Sometimes a recipe resists easy interpretation, and this one has long puzzled cooks. “A Potage” from Harleian MS. 279 begins with an unusual step: cooking eggs in red wine before straining them with almond milk. At first glance, it might resemble wine clarification, but comparisons to similar recipes in Le Ménagier de Paris and other sections of Harleian MS. 279 suggest the intent was closer to a custard technique — lightly curdled eggs beaten into wine, strained, and then enriched with almond milk. The result is a sweet-savory almond custard-pottage, thickened with rice flour, colored red with sandalwood, and optionally garnished with chopped veal on flesh days. This dish sits somewhere between rice pudding, mincemeat, and almond custard, showcasing the medieval love of spice, fruit, and color in festive pottages.
Modern redaction of a 15th-century almond milk pottage, enriched with dried fruits, pine nuts, honey, and sweet spices.
The Original Recipe
Cxlix. A Potage.
Take an sethe a fewe eyron̛ in red Wyne; þan take & draw hem þorw a straynoure with a gode mylke of Almaundys; þen caste þer-to Roysonys of Coraunce, Dates y-taylid, grete Roysonys, Pynes, pouder Pepir, Sawndrys, Clouys, Maces, Hony y-now, a lytil doucete, & Salt; þan bynde hym vppe flat with a lytyl flowre of Rys, & let hem ben Red with Saunderys, & serue hym in flatte; & ȝif þou wolt, in fleyssℏ tyme caste vele y-choppid þer-on, not to smale.
Cxlix. A Potage.
Take and seethe a few eggs in red wine; then take and draw them through a strainer with a good almond milk. Then cast thereto currants, chopped dates, large raisins, pine nuts, powdered pepper, sandalwood, cloves, mace, honey enough, a little doucete, and salt. Then bind it up flat with a little rice flour, and let it be red with sandalwood, and serve it in flat. And if you will, in flesh time cast veal chopped thereon, not too small.
A Dynere of Flesche — John Russell’s Medieval Feast and the Logic of Digestion
Roasted peacock served “re-plumed,” a classic showpiece in late-medieval banquets. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Introduction
In the mid-fifteenth century, court official John Russell compiled the Boke of Nurture (Harley MS 4011), a manual of etiquette, service, and feasting. Among its most intriguing passages is “A Dynere of Flesche”—a model feast for a flesh day. At first glance it reads like excess: swan, peacock, venison, custards, jellies, fritters, sotelties. But beneath the display lies clear order, guided by humoral theory and the theory of digestion.
Humoral theory:
Foods are classified hot/cold, moist/dry.
The goal was balance — so heavy/dry meats might be paired with moist/sweet sauces, or cooling jellies follow heating roasts.
Theory of Digestion (stomach as a fireplace model):
Light, quick-digesting foods first (whet the appetite, “open the stomach”).
Heavy meats mid-meal (need the appetite at full flame).
Cooling or binding foods at the end (to “close the stomach” and aid digestion).
Spices and hippocras (spiced wine) seal the stomach and prevent putrefaction.
Feasting, Status, and Seasonality
Russell’s menu was a model feast—aspirational and didactic. It reflected both status and medical order:
Sotelties: allegorical sugar or pastry sculptures, more about piety and performance than eating.
Hierarchy: the high table saw the full spread; lower tables ate simpler portions.
Seasonality: autumn/winter hunting game + preserved foods (brawn, baked quinces, hippocras). Likely a winter festival setting—Christmas or Twelfth Night.
The Logic of the Courses
First Course: Awakening the Appetite
The feast begins with brawn of boar with mustard. Preserved brawn (salted/pressed) was hot/dry, paired with mustard (also hot/dry) to stimulate appetite. Then came pottages of herbs, spice, and wine (warm, moist, aromatic), followed by staples—beef and mutton, heavy and dry but softened by sauces. Showpieces—pheasant and swan with chawdron sauce, capons, pig, venison bake—balanced humors by variety. The course lifted with leches and fritters, hot/oily appetite stimulants, and paused with a sotelty of the Annunciation.
Second Course: Heaviest Roasts & Entremets
The second course starts gently with blancmanger (chicken and almond, moist and white) and jellies (cooling, clarifying). Then came the heaviest fare: venison, kid, fawn, coney, bustard, stork, crane, peacock, heron. These were dry/hot meats, demanding the stomach’s “strongest fire.”
Between them: entremets—custards, pastries, sweet leches—moist refreshers, palate cleansers, and spectacles. A fritter revived appetite, and an angelic sotelty provided allegory and pause.
Third Course: Stepping Down
Cream of almonds and mawmany were restorative and nourishing. Smaller roasts—curlews, snipes, quails, sparrows—replaced great birds. Moist/cooling dishes returned: perch in jelly, crayfish. Quinces baked (astringent) helped close digestion, alongside sage fritters and spiced leches. A Magi sotelty provided solemn close.
Finale: Issue & Sendoff
The issue de table included pippins (apples) with caraway comfits, custard (blaunderelle), wafers, and hippocras. Apples (cold/dry) restrained excess; caraway (hot/dry) dispelled wind; hippocras (spiced wine) “sealed” the stomach.
Overall Temperament by Course
HotColdMoistDryAstringent
Course / Stage
Overall Temperament
Why this net effect?
First Course
HotDry(+Moist from pottages)
Opens with mustard & preserved brawn (hot/dry stimulants), then warm/moist pottages; heavy meats appear early but are sauced. Net effect = warming/activating with a slight dry edge to “open the stomach.”
Second Course
HotDry(+ moderated by Moist entremets)
Heaviest roasts (venison, crane, peacock) are hot/dry at peak digestion; custards/jellies (entremets) punctuate to moisten/refresh. Net effect = the feast’s hottest/driest point, tempered between platters.
Third Course
MoistCool(+ Astringent close)
Steps down with smaller birds and moist/cooling fish in jelly; baked quinces add astringency to begin closure; sage fritters give brief warmth without flipping the net trend.
Finale (Issue & Boute-hors)
CoolDry→ sealed by HotDry (hippocras)
Raw apples + caraway comfits = cool/dry & wind-dispelling; wafers are light/dry. Final seal with hippocras (hot/dry) “closes the stomach” and guards against putrefaction.
Show SCA stages with temperament
SCA Stage
Temperament
Notes
On Table / Entrance
HotDry
Mustard & brawn stimulate and announce status.
Pottages & Gentle Dishes
MoistWarm
Opens and soothes the stomach.
Great Roasts
HotDry
Peak heat/dryness; serve when digestion is strongest.
Entremets
MoistCool
Palate/digestion refreshers between roasts.
Lighter Birds & Fish
MoistCool
Step-down phase toward closure.
Dessert / Fruit
Astringent
Begins the “binding” close (quinces, etc.).
Issue
CoolDry
Raw apples + comfits; wafers light and crisp.
Boute-hors
HotDry
Hippocras seals the stomach.
Feast Planning with Russell’s Menu
For SCA feast planners, Russell’s feast maps neatly into modern service frameworks:
Beef, mutton, venison, swan, peacock, bustard, crane, etc.
Heaviest, driest meats; mid-digestion
Entremets
Custards, pastries, fritters, sotelties
Palate refreshers, visual allegories
Lighter Birds & Fish
Curlew, quail, perch in jelly, crayfish
Moist/cooling, easier to digest
Dessert / Fruit
Quinces baked, sage fritters
Astringent closure, sharpen digestion
Issue
Apples with caraway, wafers
Refresh and bind, dispel wind
Boute-hors
Hippocras
Spiced wine to seal digestion
Mythbusting Russell’s Feast
“Feasts were chaotic.” ❌ They followed medical choreography.
“Everyone ate the same food.” ❌ Hierarchy dictated portions.
“Peacock and swan were delicacies.” ❌ They were tough; value lay in spectacle.
“Sugar was common.” ❌ It was a costly luxury spice.
“Fritters were desserts only.” ❌ They appear in every course as stimulants.
“Fruit was always cooked.” ❌ The pippins at issue were raw, paired with comfits.
✅ Dos & ❌ Don’ts by Course
First Course
✅ Pair heavy meats with moist dishes (pottage, sauce)
❌ Don’t open with multiple cold/moist foods — they dull appetite
Second Course
✅ Interleave entremets between heavy roasts
❌ Don’t serve only hot/dry roasts back-to-back — digestion overload
Third Course
✅ Use cooling/moist dishes (fish, almond cream) to “calm the stomach”
❌ Don’t drop in new hot/dry meats here — it reverses the descent
Finale
✅ Always end with an astringent fruit + spiced closer
❌ Don’t pile sweets without balance — needs closure to “seal digestion”
Conclusion
Russell’s Dynere of Flesche shows that medieval dining was deliberate: humoral balance, digestive order, spectacle, and hierarchy all interlaced. What seems like excess was careful choreography. For modern readers—and especially SCA feast stewards—it offers both inspiration and a reminder: a medieval feast was an art of health and performance.
Why this matters today: Russell’s feast reminds us that medieval banquets were not chaotic indulgence, but carefully balanced systems of health, status, and art.
It’s a reminder that food has always been about more than eating—it shapes identity, power, and performance at the table.
From Sauce to Aspic – The 500-Year Journey of Galentyne → Galantine
From hot medieval sauce to elegant cold aspic — the shifting identity of galentyne/galantine.
What’s in a name? Few dishes illustrate the transformations of European cuisine as vividly as galentyne. In the 14th century, it meant a spiced, bread-thickened sauce for meats or fish. By the 19th century, galantine had become a boned, stuffed, aspic-set cold dish — a centerpiece of French haute cuisine. Here we trace that remarkable journey across 500 years, with original recipes and modern adaptations.
Medieval Origins (14th–15th c.)
Harleian MS. 279 (England, c.1430):Fyletes in Galentyne is one of the best known. Pork is roasted, cut up, and stewed with onions, pepper, ginger, bread, and vinegar, finished with blood or sanders for color.
“Take fayre porke of the fore quarter, and rost hit tyl hit be almost ynogh; … and colour hit with blode, or elles with sandres, and then lat hit boyle up wel, and serve it forth.”
Modern feast menus often jump from a pottage or soup straight to roasts. Historically, diners expected something between. The entremet (Old French: “between-dish”) served as a bridge between heavy services, offering refreshment, surprise, and sometimes outright spectacle. This post explains the term’s origins, how it functioned, where it went, and practical ways to revive it in today’s feasts.
Etymology & Early References
Entremet derives from Old French (entre + mettre/mettre “to place/send in between”), literally a dish interposed between services. The concept appears prominently in 14th‑century French sources such as Le Viandier and later in Le Ménagier de Paris; in English material (e.g., Harleian MS. 279, c.1430) you find dishes that likely filled the same role, even when not labeled “entremet.”
Function of the Entremet
Pacing & Palate Reset: a light interlude after dense pottages or fish and before the roasts.
Blawnche Perrye — a light, pale pottage; visually striking early in a feast.
Colored rice — saffron‑gold, parsley‑green, or spiced rice for contrast.
Fritters — rice or fruit fritters served in small bites.
Jellies — molded almond or wine jellies; multicolored effects.
Disguised dishes — meats/fish presented in altered forms for surprise.
Regional Variations of the Entremet
While the entremet began in French courtly dining, the idea of a “between dish” spread widely. Each region adapted the form to local tastes, ingredients, and cultural priorities.
France
In sources such as Le Viandier and Le Ménagier de Paris (14th c.), entremets often took spectacular form — multicolored jellies, stuffed or disguised animals, and occasional allegorical displays.
England
English manuscripts like Harleian MS. 279 (~1430) present plainer entremets: light pottages (e.g., Blawnche Perrye), spiced rice, or oyster dishes — emphasizing humoral balance over pageantry.
Italy
Italian masters (Maestro Martino, Scappi) blurred entremets with refined lighter courses: almond milk dishes, sugared rice, small pasta or vegetable preparations with elegant presentation.
Spain & Catalonia
Texts such as Llibre de Coch (1520) show sweet‑leaning entremets — almond pastes, candied fruits, spiced rice — foreshadowing dessert traditions.
Germany
German Speisebücher and later works (e.g., Anna Wecker, 1598) feature Zwischenspeisen (“between‑dishes”): saffron or parsley‑colored rice, Sülze (bright fish/meat jellies), and fritters like Krapfen or Strauben — practical, colorful, and texturally contrasting.
Blawnche Perrye – creamy almond & fish dish, often served between courses
FAQ: Does a Modern Galantine Count as an Entremet?
Sometimes. If served as a small, decorative “between” dish (rather than as part of the roast service), a galantine can function as an entremet. Keep portions modest and presentation striking; otherwise it reads as a main meat course.
Sources & Further Reading
Le Viandier (14th c.) — early entremet references.
Social & Political Implications of Elaborate Entremets