Posted on 12/02/2009 3:40:52 PM PST by Fenhalls555
Dishes of chicken blancmange and porpoise porridge are unlikely to whet the appetite of most modern food lovers.
But such recipes were apparently fit for a king 600 years ago.
Written by chefs employed by Richard II, they are included in what is thought to be the world's oldest cookbook.
The unusual dishes rival modern creations by British TV chef Heston Blumenthal, who is famous for his snail porridge.
Experts from Manchester University's John Rylands Library, who discovered the manuscript, have translated a handful of its 150 recipes, which are written in Middle English and date back to 1390.
They include frumenty, a porridge-type dish made of bulghar wheat, chicken stock and saffron, and payn puff, a dish of boiled fruits wrapped in pastry.
The unusual cookbook, called the Forme of Cury, is believed to have contained dishes to feed servants and the royal family alike
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I wonder if sauteed lamprey was on the menu? LOL!!!
Shortest book in the world: “Great Cuisine of the British Isles.”
Good British Recipes????
Oxymoron.....
Old food ping.
British cuisine at its’ finest:
ODE TO A HAGGIS
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftan o’ the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang’s my arm
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
You pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o’need
While thro’ your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead
His knife see Rustic-labour dight,
An’ cut you up wi’ ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reeking, rich!
Then, horn for horn they stretch an’ strive,
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive
Bethankit hums
Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi’ perfect sconner,
Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view
On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither’d rash
His spindle-shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro’ bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He’ll mak it whissle;
An’ legs, an’ arms an’ heads will sned,
Like taps o’ thrissle
Ye pow’rs wha mak mankind your care,
An’ dish them out their bill o’fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu’ pray’r,
Gie her a Haggis!
Years back I heard British cuisine described as “”elephant mucus and earwax pie””.
Spotted dick is still around or so I’ve heard. Check with your physician.
I wonder if Stargazy pie is in the book?
http://londonfood.typepad.com/stuff/2007/02/some_industriou.html
Ick! My porpoise porridge has too much tuna in it. Why can't I buy tuna-free porpoise anywhere?
Hassenpfeffer!
I believe Apicius is credited for writing the first cookbook back in Roman times. sd
Bon apetite! (doctor's orders).
My favorite shaggy dog story involves porpoises. And sea gulls.
In the late 70s my favorite restaurant in Sacramento was Rattlesnake Dick(')s.
Try some of the recipes here:
For something more modern, try some of the traditional British recipes here:
When in London try this:
Rules Restaurant
And these:
Michelin Starred restaurants in London
http://www.london-eating.co.uk/occasions/michelin.asp
I believe you're right. I have a copy (modern translation), and some of the recipes yield food that is quite tasty! (Although I will pass on the doormice in honey.)
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