Kitchen Adventures – Mock Entrails (Trayne Roste-Harleian MS 4016 ~1450)

Trayne Roste-Harleian MS 4016 ~1450

Trayne roste. [supplied by ed.] *. [Douce MS.] ¶ Take Dates and figges, and kutte hem in a peny brede; And þen̄ take grete reysons and blanched almondes, and prik hem thorgh with a nedel into a threde of a mannys lengtℏ, and one of one frute and a-noþer of a-noþer frute; and þen̄ bynde the threde with the frute A-bought a rownde spete, endelonge þe spete, in maner of an hasselet; And then̄ take a quarte of wyne or Ale, and fyne floure,*. [D. MS.; sugur, Harl. ] And make batur thereof, and cast thereto pouder ginger, sugur, & saffron̄,*. [Douce MS. ] pouder of Clowes, salt; And make þe batur not fully rennyng, and noþer stonding, but in þe mene, that hit may cleue, and than rost the*. ["than rost the": D. MS.; that rost, Harl. ] treyne abougℏt the fire in þe spete; And þen̄ cast the batur on̄ the treyne as he turnetℏ abought [supplied by ed.] the fire, so longe til þe frute be hidde in the batur; as þou castest þe batur there-on, hold a vesseƚƚ vndere-nethe, for*. [against, to stop. ] spilling of þe batur/ And whan hit is y-rosted weƚƚ, hit wol seme a hasselet; And then̄ take hit vppe fro þe spit al hole, And kut hit in faire peces of a Span̄ lengtℏ, And serue [supplied by ed.] *. [Douce MS. ] of hit a pece or two in a dissℏ al hote.


Trayne Roste [Supplied by ed.]( [Douce MS.] Take dates and figs, and cut them in a penny bread; and then take great raisins and blaunched almonds, and prick them through with a needle into a thread of a man's length, and one of fruit and a nother of another fruit; and then bind the thread with the fruit about a round spit, along the spit, in manner of an hasselet; and then take a quarte of wine or ale, and fine flour, and make batter thereof, and caste thereto powder ginger, sugar and saffron, powder of cloves, salt; and make the batter not fully running and not standing, but in the mean (middle) that it may cleve, and then rost the treyne abought the fire in the spit; and then cast the batter on the treyne as he turns about the fire, so long till the fruit be hidden in the batter; as you cast the batter thereon hold a vessel underneath for spilling of the batter, and when it is roasted well, hit will seem a hasselet; and then take it up from the spit al whole, and cut it in fair pieces of a span length, and serve of it a piece or two in a dish all hot.


Trayne Roste

4 pieces heavy string 18" long
1/4 cup sliced almonds, soaked in warm water
18 dried figs, halved
6 oz dates, halved
1/2 cup raisins
4 ounces apricots cut in halves
4 ounces of prunes cut in halves
1 1/2 cups oil
7 oz beer (I used seltzer water)
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 ground ginger
dash of salt

Using a sharp needle, thread the dried fruits and nuts onto the strings. Alternate the fruits and nuts to achieve an uneven appearance. Set aside. Beat together beer, flour, salt and spices. Dip the strings of fruit and nuts in the batter to coat. Fry in oil over high heat one at a time. Fry until golden and drain.~ Renfrow, Cindy; Take a Thousand Eggs or More

Kitchen Adventures – For Pyes of Mutton or Beefe. (Mincemeat Pie (1591) and How to Render Suet)

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 for all such as delight therin printed by Edward Allde, London 1591

How to Render Suet

I was fortunate enough to find suet at a local grocer. This was an extra step I took to add authenticity to the mince pies, but it is not a step you need to take. Suet, lard and vegetable suet are interchangeable. However, if you get the opportunity, you *should* try to make your own rendered suet, aka tallow. Why did I render it? To be quite honest, real suet is the fat around the kidneys, I had a sneaky suspicion that what I might have purchased as "suet" was not. Additionally, raw suet contains things we may not necessarily want to eat; skin, vein, blood and/or connective tissue...ick!

The process is super easy if you have a crock pot. Trim off any visible bits of meat or skin. Place your suet in the freezer. Once hardened cut your suet into blocks and process to a coarse grind. Place your ground suet into a food processor, turn on low and leave overnight. The next day you will find that the suet has rendered completely, leaving behind what is referred to as 'cracklings' which you can eat if you wish. Strain your fat (I used a coffee filter in a strainer), and allow to cool.

What you end up is tallow. THIS is what I used in the mince pies.

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.

For Pies of Mutton or Beef

Shred your meat and suet together fine, season it with clove, mace, pepper and some saffron, great raisins, currants and prunes, and so put it into your pies.

Filling

1 1/2 to 2 pounds of ground beef or veal (I used 80/20)
1/2 cup shredded suet
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground mace
1/2 tsp black pepper
a pinch of saffron
1/3 cup each raisins, currants and prunes chopped

I used store bought pie pastry. I got approximately 15 2" pastry shells from a 9" dough

Mix together all ingredients and cook slowly until the filling is cooked completely. When you are ready to serve, add your filling to your dough and cook in a 400 degree oven until the dough has turned brown (about 15 minutes). Serve.

Kitchen Adventures – lv. Iuschelle of Fysshe. (Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430))

lv. Iuschelle of Fysshe - Fish Dumplings

This unusual recipe found in  Two fifteenth-century cookery-books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55 by Thomas Austin  immediately caught my eye and I had to try it.  Originally I had assumed that this dish would produce results similar to Guisseƚƚ, a recipe for a savory bread dumpling, cooked in broth. I had always been a bit uncertain of that research, until I realized that the formula ofr Iuschelle of Fysshe is very similar to modern day quenelles, mixtures of meat or fish combined with breadcrumbs and cream that are usually poached.  

To follow up on the theory it became important to understand what the term Iuschelle meant. The Middle English Dictionary defines Iuschelle (jussel n. Also jus(s)elle, jushel(le & guissel.) as:

A dish made of eggs, or eggs mixed with grated bread, cooked in a seasoned broth; ~ of flesh; ~ sengle; ~ enforced, such a dish served with a sweet and spicy creamed sauce; (b) a dish made of fish roe and grated bread mixed and cooked in a fish broth; ~ of fish.

The Middle English Compendium defines frye as: 

Fri(e) - Also frī(e n.(2) Also friʒe (frye). Spawn or the young of fish; small fish

I believe that instead of the "roe" or the mass of eggs found inside a fish, this recipe is referring to the fry or newly hatched fish that no longer have an egg sac attached. I would suggest using any available smaller fish to create this recipe, or substituting roe for the fry. If you are unable to get pike, you may want to substitute cod, pollock, whiting, catfish or any other lean white fish.

.lv. Iuschelle of Fysshe.—Take fayre Frye of Pyke, and caste it raw on a morter, an caste þer-to gratid brede, an bray hem as smale as þow mayste; & ȝif it be to stondyng, caste þer-to Almaunde mylke, an bray hem to-gederys, an stere it to-gederys, & caste þer-to a littel Safroun & Salt, an whyte Sugre, an putte al in a fayre Treen bolle, & toyle*. [Twillein Douce MS. ] it to-gederys wyth þin hond, an loke þat it be noȝt to chargeaunt, but as a man may pore it out of þe bolle; and þan take a Chafoure or a panne, an caste þer-in fayre grauey of pyke or of Freysshe Samoun, y-draw þorw a straynoure, & sette[leaf 14.] it on þe fyre; þanne take fayre Percely an Sawge, an caste þer-to, an lat it boyle, an caste þer-to a lytil Safroun an Salt; and whan it hath y-boylid a whyle, stere it faste, an caste þe Stuffe þer-to, an stere it euermore; an whan alle is oute of þe bolle, caste a litil an a litil in-to þe chafoure, or þe panne; stere it soffter an sofftere, tylle it come to-gedere; þan gader it to-gederys with a ladelle or a Skymoure, softe, tille it be round to-gedere; þanne take it fro þe fyre, an sette þe vesselle on a fewe colys, an late it wexe styf be hys owne acord; þan serue forth.

55. Juschelle of Fish - Take fair fry of pike, and caste it raw on a mortar, and cast there-to grated bread, and bray them as small as you may; and if it be to standing (thick), caste there-to almond milk, and bray them together; and stir it together, and caste there-to a little saffron and salt, and white sugar, and put all in a fair tureen bowl and stir it together with your hand, and look that it be not to thick, but as a man may pour it out of the bowl; and then take a chafing dish or a pan, and caste there-in fair gravy of pike, or of fresh salmon, drawn through a strainer and set it on the fire, then take fair parsley and sage, and caste there-to, and let it boil, and cast there-to a little saffron and salt, and when it has boiled a while, stir it fast, and cast the stuff there-to and stir it evermore; an when all is out of the bowl, cast a little and a little in to the chafing-dish or the pan; stir it softer and softer, till it come together; then gather it to together with a ladle or a skimmer, soft, till it be round together; then take it from the fire, and set the vessel on a few coals, and let it wax stiff be his own accord; then serve forth.

Recipe Serves 6 - 8 (or more as smaller appetizers)

Fish Dumplings

1 pound lean white fish, cut into 1" pieces
2 slices bread, crusts removed
1 cup almond milk
1 egg white (to help bind fish- included here because eggs are a primary ingredient in Guisseƚƚ but are missing from this recipe)
Pinch of saffron
Salt and pepper to taste
Sugar to taste

Broth

4 cups fish stock
3 sprigs of fresh parsley (can substitute 1 tbsp. dried)
1/2 tsp. sage
Pinch of Saffron


Please, please, please--this cannot be stressed enough--use a well flavored stock (gravy) for your broth to poach the dumplings in, otherwise this dish will be very bland. I would strongly suggest that you make your own following the directions that can be found here, and substituting fish bones for beef or chicken bones. You may also want to round out the flavor of the stock by adding some fennel and white wine as part of the cooking liquid.

If you are unable to secure enough fish scraps and bones to make a broth, you can substitute a 50/50 mixture of vegetable stock and chicken stock. I would caution against using a premade "seafood stock" unless you are very certain that nobody with a shellfish allergy will be present. Seafood stock is usually made with shells of crab, shrimp, lobster in addition to fish bones.


Warm the milk up slightly and add saffron to it. Allow it to come to a cool temperature.


To make your dumplings you will want to soak your bread in the milk and then mash it until it becomes a paste. Grind your fish, either by using a blender, or using a sausage maker. It is important that the fish retain some texture and is not a paste. Blend the bread paste with the fish and remaining ingredients.

Here you have a choice. You can follow the medieval instructions of bringing the broth to a boil, stirring it quickly and adding your fish mixture to the broth. This, I imagine will act like poaching an egg, and allow the mixture to come together similar to a poached egg, or, like the Guissel, form many jagged dumplings of an uneven size. Continue to stir until the mixture becomes thick. The instructions state to " then take it from the fire, and set the vessel on a few coals, and let it wax stiff be his own accord; then serve forth." This method appears to suggest that the dumplings should be allowed to continue to cook for a short time before serving.

Or, you can diverge (as I did) and follow a more modern method of bringing a large pot of salted water to just below a simmer, and dropping your dough into it by the tablespoonful. If you are following this method, the dumplings will fall to the bottom of the pot and then rise up when they are completely cooked.


To serve, place your dumplings into your broth, garnish as desired and serve it forth.


This may seem like a very "fussy" dish to serve at an event, however, the dumplings can be made ahead of time and frozen prior to poaching. Day of the event, remove your frozen dumplings, place them in the boiling and salted water and proceed as per usual.

This is a very delicate dish, it could serve as a pottage in a first course, or, the dumplings can be served without broth or sauce on the side of a main dish in the second course as a garnish, or to round out the meal. I would suggest that plating the fish dumplings in a thin puddle of beautifully hot stock, garnished with boiled vegetables (asparagus, leeks, parsnips or a non-orange carrot) would be lovely.

Similar Recipes

Ancient Cookery [Arundel 334], (England, 1425)

Jussel of sysshe. Take frye of female pike, and pille away the skyn; and take the liver of codlinge, and bray altogeder; and take grated bred and cast therto in the brayinge, and when it waxes stif put hit into a chargeour, and colour hit depe with saffron; and then take grave of pyke, and grave of congur, and of calver salmon, and put al into a panne; and take parcel (parsley), and sauge hewen, but not too smalle, and boyle hit ensemble.; and when hit is boyled put in a potstik and stere hit wel, and ' when hit begynnes to crudde do away the potstik, and let hit boyle afterwarde a gode qwyle ; and then set hit doun, and dresse up fix leches in a dysshe, and strawe theron pouder of ginger; and serve hit forthe.

Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” — A Christmas Dinner in Honor of the Cratchits (Victorian Menu)

Updated: August 19, 2025

Featuring recipes for: Roast Goose, Sage & Onion Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Apple Sauce, Beef Gravy, Christmas Plum Pudding — plus bonus pantry sauces: Harvey’s Sauce & Mushroom Ketchup.

A Christmas Dinner in Honor of the Cratchits

The Third Visitor — John Leech, 1843

Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, 1861

A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (1843) is my perennial December re-read. It’s timeless, hopeful—and born of a darker reality Dickens refused to ignore. Before we sit down to the Cratchits’ dinner, a little context.

Menu at a Glance

• Roast Goose with Sage & Onion Stuffing
• Mashed Potatoes & Apple Sauce
• A Good Beef Gravy
• Christmas Plum Pudding
• Harvey’s Sauce & Mushroom Ketchup (bonus pantry recipes)