Books Index  ~  Accomplisht Cook or The Art & Mystery of Cookery by Robert May

Section XX.

To make all manner of Pottages for Fish-Days.

French Barley Pottage.

Cleanse the barley from dust, and put it in boiling milk, being boil’d down, put in large mace, cream, sugar, and a little salt, boil it pretty thick, then serve it in a dish, scrape sugar on it, and trim the dish sides.

Otherways.

Boil it in fair water, scum it, and being almost boil’d, put to it some saffron, or disolved yolks of eggs.

To make Gruel Pottage the best way for service.

Pick your oatmeal, and boil it whole on a stewing fire; being tender boil’d, strain it through a strainer, then put it into a clean pipkin with fair boiling water, make it pretty thick of the strained oatmeal, and put to it some picked raisins of the sun well washed, some large mace, salt, and a little bundle of sweet herbs, with a little rose-water and saffron; set it a stewing on a fire of charcoal, boil it with sugar till the fruit be well allom’d, then put to it butter and the yolks of three or four eggs strained.

Otherways.

Good herbs and oatmel chopped, put them into boiling  liquor in a pipkin, pot, or skillet, with some salt, and being boil’d put to it butter.

Otherways.

With a bundle of sweet herbs and oatmeal chopped, some onions and salt, seasoned as before with butter.

To make Furmety.

Take wheat and wet it, then beat it in a sack with a wash beetle, being finely hulled and cleansed from the dust and hulls, boil it over night, and let it soak on a soft fire all night; then next morning take as much as will serve the turn, put it in a pipkin, pan, or skillet, and put it a boiling in cream or milk, with mace, salt, whole cinamon, and saffron, or yolks of eggs, boil it thick and serve it in a clean scowred dish, scrape on sugar, and trim the dish.

To make Rice Pottage.

Pick the rice and dust it clean, then wash it, and boil it in water or milk; being boil’d down, put to it some cream, large mace, whole cinamon, salt, and sugar; boil it on a soft stewing fire, and serve it in a fair deep dish, or a standing silver piece.

Otherways.

Boil’d rice strained with almond milk, and seasoned as the former.

Milk Pottage.

Boil whole oatmel, being cleanly picked, boil it in a pipkin or pot, but first let the water boil; being well boil’d and tender, put in milk or cream, with salt, and fresh butter, &c.

Ellicksander Pottage.

Chop ellicksanders and oatmeal together, being picked and washed, then set on a pipkin with fair water, and when it boils, put in your herbs, oatmeal, and salt, boil it on a soft fire, and make it not too thick, being almost boil’d put in some butter.

Pease Pottage.

Take green pease being shelled and cleansed, put them in a pipkin of fair boiling water; when they be boil’d and tender, take and strain some of them, and thicken the rest, put to them a bundle of sweet herbs, or sweet herbs chopped, salt, and butter; being through boil’d dish them, and serve them in a deep clean dish with salt and sippets about them.

Otherways.

Put them into a pipkin or skillet of boiling milk or cream, put to them two or three sprigs of mint, and salt; being fine and tender boil’d, thick them with a little milk and flour.

Dry or old Pease Pottage.

Take the choicest pease, (that some call seed way pease) commonly they be a little worm eaten, (those are the best boiling pease) pick and wash them, and put them in boiling liquor in a pot or pipkin; being tender boil’d take out some of them, strain them, and set them by for your use; then season the rest with salt, a bundle of mint and butter, let them stew leisurely, and put to them some pepper.

Strained Pease Pottage.

Take the former strained pease-pottage, put to them salt, large mace, a bundle of sweet herbs, and some pickled capers; stew them well together, then serve them in a deep dish clean scowred, with thin slices of bread in the bottom, and graced manchet to garnish it.

An excellent stewed Broth for Fish-Day.

Set a boiling some fair water in a pipkin, then strain some oatmeal and put to it, with large mace, whole cinamon, salt, a bundle of sweet herbs, some strained and whole prunes, and some raisins of the sun; being well stewed on a soft fire, and pretty thick, put in some claret-wine and sugar, serve it in a clear scowred deep dish or standing piece, and scrape on sugar.

Onion Pottage.

Fry good store of slic’t onions, then have a pipkin of boiling liquor over the fire, when the liquor boils put in the fryed onions, butter and all, with pepper and salt; being well stewed together, serve it on sops of French bread or pine-molet.

Almond Pottage.

Take a pound of almond-paste, and strain it with some new milk; then have a pottle of cream boiling in a pipkin or skillet, put in the milk; and almonds with some mace, salt, and sugar; serve it in a clean dish on sippets of French bread, and scrape on sugar.

Otherways.

Strain them with fair water, and boil them with mace, salt, and sugar, (or none) add two or three yolks of eggs dissolved, or saffron; and serve it as before.

Almond Caudle.

Strain half a pound of almonds being blanched and stamped, strain them with a pint of good ale, then boil it with slices of fine manchet, large mace, and sugar; being almost boil’d put in three or four spoonfuls of sack.

Oatmeal Caudle.

Boil ale, scum it, and put in strained oatmeal, mace, sugar, and diced bread, boil it well, and put in two or three spoonfuls of sack, white-wine or claret.

Egg Caudle.

Boil ale or beer, scum it, and put to it two or three blades of large mace, some sliced manchet and sugar; then dissolve four or five yolks of eggs with some sack, claret or white-wine, and put it into the rest with a little grated nutmeg; give it a warm, and serve it.

Sugar, or Honey Sops.

Boil beer or ale, scum it, and put to it slices of fine manchet, large mace, sugar, or honey; sometimes currans, and boil all well together.

To make an Alebury.

Boil beer or ale, scum it, and put in some mace, and a bottom of a manchet, boil it well, then put in some sugar.

Buttered Beer.

Take beer or ale and boil it, then scum it, and put to it some liquorish and anniseeds, boil them well together; then have in a clean flaggon or quart pot some yolks of eggs well beaten with some of the foresaid beer, and some good butter; strain your butter’d beer, put it in the flaggon, and brew it with the butter and eggs. 

Buttered Beer or Ale otherways.

Boil beer or ale and scum it, then have six eggs, whites and all, and beat them in a flaggon or quart pot with the shells, some butter, sugar, and nutmeg, put them together, and being well brewed, drink it when you go to bed.

Otherways.

Take three pints of beer or ale, put five yolks of eggs to it, strain them together, and set it in a pewter pot to the fire, put to it half a pound of sugar, a penniworth of beaten nutmeg, as much beaten cloves, half an ounce of beaten ginger, and bread it.

Panado’s.

Boil fair water in a skillet, put to it grated bread or cakes, good store of currans, mace and whole cinamon: being almost boil’d and indifferent thick, put in some sack or white wine, sugar, some strained yolks of eggs.

Otherways with slic’t bread, water, currans, and mace, and being well boil’d, put to it some sugar, white-wine, and butter.

To make a Compound Posset of Sack, Claret, White-Wine, Ale, Beer, or Juyce of Oranges, &c.

Take twenty yolks of eggs with a little cream, strain them, and set them by; then have a clean scowred skillet, and put into it a pottle of good sweet cream, and a good quantity of whole cinamon, set it a boiling on a soft charcoal fire, and stir it continually; the cream having a good taste of the cinamon, put in the strained eggs and cream into your skillet, stir them together, and give them a warm, then have some sack in a deep bason or posset-pot, good store of fine sugar, and some sliced  nutmeg; the sack and sugar being warm, take out the cinamon, and pour your eggs and cream very high in to the bason, that it may spatter in it, then strow on loaf sugar.

To make a Posset simple.

Boil your milk in a clean scowred skillet, and when it boils take it off, and warm in the pot, bowl, or bason some sack, claret, beer, ale, or juyce of orange; pour it into the drink, but let not your milk be too hot, for it will make the curd hard, then sugar it.

Otherways.

Beat a good quantity of sorrel, and strain it with any of the foresaid liquors, or simply of it self, then boil some milk in a clean scowred skillet, being boil’d, take it off and let it cool, then put it to your drink, but not too hot, for it will make the curd tuff.

Possets of Herbs otherways.

Take a fair scowred skillet, put in some milk into it, and some rosemary, the rosemary being well boil’d in it, take it out and have some ale or beer in a pot, put to it the milk and sugar, (or none.)

Thus of tyme, carduus, cammomile, mint, or marigold flowers.

To make French Puffs.

Take spinage, tyme, parsley, endive, savory and marjoram, chop or mince them small; then have twenty eggs beaten with the herbs, that the eggs may be green, some nutmeg, ginger, cinamon, and salt; then cut a lemon in slices, and dip it in batter, fry it, and put a spoonful on every slice of lemon, fry it finely in clarified butter, and being fryed, strow on sack, or claret, and sugar.

Soops or butter’d Meats of Spinage.

Take fine young spinage, pick and wash it clean; then have a skillet or pan of fair liquor on the fire, and when it boils, put in the spinage, give it a warm or two, and take it out into a cullender, let it drain, then mince it small, and put it in a pipkin with some slic’t dates, butter, white-wine, beaten cinamon, salt, sugar, and some boil’d currans; stew them well together, and dish them on sippets finely carved, and about it hard eggs in halves or quarters, not too hard boil’d, and scrape on sugar.

Soops of Carrots.

Being boil’d, cleanse, stamp, and season them in all points as before; thus also potatoes, skirrets, parsnips, turnips, Virginia artichocks, onions, or beets, or fry any of the foresaid roots being boil’d and cleansed, or peeled, and floured, and serve them with beaten butter and sugar.

Soops of Artichocks, Potatoes, Skirrets, or Parsnips.

Being boil’d and cleansed, put to them yolks of hard eggs, dates, mace, cinamon, butter, sugar, white-wine, salt, slic’t lemon, grapes gooseberries, or barberries; stew them together whole, and being finely stewed, serve them on carved sippets in a clean scowred dish, and run it over with beaten butter and scraped sugar.

To butter Onions.

Being peeled, put them into boiling liquor, and when they are boil’d, drain them in a cullender, and butter them whole with some boil’d currans, butter, sugar, and beaten cinamon, serve them on fine sippets, scrape on sugar, and run them over with beaten butter.

Otherways.

Take apples and onions, mince the onions and slice the apples, put them in a pot, but more apples, than onions, and bake them with houshold bread, close up the pot with paste or paper; when you use them, butter them with butter, sugar, and boil’d currans, serve them on sippets, and scrape on sugar and cinamon.

Buttered Sparagus.

Take two hundred of sparagus, scrape the roots clean and wash them, then take the heads of an hundred and lay them even, bind them hard up into a bundle, and so likewise of the other hundred; then have a large skillet of fair water, when it boils put them in, and boil them up quick with some salt; being boil’d drain them, and serve them with beaten butter and salt about the dish, or butter and vinegar.

Buttered Colliflowers.

Have a skillet of fair water, and when it boils put in the whole tops of the colliflowers, the root being cut away, put some salt to it; and being fine and tender boiled dish it whole in a dish, with carved sippets round about it, and serve it with beaten butter and water, or juyce of orange and lemon.

Otherways.

Put them into boiling milk, boil them tender, and put to them a little mace and salt; being finely boil’d, serve them on carved sippets, the yolk of an egg or two, some boil’d raisins of the sun, beaten butter, and sugar.

To butter Quinces.

Roast or boil them, then strain them with sugar and  cinamon, put some butter to them, warm them together, and serve them on fine carved sippets.

To butter Rice.

Pick the rice and sift it, and when the liquor boils, put it in and scum it, boil it not too much, then drain it, butter it, and serve it on fine carved sippets, and scraping sugar only, or sugar and cinamon.

Butter wheat, and French barley, as you do rice, but hull your wheat and barley, wet the wheat and beat it in a sack with a wash-beetle, fan it, and being clean hulled, boil it all night on a soft fire very tender.

To butter Gourds, Pumpions, Cucumbers or Muskmelons.

Cut them into pieces, and pare and cleanse them; then have a boiling pan of water, and when it boils put in the pumpions, &c. with some salt, being boil’d, drain them well from the water, butter them, and serve them on sippets with pepper.

Otherways.

Bake them in an oven, and take out the seed at the top, fill them with onions, slic’t apples, butter, and salt, butter them, and serve them on sippets.

Otherways.

Fry them in slices, being cleans’d & peel’d, either floured or in batter; being fried, serve them with beaten butter, and vinegar, or beaten butter and juyce of orange, or butter beaten with a little water, and served in a clean dish with fryed parsley, elliksanders, apples, slic’t onions fryed, or sweet herbs.

To make buttered Loaves.

Season a pottle of flour with cloves, mace, and pepper, half a pound of sweet butter melted, and half a pint of  ale-yeast or barm mix’t with warm milk from the cow and three or four eggs to temper all together, make it as soft as manchet paste, and make it up into little manchets as big as an egg, cut and prick them, and put them on a paper, bake them like manchet, with the oven open, they will ask an hours baking; being baked melt in a great dish a pound of sweet butter, and put rose-water in it, draw your loaves, and pare away the crust then slit them in three toasts, and put them in melted butter, turn them over and over in the butter, then take a warm dish, and put in the bottom pieces, and strow on sugar in a good thickness, then put in the middle pieces, and sugar them likewise, then set on the tops and scrape on sugar, and serve five or six in a dish. If you be not ready to send them in, set them in the oven again, and cover them with a paper to keep them from drying.

To boil French Beans or Lupins.

First take away the tops of the cods and the strings, then have a pan or skillet of fair water boiling on the fire, when it boils put them in with some salt, and boil them up quick; being boil’d serve them with beaten butter in a fair scowred dish, and salt about it.

To boil Garden Beans.

Being shelled and cleansed, put them into boiling liquor with some salt, boil them up quick, and being boiled drain away the liquor and butter them, dish them in a dish like a cross, and serve them with pepper and salt on the dish side.

Thus also green pease, haslers, broom-buds, or any kind of pulse.