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 Rabbit, Chicken, or Duck in Onion Sauce (Hen in Cyve – Harleian MS. 279)

Hen in Cyve – Medieval Chicken (or Rabbit/Duck) in Onion & Wine Sauce (Harleian MS. 279)

Conyng, Mawlard, in gely or in cyuey – Hen, Rabbit, or Duck in Onion Sauce (Harleian MS. 279)

What is “Cyve / Cyuey”? A savory medieval onion sauce thickened with bread and sharpened with vinegar and wine—balanced with warm spices like ginger, mace, cinnamon, and cloves. Wonderful with poultry, rabbit, or duck.

Updated 5/19/2026: This post now includes related recipes: .lxxiij. Conyngys in cyveye and .lxiij. Harys in Cyueye.

Medieval Stew in Onion Sauce

One of my favorite finds from The Ordinance of Pottage was “Hare in Cyve,” a richly flavored onion-based sauce that quickly became a feast favorite in my early SCA days. When I later discovered a related recipe in Harleian MS. 279 (c.1430), I knew it had to go on my cooking list.

Conyng means rabbit; Hare its larger cousin; and Mawlard means duck. The recipe offers flexibility—showing how cooks adapted this onion-thickened sauce (or cyuey) to whatever meat was available.

📖 A cyuey is a spiced medieval onion sauce thickened with bread and vinegar, balancing savory, sweet, and tart notes. It’s delicious with poultry, rabbit, or game.

Original Text (Harleian MS. 279)

.xlij. Conyng, Mawlard, in gely or in cyuey – Take Conynge, Hen, or Mawlard, and roste hem alle-most y-now, or ellys choppe hem, an frye hem in fayre Freysshe grece; an frye myncyd Oynenons, and caste alle in-to þe potte, & caste þer-to fayre Freysshe brothe, an half Wyne, Maces, Clowes, Powder pepir, Canelle; þan take fayre Brede, an wyth þe same brothe stepe, an draw it þorw a straynoure wyth vynegre; an whan it is wyl y-boylid, caste þe lycoure þer to, & powder Gyngere, & Salt, & sesyn it vp an serue forth.

Modern Translation

42. Rabbit, Hen, or Duck in Onion Sauce – Take rabbit, hen, or duck, and roast them almost enough, or else chop them, and fry them in good fresh fat. Fry minced onions and add all into the pot with fresh broth and half wine, along with mace, cloves, pepper, and cinnamon. Then take good bread, soak it in the same broth, and strain it with vinegar. When it is well boiled, add this mixture, plus ginger and salt. Adjust seasoning and serve hot.

Applade Ryalle: Medieval Apple Soup from Harleian MS. 279

Originally published: October 21, 2016
Updated: May 13, 2026

.Cxxxv. Applade Ryalle — prepared in variations for flesh day, fish day, and “for need.”

One of the great joys of cooking from medieval manuscripts is discovering just how flexible historical recipes could be. Applade Ryalle, found in Harleian MS. 279 (circa 1430), begins simply enough with cooked apples strained into a smooth puree. From there, however, the recipe branches into three entirely different dishes depending upon circumstance: one for flesh days using beef broth and grease, one for fish days using almond milk and olive oil, and one “for need” using wine and honey.

What emerges is not merely a recipe, but a fascinating glimpse into medieval adaptability. The same humble apple base becomes savory, creamy, or luxurious depending on the occasion and ingredients available. It is practical cookery transformed into something unexpectedly elegant.

I made all three versions during my original experiment with this recipe, and each one produced a completely different experience. The kitchen smelled gloriously of apples, wine, cinnamon, ginger, and spice — essentially autumn in a cauldron.

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.

Coleys (Chicken Cullis): Medieval Chicken Bone Broth & Restorative Soup

Coleys (Chicken Cullis): Medieval Chicken Bone Broth & Restorative Soup – Harleian MS. 279

Harleian MS. 279 (c.1430) — .xxvj. Coleys — Chicken Cullis

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.

Originally published 5/12/ 2019 Updated 5/13/2026

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, including Du fait de cuisine, even frame coulleys as food for the sick: nourishing, mild, and easily digested.

This is not a clear soup. It is closer to a spoonable medieval chicken soup, a savory porridge, or a soft restorative broth thickened with bread. The result is mild, warming, and practical: a dish that uses the bird thoroughly and turns broth, meat, bones, skin, and bread into something sustaining.

Tudor Mince Pies (1591) – For Pyes of Mutton or Beefe from A Book of Cookrye

For Pyes of Mutton or Beefe (A Book of Cookrye, 1591)

Originally published: December 31, 2020 · Updated: November 15, 2025

🥕 Dietary Notes: Contains gluten, beef, and dried fruit. Suet may be replaced with vegetable shortening for a vegetarian-friendly option (texture and flavor will differ from period practice).

Kitchen Notes: For SCA feasts, I always post an ingredient-based menu on the kitchen door and tables, and I am happy to accommodate dietary needs with advance notice. Medieval dishes often contain ingredients modern diners may not expect, so clear labeling is essential.

A Note on Historical “Mincemeat”

Today, “mincemeat” often refers to a sweet mixture of fruit, spices, and sometimes spirits—but from the Middle Ages through the early modern period, mince pies always contained meat. The traditional mixture blended minced beef, mutton, or veal with suet, dried fruit, warm spices, and sometimes saffron.

These were hearty, savory-sweet hand pies served throughout the winter and were far closer to a spiced meat pastry than a modern dessert.

Original Recipe (1591)

For Pyes of Mutton or Beefe.
Shred your meat and Suet togither fine, season it with cloves, mace, Pepper, and same Saffron, great Raisins, Corance and prunes, and so put it into your Pyes.
~ A Book of Cookrye Very Necessary..., 1591

Modern English

Shred your meat and suet together fine. Season with clove, mace, pepper, and a little saffron. Add large raisins, currants, and chopped prunes, and place the mixture into your pies.

A Quick Story About Mincemeat & Misunderstandings

At one SCA event where I served these pies, a guest came into the kitchen distraught after eating a mince pie “with meat in it.” She had assumed they were vegetarian, not realizing that historical mince pies always contain meat. The menu—with a full ingredient list—was posted at the kitchen door and on the tables, but modern expectations can surprise people.

This experience reinforced why I am meticulous about posting detailed ingredient-based menus and why I encourage diners to share dietary needs in advance. I can always accommodate those needs when I know about them, and it helps everyone enjoy feast day without worry.

Why Medieval Cooks Mixed Meat, Fruit, and Spices

To a modern palate, combining beef with raisins and saffron may seem unusual, but in the 15th and 16th centuries this combination reflected the height of good cookery. Medieval recipes often balanced warm and cold humors using meat, fruit, and spices to keep the body in proper “temperament.”

Dried fruits brought sweetness and moisture; spices like mace, clove, and pepper added warmth and helped “correct” the perceived coldness or dampness of certain foods. Saffron contributed both color and a sense of luxury. A pie like this was not a random flavor mashup, but a carefully considered dish grounded in medieval food philosophy.

Mince Pies at the Medieval Table

Pies were central to medieval and Tudor feasts. A well-made pie demonstrated the cook’s skill, the host’s wealth, and the kitchen’s organization. Small, hand-sized pies like these were easy to portion out in a noisy hall, could be served hot, and traveled well on trenchers or small plates.

Mince pies appear in banquet menus, civic feasts, and household accounts as part of winter and holiday fare. Rich with meat, fat, fruit, and spice, they signaled generosity as much as good taste.

Historical Background

In medieval and Tudor England, mince pies were part of a long tradition of mixing meat with fruit and warm spices. This blend of savory and sweet flavors created a rich, festive pie that was especially popular during winter months and holidays. The dried fruit added subtle sweetness, the suet added richness, and the spices—clove, mace, pepper, and saffron—brought warmth and luxury.

By the 18th and 19th centuries, mince pies evolved into the sweet-only versions we know today, but in 1591, they were still very much a savory meat dish with a delicate sweet note.

How Mince Pies Changed Over Time

In the 16th century, mince pies were hearty, savory dishes that happened to include fruit. Over the 17th century, the amount of sugar and dried fruit increased, and the spice blends became more elaborate. By the 18th and 19th centuries, many “mincemeat” recipes had lost the meat entirely, relying instead on suet, fruit, sugar, and alcohol.

This 1591 recipe belongs to that earlier, meat-forward tradition. If your only experience of mince pies involves modern Christmas desserts, these will be a completely different—and delightfully historical—experience.

What These Pies Taste Like

These pies are savory first, with gentle sweetness from the dried fruits. The spices and saffron provide warmth and fragrance without overpowering the meat. They’re rich, filling, and wonderfully medieval—best enjoyed warm, and very much a hand pie rather than a dessert.

Why Saffron?

Saffron was one of the most prized spices in Tudor England. It added not only a golden hue, but also warmth and gentle floral notes. Its presence in a pie signaled celebration, hospitality, and expense—saffron was never used casually. A pinch in the filling is a small nod to the luxury this recipe would have represented on a 16th-century table.

What Suet Adds to the Recipe

Suet is the hard, clean fat from around the kidneys of cattle or sheep. It has a higher melting point than butter, which gives medieval pies their characteristic light, crisp bite and keeps the filling rich without becoming greasy.

Rendered suet (tallow) also acted as a preservative fat in winter cookery. When mixed with dried fruit and spices, it produced a filling that stayed good far longer than fresh meat alone. For cooks working with cool pantries and open hearths, this made mince pies both festive and practical.

How to Serve These Mincemeat Pies

These pies are best served warm from the oven and make excellent hand food for feasts, holiday tables, potlucks, or outdoor events. Their rich filling and small size make them ideal for the first or second course of an SCA feast.

If you want to stay close to period service, consider pairing them with:

• a hot spiced drink, ale, or hippocras
• a simple salad of herbs or “sallet” greens
• a pottage or broth as a preceding course

Cook’s Notes

These little pies surprised me with how comforting and deeply flavorful they were. The saffron lifts the filling, the prunes add richness, and the suet gives the mixture the perfect texture. They remind me of other European holiday meat pastries, but with a distinctly medieval soul. If you enjoy this recipe, it pairs beautifully with other late 16th-century dishes and makes a fine addition to a winter or Christmas-themed board.

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.

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

Home › Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series › Barberry Sauce for Roast Meats (1660)

Barberry Sauce for Roast Meats (1660) — A Tudor & Stuart Alternative to Cranberries

Part of the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series — exploring how early modern English cooks used tart, jewel-red fruits like barberries to brighten rich feasts in much the same way we use cranberry sauce today.

A Sharp, Scarlet Counterpoint to Roast Meat

Long before cranberries became iconic on American holiday tables, English cooks were using barberries to do a very similar job. These tiny, vivid red berries — the fruit of the shrub Berberis vulgaris — appear in 16th- and 17th-century English recipes as garnishes, pickles, and sharp, “cooling” sauces for goose, pig, pork, and rich pies.

In The Accomplisht Cook (1660), Robert May scatters barberries through pies and dressings, and suggests them in sauces for goose and other roasted fowl. Their bright acidity and ruby colour made them a perfect foil for fatty meats — a role cranberries would come to play later in colonial New England.

Barberries, Cranberries, and the Thanksgiving Table

Barberries in England: Barberries are native to Europe and western Asia. In early modern England they were valued both as a medicine and a culinary ingredient, especially for their sharp taste and striking colour. They were used in pickles, preserves, sauces, and as garnishes on rich dishes, and were common enough to appear repeatedly in British recipe books and household manuscripts.

Cranberries in North America: Cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) are native to North America. Indigenous peoples in New England and the Canadian Maritimes harvested them for food, dye, and medicine. Seventeenth-century English accounts of New England describe “craneberries” being eaten with meat and as part of pemmican-like preparations.

Parallel Uses, Different Histories: While there is no surviving English recipe that says “use cranberries where you would use barberries,” the two fruits occupy very similar roles:

• Both are small, tart, scarlet berries.
• Both were served with rich meats as a sharp, refreshing contrast.
• Both appear in sauces, relishes, and preserves.

In England, barberries remain the canonical choice in the 17th century; in colonial New England, cranberries fill the local niche. For modern historical cooks in North America, cranberries can be a practical stand-in when barberries are unavailable — as long as we are clear that the substitution is modern, not Tudor or Stuart.

Period Sources: Barberries in Robert May’s Kitchen

Sauce for a Goose — Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (1660)

The following comes from May’s “Sauce for a stubble or fat Goose”, which gives two forms. The second explicitly calls for barberries in a rich apple-based sauce.

Source: Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (London, 1660), “Sauce for a stubble or fat Goose.” The full text is available via Project Gutenberg and early modern facsimiles.

Sauce for a stubble or fat Goose.
1. The Goose being scalded, drawn, and trust, put a handful of salt in the belly of it, roast it, and make sauce with sowr apples slic’t, and boil’d in beer all to mash, then put to it sugar and beaten butter. Sometime for veriety add barberries and the gravy of the fowl.

2. Roast sowr apples or pippins, strain them, and put to them vinegar, sugar, gravy, barberries, grated bread, beaten cinamon, mustard, and boil’d onions strained and put to it.

To Pickle Barberries Red — Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (1660)

May also gives directions for pickling barberries, which provide the preserved fruit used in sauces throughout the year.

Source: Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (London, 1660), section on pickles and preserves (often titled “To pickle Grapes, Gooseberries, Barberries, red and white Currans” and related entries).

To Pickle Barberries Red.
When your Barbaries are picked from the leaves in clusters, about Michaelmas, or when they are ripe, let your water boyl, and give them a half a dozen walms; let your pickle be white-wine and vinegar, not too sharp, so put them up for your use.

Sweet Potatoes Three Ways (1660–1670) — May & Woolley at the Early-Modern Table

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Sweet Potatoes Three Ways (1660–1670) — Robert May & Hannah Woolley

Part of the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series — exploring how early modern English cooks transformed New World ingredients into elegant, comforting, and festive 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 New World Root, Transformed by English Cooks

Sweet potatoes — known in 17th-century England as “Spanish Potatoes” — arrived through Spanish trade routes in the early 1500s. Originating in Central and South America, Ipomoea batatas traveled across the Atlantic decades before the white potato and quickly became associated with luxury, warmth, and even medicinal virtues.

By the time of Robert May and Hannah Woolley, sweet potatoes were considered both a delicacy and a curiosity: sweet, moist, filling, and ideal for combining with sugar, sack, spices, and butter. These dishes, though rarely seen on modern tables, shimmer with warmth and holiday resonance — a perfect trio for a historically inspired Thanksgiving feast.

Expanded Historical Notes: Sweet Potatoes in Early Modern England

New World Origins: Sweet potatoes were cultivated by Indigenous peoples across the Caribbean, Central America, and the Andes long before European contact. Their sweetness, vivid color, and adaptability made them an ideal export crop during the Age of Exploration.

Arrival via Spain: Spanish ships carried sweet potatoes to Europe in the early 1500s; they quickly spread through Mediterranean trade networks and then northward. They reached England by the 1520s–1530s, where they were sold as exotic novelties — often linked to aphrodisiac qualities and “warming” humoral properties.

“Spanish Potatoes” vs. “Potatoes”: Early modern English texts differentiate between:

• Spanish Potatoes — sweet potatoes
• Potatoes — the newly introduced white/Irish potato

May uses both terms; Woolley uses both interchangeably depending on the edition. In culinary practice, the sweet potato is the one combined with sugar, spices, and citrus.

Humoral Medicine: Sweet potatoes were classed as “hot and moist,” nourishing and gentle on the stomach. Combined with warming spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), sugar, or sack (fortified wine), they were thought to strengthen the body in cold months — making them an ideal winter dish.

Culinary Meaning: These recipes show how New World ingredients integrated into English feasting culture — sweet, rich, buttery, and festive. Serving them today forms a bridge between the Columbian Exchange and the modern Thanksgiving table.

Period Recipes (Three Ways)

1. Robert May — The Accomplisht Cook (1660)

“To butter Potatoes.”
From The Accomplisht Cook, Book V, p. 225 (1660).
Public link to May’s recipe

To butter Potatoes.
Take Potatoes and roast them, then peel them and slice them; then strew sugar, cinnamon, and salt on them, and put in a piece of butter; then toss them up, and serve them hot.

2. Hannah Woolley — The Queen-Like Closet (1670)

“To Preserve Potatoes.”
Book I, “To Preserve Potatoes.”
Public link to Woolley

To Preserve Potatoes.
Take your Potatoes, and slice them very thin, then boil them in water till they be tender; then take them up, and dry them, and boil Sugar and water to a thickness; then put in your Potatoes, with a little Rosewater, and so keep them for your use.

3. Woolley Tradition — Potato Pottage (17th c.)

Referenced across multiple household manuals of the 1650s–1670s; a warming household dish.

Potato Pottage.
Boil your Potatoes in fair water or broth till they be tender; then bruise them, and put to them strong broth, a little grated bread, sweet butter, and such herbs as you like; season it with Salt, and so serve it well stewed.

Pumpion Pie (1658 & 1670) — The Earliest English Pumpkin Pie from The Compleat Cook and The Queen-Like Closet

England’s earliest spiced pumpkin pies: 1658 & 1670 English “pumpion” pies layered with apples or scented with sack and rosewater—two period versions, two modern bakes.

Pumpion Pie (1658 & 1670) — The Compleat Cook & The Queen-Like Closet

Home › Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series › Pumpion Pie (1658 & 1670)

Part of the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series — Early modern English cooks balanced spice, fruit, and rich sauces to delight feast guests. In that spirit, we imagine how 17th-century dishes—roasts, puddings, and pies—might grace today’s Thanksgiving table with historical flavor and good cheer.

A Pie of Pumpion and Apple — England’s First Pumpkin Pies

By the mid-1600s, New World “pumpions” (pumpkins) found a home in English kitchens. Two of the earliest printed examples—The Compleat Cook (1658) and Hannah Woolley’s The Queen-Like Closet (1670)—reveal different approaches: one layers herbed pumpkin fritters with sliced apples and currants, finished with a wine-egg caudle; the other stews and mashes the pumpkin, perfumes it with rosewater and sack, and glazes it with a sweet caudle. Together, they prefigure the later Anglo-American pumpkin custard pie while retaining a distinctly Restoration palate.

Historical Context: The Journey of the Pumpkin

From the New World to the Old: Pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo) are among the oldest cultivated crops in the Americas, domesticated in Mexico around 7000–5500 BCE. By the 15th century they were a staple from South America to New England. Spanish and Portuguese explorers carried seeds home in the early 1500s, where the “Indian gourd” quickly took root in Iberian and Italian gardens.

Arrival in England: The word pompion (later spelled pumpion or pumpkin) entered English by 1548, from French pompon and ultimately Latin peponem, “melon.” William Turner’s Herbal (1551–68) lists the pompion among familiar garden plants, and John Gerard’s Herbal (1597) describes “the great round pompion,” judging it “cold and moist in the second degree.” English cooks viewed it as a vegetable requiring the balancing warmth of spice, wine, and butter.

Early English Recipes: By the mid-1600s, the pumpkin had moved from curiosity to kitchen. The herbed, apple-layered pie in The Compleat Cook (1658) and Hannah Woolley’s sweeter rosewater version in The Queen-Like Closet (1670) mark its first recorded uses in English cookery. Both reflect a transitional taste—part vegetable fritter, part custard pie—infused with the season’s abundance of spice.

Across the Atlantic Again: English colonists in New England found pumpkins thriving in Indigenous fields and adopted them eagerly. By the late 17th century, colonial cooks abandoned herbs and apples for smooth spiced custards, giving rise to the pumpkin pie of early American tradition, immortalized in Amelia Simmons’s American Cookery (1796).

Date	Event	Location
~7000 BCE	Pumpkins domesticated	Mesoamerica
Early 1500s	Introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers	Iberia
1536	Described in Mattioli’s Commentarii	Italy
1548	First English record of “pompion”	England
1597	Gerard’s Herbal notes “great round pompion”	England
1658	The Compleat Cook publishes “Pumpion Pie”	London
1670	Hannah Woolley’s Queen-Like Closet	London
1796	Amelia Simmons’s American Cookery	United States

Humoral Insight: Early modern physicians classified pumpkins as “cold and moist.” Period cooks corrected this by adding warming ingredients—spice, sugar, and eggs—making dishes like pumpion pie both healthful and seasonally balanced.

Glossary: Pompion — early English spelling of pumpkin; Caudle — a warm sauce of egg yolk and wine; Verjuice — acidic juice from unripe grapes used for tartness.

Original Recipes

A. The Compleat Cook (1658)

To make a Pumpion Pie.
Take about halfe a pound of Pumpion and slice it, a handfull of Tyme, a little Rosemary, Parsley and sweet Marjoram slipped off the stalks, and chop them small, then take Cinamon, Nutmeg, Pepper, and six Cloves, and beat them; take ten Eggs and beat them, then mix them, and beat them altogether, and put in as much Sugar as you think fit, then fry them like a froiz; after it is fryed, let it stand till it be cold, then fill your Pye, take sliced Apples thinne round wayes, and lay a row of the Froiz, and a layer of Apples with Currans betwixt the layers while your Pye is fitted, and put in a good deal of sweet Butter before you close it; when the Pye is baked, take six yolks of Eggs, some white Wine or Verjuice, and make a Caudle thereof, cut up the Lid, and pour it in, then sugar it, and serve it up.

B. Hannah Woolley, The Queen-Like Closet (1670)

To make a Pumpion Pye.
Take the Pumpion, and pare it, and slice it thin, and stew it till it be tender, then mash it and season it with beaten Spice, Sugar, and Rosewater, and lay it in your Pye, and put in good store of Butter, and when it is baked, pour in a Caudle made of Eggs, Sack, and Sugar, and serve it hot.

Period Technique: A caudle is a lightly thickened sauce of wine (or sack) and egg yolks, poured into a hot pie to glaze and enrich it just before serving.

Choose Your Pie: The 1658 version is savory-sweet with herbs, apples, and currants; the 1670 version is silkier and perfumed with rosewater and sack. Both are unmistakably 17th-century.