Mediaeval Cookery 
Roast Partridge. 
Roast Peacocks. 
Roast Quail. 
Roast Larks. 
Payne Puff {little loaves of bread). 
A Dish of Jelly. 
Long Fritters. 
And a Subtlety. 
This is taken from “ I wo Fifteenth - Century 
Cookery IBooks,” published by the Early English 
Text Society. 
A word must be said as to these Subtleties, which, 
in the fifteenth century, were most elaborate. They 
were devices in sugar, pastry, and jelly, of great 
size, representing all sorts of things. Sometimes 
they were allegorical and religious, sometimes they 
represented hunting scenes and wild animals—lions, 
tigers, leopards, and so forth were modelled—and 
sometimes the interior of a church, with its altars. 
They were intended to be eaten—at any rate, on 
some occasions, though perhaps they did duty at 
more than one feast. Each course ended with a 
Subtlety, called also a Warner, because it gave 
warning of the next course. 
To please the eye as well as the palate was the duty 
of these mediajval cooks, and they laid great stress 
on the garnishing of their dishes, which they called 
“flourishing” or “strewing.” d'hey often gilded 
or silvered the leaves they used for decorating their 
dishes. They were also very fond of colouring and 
“endoring,” or gilding, the food itself. For this 
purpose saffron, mulberries, sandalwood, sunflower, 
alkanet, and starch were used. The Subtleties were 
both coloured and gilded, and comfits of every colour 
were used. 
Both red and white wines were drunk; some 
were home-made, some came from France and 
(ireece, and Rhenish wine was also much drunk. 
Beer or “here” is first mentioned in 1504, but ale 
is used in some of the master cook’s recipes. 
At the end of the “Forme of Cury” a still older 
roll of ancient cookery, dated 1381, is printed, 
divided into two parts. The first contains fifty-eight 
recipes, in which flesh meat is used; the last, intended 
for fast and abstinence days, contains thirty-three 
recipes, in which fish is the principal ingredient, 
and meat, poultry, and game are avoided. In 
several of these, ale, which was not made with hops 
like our beer, was used instead of wine; sometimes 
it was mixed with the water in which fish was boiled. 
Stale ale sometimes took the place of vinegar or ver¬ 
juice, of which our ancestors were very fond; it served 
to correct the richness of their highly spiced and 
strongly flavoured dishes.— Gentlernaids Magazine. 
AN OLD BUCKS COUNTY BARN 
'Drag'll hy .Jonathan 'Ring 
179 
