entirely different meaning. You’ll find it spelled rapeye, rapy, rape, or rapé across manuscripts like Harleian MS. 279, Forme of Cury, Liber cure cocorum, and A Noble Boke off Cookry. The most likely origin is the Old French rapé (“grated” or “rasped”), from the verb raper (“to grate, scrape”). This makes sense: most recipes called for grated or pounded dried fruit, thickened with rice flour or bread.
In practice, Rapeye could mean either a sauce or a fruit paste/pudding. Some versions are clearly sauces for meat or fish; others, like this one, stand as thick fruit dishes in their own right. The Forme of Cury has a “Rape” made of figs and raisins strained with wine; the Liber cure cocorum “Rape” is a raisin sauce sharpened with vinegar. Our apple–date Rapeye is more of a spoon dish or pudding, but the common thread is fruit grated or mashed, spiced, sweetened, and thickened until “chargeaunt” (stout or substantial).
Parallels exist in other European traditions: Latin glossaries sometimes link rapa (turnip) to grated preparations; Italian rappigliare means “to curdle or thicken.” While etymologies vary, the consensus is that Rapeye signified a grated fruit preparation that could flex between sauce, sweetmeat, or pudding depending on context.
Rapeye shows up multiple times in fifteenth-century English cookbooks and seems to be a flexible category—sometimes a sauce, sometimes a fruit paste, sometimes (like this one) a spoonable “pudding.” In Harleian MS. 279 the fourth Rapeye (.Liiij.) combines almond milk with minced dates and raw apples, thickened with rice flour and perfumed with ginger, cinnamon, maces, cloves, sugar, and a touch of saffron or sanders (sandalwood) for color. It’s comforting, gently spiced, and—per my taste testers—popular even with folks who “don’t like dates.”
Original Recipe & Translation
Middle English (Austin, UMich)
.Liiij. Rapeye.—Take almaundys, an draw a gode mylke þer-of, and take Datys an mynce hem smal, an put þer-on y-now; take Raw Appelys, an pare hem and stampe hem, an drawe hem vppe with wyne, or with draf of Almaundys, or boþe; þan caste pouder of Gyngere, Canel, Maces, Clowes, & caste þer-on Sugre y-now; þan take a quantyte of flowre of Rys, an þrowe þer-on, & make it chargeaunt, an coloure it wyth Safroun, an with Saunderys, an serue forth; an strawe Canel a-boue.
Modern-English
Make a good almond milk. Mince dates finely and add plenty to the milk. Peel raw apples, pound them, and strain with wine or with the almond “draff” (the pressed solids), or both. Add ginger, cinnamon, mace, cloves, and enough sugar. Sprinkle in rice flour to thicken (make it chargeant), and color with saffron and sandalwood. Serve, strewing cinnamon on top.
Seasonal Note: With apples at their peak in autumn and the warming spices of ginger, cinnamon, mace, and cloves, this Rapeye fits naturally into a fall table. In the medieval calendar, it would have been equally at home during cooler seasons and fasting days when almond milk stood in for dairy. Today, it makes a wonderful harvest-time pudding.
Menu Placement
Fish/fasting days (Lent-friendly): Made with almond milk (no dairy), fruit, rice flour, and spices—ideal as a pottage or spoon course.
Entremet / Subtle “pudding”: Served warm and “standing thick,” dusted with cinnamon—works between savory courses or as a gentle sweet near the end.
Breakfast tavern / camping: Holds well and reheats; can be made ahead and served warm or room temperature.
Humoral Notes
Medieval diners balanced dishes by qualities (hot/cold, dry/moist). Almonds were often classed as warming & drying; dates generally warming & moistening; apples tending cooling & drying. The spicing (ginger, cinnamon, mace, cloves) nudges the dish warmer; almond milk and gentle cooking temper dryness; rice flour adds drying/“binding.” Likely seen as moderately warm and tending moist—comfortable fare for cooler seasons.
Originally published 10/29/2017. Updated 9/19/2025.
Historical & Culinary Context
This shrimp dish comes from Robert May’s The Accomplisht Cook, one of the most influential English cookbooks of the seventeenth century. First published in 1660, May’s work reflects both medieval traditions and the growing influence of Continental cuisine, especially French and Italian. His recipes were intended for professional cooks serving aristocratic and gentry households, showcasing both practicality and elegance.
Stewed shellfish such as shrimp, cockles, and prawns appear often in May’s book. They were common at English tables, especially in the second course of a banquet or feast, where lighter, more refined dishes were expected after heavier meats. The use of capers, wine, and butter in this recipe signals a clear French influence, blending sharp and savory flavors into a delicate sauce.
🍽️ Menu Placement
Dishes like To Stew Shrimps would likely appear in the second course of a formal meal, accompanying poultry, lighter meats, and vegetable preparations. Served on toast, it could also function as a transitional dish between heavier roasts and sweet entremets.
Humoral Theory
According to Galenic humoral theory still in use during May’s time, shellfish such as shrimp were considered cold and moist. To balance this, cooks paired them with warming, dry ingredients like mace, garlic, pepper, and toasted bread. The addition of vinegar and wine also sharpened and “opened” the dish, believed to aid digestion of the otherwise heavy shellfish.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Shrimp: Fresh or raw “peel-and-eat” shrimp work well. Pre-shelled shrimp save effort when cooking for a crowd.
Wine: May’s recipe calls for claret, a light red wine. A dry white wine works beautifully in the modern kitchen.
Capers: Add sharpness. Substitute chopped green olives if unavailable.
Mace: The lacy outer covering of nutmeg. Substitute nutmeg in smaller quantity if mace is unavailable.
Bread: Stale white bread was traditional. Any crusty white loaf or baguette makes a good toast base.
🥕 Dietary Notes
Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free breadcrumbs and bread rounds.
Dairy-Free: Replace butter with olive oil or dairy-free margarine.
Allergens: Contains shellfish, eggs, and gluten unless substitutions are made.
Original Recipe (1660)
Wash them well with vinegar, broil or broth them before you take them out of the shells, then put them in a dish with a little claret, vinegar, a handful of capers, mace, pepper, a little grated bread, minced tyme, salt, and the yolks of two or three hard eggs minced, stew all together till you think them enough; then put in a good piece of butter, shake them well together, heat the dish, rub it with a clove of garlick, and put two or three toasts of white bread in the bottom, laying the meat on them. Craw-fish, prawns, or shrimps, are excellent good the same way being taken out of their shells, and make variety of garnish with the shells.
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.
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)
Canabeys/Canabens in Harleian MS. 279 refers to cooked beans, most often the broad/fava beans familiar to medieval cooks, prepared plainly in broth or enriched with dairy and sometimes served with bacon. Combined with lekys (leeks), you get a humble, comforting pottage that fits beautifully on a fifteenth-century table—and on ours.
🥕 Dietary badge: Vegetarian as written; easily vegan. Gluten-free.
From Sauce to Aspic – The 500-Year Journey of Galentyne → Galantine
From hot medieval sauce to elegant cold aspic — the shifting identity of galentyne/galantine.
What’s in a name? Few dishes illustrate the transformations of European cuisine as vividly as galentyne. In the 14th century, it meant a spiced, bread-thickened sauce for meats or fish. By the 19th century, galantine had become a boned, stuffed, aspic-set cold dish — a centerpiece of French haute cuisine. Here we trace that remarkable journey across 500 years, with original recipes and modern adaptations.
Medieval Origins (14th–15th c.)
Harleian MS. 279 (England, c.1430):Fyletes in Galentyne is one of the best known. Pork is roasted, cut up, and stewed with onions, pepper, ginger, bread, and vinegar, finished with blood or sanders for color.
“Take fayre porke of the fore quarter, and rost hit tyl hit be almost ynogh; … and colour hit with blode, or elles with sandres, and then lat hit boyle up wel, and serve it forth.”
Harleian MS. 279 (c.1430) – For to make Blawnche Perrye – Creamed Leeks with Rice Originally published 3/30/2017 Updated 9/10/2025
In Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430), we are told to serve fish — especially eel — with Blawnche Perrye, much as venison was paired with furmenty. Eel was common in medieval England, but difficult to find (and costly) today. For this version, I substituted perch, though monkfish or mullet would be closer to the fatty, firm texture of eel.
This dish sits at the intersection of pottage cookery and fish service. It’s a reminder of the wide variety of fish eaten in the Middle Ages: herring, salmon, eel, cod, pike, turbot, perch, carp, trout, even porpoise and whale. Shellfish such as oysters, cockles, shrimps, crabs, and mussels were also common.
The Original Recipe
.xlv.—For to make Blawnche Perrye.
Take þe Whyte of the lekys, an seþe hem in a potte, an presse hem vp, & hacke hem smal on a bord. An nym gode Almaunde Mylke, an a lytil of Rys, an do alle þes to-gederys, an seþe an stere it wyl, an do þer-to Sugre or hony, an dresse it yn; þanne take powderd Elys, an seþe hem in fayre Water, and broyle hem, an kytte hem in long pecys. And ley .ij. or .iij. in a dysshe, and putte þin perrey in a-noþer dysshe, an serue þe to dysshys to-gederys as Venysoun with Furmenty.
Daniel Myers offers a modernized Middle English transcription on Medieval Cookery, and the recipe is also rendered in Austin’s edition of Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books.
Fylettys en Galentyne – Pork in Spiced Onion Sauce (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430)
Kitchen test photo from the original post,
showing the stew interpretation of Fyletes in Galentyne.
Fyletes in Galentyne appears in Harleian MS. 279 (c.1430) and exemplifies a common medieval pairing: roasted or half-roasted meat finished in a rich, spiced sauce. The “galentyne” is thickened with bread and given depth either by blood (for savory richness) or by sanders (red sandalwood) to tint and flavor. Both are legitimate medieval options, so we present them side by side.
Note on interpretation: When this recipe was first published here on , I presented it as a stew — simmered pork and onions in a spiced broth. On closer reading, however, the text more clearly aligns with the medieval understanding of galentyne as a sauce for meat: roast pork finished with a thickened, spiced, colored sauce.
Both versions are plausible, so I’ve left my original interpretation here (Version A) and added the sauce-based version (Version B). The original post has been updated and republished on to reflect this correction.
Original Recipe (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430)
Englishe:
“Take fayre porke of the fore quarter, and rost hit tyl hit be almost ynogh; then take and smyte hit in fayre pecys, and caste hit in a fayre potte; then take oynons and shredde hem small, and frie hem in fayre grece, and caste hem to the porke, and stew hit togydre; then take gode broth of beef or motton, and caste thereto; then take powder of peper and of gynger, and caste thereto; and take bred ystepid in vinegre, and strayne hit thorow a straynoure, and caste thereto; and colour hit with blode, or elles with sandres, and then lat hit boyle up wel, and serve it forth.”
Modern Translation:
Take good pork from the forequarter and roast it until nearly done; cut into pieces and place in a pot. Chop onions, fry them in fat, and add to the pork. Stew together with good beef or mutton broth. Add pepper and ginger. Take bread soaked in vinegar, strain it, and add. Color with blood—or else with red sandalwood—and let it boil well. Serve forth.
Fava fresche con brodo di carne – Fresh Fava Beans with Meat Broth (Redon, 1998)
“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese — used here as period context for a Renaissance table.
Context & Notes
Fava fresche con brodo di carne is a rustic Renaissance preparation: fresh spring fava beans briefly simmered in meat broth, enriched with a little cured pork, and finished with parsley and mint. The technique keeps the beans tender while letting a few split to lightly thicken the broth.
Seasonality & status: Fava beans were among the first fresh foods after Lent and signaled the turn from winter storage fare to spring produce. Courtly kitchens “elevated” this staple through refined broth, measured cooking, and aromatic herbs—much as spices elevate simple noodles in De lasanis.
Broth choice: Chicken broth reads lighter and more restorative for warmer weather; beef broth is heartier and “strengthening.” Either appears in period practice depending on the season and desired effect.
Humoral Notes (with pork nuance)
Fava beans: generally cold & moist. Pork:fresh pork was classed as cold & moist and heavy; salted/cured pork (pancetta, salt belly) was thought to gain warming/drying qualities from salt and smoke—still rich, but more balancing when used sparingly. Herbs: parsley and mint are warming/aromatic correctives. Broth: chicken leans lighter; beef leans more warming/fortifying.
Thus this dish pairs a cold/moist base (beans) with modest warming elements (cured pork, hot broth, herbs) to arrive at a comfortable middle course—similar to how spices balanced the cheese-and-pasta profile in De lasanis.
Side-by-Side: Original (Redon, 1998) & Modern Notes
Original (Redon, 1998)
Ingredients: 2 cups beef or chicken broth (or mix), 4½ lb fresh fava beans, 4 oz salt pork belly or pancetta, 1 Tbsp chopped parsley & mint; salt.
Method: Shell beans; blanch briefly (5 seconds), refresh, peel. Dice pork. Simmer broth, beans, and pork ~10 minutes until beans begin to break. Add herbs; return to a brief boil. Salt to taste and serve.
Texture cue: “Begin to break” = lightly thickened broth, not mashed.
Herb timing: Herbs added at the end to keep flavors vivid.
Pork form matters: Pancetta/salt pork (cured) used in small amount for savor and humoral balance.
Broth intent: Chicken for lighter tables; beef for heartier service.
Scappi’s Minestra di Piselli & Fave fresche (1570, Libro III, #249)
Per far minestra di Piselli & Fave fresche:
Piglinosi i piselli o baccelli, sgraninosi, & ponganosi in un uaso con oglio d’oliue, sale, & pepe, & faccianosi soffriggere pian piano, aggiungendovi tanta acqua tinta di zafferano, che stiano coperti di due dita, & come saranno poco men che cotti, pestisene una parte nel mortaro, e stemperisi con il medesimo brodo, & mettasi nel uaso con una branchata d’herbuccie battute, e faccianosi levare il bollo, e servanosi caldi.
Translation (modern English):
“Take peas or broad beans, shell them, and put them in a pot with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Let them sauté gently, adding in enough water, colored with saffron, to cover them by about two fingers. When they are a little less than cooked, pound part of them in a mortar and dilute that with the same broth; return it to the pot with a handful of chopped herbs, bring it all to a boil, and serve it hot.”
4½ lb (about 2 kg) fresh fava beans in pod (≈ 1 lb / 450 g shelled)
4 oz (115 g) salt pork belly or pancetta, finely diced
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped
Kosher salt, to taste
Method
Prep beans: Shell. Blanch 5 seconds in boiling water, refresh in cold water, slip off the outer skins.
Simmer: In a saucepan, combine broth, diced pork, and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce to a lively simmer, and cook about 10 minutes, until beans just begin to soften and a few split to lightly thicken the broth.
Finish: Stir in parsley and mint; return to a brief boil (30–60 seconds). Season with salt and serve hot.
🍽 Menu Placement (Feast Planning)
Dish Type: Pottage (a “wet” course served in or with broth)
Course: Second course (Pottage course). Because beans digest heavy in some frameworks, serve moderate portions or as a remove between roasts.
Service tips: Offer trenchers or bread to soak up the savory broth.
🥕 Dietary Suggestions
Gluten-free.
Pork-free: Swap in smoked turkey or omit meat and add 1–2 Tbsp olive oil for body.
Vegetarian: Use vegetable broth; finish with a knob of butter or extra-virgin olive oil.
📚 Sources
Redon, 1998 (adaptation as provided).
Period dietetic summaries consulted for general fresh vs. cured meat distinctions and bean qualities.
🏷 Labels
Browse by Dish Type: Pottage
Browse by Ingredient: Legumes, Pork, Herbs
Browse by Use: Feast Planning, Period Techniques, Humoral Theory
De lasanis is one of the earliest references to pasta dishes resembling modern day cacio e pepe. The resemblance is striking — a simple but elegant combination of starch, cheese, and spice that became a cornerstone of Italian cookery. Redon's addition of yeast imparts a tang and complexity most modern cooks miss when substituting dried lasagna noodles. If you can, I recommend making your own—it’s surprisingly easy and richly rewarding.
A cretonnée is a type of medieval French pottage — basically a thick soup or stew — that usually combined a base of legumes or grains (peas, beans, rice, sometimes bread) with milk and egg yolks to create a rich, creamy texture.
Name origin: From Old French cretonnée, related to creton (a kind of porridge or mash). It signals a dish that’s been enriched or bound together.
Core structure: Unlike plain boiled peas or beans, a cretonnée always has that second stage of enrichment — eggs, milk (or almond milk on fast days), and sometimes saffron or spices.
Variations: Surviving recipes include cretonnée of peas, beans, rice, and even bread. Meat or poultry could be added as garnish, but it wasn’t always necessary.
Place in the feast: Because it was wet, spoonable, and thickened, it was served as part of the pottage course — after appetizers but before heavier roasts.
Luxury markers: Saffron, ginger, and almond milk were expensive, so even though peas and beans were humble, the finished dish could be quite elegant.
In short: a cretonnée is a thickened legume (or grain) pottage with milk and eggs, often spiced and colored, that straddles the line between hearty comfort food and refined banquet fare.
🍽 Menu Placement
This dish belongs in the pottage course of a medieval feast:
Form & texture: A wet, spooned dish thickened with peas and eggs.
Balance: The warmth of ginger and richness of yolks offered contrast to lighter appetizers and heavier roasts.
Flexibility: With or without meat, it fit either lean days or richer spreads.
⚖️ Humoral Qualities
Peas were considered cold and dry, best balanced with warming spices and saffron. Eggs and milk added moist warmth, making the dish more nourishing and suitable for colder seasons or balancing excess dryness in the body.
📜 Original Recipe
Middle French:
Cretonnée de pois: Prenez pois, et les lavez bien, et mettez à cuire; et quand ils seront cuits, mettez lait d’amandes, saffran et jaunes d’œufs, et faites cuire ensemble; et y mettez des pièces de char ou de poulaille, se vous voulez.
📜 Original Recipe (translation)
Cretonnée of peas: Take peas and wash them well, then boil them; and when they are almost cooked, add warm milk, egg yolks, and saffron, and let it all thicken together; and you may add pieces of meat if desired.
Del Brodo Saracenico – Saracen Chicken with Fruits & Almonds (Redon, 1998)
“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese. Used here as period context for a Renaissance savory pie.
Del Brodo Saracenico – Saracen Chicken with Fruits & Almonds (Redon, 1998)
Del brodo saracenico appears in medieval Italian sources and in modern redaction by Odile Redon et al. (1998). It marries roasted capon or chicken with wine, tart “acid juices,” toasted bread, almonds, dates, raisins, and a gentle spice blend—classic agrodolce (sweet-tart) Renaissance vibes with an evident Mediterranean/Arabic influence.
📜 Original Historic Recipe
Latin (Liber de Coquina, late 13th c.)
De brodio sarracenio: pro brodio sarraceno, accipe capones assatos et ficatella eorum cum speciebus et pane assato tere bene, distemperando cum bono vino et succis agris. Tunc frange membratim dictos capones et cum predictis mite ad bulliendum in olla, suppositis dactilis, uvis grecis siccis, amigdalis integris mondatis et lardo sufficienti. Colora sicut placet.
English (modern translation)
“Saracenic broth: to make Saracenic broth, take roasted capons and their livers with spices and toasted bread, pound them well, diluting with good wine and acidic juices. Then cut the capons into pieces and cook in a pot with the ingredients mentioned before, placing on top dates, Greek raisins, whole peeled almonds, and sufficient lardo. Color as you like.”
Note: Source and translation discussion in the references below.
The Allesso Course: Fricasseed Rabbit and Black Broth from Scappi’s Renaissance Kitchen
In Renaissance Italy, the Allesso course was far more than a collection of humble boiled meats. Derived from the Italian lessare (“to boil”), allessi were dishes of poached or stewed meats and vegetables, prepared with care and often elevated through refined presentation or garnishes. In the kitchens of Bartolomeo Scappi, personal chef to Pope Pius V, even the simplest allesso was transformed into a work of culinary art.
Unlike the more theatrical roast course that often followed, the Allesso course was meant to be soothing, nourishing, and elegantly restrained. It reflected Galenic medical principles, which emphasized balance, moisture, and ease of digestion. During our 12th Night 2024 feast, this course included two complementary dishes prepared by Catherine Greenwood: a savory fricassee of rabbit and a rich, dark brodo nero—a black broth flavored with fruit, spices, and wine. These dishes were served together to highlight the contrasting techniques of sautéed and boiled preparations under one thematic course.
Baronial 12th Night – Spiced Apples and Pears (Chiquart’s On Cookery, 1420)
Apples and pears, gently stewed with sugar and spice, were a familiar comfort in late medieval kitchens. This recipe is based on a technique from Chiquart’s Du fait de cuisine (1420), one of the most detailed early 15th-century cookbooks. While Chiquart’s original method called for baking pears in a sealed clay pot among the coals, this modern version keeps the spirit of the dish while adapting it for the home kitchen.
“Again, pears cooked without coals or water...”
To instruct the person who will be cooking them, he should get a good new earthenware pot, then get the number of pears he will be wanting to cook and put them into that pot; when they are in it, stop it up with clean little sticks of wood in such a way that when the pot is upside down on the hot coals it does not touch them at all; then turn it upside down on the hot coals and keep it covered over with coals and leave it to cook for an hour or more.
When they are cooked, put them out into fine silver dishes; then they are borne to the sick person.
– Chiquart, Du fait de cuisine, 1420
About Medieval Apples and Pears
Apples and pears were staple fruits in medieval Europe, though the varieties differed from what we commonly find today. Period apples were often smaller, more tart, and sometimes used primarily for cooking or cider rather than fresh eating. Pears ranged from firm and cooking-friendly to soft and juicy. Popular varieties in the 14th–15th centuries included costard apples and warden pears.
Modern substitutions:
For apples: Try Granny Smith, Braeburn, or Jonathan for tartness, or Honeycrisp or Gala for sweetness.
For pears: Use Bosc or Anjou for a firm texture that holds up well to stewing.
Spiced Apples and Pears – Modern Redaction
2 lbs apples and pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp anise seeds (optional)
¼ cup water
Instructions:
Mix fruit slices with sugar and spices and place into a baking dish. Add water and cover lightly. Bake at 400°F for 40–45 minutes, or until tender. Alternatively, place ingredients into a crockpot and cook on low overnight for a more intensified flavor.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
This dish would have been served warm to the ill, the elderly, or simply those desiring something soft and comforting. In a feast setting, it pairs beautifully with crème bastarde, warm bread, or even cheese. It also makes a lovely medieval breakfast or dessert.
Breakfast in the Middle Ages: Stewed fruits were often served warm in the morning — easy to digest, lightly sweetened, and seasonally appropriate.
Labels:
Medieval Recipes, Chiquart, Spiced Fruit, 15th Century, SCA Feast, Apple Recipes, Pear Recipes, Medieval Breakfast
Stewed apples and pears with cinnamon and anise, inspired by Chiquart's 1420 cookery manuscript. Perfect for breakfast or dessert.
Rastons: a small, enriched round “loaf” used for sops.
Rastons: A Medieval Pastry Disguised as Bread
Rastons straddle a delicious line: enriched like a pastry (eggs, sometimes sugar) yet shaped and served like bread—often sliced into thick sops for broth, milk, or wine. This version comes from Harleian MS 279 (c. 1430) and was featured in the Baronial 12th Night Feast (2019).
Bread or pastry? I lean “both.” The eggs and butter push it toward pastry, but the table role is very bread-like—especially when used as sops. I’ll let you continue the debate. 😉
Original & Modern Translation
.xxv. Rastons.—Take fayre Flowre, & þe whyte of Eyroun, & þe ȝolke, a lytel; þan take Warme Berme, & putte al þes to-gederys, & bete hem to-gederys with þin hond tyl it be schort & þikke y-now, & caste Sugre y-now þer-to, & þenne lat reste a whyle; þan kaste in a fayre place in þe oven, & late bake y-now; & þen with a knyf cutte yt round a-boue in maner of a crowne, & kepe þe cruste þat þou kyttyst; & þan pyke al þe cromys withynne to-gederys, an pike hem smal with þin knyf, & saue þe sydys & al þe cruste hole with-owte; & þan caste þer-in clarifiyd Boter, & Melle þe cromeȝ & þe botere to-gedereȝ, & keuere it a-ȝen with þe cruste; þan putte it in þe ovyn aȝen a lytil tyme; & þan take it out, & serue it forth.
25. Rastons. Take fine flour with egg whites and a little yolk; add warm barm (yeast in ale), beat together until thick. Add sugar and let rest. Bake. Cut off a “crown,” crumble the inside, mix the crumbs with clarified butter, refill, replace the crown, bake briefly again, and serve.
How I’m serving it here: instead of the butter-crumb refill, I bake as a soft round and slice into sops for broth and pottages.
What is “Coley(s)” / Cullis? A medieval restorative made by cooking a capon until tender, then enriching the broth with the meat, bread, and the “liquor of the bones.” Think early bone-broth technique with a comforting, spoonable finish.
In Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books (Harleian MS. 279), Coleys calls for not only the broth from boiling the capon but specifically the liquor of the bones—a clear nod toward longer extraction and collagen, much like today’s bone broth. French sources (e.g., Du fait de cuisine) even frame coulleys as food for the sick: nourishing, mild, and easily digested.
Creme Bastarde (Harleian MS. 279) — Egg-White Custard for Potage or Baked Meats
Updated August 19, 2025 with additional context, serving notes, and a modern recipe aligned to the manuscript.
Creme Bastarde with stewed fruit (apples/pears) — a lovely Twelfth Night pairing.
The Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (Harleian MS. 279, ab. 1430) includes a custard made only with egg whites. It shows up again in later Tudor sources, which hints at how beloved it remained. Romans gave us many egg dishes, but the medieval period is where “custards,” as we recognize them, hit their stride. Some hard-set cousins (like let lardes or milke rosty’s) fell out of fashion; this one reads more like a pourable custard or sauce.
I recently served it at our local Baronial Twelfth Night with stewed apples and pears (pictured above). My own redaction landed very close to Peter Breverton’s version in his Tudor Cookbook—including nutmeg, cinnamon, and a splash of orange-flower water—yielding a light, fragrant custard that flatters fruit. It’s also lovely on its own, or over strawberries and cherries.
Original Text & Modern Sense
Harleian MS. 279: .Clj. Creme Bastarde.
.Clj. Creme Bastarde.—Take þe whyte of Eyroun a grete hepe, & putte it on a panne ful of Mylke, & let yt boyle; [leaf 26.] þen sesyn it so with Salt an hony a lytel, þen lat hit kele, & draw it þorw a straynoure, an take fayre Cowe mylke an draw yt with-all, & seson it with Sugre, & loke þat it be poynant & doucet: & serue it forth for a potage, or for a gode Bakyn mete, wheder þat þou wolt.
Modern Sense Translation
151. Cream Bastarde. Take a great heap of egg whites and put them into a pan full of milk; bring to a boil. Season lightly with salt and honey. Let it cool, then strain it; add fair cow’s milk and strain again. Season with sugar; aim for both “poignant” (a little sharp) and “sweet.” Serve as a potage, or with baked meats, as you wish.
Technique Notes
The manuscript boils whites in milk, then cools and strains, then enriches and sweetens. To avoid scorching or curdling, a double-boiler is your friend. (Yes, I also sometimes go “grandma method” and let a bit of water ride up the side of the insert—do what keeps it gentle and even.)
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