The recipes, conveniently located in one place

To make Leach: Hugh Plat's "Delightes for Ladies":
59. To make Leach
Seeth a pint of Creame, and in the seething put in some dissolved Isinglasse, stirring it till it be very thicke, then take a handful of blanched Almonds, beat them and put them in a dish with your Creame, seasoning them with sugar, and after slice it and dish it.

A leach, after Hugh Plat:
Heat 3 cups of cream or milk. Mix 1/2 to 3/4 oz. gelatin with another cup of milk according to directions on gelatin. Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of sugar to the heating milk. Mix in the gelatin. Stir till well dissolved. Cool.

To make tender and delicate brawne:Hugh Plat's "Delightes for Ladies":
13. To make tender and delicate brawne.
Put collars of brawn in kettles of water, or other apt vessels into an oven heated, as you would for household bread; cover the vessels, and so leave them as long in the over as you would doe a batch of bread. A late experience amongst Gentlewomen far excelling the old manner of boiling brawne in great and huge kettles. Quare if putting your liquor hot into the vessels, and the brawn a little boiled first, by this means you shall not give great expedition to your work.

Brawne after Hugh Plat
Take a medium size pork shoulder and place it into a dish. Cover it with water. Bake it at 400F for 90 minutes or so until done. If the roast is thicker, it will take longer to cook, if small less time. Slice thinly and serve with mustard.

Mustard Meale:Hugh Plat's "Delightes for Ladies":
25. Mustard Meale
It is usual in Venice to sell the meal of Mustard in their markets as we doe flower and meale in England: this meale, by the addition of vinegar, in two or three daies becommeth exceeding good mustard; but it would be much stronger and finer, if the huskes or huls were first divides by searce or boulter: which may be easily done, if you dry your seeds against the fire before you grinde them. The Dutch iron hand-mils, or an ordinary pepper-mill, may serve fro this purpose. I thought it very necessary to publish this manner of making your sawce, because our mustard which we buy from the chandlers at this day, is many times made up with vile and filthy vinegar, such as our stomacks would abhorre, if we should see it before the mixing thereof with the seeds.

Mustard after Hugh Plat
Begin with as much vinegar as you wish to have mustard. Add either dry mustard or ground mustard seeds to taste. Let is sit a couple of days to mellow. A rough ration is 3 tsp mustard to 1/4 cup vinegar. I used white wine, I would suggest perhaps a cider or some other more strongly flavored vinegar.

To Make a Tarte of Spinage:"A New Booke of Cokerye":
TO MAKE A TARTE OF SPINAGE
Take Spynage and perboyle it tender, then take it up and wrynge oute the water cleane, and chop it very small, and set it upon the fyre wyth swete butter in a frying panne and season it, and set it in a platter to coole then fyll your tarte and so bake it."

Tarte of Spinage after A new Booke
Thaw a pound or so of frozen spinach. Fry it up with butter, salt, pepper and garlic to taste. When it is well and truly covered in the hot butter, transfer it to a pie shell and bake it for 15 minutes or so at around 350.

Roast Capons in wine sauce over soppes
Chicken: just roast the damn things. Any cookbook will tell you how.
Soppes: toast bread and arrange it on the tray. Shepherds loaves, or a a rough wheat would be good.

A Good Sauce: "Daz Buoch von Guoter Spise":
Take wine and honey. Set that on the fire and let it boil. And add thereto pounded ginger more than pepper. Pound garlic, but not, all too much, and make it strong and give it impetus with eggwhites. Let it boil until it becomes brown. One should eat this in cold weather and it is called Swallenberg sauce.

A good sauce after Daz Buoch von Guoter Spise
Take two to one wine to honey, and a hefty helping of ginger. Add pepper and garlic to taste. Some lightly beaten eggwhites, warmed before adding should thicken it a bit.

Roast Beef with pepper and vinegar sauce over soppes
Beef: see chicken above
Soppes: see soppes above

Pepper and vinegar sauce, after a number of sources:
Mix two parts vinegar to one part wine, add pepper and ginger to taste. Simmer. Thicken with breadcrumbs (or cheat and use a beurre manie). Correct the seasoning with more wine or vinegar before serving.

Game hens with various sauces:
Hens: those are trivial to cook and left as an exercise to the reader.
Sauces: serve both of the sauces from above.
Also,
Sorrel Sauce:"Booke of Cokerye":
"Take Sorell, grynde hem small and draw (strain) him through a streynoure, and caste thereto salt and serve hit forth"
attributed to Austin. "Take sorel sauce a good quantite and put in Cinomone and Suger, and let it boyle and powre it upon the soppes and then laye on the chekins."

Sorrel Sauce after the Booke of Cokerye
Grind Sorrel finely, or food process it. Add it to a mix of equal parts water and wine. Spice to taste with cinnamon, salt and sugar. Boil it a a while, then either strain for a clear sauce, or leave the sorrelly bits in if they are small enough.

Tarte:
Use your favorite quiche recipe. For vegetables use onions and maybe green peas.

Fritters:The Harleian MS
"Longe Fretoure.-Take Milke,an make fayre croddes ther-of, in the manner of a chese al tendyr; then take owt the whey as clene as you may, & putte it on a bolle; then take yolkes of Eyroun & Ale, & menge floure, & cast there-to, a gode quantyte, & draw it thorw a straynoure in-to a fayre vesselle; then take a panne withe fayre grece, & hete it on the fyre, but let it not boyle, & then ley thin creme a-brode; then take a knyff, & kytte a quantyte ther-of the borde in-to the panne, & efte a-nother, & let 8t frye; & when it is brownne, takeit vpee in-to a fiayre dyssche, and caste Sugre y-now ther-on, & serue forth."

"Fretoure.-Take whete floure, ale yest, Safroun, & Salte, & bete all to- gederys as thikke as you schuldyst make other bature in fleyssche tyme; & then take fayre Apples, & kut hem in manerof Fretourys, & wete hem the bature up on downne, & frye hem in fayre Oyle, & caste hem in a dyssche; and caste Sugre ther-on, & serue forth."

Fritters after the Harleian MS
Mix 1/2 flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 cup flat beer of your choice (I'd recommend something with a little kick to it - Guiness maybe.) Add flour to it until it has the appropriate texture for batter. If you wish add a little milk as well. Cut up apples, not Red Delicious, into slices, or for a change, core them and slice into rounds. Slather them well in the batter and fry in hot oil. Sprinkle with sugar, and serve while warm.


Back to Index

Comments are welcome.
Alexandre Lerot d'Avigné, Jeff Berry, nexus@panix.com

Copyright Jeff Berry
Originally webbed 4/25/94
Last modified 3/5/98