Moretum – Ancient Roman Herbed Cheese Spread (Roman Feast Recipe)

This dish was served as part of the Push for Pennsic 2004 – Early Roman Feast.

Originally published: June 29, 2025 | Updated: May 19, 2026

Updated 5/19/2026: This post has been expanded to current Give It Forth standards with additional historical background, Roman feast context, camp and Pennsic service notes, a recipe scaled for 8 diners, dietary notes, FAQ, internal links to the full Roman feast menu, and structured recipe data.

What is Moretum? Moretum is an ancient Roman herbed cheese spread made by pounding cheese, garlic, herbs, vinegar, and olive oil together in a mortar. It is pungent, salty, fresh, and ideal with flatbread as part of a Roman gustum, or appetizer course.

Moretum – Roman Herbed Cheese Spread

Course: Gustum (Appetizer)
Origin: Ancient Rome
Served: Cold or Room Temperature
Event: Push for Pennsic 2004 – Early Roman Feast

Historical Background

Moretum was a common Roman dish combining fresh herbs, garlic, cheese, vinegar, and olive oil. The recipe appears in a short Latin poem once attributed to Virgil, describing a farmer preparing this flavorful spread as part of his daily breakfast. Its name likely comes from the mortar used to pound and mix the ingredients.

Did You Know?
The Moretum poem details the rustic preparation of this dish and includes an ode to garlic. It offers a vivid look into the humble meals of rural Romans.

For an English translation of the Moretum poem, see the Poetry in Translation version here.

The poem gives us more than a list of ingredients. It preserves a little domestic scene: a farmer rising early, grinding garlic and herbs, mixing cheese with oil and vinegar, and eating the finished spread with bread before beginning his work. That makes moretum especially useful for interpretation. It is not an elite showpiece dish, but a practical food with strong flavors, simple ingredients, and deep roots in everyday Roman eating.

Garlic, Mortars, and the Roman Table

The name moretum is generally connected to the mortar, or mortarium, used to pound the ingredients together. This matters because texture is part of the dish. Moretum is not meant to be a delicate modern dip whipped into smoothness. It is a pounded spread: coarse enough to show herbs and cheese, but unified by olive oil and vinegar into something that can be scooped up with bread.

Garlic gives the dish its force. The cheese provides salt and body. Herbs bring freshness and color. Olive oil softens and enriches the mixture, while vinegar sharpens it and keeps it from becoming too heavy. Served beside flatbread, olives, sausages, vegetables, and wine, Moretum makes a Roman appetizer board feel complete.

🏛️ Roman feast note: Moretum works beautifully as the flavorful center of a Roman dayboard. A small amount goes a long way, especially when paired with Piadina, olives, cucumbers, sausages, and other gustum dishes.

Modern Interpretation

This version uses pecorino romano and fresh herbs like coriander and celery leaf to evoke the original blend. It is simple, pungent, and perfect with bread.

Pecorino romano is salty and assertive, which makes it a good modern choice for this dish. Fresh coriander, or cilantro, gives the spread a bright green herbal quality, while celery leaves echo the bitter-green flavors often found in older herb mixtures. If cilantro is not liked by your diners, parsley may be substituted, though the flavor will be milder.

⚖️ Humoral note: In later medieval dietary theory, garlic was considered strongly heating and drying, while cheese could be heavy and moist depending on age and type. Vinegar and fresh herbs help sharpen and balance the dish. Although Moretum is Roman rather than medieval, the practical flavor balance is clear: rich cheese, hot garlic, bright herbs, sharp vinegar, and smoothing olive oil.

Fride Creme of Almaundys – Medieval Almond Cream Cheese (Harleian MS. 279)

Fride Creme of Almaundys – Cold Cream of Almonds, a Medieval Almond “Cheese” (Harleian MS. 279)

Fride Creme of Almaundys – Cold Cream of Almonds

Originally published: November 15, 2015 at 6:07 PM | Updated: May 19, 2026

Updated 5/19/2026: This post has been fully revised to current Give It Forth standards with expanded historical context, a clearer modern translation, a feast-scaled redaction serving eight, dietary notes, related almond-milk recipes, FAQ, source links, and structured recipe data.

What is Fride Creme of Almaundys? This fifteenth-century recipe from Harleian MS. 279 makes a thickened, drained almond cream: something between sweet almond curd, almond cream cheese, and a soft dairy-free spread. It was especially useful for Lenten and fast-day tables, when animal dairy might be restricted.

Almond milk cream cheese? Yes, yes, yes! This dish is definitely being added to my repertoire of things to make at feast. Despite the fact that the instructions sound forbiddingly difficult, this dish is very easy to make. It starts with my quick and dirty almond milk recipe and ends with a sweet, creamy Lenten substitute for cheese or butter.

Why Almond Cream Matters in Medieval Cooking

Almond milk appears again and again in medieval European cookery, especially in elite and urban recipe collections. It was not merely a modern-style dairy substitute; it was a flexible kitchen technology. Almonds could be ground, steeped, strained, boiled, thickened, colored, sweetened, or soured. The resulting milk or cream could stand in for dairy in fast-day cookery, enrich sauces, thicken pottages, and create elegant dishes for feast tables.

Fride Creme of Almaundys is especially interesting because it treats almond milk almost as though it were dairy. The cook makes a thick almond milk, heats it, salts it, lets it rest, drains it through linen, sweetens it, and dresses it in the manner of mortrewys, a soft, rich pottage or paste-like dish. The result is not cheese in the biological sense, since it is made from almonds rather than animal milk, but the texture and use are familiar: soft, spreadable, rich, and suited to careful presentation.

📖 Fast-day cooking: In medieval Christian food culture, periods such as Lent and many weekly fast days restricted meat and sometimes animal dairy. Almond milk gave cooks a luxurious way to create creamy sauces, soups, desserts, and “cheese-like” dishes without relying on cow, sheep, or goat milk.

This recipe also gives a glimpse into the practical intelligence of medieval kitchens. The almond cream is drained in linen, adjusted with sugar and salt, and loosened with sweet wine if it becomes too thick. This is exactly the kind of instruction that suggests hands-on cookery: the cook is expected to watch the texture and correct it as needed.

Original Text and Modern Translation

Original Text

Modern Translation

.xij. Fride Creme of Almaundys. — Take almaundys, an stampe hem, an draw it vp wyth a fyne thykke mylke, y-temperyd wyth clene water; throw hem on, an sette hem in þe fyre, an let boyle onys: þan tak hem a-down, an caste salt þer-on, an let hem reste a forlongwey or to, an caste a lytyl sugre þer-to; an þan caste it on a fayre lynen clothe, fayre y-wasche an drye, an caste it al a-brode on þe clothe with a fayre ladel: an let þe clothe ben holdyn a-brode, an late all þe water vnder-nethe þe clothe be had a-way, an þanne gadere alle þe kreme in þe clothe, an let hongy on an pyn, and let þe water droppe owt to or .iij. owrys; þan take it of þe pyn, an put it on a bolle of tre, and caste whyte sugre y-now þer-to, an a lytil salt; and ȝif it wexe þikke, take swete wyn an put þer-to þat it be noȝt sene: and whan it is I-dressid in the maner of mortrewys, take red anys in comfyte, or þe leuys of borage, an sette hem on þe dysshe, an serue forth.

12. Cold Cream of Almonds. Take almonds and pound them, and draw them up into a fine thick milk tempered with clean water. Put it on the fire and let it boil once. Then take it down, add salt, and let it rest a furlong-way or two. Add a little sugar. Then cast it onto a fair linen cloth, well washed and dried, spreading it broadly with a ladle. Let the cloth be held wide so that the water beneath may drain away. Gather the cream together in the cloth and hang it on a pin, letting the water drip out for two or three hours. Then take it down, put it in a wooden bowl, and add enough white sugar and a little salt. If it becomes too thick, add sweet wine so that it is not noticeable. When it is dressed in the manner of mortrews, garnish the dish with red anise comfits or borage leaves, and serve it forth.

Recipe can be found here: Full text 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.

For more information on this and similar recipes, please visit Dan Myers’ Medieval Cookery by clicking the link below.

xij – Fride Creme of Almaundys. Take almaundys, an stampe hem, an draw it vp wyth a fyne thykke mylke, y-temperyd wyth clene water; throw hem on, an sette hem in the fyre, an let boyle onys: than tak hem a-down, an caste salt ther-on, an let hem reste a forlongwey (Note: Other MS. forlange.) or to, an caste a lytyl sugrether-to; an than caste it on a fayre lynen clothe, fayre y-wasche an drye, an caste it al a-brode on the clothe with a fayre ladel: an let the clothe ben holdyn a-brode, an late all the water vnder-nethe the clothe be had a-way, an thanne gadere alle the kreme in the clothe, an let hongy on an pyn, and let the water droppe owt to (Note: two.) or .iij. owrys; than take it of the pyn, an put it on a bolle of tre, and caste whyte sugre y-now ther-to, an a lytil salt; and 3if it wexe thikke, take swetewyn an put ther-to that it be no3t sene: and whan it is I-dressid in the maner of mortrewys, take red anys in comfyte, or the leuys of borage, an sette hem on the dysshe, an serue forth.

Interpreting the Recipe

The original instructions describe several important techniques:

• Make a thick almond milk: This is not a thin drinking almond milk. It should be rich enough to leave body behind after straining.
• Boil once: Heating thick almond milk helps it thicken and set into a creamier texture.
• Salt, rest, and sweeten: The balance is not purely sweet. A little salt gives the finished almond cream a more cheese-like character.
• Drain in linen: This is the key step. The texture depends on removing enough liquid to make a soft, spreadable cream.
• Adjust with sweet wine: The recipe assumes correction. If the almond cream grows too thick, it may be loosened discreetly with wine.
• Garnish beautifully: Red anise comfits or borage leaves make this a feast-worthy presentation rather than a plain kitchen paste.

🌰 Texture note: This is best understood as a drained almond cream or almond curd. It will not behave exactly like dairy cheese, but when properly drained and sweetened it becomes smooth, rich, and spreadable.

Humoral and Dietary Context

In medieval medical and dietary writing, almonds were generally considered nourishing, temperate, and useful in refined cookery. They were often recommended in preparations intended to be gentle, strengthening, or suitable for restricted diets. Sugar, depending on context, was also valued medicinally as well as culinarily. Sweet spices such as cinnamon, cloves, mace, cubebs, and related spice mixtures were frequently associated with warmth and digestion.

Within that framework, Fride Creme of Almaundys makes sense as more than a novelty. It is rich without meat, creamy without animal dairy, elegant without being complicated, and adaptable for feast service. The optional additions of wine, saffron, comfits, and borage place the dish firmly in the world of careful presentation and sensory balance.

🥕 Dietary Notes:

• Vegan / Dairy-Free: This recipe is naturally dairy-free when made with almond milk and sweet wine or vinegar.
• Vegetarian: Suitable as written.
• Gluten-Free: Suitable as written, provided all garnishes and spice blends are gluten-free.
• Nut Allergy: This recipe is almond-based and is not suitable for those with tree nut allergies.
• Alcohol-Free: Use vinegar or verjuice instead of wine for curdling and omit the final sweet wine adjustment.
• Feast Service: Serve in small bowls, molded portions, or as a spread with wafers, bread, sops, or fruit.
• Camping/Event Use: Best made ahead and packed cold. Keep refrigerated in a cooler and serve in small portions with bread, wafers, crackers, or fruit. Not ideal for making from scratch at camp unless you have reliable heat, clean straining cloths, and adequate chilling.

Medieval Lemon & Ginger Syrups for Feasts and Summer Drinks

Medieval Lemon and Ginger Syrups for Feasts and Event Drinks

Originally published: May 16, 2022
Updated: May 13, 2026

Lemons illustrated in the Tacuinum Sanitatis, a medieval health and horticultural manuscript tradition rooted in Arabic medical writing.

Drink syrups are one of my favorite practical ways to bring flavor to a feast, camping event, or outdoor gathering. They are easy to transport, take up very little room, and can be diluted “to taste” with plain water. They also solve one of the ongoing feast-planning problems: how to offer something more interesting than water without hauling gallons of finished beverage.

These syrups are especially useful at events because refrigeration is not absolutely necessary for short-term use. The high sugar content helps preserve the syrup, and the syrup is carried as a concentrate rather than as a ready-to-drink beverage. I still refrigerate mine when I am storing them at home, but for day events, camping weekends, and feast tables, they are wonderfully portable. They are, in practical terms, little bottles of sunshine and spice.

The lemon syrup below comes from the drink section of Cariadoc’s Miscellany, where it is identified as a recipe from a 13th-century Andalusian cookbook. The original recipe is beautifully simple: lemon juice and sugar cooked together until syrupy. The ginger syrup included here is one I have used at events for many years, though I am still uncertain of its original source. If anyone recognizes the attribution, please let me know so I can credit it properly.

If you are interested in other drink syrups that have been served at past events, please visit: What to Drink? Four Drink Syrups for Recreation Feasts.

Callishones – Coriander Flavored Marchpane from A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen (1621)

Coriander Flavored Marzipan Callishones
Inspired by John Murrell’s A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen (1621)

Originally published: December 31, 2020, 3:28 PM
Updated: May 13, 2026

These coriander-flavored marchpane candies, called Callishones, are small molded sweetmeats made from almond paste, sugar, spice, and rosewater. They belong to the glittering world of Renaissance banqueting, where food, medicine, perfume, and display often shared the same sugared tray.

Callishones is likely related to the French calissons, traditionally pronounced roughly “cal-ee-SOHNS.”

The finished candies are delicate rather than strongly spiced. Coriander gives the almond paste a warm, citrus-like fragrance, while rosewater adds a floral note. With a touch of gold at the edges, they become tiny edible jewels fit for a feast board.

Source Spotlight: A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen

John Murrell’s A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen belongs to the early 17th-century English tradition of printed household and cookery books aimed at gentlewomen managing refined domestic tables. These books often included recipes for preserves, pastes, marmalades, comfits, marchpanes, and decorative banquet dishes.

The longer title associated with this work emphasizes learning “the whole Art of making Pastes, Preserves, Marmalades,” which places these callishones firmly in the world of sweetmeats and banquet confectionery.

Online reference: A Delightfull Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen at ckbk.

What Are Callishones?

Callishones were molded or printed sweetmeats made from marchpane paste. The name is related to calissons, almond-based sweets still associated with southern France. In this English recipe, the paste is flavored with coriander and musk, then shaped and dried.

Because almonds, sugar, floral waters, and aromatic ingredients were expensive, marchpane sweets were associated with wealth, banquets, weddings, and courtly hospitality. They were not merely “candy” in the modern sense. They were part dessert, part digestive, part edible art.

A Luxury Confection

In the 17th century, almonds, refined sugar, floral waters, and imported spices represented luxury ingredients. Even small sweetmeats like these reflected access to global trade and fashionable dining culture.

Original Recipe

To Make Callishones - Take halfe a pound of Marchpane paste, a thimble-full of coriander seeds beaten to a powder, with a graine of Muske, beat all to a perfect paste, print it and drie it.

How to Make Violet Syrup — Medieval to Modern Color-Changing Spring Cordial

Green, Magenta and Lavender Violet Syrup
Originally published 5/15/2015. Updated 11/15/2025.

Violet syrup is one of the oldest and loveliest floral syrups found in European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern culinary traditions. Used historically to ease coughs, cool fevers, soothe sore throats, and delight the eye, violet syrup has remained surprisingly unchanged across the centuries.

To make the best syrup, choose the deepest-colored sweet violets you can find. The infusion pulls its color directly from the petals—so the darker the bloom, the more vivid your syrup will be. Most North American violets lack fragrance, and that’s perfectly fine; the flavor comes from the infusion itself.

And yes—it really does change color! Add lemon juice and it turns a brilliant magenta. Add rosewater or another alkaline ingredient and it becomes green. Historically, violets were even used as a natural pH test long before litmus paper was invented.

Home › Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series › Butter’d French Beans (1660)

Butter’d French Beans (1660) — Robert May’s Table Greens for a Holiday Feast

Part of the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series — exploring how early modern English cooks transformed simple vegetables into elegant side dishes fit for the season’s most abundant table.

Still Life of Autumn Fruits and Vegetables — shared image for the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series, evoking abundance and the early-modern feast.

A Gentle Dish for the Early-Modern Table

By the mid-17th century, “French beans” — the New World haricot — had become a fashionable vegetable in England. Robert May includes several recipes for them in The Accomplisht Cook (1660), treating them tenderly with butter, vinegar, and spice. They offer a luminous green note amid the roasts, puddings, pies, and rich sauces of the season — a perfect complement to a modern Thanksgiving table inspired by early modern English cookery.

Historical Context

New World Origins: Haricot beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are native to Central and South America. Long before European contact, Indigenous farmers cultivated dozens of varieties—green beans, kidney beans, and shelling beans—across Mesoamerica and the Andes. They formed part of the “Three Sisters” agricultural system alongside maize and squash.

Arrival in Europe: Spanish explorers brought these New World beans to Europe in the early 1500s. By the 1530s they appear in Mediterranean gardens; by the 1550s they were fashionable in Italy and France, where they were prized for their thin, edible pods. England, following French horticultural fashion, adopted them slightly later—thus the English name “French beans.”

Adoption in England: By the late 1500s, green beans were grown in English kitchen gardens, though still considered something of an imported delicacy. Herbalists such as John Gerard (1597) describe “the French bean which cometh from beyond the seas,” distinguishing it from the older Old World broad bean (Vicia faba). These slender beans were more tender, easier to cook, and well suited to the new culinary trend of lightly prepared vegetables.

Why They Appear in May (1660): By Robert May’s time, French beans had become a regular feature in elite kitchens. His recipe aligns with the era’s preference for simple treatments—boiling, buttering, and seasoning—allowing the vegetable’s natural color and delicacy to shine. The touch of vinegar and nutmeg reflects early-modern taste for balancing “cold and moist” foods with warming spices.

From New World to Tudor Thanksgiving: The journey of the French bean—from Indigenous agriculture to Spanish ships, to French gardens, to English cookbooks—mirrors the broader Columbian Exchange that reshaped European foodways. Serving this dish at a modern Thanksgiving connects the contemporary holiday table with the very ingredients that transformed 17th-century English cooking.

Original Recipe 

Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (London: 1660), p. 204.
Public link to the recipe on Archive.org

To stew French Beans.
Take your French beans and string them, then seeth them well in fair water; when they are tender, put them into a pipkin with some sweet butter, a little vinegar, pepper, and salt; and shake them well together. Serve them hot, with grated nutmeg cast upon them.

AI assistance disclosure: This post used AI to help with HTML formatting, SEO/meta, image creation, internal linking, and clarity edits. All recipes, testing, historical framing, and final edits are by the author.

Traditional Kaku-Mochi – glutinous rice kneaded and cut into squares.
Image generated by ChatGPT (© 2025, used with permission).

Basic Recipe – Kaku-Mochi (Traditional Japanese Square Rice Cake)

Context: Kaku-Mochi, or square rice cakes, form the heart of O-zoni (Rice Cake Soup), served at the 2019 Crown Tournament Feast. These rice cakes were a symbol of prosperity and endurance, reflecting both samurai field traditions and the ritual importance of rice in Muromachi-period Japan.

Basic Recipe – Vegetarian Dashi (Kombu–Shiitake Stock)

Basic Recipe – Vegetarian Dashi (Kombu–Shiitake Stock)

Ingredients for Vegetarian Dashi – kombu, shiitake mushrooms, and a clear golden broth.
Image generated by ChatGPT (© 2025, used with permission).

Context: This vegetarian dashi forms the foundation for many dishes in the Muromachi-period Crown Tournament Feast, including O-zoni (Rice Cake Soup). Dashi is the clear stock that underpins nearly every element of honzen ryori dining — simple, elegant, and full of umami.

Kohaku-namasu (Daikon and Carrot Salad)

Kitchen Adventures – Crown Tournament 2019: Kohaku-namasu (Daikon and Carrot Salad)

Kohaku-namasu (Daikon and Carrot Salad)
Photo © Cooking with Dog, used under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Originally published 11/25/2019 Updated 11/6/2025

A symbolic red-and-white salad of daikon and carrot lightly pickled in sweetened vinegar — a bright accent to the first tray of the Muromachi-period Honzen Ryori feast.

Kohaku-namasu represents more than flavor: the colors themselves are auspicious. Red symbolizes joy and protection from evil; white represents purity and celebration. The dish was introduced from China during the Nara period and became a central feature of Osechi Ryori — the traditional New Year’s cuisine of the Heian court.

Crown Tournament 10/19/2019 Mikawa ae (Miso & Sesame Cucumber Pickles)

Crown Tournament 2019: Mikawa ae (Miso and Sesame Cucumber Pickles)

From the Muromachi-period Honzen Ryori menu served at Crown Tournament (October 19, 2019): crisp cucumbers dressed in a miso–sesame emulsion, bright with rice vinegar and shiso.

Mikawa ae — Photo courtesy of Avelyn Grene (Kristen Lynn)

Originally published 11/25/2019 Updated 11/6/2025

This beautifully simple dish was a standout on the first tray. The balance of salt, sweetness, and umami offered a refreshing counterpoint to the grilled and simmered items. The redaction draws on Sengoku Daimyo’s Redactions of Japanese Dishes, aligning with techniques seen in late medieval Japan.

Fukujinzuke – “Seven Lucky Gods” Pickles for Japanese Curry

Fukujinzuke (red pickles for curry) 福神漬け
Photo courtesy of Avelyn Grene (Kristen Lynn)

Originallypublished 10/29/2029 Updated 10/31/2025

Fukujinzuke (福神漬け) is a sweet–salty soy-pickled relish traditionally served with Japanese curry rice (kare-raisu). Its name honors the Shichi Fukujin—the Seven Lucky Gods—each symbolizing a different virtue. A classic preparation uses seven vegetables such as daikon, lotus root, cucumber, eggplant, carrot, shiitake, and burdock.

Though curry and fukujinzuke date from Japan’s Meiji era (1868–1912), these pickles trace their roots to far older preservation arts. Including them in the Crown Tournament Feast provided guests with a glimpse of how Japanese foodways evolved from the Muromachi period’s elegant honzen ryōri to later, modern tastes.

Tsukemono—Japanese pickles—form an essential part of nearly every meal. They cleanse the palate, add color and texture, and reflect regional produce and technique. Methods range from simple salt cures (shiozuke) and vinegar brines (amasuzuke) to soy-based (shoyuzuke), miso (misozuke), rice-bran (nukazuke), and sake-lees (kasuzuke) fermentations.

Our fukujinzuke is a shoyuzuke: vegetables simmered briefly in a soy–sugar–vinegar brine for a glossy, gently candied finish. Commercial versions are often tinted red; traditional homespun ones remain soy-brown. A sliver of beet can replace the food dye for color if desired.

🥕 Dietary Notes: Vegan & vegetarian. Contains soy. For gluten-free, use tamari. Omit candied ginger for low-sugar or allium-free adaptation.

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

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

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

Part of the Baronial 12th Night series.

To Make Callishones – Coriander-Scented Marchpane Candies

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

The Elizabethan Banqueting Course

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

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

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

Renaissance Candied Fruit, Roots & Flowers (Markham, 1623) — Step-by-Step + Modern Method

Sugared Plums (Renaissance method)

Originally published: 2015  •  Updated: 2025-10-24

Context. This post expands on Gervase Markham’s early-17th-century candying method from The English Huswife (1623), part of his famous “banqueting-stuffe”—the delicate sugarwork served at the end of elite meals. Candying preserved seasonal produce for winter and created jewel-like sweets for feast courses and subtleties. Below you’ll find Markham’s original text and a carefully tested modern method I use for SCA feast work.

Five Medieval Lenten Recipes: Meatless & Dairy-Free Dishes from Harleian MS. 279

Five Medieval Lenten Dishes

Originally published February 15, 2018. Updated October 20, 2025 with expanded historical notes, new images, and improved formatting.

In the Middle Ages, Lent wasn’t merely a season of self-denial — it was an entire culinary calendar. Between Lent, Advent, Ember Days, and weekly “fish days” on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, nearly one-third of the medieval year was devoted to fasting. During those times, meat, eggs, butter, and cheese were forbidden, yet cooks were expected to provide flavorful, nourishing meals that upheld both piety and hospitality. This collection explores five authentic Lenten recipes from Harleian MS. 279 and related manuscripts, revealing how creative and satisfying medieval fasting fare could be.

Rather than bland penitence, medieval Lenten cookery celebrated ingenuity. Almond milk stood in for dairy, oil and wine replaced animal fats, and fish of every sort — fresh, dried, salted, or pickled — became the centerpiece of elegant banquets. Even humble ingredients like peas or leeks were transformed through spice, color, and texture into dishes worthy of nobles and abbots alike.

Compost – Medieval Pickled Vegetables (The Forme of Cury, c. 1390)

A beautiful dish of Compost—a sweet-sour, mustard-kissed medley of pickled vegetables.
Original adaptation courtesy of Daniel Myers at Medieval Cookery.

Originally published 10/21/2017. Updated 9/19/2025.

Compost is a vibrant “composition” of roots, cabbage, and pear, dressed with vinegar, wine, honey, and spices. Although the modern ear hears “garden compost,” in medieval cookery compost meant a mixture (from Latin componere—“to put together”). The recipe appears in The Forme of Cury (c. 1390), a royal English cookbook compiled by the cooks of King Richard II.

Historical & Cookbook Context

The Forme of Cury is among the earliest English culinary collections, written in Middle English for a professional court kitchen. Richard II’s table favored spice, color, and spectacle—dishes like Compost fit that world perfectly: bright, sweet-tart, and meant to awaken the appetite at the start of a course.

• Etymology: Compost = “mixture/compote,” not soil. Cognates appear across Europe (composte in Italian/French) for sweet-sour preserves.
• Preservation: Vinegar + honey + wine weren’t just flavors; they extended shelf life before refrigeration—ideal for travel, fasting days, and feasts.

🍽️ Menu Placement 

Compost works beautifully in the first course with other cold dishes: sallets, pottages, and small bites. It’s a make-ahead dish that holds safely, scales easily, and offers welcome acidity between richer foods. Serve in shallow bowls with a draining spoon so guests can take vegetables without over-brine.

Humoral Theory (Balance & Digestion)

Medieval diners aimed to balance foods’ hot/cold and dry/moist qualities. Sharp pickling and mustard were considered “warming” and digestive; honey and currants added moist sweetness, while pear cooled and softened the heat of spice.

Ingredient	Humoral Tendency (period belief)	Balancing Note
Vinegar	Hot & dry	Stimulates appetite/digestion
Mustard	Hot & dry	Warming; use sparingly for choleric temperaments
Honey & currants	Warm & moist	Round out sharpness; “comforting”
Pear	Cool & moist	Tempers heat of spices and vinegar

Ingredient Notes & Modern Substitutions

• Parsley root: Traditional but scarce in U.S. markets—sub parsnip or celery root.
• Greek wine: The text specifies “wyne greke,” likely sweet. Good subs: Muscat, Marsala, or a sweet white. Dry white works in a pinch.
• Powder douce: A mild sweet spice blend (often sugar + cinnamon + ginger). Use your house blend to match other Curia dishes.
• Lombard (Lumbarde) mustard: Strong, sweetened mustard with spice—modern “sweet–hot” or honey mustard is close; add a pinch of ginger for warmth.
• Currants: Zante currants (dried Corinth grapes), not fresh currants. Small raisins are a last-resort sub.
• Saffron: Optional but period-correct for color and aroma. For budget or camping: a tiny pinch of turmeric for color only.

🥕 Dietary Notes

• Vegetarian ✅
• Vegan ✅ (swap honey for date syrup or agave)
• Gluten-free ✅
• Allergens: Mustard is common; omit or reduce, or sub a small pinch of prepared horseradish.
• Camping/Feast friendly: Make 1–2 days ahead; keeps well chilled. Transport brine separately and dress on site for best texture.

Original Text — The Forme of Cury (c. 1390)

Take rote of parsel. pasternak of rasenns. scrape hem waisthe hem clene. take rapes & caboches ypared and icorne. take an erthen panne with clene water & set it on the fire. cast all þise þerinne. whan þey buth boiled cast þerto peeres & parboile hem wel. take þise thynges up & lat it kele on a fair cloth, do þerto salt whan it is colde in a vessel take vineger & powdour & safroun & do þerto. & lat alle þise thinges lye þerin al nyzt oþer al day, take wyne greke and hony clarified togider lumbarde mustard & raisouns corance al hool. & grynde powdour of canel powdour douce. & aneys hole. & fenell seed. take alle þise thynges & cast togyder in a pot of erthe. and take þerof whan þou wilt & serue forth.

Eisands with Oatmeal Groats — A Book of Cookrye (1591)

Eisands with Oatmeal Groats — A Book of Cookrye (1591)

Eisands of otemeal grotes is one of those recipes I knew I had to tackle the moment I found it while researching for a cook’s gathering in 2015. It reads like a bridge between early “puddings” (often meat-and-suet mixtures boiled in an animal casing) and the later sweet, bread- or grain-based boiled puddings that show up in the 17th century—think the ancestors of Christmas plum pudding. The question was how to cook it (bake, steam, boil?) and what exactly the “otemeale grotes” should be in a modern kitchen.

On the oats: “Groats” are hulled whole oat berries. Steel-cut oats (oat groats chopped into pieces) are the easiest modern stand-in and give the right “rice-like” bite. Rolled/quick oats are much later and behave differently; avoid them for authenticity and texture.

On the method: The surrounding recipes in A Book of Cookrye point to boiling the pudding in a cloth. When made this way, Eisands slices beautifully, travels well, and can be served warm or cold—perfect for a Curia Regis Brunch or feast service.

Original & Translation

Original (1591)	Modern Sense Translation
Eisands with Otemeale grotes. Take a pinte of Creame and seethe it, and when it is hot, put therto a pinte of Otemeale grotes, and let them soke in it all night, and put therto viii. yolks of egs, and a little Pepper, Cloves, mace, and saffron, and a good deale of Suet of beefe, and small Raisins and Dates, and a little Sugar. Sources: jducoeur.org & MedievalCookery.com	Eisands of Oatmeal Groats. Heat a pint of cream; when hot, add a pint of oatmeal groats and let them soak in it overnight. Mix in eight egg yolks; season with a little pepper, cloves, mace, and saffron. Add a good amount of beef suet, along with small raisins and dates, and a little sugar.

Funges – Mushroom & Leek Pottage from The Forme of Cury (c. 1390)

Funges – Medieval Mushroom & Leek Pottage (The Forme of Cury, c. 1390)

Originally published 2017 — updated September 2025

🥕 Dietary Notes: Vegan • Vegetarian • Gluten-Free     

Funges – a saffron-tinted pottage of mushrooms and leeks from The Forme of Cury, c. 1390.

Humoral Theory: Mushrooms and leeks were considered cold and moist. Saffron, pepper, ginger, and clove were hot and dry correctives, making the dish balanced and easy to digest in the morning.

Menu Placement: Funges works as an early pottage course, served with bread or trenchers, to prepare the stomach before heavier meats and roasts.

Funges is a warming dish of mushrooms and leeks simmered in broth, brightened with saffron and finished with Powder Fort. It’s fast, fragrant, and feast-friendly—perfect for Curia brunch as a gentle starter. If you love leek dishes, see also Canabenys with Lekys.

This dish highlights the medieval love of mushrooms, leeks, and saffron. It is meatless, making it suitable for fast days and Lenten feasts, while still rich and satisfying. Its bright saffron hue and spicy warmth balance the humoral system—warming and drying against damp, cool mornings. Served with bread, it offers both nourishment and elegance, reminding us how medieval cooks turned humble ingredients into royal fare.

Original Recipe

Funges (The Forme of Cury, c. 1390)
Take Funges and pare hem clere and dyce hem. take leke and shred him smal and do him to seeþ in gode broth color yt wȝt safron and do þer inne pouder fort and serve hit forth.

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)

Canabeys with Lekys — A Medieval Bean and Leek Pottage (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430)

Canabeys with Lekys — Harleian MS. 279 (c. 1430)

Originally published 3/30/2015, Updated 9/17/2025

What is “Canabeys (Canabens) with Lekys”?

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.

Blawnche Perrye – Creamed Leeks with Rice and Fish (Harleian MS. 279, c.1430)

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.

Modern Recipe