Greetings, Over a year ago I had problems with the hosting service for MedievalCookery.com that caused the site to be overwritten with a an even older backup copy. This led me to move the site to a new host, and in the process many parts of the site were broken. To complicate matters, I've had health issues that brought much of my work to a screeching halt.  I'm doing a lot better now, but that combined with the recent losses of some notable people in the medieval cooking community has given me a lot to think about. I started MedievalCookery.com over 20 years ago, and it has grown into ..read more

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes Peniarth MS 513D This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period. Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website. I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Comm ..read more

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes Peniarth MS 513D This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period. Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website. I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription ..read more

Merryell Williams' Book of Recipes Peniarth MS 513D This is a volume of cooking and medicinal recipes which were collected by Merryell Williams of the Ystumcolwyn Estate, Montgomeryshire, towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The manuscript is in English. Within its covers we are given a glimpse of the types of meals created in the kitchens of mid Wales' nobility during this period. Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the National Library of Wales website. I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Comm ..read more

This weekly feature shows the initial steps I go through for interpreting a medieval recipe. I've been lax in posting lately, and as punishment the universe decided to push me outside of my comfort zone with this randomly selected recipe: The Great Cheering Syrup: Way of Making It. Take half a ratl each of borage, mint, and citron leaves, cook them in water to cover until their strength comes out, then take the clean part and add it to a ratl of sugar. Then put in the bag: a spoonful each of aloe stems, Chinese rhubarb, Chinese cinnamon, cinnamon and clove flowers; pound all these coars ..read more

This weekly feature shows the initial steps I go through for interpreting a medieval recipe. Today's randomly selected recipe is the following: Crane Rostyd. Take a crane blod as thu dedyst a swan draw hym at the went fold up hys leggys cut of his whyngys at the joynte nexte the body wend the necke a boute the spite put the bylle yn his breste & reyse the whinges & the legges as of a gose & yf thu shalt sauce hym mynse hym fyrst & sauce hym with poudyr of gynger mustard & venygger & salt & serve forth with the sauce & yf thu wilt thu may sauce hym with sauce sy ..read more

Johnna Holloway sent me a link to the painting below and I'm going to add it to the list of Food Related Paintings on the website. It's a 16th century work by Frans Pourbus the Elder titled "The Prodigal Son Among Courtesans" and there's a lot going on here. Source:  Wikimedia Commons In terms of food the most notable item (for me) is the pie in the center of the table. At a guess I'd say it's a pear pie because it looks like it's got a pear rising up out of the middle. This is a total tangent but I can imagine it being something like the recipe below, which is English but ..read more

August 2 - 5, 2018 Ack!  It's only a week until Gen Con and I haven't posted about it yet! Sorry. It's been kind of a busy summer. I'm part of the Writer’s Symposium this year and they've got all sort of great panels and such scheduled. I'm especially excited that Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck are guests of honor (they write under the pseudonym of James S.A. Corey). For my contribution to the fun, I'm doing the following: SEM18142584 - Real Medieval Feasts  Curious what medieval feasts were really like? Come learn about medieval cuisine as well as common ..read more

From: L'agriculture et maison rustique, Charles Estienne (Rouen, 1658). The Potherbs (Chapter 32) -=-=- Turnips [Translator's Note: the heading specifies two different plant names: “Naveaux ou Navets”. Cotgrave’s 1611 French-English dictionary gives the following definitions. Naveau: The navew gentle, French navew, long rape (a savorie root) / Naveau blanc de Jardin: the ordinarie rape, or turnep / Naveau rond: a Turnep. Navet: The small Navew gentle, the least (and daintiest) kind of the French navew.] Large and small turnips, called “nappi” in Latin, are two kinds of the ..read more