Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-05-09
ANCIENT COOKERY.
How Meals Were Prepared ana serv.
ed In Ct,nr.,,.. rIg,,n

4
ed In Chaucer's Time,
An ancient cookbook has been dis
covered, written in the English Of
| Chaucer's time, which was published
about 1870. 1t is called The Form of
Curry ana contains 196 recipes. Ac-
cording to the preface, ut techith
man for to make commune potage s.
commune meets for howshold, as they
Should he made, crafty and holsomly."
Judging from the splicing and season.
ing, indigestion must have been dis
ease Unknown to the fourteenth CEN
fury. Garlic. vinegar, cloves, CHINA
mon, WINE and even ale appear in al
most every recipe and in appalling
quantities. For example, "salat"
was MADE of "parsel, sawge, garlic,
chibolles Noung onions), lcek, borage,
myntes, fcnel " ton tresses (cresses),
rev. rosmayre, purslaync; lave & washe
hem clene, pike hem, pluck hem sma4e
with thyn ilonde, Il myng mix) hem
well with rave ellie. Lay on vinegar
" salt, & serve it forth"
Pork seems to have been the favor
lite meat with the Englishmen of this
century. And this is not strange when
one remembers their taste for spice.
stfopg haYors and cloying sweets.
veal comes next in popularity, but
beef is not mentioned in one of the 1876
recipes. One is amazed at the popularI-
" OF the Whale, grampus, seal, swan,
crane, heron and peacock. The swan
was served up in royal style and VOWS
oil chivalry We're made upon it. 1t was
skewered and roasted in sitting pos
ture. Say the directions: make a stiff
Deu OF paste about the thickness of
your thumb, color it green, comb 1t
out, and it will look like meadow of
green grass Take your swan and gild
MN over with gold; then have kind
OF loose, lying cloak of vermilion
color within and painted with arms
without; then set the swan upon this
bed, cover some part of him with the
cloak, stick about him small banners
upon little sticks, the banners painted
with the arms most agreeable to the
persons seated at the table"
At a grand feast when Edward /.
knightcd his eldest son, on the eve of
his Scottish expeditions, two swans.
gofseously caparisoned, were introduce
ed with flourish of trumpets. Upon
them the king swore in the presence of
God and the ladies that lie would
avenge the death of John Comyn and
the perfidy of Robert Bruce.
But, in spite of the popularity of the
swan for great occasions, it was the
peacock which, in the romantic lam
guage OF the age of chlvalry, was 1.-The
food of lovers and the meat of kings"
He appeared on the festal board with
his gorgeous feathered skin skewered
around his roasted body.
One very popular connection was
called "tarts Of flesh" and the quaint
recipe reads: Take veal Ysode and
grind it small. Take hard ayren ysode
Doiled eggs, Il ygrounde & there
to put prunes hoole, dates ycarved,
pynes seed found in pines, cones, COM
mon in Italy & raiSins, torrance heol
spices, d powder, salt, sugar & make
litteH coffin, u do this fars therein,
& take & serve it forth" Another
much richer tart was made thus: BRAY
the pork smale in mortar. Take
fygges 4 boil them tendre in small ale,
d bray them, & tendre cheese there
with, pepper, salt & saron. Then
take sugar, ayren eggs, & flour &
make paste with roller, thanne
make thereof smale pellets & fry them
braun in clean greco"
Though the oyster was known and
eaten in the fourteenth century. it was
thought to lack favor, so they seetled
1t in wine with ground almonds and
rice, powdered ginger, sugar and mace.
a curious thing about old cookery
books Is their silence concerning guam
tity. Take pigges yscalded;" take
eelys," take conynges or rabbits" is
all the information which is given.