I got this off of one of the Society for Creative Anachronism email lists I
belong to. Gives a little more insight into what we try to recreate in
our little club
Enjoy
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----- Original Message -----
From: "MJ Caslake" <beatricescribe@...>
> http://www.n-jcenter.com/2002/Jun/28/NOTE6.htm
>
> From the Daytona Beach News-Journal (I love their
> weird news stuff!)
>
> (Reprinted here only if the link doesn't work.)
>
> Cygnets, eels, gannets and gulls -- all on the menu
> for nobles of medieval England
> News-Journal wire services
>
> LONDON -- Chopped sparrow, roast swan, poached pike,
> conger eel, porpoise and lamprey: if it walked, swam
> or flew, the English medieval nobility ate it --
> usually with a dash of cinnamon, ginger or cloves --
> according to an ancient cookbook released to the
> public Thursday.
>
> Dating from 1500, "A noble bok of festes ryalle and
> cokery, A bok for a Prynces housholde" is the earliest
> copy of a printed cookbook in English, according to
> the British Library. It has been in the archives of
> Longleat House, the country seat of the Marquess of
> Bath, since the 18th century, but until now has been
> reserved for scholarly use.
>
> Longleat staff now plan to publish copies of the book.
> They have reproduced and eaten some of the recipes,
> including "pyke and eles in balloke broth," a dish of
> pike and eels spiced with cloves, cinnamon and
> saffron, and a mixture of milk and colored eggs called
> "ledlardes."
>
> "The pike and eels were very strong ... and when we
> made the dish we weren't as liberal with the spices as
> they were -- so it was pretty clear that medieval
> nobles didn't like bland food," said Kate Harris,
> Longleat's librarian and archivist.
>
> At least one noblewoman adored the dish: "That must
> our dame have or els she will be wrothe (angry)," the
> book notes.
>
> Historians say the 80-page book offers new insight
> into the life of England's nobility, including its
> kings and archbishops, and was designed for the
> merchant and gentry classes who aspired to copy their
> betters.
>
> It is divided into three sections: a history of noble
> feasts, including the banquet at King Henry V's
> coronation in 1413, a calendar of seasonal foods and a
> list of ingredients.
>
> Unlike modern cookbooks, it does not give quantities
> or cooking times -- cooks to the nobility were
> expected to be skilled enough to judge that for
> themselves. Scribbled Latin notes in the margin show
> that the book was used.
>
> The book was printed by London-based printer Richard
> Pynson, a Norman who later became the king's official
> printer.
>
> Harris said it was brought to Longleat when Elizabeth
> Harley, whose mother Margaret later became the first
> Duchess of Portland, married the first Marquess of
> Bath in 1759.
>
> The book reveals that Henry V's coronation feast
> featured a first course of 31 swans, roasted and
> probably redressed in their feathers. All carried
> signs praising the king.
>
> This was followed by dishes of venison, antelope,
> porpoises and a range of fish, including carp, perch,
> and lamprey, on which King Henry I is said to have
> gorged himself to death.
>
> There is no mention of vegetables, and desserts are
> mentioned in passing as "dowcetes."
>
> Harris said menus for a feast for George Nevill, who
> became archbishop of York in 1465, list a wide range
> of bird dishes including sparrows, gannets, gulls,
> larks and peacocks.
>
> Presentation was lavish, with many animals served
> whole. Tables were often decorated with sugar
> sculptures that were painted and sometimes even
> gilded.
>
> Harris said that contrary to popular belief, the
> nobility ate tidily and wasted little. They had knives
> and spoons, but used fingers instead of forks, a later
> Italian invention.
>
> ********************************************
>
> At least with stuffed peacock, you have a really nice
> flourishy toothpick as a souvenir when the meal is
> finished....
>
> Beatrice
> (who thinks eel-stuffed roasted antelope would be
> yummy with her cup of espresso right now)
>
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