My Life as a Medieval Cook in the King's Kitchen

Good Day to you,

Those of you who can read, I hope you enjoy my tale.  You see, I am a medieval cook.  My name is Mrs. Pippery.  Pagan Pippery*.  What's that? You say Pagan is an odd name for a girl child in your day? Well, in my time, medieval times,  it's now the Year of our Lord 1387,  Pagan is a common given name for girls.

Most everyone just calls me Cook.  I've been working in the King's kitchen since I was a scullery maid. I was born in the King's court, and I worked my ways up to cook over the years.  Now I'm the cook right  after his royal highness's highness Master Chef Childebert Beaumont*.  Ye see, in the King's kitchen the head cook must be a Master Chef, and the Master Chef is always a man.

Bah!! I assure you, I can cook cabbage with the best of them. Why just the other day I saw where the Master Chef put his little book of recipes.  I snuck a peek and I'll tell you all about what I read. That's right, I can read. The Chef doesn't know, but I learned years ago when the tutors were teaching His Majesty's children, the princes and princesses.  I learned enough to be able to read and then tell you all the secrets in the recipe book of the Master Chef of King Richard the II of England.  The king's kitchen is the finest, most lavish kitchen in all of England with the best foodstuffs available.  Many of the common folk could never hope to ever eat anything so grand as what comes from my kitchen.  

Now the little, bitty cook book of the Chef, why its no more than a mere hand wide and a hand and a half high, which would be almost 4 inches high by 5 1/2 inches wide in your world of measurement.  There are 186 pages with some pages missing but only a few.  Perhaps those were recipes the King disliked and the Chef tore them out before becoming an ex-Chef of the King of England!! It's not uncommon for a king

nowadays to chop off a head or two of them that displeases his Highness. 



They are sure to be the very best of all recipes and the most tasteful of dishes, as these are prepared for the King and his friends and visiting company.Though I've been roasting meat, making pies and custards for decades, we'll see if the recipes of his most royal Chef, Childebert, can teach me something new.  He would have an apoplexy if he ever heard me call him other than Chef, but in private I like to have my chuckles.  It's a harder life than you must be used to, being a cook in the 14th century, but it's a good life for me.  I'll share it with you as I tell my tales of being a cook in his Majesty's kitchen.

I just looked at the index and all sorts of savory dishes from tarts to soups, to custards and Cryspes! Mmm, my favorite are Cryspes, but we'll discuss those later. 


For todays tasty tale, I'll tell you all about making a potage, mmmm.  Yes, that's right Potage. You see, Potage is a soup, one would call it.  Made with good broth, from cooking down bones of the chickyn or animal.  Many common folk make potage, and in truth many survive almost entirely on potage.


First you take many beef bones, we'll use beef for this recipe, instead of the more common chickyn. And its fine if bits o beef still cling to the bones. Adds a bit more flavor if ye ask me.  Lay them in an even layer on a large tray ye put in the oven, and bake the bones for several hours, over a hot fire until they brown and crisp, and many will crack showing the tasty marrow innards.  Mmmmmm. 


After roasting the bones good and long, then put them all into a large cauldron over a big fire.  Fill cauldron with clean water, this is most important. Much water to be found can be foul and not safe to drink. Make sure the water you use is clear through and clean and free from leaves, twigs and bugs. These ye can pick out before putting in the cauldron.  


Allow bones to seep or simmer, in the water at a low boil for a couple of hours before fishing out the bones.  The bones can be thrown on the floor of the great room during dinner service to keep the hounds happy.  Now you should have a strong, fresh stock or broth with which to make our potage for the King's dinner.  

Now see this is the exact recipe of the Master Chef himself for Caboches in Potage.  I copied it meself just as he wrote it. You might well call it Cabbage Soup.

"Caboches i(n) potage. (.iiij.) Take caboches & q(ua)rter he(m) & seeþ he(m) in gode broth wiþ oyno(u)ns y mynced & þe white of lek(es) y slyt & y corne smale. & do þ(er) to safro(u)n and salt & force hit wiþ poudo(ur) douce."   

Easy enough yea, but for you in your time you may wish to follow these instructions as ye might find them easier to ken .  .  .   um .  .  .  understand. 

 Take caboches (cabbage) and quarter them and seep them in good broth,

with onions ye minced, the white part of leeks sliced, add saffron and salt.  Season with poudour douce (powder dust) a mixture of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg. 

Hmmm? Still a little uncertain? Cooking is a highly skilled activity so perhaps a more specific recipe will do you:  (The following recipe is a modern translation and interpretation by the author using the original recipe with adjustments for modern tastes and cooking methodologies.)

                                    Cabbage Soup

8 cups beef broth 

1 small green fresh cabbage core removed and thinly sliced

1 medium white or yellow onion finely minced 

1 large leek, only the white part, rinsed of all sand and thinly sliced into coins

1/4 cup olive oil 

1 generous pinch of saffron, 

salt to taste

1/4 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

 First heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a skillet.  Saute the minced onions and leeks until they wilt and become soft and semi transparent. Pour beef broth in a soup pot that will hold at least 10 cups, a large soup or spaghetti pot will do fine.  Add the sauteed onions and leeks and cabbage.  Cover and bring to a low boil and add the saffron and salt. Cover and simmer for at least an hour.  During the last 10 minutes of cooking add the ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Serve hot with crusty bread and fresh churned butter. 

(cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger were spices added to savory as well as sweet dishes not only to flavor dishes but primarily because they have qualities that when ingested internally help prevent sickness caused by food poisoning.  These spices as well as black pepper have anti-bacterial and disinfectant qualities that work in the intestinal tract and it is thought by scholars of this time period that the royals would have used these spices for the health of the King.  It was exciting to see evidence of this in these recipes.)

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(Author's Note:  I will allow Mrs. Pippery to tell the story of her encounters with the Forme of Curye, the recipe book of the Master Chef for King Richard II during the years 1367 - 1400.  The owner of this manuscript (University of Manchester, Manchester, England, see Attribution Section below) does not currently know the actual name of the Master Chef.  Accordingly, as used in this series of articles, the names of the Master Chef, Mrs. Pippery and any other principals mentioned, are fictional.  This author’s personal comments, translations or interpretations of the manuscript are presented in parenthesis and in italics.  The supporting story including the description of the day-to-day life of the characters were created by the author, using her historical research of the time period.  The modern recipes provided are based, in part, on the author’s interpretations of the recipes appearing in the manuscript, adapted to today’s cooking equipment and techniques.)

Attribution:
The Forme of Curye is an ancient manuscript owned by the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, under its Manchester Middle English Manuscripts, of the John Ryland's Library Middle English Manuscript Digitisation Project.  The transcription as they appear in these article were done by or for the University and appear as released by the University for research and for the use of scholars and other interested parties.