This is a listing of culinary definitions for words found in historical recipes. There may be other, non-culinary, definitions that we have not listed here. If you cannot find the word you are searching for alphabetically, try searching for it with your browser's search function since the word may be found grouped together with an alternate spelling.
Note:  the letter "thorn" has been rendered here as [th], the letter "yogh" as [₃], and long "s" as  s or f, depending on who submitted the entry.

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If you cannot find what you are seeking on this site, here are some Other Glossaries to search:

• A Medieval Dutch Culinary Glossary, in Dutch, can be found here.
• A GLOSSARY OF COOKERY AND OTHER TERMS by Prospect Books.
• An Italian-English dictionary of 1611, "Queen Anna's New World of Words", by Iohn Florio.
• A Boke of Gode Cookery, Glossary of Medieval Cooking Terms.

Adarme (Spanish) = unit of weight, 1/16 ounce.

affaire (French) = To clean, to prepare (in context it could mean clean, skin, gut, scale, or any combination). (Viandier)
 

affiner (French) = To grind (in a mortar), to clean (a fish) (from context and OED. The literal meaning is 'refine'. Pichon et al. suggest 'peel', but this is surely wrong.). (Viandier)

agresto, agresta (It., Fr., Sp.) =  either verjuice, or the unripe grapes from which verjuice is produced. (Carroll-Mann) From Latin agrestis, meaning wild, pertaining to the fields.

aigrefin (French) = Haddock (fish) (Montagne). (Viandier)

ajada (Spanish),  ayada (Catalan) = sauce made of garlic pureed with oil, bread, and sometimes ground nuts. Compare to the Italian agliata sauce, described by Bartolomeo Scappi in Dell'Arte Cucinare (1570), made with walnuts, almonds, garlic,  and bread soaked in meat broth , all crushed in a mortar.

aji = a spice, mentioned in Robert Fuson's translation, "The Log of Christopher Columbus", (p.175) in the entry for 15 January 1493 concludes with: "There is a great deal of cotton here, very fine and long, as well as a lot of mastic, and gold and copper. There is also much aji, which is their pepper and is worth more than our pepper; no one eats without it because it is very healthy. Fifty caravels can be loaded each year with it on this Isla Espanola."  Fuson gives Aji as meaning chili pepper, not be confused with 'aje' (yucca or sweet potatoes) and 'ajo' (garlic).

Andrew Dalby in Dangerous Tastes. The Story of Spices (University of California Press, 2000) suggests that Columbus may never have seen actual allspice although he was assured that it was there... a bush bearing small round fruits that lent a spicy taste to food. Dalby also suggests that the aji found by Columbus is that perhaps of Capsicum chinese, the best known cultivated versions today are those of the Jamaican Scotch Bonnet. (Holloway)

Alablaster = Alabaster, a kind of marble used to make carved molds for sugar work.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To cast all manner of frutage hollow... put it into your Alablaster moulds...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste-royall white...and put into an Alablaster Morter with an ounce of Gum dragagant steeped in Rosewater...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make  ... bruise them in an Alablaster or Marble Mortar...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make paste of Goose-berries... beat it into perfect paste in an Alablaster Mortar...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Muskadine Comfits...and so beat them in an Alablaster Mortar till it come to perfect Paste...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To cast all manner of frutage hollow in turned worke... put it into your Alablaster moulds, being made of three peeces...

alainne (French) = Steam (the literal meaning is 'breath'). (Viandier)

Alay, a-lye, Allay = to mix or combine.

albrotetus, abrotet, albroturs = a broth. See broth.

(Liber Cure Cocorum), #48.Harus in abrotet, (Contents) Harus in albrotetus
(A Noble Boke of Cookry ffor a Prynce Houssode), Haires in Albroturs

(Liber Cure Cocorum) #132 For seke menne. Ale bre [th]us make [th]ou schalle...

Alegar = Ale + egar/eger/aigre (as in egerdouce), or sour ale, vinegar made from sour ale or beer.

alemaundes, almonds
1 - used as a thickening agent (see also blood, bread, eggs and livers).(Viandier)
2 - used as "spines" for mock hedgehogs (yrchons)
3 - used as garnish

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almond milk = crushed or ground almonds, mixed with boiling water, wine, or broth, and allowed to stand until the liquid becomes milky in color.  The mixture is sweetened and used as a substitute for milk.

Alkanet = Alkanna tinctoria (Tausch.), or Anchusa tinctoria, Boraginaceae, also called Orchanet, Spanish Bugloss, Enchusa,  Bugloss of Languedoc, Alkanea, Orcanette or Orcanéte. The root of Alkanet yields a potentially toxic red dye that was used in medieval times as a red food coloring agent. It is grown in the South of France. (TTEM)

alose (French) = Shad (fish). (Viandier)

alouyau (French) = Olive (that is, veal roll, bird or paupiette) (Black, OED. Trésor suggests a derivation from aloel or alouette, meaning 'lark', which would match an alternate English word for the dish, namely 'bird'. The medieval English spelling was 'alow' for the dish (Black), later spelt 'olave' (Aresty). This was presumably corrupted over the years to 'olive'. I have chosen 'paupiette' since it appears in Montagne and Webster.). (Viandier)

aloxas, alosses, alojas (Catalan/ Spanish) = a Catalan/Spanish confection made from sugar, water, rosewater, and amidon (wheat starch), cooked until thick, and then poured into a box.  Recipes appear in the 14th century "Libre de totes Maneres de Confits" (with a marzipan underlayer) and in the "Manual de Mugeres". (Carroll-Mann)

alozees (French) = Shad-like (if ‘shad-like carp’ simply means 'carp'. It might instead be a mis-writing (the recipe for carpes directly follows that for aloze in the text). It might even be a new fish, belonging to the second paragraph of the recipe for 'shad'.) (Viandier)

aluminic casini = "rock alum of Cassino."  …aluminum potassium sulfate or aluminum sodium sulfate, commonly extracted from alumina ores and made into styptic pencils.  There are several mines in Italy that have been operating since at least the 16th Century. (Decker)  NOT EDIBLE -- found in soap recipes.

amang (N. Engl. dial.) = among

Amber = fossilized resin; a semi-precious gem with static electrical properties, formerly used in medicine.  Also sometimes refers to ambergris. (Sip)

amber of grece, ambergrease, ambregris, ambergris, Amber-greece, amber = from Middle French ambre gris - a waxy substance containing indigestible matter, produced in the intestines or stomach of the sperm whale. The whale regurgitates this substance. Dried ambergris is found floating in the tropics.   It is used in the manufacture of perfumes, and as a fixative. In  the 16th century it was used as a perfume and as a flavoring for confections and sweet dishes. Illustration

Mrs Sarah Longe her Receipt Booke - "...with a little Quantity of musk, and Ambergrease..."
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a speciall sweet water to perfume clothes...the weight of foure pence of Amber-greece...   [INEDIBLE]
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make mosse-powder... half a dram of amber-greece... [INEDIBLE]
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an especiall sweet Powder...Amber-greece ten graines...  [INEDIBLE]
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an excellent Marmelade... put in of Muske and Amber dissolved in Rose-water, of each foure graines...
(The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) - "Another Cake... When it is half-baked, Ice it over with fine Sugar and Rose-water, and the whites of Eggs, and Musk and Ambergreece."
(The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"To Make A Plumb-Cake... Then to Ice it, take a pound and half of double refined Sugar beaten and searsed; The whites of three Eggs new-laid, and a little Orange-flower-water, with a little musk and Ambergreece, beaten and searsed..."
(The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"Another Very Good Cake...  If you please you may add a little Musk or Ambergreece."
(The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) - "My Lord of Denbigh's Almond March-pane...You may beat dissolved Amber, or Essence of Cinnamon, with them."

Digby, 1669, # 121 - “Ambered-sugar is made by grinding very well, four grains of Ambergreece, and one of Musk, with a little fine Sugar; or grinding two or three Spanish Pastils very small.”

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Amydone, amidon , amidum= Starch from wheat or rye. Basically, wheat (or rye, rice) is soaked in water for several days; the water must be changed several times. Then the wheat is pounded and put into water again. This mash is filtered somehow and dried in the sun. The result seems to be starch that must be powdered again before it is put to use.
 

-- Simili modo e tritici semine tragum fit, in Campania dumtaxat et Aegypto, amylum vero ex omni tritico ac siligine, sed optimum e
trimestri. inventio eius Chio insulae debetur; et hodie laudatissimum inde. est appellatum ab eo quod sine mola fiat. proximum trimestri quod
e minime ponderoso tritico. madescit dulci aqua in ligneis vasis, ita ut integatur quinquies in die mutata; melius, si et noctu, ita ut misceatur
pariter. emollitum priusquam acescat, linteo aut sportis saccatum tegulae infunditur inlitae fermento, atque ita in sole densatur. post
Chium maxime laudatur Creticum, mox Aegyptium - probatur autem levore et levitate atque ut recens sit -, iam et Catoni dictum apud nos.
(Plinius)

-- Amydon. Pur fere amidon pur tut l'an, a tenyr taunt de tens come vos volez. Pernez forment net, entur la seint Johan, e si le metez en un vessel, e metez de bel ewe assez oue le forment neef jurs; e chescun jur serra le furment bien bien lavé, e le ewe changé; e pus braez le bien, e pus metez le ariere en bel ewe, e lessez le ester une nuyt; e pus colez hors le ewe; e pus metez le sus une lincele ver le solail, dekes a taunt ke il seit sec; e pus kaunt il est sec, pernez le e le metez en un net vessele; si le tenez taunt come vos volez, e coverez le bien, e trenchez le en peces &cetera. (Hieatt/Jones, eds., Two anglo-norman culinary collections, 1986, Ms. A Nr. 21)

-- Wiltu eine [!] Amelunck machen so nim den besten weissen vnd erlise in also schöene also du iemer kanst vnd tüo in denne in einen zuber vnd schútte frisch wasser dar vber alle tage vncz das er xiiij tage gewessert wirt so tüon denne daz wasser abe vnd stosse in in einem steine wol vnd tu:o in denne in ein wis Du:och vnd swinge in wol in dem frischen wasser so du aller vaste mahs vnd seige das wasser denne abe so du aller truckenste maht vnd slahe in denne vf ein wiß düoch vnd loß in dorren an der sunen so er iemer veste mag vnd hencke in denne an den luft in einen korp oder in einen sag. (Cod. guelf. 16.17. Aug. 4°, Blatt 111r/v; nach 1415, wohl noch erste Hälfte 15. Jh.)

--MS. Harley 5401:  22,3 --  To make Amydon.

-- For to make amydon. -- Nym whete at midsomer / & salt, & do it in a faire vessel / do water therto, that thy whete be yheled / let it stonde ix days & ix ny(g)t, & everyeday whess wel thy whete / & at ye ix days ende bray hit wel in a morter / & drie hit to(g)enst ye sonne / do it in a faire vessel / & kouere hit fort, thou wil it note. (Austin 1888, p. 112; Laud Ms. 553)

-- Wie man vmberdumb soll machen.
ccliiij. Nimb ein schöenen lautern Winter waitz/ vnd das er schöen erklaubt sey/ geüß ein frisch wasser daran/ vnnd seyhe
es alle tag ab/ geüß als offt ein frisch //wasser\\ wider daran/ müosts acht oder zehen tag thüon/ so lang biß sich der waitz kleübet/ so nimb dann den Waitzen/ vnd stoß jn/ vnnd geüß ein frisch wasser daran/ vnd truck jhn mit den henden/ vnnd nimb ein scho:ens leines Säecklein/ geüß den gerüerten Waitzen darein/ gibt ein weiß ding ausser. So du jn allen ein mal geru:ert hast/ das ist der erst schuß/ so stoß jhn stets zum andern mal/ den [N2a||46a] stoß besonder durch/ der ist nicht so gu:ot. So nun der
Vmmerdumb in ein Zinnbecken/ oder schaff gesetzt/ so seicht das wasser gantz ab/ vnd geüß ein anders daran/ biß es dick [ich] bedunckt es sey am boden gantz weiß/ Ob aber fäeßlin darinnen weren/ so rüer jhn durch einander/ von boden auff/ laß wider durchs Säeckel/ dann so geüß das wasser gantz darab/ das gleich wie ein taiglein der Vmmerdumb sey/ breyt den auff ein schöens weiß häerins tüoch/ auff ein bräetle/ geüß das taiglin zettelweiß darauff/ vnd setz jn an die Sonnen/ so er vbertrucknet/ ledigs von dem tüoch/ kers vmb/ vnnd setz an ein heisse Sonnen/ so wirt er scho:en weiß/ man mag jn in einer warmen stuben auch trücknen. (Staindl 1569)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Biskettello... put into it halfe a spoonfull of Amidum, that is, white Starch...

Ananas (Ger.) = pineapple

andouille, andoylle (French) = A spicy smoked sausage made of pork and garlic.  The word derives from the Old French "andoille" from the Medieval Latin "inductilia," to introduce into,  from the Latin "inducere," to introduce into a casing. (Decker)

Gargantua and Pantagruel - "he sat down at table; and because he was naturally phlegmatic, he began his meal with some dozens of gammons, dried neat's tongues, hard roes of mullet, called botargos, andouilles or sausages, and such other forerunners of wine."

(Liber Cure Cocorum) -#106 Of petecure... Rede cole hane parte of potage is...

appareillier (French)  = To prepare, to clean (from context). (Viandier)

Apricocks, aluaricoques, abricot, alvariquoques, albaricoque (Sp.) , albricoque (Fr.), albirquq, al-burquq (Arabic), praiko`kia (Gr.), praecoquus, praecox (Lat.)  = apricots, Prunus Armeniaca L. The name comes from the Latin, meaning 'early ripe'. (Fox-Davis)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Apricocks... Of Apricocks take a pound...

Aqua celestis (heavenly water) = a medicinal distilled alcoholic beverage.

Aqua composita (composed water) = a medicinal distilled alcoholic beverage.

Aqua mirabilis (miracle water) = a medicinal distilled alcoholic beverage.

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Aqua vitae, ew ardant, ardent spirits = the water of life.  Distilled or grain alcohol.  In this case it means ETHANOL (ethyl alcohol), not isopropanol (rubbing alcohol), denatured (poisoned) alcohol, or methanol (wood alcohol).  From the name aqua vitae comes the Scandinavian word akavit, or aquavit, a distilled liquor flavored with caraway seeds.  (Sip)

Forme of Cury (c. 1390) #189 Chastlet⁹ "...su^-e it forth w^t ew ardant."
Du fait de cuisine, by Master Chiquart, 1420 #5 ...heads of boars endored and armed and with banners and spitting fire... which should be soaked in fine ardent spirits and purified with a little camphor."

archal (French) = Brass wire (Huguet). (Viandier)

arconner (French) = To bard (from context, and probably from ‘arson’, meaning 'saddle-bow' or 'saddle' (OED). This is exactly parallel to 'bard', meaning 'horse armour' or 'pack saddle' (OED). Pichon et al. and Godefroy suggest "to attach to the spit with the aid of little skewers retaining the roast", but this is surely wrong.). (Viandier)

ardant spirits = alcohol. See aqua vitae.

Argoll = see Cream of Tartar.

Aromaticum Rosarum =This term appears in the "Booke of Sweetmeats" section of Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery. (Recipe S 273, To make Aquecelestis).  Karen Hess says that it is "a powder containing red roses among its some 15 ingredients; it was highly popular and was sold in the apothecary shops.  Culpepper gives the prescription in _A Physical Directory_, 1651, and claims that it 'strengthens the Brain, Heart, and stomach.'"

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Aromaticum Lozonges... put in of the spices of Aromaticum Rosarum, 4. drammes...

arrouser (French) = To baste (the literal meaning is 'sprinkle').(Viandier)

Arrows = arrow shafts were used to form hollow tubes out of sugar paste.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste-royall in Spices... then you may turne it upon sticks made of peeces of Arrowes, and make them hollow like Cinamon sticks...

Ascension Day Root =  It would appear that this is a reference to Elecampane which used to be harvested on the Church holiday of the same name.

assate = to roast.

assation = roasting or baking.

assature = roasted meat.

Assay it = to try it, taste it.  An assay is also a unit of measurement equal to 4 drams plus 24 grains. (Sip)

As pottage should be = a description of consistency = thick, but runny, like oatmeal. (TTEM)

At the dresser = a way station between the kitchen and the dining hall where food was kept  warm and garnished prior to serving. (TTEM)

atout (French) = Including. (Viandier)

aubun  (French) = White (of egg). (Viandier)

auence, avens = An herb, Geum urbanum L., and related species, Rosaceae, also called Herb Bennet. Used for its green colour, and as a potherb.   If unobtainable, use a mixture of parsley (for colour) and cloves (for flavour) (Grieve, Sass 1975, OED). (Viandier)  The dried root of Avens has a clove-like flavor, and is used as a seasoning.  See also salmonde.

(Harl. 279, Potage Dyvers., c. 1430)  iij. Joutes.  Take Borage, Vyolet,... Auence, Longebeff wyth Orage and o[th]er, pyke hem clene...

aunes (French) = unit of length. The "aune" equates to the English ell.  It varied regionally in France, but was a length of roughly 45 inches.  Commonly used to measure cloth. (Decker)

Auroch is a general term which has been applied to both Bos primigenius (the ursus which is related to the Texas longhorn) and Bison bonasus (the wisent or European bison).  In English, it is most commonly associated with Bos primigenius, but using it for either the ursus or wisent is correct. (Decker)

Ave Maria = a prayer, used as a measurement of time, approx. 13 seconds.

awqiya (Arabic) = unit of measurement. 1 awqiya = 33.8 grams = 1.19 ounces.

azucar (Sp.) =
1) sugar.
2) a sweet mixture. (Carroll-Mann)

azumbre = Spanish - unit of liquid measurement, approx.  4 pints, 2 quarts, 1/2 gallon, or 1/8 of an arroba

azure = Probably the semiprecious stone lapis lazuli, ground up, and used for its blue colour (OED). Plouvier suggests azurite, but this is probably wrong. (Viandier)

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baien (French) = Burst (of swelling grain) (Pichon et al.). (Viandier)

bakbon, bakebon, bacbon, backbone = the spine

Baklava = The modern pastry of filo sheets, melted butter, ground nuts, honey, and flavoring has several antecedents in the medieval layered breads of the nomadic Turks, the yoka of the Turks of Central Asia, and in the Azerbaijanis' archaic pastry Baki pakhlavasi where eight layers of a thin noodle paste is interlayered with seven layers of ground nuts. It was left to the Ottoman era Topkapi Palace kitchens to combine their pastry skills with this archaic dish and come up with the paper thin dough now known as filo and this has led in turn to modern baklava.  (Holloway)  See also Perry's "The Taste for Layered Bread..."

bale =
1- (noun) the belly of a deer
2- (noun) a package of merchandise tied up in a rounded shape
3- (noun) a bonfire

bale, balu, bealu, baluw, etc. = in the expressions "to brew bale", "to bake bale",  "to work bale", the word "bale" is not a reference to a type of food or drink. The expression means to make mischief.

Balneo = a water bath or bain marie, used to heat liquids gently during distillation. (Sip)

banqueting conceit, conceits = a dainty tidbit served during the banquet, or dessert course.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste of Violets...and when it is dry, gild it. It is a fine banqueting conceit.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...Heere begin Banqueting Conceits, as Marmelades, Quodiniacks, and such like...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make Biskettello...It is a very fine banqueting conceit.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make a March-pane, to ice it... when it is iced, garnish it with conceits and stick long Comfits in it...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make all sorts of banqueting Conceits of March-pane stuffe...

Barbary Sugar = sugar grown in the Barbary States of Northwest Africa, principally Morocco.  Lord Burleigh, Secretary of State for Elizabeth I,
complained of the quality of Barbary sugar to the Grocer's Company. Indications are that it was a sugar of secondary quality, below Maderia
sugar but better than brown sugar.  Importation of Barbary and Egyptian sugar into England began after Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church in 1534.  In 1551, under Edward VI, the Barbary Company was formed to trade with the Barbary Coast and the company was very active through Elizabeth's reign.  The company achieved a monopoly about 1585, but lost it when Ahmad al-Mansur opened diplomatic relations between Morocco and Spain near the end of the 16th Century. (Decker)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Cherries... then take of fine Barbary Sugar, and set it over the fire...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To preserve Damsons... and to every pound of Damsons, you must take a pound of Barbary Sugar, white and good...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie all manner of Flowers, Fruits and Spices, the cleere rocke-Candie. Take two pound of Barbary Sugar great grained...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make all kinds of birds and beasts to stand... Take Barbary-Sugar, clarifie it...

Barbe Robert , Sauce Robert, Sauce Barbe Robert, saulce Robert  = A kind of sauce. (Viandier)

 
1-- In the printed 15th c. Viandier, ed. Pichon/Vicaire p. 170:
"Pastés de poules a la saulce Robert. Prenés du vert jus et des moyeulx d'oeufz, et batés tout ensemble, et de pouldre fine; et, quant le pasté sera cuyt, mettés tout ensemble; et convient que toute la poulaille soit despeçée."

2-- In the 15th c. "Vivendier" (ed. Scully)
"Et premiers, pour faire une barbe Robert : prenez un poy de belle esve,
et le mettez boullir avoec du bure ; et puis y mettez du vin, de le moustarde et du vergus et des espices teles et si fortez que vous y arez vo goust, et laissiez tout bien boullir ensamble; puis prenez vostre poulet par pièces et le mettez dedens et laissiez boullir une onde seullement, puis si le rostez ; et gardez qu'il y ait brouet par raison; et qui soit un poy coulouré de saffren."

"Firstly, to make a Barbe Robert. Get a little clear water and set it to boil with some butter; then add in wine, mustard, verjuice and such spices and as strong as you like, and let everything boil together. Then get your pieces of chicken, put them in and let them boil only briefly; then roast them. Watch that there is a reasonable amount of broth. It should be coloured a little with saffron." (Tr. T. Scully)

3-- In the "Grand Cuisinier 1583" (quoted in Pichon/V. 109 Fn. 3)
Sauce Barbe Robert: "Prenés oygnons menus fris en sain de lard, ou beurre selon le iour, verjus, vinaigre et moustarde menu espice et sel, & faictes bouillir tout ensemble. Cette sauce sert à connils rostis, & poissons frit, tant de mer que d'autres, & oeufs frits".
(Basically the same version in a copy of the Grand Cuysinier, printed between 1566 and 1574, according to Vicaire's bibliography)

4-- and in the _Fleur de toute cuisine_ (1548), quoted in Scully, Viandier p. 226 (this text is related to the _Grand Cuisinier_ tradition)
"Prenez oignons menus fris en saing de lart ou beurre selen le jour, verjus, vinaigre et moustarde, menue espice et sel et faictes bouillir tout ensemble. Ceste saulce sert a connins rostis et poisson frit tant de mer que d'austres oeufs fris [sic]".

5-- Mentioned by Rabelais, 16th c., quoted in Littré's dictionary
"Robert ... fut inventeur de la saulse Robert, tant salubre et necessaire aux connils roustis, canards, porcs frais, oeufs pochés, merluz salés et mille autres telles viandes". (Rabelais IV 40; Littré 4, 1740).

6-- There are several places in La Varenne, in the Cuisinier and once in the Patissier.

According to Littré in his dictionary, it is a "Sauce piquante formée d'oignons hachés très-fin, cuits dans le beurre, et arrosés d'une cuillerée de vinaigre et autant de moutarde" (Littre 4, 1740a).

According to Scully in his Vivendier, it is "essentially a 'fortified' mustard sauce -- that is, a boiled mustard with additional spicing".
 

bard, barding = Originally cloth or armour for a horse; later armour for men-at-arms; possibly derived from an Arabic word for 'pack-saddle'.
Culinarily it means to dress for roasting with large slices of pork fat draped over the meat. (Viandier) Also, a bard is the strip of pork fat used for this purpose.  Nola uses this technique in two different poultry recipes (#34 & #49). Earliest English usage cited in OED is 1665.
Barding is distinguished from larding in that while larded meats are studded with slivers of lard inserted into little slots cut into the outer surface of the meat (and this is called studding when other things, such as cloves, are used, according to Le Menagier, which suggests the process is at least that old), barding is the process of coating a piece of meat entirely with fat, essentially wrapping the meat in sheets of fat sliced from a block of [usually] flead, flitch, suet, or whatever else your culture calls unrendered kidney/loin fat.Have you ever seen, in the glass cases at the expensive butcher shops, whole beef tenderloin roasts covered with white fat and tied up? (Sometimes this is done with bacon.) That is barding. It can also be done with pheasants and various other dryish poultry, certain cuts of veal, etc.
Barding has the advantage of being easily removed for service, and also does not cut into the meat, which can keep juices from escaping. Think in terms of the increased surface-area-to-mass ratio between a roast covered with little cuts versus one without them. On the other hand, barded cuts really don't brown much. It's just a different tool, with different capabilities, for a different job. (Troy)

barberries = Berberis vulgaris. "Alan Davidson refers to them as a "poorman's red currant." They were valued for use in the Middle Ages because they are a fairly acid red berry that would jell without the use of pectin. They were candied, pickled, conserved, eaten out of hand, and used in garnishes. Geoffrey Grigson noted that they were the fruit of a yellow barked shrub and as such were valued for treatment of "yellow diseases", i.e. jaundice. In the Caucasus, they were used in jams, jellies, and dried for use as seasonings. Facciola indicates that in Iranian cuisine, the dried berries were called zereshk and were used as a sour flavoring... "ZERESHK" berries are currently available on the internet from a number of Middle Eastern grocers. Indian cuisine dried some species and used them as "sour currants" in desserts... They are not common in the wild today in England because they were systematically eradicated as they were a host to a black rust fungus that attacks cereal crops. That's why Hilary Spurling chose to use imported cranberries for the barberry recipes in her edition of Fettiplace." (Holloway)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Barberries.  Take your Barberries very fair and well coloured...

Barm, berme = live yeast found on "working" ale and beer.

barley-bree = malt liquor. Literally the broth of barley.  See bree.

bastard lovage = An herb (Laserpitium latifolium). Also called hartwort or herb frankincense (Grieve, OED). (Viandier)

baste =  To brush or spoon pan dripping, fat, or other liquid over a roast, etc. to prevent drying out or burning, and to improve the flavor or coat the roast. See also baciner, dewte
 

(Harl. 279 , c. 1430)(Austin p. 39) ..."& euer as it dryit, baste it with bature, & sette forth in seruyce".

1594 Handmaide (Peachey p. 40) "To roste a Hare. First wash it in faire water, then perboyle it and lay in cold water againe, then larde it, and roste it in a broch. Then to make sauce for it, take red Vinigar, Salt, Pepper, Ginger Cloves, Mace, and put them together. Then minse Apples, and Onions, and frie them with a litle Sugar, and let them boyle wel together, then baste it upon yor hare, and so serve it foorth".

1594 Handmaide (Peachey p. 44) "... so lay it to the fyre, + baste it well with Butter and vinigar, + some Sinamon + Ginger in your butter,  wherewith you baste it, and so serve it in".

1615 Murrell C1a.6 "Bake it on a Dish in the ouen: baste it with sweet Butter, that it may not bake drye on the outside".

Liber Cure Cocorum - #50. Hennes in brewes... Grynde brede and peper and be not batte...

battledore, Battle door = from ME batildore, a flat wooden paddle.

Digby (1669) White metheglin of my Lady Hungerford - After it is well dissolved and laved with strong Arms or woodden Instruments, like Battle doors or Scoops...

bature, batur,  bater, baturys (plural)  = batter

(Ancient Cookery, 1381) #28, "XXVIII. For to make capons in casselys....mak a batur and droppe the body rostyng..."

Harleian MS. 279 , c. 1430)- Leche Vyaundez. xlv.  Brawune frye[₃]. "...take [th]e [₃]olkys of Eyroun, & sum of [th]e whyte [th]er-with; [th]an take mengyd Flowre, an draw [th]e Eyroun [th]orw a straynoure; [th]an take a gode quantyte of Sugre, Saferoun, & Salt, & caste [th]er-to, & take a fayre panne with Freyssche gres, & set ouer [th]e fyre; & whan [th]e grece is hote, take [th]e Brawn, an putte in bature, & turne it wyl [th]er-yn..."

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. "liiij.  Fretoure.  Take whete floure, Ale [₃]est, Safroun, & Salt, & bete alle to-gederys as [th]ikke as [th]ou schuldyst make o[th]er bature in fleyssche tyme..."

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. "lxiij.  Fretoure owt of lente.  Take Flowre, Milke, & Eyroun, & grynd Pepir & Safroun, & make [th]er-of a bature..."

 Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez "lj.  Cryspe[₃].  Take Whyte of Eyroun, Mylke, & Floure, & a lytel Berme, & bete it to-gederys, & draw it [th]orw a straynoure, so [th]at it be renneng, & not to styf, & caste Sugre [th]er-to, & Salt; [th]anne take a chafer ful of freysshe grece boyling, & put [th]in hond in [th]e Bature, & lat [th]in bature renne dowun by [th]in fyngerys in-to [th]e chafere..."

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. xxvij.  Appraylere.  "... & [th]an haue a gode Bature of Spicerye, Safroun, Galyngale, Canel, & [th]er-of y-now, & flowre, & grynd smal in a morter, & temper it vp with raw Eyroun, & do [th]er-to Sugre of Alisaunder y-now; & euer as it dryit, baste it with bature, & sette forth in seruyce."

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. lx.  Myle[₃] in Rapeye.  "...[th]an make a gode bature  of Almaunde mylke & Floure, & do [th]er-in, & frye hem wyl in Oyle, & ley hem yn a dyssche, & pore on [th]e Sew, & serue forth. "

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. xlviij.  Ryschewys in lente.  "...[th]an make [th]in bature with ale & Floure, & frye hem vppe brown in Oyle..."

Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers. xlvj.  Poumes.  "...[th]en take flowre an [₃]olkys of eyroun, an [th]e whyte, an draw hem [th]orwe a straynowre, an caste [th]er-to pouder Gyngere, an make [th]in bature grene with [th]e Ius of Percely, or Malwys, in tyme of [3]ere Whete, an caste on [th]e pommys as [th]ey turne a-boute...

 Harleian MS. 279 - Dyuerse Bake Metis. xxx.  Sew trappe.  "Take .ij. lytel er[th]en pannys, & sette on [th]e colys  tyl [th]ey ben hote; make a dyssche-fulle of [th]ikke bature of Floure & Watere..."

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. lxiiij.  Towres.  "Take & make a gode [th]ikke bature of [₃]olkys of Eyroun..."

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. liij.  Lesynges de chare.  "...& [th]an make fayre bature of Raw [₃]olkys of Eyroun, Sugre, & Salt, & close [th]e sydys of [th]e lesyng[₃] [th]er-with, & [th]an frye hem in fayre grece, & serue forth."

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. xix.  Pome dorres.  "...[th]en take Almaunde mylke, & y-bontyd flour, do hem to-gederys; take Sugre, & putte in [th]in bature; [th]en dore hem with sum grene [th]ing, percely or [₃]olkys of Eyroun, to-geder, [th]at [th]ey ben grene; & be wyl war [th]at [th]ey ben nowt Browne; & sum men boyle hem in freysshe bro[th] or [th]ey ben spetid; & whan [th]ey ben so boylid, [th]en [th]ey must ben sette an kelid, & [th]an Spete hem, & dore hem with [₃]olkys of Eyroun y-mengyd with [th]e Ius of haselle leuys. "

(Harleian MS. 4016, c. 1450). #71 Chike endored. "Take a chike, and drawe him, and roste him, And lete the fete be on, and take awey the hede; then make batur of yolkes of eyron and floure, and caste there-to pouder of ginger, and peper, saffron and salt, and pouder hit faire til hit be rosted ynogh."

Harleian MS. 4016. #19 Capons Stwed. "...hele the potte with a close led, and stoppe hit abou[₃]te with dogh or bater, that no eier come oute..."

Harleian MS. 4016. #22 Frutours. "Take yolkes of egges, drawe hem thorgh a streynour, caste there-to faire floure, berme and ale; stere it togidre til hit be thik.  Take pared appelles, cut hem thyn like obleies, ley hem in [th]e batur..."

Harleian MS. 4016. #133 Lente ffrutours.  "Take goode floure, Ale yeest,  saffron, and salt, and bete al to-gidre as thik as o[th]er maner frutours of fflesh; and [th]en take Appels, and pare hem, and kut hem in maner of ffrutours, and wete hem in [th]e batur vp and downe..."

Harleian MS. 4016. #80 Payn purdeuz. "...And then wete [th]e brede well there in [th]e yolkes of eyren, and then ley hit on the batur in [th]e pan..."

Harleian MS. 4016. #79 Browne fryes.  "...And whan [th]e grece is hote, take downe and putte it in [th]e batur, and turne hit wel therein..."

Harleian MS. 4016. #117 Cryspes.  "Take white of eyren, Milke, and fyne floure, and bete hit togidre, and drawe hit thorgh a streynour, so that hit be rennyng, and noght to stiff; and caste there-to sugur and salt.  And then take a chaffur ful of fressh grece boyling; and [th]en put thi honde in the batur and lete the bater ren thorgh thi fingers into [th]e chaffur..."

Harleian MS. 4016. #136 [Trayne roste.]  "...And then take a quarte of wyne or Ale, and fyne floure,  And make batur thereof, and cast thereto pouder ginger, sugur, & saffron,  pouder of Clowes, salt; And make [th]e batur not fully rennyng, and no[th]er stonding, but in [th]e mene, that hit may cleue, and than rost the  treyne abought the fire in [th]e spete; And [th]en cast the batur on the treyne as he turneth abough[t] the fire, so longe til [th]e frute be hidde in the batur; as [th]ou castest [th]e batur there-on, hold a vessell vndere-nethe, for spilling of [th]e batur..."

Harleian MS. 4016. #74 ffelettes of Porke endored.  "Take ffelettes of porke, and roste hem faire, And endore hem with [th]e same batur as [th]ou doest a cheke as he turneth aboute the spitte, And serue him forth."

Harleian MS. 4016 . #76 Losinges de chare. "...And then make faire bater of rawe yolkes of eron, sugur and salt, and close [th]e sides of [th]e losinges therewith, and then fry hem in fressh grece ynow, And so serue hem forthe."

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. #xxiij.  Pome-Garnez.  "... [th]an make [th]in baturys, [th]e on grene, & [th]at o[th]er [₃]elow; [th]e grene of Percely. "

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bawde, baude, from barder (Fr.) = to cut in thin slices.

Harleian MS. 4016, #9 Mortreus de Chare - "...take it vppe, and bawde hit, and hewe it..."
Harleian MS. 4016. #34 Herbe-blade - "...take it oute, and baude hit..."
Harleian MS. 4016. #174 ffirmenty with porpeys. "...whan hit is ynowe, baude hit, and leche hit..."
Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers #lix Furmenty with purpaysse... bawde it & leche it in fayre pecys...

baye (French) = Berry (bay or juniper) (used in the treatment of wines) ('bay' alone may mean the berries of the bay tree (OED). Pichon et al. suggest the juniper berry. Crushed juniper berry is used to remove unpleasant flavours from game birds (Rombauer et al.). Scully (1988) suggests bay leaves, but this is surely wrong.). (Viandier)

Beccasse (Fr.) = "A Woodcock.  Becasse petite, A Snite or Snipe. Cot.[grave]" (Furnivall, II, p. 68.)

be dene, bydene, bedene, etc. =  Occurs repeatedly throughout ME poetry to fill the measure and to provide a rhyme. For the most part it means "anon" or "by and by", etc., and should be considered to have no value as an instruction in recipes.

bedja = ancient Egyptian conical bread pot made of clay.  More information and illustration here.

beet sugar = "The first person known to have extracted beet sugar is a Prussian chemist, Andreas Sigismund Marggraf, in 1747.  The commercial process was first presented by Franz Karl Achard, also a German chemist in 1793.  He went on to set up the first commercial plant in 1802." (Decker)

Benzoin, Bengewine, Belzoin,  benjamin, Benione, etc.= Styrax Benzoin, a tree resin. Now available as powdered resin and a tincture. A perfume fixative. AKA gum benzoin, benjamin.

"A dry and brittle resinous substance, with a fragrant odour and slightly aromatic taste, obtained from the Styrax benzoin, a tree of Sumatra, Java, etc. It is used in the preparation of benzoic acid, in medicine, and extensively in perfumery. For scientific distinction it is now termed gum benzoin. Also called by popular corruption BENJAMIN." (OED)
 

"1558 WARDE Alexis' Secr. (1568) 3a, An unce of Bengewine.
1562 TURNER Herbal II. 30b, Belzoin or Benzoin is the rosin of a tree.
1601 HOLLAND Pliny I. 480 The herbe..(which beareth the gum Benjoine) grew there first.
1616 BULLOKAR, Benzwine, a sweet smelling gumme.
1616 SURFL. & MARKH. Countr. Farm 484 Your hard gums, such as is frankincense, benjouin..and waxe.
1653 WALTON Angler (Arb.) 42 There is an herb Benione, which..makes him (the Otter) to avoid that place.
1658 ROWLAND Mouffet's Theat. Ins. 1000 Asa dulcis, Wine and Honey, or Benzoin dissolved in warm water.
1671 GREW Anat. Plants I. 17 Benzoine, by Distillation [yieldeth] Oyl; by Vstion, white Flowers.
1834 J. GRIFFIN Chem. Recr. 117 Gum benzoin (or benjamin) is a prime constituent of fumigating pastiles.
1875 JEVONS Money vii. 28 Cubes of benzoin, gum or beeswax..are other peculiar forms of currency." (OED)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an especiall sweet Powder... Benzoin and the Storax of each three drams... beat them all save the Benzoin and Storax and powder them by themselves...  [INEDIBLE]

beeregar, behegor, beereager, beareger, beeregre = vinegar made from beer. [beer + (Fr.) aigre = sour.]

bescuit (French) = Pike (fish) (Pichon et al., Tobler. Power and Flandrin et al. have 'salmon'.). (Viandier)

bete (French)= Chard (Pichon et al., Montagne, OED). (Viandier)

Betony =  an herb, Betonica officinalis L., Labiatae, also called Herb christopher, Wild Hop, or Wood Betony.  (TTEM)

Bezoar = "A bezoar stone is a hard mass of indigestible material such as hair or fibers found in the stomachs or intestines of animals.  Apparently they are fairly common in ruminants and humans.  Bezoar stones are believed to have magic properties and act as a antidote to poison.  Bezoar appears to derive from the Middle English "bezear" from the Old French "bezahar" possibly from the Arabic "bazahr" which derives from the Persian "padzahr" meaning "poison antidote."" (Decker)

bien pou (French) = Just a little (Huguet. Other dictionaries suggest 'very little' and similar meanings, but the recipes involved seem to call for the use of more than is suggested by 'very little'.).(Viandier)

Biskets =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Prince-bisket bread... cast Biskets and Carrowaies on it...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make the vsuall Bisket sold at Comfit-makers...

Biskettello = small sweets made of sugar paste mixed with starch and musk, fashioned into the shape of tiny manchet loaves, baked on wafers in a cool oven and garnished with gold leaf.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Biskettello...

blanc mengier (French), blanke maunger, blancmange , blamang, blamanger, blaumanger, blancmanger, etc. = White dish (the literal meaning is 'white to eat'. (Viandier)  Modern blancmange is not the same dish.

bland = a drink made of hot whey or buttermilk mixed with water.

blank = A coin worth 5 deniers (OED. Pichon et al. suggest 10 or 12 deniers.) (Viandier)

Blattes de Bysance = "(also known as "onycha") are the opercules (shell-hinges) of a particular shellfish, Strombus lentigosus. These are used in some perfumery, particularly in incenses, as they have a powerful scent when ground and heated. Among other things, they are an ingredient in the famous Biblical incense of the High Priests.  From http://bible.ort.org/bible/htm/exodus/penta/ch30.htm

"30 : 34 onycha Shecheleth in Hebrew. The Targum translates this as tufra, the Talmud as tziporen (Kerithoth 6a), and the Septuagint as onyx, all denoting "fingernail." Some maintain that this is a spice actually prepared from human fingernails (cf. Arukh s.v. Tziporen), but most authorities see it as coming from an aquatic animal (Mossef HeArukh ibid.; Ramban). It is therefore usually identified as onycha (Hirsch; King James) or blatta byzantia (Abarbanel; Shiltey Gibborim 85), the fingernail-like operculum or closing flap of certain snails of the murex family, such as the Onyx marinus, Strombus lentiginosus, or Unguis Odaratus (Tifereth Yisrael, Chomer Bakodesh 2:67; Cf. Ben Sirah 24:15, Dioscorides, De Materia Medica 2:10). This emits a very pleasant smell when burned."  But...

[Much confusion has arisen over a mention of Blattes de Bysance in recipes in the "Baghdad Cookery Book".] "However, this is not what the recipe actually calls for. The original Arabic editor of the "Baghdad Cookery Book", Dr. Da'ud Celebi ... was unaware of the meaning of the phrase "atraf at-tib", and so emended it to "azfar at-tib", which translates as "blattes de Byzance". This was followed by Arberry when he made his English translation. However, the original phrase is correct; it is just that Celebi couldn't find it in his modern Arabic dictionaries. In medieval Arabs sources "atraf at-tib" (which translates as "parcelles de parfum" or "packages of perfume") is a frequently used spice mix. In the Kitab al-Wusla ila l-Habib of about 1260 A.D. it says "c'est un melange d'epices tres souvent employe dans la cuisine; ce melange comprend de la lavande, du betel, des feuilles de laurier, de la muscade, du maccis, du cardamome, des clous de girofle, des boutons de rose, des faines, du gingembre et du poivre, ce dernier devant etre pile a part." (Maxime Rodinson, "Recherches sur les documents Arabes relatifs a la cuisine", in Revue des Etudes Islamiques, vol. 17 [1949], p. 132.) So it is a complex spice mix, rather like the modern ras al-hanout of Morocco.

ATRAF AT-TIB ("PARTICLES OF PERFUME")
This is the spice mix most often called for in the Wusla; in the Kitab al-tabikh it appears in eight recipes, including meat stew, fish dishes, savory relishes, and sauces. [Arberry, "Baghdad Cookery-Book", pp. 36, 203, 205-207. Arberry's confusion about the name and composition of this seasoning, which he translates as "blattes de Bysance"..., is corrected in Rodinson, "Recherches", p. 132.]

" . . .definition of "atraf at-tib"; it is a spice mixture very often used in cooking; this mixture includes lavender, areca (betel) nut, bay leaves, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, cloves, rosebuds, beechnuts, ginger and pepper, this last being previously ground separately." [Rodinson, "Recherches", pp. 132, 152. My translation from the French.]

Considering the complexity and types of ingredients in this mixture, it seems to be an ancestor of the modern Moroccan mixture called ras el hanout ("top (or head) of the shop"), perhaps because it is the finest and best the spice merchant has to offer. Ras el hanout will include anywhere from ten spices upwards to perhaps more than a hundred ingredients." (Dendy)

bleak = A small freshwater fish (Alburnus lucidus); and a similar saltwater fish (OED). (Viandier)

Bleddur = a piece of bladder, used as a stopper or lid to seal the container. (Sip)

blend-corn, blencorn = wheat and rye grown together in one field. Blencorn bread = bread made of this mixed grain.

Blink = a verb which means ‘to alter the flavor by adding tannin.’ (Sip)

blood, blode =
1-- Used as a common thickening and food coloring (see also almonds, bread, eggs and livers). (Viandier) Dried hare's or kid's blood is used as a red food coloring in Liber Cure Cocorum (#1, #23)
2 --(verb) to bleed, or to drain the blood from.

(Harleian MS 279) Vyaunde Furnez, XXIIJ Lamprays bake ...lat hem blede in a vesselle...
(Harleian MS 4016) Heron rosted ...lete him blode as a crane...

Blow him, blaw hym = a method of skinning an animal by inserting a straw between the flesh and the skin,  and inflating the animal like a balloon; the air ruptures the interior membrane, thereby  loosening the skin and making it easier to remove. (TTEM)
The technique is also used to first lift the skin from the meat (but not to remove totally) and then to put some kind of farce (stuffing) between the skin and the meat.
 

Liber Cure Cocorum #62 "Capons in Cassolyce... Be hynde [th]o hede, blaw hym with penne..."

Here are some more recipes mentioning blowing up (for either purpose):

-- Viandier # 66 (_enfler_ Scully p. 121; Pichon/Vicaire p. 92f.) This recipe and the other three from the Vatican Viandier are online.
-- Viandier # 72 (Scully p. 135; Pichon/V. p. 94)
-- Viandier #213 (souffler; Scully p. 267; Pichon/V. p. 130)
-- Viandier #214 (souffler; Scully p. 268; Pichon/V. p. 130)
-- Rheinfrankisches Kochbuch, German 1445, 290v.2 ("... so lufft sie als ein hune ..."; probably 'blow the goose up like a chicken'; see the note in the edition.) -- In this German recipe from the RheinfrankischesKochbuch, one must "fulle die gans da mit" 'fill the goose with the farce' [I think: between the skin and the meat], later the recipe states: "vnd stoisz sie auch inwenig" 'and press the farce also inside the goose'. Thus, there seem to be two places to stuff: (1) between the skin and the meat, (2) inside.

-- Diversa Servicia # 28 "Nym a penne & opyn [th]e sckyn at [th]e heuyd & blowe hem tyl [th]e sckyn ryse from [th]e flesche ..."

(Harl. 4016, c. 1450). (Austin p. 81): "Chik farsed. -- Take a faire chek, and skald him, and breke the skyn (as sone as he is scalded) in the necke behinde, and blowe him, And cast him in faire water, and wass him; and [th]en kutte of [th]e hede and nek, and let [th]e ffete be on al hole, and draw him clene; and [th]en pike faire parcelly, and parboile hit; And [th]en take hard yolkes of eyron, and hewe hem and [th]e parcelly togidre, and fress grece, and caste there-to pouder of ginger, peper, a litel saffron and salt, And put al in-to [th]e Chike, and put hit on a Spitte; And thenne late him roste, and serue fort(h)."

--Liber de coquina, early 14th c., Latin -- "22. -- ["To stuff/fill a chicken, another way".] Aliter: si uis implere gallinam inter pelles et carnes, recipe gallinam uiuam et aperi corium suum iuxta collum, ita quod facias ibi unum foramen solum, quod uentus possit intrare. Postea, recipe fistulam paruam de paleis uel pluma factam; et per istam fistulam, gallinam per foramen predictum, ita quod tota gallina circum circa infra et carnes pellem usque ad coxas et alas, quantum poteris, uento impleatur. Deinde, interfice gallinam et cum aqua calida deplumetur. Et tunc remanebit inflata propter uentum.
Postea, recipe bonas carnes recentes porcinas pingues, petrosillum et bonas species trittas et herbas odoriferas; et omnia super tabulam cum cutello minutim incidas uel in mortario teras. Et postea, oua cruda in bona quantitate et caseum gratatum simul cum eisdem permisceas.
Postea, recipe gallinam, et digitum per foramen colli intromitas, ut subtiliter corium a carnibus diuidas; et per idem foramen, de predicto martoriolo siue comistione totam gallinam inter pellem et carnem impleas. Postea, predictum foramen cum acu et filio subtiliter suas. Etiam pone in ueru ad assandum."  (Th.)

In his note 3 on page 123 of his Viandier edition, Scully mentions several other recipes, some of which use this kind of inflating technique, e.g. two recipes in the Arabic _Wusla_ reported by Rodinson (Recherches p. 157; kind of boneless chicken).
 

BLUE(?), bleu (French), blau (German) = a cooking method involving poaching an unscaled fish in an acidic water, making the outer skin turn bluish.  (Seton)  The bluish culprit is actually the layer of slime coating the skin of the fish, which is part of why the fish has to be unscaled, extremely fresh, preferably alive, and handled at a minimum. (Troy)

"I will leave BLUE to the English native speakers, but German _blau_ and its several spelling variants are used several times in 16th century German cookbooks with respect to the preparation of fishes: Staindl 1569, Sabina Welser 1553, Mayr 1579, Wecker 1598, Rumpolt 1581, a 1581 codex.
A quick look into French texts yields at least results from La Varenne (Brochet au bleu; Carpe au bleu) and Lancelot de Casteau 1604 ("... tous les poissons qui doiuent estre bouillis bleus, se cuisent auec de l'eau & veriu, & sel ou vinaigre"; p. 22). " (Th.)

blue vitriol = a hydrous solution of copper sulfate.  NOT EDIBLE -- FOUND IN SOME SOAP RECIPES.

Boce (French) =

boe (French) = Mud (a thick black sauce) (Pichon et al.). (Viandier)

Boltell cloth = bolter cloth, used for straining or sifting. (Sip)

Boulter bag, bolter bag = a sifter made of bolter cloth. (Sip)

bonte, crees bunte = a linen sieve

--Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez, xxij.  For to make floure Rys... & [th]erow a crees bunte syfte hem, & for defaute of a bonte, take a Renge.

Borage = An herb, Borago officinalis L., Boraginaceae.  Borage has blue star-shaped flowers; it is used as a potherb, garnish, confection, and drink flavoring.  (TTEM)

botargos, botargas, Boutargue, Poutargue, poutargo (fr.), botarga (it.) = hard roes of mullet

Gargantua and Pantagruel - "he sat down at table; and because he was naturally phlegmatic, he began his meal with some dozens of gammons, dried neat's tongues, hard roes of mullet, called botargos, andouilles or sausages, and such other forerunners of wine."   1542 Rabelais, Gargantua, chap. 21 (éd. Pléiade 1942, p. 86) "Pissant doncq plein urinal, se asseoyt à table, et, parcequ'il estoit naturellement phlegmaticque, commençoit son repas par quelques douzeines de jambons, de langues de beuf fumées, de boutargues, d'andouilles, et telz autres avant-coureurs de vin".

(1542 Rabelais) Gargantua, chap. 3 (éd. Pléiade 1942, p. 34 + n. 4) "Grandgousier estoit bon raillard en son temps, aymant à boyre net autant que homme qui pour lors fust au monde, et mangeoit voluntiers salé. A ceste fin, avoit ordinairement bonne munition de jambons de Magence et de Baionne, force langues de beuf fumées, abondance de andouilles en la saison et beuf sallé à la moustarde, renfort de boutargues (4), provision de saulcisses, (...)".

Note 4: "4. Sorte de caviar provençal, fait d'oeufs de poissons divers, mais pressés, séchés et durcis. On en trouve actuellement non seulement à Marseille, mais jusqu'à Alexandrie".

1542 Rabelais, Pant. IV chap. 18 (éd. Pléiade 1942, p. 613 + n. 9) "... et dix-huict douzaines de jambons, nombre de caviatz, dizaines de cervelatz, centaines de bourtargues (9) et deux mille beaulx angelotz pour les âmes des trespasséz".

Note 9.: "9. Poutargue, poutargo en provençal, oeufs de poisson séché, sorte de caviar méditerranéen encore fort répandu aujourd'hui".

1542 Rabelais, Pant. IV chap. 60 (éd. Pléiade 1942, p. 726 + n. 10)
 "D'entrée de table ilz luy offrent:
 Caviat,
 Boutargues (10),
 Purée de pois, (...)"
 Note 10: "10. Poutargue, sorte de caviar provençal, fait d'oeufs de poisson séchés et pressés, encore fort connu".

(1581) Busbeq, Epistolae (Omnia 1730, p. 55) "Noli hic expectare ut tibi narrem (...) de salsamentis, quæ Constantinopolim à Mæotide advehuntur, quæ Itali moronellas, botargas, & caviarum vocant".  'Please do not expect that I write about (...) the sausages, which are brought to Constantinople from Maeotis, and which the Italians call moronellas, botargas and caviar.

Dictionnaires:
 -- Littré, DLF I 399 "Sorte de mets qu'on prépare en Italie et dans le Midi de la France avec des oeufs de poisson salé, ..."  (TG)

bourblier (French) = Not translated. It might be a particular cut of the wild boar (Godefroy suggests 'shoulder', Power has 'umbles' and Scully (1986) has 'breast'). Scully (1988) very reasonably suggests that it might instead be the name of the sauce described in the recipe, or (less likely) of the entire dish.
(Viandier)

boussac (French) = Bisque (OED, Montagne. Modern 'bisques' are exclusively shellfish dishes.).(Viandier)

bousture (French) = Boiled dish. (Viandier)

boute (French) = Ropy (of wine) (Pichon et al., Montagne). (Viandier)

bouter (French) = To insert, to attach, to touch. (Viandier)

1) bowel, buel, bawelly, bowele, bowelez (pl.), boul, bouel (OF), from botellus, botulus (Latin for sausage or pudding) =
1- the intestine or gut
2- internal organs in general; entrails
3- the belly

2) bowel = a bowl

3) bowel, bowell, bouwelen, bowellyn, bocler (OF) = (verb) to disembowel

Box =
1-- Boxwood, Buxus species. A tree whose wood is very dense and is suitable for carving or turning on a lathe.  It is used for making wooden spits.  Gyngerbrede (Harl. MS. 279, Leche Vyaundez) uses the dark green leaves of boxwood as a garnish.

(Harl. MS. 279, Leche Vyaundez) - iiij. Gyngerbrede ... take when [th]ou lechyst hyt, and caste Box leves a-bouyn... (TTEM)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Paste of Pippins... you may box them, and keepe them all the yeere.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make the vsuall Bisket sold at Comfit-makers...and so box it, and keepe it.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Quodiniacks of Raspice, or English Coriants... then print it in your moulds, and box it, and so keepe them...

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Braggot, Bragawd = a Welsh drink brewed from ale, honey, herbs, and spices. (Sip)

brahon (French) = Dark meat (muscle) (OED under 'brawn'. This differs from the conjecture of Pichon et al. that it was a mis-writing for 'brown' meat. They were right for the wrong reason. Power has 'guts'.). (Viandier)

Brasill Sugar =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Quodiniack of Plums... put them into a Posnet with a pound and a halfe of Brasill Sugar...

Brawn, brawne =
1-- flesh, especially boar’s or swine’s flesh.
2-- a dish of flesh in aspic.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make white leach of creame...slice it like brawne, and so serve it out...

bray, braye, brey = (possibly from brysse or broyse = to bruise, or Old French breier, to break) (verb) to grind or pound in a mortar with a pestle.

bread, brede, bræde,  =
1- (noun) Bread. A common thickening (see also almonds, blood, eggs and livers) and food coloring. At the time, prepared by toasting slices of white bread on the grill until they reached the desired colour (from light golden to black). Heating crumbs carefully in the oven gives a more uniform colour. (Viandier)
2- (noun) a board or tablet, a cover or lid made of wood.
3- (noun) roasted meat
4- (noun) sweetbreads
5- (noun) breadth, width.

break, breake, brecan, brakyn, brykyn, etc. =  (verb) to cut up a deer; to carve a bird

brede =
1- (verb) to roast, broil, or toast. Also brædan, bredan, bradde, bredde, bred, brad.
2- (verb) to spread out or extend. Bred (past part.)
3- (verb) to cover, to spread a table
4- (verb) to broaden
5- (verb) to braid or plait

bream = A freshwater fish (Abramis brama). (Viandier)

bree, bre =
1- a thick pottage
2- broth. See broth.

brest =
1- (noun) breast
2- from Old Norse brestr (to burst, to crack, want, loss), and OE berstan (to burst) = damage, injury, want, loss

brete (French) = Small dogfish (Pichon et al. OED under 'bret' suggests brill or turbot, but these already appear, and are flat fish.). (Viandier)

Brimstone = sulfur, which was burned in order to sterilize bottles or casks. (Sip)

BROCH (English), broche (French), spyt , spisse (Middle Low German), spiedo (Italian), spito, verum (Latin) =  a skewer or spit. In French "en la broche" means lit. 'in the spit'. En ast (Catalan) means "on the spit" or "spit-roasted" depending on how it's used. "En" (Spanish or Catalan) may also translate to English as "on" or "about", depending on the context. (McDonald) Looking at the Catalan De Nola and at the text of Sent Sovi, it seems that _en ast_ is used quite frequently, both in cases where something is already on (upon?) the spit (mig rostits en ast) and where one must put something upon the spit (e met la en ast). In German, the use of "in" in respect to spits is very strange, normally one says "am Spieß" or "an den Spieß". Similarly, as far as I can see (as a non-native speaker and writer of English), "on" or "upon" are commonly used in respect to spits in English. Perhaps I should have said that, as far as I can see, in Latin "ad spitonem" is more frequently used than "in spitone" etc. (Th.)

1594 The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchen. "To roste a Hare. First wash it in faire water, then perboyle it and lay in cold water againe, then larde it, and roste it in a broch..."

I had to comment on two recipes with "in einem spisse" (lit. 'in a spit') in the Rheinfränkisches Kochbuch, 15th c., german. Looking if this was an error or if I could keep it in the edition, I found that the construction with "in" is found in several other languages, too

-- in Middle Low German texts ("in en ider spyt 4 stucke", lit. 'in each spit four pieces')

-- in Italian recipes, _nello spiedo_ lit. 'in the spit', e.g. in Maestro Martino, in the Anonimo Meridionale, see Boström A31.3, A62.2

-- in French "en la broche" lit. 'in the spit' (e.g. in the Menagier)

-- and in Latin "in spitone" lit. 'in the spit', Cookbook of Jean de Bockenheim, ed. Laurioux # 19, 22, 50.

Thus, as  broch seems to go back to French  broche , the use of  in in respect to  broch in an English text might be another piece of French heritage. (T.G.)

brochette = (noun) a skewer

Broom  = any of a number of shrubs in the genera Cytisus, Genista and Spartium of Mediterranean origin.  Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) was the "planta genista" of the Middle Ages.  Used by Geoffry (IV) of Anjou as an identifying ornament on his helmet, it gave name to the Plantagenet dynasty of England.  Scotch broom and Spanish broom (Spartium junceum) have been used medicinally as diuretics, cathartics and emetics.  The active agent appears to be ulexine (cytisine), which in quantity will produce effects on the heart similar to digitalis. The U.S. FDA considers these herbs unsafe for consumption.  Various brooms have been imported into the U.S. as landscape foliage and have become noxious weeds in the wild.  The commonly found brooms in the U.S. are Scotch broom, Spanish broom, French broom (Genista monospessulana), Portuguese broom (Cytisus striatus) and bridal broom (Genista monosperma).  (Decker)

brose = a pottage, broth or porridge made with oatmeal and water or milk.

brosser (French) = To curdle (from context. It may mean 'thicken'. Pichon et al. say they could not understand the meaning of the word). (Viandier)

broth, bro[th], brothe, broath(e), browet, brewis, bree, bre = the liquid in which anything is boiled, esp. meat, sometimes flavored with vegetables and thickened. See also albrotet.

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bruler (French) = To grill (of bread, browned as a sauce thickener). (Viandier)

Brysse, broyse  = Bruise, pound, crush, or bray. To grind down in a mortar. (OED)

c1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 45 if thay [peas] ben harde..Brysse hom or strene hom.
1523 FITZHERB. Husb. ß59 Take that grasse, and broyse it a lyttell in a morter. ----

buffet , Beaufette =

1) a sideboard or side table for the display of china, plates, etc.

1718 Hickes & Nelson J. Kettlewell ii. 32. 135 "The Plate..was placed upon a Table or Buffett."

1720 Humourist 116 The Cat had got into the Beaufette among the Glasses.

But-head = as used by Digby’s Mr. Pierce (p. 100):  “Then cover your But-head with a sheet onely in Summer, but blankets in Winter...”.  The butt-head is the unsealed top of the butt, or cask.  The cask has been left unsealed so that the scum may be easily skimmed off. (Sip)

Butt = (See Cask.)

button = To dress for roasting with slivers of pork fat pricked into the meat.  See lard (verb). (Viandier)

(Scully) Chiquart, "Du Fait de Cuisine."  ..."12 cabas of candied raisins ..."

Calamus, calamus root = Sweet Flag root, the aromatic root of Acorus calamus. According to Th. Johnson (Gerard's Herball, 1633, p. 64), Galangal root was often sold as calamus in the shops. Calamus was used medicinally for bruises, to promote menstruation, to cure poison, etc. It was also used as perfume, and candied for a sweet.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an especiall sweet Powder... Cyprus and Calamus of each halfe an ounce... [INEDIBLE]

cameline (French) = Not translated. The name may come from the ingredient canelle (Santich private communication, Scully), from its camel colour (Scully 1986), or from a herb (cameline) that may have formerly been an ingredient (OED, Sass 1975). (Viandier)

Campeachy  = the red heartwood of a tree, Haematoxylon campechianum, also known as Logwood. It was used as a food dye, as was brasil/brazilwood and saunders/red sandalwood; the color is extractable with water.  Campeachy is still used today with a mordant to dye musical instruments violet blue or black.

Camphire =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a blanch for any Ladies face. ...Camphire one dramme... [INEDIBLE]

Du fait de cuisine, by Master Chiquart, 1420 #5 ...heads of boars endored and armed and with banners and spitting fire... soaked in fine ardent spirits and purified with a little camphor."

canabenez, canabens, Canebyns = a particular preparation of fava beans; the medieval equivalent of the hulled, dried, split pea or bean, probably to prevent them from sprouting and/or rancidity of the germ portion, as well as molding. They're different from what we now call cannellini... Canebyns (sometimes called frizzled beans in sources translated from French texts, I believe) are favas that have been soaked until they swell up and begin to bust out of their hulls, after which they are dried again, rubbed free of the hulls, and chopped into smaller pieces with a sharp knife. These pieces are then slightly toasted in small amounts (recipes describing the process refer to holding metal spoonfuls of the chopped beans over a flame to toast them) -- (or am I mistaken, are they toasted and _then_ chopped?). Anyway, they appear to be designed to cook more quickly and have a longer shelf life than ordinary beans. (Troy)

Candlemas = Christian holiday, February 2nd.  40 days after giving birth to Jesus, Mary took him to the Temple in Jerusalem to present him to God. Celebrated with blessing candles and a candlelit procession. Candles are blessed and placed on altars. -"366 Days of Celebrations" (Seelye-King)

candy =

1- (noun) a sweet made mainly of flavored sugar. See also comfits.
2- (verb) to coat with sugar. See also frost, ice, glase,

Markham, The English Housewife #115 "To make a marrow bone pie... and candy all the cover with rose-water and sugar only; and so set it into the oven a little, and after serve it forth." "
Markham, The English Housewife #120-  "A herring pie... and so serve it up, the lid being candied over with sugar, and the sides of the dish trimmed with sugar."
A Booke of Sweetmeats, Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery -"To Make Machpane Cakes [sic] -"candy ye other side."

cantarides, cantharide, cataride, kantaride, cantharis (Latin) = "Spanish Fly", used medicinally and as an aphrodesiac. (Peters) "Consuming a small quantity increases the flow of urine; consuming a large quantity causes one to urinate blood.  When used as a suppository, it will bring on menstruation in women." (Carroll-Mann) More in French.

"1- A kind of beetle; esp., Cantharis vesicatoria; one of these beetles dried for medicinal use;
2-  pl. a medicine made from these beetles, cantharides.

•   a1400 Lanfranc (Ashm 1396)   62/1:  [₃]eue to him medicyn maad of cantarides [L de cantaridibus].
•  Take old grete cantarides [Add: kantarydes], & do awei [th]e heed & [th]e wyngis.
•   a1400 Lanfranc (Ashm 1396)   352/19: Take [th]e wombis of cantarides & grinde hem wi[th] leueyne.
• a1425 *Chauliac(1) (NY 12)   177b/a: Cantarides ar bestez, flies of grene colour, litel..with adustioun & vesiccacioun.
• c a1400 Lanfranc (Ashm 1396)   278/20: Saxifrage & cantarides [L cantarides] & o[th]ere strong medicyns..pili[th] [th]e reynes.
•  a1425 *Chauliac(1) (NY 12)   114a/a: It is entensioun of doctours [th]at [th]e place be cured with cantarides & arsenec.
•   c1440 Thrn.Med.Bk.(Thrn)   76/3: Do [th]er-on kantarydes or garleke or  scottleke." (Middle English  Dictionary - earliest use listed is 1398.)

• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... of Cantarides, adde a dramme... [MEDICINE]

capon, capoun = a gelded rooster.

carbonadoes = According to Markham " Charbonadoes, or carbonadoes, which is meat broiled upon the coals (and the invention thereof first brought out of France, as appears by the name) are of divers kinds according to men's pleasures: for there is no meat either boiled or roasted whatsoever, but may afterwards be broiled, if the master thereof be disposed... Now for the manner of carbonadoing, it is in this sort; you shall first take the meat you must carbonado, and scotch it both above and below, then sprinkle good store of salt upon it, and baste it all over with sweet butter melted, which done, take your broiling iron; I do not mean a gridiron (though it be much used for this purpose) because the smoke of the coals, occasioned by the dropping of the meat, will ascend about it and make it stink; but a plate iron made with hooks and pricks, on which you may hang the meat, and set it close before the fire, and so the plate heating the meat behind as the fire doth before, it will both the sooner and with more neatness be ready: then having turned it, and basted it till it be very brown, dredge it, and serve it up with vinegar
and butter. "

Cardamom, Cardamo, cardamomo,  cardomomo, gardamono =  An expensive spice, cardamom is the seeds  and seed pods of Elettaria cardamomum Maton, Zingiberaceae.  It is sold powdered, as whole seeds, or as seed pods.  (TTEM)

cardoon, herba col  = Cynara cardunculus L., a type of globe artichoke. One of its common names in Catalan is "Card de formatjar" which would be "Cheesemaking cardoon". It is instead of rennet in cheesemaking. (Carroll-Mann)

Artichokes (globe artichokes) are Cynara scolymus.  These are related to Mediterranean thistles whose heads are eaten. Jerusalem artichokes are Helianthus tuberosus.  They are a New World plant of the sunflower family unrelated to true artichokes.  The tubers are eaten.  (Decker)

caroenum (Lat.) =  Reduced wine.

carreletz (French) = Small plaice. See also pleiz. (Viandier)

Carret, Zanahoria (Spanish) = carrot.  "Red and purple carrots which are believed to originate in Afghanistan were brought into the Mediterranean basin from Central Asia by the Islamic
expansion.  Yellow carrots are first noticed in Asia Minor during the 10th Century.  Yellow carrots are a mutation of the red and purple carrots and lack the anthocyanins which produce the red and purple colors.  Red and yellow carrots are recorded in 12th Century Andalusia.  The Asiatic carrots probably entered Christian Europe between the 10th and 11th Centuries and had largely replaced white carrots in northwestern Europe by the 13th Century.  They are known to have been introduced into England by the Flemings in the 14th Century.  In the 16th Century, Flemish hybridizers while trying to produce larger, firmer, better tasting carrots bred yellow and red carrots together modifying the anthcyanins to produce an orange color.  Our modern carrots come from about five breeding lines of Flemish orange carrot.  These were formally described in the 17th Century." (Decker)

Diego Granado, Libro del arte de cozina, (Spanish, 1599) - "Zanahoria rellena. Las zanahorias han de ser gordas..."

carvey, carvy, carvie = caraway seeds.
Cask = a wooden barrel, used for storage.

cassia flowers = Cassia buds, presumably dried. If unobtainable, use cinnamon. I have found tinned “cassia flowers [buds] in brine” in a Chinese food store, but have not tried them. (Viandier)

Cast above = sprinkle with (for spices), or pour over (for gravy or sauces). (TTEM)

Cast thereto = add. (TTEM)

Cast thereto never a deal = do not add any. (TTEM)

Caudle, cawdel(l), cawdelle, cawdille, cadle, cawdale, caudelle, chaudeau (Fr.), caldellum, caldum (Lat.) =
1- "a warm drink for invalids, esp. a spiced and sugared gruel with wine or ale added" (Webster’s Dictionary).  A caudle was also a treat shared by friends and lovers enjoying a reresoper, or illicit late night meal (B.A. Henisch, p. 17); it might accompany the leftover roast or pasty from supper, or a plate of comfits.  From "caudle" come our words "coddle" and "mollycoddle."  (TTEM)

Note: a "caudle of hemp-seed" or a "hempen caudle" is a slang expression meaning hanging; it is not a reference to a recipe.

2-(verb) to give a caudle to someone

3-(verb) to mix

cauldron =   A large metal pot, usually with a lid for boiling or stewing. See also kettle.

cedas, cedaç (medieval Catalan) = see hair sieve.
Valencia MS 216 Libre de Sent Soví (ca.1400), and Catalunya MS 2112 De apereylar be de menyar (ca.1380), spells it cedas or cedaç. (McDonald)

cedaç de ceda (medieval Catalan) = a silk sieve.

Valencia MS 216, Libre de Sent Soví (ca.1400), #26 (Genestada) - "...E apres ages ffarina de ros ben picada he pasada per cedaç de ceda..." (McDonald)

cedazo,cerdazo (Spanish) = see hair sieve. (McDonald)

centner = See zentner.

cerf (French) = Red deer. See also chevrel. (Viandier)

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cervoison (French) = Deer hunting season (Pichon et al., Huguet. Scully (1988) suggests 'young stags'.) (Viandier)

c'est assavoir (French) = To wit (from context, and from “il est fait assavoir que”, meaning “be it known that”). (Viandier)
cetel (Old English) = see kettle

Chafing dish =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candy Borage-Flowers... you must set them in a Still, and so keepe them in a sheet of white paper, putting every day a chafingdish of coles into your Still...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To make Paste of Pippins... and dry the pulp upon a chafingdish of coles... putting every day a Chafingdish of coles into the Oven...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To make paste of Genua the true way... dry it in a pewter platter upon a chafingdish of Coles...and dry it in an Oven with a chafingdish of coles...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make all sorts of banqueting Conceits of March-pane stuffe... and dry it on a Chafingdish of coles...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Quodiniacks of Raspice, or English Coriants... boile it on a chafingdish of Coles...

Charger = (from OF chargeor) a serving platter.  (TTEM) When the recipe says something like "cut it round by a Charger", this means the charger is to be set on the pastry or paste, and you cut around the dish with a knife to make a circle in the paste. The charger is then removed and you have a circle of paste.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To make a March-pane, to ice it... and cut it round by a Charger...

Harleian MS. 279 - Dyuerse Bake Metis. xiij.  Vn Vyaunde furnez san[₃] nom de chare...
Harleian MS. 279 Dyuerse Bake Metis. xij.  Vn Vyaunde Furne[₃] san[₃] noum de chare.

(Harleian MS. 279, c. 1430). - Leche Vyaundez. xvj.  Chare de wardoun leche.
Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers. xxxiv.  Chardewardon....in [th]e maner of charde quynce...
Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers. xxxv.  Perys en Composte...an [₃]if [th]ow hast charde quynce, caste [th]er-to in [th]e boyling...
(Harleian MS. 4016, c. 1450).. 98 Chare de Wardone...as A man sethe[th] charge de quyns...
(Harleian MS. 4016, c. 1450) 99 Mawmene.  ... and take confeccions or charge de quyns, a goode quantite...

(Scully) Chiquart, "Du Fait de Cuisine." ..."2 charges white ginger, 2 charges Mecca ginger ..."

charlet , charlete, charlette, chair laitée (Fr.) =  a dish of flesh with milk

Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers. lviij.  Let lory. ...& [₃]if [th]ou wolt a-forse it in maner of charlet, do it in fastyng dayis...
Douce MS. 55. 12  Charlete.  Capitulum Clxxviij.
Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers. lvj.  Charlette.
Liber Cure Cocorum, #17 Charlet, and #18 For Charlet icoloured.

charpie (French) =
1-- Shreds (from charpir, meaning 'to shred'). (Viandier)
2-- A minced meat dish, literally 'shreds', otherwise untranslatable.(Viandier)

Chastlete, castelin =  a pastry castle consisting of a central keep and 4 towers. Each is filled with a different colored filling: pork stuffing (yellow with saffron) for the keep; and almond cream (white); custard (red with sanders); figs, raisins, apples, & pears (brown); and 'farce as for fritters' (green) for the towers. The whole is presented flaming with 'ew ardant', i.e. alcohol. [Note: Pegge's identification of ew ardant as hot water is incorrect.]

Forme of Cury p.85 (c. 1390) "Chastlete. Take and make a foyle of gode past with a roller of a foot brode, & lynger by cumpas. Make iiii Coffyns of [th]e self past uppon [th]e rollere [th]e gretnesse of [th]e smale of [th]yn Arme. of vi ynche depnesse. make [th]e gretust in [th]e myddell. fasten [th]e foile in [th]e mouth upwarde. & fasten [th]e o[th]e foure in euery syde..." [Note: spelling is approximate due to the shorthand used in the MS.]

_Ouverture de Cuisine_, in preparation, has the word 'castelin', which I also interpret as 'model castle', equivalent to the English
'chastletes'.

A note on the spelling chastellier:  I haven't got an entry for this word in the few French dictionaries that I have here at home.  Power [The Goodman of Paris] translates
it as the old English 'chastletes' and I agree with her.  The old French 'chastelet' means 'small castle' [Grandsaignes] which I and others interpret as 'model castle'.  The old French 'chasteler' is a verb meaning to fortify.  Neither is exactly correct for the spelling 'chastellier', which suggest more the meaning of 'castle builder', or less likely 'castle owner/occupier' [i.e. castellan], neither of which fits easily into a recipe context.  (Prescott)

chaudeau (French) = Caudle. (Viandier)
 

chaudumel (French) = Chowder (OED). (Viandier)
 

chaudun (French) = Intestine (Pichon et al., Montagne). (Viandier)

check, chekkid, cheke = (v.) to cut into a checkerboard pattern.  See also buche.

Furnivall, (The Boke of Keruynge), p. 273 "... Custarde, cheke them inche square that your souerayne may ete therof..."

cheesecloth = In some cases a colander, grater, sieve or sifter would be a suitable substitute. See also estamine. (Viandier)

Cheeselip, cheeselep, cheslep, etc. =
1. rennet.
2. a dialectical name for a wood louse.  This should not be taken to mean that wood lice were used as rennet in cheesemaking. The name was probably given to them because they were found infesting cheeses stored on stone shelves.

cheeselep-bag = the dried stomach of a calf, used as rennet in cheesemaking.

cheese of Aragon is known today as Tronchon, and is a mild cheese made of sheep's milk. (Cuenca)

cheonix, choinix = Ancient Greek dry measure of approximately 1 U.S. dry quart or 1.1 liters.  1/8 modios.  Appears to be related to the modern Persian measure chenica (or chemica), being 1.19 dry quarts or 1.32 liters. (Decker)

Cherrie = cherry

Chevalier (Fr.) = "A daintie Water-fowle, as big as a Stock-doue, and of two kinds, the one red, the other blacke. Cot.[grave]" (Furnivall, II, p. 68.)

chevesneau (French) = Chub (fish) (Montagne, OED). (Viandier)

chevrel (French) = Roe deer. See also cerf. (Viandier)

chevron  = An angled pair of rafters (OED), from which it may be conjectured that it refers to similar angled supports for the wheels of the Swan Knight subtlety, presumably one on each side at the front and back. (Viandier)

chibol =

Chrystall =
1-- (noun) crystal
2-- (adj.) as clear as crystal

chocolate = The Spanish appear to have first encountered chocolate (as a beverage) in Mexico.  The name derives from the Nahautl "xocolatl" meaning "bitter water.  (Decker)

Chuño = ""freeze dried" potatoes prepared by Andean natives.  References to chuño appear in Jose de Acosta's "Historia natural y moral de las Indies" (1590) and in accountings of mine rations.  In general, the product was considered a native food only fit for the lower classes. It, and other potato products, are still produced in the Andes, but they are in the decline as they are labor intensive.
     For chuño, the potatoes are frozen at night, then warmed indirectly by the sun.  They are then trampled to slough the skin and to force out residual water.  For "white" chuño, the mashed potatoes are soaked in cold running water for one to three weeks, then sun dried for 5 to 10 days.  As they dry, a white crust forms (ergo the name "white" chuño).  "Black" chuño bypasses
the soaking.  The normal method of ingestion is in soups and stews where the liquid can rehydrate the chuño.
     Papa seca is made by boiling and peeling potatoes, which are then cut into chunks, sun dried and ground.  The resulting meal is cooked with meat and vegetables.
     One interesting side note is B. Cobo notes that chuño is a source of fine white flour for cakes and other delicacies in his "Historia del nuevo mundo" of 1653." (Decker)

Chymicall oyle of Cinamon =
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Pippins whole... and one drop of the Chymicall oyle of Cinamon, and that will make them taste a more pleasant taste.

ciboule (French) = Scallion (OED). (Viandier)
 

Cinnamon, Synamoun.  = Cinnamomum Aelanicum, Lauraceae.  This true cinnamon comes mainly from Ceylon.  Most references are to canel, a less-expensive type of cinnamon (see above).

(Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers, c. ) Cliij.  Pompys.  ..caste also [th]er-to pouder Pepyr, & Macys, Clowes, Quybibys, pouder Canelle, Synamoun, & Salt...

cive, civey(e), ciuey, cyuey, ceue, cyueye = Ragout or stew (possibly derived from a word meaning 'onion' (Plouvier). (Viandier)
Among other modern usages, this is probably a derivative of civey, which was at one time named for, and characterized by, the possibility of thickening a sauce with finely chopped onion, cooked till very soft. Some medieval recipes for civeys (for example, hare in civey) also call for blood as an additional thickener; nowadays the dish, which is now sometimes called civet, is mostly characterized by thickening and enriching the broth with the reserved blood of the critter you're cooking. It will coagulate if boiled, and turn very dark, but if heated properly it will assume a velvety texture similar to a stirred custard, and acquire a deep russet shade almost like a mole-poblano-type sauce. (Troy)

Civet , Zabad or Zubad (Arabic), Zibet (Asian) =
1. The Civet Cat, Viverra civetta, native to central Africa.  An Asiatic species V. Zibetha is often called Zibet.  The Javanese species of civet cat is called Rasse.
2. A yellowish or brownish oily substance, having a strong musky smell, obtained from glands in the anal pouch of the Civet.  (OED) It is used to make perfume and was used in cookery.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make mosse-powder... a quarter of a dram of Civet...  [INEDIBLE]
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a speciall sweet water to perfume clothes... as much Civet...  [INEDIBLE]
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an especiall sweet Powder...then take of Musk and Civet, of each twenty graines...  [INEDIBLE]

Clammy = (adj.) usually means "sticky."  It may derive from the German "klam" meaning "stickiness" or from the Old English "clam" meaning
"mud" or "clay." (Decker)

Clarry, clarre = a beverage made of mixed wines with honey and spices

Clary =Salvia sclarea L., Labiatae, also called Clear Eyes.  Clary is a relative of sage, and was once much used as a seasoning in foods and beverages.  Culpeper notes (p. 88) "the seeds or leaves taken in wine, provoketh to venery... the juice of the herb in ale or beer, and drank, promotes the courses."  (TTEM)

close =
1-- (verb) to seal
2-- (adverb) closely covered to prevent spoilage

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To preserve Red-rose leaves... and so, when they be thorow cold, put them up, and keepe them very close.

Clove Gillyflowers = Dianthus caryophyllus L., and related species, Caryophyllaceae.  Clove gillyflowers have a clove-like flavor; they were used as a seasoning, and were also eaten as sops in wine.  Use only cultivated edible varieties, as some members of the Pink Family are poisonous.  (TTEM)  The names ‘clowys’  and ‘geloferys’ were used interchangeably to mean cloves or clove gillyflowers.

Cloves, Clowys (M.E.), clavos (Sp.), clou de girofre (O.F.), neglein or naegelen or gewuertz naegelen (Ger.), garofoli, garoffali, garof = The unopened flower buds of the clove plant, Eugenia aromatica, Myrtaceae.  The names ‘clowys’  and ‘geloferys’ were used interchangeably to mean either cloves or clove gillyflowers.  Cloves are used for flavoring, and medicinally as stomachics, to relieve colic and flatulence.  (TTEM)   "Syzygium aromaticum. [Note: same plant, different name.] The common name derives from the Latin "clavus" meaning "nail." ...Platina, interestingly enough, appears to use the Greek word "caryophyllon" rather than a Latin term." (Decker) More...

Cochineal = "Gum-lac or lac, kermes, and cochineal are all red dyes produced from the resinous excrecences of certain insects.  Twigs hosting the insect clusters, called stick-lac, are collected and crushed.  This matter is then boiled in water to separate the color from the detritus and resin.  (The resin becomes shell-lac, or shellac, and items coated with shellac are lacquer-ware.)  The colored water is then evaporated, leaving a powder that is used for cloth dye and food coloring... The word lac has also come to mean the color scarlet or crimson.

Kermes was in common use throughout the Middle East in the Middle Ages.  Kermes (Coccus ilicis) grows on an oak, Quercus coccifera.  The color is not as bright as that of cochineal, nor is the yield of dye as great.

Cochineal (Coccus cacti L.), is a New World species that grows on cactus.  It was first imported to Europe about 1545, and rapidly replaced kermes as a coloring agent.  Cochineal is still used for red and pink food coloring, as well as for cloth dye, and was used medicinally to treat whooping cough; it also has many manufacturing uses.

Gerard has this to say about Cochineal:
'Ficus Indica. Of the prickly Indian Fig tree.
...the fruit [is] like vnto the common Fig, narrow below, and bigger aboue, of a greene colour, and stuffed full of a red pulpe and iuice, staining the hands of them that touch it, as do the Mulberries, with a bloudy or sanguine colour... Vpon this plant in some parts of the West Indies grow certain excresences, which in continuance of time turn into Insects; and these out-growings are that high prized Cochenele wherewith they dye colours in graine...  We haue no certaine instruction from the Antients, of the temperature or faculty of this plant, or of the fruit thereof... more than that we haue heard reported of such as haue eaten liberally of the fruit hereof, that it changed their vrine to the colour of bloud; who at the first sight thereof stood in great doubt of their life, thinking it had been bloud, whereas it proued afterwards by experience to be nothing but the tincture or colour the vrine had taken from the iuice of the fruit... '" (CA #109)
 
 
 

cochu (French) = Quiche (a conjecture guided by Montagne and OED). (Viandier)

Cockentrice = a fanciful dish made by combining a pig and a capon. See detailed instructions and illustrations.

Cocks stones = "the testicles of the rooster. Culpeper, in Pharmacopoeia Londinensis, 1654, reports that they refresh and restore such bodies as have been wasted by long sickness...[and] help such as are weak in the sports of Venus." (Hess, p. 270)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade...Cocks stones halfe an ounce, all steeped in honey twelve houres... [MEDICINE]
Hess, Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery - #70 To Make a Restoratiue Marmalet... cocks stones, halfe an ounce; all steeped in honey 12 hours... [MEDICINE]

Codling, quodling = a type of apple.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Saterion roots... boyle them upon a gentle fire as tender as a quodling...

Coffin  =
1- pastry crust in which food is baked
2- shaped implement of metal or other material in which food is baked (similar to a cake tin) (Robert)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Prince-bisket bread... then put it into your coffins of plate, or frames of wood...

cole flore, colieflore, cole flower = cauliflower.

"The Cole flower is a kinde of Coleworte, whose leaves are large, and like the Cabbage leaves, but somewhat smaller, and endented about the edges, in the middel wehereof, sometimes in the beginning of Autumne, and sometimes much sooner, there appeareth a hard head of whitish yellow tufts of floers, closely thrust together, but never open, nor spreading much with us, when then is fittest to be used, the greeen leaves being cut away close to the head; this hath a much pleasanter taste then eyther the Coleworte, or Cabbage of any kinde, and is therefore of the more regard and respect at good mens tables." (Parkinson, 1629.)

"Cole flore, or after some Colieflore, hath many large leaves sleightly indented about the edges, of a whiteish greene colour, narrower and sharper pointed than Cabbage; in the middlest of which riseth up a great white head of hard floures closely thrust together, with a root full of stringes, in other parts like to the coleworts."  (Gerard, Herball.)

collation (M.E,) =  a light meal taken between regular meals.

colewort, = "The Middle English "col" derives from the Old English "cal" which comes from the Latin "caulis" (meaning cabbage).  The Middle English "wort" derives from the Old English "wyrt" (meaning plant).  Thus "colewort" is "cabbage plant" in Middle English.  Middle English passes to Modern English about
1500.  Collard, cole, kale, borecole, and colewort are all variants of the ME "col."  In English, the use of "cabbage" to differentiate the head cabbages from the
leaf cabbages (coles) probably occurs early on.  Cabbage derives from the Middle English "cabouche" from the Old North French word for head, possibly
deriving from the Latin "caput."  Old North French is the dialect of Old French (8th to 16th Centuries) spoken in Normandy and Brittany."  (Decker)

colz (French)= Tails (of crayfish) (from cul meaning 'bottom'). (Viandier)
 

Comfits = Small candies made from sugar-coating small seeds, such as anise or caraway, or bits of cinnamon sticks, spiced breadcrumbs, etc.  Detailed directions for making comfits appear in Delights for Ladies, by Sir Hugh Plat, 1609, pp. 32-39.  (TTEM)  See also candy, conceits, banqueting conceits.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a March-pane, to ice it...garnish it with conceits, and stick long Comfits in it...

comminee (French) = Cumin dish (Pichon et al.). (Viandier)  See cumin.
 

compettement (French) = Appropriately, sufficiently (Huguet). (Viandier)

compost , compote , compest, cumpost (OFr.) , (from Lat. compositum later compostum)

= compote. (Obs.)

a. A stew of various ingredients.

c. 1440 Liber Cocorum (1862) #39 For to make a compost ...

b. spec. A preparation of fruit or spice preserved in wine, sugar, vinegar, or the like.

c. 1430 Two Cookery-bks. (1888) 59 Le ij cours, Compost, Brode canelle, Potage.
c. 1430 Harl. 279, Potage Dyvers, xxxv. Perys en Composte.
c. 1450 Harl. 4016, #97 Peris in compost, take pere Wardones...pare hem, and seth hem... and cast hem to the Syryppe... And then pare clene rasinges of ginger...and caste hem to the peres in composte.
1513 Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. (1868) 268 Loke your composte be fayre and clene.
1601 Holland Pliny II. 159 White oliues... before they be put vp in their compost or pickle."  (O.E.D.)

(a) A mixture of stewed fruit and/or vegetables; a preserve; in compost, stewed or preserved; .
 

(a)  (a1399) Form Cury (Add 5016)   p.49: Compost. Take rote of persel, pasternak..rapes & caboches.
c1450 (Harl. 4016)   97:  Peris in compost. Take Wyne, canell, Sugur..dates..pere Wardones..cast hem to the Syryppe..with Gynger..ley hem in clarefied hony.
a1475 Russell Bk.Nurt.(Harl 4011)   79:  Aftur mete .blawnderelles, pepyns, careawey in comfyte, Compostes ar like to [th]ese.
c1475 Gregory's Chron.(Eg 1995)  141:  Datys in composte.

(b)  a1450 Harl.Cook.Bk.(1) (Harl 279) 59:  Le ij cours: Compost..Codlyng.
c. 1440 Liber Cure Cocorum (Sln 1986)   #39. For to make a compost. Take [th]o chekyns and hew hom...
?a1475 Noble Bk.Cook.(Holkham 674) 111:  To mak composte tak chekins and...saige, parsly, lekes...and boille it.
a1486(c1429) Menu Banquet Hen.VI in Archaeol.57 (Mrg M 775) 58:  Le iij Course: Compost..Venison rost, Egrettz." (Holloway)

conceits = see banqueting conceits

coney, conyng = a young rabbit.

Confect = to candy

Confectio Alchermes = From Culpeper's Herbal:
"Confectio Alkermes
College : Take of the juice of Apples, Damask Rose-water, of each a pound and an half, in which infuse for twenty-four hours, raw Silk four ounces,
strain it strongly, and add Syrup of the berries of Cherms brought over to us, two pounds, Sugar one pound, boil it to the thickness of Honey; then
removing it from the fire whilst it is warm, add Ambergris cut small, half an ounce, which being well mingled, put in these things following in powder,
Cinnamon, Wood of Aloes, of each six drams, Pearls prepared, two drams, Leaf-Gold a dram, Musk a scruple, make it up according to art. "

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Aromaticum Lozonges... with a little Confectio Alchermes...

Harleian MS. 4016. 99 Mawmene.  ... and take confeccions or charge de quyns, a goode quantite...

convy  (French) = Banquet (Pichon et al., Godefroy) (Viandier)

Coperas =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a blanch for any Ladies face. ...Coperas halfe a dramme... [INEDIBLE]

coq  (French) =
1- Lit. 'cock'. Used in cooking to describe chickens in certain dishes (usually when prepared as whole birds). Dishes named 'coq' as in 'coq au vin' often involve slow boiling or braising. According to the Larousse Gastronomique, this is because cocks would be kept as breeders and therefore not be slaughtered until they were very old and tough. I doubt this last assertion as hens, too, were often kept for eggs and only killed once they stopped laying. (Bach)

2- Costmary (Pichon et al., Grieve)  (Viandier) ??

Coqz Heaumez = A Helmeted Cock, a very special dish from Le Viandier de Taillevent .  See detailed description and illustrations.
 

Corall = ground red coral, the skeletons of certain marine animals, thought to have had medicinal properties.  “Corall drunke in wine or water, preserueth from the spleene ...[and] prouoketh sleepe...” (Gerard, p. 1383.)  (Sip)

corance = currants

Cordial = originally a heart medicine or tonic, but now the word refers to any liqueur. (Sip)

corn = in medieval and renaissance times this referred to "grain".  What Americans call corn is a New World plant, referred to in the 15th and 16th centuries as maize or 'turky millet'.  See maize.

cornel, kernel, corneol, Cornel Plums = The edible fruits of a flowering dogwood, Cornus Mas, used to make wines and liqueurs.  "Corneille, a Cornill berrie; Cornillier, The long cherrie, wild cherrie, or Cornill tree. Cotgrave." (Furnivall, II, p. 85.)

Costmary = Chrysanthemum Balsamita L., Compositae, also called Mint Geranium and Alecost.  Costmary is very hard to find, and is usually propagated by root division rather than by seed.  In addition to being used medicinally, Costmary was used as a vegetable, and to flavor ale.  (TTEM)

couch, couche = to put
 

couleiz (French) = Mash (from context. Even the bones in these dishes are pounded up. OED under 'cullis'.) (Viandier)

Coulis,  cullises (English)=  from the French verb: "Couler", which has a few meanings, though in this case it means "to pour".  In classical French cooking, coulis are *uncooked* pureed and strained vegetables or fruits with no other ingredients.  (Steenhout)  Rich broths, thickened sometimes with eggs or almond milk; a really rich soup possibly intended for the sick or elderly. (Troy) See cullis.

couler (French) = To sieve (Pichon et al. OED under 'colander', and Sass (1975) "cole the broth thurgh a cloth".)  (Viandier)
 

cracklings = Slices of the fibrous residue left after rendering fat. (Viandier)

Cream of Tartar, cremor Tartari= Potassium Bitartrate, KHC4H4O6, a compound made of potassium and tartaric acid, a naturally occurring acid found in grapes.  Cream of tartar or pure tartaric acid may be added to wine, beer, etc., prior to fermentation to increase acidity.  “The dryed Lees of wine called Argoll or Tartar, is put to the vse of the Goldsmith, Dyer, and Apothecary, ...Of it the Apothecaries make cremor Tartari, a fine medicine to bee vsed, ...to purge humours by the stoole” (Parkinson, p. 566).

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a blanch for any Ladies face. Take of white Tartar two drammes... oyle of Tartar foure ounces... [INEDIBLE]

crees bunte, bonte = a linen sieve

creme brulee = a rich custard made with eggs and cream, finished with a layer of sugar that has been caramelized to a solid state which is the "brulee"="burnt" part, but which shouldn't be burned, just cooked until it is the color of brown sugar and a solid thin crunchy sheet topping and contrasting with the creamy layer beneath. (Anahita) The earliest mention, as far as I know, is in Massialot's Le cuisiner roial et bourgeois, 1691. The dessert is known as "burnt cream" in English since the early 18th century, at least. (Rognvaldardottir)

crespe (French) = Crisp (this is the literal meaning, and accurately describes the dish. A translation as the modern 'crepe' or 'pancake' would be misleading. I apologize to all those for whom 'crisp' means what is called in North America the 'potato chip'.)  (Viandier)
 

cresson (French) = Watercress (Montagne says that watercress is the cress most commonly used in cooking). (Viandier)
 

Cretene, cretone, cretoyne, critone, cretonné (O.Fr.), craytoun, crytayne, crotoun, and creteyne = A kind of seasoned soup, pottage, or sauce containing milk. Chickens, rabbits, etc. were cooked in the sauce.

crisp, crespe (Fr.) = A pastry made by dropping batter into boiling fat (OED). (Viandier)

crocum = See saffron.

crop, croppe, crowpe, croupe, crap =
1-part of the digestive organs of birds, an enlarged portion of the gullet.

Furnivall, Babees Boke, I, 277 "...with the croupe in the ende bytwene the legges..."

cruddys (English)= soft curds.

crustade, crustard, Custane, custon =  open meat or poultry pies thickened with eggs (often) mixed with broth or milk. The name crustade became synonymous with custard, and the filling changed to include a sweetened egg and milk custard.
 

Liber Cure Cocorum, #98 For custanes.
Liber Cure Cocorum, #101 Crustate of flesshe.

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csombor , csombord, csumburd (Polish) = an herb, Summer Savory, Saturea hortensis .

Cubebs, Quybibes =  A spice, Piper Cubeba L., (Cubeba officinalis Raf.), Piperaceae.  Cubebs are sold as small dried black berries; the flavor is a cross between black pepper and allspice.  (TTEM)

Cullinder = a colander

A New Booke of Cookerie, by J.Murrell, 1615 - "Cambridge Pudding. Searce grated Bread through a Cullinder..."

Liber Cure Cocorum, #43 "For a kolys"

Liber Cure Cocorum, #10 Chekyns in cretene ... With canel and comyn, alle in fere...
Liber Cure Cocorum, #36 For to make a potage of welkes ... Poudur of peper, or goode comyne.
Liber Cure Cocorum, #50 Hennes in brewes ... An comyne also [th]ou schalle grynde...
Liber Cure Cocorum, #123 For comyne sewe ... [3]iff [th]ou wylle make a comyne sew...
Diuersa Servicia, #39 For to make comyn ...
A Noble Boke off Cookry, p. 27, To mak comyne ...put ther to pouder of comyne ...
Babees Boke (II, 42-3, Modus Cenandi, Cotton MS. Titus A xx., fol. 175 r^o) Siluestres volucres habea[n]t cum iure cuminum. (Let wild birds have cumin with their gravy.)

CURLEW = A shorebird. (Seton)

Currants, Raisins of Corinth, coriants, corance = Ribes species, Grossulariaceae.  Currants are most often sold dried.  (TTEM)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Quodiniacks of Raspice, or English Coriants.

cuskynoles, kuskenole  =

Curye on Inglsche, Diversa Cibaria - A mete [th]at is icleped cuskynoles. Make a past tempred wi[th] ayren, & so[th]en nim peoron & applen, figes & reysins, alemaundes & dates; bet am togedere & do gode poudre of gode speces wi[th]innen. & in leynten make [th]i past wi[th] milke of alemaundes. & rolle [th]i past on a bord, & so(th)en hew hit on moni perties, & vche an pertie beo of [th]e leyn[th]e of a paume & a half & of [th]reo vyngres of brede. & smeor [thi] paste al of one dole, & so[th]en do [th]i fassure wi[th]innen. Vchen kake is portiooum. & so(th)en veld togedere o[th]e [b]eolue manere ase [th]eos fugurre is imad*: & sot[th]e boille in veir water, & so[th]en rost on an greudil; & so[th]en adresse.

*Note: the drawing in Curye on Inglsche shows a sheet of dough marked into small rectangles, each with a dot in the center.

"Kuskenole. E une viaunde ke est apelé kuskenole. Festes un past des oefs e pus pernez figes e resins e peires e poumes e pus dates e alemandes; batez e metez bon pudre dedenz e de bons especes; e karemme festes vostre past de alemandes; e festes vostre past rouler sur une table e pus copez les en plusurs parties e de la longure de une paume e demy paume e de la leur de treis deis e pus oignez le past tut de une partie; pus metez la fassure dedenz chescune kake sa porcion e pus plier ensemble come sel signe est fet:** e pus boiller en bel ewe; e pus roster sur gerdil &cetera"... MS B.L. Add 32085 ff 119r-119v Ed Hieatt & Jones in _Speculum_ v 61 (1986) #4 pp859-882

[** Imagine a diamond divided into 9 smaller diamonds by drawing two lines across each way, OR a tic-tac-toe game with a box around it, standing on a corner. you've got it.]
 

Cyprus (cypress , ciprese, cypris, sypres, cipris, cipres, cypres, cipriss, ciprys, cyprys, syprees, syprese, cupresse,cipresse, cypresse, cipreis, cyparesse, syprys, cypers, etc.) =
1- the Cypress Tree (Cupressus sempervirens) and various related trees and bushes, used for their scented wood.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an especiall sweet Powder... Cyprus and Calamus of each halfe an ounce... [INEDIBLE]

dalle (French) = Steak (of fish) (Montagne under darne).(Viandier)

Damaske =
1-- a type of rose

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Rose leaves... Take of the fairest Rose-leaves, red or damaske...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a speciall sweet water to perfume clothes... Take a quart of Damask-Rose-water...   [INEDIBLE]
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make mosse-powder... and infuse it in a quart of Damask rose-water...   [INEDIBLE]

Damsons =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To preserve Damsons... and to every pound of Damsons...

dariole (French) = Pie crust (from context, and OED). (Viandier)  In the Harl. MS. 279 and 4016 this refers to a specific kind of custard pie.
 

Decoction =  A tea (usually made from a medicinal plant), but instead of pouring the hot water over the vegetable matter, you boil the vegetable matter in the water. (Jadwiga) "An infusion , like tea. Later recipes (primarily for German beer, I believe) seem to distinguish between decoction as a means of
temperature control by adding measured amounts of boiling liquid to measured amounts of other stuff, and infusion, which is a less sophisticated method of adding a semi-measured amount of boiling water to a measured amount of room-temp stuff to achieve a median "strike" temperature which you then insulate with blankets and such. But Digby seems to be making six gallons of herb tea and using that in his mead, so in this case, it looks like a pretty simple infusion." (Troy)  See Culpeper's [On Decoctions]

Digby (1669) White metheglin of my Lady Hungerford - This Proportion of Herbs is to make six Gallons of Decoction... take the clear Decoction (leaving the settlings)...

deffaire (French) = To sprinkle (something dry) (from context, where the meaning of 'moisten' does not fit). (Viandier)

deffaire de (French) = To steep in (seems the most accurate sense of this word for the manuscript. The literal meaning is 'undo'. Pichon et al. suggest 'thin down' or 'wet', and others such as Hieatt et al., Power, and Scully have made choices like 'moisten' and 'dilute'.). (Viandier)

defrutum (Lat.) = Reduced grape must, also called sappa.

deipno- (Greek) = dinner-
dele, del, deal, deel, delle, dell, dæl, etc. (English) =
1- (noun) a part, a portion. See also halvndele, thridendele

Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers. Cxij.  Sturmye.  "...Make a Siryppe; [th]e .ij. dele schalle ben wyne, & [th]e .ij. dele Sugre or hony; boyle it & stere it, & Skeme it clene; [th]er-on wete [th]in dyssches, & serue forth."
Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers lxxxiiij.  Vyaund de ciprys Ryalle.  Take [th]e to del [₃]olkys of eyron, [th]e [th]ridde dele Hony; take Clowes & kutte hem...

demourer (French) = To linger (OED). (Viandier)

denier  = At the time a coin of alloyed silver and copper weighing 10 to 14 Troy grains (OED). There were 12 deniers in a sol, and 20 sols in a livre. As a small weight the Paris denier was 1/384 of a pound (1.275 grams) (gko). When it appears to be used for larger weights or volumes, the meaning is unknown. It may refer to the amount of a particular ingredient that could be purchased for one denier (see the French Glossary under denree). At the prices mentioned in Power and Aliquot, a denier's worth of ginger would be about a quarter of a Paris ounce. The rarer spices (six different ones) were between 5 and 10 times as expensive as ginger. If this applied to turmeric, a denier's worth would be about 1/20 to 1/40 of a Paris ounce. Similarly, a denier's worth of wine would be about half a Paris pint. (Viandier)

denree (French) = A denier's worth of the indicated ingredient (Trésor, von Wartburg). (Viandier)

Deshecho (Spanish) = (adjective) literally means "unmade" -- something cooked until it's falling apart. (Carroll-Mann)

destremper de (French) = To soak with (from context). (Viandier)
 

dew water  = The liquid that exudes from a dry chicken cooked in a closed pot. See the French Glossary under eaue rose. (Viandier)

dewte = (verb) to daub with egg yolks in order to seal the edge of a pasty (from context)

Harl. 279 #xlvij. Rapeye... ouer-caste [th]in kake to-gederys, & dewte on [th]e eggys...

diaper, dyaper =

(Babees Book) p. 378 "...ffirst, v diaper table clothes... iiij longe towellis of dyaper..."

Diasatyrion
College : Take of Satyrion roots three ounces, Dates, bitter Almonds, Indian Nuts, Pine nuts, Festick nuts, green Ginger, Eringo roots preserved, of each one ounce, Ginger, Cloves, Galanga, Pepper long and black, of each three drams, Ambergris one scruple, Musk two scruples, Penins four ounces, Cinnamon, Saffron, of each half an ounce, Malaga Wine three ounces, Nutmegs, Mace, Grains of Paradise, of each two drams, Ash-tree keys, the belly and loins of Scinks, Borax, Benjamin, of each three drams, wood of Aloes, Cardamoms, of each two drams, the seeds of Nettles and Onions, the roots of Avens, of each a dram and a half, with two pounds and an half of Syrup of green Ginger, make them into an electuary according to art. "

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... of Diasaterion, foure ounces... [MEDICINE]
(Hess, Martha Washington's Book of Cookery) - #70 To Make a Restoratiue Marmalet...of diaseterion, 2 ounces... [MEDICINE]

Digne raisins = Small dried seedless raisins (Power). Probably from the town of Digne, long known for preserved fruit, in Provence.
(Viandier)

Dilgirunt = see also malpigeryum

Diocitonium simplex =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Diocitonium simplex of Quinces...

Dittany (of Crete) =   Herbs, Origanum dictamnus, and Cunila origanoides (L.) Britton, Labiatae, also called Stone Mint or Wild Basil.  Dittany is related to, and tastes like, oregano, which may be substituted for it.  (TTEM)

Dock = An herb, Rumex Acetosa L., and 15 related edible species, Polygonaceae.  These plants are also called Green Sauce, Green Sorrel, Sour Dock, and Sharp Dock.  Rumex species contain oxalic acid, a poisonous substance once used in medicine.  The oxalic acid is destroyed by cooking; the cooked greens are safe to eat.  (TTEM)

Dodine = A kind of sauce rather like a modern gravy. Instructions are given in Le Viandier in the two recipes that call for it ("River mallards" and "Fatted capons"). (Viandier)

Dog Days, Dog Star Days = the Canicular Days, early June to early September. (Sip)

doree (French) = J ohn Dory (fish) (OED). (Viandier)

dore , dorre (English), dorer (French) =
1-- (verb) to endore or glaze with egg yolks, and sometimes saffron, so that the dish becomes golden in color. See endore.
2-- (verb) to brush with batter

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. xix.  Pome dorres.  "...[th]en take Almaunde mylke, & y-bontyd flour, do hem to-gederys; take Sugre, & putte in [th]in bature; [th]en dore hem with sum grene [th]ing, percely or [₃]olkys of Eyroun, to-geder, [th]at [th]ey ben grene; & be wyl war [th]at [th]ey ben nowt Browne; & sum men boyle hem in freysshe bro[th] or [th]ey ben spetid; & whan [th]ey ben so boylid, [th]en [th]ey must ben sette an kelid, & [th]an Spete hem, & dore hem with [₃]olkys of Eyroun y-mengyd with [th]e Ius of haselle leuys.

doreure -- 'gilded dish', 'glazed dish', 'coated dish', or 'browned dish'.
"Note: This is my definition, assembled from the various actual uses of the word, primarily in Viandier but probably from several other
sources as well. (Prescott)  Literally, something gilded with real gold.  By extension, something given a gold or yellow colour by some other means.  Some of the means used are by coating with actual gold leaf, by painting with a gold-coloured or yellow-coloured paint, by glazing with egg yolk, by lightly browning, or by sprinkling with saffron. By further extension [Viandier] it can include coating with actual silver leaf. By still further extension [Viandier again], it can include coating with coloured tin leaf, with Viandier mentioning white, red, and green leaf.  It is likely, though I don't have a direct example to prove it (I haven't looked hard), that a dish given a green glazing using egg yolk and parsley would also be termed a 'doreure'.  If so, this would then apply to any colour of glazing.  If 'chastellier' / 'chastletes' is properly included under 'doreure'  (I'm not 100% convinced), then the various coloured fillings for the
towers (yellow, white, red, brown, green) would provide support for the extension to almost any colouring method, even colouring in bulk.

Modern French 'dorure' means the egg or egg yolk used to gild or glaze various dishes [Montagné]."

dorres = (adj.) glazed, brushed with batter.

droiz (French) = Giblets (OED. The literal meaning is 'rights'.) (Viandier)

droppe = (verb) to brush with batter, endore, baste

(Ancient Cookery, 1381) #28, "XXVIII. For to make capons in casselys....droppe yt wyth zolkys of eyryn and god powder... mak a batur and droppe the body rostyng..."

Drosse, dross = scum

DOUCETTE = a custard tart in the 14th-15thC English recipe corpus, sweetened with honey  or sugar, usually colored with saffron. (Seton)

drage = a mixture of barley and oats

dragg = (verb) to press through a strainer

(Hess, Martha Washington's Book of Cookery) - #70 To Make a Restoratiue Marmalet...dragg them with a  silver spoon thorough a hare sive... [MEDICINE]

Dram, Drachm, Drachma = unit of measurement equal to 1/16 ounce (U.S.), or 1/8 ounce (Apothecary measure):

The Attic drachma... has the weight of a silver denarius, and the same makes six oboli, the obolus being ten chalci.  The cyathus as a measure weighs ten drachmae; when the measure of an acetabulum is spoken of, it means the quarter of a hemina, that is fifteen drachmae.  The mna, that our countrymen call the mina, weighs one hundred Attic drachmae.  (Pliny, Book XXI, p. 291.) (Sip)

2: dredge, draggeye, draget, dradge, drege, dragie = from Latin tragemata (confectionary) & Greek (sweetmeat)
    1- (noun) a comfit or candied spice. See comfit.
    2- a mixture of spice powder
    3- a mixture of flour and sometimes salt, pepper, and other spices

3: dredge, drudge, dreg, drige =
1- (verb) to sprinkle with powder. Originally the item sprinkled was a mixture of powdered spices, but now it includes flour mixtures.

A Noble Boke off Cookry, p. 27, To mak comyne... cast on a drige mad with hard yolks of eggs...

dress,  dresshe, dresse, drisse, derse, dres =
1- to prepare for use as food, ex.: to dress a carcasse
2- to cook food
3- to arrange food for service.

Top of page

dub = (verb) to trim or cut off the comb and wattles of a cock fowl.

dubbed = (adj.) blunted, pointless.

dubene = see enbene.

Duke's Powder, POLUORA DE DUQUE , pouldre de duc = A spice mixture.

    "Barbara Santich suggests that this recipe title is a misnomer, and an indication of Italian influence on Catalan cooking. A very similar blend of spices minus the sugar -- is found in an anonymous Venetian cookbook of the late 15th century. It is called specie dolce, "sweet spices". Several recipes in that cookbook call for dishes to be topped with sugar and unspecified spices before serving. Santich theorizes that specie dolce was the spice blend which was sprinkled with the sugar. The Italian name specie dolce, "sweet spices", may have been mangled in translation to become the Catalan polvora de duch, "powder of the duke". The Libre del Coch has a second recipe for this spice mix, De altra polvora de duch, which contains 2 oz. ginger, 1/2 drachm galingale, 1 oz. cinnamon, 1 oz. long pepper, 1 oz. grains of paradise, 1 oz. nutmeg, 1/4 oz. fine sugar. The Libre de Sent Sovi gives yet another recipe: 1 pound sugar; 1/2 oz. cinnamon; 3/4 oz. ginger; 1/4 oz. total of cloves, nutmeg, galingale, and cardamon.  Santich's point is that the recipe in the 1529 Nola is closer to the Italian tradition than to its Catalan predecessors.  She does not mean... that the anonymous Venetian is the first appearance of this recipe. Santich goes on to discuss other similarities in Nola to Italian recipes.  So, if I dare summarize her reasoning: this spice blend is similar to the Italian version; its name may be a corruption of the Italian name.
    Perhaps *all* such blends were originally "sweet powder", or perhaps there were two different blends (duc/dolce), each with its many variations.  To confuse matters further, the Menagier's blend is for making Hypocras.  Nola has a different blend entirely for that purpose, and uses "Duke's Powder" in cooking." (Carroll-Mann)

    "Nicole Crosley-Holland in Living and Dining in Medieval Paris which is an examination of Le Menagier de Paris says that "pouldre de duc" "comes from the Catalan treatise Sent Sovi; polvora de duch, or powder of sweetness according to Thibaut-Comelade (262, 121) who gives the components: fine sugar, ginger, cinnamon, pepper, clove, mace, nutmeg and saffron. ...The Menagier probably heard of this powder when he served in Languedoc and transcribed as duc the sound duch." [pages159-160] (Holloway)

• (Le Menagier de Paris, c. 1393, found in Goodman of Paris, E. Power, tr., 1928) - Hippocras..."And note that the powder and the sugar mixed together is [hight] the Duke's powder."  Pichon's edition says: "...Et nota que la pouldre et le succre meslés ensemble, font pouldre de duc." Le Menagier's spice mixture calls for 1 quarter of very fine cinnamon, 1/2 quarter fine flour of cinnamon, 1 ounce fine white string ginger (gingembre de mesche), 1 ounce grains of paradise, 1/6 [ounce?] nutmegs and galingale mixed together. His Duke's Powder consists of 1/2 ounce of this mixture added to 2 quarters of sugar.

The Brereton and Ferrier translation of Le Menagier de Paris contains the following notes:
"au gros pois i.e. the Parisian weight as distinct from that of Beziers, Carcassonne, and Montpellier. The pound in the south of France was equivalent to
only 13 ounces.  (NOTES p.329 )
RE Pouldre fine ... et faictes pouldre. They also question the Pichon suggestion that 4 [superscript 0] means un quarteron is weakened by the fact that the usual abbreviation is iiii [supercript on]. "(NOTES p. 329) (Holloway)

• (de Nola, 1525 edition) - "POLUORA DE DUQUE -- Duke's Powder - Cinnamon, half an ounce; ginger, half an ounce; cloves, one eighth; sugar, one pound; all this well ground and strained through a hair sieve so that it should be quite delicate and subtle, or at least just like the one for the sauces."
• (de Nola, 1525 edition) - "POLUORA DE DUQUE DE OTRA MANERA - Duke's Powder in another manner - White ginger, two ounces; galangal, one eighth of an ounce; cinnamon, one ounce; long pepper, one ounce; grains of paradise, one ounce; nutmeg, one ounce; fine sugar, one pound; all this should be well ground and strained through a delicate hair sieve."
• (de Nola1529 edition) -"POLVORA DE DUQUE - Duke's Powder - Half an ounce of cinnamon; an eighth of cloves; and for the lords cast in nothing but cinnamon, and a pound of sugar; if you wish to make it sharp in flavor and [good] for pains in the stomach, cast in a little ginger." (Carroll-Mann)
• Slightly different translation: (de Nola,  1529 edition) - "Polvora Duque (Duke's Powder) Cinnamon half an ounce; cloves half a quarter; and for lords only add cinnamon ["y para los senores, no se echa sino sola canela"], and a pound of sugar; if you wish it to have a sharp taste and make it good for passions of the stomach add a little ginger."

ANALYSIS of de Nola's phrase: "y para los senores, no se echa sino sola canela"

"This appears in the Logrono editions (Castillian translations), but not in the first edition of Nola (1520, published in Catalan). Neither recipe in the first edition gives an instruction like this, just the measure of the ingredients and brief instructions on mixing them up. So, this class distinction is something introduced by the Aragonese mayor of Logrono, in his translation. Where he got it, I don't know. I suspect the wide variation in recipes for this powder is at least as much a matter of preference as it is a matter of economics. I would caution against over-interpreting this through the filter of political power. Yes, it was conspicuous consumption, but I think it was food, first. For REALLY conspicuous consumption, look at the recipes for Fine Spice powder (Salsa ffina), which called for a half-pound of saffron in a pound of powder...

The earliest reference to Duke's Powder I have found in the Iberian cuisine is the Barcelona copy of the Libre de Sent Sovi (Biblioteca Universitat de Barcelona MS 68, ca. 1450). It also gives no indication of a class distinction in the composition of the powder. That recipe follows. I am not as convinced as Dr. Santich that this powder is of Italian origin. The Aragonese/Catalan empire had tremendous influence on the Italian cuisine of the 15th century, and the culinary influences flowed both ways. The Italian influence may be over-rated, and as much a product of academic bias as of fact.
 

(Libre de Sent Sovi , ca. 1450) - "Si vols ffer polvora de duch que sa ffina se ffa axi per una liura Primerament tu pendras una liura de sucre blanch Canella mige hunsa que sia ffina Gingebre que sia bo un quart e mig Giroffle nous noscades garangal cardemom entre tot un quart E tot aso picaras E pessar ho as per sadas."

Translation (the punctuation is mine): If you wish to make Duke's Powder that will be fine, it is made in this way for one pound. First you will take one pound of white sugar, Cinnamon half ounce that will be fine, Ginger that will be good one quarter [ounce] and a half [so, three quarters of an ounce], Cloves, nutmeg, galingale, cardamom between all one quarter [I interpret this as "of each" because a 16th of an ounce of any of these spices in a pound of powder would hardly be detectable and thus would serve neither palate nor politics]. And all this you will pound. And you have to pass it through [a] sieve." (McDonald)

dyse = (noun) dice

eaue ardant, ew ardant = See Aqua Vitae.

eaue grasse (French) = Stock (of some meat) (literally 'fatty water').(Viandier)
 

eaue rose (French) = Dew water (a free translation based on context. A more literal translation as 'rose water' would be misleading, as the recipe contains no rose water.) (Viandier)

Ebullition = boiling or bubbling.

Digby (1669), # 54  A MOST EXCELLENT METHEGLIN -- Then fill up your vessel, and presently after this ebullition you will have a very strong Metheglin.

EFFLUVIA = ef*flu*vi*um also ef*flu*via (noun), plural -via or -vi*ums - Latin effluvium active of flowing out, from effluere].  First appeared 1651.
1 : an invisible emanation; especially: an offensive exhalation or smell
2 : a by-product esp. in the form of waste (Seton)

eggs = A common thickening (see also almonds, blood, bread and livers). (Viandier)

Eglantine, Eglantine berries = rose hips
 

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make paste of Eglantine, of the colour of the red Corall... Take your Eglantine Berries, otherwise called Hips...

Harleian MS. 4016. #19 Capons Stwed. ...hele the potte with a close led, and stoppe hit abou[₃]te with dogh or bater, that no eier come oute..."

Emptins = a yeast solution.

enarm = to lard or garnish with bacon

(Liber Cure Cocorum) #73 [Sauce] For cranes and herons - The crane is enarmed ful wele I wot / With larde of porke...

en ast (Catalan) = "on the spit" or "spit-roasted" depending on how it's used.  See Broch.

enbande, enbawde, enbrawde = to cut in thin slices  (?, from context). Likely a corruption from Fr. barder (after Austin).  See also baude.

(Liber Cure Cocorum) - #12. Mortrews de chare... Enbande [th]e pork...
(Liber Cure Cocorum) - #118. For Ioutes ...Take sklyset, enbawdet [th]enne...
(Liber Cure Cocorum) - #119. For capons in erbis ...With sklices of bacon, enbrawdet here...

enbene, dubene = (verb) to baste, to steep.

(Liber Cure Cocorum )- #132. For seke menne... [Th]ou tost shyves of gode manchete, Enbene hom with wyne on both syde...
(Liber Cure Cocorum) - #64. Lange de beof. "...With [3]olkys of eyren enbene hit ay..."
(Liber Cure Cocorum)  - #27. Sowpus dorré. And loke [th]ou tost fyne wete brede, And lay in dysses, dubene with wyne...

Harleian MS. 4016. 71 Chike endored. Take a chike, and drawe him, and roste him, And lete the fete be on, and take awey the hede; then make batur of yolkes of eyron and floure, and caste there-to pouder of ginger, and peper, saffron and salt, and pouder hit faire til hit be rosted ynogh.

en la olla (Catalan) =  translates as "in the pot"

entremetz (French) = Subtlety (OED. The literal meaning is 'between courses'.) (Viandier)

enula-campana =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Enula-Campana roots. Take of your Enula-Campana roots, and wash them...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Enula-Campana. Take of your fairest Enula-Campana roots, and take them clean from the sirup...

Epityrum (Latin) = (lit. 'over cheese') an olive spread or relish of Sicilian origin, according to Varro (De lingua latina 7.86) Columella (12,49,9) suggested that the olives be seasoned with salt, lentiscus, rue and fennel. (Koogler)
 

Cato 119 -- "Epityrum album, nigrum, uariumque sic facito: ex oleis albis, nigris, uariisque nuculeos eicito; sic condito: concidito ipsas, addito oleum, acetum, coriandrum, cuminum, feniculum, rutam, mentam; in orculam condito: oleum supra siet.  Ita utitor."
"Make green, black, or varicolored epityrum in this way. Pit the green, black, or varicolored olives. Season them thus: Chop them, and add oil, vinegar, coriander, cumin, fennel, rue, and mint. Put them in a small jar, with oil on top and they are ready to use." ( Tr. from "A Taste of Ancient Rome")

eringo, oringo, Eryngoes = Eryngium maritimum,  Sea Holly. "A “venereal” plant, “hot and moist” in character.  “The decoction of the root hereof in wine, is very effectual to open obstructions of the spleen and liver, and helpeth yellow jaundice, dropsy, pains of the loins and colic; provoketh urine, expelleth the stone, and procureth women’s courses.”(Culpeper, p. 120)  Eringo root has been used as a diuretic, a stimulant, and an expectorant; the young shoots and roots can be eaten as vegetables.  The roots are also candied and have been sold as an aphrodisiac. " (Sip)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Eringo-roots.  Take your Eringo roots, faire and not knottie...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Eringo roots. Take your Eringo roots ready to be preserved...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an excellent Marmelade... Eringo-roots preserved two ounces...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... of Eringo and Saterion roots, of each...  [MEDICINE]
(Hess, Martha Washington's Book of Cookery) - #70 To Make a Restoratiue Marmalet...citron & oringo roots, of each an ounce & halfe... [MEDICINE]
(Gerard's Herball, 1633, p. 1163) - The manner to condite Eryngoes...

eschaude (French) = Hot water pastry (Montagne)  (Viandier)
 

eschauder  (French) = To scald. (Viandier)
 

eschine (French) = Chine (cut of meat) (Montagne). (Viandier)
 

eslisier (French) = To pick over.(Viandier)
 

espic (French) = Spike lavender (Lavandula latifolia) (OED. Others suggest 'spikenard' (Nardostachys jatamansi), but I think this less likely. For that there was a separate word, spicanarde.). (Viandier)  See also Nard, Spikenard.
 

estamine (French) = Cheesecloth (Godefroy. It is just possible that this word might have two meanings, 'cheesecloth' and 'metal sieve'. English cook books of this date frequently mention a strainer in similar contexts. In Le Viandier the contexts that indicate which is meant all unambiguously imply a cloth, so that is the translation that I have used throughout. Godefroy mentions a sieve of silk for flour. Tobler mentions straining through "cloth, towel or cheesecloth". Hartley mentions sieves made of horsehair stretched over hoops.) (Viandier) Stamyn or stamine was also the name of a type of cloth, or linsey-woolsey cloth used in making garments. (See Mayhew & Skeat, p. 214.)

ew ardant = distilled alcohol. See aqua vitae.

Forme of Cury (c. 1390) p. 85. Chastlet "...su[rv]e it forth wt ew ardant."

facilmente, rraçilmente (Sp.) = ( adv.) easily

fair(e), far(e), fayre, faier, feyre =
1- the opposite of foul. Good, clean, nice, beautiful, clear, pure, free of blemish, etc.
2- completely, fully
3- a good amount.
4- moderately, not too much

Faisander (French) = aging meat, especially wild meat and game is called "Faisander", from the bird Faisan, which is a Pheasant. (Steenhout)
 

farce, fors, harse =
1- (verb) to stuff with, to cram full of

A Noble Boke off Cookry, p119, "Pige harsed. To harse a pige swinge egges..."

farms, farmes, Tharmes = intestines used as sausage casings.  "farme, sb. [prob. dial. var. of form. ] A `shape' for a pudding." (O.E.D.) According to Mayhew & Skeat (p. 227), [th]armes comes from  the A.S. word for entrails, [th]earm.

1623 Markham Countr. Content. ii. i. ii. 68-- "Then put thereto at least eight yelks of Egges, a little Pepper, Cloves, Mace [etc.]..and then fill it vp in the Farmes according to the order of good housewiferie."

1623 Markham Countr. Content. 69 "When all is mixt well together..fill it into the farmes."
Markham, English Huswife -- "To make the best white puddings... then fill it up in the farmes..."

farsure, fassure = That which is farced, forced, or stuffed into something. (Troy)

Curye on Inglsche, Diversa Cibaria - A mete [th]at is icleped cuskynoles....smeor [thi] paste al of one dole, & so[th]en do [th]i fassure wi[th]innen

fasoli and fava = Types of beans.  Fasoli derives from phaseolus.  Fava beans are faba.  In Pliny and Platina (both pre-Columbus), phaseolus are distinct from faba, so fasoli are not fava beans.  The fact that Phaseolus is the genus of the New World beans needs to be ignored.  The designation was established [later]...  Prior to the importation of New World beans, the term fasoli referred to the seeds of genus Vigna (cowpea, black-eyed pea, yard-long bean, etc.).  These are still included in the fasoli. (Decker)

Fat = alternate spelling of ‘vat.’ (Sip)

Digby (1669), #109  SIR PAUL NEALE’S WAY OF MAKING CIDER "... Let them lie about three weeks, after they are gathered; Then stamp and strain them in the Ordinary way, into a woodden fat that hath a spigot three or four fingers breadth above the bottom.  Cover the fat with some hair or sackcloth...draw it by the spigot (the fat inclining that way, as if it were a little tilted) into a barrel..."

Digby (1669), #6  A WEAKER, BUT VERY PLEASANT, MEATHE "...Then pour it into an open Fat, and let it cool.  ...then put it into the Fat to all the rest of the Liquor..."

Digby (1669),#5  TO MAKE EXCELLENT MEATHE "...Then let your Liquor run through a Hair-strainer into an empty Woodden-fat..."

Digby (1669), #35  A RECEIPT FOR MAKING OF MEATH  "...Put this into the cooling fat to cool two or three days.  ...Then cover the Tub or Fat with a double course sheet..."

Digby (1669), #26  SEVERAL WAYS OF MAKING METHEGLIN "...Then pour it out into a Woodden fat..."

faulx grenon (French) = A kind of stew (not further translated) (Godefroy. Literally 'mock grenon'. OED under 'gravy' suggests 'gravy bastard'.). See also grane. (Viandier)

FAYRE =
1- good, clean, nice
2- decent sized pieces (Seton)

Fet (Icel.), fod (Scan.) = unit of measurement. 1 fet = 31.39 cm. The fet is slightly larger than the Danish fod, which is slightly larger than the Norwegian fod.  They are all equivalent to the U.S. foot, being between 1.02 and 1.03 foot in length. (Decker)

ferfet (Icel.) = The ferfet is Icelandic and is a square fet.  1 ferfet = approx. 985 sq. cm.  So there should be about 10.15 ferfet in 1 sq. m.    (Decker)

Ferdinando Buck, fernambuck,  pernambuco, fernambuco, brasill = probably Cæsalpinia echinata Lam., Cæsalpiniaceae. Fernambuco wood.  A type of brazilwood, which is the source of a red dye.

fichier (French) = To fix, to attach.(Viandier)
 

fiens (French) = Dung (OED under 'fiants'). (Viandier)

figé = thickened (Austin, after Cotgrave)

figee, fygey, fygeye, figge, fignade = a thick pottage containing figs.

(Liber Cure Cocorum) #107 For stondand fygnade.

filler (French) = To thread in (eggs into hot liquid) (from context). (Viandier)

fillet, fyletes  = a cut of meat.  Forme of Cury, "57 Nota. The fyletes buth (th)o that buth take oute of the pestels" (the fillets are those that are taken out of the hind legs).  (Troy)

Filo, phyllo =  These paper thin sheets of dough originated in the Ottoman era kitchens of the Topkapi Palace. See Baklava.

Fine Powder , pou(l)dre fine =  A standard spice mixture. Probably every cook had a personal mixture, or bought it from a merchant. The composition varied, but always contained a high proportion of ginger. A recipe is in Additional Recipes.
(Viandier)
 

--Menagier (circa 1395, Power ed.)  --FINE [SPICE] POWDER.  Take of white ginger and ounce and a dram, of selected cinnamon a quarter, of cloves and grains [of paradise] each half a quarter of an ounce, and of lump sugar a quarter and reduce them to powder.

TO MAKE SAUSAGES... mix it very well with a quarter as much [fine] spice powder;

In Viandier (also circa 1395) Fine Powder is used in the recipes:
 

•   Soup of red deer testicles in deer hunting season
•   Quiche flans
•   Gilded chickens with quenelles
•   Parma tarts
•   Paupiettes
•   Hedgehogs and Spanish pots

  Stuffed mutton shoulders

Fining = a substance (such as isinglass or egg whites) used to clarify wine, etc., by precipitating out the proteins and yeasts that cloud the liquid. (Sip)

Firkin = a small wooden barrel or covered bucket holding 1/4 barrel or 9 British gallons. (Sip)

Fish, fysshe, of which there are many kinds and names.  "These are my fish : first English, then French, then Dutch, then Latin. (Ides Boone)

These are the fresh-water fish:
Sturgeon, esturgeon, steur  (Acipenser sturio)
Eel, anguille, paling (Anguilla anguilla)
Bream, brème, brasem (Abramis brama)
Schneider, spirlin, gestipplelde alver (Alburnoides bipunctatus)
blaek, ablette, alver,(Alburnus alburnus)
barbel barbeau, barbeel (Barbus barbus)
nose, hotu, sneep, (Chondrostoma nasus)
gudgeon, goujon, grondel, (Gobio gobio)
chub, chevaine, kopvoorn (Leuciscus cephalus)
ide (orfe), ide mélanotte, winde, (Leuciscus idus)
dace, vandoise, serpeling , (Leuciscus leuciscus)
minnow, vairon, elrits (Phoxinus phoxinus)
bitterling, bouvière, bittervoorn (Rhodeus sericeus)
roach, gardon, blankvoorn (Rutilus rutilus)
rudd, rotengle, rietvoorn, (Scardinius erythrophtalmus)
spined loach, loche de rivière, kleine modderkruiper, (Cobitis taenia)
stone loach, loche franche, bermpje(Noemacheilus barbatulus)
catfish, silure glane, Europese katvis (Silurus glanis)
pike, brochet, snoek (Esox lucius)
ruffe, grémille, pos (Gymnocephalus cernuus)
miller's thumb, chabot, rivierdonderpad (Cottus gobio)
three-spined stickleback, épinoche, driedoornige stekelbaars (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
ten-spined stickleback, épinochette, tiendoornige stekelbaars (Pungitius pungitius)
trout, truite, forel (Salmo trutta)
grayling, ombre, vlagzalm (Thymallus thymallus)

Within the marine fish, there are:
Thornback ray (Raja clavata)
hering, hareng, haring (Clupea harengus)
cod, kabeljauw, cabillaud (Gadus morhua)
haddock, églefin, schelvis (Melanogrammus aeglefinus)
whiting, merlan, wijting (Merlangius merlangius)
plaice, plie, schol (Pleuronectes platessa)

fish days = Days on which the eating of meat was forbidden by the church or state, usually Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. During the 40 days of Lent, egg and dairy products were also forbidden (Black). (Viandier)

flamme, bawme =  baste
-- Cury on Inglysh: Forme of Cury  p.132 #157  "Tourteletes in fryture.  Take figus & grynde hem smal; do [th]erin saffron & poedur fort. Close hem in foyles of dowe, & fye hem in oyle. Claryfye honey & flamme hem [th]erwyt; ete hem hote or colde." Cury on Inglysh notes on page 132, a variation as occurring in the Aberystwyth, Nat.Lib Wales, Peniarth 394D, written as: [th]en bawme them with clarified hony and serue them furth. (Nevin)

flamment (French) = Flemish. (Viandier)

flawn, flaune, flathons, flathonys, flathouns, flawnes, flaunne, flownys, flaon, flan (Fr.), flado (OHG), fladen (Ger.) = from the Latin fladonem, literally a flat cake or pancake. These are baked tarts, filled with custard or cheese.

Liber Cure Cocorum  - #97. For flawnes...

flay, flyghe = (verb)  to pull off the skin of an animal; to skin an animal.
 

1615 Murrell C4a.6 "To bake a Pigge. -- Scalde it, and split it in the middest, flay it, and take out the bones. Season it with Pepper, Salt, Cloues, Mace, and Nutmeg: chop sweet hearbs fine, with the hard yolkes of two or three new layd Egges, and parboyld Currins. Then lay one halfe of your Pigge into your Pye, and Hearbes on it: then put on the other halfe with more Hearbes aloft vpon it, and a good piece of sweet Butter aloft vpon all. Jt is a good Dish both hot and cold."

1420c Liber cure cocorum  #:126 For a brothe of elys - Fyrst flyghe (th)yn elys, in pese hom smyte…

fleet, flet(e), flit, fletyn = to skim, esp. milk.  Fleeting-dish = a dish used for skimming milk.  Fleet-milk = skimmed milk.

fleeting = flowing, floating, swimming, skimming.

fleur (French) = Flower; fine flour. (Viandier)
 

flez (French) = Flounder (fish) (OED). (Viandier)

Florentine =

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foil, ffoile = a leaf.  See also leaves.

fons (French) = Bottom (of a pot). (Viandier)

FORCEMEAT = a stuffing, often, but not always, made from meat. By extension, various  foods such as the mixture from which veal, poultry, or fish quenelles are made, are also considered forcemeats. (Seton) See farce.

fortnight = 14 days.

Fraid, fryid = either means fried as in ‘already used,’ or cold, from Fr. froid.  (TTEM)  See froyde.

Frailesful = a frail was a large basket used for packing fruit.  It typically held from 50 to 75 pounds.

“The dryed grapes which we call great Raysins, and the Currans which we call small Raysins, are much vsed both for meates, broths, and sawces, in diuers manners, as this Countrey in generall aboue any other, wherin many thousands of Frailesfull, Pipes, Hogs-heads, and Buts full are spent yearly, that it breedeth a wonder in them of those parts where they growe and prouide them, how we could spend so many.” (Parkinson, p. 566.)

framboises, fryberis, strauberis = strawberries

franc meurier (French) = Wild mulberry. (Viandier)

franche mele, franchemyle, frawnchemyle, fronchemoyle, franchemulle, ffraunt hemel(l)e =   A haggis.   "...a sheep's call, or kell... Mulle, or Mule, is O.Fr. for poche. Compare "franche mule d'un boeuf. The purse, bag, or skinne, wherein the stones of an Ox, etc., be contained." (Cotgrave, found in Austin.)  Cotgrave interprets the root of this word to be a scrotum.  The recipe found in Austin, however, specifically calls for the sheep's stomach.

A Noble Boke off Cookry, p119, "ffraunt hemelle. To mak fraunt hemele tak and swinge eggs..."

frase (French) = Mesentery (Montagne).(Viandier)

freyr, freir (Sp.) = to fry

frian (French) = Epicure (OED). (Viandier)
 

fricture (French) = Fried fish. (Viandier)
 

frioler (French) = To brown (by frying) (Pichon et al.). (Viandier)
 

fromage de gain (French) = Harvest cheese.(Viandier)

frost = to garnish a freshly baked cake by melting a sugar mixture on the top in order to give the appearance of ice.   See also ice, glase, candy.

The Compleat Cook by W.M. , 1655.  - "To make a very good great Oxfordfhire Cake.... it will take three hours baking; when baked, take it out and froft it over with the white of an Egg and Rofewater well beat together, and ftrew fine Fugar upon it, and fet it again into the oven, that it may ice."

Froyde, Froyte, Fride, Fried, FRYES = cold

--Harleian MS. 4016, #111 Froyte de almondes.
--Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers, xj. Froyde almoundys.
--Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers, xij. Fride Creme of Almaundys.
--Harleian MS. 4016, #112 Fried creme de almondes.

frutage, fruitage = The process, time, or condition of bearing fruit or a yield of fruit. (Decker)

frutours, ffrutours = fritters
Harleian MS. 4016. #133 Lente ffrutours.  "Take goode floure, Ale yeest,  saffron, and salt, and bete al to-gidre as thik as o[th]er maner frutours of fflesh; and [th]en take Appels, and pare hem, and kut hem in maner of ffrutours, and wete hem in [th]e batur vp and downe..."
 

fuccus (French) = Fry (a conjecture guided by OED. Spelt fruites in other recipes. Pichon et al. could not identify this fish. There is an edible seaweed called 'fucus', and a goatfish (Phycis furcatus). Scully (1988) suggests phoque meaning 'seal'.). (Viandier)

fuder (German) = Unit of measurement.  The "fuder" equates roughly to the "tun" (English) or the "tonneau" (French).  The modern "fuder" is set at 10 hectoliters but in medieval times it was approximately 9 hectoliters or 238 U.S. gallons (medieval English wine gallon). The traditional Austrian "fuder" is about twice the size of the traditional German "fuder."  And the modern Belgium "foudre" is 3 times the size of the modern German "fuder." (Decker)

Furlongway = A measurement of time.  The time it takes to walk a furlong (1/8 mile).  (TTEM)

fust = a wine cask,  from fustis (Latin).

fusty, fewsty, fustie =
1--An adjective describing wine that tastes of the wooden cask. (Viandier)
2--To become musty or stale-smelling.
3--A strong musty smell. (OED)
4--When used of bread, grain or meat, etc.,  it means smelling of mould or damp.

fylberdis = filberts

galantine, galentyn, galentyne = A cold dish, with meat in jelly (or something similar). (Viandier)

gallon = unit of liquid measurement equal to 2 pottles. 1 pottle equals 2 quarts. "There are several different measures for a gallon, the standard Elizabethan measure was the wine gallon (231 cu. in.) which matches the modern standard US measures." (Decker)

gallypot, Gallipot, Gally-pot = a small jar of glazed earthenware.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Pippins white... put them up in a Gally-pot, and let them stand all night...

Galingale, galangal, galanga =  Alpinia officinarum Hance, Zingiberaceae. The dried rhizomes are used as a spice; the flavor is a cross between ginger and pepper.  Galingale is available whole or in powdered form, and may be found in oriental grocery stores; buy the powder.  (TTEM)  Prescott (after Grieve) recommends substituting a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger .  A.k.a. greater galangal, called laos in Indonesian, lengkuas in Malay, and kha in Thai.
 

gardon (French) = Roach (fish). (Viandier)

garlic = Allium sativum.  Platina refers to garlic as "allium."

garum (Latin) = a Roman fermented fish sauce.  It seems to be made most commonly as a result of enzymatic degradation (the enzymes in the fish entrails break down the fish, except in variants that call for gutted fish), and secondarily as a result of lactobaciliic fermentation. Versions I've tasted, made from recipes in the Geoponica (and quoted by Flower and Rosenbaum in their edition of Apicius) have been rich, slightly oily, salty, and with varying degrees of tanginess depending on whether it is the fermented version or the boiled version. The fact that there _is_ a boiled version for immediate use suggests to me that it's not supposed to get quite as tangy as some of the commercial Asian fish sauces, which in some cases are made with vinegar and anchovy essence.

The best approximation of homemade garum that I have encountered among the Asian commercial fish sauces is a Philipino variety called patis, which is made from whole anchovies and salt. It isn't especially sour, so I assume it is either a boiled sauce, or perhaps simply evidence that this variety is not particularly fermented, but simply allowed to break down under heat, pressure, moisture, and enzymes, prevented from fermenting excessively by the proportion of salt. (Troy)
 

gauncely =

gaymel (French) = Gudgeon (fish) (OED, Baldinger). (Viandier)

gelato (Italian) =
1- (adj.) jellied
2- a confection "attributed to Bernardo Buontalenti, an architect and hydraulic engineer performing services similar to those provided by Leonardo da Vinci 50 years earlier.  I haven't found any pointers to primary or solid secondary sources, but the scope of the gentleman's works make the attribution a distinct possibility.  The date given for his preparation of gelato is 1565, which is during the period when Catherine de' Medici really was altering French cusine.  However, the earliest recipe I've found (without having read [Elizabeth] David's work) is from 1750."

Menon, La science du maitre d' hotel. (1750)."Take 12 pints of cream and 4 pints of milk and let it boil with 3/4 pound of sugar. Take 1/2 pound of chocolate that you melt in a pan of water set in the fire, which you stir with a spatula or wooden spoon, and let it simmer just to the point of boiling. You must add three egg yolks that you have mixed well with the milk and cream. Pour it all into the pan with the chocolate and mix together. Then you must place it in a terrine until you are ready to place it on ice." (Decker)

gelly, gilly =
1- (noun) jelly

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Diocitonium simplex of Quinces...let it seeth till you see it stand like gelly...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make fine Christall Gelly...let it runne thorow a gelly bag...
(A Noble Boke of Cookry ffor a Prynce Houssode) - Tench in gilly...

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Pippins red...boyle untill they begin to gelly: then take them up...

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make fine Christall Gelly...let it runne thorow a gelly bag...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make white leach of creame... let it run downe thorow a gelly bag...

georgie = A kind of soup, otherwise untranslatable.  Power has 'garnished'. (Viandier)
 

giblets = Originally only goose giblets (OED).(Viandier)

gild = (verb) to decorate with gold leaf

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make paste of Eglantine... and then gild them.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste-royall white...and when it is dry, gild it...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste of Violets...and when it is dry, gild it. It is a fine banqueting conceit.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Aromaticum Lozonges... and so make them into Lozenges, gilding them first... and when you gild them, if your gilding will not stick on, wet them gently with a little Rose-water, but not too much...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a March-pane, to ice it...and so gild it, and serve it.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make all sorts of banqueting Conceits of March-pane stuffe... and so gild them...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make all kinds of birds and beasts to stand... then you may take them out, and gild them.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... and gild it, and so vse it... [MEDICINE]

Gill = a unit of measurement = 1/2 cup = 4 ounces liquid.  However, Monckton (p. 61) lists an English “gill” of circa 1382 which, by law, held 1 pint. (Sip)

Gillyflowers = (See Clove Gillyflowers.)

Gimlet, Gimblet = a small tool used for boring holes. (Sip)

ginger, gyngere, gingiber (Medieval Latin), zingiberi (old Latin) , zenzevro, sensevro, zevro = the spice ginger, Zingiber officinale.  See also 'Mecca ginger'. (Viandier),

glase = (verb) to glaze, to cover with a smooth and shiny coating. See also ice, frost, candy.
 

(A Booke of Sweetmeats, Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery) - "To Make Almond Iumbals... glase them with ye froth of ye white of 2 new layd eggs beaten with sugar, as much as will make it thick as pap. then spread it with A Knife as thin as you can on the Jumbals. then let them stand in the stove againe 5 or 6 hours. then glase the other side & set them to dry in the oven."

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To candie all manner of flowers in their naturall colours... and they will glister as if it were Sugar-candie.

Gobbets = bite-size pieces.

Godesgood = barm, yeast.

"Ale is made of malte and water and they the which do put any other thynge to ale than is rehersed, except yest, barme or godesgood, doth sofysticat theyr ale." (Andrew Boorde, 1547.)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... putting in of leafe gold six leaves... [MEDICINE]
(Hess, Martha Washington's Book of Cookery) - #70 To Make a Restoratiue Marmalet...put in 6 leavs of gold & 2 drams of prepared perle... [MEDICINE]

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gooseberries = Fresh gooseberries; or red, black or white currants. (Viandier)
 

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Gooseberries... Then put in your Gooseberries, and let them boyle a walme or two...

gourneau (French) = Red (?) gurnard (fish) (Montagne, OED. The species of gurnard is not certain.). See also grimondin. (Viandier)
 

grain (French) = Meat (Pichon et al. The literal meaning is 'solid matter'.) (Viandier)

Grains of Paradise, meleguette, melegette = Amomum or Aframomum meleguetta, Zingiberaceae.  The seeds of Grains of Paradise are a rare spice; a mixture of black pepper and cardamom may be substituted. (TTEM)  Prescott (after Grieve) suggests substituting a mixture of paprika, cardamom and black pepper .
(Viandier)
 

grane (French) = Ragout (from context and Godefroy. The medieval English spelling was 'grave' (OED under 'gravy'). Scully has 'gravy', but this is misleading as it is not a modern gravy.) (Viandier)

gram =
1-"Gram refers to a number of plants including chickpea (Bengal gram) whose seeds are used for food in Asia.  It derives through Portuguese from the
Latin "granum" (grain), suggesting a 16th Century origin for the usage.  The mung bean (Vigna radiata, green gram or golden gram) and the urd (Vigna
mungo, black gram) are also among the grams.  Cowpeas, black-eyed peas, and yard-long beans (V. unguiculata), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), soybeans
(Glycine max) and lentils (Lens culinarius) are sometimes included in the grain legumes.

2-Gram also refers 1/1000 of a kilogram (standard metric measure).  From the French "gramme" (small weight) derived from the Latin "gramma" (small
weight) derived from Greek. " (Decker)
 

grampus = Whale meat in general, probably salted (Pichon et al., Montagne, OED). It was particularly popular during Lent, because it counted as fish, not as meat. (Viandier)

grappois (French), craspois or graspeis (OF) from Latin crassus piscis(i.e.fat fish) = the Grampus , a cetacean, Grampus griseus, resembling a dolphin but without a snout . Also refers to similar cetaceans such as the killer whale. See grampus.

graspeys, grappays = "Royal Fish, as Sturgeon or Whale, but applied also to other fish." (Austin, p. 131.) See also grappois and graspeis, from which this term undoubtedly originated.

Liber Cure Cocorum -#112. "For white pese after porray... To serve on fysshe day with grappays, With sele fysshe or ellis with porpays..."

greene =
1- the color green
2- new, fresh, unripe

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Prince-bisket bread... while it is greene, cast Biskets...

Curye on Inglsche, Diversa Cibaria - A mete (th)at is icleped cuskynoles...so(th)en rost on an greudil; & so(th)en adresse.

grey gurnard = A saltwater fish (Trigla gurnardus). (Viandier)

grey mullet = A saltwater fish (Mugilidae capito). (Viandier)

grimondin (French) = Grey (?) gurnard (fish) (Montagne, OED. The species of gurnard is not certain.). See also gourneau.(Viandier)

Groat
1) a silver English coin (issued 1279 to 1662) equal in value to 4 English pennies and weighing 1/8 ounce.  Add so much honey “as the Liquor will bear an Egge to the breadth of a Groat” means to make a honey and water solution so strong that the portion of the egg floating above the solution has a diameter of a groat .  (Sip)

2)  grain that has been crushed but not ground.

grys, grice, gryse, gryce, greece, griss (ON) gris (Swed., Dan.) = a young pig or a suckling pig; also used in heraldry to mean a wild boar. The word is both singular and plural.

Grice, poule griesche (Fr.) = a Moorhen (Cotgrave - see O.E.D. for derivation.)

guede (French) = Woad (a dye) (Grieve). (Viandier)

Guisnes (Fr.) = "A kind of little, sweet, and long cherries; tearmed so because at first they came out of Guyenne; also any kind of Cherries. Cotgrave." (Furnivall, II, p. 85.)

gum arabic, Gum-arabeck =
 

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie all manner of flowers in their naturall colours...wash them over with a little Rose-water, wherein Gum-arabeck is dissolved...

gum dragagant, gum dragon = gum Tragacanth

Gum-lac = see Cochineal.

gum Tragacanth, gum dragagant, gum dragon, dragon, dragant = a gummy substance exuded by several Astragalus species.  It is used to strengthen sugar work. (CA #109)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make paste of Eglantine... stampe them in a Mortar with Gum Dragagant and Rose-water...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste-royall white...with an ounce of Gum dragagant steeped in Rosewater...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste-royall in Spices... mingle it with your searced Sugar, and Gum-dragagant steeped in Rose-water...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste of Violets...then take as much Gum-dragagant steeped in Rose-water, as will bring this Sugar into a perfect paste...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make paste of Goose-berries... and take as much Gum-dragagant steeped in red rose water...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Muskadine Comfits... then take Gum Dragagant steeped in Rose-water...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a Walnut, that when you crack it... being beeaten with Gum Dragagant...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Biskettello... with Gum dragagant steeped in Rose-water...

Gyle = another term for the fermenting wort. (Sip)

gylofre = see Cloves.

gyngaudre, gyngautrey, gyngawdry, gyngawtre =
 

-- Ordinance of Pottage p. 39 # 13, glossary p. 228
-- Forme of Cury p. 119  #97; glossary p. 192
-- Austin p. 16; p. 94; glossary p. 132a; (gives a reference to some other Douce Ms.)
-- There is also an OED entry s.v. "gyngawdry, -awtre" with one further reference to Warner.

hair sieve, Sieve of hair , haire searce, hare sive = a fine sieve made of woven horsehair
"Sieves were made of long white [horse] tail-hairs, sewn over parchment, stretched and secured by hoops of bent wood, tension
being obtained by expanding the hoops slightly after setting the hairs...Sieves made of the horse hair were called "tamise": we keep
the word today in the 'tammy cloth' used by cooks for straining jellies, and so on." (Hartley, p. 254.)  The OED does not give an English citation for 'tamis' that involves hair, though the etymology includes "a. F. _tamis_ ... a sieve (of wire, silk, hair, etc. (12th c. in Littré)" (Prescott)
The Spanish word is "cedazo".  It is defined as a hoop with a cloth/fabric/woven stuff covering one side.  The RAE says that the
word used to be "cerdazo", because it was originally made with "cerdas" (bristles, especially hog's bristles).  (Carroll-Mann)  See also sedas, sedazo,cedas, cedaç.

• Robert de Nola, Libro de Coxina (Spanish 1525) -- Poluora De Duque - Dukes Powder - Cinnamon, half an ounce; ginger, half and ounce; cloves, on eighth; sugar, one pound; all this well ground and strained thrugh a hair sieve so that it should be quite delicate and subtle, or at least just like the one for the sauces.
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make mosse-powder... then searce them thorow a course haire searce...   [INEDIBLE]
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... draw them with a silver Spoone thorow a haire searce...  [MEDICINE]
• Digby (1669) White metheglin of my Lady Hungerford - Then pour the clear through a Sieve of hair, ... You clear the Decoction from the herbs by a Hair-sieve...
• (Hess, Martha Washington's Book of Cookery) - #70 To Make a Restoratiue Marmalet...dragg them with a  silver spoon thorough a hare sive... [MEDICINE]

haller (French) = To brown (on a grill). (Viandier)

halvyndele, halfyndele = A part comprising one half. See also dele, THRIDDENDELE.

(Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez, c. 1430) - "xxxix.  Eyroun in lentyn.  ...[th]an take [th]e halvyndele, & colour it with Safroun, a lytil..."

hannon (French) = Scallop (Pichon et al. Brereton et al. and Scully suggest 'cockle', and Montagne says that in Picardy cockles are called henons. However, the actual recipe calls for frying (as in modern recipes for scallops) rather than boiling (as in modern recipes for cockles). The cockle shell and the scallop shell are quite similar in appearance, and the same name in different localities for different shellfish is quite possible.) (Viandier)
 

haricot, hericoc (French)= A kind of stew, otherwise untranslatable (OED). (Plouvier suggests that it is derived from a word meaning 'cut into bits'.)(Viandier)

hars (Dutch) = resin.

harsh (Eng. dial.), Hash, Hache (Fr.) = hash. Cooked meat, cut up into small pieces, and re-cooked with gravy or other flavorings.

The MS. Receipt Book of John Evelyn - #118 To make a cold harsh.
The MS. Receipt Book of John Evelyn - #119 To make a harsh of fresh Salmon.

Hart’s horn = shavings of the antlers of the male deer, used to make gelatine.  Also the name of a chemical compound, ammonium carbonate, used in medicines and commercially in baking powder and many other substances.  The name Hart’s horn also applies to two plants: Pulsatilla species, called Pasque-flower, Anemone, Wind-flower; and Plantago species.  Gerard (p. 346) shows a type of plantain which he calls Hart’s horn.  Plantains are used for salads and potherbs. (Sip)

harvest cheese = A kind of cheese, presumably made after the harvest from milk with a high fat content. It was sufficiently hard that it could be crumbled. Chiquart explicitly names Brie (Scully 1986). (Viandier)
 

haulte gresse(French)  = Fatted (of an animal) (conjectured from context). (Viandier)
see Harl. menus - in haute grese

Hawkweed = Picris hieracioides L., Cichoriaceae, also called Longebeff or Lang-de-beef.  Hawkweed is a very bitter herb with hairy leaves and stems.  Rocket or other mustards may be substituted for Hawkweed.  (TTEM)

Hazel hen = a game bird, Bonasa bonasia.

heather-bleat = a bird, the snipe.

helde = an old name for Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare.

helde, hield, heald, heeld  = to pour. See also Yhelid.

(Liber Cure Cocorum) #52 Chekyns in Cawdel ...Helde hom [th]e sewe...
(Liber Cure Cocorum) #101 Crustate of flesshe ...And helde hit onne [th]e flesshe...

height = when used in connection with sugar syrup or jelly making it refers to the stage of the candying process

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Quinces... when the sirup is come to the height of a perfect gelly...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Aromaticum Lozonges... vntill it come to the height of Lozenges...

Hemina = unit of measurement = 60 drachmae. (Sip)

heron, hern, hernsew, hernshaw, heronshew, heronshaw, herne, heronsewe, heron-sewe, handsaw, harn, harnser, harnsey, heronseugh, huron, herald, hegrie, skip hegrie, hegril's skip, hegron, aghirone (It.), etc. = the heron, any of a family of long-necked, long-legged wading birds, genus Ardea.

hervir (Spanish) = (verb) usually to boil, but in this context ??

Granado "hervirla muy bien, que rompan la massa" (? it very well, so that they break the dough)

hettoudeau (French) = Young male chicken (prior to becoming a capon) (Flandrin et al.) (Viandier)

higado, Figado (Sp.) = liver

hippocras = A kind of spiced wine. A recipe is in Additional Recipes. (Viandier)

Hippocras-bag = a cloth bag used for filtering hypocras and other drinks. (Sip)

hochepot (French) = Hotchpotch (OED). (Viandier)

hogshead = "At the time 268.2 litres (36 Paris setiers or 288 Paris pints) (Montagne, Zupko)." (Viandier) "A unit of liquid measure equal to 63 gallons.  Also a large cask containing from 63 to 140 gallons." (Sip)

hojalde = a sweet made from a sweetened dough and almond milk and lard, with a face made from sugar sprinkled with rose water (Larsdatter)

Holland Pints = “the Holland Pint is very little bigger then the English Wine-pint,” (Digby, # 4). (Sip)

HONY = honey

MS. Harley 5401:

• 3,3 -- to it be standyng; & put [th]erto hony, & [th]an dress a lech of [th]at one blaunched...
• 14,3 -- pot & put [th]erto whyte grece & hony or sugure, & boyle it togyder, & thyk it...
• 20,2 -- it with safron and a porcyon of hony; [th]en take shyves of brede tostyd & wete [th]am...
• 22,3 -- hard sodyn egges, & seth it with hony & sugure, & serof. To make Amydon. Recipe whete...
• 53,3 -- it with [y]olkes of egges; [th]an take hony & bole it & cast it [th]eron, & serof...
• 60,4 -- wyne or gode ale, sugur & pressyd hony & bole it, & take powdyr of gynger &...
• 64,3 -- let it boyle, & do a lityll hony [th]erto; [th]an tak water & well it in a...
• 65,3 -- well [th]am togyder; [th]an take saferon & hony with a lityll fayre buttur & let [th]am boyle...
• 66,2 -- with [th]e same wyne; [th]an put [th]erto hony & colour it with saferon, & set it oure...
• 68,3 -- a lityll porcyon of wyne, ano[th]er of hony,  and colour it with saferon, & boyle it...
• 83,4 -- let it bake; & els take clarifyed hony in stede of sugur; & serof. To bake a...
• 93,1 -- sugur, & serof it forth. To Clarify Hony. Recipe hony, & do it in a pot, &...
• 93,1 -- serof it forth. To Clarify Hony. Recipe hony, & do it in a pot, & cast [th]erto...
• 96,2 -- watur tyll [th]ai be softe, & take hony & strene [th]e crabbs [th]erwith throgh a cloth. Put...
• 96,3 -- Put to a iijd part of claryfyed hony & a quantyte of sawndyrs, & colour it with ...

hostie (French) = Wafer (Godefroy). (Viandier)

Hot Pepper = A kind of sauce. This sauce is only mentioned in the title of the recipe "Fresh leg of pork grilled with leeks, eaten with Hot Pepper", which is then not given.
(Viandier)

Hot Sauce = A kind of sauce. The recipe is in Le Viandier as part of the recipe "Fresh lamprey with Hot Sauce". (Viandier)
 

hot water pastries = Pastry which is first poached in water, then baked in the oven (Montagne). (Viandier)

houdons = A kind of stew, otherwise untranslatable (Godefroy). (Viandier)

hundredweight  (Eng.)  --  An English commercial measure equivalent to 1/20 of a ton or approximately 112 pounds apparently standardized during the mid-14th Century.  A hundred weight is divided into 4 quarters (28 pounds), 8 stone (14 pounds) or 16 cloves (7 pounds).  Also known as the long hundredweight.  See also -- quintal, zentner.

hundredweight (U.S.)  --  A U.S. measure equivalent to 100 pounds, introduced about 1840.  Also known as the short hundredweight or cental. (Decker)

hurdle = Originally a fence section woven  of willow or hazel shoots. Presumably here made in a smaller size as a bread rack. Illustration.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Prince-bisket bread... and dry them againe upon a hurdle of Wicker...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Paste of Pippins... and put them off the plates upon sheets of Paper upon a hurdle, and so put them into an Oven...

ice , yce =
1- (verb) to garnish with icing.   See also candy, frost, glase.

• (Plat. Delightes for Ladies, 1609).  #16, "To make Iumbolds"...when they are baked, yce them with Rosewater and Sugar, and the white of an egge beeing beaten together, then take a feather and gild them, then put them againe into the oven, and let them stand in, a litle while, & they will be yced cleane over with a white yce, and so boxe them yp, and you may keep them all the yeere."  Note: "If royal icing is a mixture of sugar beaten with egg white to which a small amount of flavoring is added, then this recipe by definition is royal icing.  It will not be a royal icing made with powdered or confectioners sugar. The sugar would be sugar scraped from a sugar cone and pounded fine in a mortar and pestle.  Normally today we don't dry our icings in an oven, but if the humidity were high it might be prove useful to do so."  (Holloway)
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - "To make a March-pane, to ice it, and garnifh it after the Art of Comfit-making. ...then ice it with Rofe-water and Sugar, made as thick as batter for Fritters: when it is iced, garnifh it with conceits, and ftick long Comfits in it, and fo gild it, and ferve it."
• The Compleat Cook by W.M. , 1655. (found in The Queens Closet Opened)- "To make Marchepane: to Ice him &c."
• A Queens Delight (found in The Queens Closet Opened, ) "To make Marchepane to Ice and Gild, and garnifh it according to Art...take it out of the Oven, and ice it with Rofewater and Sugar, and the white of an Egg, being as thick as butter, and fpread it over thin with two or three feathers; and then put it into the Oven again,and when you fee it rife high and white, take it out again and garnifh it with fome pretty conceit."  It concludes with the suggestion: "If your Marchepane be Oyly in beating, then put to it as much Rofe-water as will make it almoft as thin as to ice."  By this time the term "ice" must have been understood if one is being instructed to add liquid to make something "as thin as to ice." (Holloway)
• (The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) - "Another Cake... When it is half-baked, Ice it over with fine Sugar and Rose-water, and the whites of Eggs, and Musk and Ambergreece."
•  (The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"To Make A Plumb-Cake... Then to Ice it, take a pound and half of double refined Sugar beaten and searsed; The whites of three Eggs new-laid, and a little Orange-flower-water, with a little musk and Ambergreece, beaten and searsed..."
•  (The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"Another Very Good Cake... Let your oven be of a temperate heat, and let your Cake stand therein two hours and a half, before you Ice it; and afterwards only to harden the Ice. The Ice for this Cake is made thus: take the whites of three new laid Eggs, and three quarters of a pound of fine Sugar finley beaten; beat it well together with the whites of the Eggs, and Ice the Cake. If you please you may add a liitle Musk or Ambergreece."
• (The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"My Lord of Denbigh's Almond March-pane... Then you must Ice them thus: Make a thick pap with Orange flower or Rosewater, and purest white Sugar: a little of the whites of Eggs, not above half a spoonful of that Oyl of Eggs, to a Porrenger full of thick Pap, beaten exceeding well with it, and a little juyce of Limons..."
•  (Robert May's The Accomplisht Cook, 1685 edition) -"A made Difh of Pippins"...and being baked ice it."
• (Robert May's The Accomplisht Cook, 1685 edition) -"To make a Warden or a Pear Tart quartered... then ice it with a quarter of a pound of double refined Sugar, rose-water, and butter."
• (Robert May's The Accomplisht Cook, 1685 edition) -"To make a Pippin Pye.... then ice it with butter, fugar, and rofe-water."
• (Robert May's The Accomplisht Cook, 1685 edition) - "To make Marchpane.... and ice it with rofewater and fugar, being made as thick as butter for fritters, to fpread it on with a wing feather, and put it into the oven again; when you fee it rife high, then take it out and garnifh it with fome pretty conceits made of the fame ftuff..."
• (John Evelyn, Acetaria, A Discourse of Sallets, 1699) - "To ice the cake. Take a p[ound] of Double refined sugar sifted the whites of 3 Eggs beat with a spoonfull or more of Rose water mix in the sugar by degrees continue beating till it is very white and the Cake baked then draw the Cake to the ovens mouth and spread it equally let it stand to harden a litle while and so draw it[.]"

The Compleat Cook by W.M. , 1655.  - "To make a very good great Oxfordfhire Cake.... it will take three hours baking; when baked, take it out and froft it over with the white of an Egg and Rofewater well beat together, and ftrew fine Fugar upon it, and fet it again into the oven, that it may ice."

3-(noun) the solid form of water. See also icy.

(Partridge, The Treasurie of Commodious Conceits and Hidden Secrets, 1573) - "To make a Marchpane. Cap.ix... with a little fyne flowre of Ryfe, Rofewater and Suger beaten together & layd thin ouer the marchpane ere it go to dryinge: this will make it fhine lyke Ice, as Ladyes reporte."

The Compleat Cook by W.M. , 1655.  - "Mrs. Dukes Cake."..."have fome rofewater and fugar finely beaten and well mixed together to wafh the upper fide of it, then fet in the Oven to dry, when you draw it out it will fhew like Ice."

4-(noun) The precursor to modern icing is dated to 1573 when John Partridge instructs one to combine "a little fyne flowre of Ryfe, Rofewater and Suger beaten together & layd thin ouer the marchpane ere it go to dryinge: this will make it fhine lyke Ice, as Ladyes reporte." Marchepanes and cakes, as well as savoury pies might be "iced." (Holloway)

(Plat. Delightes for Ladies, 1609).  #16, "To make Iumbolds"...when they are baked, yce them with Rosewater and Sugar, and the white of an egge beeing beaten together, then take a feather and gild them, then put them againe into the oven, and let them stand in, a litle while, & they will be yced cleane over with a white yce, and so boxe them yp, and you may keep them all the yeere."
(The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"Another Very Good Cake... Let your oven be of a temperate heat, and let your Cake stand therein two hours and a half, before you Ice it; and afterwards only to harden the Ice. The Ice for this Cake is made thus: take the whites of three new laid Eggs, and three quarters of a pound of fine Sugar finley beaten; beat it well together with the whites of the Eggs, and Ice the Cake. If you please you may add a little Musk or Ambergreece."

Magia Naturalis by Giambattista della Porta [1535-1615] 1658 English Translation, Book XIV, "Of Cookery" Chapter XI, "Of Diverse Confections of Wines."--"Wine may freeze in Glasses. Because of the chief thing desired at feasts, is that Wine cold as ice may be drunk, especially in summer.  I will teach you how Wine shall presently, not only grow cold, but freeze, that you cannot drink it but by sucking, and drawing in of your breath.  Put Wine into a Vial, and put a little water to it, that it may turn to ice the sooner.  Then cast snow into a wooden vessel, and strew into it Saltpeter, powdered, or the cleansing of Saltpeter, called vulgarly Salazzo.  Turn the Vial in the snow, and it will congeal by degrees.  Some keep snow all the summer. Let water boil in Brass kettles, and pour it into great bowls, and set them in the frosty cold air.  It will freeze, and grow harder than snow, and last longer." (Fox-Davis)

icing, ising = a type of sausage, "icing" from the word "ising". (C. Driver) See isicia

(John Evelyn, Cook. edited by Christopher Driver. Totnes, Devon:  Prospect Books, 1977) - "274. To make white oatmeall pudings or icings.  Take one qrt of halfe oatmelle grists lay them all night in soake in new milke over a few Embers to keepe it warme then take 12 Eggs halfe the whites very well beat 2 p[ounds] of beefe suet shred small a pound of sugar nutmeg grated mace cinnamon and a few cloves beat some rose water a little salt mingle all well together fill the guts but not too full."
 

"ising. Obs. [Origin obscure: perh. a corrupted deriv. of L. insicia, insicium, in 16th c. L. dicts. insitium stuffing, force-meat'.] A kind of `pudding'; a sausage: see quots.
C. 1550 Wyll Burke's Test. in Halliwell Lit. 16 & 17 Cent; (1851) 54 Chitterlinges broyled and therbur and isinge.

C. 1550 Wyll Burke's Test. in Halliwell Lit. 16 & 17 Cent; 55 For to make Isinge Poding..fair broile him on a grediron and cast salte on him, and serve him forthe for an isinge.

1573-80 Baret Alv. P 825 A pudding called an Ising, isitium.

1597 Bk. Cookerie 50 To make Ising puddings.

1599 Minsheu Sp. Dict., A Sausage or ising made of porke, vide Salchicha (a Sawsidge).

1706 Phillips, Isicium, a kind of Pudding call'd an Ising or Sausage." (O.E.D.)
 

icy, Icie = (adj) shiny and cold like ice

 A True Gentlewomans Delight [which is bound with A Choice Manual of Rare and Select Secrets in Physick and Chyrurgery], 1653 - "To make Fine Diet Bread... if you will have it gloffe and Icie on the top, you muft wafh it with a feather, and then ftrew Sugar very finely beaten on the top before you put it into the Oven."

IGROUNDEN = (adj.) something that is ground, like meal or almonds (Seton); also the past participle of to grind.

ilyke = alike

in fere, y-fere = together

Infusion = a tisane. Plant material is soaked in boiling water to extract the active ingredients. (Seelye-King)
 
 

isicia (Latin) = a stuffing or forcemeat or sausage.  Isicia... commences to become a generic term for 'dishes'." (Vehling, p. 66)

Apicius, de re Coquinaria - Isicia de Lolligine
Apicius, de re Coquinaria - Isicia de Scillis vel de Cammaris Amplis
Apicius, de re Coquinaria - Isicia de Cerebellis
Apicius, de re Coquinaria - Isicia ex Spondylis
Apicius, de re Coquinaria - Aliter Isicia Omentata
Apicius, de re Coquinaria - Isicia Plena
Apicius, de re Coquinaria - Isicia de Pullo
Apicius, de re Coquinaria - Isicium Simplex
Apicius, de re Coquinaria - Isicia
Apicius, de re Coquinaria - Isicia Amulata ab Aheno

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make white leach of creame... let it boyle with foure ounces of Isinglasse...

jours masles (French) = Meat days (Santich private communication, Scully 1988. The literal meaning is 'butchering days'.) (Viandier)
 

Jowtis, Joutes, iowtes , Ioutus, Joutes, Owtes, Eowtes, Eowts, Jowtes, Jouts, Iouute, Ioutes  = pot-herbs or vegetables. Joutes is a pottage or soup made primarily of vegetables or pot-herbs. It is typically a dish of spring greens, sometimes with meat, & sometimes without.  It is a type of porray, but typically not containing leeks.  Pegge (Forme of Cury., p. 13) was confused by the word. He has this note: "Eowtes. Lowtes, No 88, where, in the process, it is Rowtes. Quaere the meaning, as Roots does not apply to the matter of the Recipe. In No 73 it is written owtes.

MS. Harley 5401:  60,6 -- For to make Jowtis.
Liber Cure Cocorum #29 Ioutus de almonde.
Liber Cure Cocorum #118. For Ioutes.
Liber Cure Cocorum #120 For o[th]er ioutes.

Kail (Arabic) = unit of measurement

Kappa (Swedish) = unit of measurement. 1 kappa = 5 liters.  The Swedish version is 1 kappe = 4.58 liters. (Decker)

katche, catch = to catch, to take

Liber Cure Cocorum #111 Porry of white pese... [Th]ou katche hom doune...

Liber Cure Cocorum #41 Mortrews of fysshe...Take [th]o kelkes of fysshe anon...

Kermes = see Cochineal.

Ketill (Old Norse), ketel (Middle English) = kettle.  The word kettle derives from the Latin "catillus" a diminutive of "catinus" or "large bowl."  It appears in Old English as "cetel" and in Old Norse as "ketill."  In Middle English it is "ketel."  The definition is, a metal pot, usually with a lid for boiling or stewing.  It is a synonym for cauldron. An early spouted teakettle can be seen in this illustration detail from Pedro de la Vega, Flos Sanctorum, Zaragoza, G. Coci, 1544.

Kilderkin = from Middle Dutch, kindekijn.  An English unit of measurement equal to approximately 18 imperial gallons; also means a cask. (Sip)

kipper, kipre,  kiper, kippre, kepper, cypera (?OE, meaning copper) = a salmon or sea trout during the spawning season. Also, the same fishes, salted & smoked.

Kiver, kiue = a large vessel used to hold the working liquor. (Sip)

koek (Dutch) = cake.

koekje (Dutch) = little cake, from whence comes our word 'cookie'.

Kumiss = fermented mare’s milk.

kvass, quass(e), kvas, quash, kuass = From the Russian word kvas meaning leaven, a fermented drink made with rye flour or rye bread.

kyn, kine = cows

 
1-- the plant: "Hills green with flowering shrubs, and in particular with labdanum." (OED, quot. from 1775)
2-- the resin of the plant: "Labdane, Labdanum; a fat, clammie, transparent, and sweet-smelling Gumme." (Cotrgrave 1611; OED)
  -- "(...) Or els make a pomemaunder vnder this manor. Take of Lapdanum .iii. drammes, of the wodde of Aloes one drame (Andrew Boorde's Dietary of Health, 1542)

Lac = see Cochineal.

Lady Days, Lady dayes, Days of Our Lady = or Days of Our Lady, of which there are five:  Purification, February 2; Annunciation or Lady Day, March 25 (formerly April 6); Visitation, July 2; Assumption, August 15; and Nativity, September 8. (Sip)
For more religious holidays, see http://www.mewslade.freeserve.co.uk/app2.htm

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make mosse-powder... gathered betweene the two Lady dayes...  [RECIPE IS INEDIBLE]

laictue (French) = Lettuce (a pastry) (not further translated). See also oreillette. (Viandier)

Lamb’s Wool = spiced ale, traditionally drunk on New Year’s Day in Scotland. (Sip)

lampron, lampern, laumprun, lamprel, lamproyon (French) = Small lamprey; river lamprey; or fish resembling the lamprey. "Lampreys and Lamprons differ in bigness only and in goodness; they are both a very sweet and nourishing meat... The little ones called Lamprons are best broild, but hte great ones called Lampreys are best baked." (Muffett, p. 181-3, found in Babees Book, p. 157.)
 

lard (English), lart (French)  =
1-- (noun) rendered hog fat.See also sain de lart. (Viandier)
2-- (verb) To dress for roasting with threads of pork fat sewn into the meat. (Viandier) See button. Strips of fat were, literally, sewn into the roast using a speciallarding needle.  Compare with Barding.
 

LARDED = scatterd through. (Seton)

Larding Needle = a special large needle used to insert strips of pork fat into a roast prior to cooking.

LASER = an aromatic, resinous root used fairly frequently in Roman cookery.  IIRC,  laser is the older form which describes Cyrenaican sylphium, which I believe became extinct in the reign of the Emperor Nero (r. 54-69 C.E.). Subsequently Persian sylphium, still occasionally referred to as laser in later Roman recipe sources, such as Apicius, became the universally accepted substitute. Now, Persian sylphium appears to have been asafeotida. I may have some of  these details reversed or incorrect, but  it's almost irrelevant since asafeotida is all modern adaptors of Roman  cuisine have to work with. It is unclear whether there was any real similarity between the two types of sylphium, other than that both are described as aromatic, resinous roots. A little asafeotida goes a long way -- too much makes your food reek somewhat of rotting garlic, while a tiny bit  acts as an amazing flavor enhancer in fish dishes and various others. Available in Indian groceries as "hing". (Seton)
 

lassis (French) = Laces. (Viandier)

Latwerge (fem), also Latwerg (neut) (German) = from the  Latin electuarium. An electuary or medicinal paste made by mixing a drug with honey or sugar to make a paste.  Eventually the word came to mean a sweet paste or confection.  Compare with lozenge.

(Ein Buch von guter spise) #85. Einen fladen von wisseln ...und iz als ein latwergen.

lave = (verb)

Digby (1669) White metheglin of my Lady Hungerford - ...After it is well dissolved and laved with strong Arms...

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To candie Rose leaves... put it in a fine lawne searce...

Lead =
1 - a cauldron, pot, or kettle
2- a milk pan made of lead
3 - the metal.  Many old recipes call for lead to be used either to seal the bungs of casks, or as a weight to weigh down bags of herbs and spices in wort.  Lead has been shown to be poisonous; please do not use it.  Parafilm or plastic wrap may be used to achieve a tighter seal on a bung; and a clean pebble may be used as a weight. (Sip)

leaves, leaues, levus , leves  = see also ffoile.

1- this may mean leaves or flower petals, depending on context.

Liber Cure Cocorum #118 For Ioutes ...Of plumtre leves... And lest of prymrol levus [th]ou take...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To preserve Red-rose leaves... Of the leaves of the fairest buds take halfe a pound: sift them cleane from seeds...and put it into the liquor with halfe a pound of Rose-leaves...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an especiall sweet Powder... Red and Damask Rose-leaves, of each two ounces...with Rose leaves dried... [INEDIBLE]

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To make Prince-bisket bread... you may also take one of your leaves, and wash it over with the yolke...

LECHE, leach, lese, lesse, leshe, lesk =
1-- (noun) a slice or strip, esp. of meat.
2-- (noun)  a dish containing gelatin that can be sliced.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make white leach of creame...slice it like brawne...This is the best way to make leach.

lech, leach, leech, letch = (verb) to leach. (noun) a pan for leaching.

leche, leach, lesche, lese, leshe = (verb) to slice.

leschefrites - (Note that in the dripping pan meaning the word has the 's' on the end, but is singular in meaning.  Don't shorten to 'leschefrite'. ) The word means (even today) a dripping pan.  See Rey, Alain., et al., eds.  Dictionnaire historique de la langue française: 1992, 3 vols. Paris: Le Robert, 1998., who do NOT support a derivation of this word from 'fried slices'.  It has this meaning as early as 1193, and also in at least two recipes in Menagier.  The speculation about the various possible meanings for the edible dish called 'leschefrites' is still, pending discovery of a recipe with that title, speculation.  (Prescott)

leek, lec (pl. lecus), leke, leeke, like, leake = the leek, Allium porrum.  The name may be used with a modifier to mean another plant (ex. - House-leek , Stone-leek).

Lees = the dregs or sediment. (Sip)

Lent = The Christian holiday which extends from Ash Wednesday until Easter.  It has no fixed dates, but varies with matters astronomical. (Sip)

LESH IT  = slice it; cut it into pieces. (Seton) See leche.

lest = last or least

lesynge, leesing = (verb) adding lees of good wine to an inferior batch to improve the flavor.

lettuces = Pastries made, perhaps with several layers of crust, so as to resemble lettuces. See also 'ears'. (Viandier)

libra (It.)  --  Italian pound of 12 ounces, weighing about .722 pounds. Almost equivalent to the "libra pondo" or Roman pound.

libra (Port.)  --  Portuguese pound of 16 ounces, weighing about 1.016 pounds or 460 grams.

libra (Sp.)  --  Spanish pound of 16 ounces, weighing about 1.01 or 457.5 grams.

libra pondo  --  Roman "pound" of 12 ounces, weighing about .722 pounds. (Decker)

lignum aloes =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make mosse-powder... put to it an ounce of Lignum Aloes beaten and searced...  [Recipe is INEDIBLE]

Limbecke = an alembic, a distillation apparatus. (Sip)

ling = salt cod; large ones are called Organe Ling. "Ling perhaps looks for great extolling, being counted the beefe of the Sea...yet it is nothing but a long Cod: whereof the greater sised is called Organe Ling, and the other Codling, because it is no longer then a Cod, and yet hath the taste of Ling: whilst it is new it is called GREEN-FISH; when it is salted it is called Ling, perhaps of lying, because the longer it lyeth...the better it is, waxing in the end as yellow as the gold noble, at which time they are worth a noble a piece. Muffett, p. 154-5" (Furnivall, I, p. 175.)

LIQUAMEN in Platina is pork fat; it seems to have no connection with the liquamen sauce used extensively in Roman cooking. (Seton)

liquor = cooking liquid

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Red-rose leaves... and put it into the liquor with halfe a pound of Rose-leaves...

limon  (French) = The slimy protective coating on fish (Scully 1988).(Viandier)

List, listeth = To like. “He that listeth to knowe” means “He who would like to know.” (Sip)

littorn = unit of measurement = "A littorn contains of English measure about a pint, or better, but this is unnecessary in England." (Rose, p. 277.)

Liver-worth = liverwort, the name applies to two distinct groups of plants: the noble liverworts, genus Hepatica; and the Bryophytes, of which there are many. Both were used historically in medicinal concoctions.

Digby (1669)White metheglin of my Lady Hungerford - ...a handful of Harts-tongue, and a handful of Liver-worth...

livre  (Fr.)  = French pound of 16 ounces, of variable weight. Standardized in 1350 to weigh about 1.079 pounds or 489.5 grams.

livre (Gr.)  =  Greek pound of 16 ounces, of variable weight, usually between the Spanish libra and 1350 French livre. (Decker)

lober agol, loberagol = a white beer brewed in SW England up until 1850?  A brief mention is here http://www.bartleby.com/237/25.html : 25. Beer and Cider By George Saintsbury, "The curious “white ale,” or lober agol—which, within the memory of man, used to exist in Devonshire and Cornwall, but which, even half a century ago, I have vainly sought there—was, I believe, drunk quite new; but then it was not pure malt and not hopped at all, but had eggs (“pulletsperm in the brewage”) and other foreign bodies in it."   "Andrew Boorde wrote that 'Cornish Ale is stark nought, looking whyte and thycke as pygges had wrastled in it.' He may have seen some Cornish cream brew, or it may have had something to do wht the Cornish clay water? They used to put cream in their cider to fine it."  (Hartley's "Food in England", p. 548.)  Lober is a form of Lubber; in folklore, a lubber fiend was a good goblin who helped with household chores at night in exchange for a bowl of cream that was left out for him.  Perhaps he got tired of cream?

lobfish, lubfysh = a type of stockfish.

loin = a cut of meat.  "Forme of Cury, 56 Nota. The loyne of the pork is fro the hippe boon to the hede." (Troy)
Lombard Powder, Poudyr Lombard = a commercially sold spice mixture.

long pepper, peverlongo, pevere longo = A kind of pepper usually considered inferior to black pepper (Grieve). (Viandier)

LOPPORD = This merely refers to the coagulated cream that has formed on the top.
 

lores  (French) = The most obvious guess would be 'bay leaf', but this already appears in the list of spices. Pichon et al. could not identify it. Lores is not actually used in any recipe in Le Viandier. One possibility is laurin, meaning 'wild thyme' (Godefroy, Montagne, Grieve). Another possibility is luce, short for fleur de luce, meaning 'orris root' (Grieve). An early English spelling for orris root is 'ireos' or 'yreos' (OED), so perhaps a mis-writing is involved. (Viandier)

lorey, loorey (English), lorez, lorais (French) = An adjective qualifying a dish, otherwise untranslatable (OED). Perhaps from the district of Lorraine. The modern equivalent is the French roussette (Montagne). (Viandier)
see harl. loorey of bullaces

Loseynes, Lozenges, Lozonges, Lesynges, lesyng[₃]

1 - A  diamond shape.

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. liij.  Lesynges de chare.  "...& [th]an make fayre bature of Raw [₃]olkys of Eyroun, Sugre, & Salt, & close [th]e sydys of [th]e lesyng[₃] [th]er-with, & [th]an frye hem in fayre grece, & serue forth."

2- Candies or medicinal sugar troches, cakes, etc., cut into square or diamond shape.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Aromaticum Lozonges... and so make them into Lozenges... and then cut them square with a knife for that purpose...

3- Loseyns is also the name of a 14th cent. English pasta dish.

Lovage, Lebschteckel, Liebstoeckl  (German) = a perennial celery type plant  with a strong celery  leaf flavor.  After the first year of  growth, it brings out leaves in the spring and can be cut repeatedly all year.  Lovage can be found as seed in many herb catalogs.  (Levi)
 

Luce (English), luz (French) = Large or fully-grown pike (Pichon et al., OED). (Viandier)

luddock = the loin or buttock

(Liber Cure Cocorum) -#108 For sirup...Of [th]o luddock with owte or ellis with in...

lue, lewe, loo(e) = warm, lukewarm, tepid

(Liber Cure Cocorum) - #84 For to save venysone fro restyng ...[th]at he be bot lue...

Lute = ME lute from OF lut and Latin lutum, meaning potter’s clay.  “Lute your Lymbeck” means to seal the connecting joints of the alembic with clay. (Sip)

lye, alye = (verb) to mix.  See alay and lyour.

lyour, liour, lere, lear, layour,  Lycour (an error), etc. = (noun) a mixture. A thickening for soups or sauces. A binding agent.  See lye, alay.

(Liber Cure Cocorum) - #86. For lyoure best. Take drye floure, in cofyne hit close, And bake hit hard, as I suppose; [Th]ou may hit kepe alle [th]ys fyve [3]ere, [Th]ere-with alye mony metes sere...
(Liber Cure Cocorum) - #8. Amydone ...[Th]s is a lycour as men sayn...

LYR, lyre, lyure = flesh.

Magma = dregs or leavings. (Sip)

maize = a plant, Zea mays, known to Americans as 'corn'. Maize is first mentioned in European writings as "millet" in the Diary of Christopher Columbus (1492).  He is believed to have brought the first maize back to Europe. It is believed that maize from Spain was traded to the Venetians, who in turn traded it to the Turks.  The Turks then proceeded to grow the plant and it was introduced to most of Europe as being from Turkey.  This appears to have happened rather quickly, for maize appears in Leonhard Fuchs' Primi de Stirpirum published in Basil in 1545 as Turcicum frumentum or Turckisch korn. Maize was introduced into Africa by the Portuguese as food for the slave trade in the mid-16th Century and was introduced into Asia about the same time as part of the spice trade. In 1563, Guiseppe Arcimboldo depicted a personification of Summer as having an ear of maize for an ear.  The painting was done in Milan, which is in the region of Italy where maize is grown and suggests that maize may have been a common crop by then. In 1588, maize appears as a New World foodstuff in Thomas Hariot's A Briefe & True Report of the New Found Land in Virginia. Please note that none of this demonstrates that Europeans in Europe actually ate maize. (Decker)  However, the following passages demonstrate that maize and bread and polenta made from maize were eaten in Europe prior to 1600.

In "De orbe nouo Petri Martyris ab Angleria Mediolanensis ... 1530" ('About the new world by Pietro Martire of Anghiera', 1530), there is an index of foreign words (vocabula barbara), which includes:

   "Maizium granum ex quo conficitur panis" which translates to something like: 'Corn/maize grains from which bread is made'

   "...gibt guot schön weiß mäl / vnd süß Brot" (fol. 223, 1570 edition)

"Dise korn seind erstlich ... auß der Turckey in vnnser land bracht worden. Bekommen gern/ darumb sie nun fast gemein seind/ vnd in vilen gärten gezilt werden. (...) Man macht aber auß disem korn über die massen schön weiß meel/ vnd becht darnach brodt darauß / das macht leichtlich verstopffung" (L. Fuchs: New Kreüterbuoch, Basel 1543, chap. CCCXX)

"Fa la farina bianca, della quale si fa bel pane, la sostanza del quale è più grossa, & pi` viscosa del nostro. ... Fanno di questa farina i contadini le polente, & le torte aggiuntoui butiro, & formaggio, & è cibo non insuaue: ma genera grosso nudrimento". (C. Durante p. 217f.) (Th.)

From Gerard's Herball (1633 edition, pp. 81-83)  "Frumentum Indicum. Turky Wheat. ...Turky wheat doth nourish far lesse than either wheat, rie, barley, or otes. The bread which is made thereof is meanly white, without bran: it is hard and dry as Bisket is, and hath in it no clamminesse at all; for which cause it is of hard digestion, and yeeldeth to the body little or no nourishment... a more conuenient food for swine than for men."

mai wine, maibowle, May wine = a German drink of Rhine wine flavored with Sweet Woodruff.

malacadonians, malagatoones  = Karen Hess (pp. 248-49) identifies them as Melocoton (Melum cotoneum) and says they are a Cydonian apple... a peach grafted onto a quince tree. Popular during the time of Elizabeth I and the 17th century. She suggests peaches for a substitute. (Holloway) See mirabolans.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Mirabolans or Malacadonians...Take your Malacadonians, stone them ...
Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery. Recipe S37 - TO PRESERUE MALAGATOONES.

Mallow = Malva species, Malvaceae.  The name was applied to marsh-mallows and hollyhocks, as well as to common mallows.  Young plants may be eaten as potherbs. (TTEM)

malpigeryum = see also Dilgirunt

Malmsey, Malvasia = a strong, flavorful, sweet white wine. (Sip)

Malt = typically barley or other grain that has been sprouted to produce amylases, starch-digesting enzymes that convert starch into sugars.  The sprouted grain is dried and roasted for flavor and color, and is then ground, mixed with water, and heated to produce a wort.  The word ‘malt’ also refers to beverages brewed from malted grain. (Sip)

"Ma'amoul means "filled" in Arabic. Ma'amouls are small imprinted molds made of wood that have a handle attached. A piece of short-pastry
dough is pressed into these molds and date or nut filling is then enclosed in the dough. Holding the handle, the mold is slammed on the table causing the finished dough to drop out. The imprinted dough can then be rolled in confectioner's sugar if so desired. If a mold is not available the cookies can also be made using a tool of your choice.  These cookies are traditionally eaten at Purim in Middle Eastern countries... especially in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt."  (SOURCE: The Jewish Holiday Kitchen by Joan Nathan p. 227 Schocken Books NY ISBN 0-8052-0900-X) (Seton)
 

Manchet = white bread made of fine wheat flour.

mangonel  = A medieval engine of war (OED). The usage is puzzling. It might indicate a subtlety depicting a siege in miniature; or it might merely signify food in the form of a cylinder ('mangle'). See also 'motte'. (Viandier)
 

mangonneau (French) = See Mangonel.  (Viandier)

manteca (Sp.) = lard or butter

Manus Christi, manis Christi = hard candy made of sugar, rose water and leaf gold.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Manus Christi.  Of refined Sugar take halfe a pound, and some Rose water, and boyle them together till it come to Sugar againe: then stirre it about while it be somewhat cold: then take your leafe-gold, and mingle with it: then cast it according to art, that is, in round gobbets, and so keepe them.

(Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery - c. 1550 to 1625) "TO KNOW WHEN YOUR SUGAR IS AT MANUS CHRISTI HEIGHT. When y^r sugar is at manis Christi height, it will draw betwixt y^r fingers like a small thrid, and before it comes to that height, it will not draw..."  Hess (p. 227) notes this stage is 215 degrees F., and cites Barbara Scott's suggestion that the name comes from the hand gesture used to test the syrup, "which is the same as that of manus Christi (literally, hand of Christ), the Blessing of the Host and Chalice."  Note that this stage is significantly below that which is required to make Manus Christi candy.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Marigolds in wedges; the Spanish fashion... boyle it to the height of Manus Christi...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie all manner of Flowers, Fruits...and boile it almost as high as for Manus Christi...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Eringo roots...and boyle it to the height of Manus Christi...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Enula-Campana... and boyle it to the height of Manus Christi...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Gooseberries... and so boyle them up to the height of Manus Christi...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To make Paste of Pippins...and boyle it to Manus Christi...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To make paste of Genua the true way...and boile it to the height of Manus Christi...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To make all kinds of birds and beasts to stand... boyle it to the height of Manus Christi...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To cast all manner of frutage hollow in turned worke... Take your Sugar being boilded to the height of Manus Christi...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an excellent Marmelade... till it come to the height of Manus Christi...
 

March-pane, march payne,  Machpane = a dried cake of  marzipan paste (sweetened & flavored with rosewater), iced and garnished with comfits and gold leaf.  (See Hess, pp322-3, for an essay regarding the word's origin.) Also, the marzipan paste used to make this cake.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a March-pane, to ice it...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make all sorts of banqueting Conceits of March-pane stuffe...Take a pound of Almond Paste made for the Marchpane...
(A Booke of Sweetmeats,  Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery) - "To Make Machpane Cakes"
(A Booke of Sweetmeats,  Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery) - "To make Rosquillions... then take of yr machpane paste..."

mark (Ger.)  =  unit of measurement =  1/2 pfund

mark (Eng.)  =  unit of measurement = 1/2 pound

Marigold = Calendula officinalis L., Compositae.  The plant being called for in these recipes is the European Marigold, and not Tagetes.  “The flowers, eyther greene or dryed, are often vsed in possets, broths, and drinkes, as a comforter of the heart and spirits, and to expel any malignant or pestilential quality, gathered neere thereunto.”(Parkinson, p. 298.)  Marigold is the source of calendulin, and has been used as a bitter stomachic and fever medicine, as well as externally for sprains and bruises.(Merck, p. 114.)  (Sip)

Marmelade =

 
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...Heere begin Banqueting Conceits, as Marmelades, Quodiniacks, and such like...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an excellent Marmelade... put it into your Marmelade Boxes, and so present it...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... put it up in your Marmelade boxes, and gild it...  [MEDICINE]

Marrow, Marybones, marw (M.E.),  mearg (O.E.) = Bone marrow.  This was used as a special enrichment in many dishes to provide extra fat.  Have your butcher saw the marrow bones into small pieces, 3 or 4 inches long, to make them easier to prepare.  (TTEM)
 

Marsh-Mallow =   Althea officinalis L., Malvaceae.  Its thick mucilaginous roots were used in confectionery, and medically as a demulcent and emollient.  (TTEM)

Martinmas = the feast day of St. Martin, November 11th.

marzipan = A paste prepared from ground blanched almonds, sugar and liquid (in modern recipes usually rosewater, though fruit spirits are often used to add different flavors). The word 'marcipan' probably originates in Italy, where one etymology
traces it to the Venetian feast in honor of St. Mark as 'Marci Pan = bread of St. Mark' while another one argues that 'Marci Pan = bread of March', holding the term to go back as far as Roman times. Marzipan can be prepared as a cold paste or heated during mixing to achieve a thicker consistency. It was served cold or warm, often baked with spices or glazed fruit. Modern confectioners often combine it with chocolate. Two 16th century recipes I have on hand give a proportion of 1:1 for almonds and sugar, and this appears to have survived (a 1950s cookbook given much the same for Lubeck Marzpian). (Bach)

maslin, meslin, mashelson, masheishon, mashelton, mashelgem, mashlin, maslen, mislen = A utility bread, typically made from mixed grains such as wheat plus rye.  (OED) According to Dyer  (p. 57, citing Holley), maslin was used for trenchers.
 

"Maslin bread is made half of wheat and half of rye. And there is also maslin made half of rye and half of barley" [Andrew Boorde, The Dyetary of Helth, 1542]

"I've also seen this term used by Massimo Montanari and Toussaint-Samat to describe the mixed grains themselves, as compared to the bread.  Apparently there was a practice of sowing several grain types in the same field to guarantee some sort of production.  If one grain (say, oats) failed, then the other grains (barley, rye or whatever) could still be harvested and sold or used." (Vicente)
 

mastic, mastikhe (Gr.), mastichum (Lat.),  Mastyk, mastyck, mastigando =  the resin 'mastic', from a shrub, Pistachia lentiscus, which grows in  Mediterranean region, in Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, Turkey, the Canary Islands, and Tropical Africa.  This shrub has been cultivated in England since 1664.  The resin mastic was used in Arabic cookery, and was also used as chewing gum.  More.  [Note: In his Viandier, Scully suggests  "mastic" may be a mis-writing of macis, meaning 'mace'.]
mastic, Masticke or Mastiche=
1- Mastic thyme (Thymus mastichina)
2- a yellow color.
3- A liquor, used in Turkey and Greece, made from grain-spirit or grape-juice, flavoured with gum-mastic. (Cf. mastic-brandy and raki.)" (OED)
 

mastic thyme = A herb (Thymus mastichina). Also called herb mastic or Spanish wood marjoram. (Viandier)

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mauvil (French) = Thrush (OED under 'mavis').(Viandier)

moun = may

Measurements
 

Definitions of many medieval measurements by Marc Carlson  (Diarmaid)

Old measures and cautions for recipes.

Additional Sources:

Dr. Ronald E. Zupko has books on:

British weights and measures from antiquity to the 17th century,
British weights and measures from Anglo-Saxon times to the 19th century,
British weights and measures from the Middle Ages to the 20th century,
A Dictionary of English weights and measures,
Revolution in Measurement: Western European weights and measures,
French weights and measures before the Revolution,
Italian weights and measures from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

meat days = Days on which the eating of meat was permitted by the church. See also 'fish days'. (Viandier)

Mecca ginger  = A kind of ginger. It is described as "whiter, better, and always more expensive" (Labarge, Pichon et al., Power). Use ordinary ginger. (Viandier)

meinuise (French) = Minnows (fish) (OED, Stone et al.).(Viandier)

melarancio ( Old It.) = an orange, from "mela" = "fruit" + "arancio" = "orange tree" from the Arabic "naranj", strengthening the idea of an Arabic origin.There is no word for orange in either classic or medieval Latin.Other European languages originate in the Arabic form.  Other than one mosaic (which may be an artist's error), there is nothing (to my knowledge) to suggest the Romans had oranges.  Also, Pliny does not note them in his Natural History, which would have been the case if they were in use in the Mediterranean Basin prior to the 1st Century.  For these reasons, I question any source which places oranges in the Roman Empire.
    The orange is believed to have been brought out of India or Persia by the Arabs following the Islamic Expansion. Introduction of the orange by the Arabs could have been as early as the 8th Century or as late as the 12th for individual locales.  Since the Arabs lost Sicily in 1091, their introduction of oranges to that island could have been no later than the 11th Century.
    Depending on the source, C. aurentium (Seville or bitter orange) was introduced into Spain between the 9th and 12th Centuries.  In Sicily it had to be between the 9th and 11th Centuries.  Since the Arabs encountered them in the 7th Century during the Islamic expansion into Persia and India, I would bet on 9th Century for the Mediterranean basin.
    In the late 14th Century, an orange market opened in Nice and oranges were being cultivated in southern France.
    Sweet oranges (C. sinensis) appear to have been introduced in the 16th Century through the Portuguese trade with the Far East.  1527 is the year found in a couple of sources, but I haven't located the primary source.(Decker)

menjoire  = A dish, otherwise untranslatable (Godefroy).  A decorated stew made from assorted birds or (on fish days) from assorted fish. The closest word in French seems to be 'mangeoire', the word for 'manger' in the sense of a trough where food for animals is placed.  If there is a connection to the dish it's not obvious to me. (Viandier/Prescott).
"Wild speculation: it might be related to "manger" (to eat) or "mangeoire" (feeding trough, manger).  There is a similar word in Spanish "manjar" which translates as food or dish.  (For example "manjar de angeles" or "manjar real")." (Carroll-Mann)
 

menue haste (French) = Spleen or other offal (The literal meaning is 'small roast (on a spit)'. Le Menagier de Paris explicitly identified it as the spleen (Tobler). OED under 'haslet', Montagne under hatereau, and von Wartburg identify it variously as the loin, liver, lungs, spleen, kidneys, tripe or other innards of pork.). (Viandier)

Mercury =
1- the element mercury, also called quicksilver, is poisonous. Do not use it.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a blanch for any Ladies face... white Mercury a penniworth... [INEDIBLE]

meregoutte, meregout = grape juice or olive oil from the first runnings, obtained without applying pressure.

merluz (French) = Stockfish (originally dried hake, that is, the sea pike or mer-luz) (OED, Montagne). (Viandier)

mersaus(e), meresauce, mire sauce = a brine used for pickling

(Arundel #344) - Bor In Counfett. Take felittes of braune and let hom lye in mer[s]aus an houre...

mesche Mecca (French) = (for Mecca ginger) (Pichon et al. were unable to identify this. The Encyclopedia Britannica, Grieve, Rosengarten, OED and many other books were unable to shed additional light. Godefroy mentioned “gengenbre de Mech” (1401) and “gigiembras Alixandrin” (1377). A common alternate spelling of mesche at the time would have been mesque, which is close to the modern Mecque, meaning 'Mecca'. Power translates it as 'string ginger', but this is surely wrong. Labarge, presumably misled by Power, gets it almost right in "there was also a superior variety which was sold in the market of Mecca and came to Europe by way of Alexandria ... that from Mecca was 'string' ginger ... the Goodman felt that Mecca ginger was far superior to the other". Von Wartburg correctly identifies it as "ginger coming from the merchants of Mecca". ) (Viandier)

mesentery  = A membrane surrounding and supporting the intestines. (Viandier)

mess(e) =
1- (noun) a serving or portion of food
2- (noun) a group of people (usually 4) who share a portion of food
3- (noun) a made dish of broth, pottage or vegetables
4- (verb) to serve a dish
5- (verb) to divide a dish into portions for service, (ex.: messe it forth).

Michaelmas = the Feast of St. Michael, Sept. 29. Old Michaelmas is Oct. 12.

mickel, mykul, muckle, mycel, mickell, etc. = (adv.) much; great; a great quantity.

mickelwame = "the stomach, esp. that of the ox used for culinary purposes" (O.E.D.)

mydrun, mydruv (an error) = the fat surrounding the entrails of an animal; leaf-lard, or suet.  It can also mean the bowel or gut.  This word is sometimes used by confusion with the word "midriff".

Liber Cure Cocorum #15 Nombuls ­ Take [th]o hert and [th]o mydruv and [th]e kydnere…

milk of almonds = see almond milk

mina, mna = unit of measurement. "...mna, that our countrymen call the mina, weighs one hundred Attic drachmae.  (Pliny, Book XXI, p. 291.) (Sip)

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mirabolans = Gerard gives several plants this name. The first and most likely is a type of round juicy purple-black plum. (See Gerard, Chap. 126, illus. 2) In Chap. 128, he discusses five kinds of "Indian Plums, or Mirobalans." It seems unlikely, however, that any English housewife would have had access to enough of these to warrant preserving.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Mirabolans or Malacadonians...Take your Malacadonians, stone them ...

missier (French) = To chop or slice (Pichon et al., OED). (Viandier)
 

mistion (French) = Mixture (Huguet).(Viandier)

mithqal (Arabic) = unit of measurement. 1 mithqal = 4.46 grams = .157 ounce.

modios  = Ancient Greek dry measure of approximately 7.86 U.S. dry quarts or 8.7 liters.  Often translated as a "bushel." (Decker)

modius  =  Ancient Roman dry measure equaling 8.496 liters.  Often translated as a "bushel." (Decker)

moity =
(Plat, Delightes for Ladies,1609) - "48. To make green ginger upon sirup... take of wine one gallon, and of vinegar a pottle: seethe all together to the consumption of a moity or half...

molasses, malasoes =
In Columbus' diary begining in folio 12v42 and continuing to 13r1, there is the following reference (without the proper accents): "y tambe los madava dar p[ar]a q comiesen quado ve nian en la y miel de acucar." This has been translated as, "And I also ordered them given food, in order that they might eat when they came to the ship, and molasses." The "miel de acucar" appears to be a variant of "miel de azucar" or "honey of sugar." From this translation, it appears that Columbus' expedition carried molasses and used it as one of their trade goods.(Decker)

moretum (Latin) = cheese and garlic and herbs pounded together into a paste and then used as a dip.
 

mortar =
1- (noun) a  cup-shaped receptacle (sometimes made of wood, marble, etc.)  used for grinding grain, spices, etc. with a pestle.

2- (noun) sugar icing

(The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"My Lord of Denbigh's Almond March-pane... Which being if there be any unevenness, or cracks or discolouring, lay on a little more of that Mortar, and dry it as before...

moruau (French) = Codling (fish) (from context and morue meaning 'cod'. Godefroy.).
(Viandier)
 

mote (French)  = See Motte.  (Viandier)

Motte = A mound on which a small castle might be built (OED). The usage is puzzling. It might indicate a subtlety depicting a siege in miniature; or it might merely signify food in the form of a mound ('lump'). See also 'mangonel'. (Viandier)

Mountance, mountenaunce = Amount, weight

•  - Harl. 270, #44 Meselade - "...[th]e mountance of a mosselle of Brede..."
•  - Liber Cure Cocorum, #63 For to make momene - "...Take powder [th]o mountenaunce of a pownde..."

moyeu (French)  = Yolk (of egg).(Viandier)

mugget = (noun) The small entrails of a calf, sheep, or hog.

(Markham, English Huswife)- " Puddings of a calf's mugget. Take a calf's mugget..."

mugue (French) = Musky (of wine) (OED).(Viandier) see nux muguedoux (sp?) nutmeg
 
 

Mulberry = Morus nigra L., and related species, Moraceae.  Trees and bushes producing edible fruits used in jams and wines; the cooked shoots are used for potherbs.  (TTEM)

mulet (French) = Grey mullet (fish) (Montagne). (Viandier)

mummy, mumia, mummia =
1-(noun)  Arabic mummies pounded to a pulp were used in European pharmacy in medicinal concoctions.
2-(noun) dried meat
3-(adj) in beer, an undesirable quality causing the beer to be thick and resemble the drink called 'mum'. This was cured by diluting the thick beer with weak beer.
4-(noun) a dark bituminous substance, possibly asphalt (which occurs naturally near the Dead Sea), used in medicine and as a pigment.

mun = must, as in 'you must do this'.

Muscadelle, Muscadell = a strong sweet wine. "vinum apianum" (Maison Rustique). (See Furnivall, p. 205)

Musk, Muske = a very smelly substance secreted by certain animals, most notably the male musk deer.  Musk has been used in medicine for coughs, as a nerve stimulant, an antispasmodic, etc.  Synthetic musk is available for use in perfumes, but it has no medicinal value. (Sip)

• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Pippins white... put in one graine of Musk...
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Muskadine Comfits. Take halfe a pound of Musk-Sugar...and two graines of Muske...
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make fine Christall Gelly...Nutmegs, a graine of Musk, and so let it boyle...
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make white leach of creame...and two graines of Musk...
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Biskettello... a graine of Muske: then beat it...
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make mosse-powder... a dramme of Musk...  [INEDIBLE]
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an especiall sweet Powder...then take of Musk and Civet, of each twenty graines...  [INEDIBLE]
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an excellent Marmelade... put in of Muske and Amber dissolved in Rose-water, of each foure graines...
• (The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) - "Another Cake... When it is half-baked, Ice it over with fine Sugar and Rose-water, and the whites of Eggs, and Musk and Ambergreece."
• (The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"To Make A Plumb-Cake... Then to Ice it, take a pound and half of double refined Sugar beaten and searsed; The whites of three Eggs new-laid, and a little Orange-flower-water, with a little musk and Ambergreece, beaten and searsed..."
• (The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"Another Very Good Cake...  If you please you may add a little Musk or Ambergreece."

Muskadine =

1--What is currently called muscadine in the US is made from New World grapes and is also referred to as scuppernong wine.  Also a wine of muscat grapes.  French Muscadet from the Loire Valley is such a wine. (Decker) Muskadine was also another word for musk.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Muskadine Comfits. Take halfe a pound of Musk-Sugar...and two graines of Muske...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Prince-bisket bread... and a spoonfull of Muskadine,...

Must = unfermented or fermenting grape juice.  The Romans used it as bread leavening. (Decker)  Also an alternate spelling of musk.
 

Must Sauce = A kind of sauce made from must (grape juice before it becomes wine). A recipe is in Additional Recipes.
(Viandier)

Mustard = Brassica nigra (L.) Koch., and related species, Cruciferae.  Both seeds and plants were used to make sauces.  The plants were also used as potherbs. (TTEM)

Le Menagier has "Soak the mustard seed overnight in good vinegar, grind it in a mill, and then moisten it little by little with vinegar.  If you have any spices left over from Hippocras or sauces, grind them with it."

mutton = All lamb or mutton, except for the very youngest spring lamb. (Viandier)

Mylwell, melewell, mulvel = a fish, possibly a keeling or cod.  (TTEM)

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nail = another word for cloves.

Nard = See also espic, spikenard.

Natron, rather than natrum, from the Greek nitron, hydrous sodium carbonate. It is a salt commonly found crystallized with other salts.  It was used for desiccating the body in Egyptian embalming.

navew, naueu = a type of turnip

neep, naep, nep, nepe, neppe = turnip

neer, nere = kidney.

nep, nept, neppe, nepeta = an herb, Catnip, Nepeta cataria.  Wild nep is another herb, Bryony.

Liber Cure Cocorum #118 For Ioutes...A lytel nept violet...
Liber Cure Cocorum #119 For capons in erbis...A litel nep, brisse hom...

Nettle =
1-Lamium species,  Labiatae.  Dead Nettle or Archangel.  Gerard  describes a Red (L. purpureum L.), a White (L. album L.), and a Yellow Archangel, which were commonly eaten as sweets.  "The floures are baked with sugar as Roses are, which is called Sugar roset:  as also the distilled water of them, which is used to make the heart merry..." (TTEM)

2-Stinging Nettle, Urtica spp., Urticaceae.  Nettles are common weeds whose young shoots are sometimes used as potherbs.  These plants have stinging hairs — wear leather gloves when picking them.  (TTEM) " The seed of Nettle stirreth vp lust..." (Gerard's Herball, p. 707)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... then powder the seeds of red Nettels... [MEDICINE]
(Hess, Martha Washington's Book of Cookery) - #70 To Make a Restoratiue Marmalet...then take y^e powder of y^e seeds of red nettles & rochet, of each one dram... [MEDICINE]

NICE DRIPPINGS = Meats that have been grilled, fried, etc., produce drippings that can range from very dark ones filled with particles and flavor to sweet white fats that have a very soft flavor. "Nice drippings" refers to the bacon grease at the top of the jar without all the brown bits.    (Seton)

Noce d'India, noce d'indria  (Italian), nux indie, Nucula Indica, nucis Indicae (Latin), jndianische nuß (German), Indian nut (English), neregil (Arabic) =
There are three Nux Indicas listed in Gerard's Herball:
 

1-- Nux Indica arbor is the coconut tree and its fruits. (The product was obviously known in the 14th and 15th century, since Arabic medical and food texts contain descriptions and since it is listed in Saladin of Asculos list of what a standard pharmacy in southern Italy should contain. It is even treated in a Swiss pharma-text from 1479, Hans Minners Thesaurus medicaminum (Schmitz ed. p. 163).)

2-- Nucula Indica (on the same page), is called The little Indian Nut. (Canarium mehenbethene and related species.)

3-- "Nucula Indica racemosa. The Indian, or rather Ginny Nut", which I believe to be the American Hazelnut.

Note: in the 14th c. Italian Tacuinum Sanitatus, translated into English in the "House of Cerruti", "Nux indie" is translated as nutmeg.  This is a mistake in translation, or a juxtaposition of entries.The illustrations are of a coconut tree, and little Indian nut, but the text gives the properties of nutmegs.

Albrecht Dürer, the famous artist, in his 1520 Diary of a travel to the Netherlands, at least three times says that he was given "jndianischenuß" (indian nuts, probably coconuts), two times from a Portuguese he met there:

-- "Mein wirth hat mir geschenckt ein jndianische nus" (Dürer, Tagebuch, ed. Stupperich 156b.6; dazu Anmerkung S. 185: "Kokosnuß")
-- "Die mahl hab ich mit Portugales gessen: jj. Der Ruderigo hat mir 6 jndianische nuß geschenckt" (ebd. 162a.23f.)
-- "Jtem am samstag vor Judicae hat mir der Ruderigo geschenckt 6 jndianische groß nuß, gar ein sonder hübsche corallen ..." (ebd. 166b.220f.) 'Rodrigo donated me with 6 big indian nuts'.
"Caeterum nucis Indicae nucleo matronas Venetas nobiliores vti solitas audiuimus, vt pinguiores & saginatiores suis viris appareant" (Robert Estienne, Seminarium arborum, 1536, p. 105)  'In addition we have heard that noble women of Venice used to eat the kernel (the inner parts) of the Indian Nut, in order to look more fat and more corpulent to their husbands'

(Anonimo Toscano, ed. Faccioli p. 37), De' civeri di lepore e altre carni. -- ...Togli cenamo, garofani, noci moscate, noci d'India, fegati di uccelli, tuorla d'ova e uccelli piccioli...

(XLVIIII -- 22)(Nizza, Bibl. Victor de Cessoles, Ms. 226, ed. Rebora p. 1557f.)[S]Avore con ongne arrosto. Tolli noce d'indria et noce moscade et cenamo et spica, garofani et pepe lungo et cardamono ...

noce moscato, noce moscata, noce moschate , noce moscade (Italian), nou noscada (Catalan), nux muscata =nutmeg. Lit. "nut which smells like musk." (Decker)

(Anonimo Toscano, ed. Faccioli p. 37), De' civeri di lepore e altre carni. -- ...Togli cenamo, garofani, noci moscate, noci d'India, fegati di uccelli, tuorla d'ova e uccelli piccioli...

(XLVIIII -- 22)(Nizza, Bibl. Victor de Cessoles, Ms. 226, ed. Rebora p. 1557f.)[S]Avore con ongne arrosto. Tolli noce d'indria et noce moscade et cenamo et spica, garofani et pepe lungo et cardamono ...

nourroys (French) = Norse (OED). (Viandier)

Numbles = choice entrails of a deer, such as the heart, lungs, liver, etc., and sometimes also part of the back and loin.  (TTEM)

Nym (Middle English) = (verb) to take.

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ob weight - half a pennyweight (Furnivall, p. 379 note)

obleies = sacramental wafers. See Wafer.

"Forme of Cury" (c. 1390) - "Hares in Papdele. Take hares; perboile hem in gode broth. Cole the broth and waisshe the fleyssh; cast a[₃]eyn togydre. Take obleys o[th]er wafrouns in defaute of loseyns, and cowche in dysshes. Take powder douce and lay on; salt the broth and lay onoward & messe forth."

Harleian MS. 4016. #22 Frutours. Take yolkes of egges, drawe hem thorgh a streynour, caste there-to faire floure, berme and ale; stere it togidre til hit be thik.  Take pared appelles, cut hem thyn like obleies, ley hem in [th]e batur..."

offal  = Heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, spleen, sweetbreads, tongue, tripe, and so on; referred to in North America as variety meats. (Viandier)

olla (14th and 15th century Catalan) = a pot or pan.

ony, onie = honey

Orage, Orach =  Atriplex hortensis L., and related edible species, Chenopodiaceae.  (TTEM)

orange-flower-water =

(The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"To Make A Plumb-Cake... Then to Ice it, take a pound and half of double refined Sugar beaten and searsed; The whites of three Eggs new-laid, and a little Orange-flower-water, with a little musk and Ambergreece, beaten and searsed..."
(The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"My Lord of Denbigh's Almond March-pane... Then you must Ice them thus: Make a thick pap with Orange flower or Rosewater, and purest white Sugar: a little of the whites of Eggs, not above half a spoonful of that Oyl of Eggs, to a Porrenger full of thick Pap, beaten exceeding well with it, and a little juyce of Limons..."

orcanet (French) = See Alkanet
 

oreille (French) = Gill (of fish). (Viandier)

oreillette (French) = Small ear (a pastry) (not further translated) (Godefroy, Montagne under roussette). See also laictue.
(Viandier)

orenges = oranges

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Orenges and Lemmons... Take your Orenges and Lemmons..
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To cast all manner of frutage hollow in turned worke... as Orenges, Lemmons...
(The Good Huswife's Handmaide for the Kitchen, 1594) "To boil a capon with orenges and lemmons"
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an excellent Marmelade... one good Orenge-pill...

Orris, orris root, orace, flower-de-luce = The dried scented rhizomes of Iris germanica, Iris florentina, Iris pallida, and related species. The root is powdered and used for its perfume.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a speciall sweet water to perfume clothes... two ounces of Orris...   [INEDIBLE]
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make mosse-powder... two ounces of Orris...  [INEDIBLE]
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an especiall sweet Powder...Take of the purest Orris one pound... [INEDIBLE]

ounce = unit of measurement. 16 ounces = 1 pound.
At the time [of the Viandier] the Paris ounce was 30.59 grams (Montagne, Zupko). (Viandier)

oyl = oil

Oyle of Ben =   "[Balanus Myrepsica, siue] Glans unguentaria, or the oylie Acorne, is the fruit of a tree like Tamariske, of the bignesse of an Hasell Nut; out of the kernell whereof, no otherwise than out of bitter Almonds, is pressed an oylie iuyce which is vsed in pretious Oyntments, as Dioscorides affirmeth:  neither is it in our time wholly reiected; for the oyle of this fruit mixed with sweet odours serueth to perfume gloues and diuers other things; and is vulgarly knowne by the name Oyle of Ben... The oile pressed out of this fruit, which is vsually termed oyle of Ben, as it hath no good or pleasing smell, so hath it no ill sent, neither doth it become rancide by age, which is the reason that it is much vsed by perfumers." (Gerard’s Herball, pp. 1400-1401)  The figures and accompanying text of the other plants in this chapter are discussing lilacs.   "...Ben, called in latin, Glans Unguentaria, is used in precious ointments instead of oil. Pliny called it Morobolane.  So also Martial..."  (Giambattista della Porta, Natural Magick, 1558).  Plat (#1, p. 206) to seal the connection around his filtration paper. (Sip)

oyl of eggs = egg white

(The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt. Opened, 1669) -"My Lord of Denbigh's Almond March-pane... Then you must Ice them thus: Make a thick pap with Orange flower or Rosewater, and purest white Sugar: a little of the whites of Eggs, not above half a spoonful of that Oyl of Eggs, to a Porrenger full of thick Pap, beaten exceeding well with it, and a little juyce of Limons..."

oyling = (verb) getting oily.  Almonds, when crushed, may get oily.  Rosewater or other liquids were sometimes added to prevent this happening.

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Paindemaine = Fine white bread, literally "Lord’s bread."  (See Manchet.)

pancake, pankakus (Lat.) - a flat cake fried in a pan or on a griddle.

c. 1430 Harl. MS 279, #lxiiij Towres,  Putte a litel of [th]e Whyte comade in [th]e panne, & late flete al a-brode as [th]ou makyst a pancake

panforte (Italian) = The name essentially means "strong bread," most likely from the use of pepper as one of the spices.
The specific primary reference is stated to be found in the Miscellanee Storiche Senesi.  According to my sources, it is the record of a tithe of "panpepati e mielati" or "pepper and honey bread" on some of the tenants of the Monastery of Montecellesi in Siena paid on February 7, 1205.
Commonly called "panpepato," the bread became known as "panforte" in the 19th Century, apparently as a trade name to tie the bread to the first large
scale manufacturer in Siena. I've found no medieval recipes for panforte, but I suspect it may have been similar to medieval gingerbread. (Decker)

pap = a mush, like baby food.

paper = used for baking and/or drying sweets, to keep them clean

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To candy Borage-Flowers... so keepe them in a sheet of white paper...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Paste of Pippins... and put them off the plates upon sheets of Paper upon a hurdle, and so put them into an Oven...

par devers (French) = On (from context, although Godefroy suggests 'towards'). (Viandier)

Parel, parell = "a verb meaning to fine the wine, etc., using egg whites and other substances.  ‘Parel’ also refers to the fining mixture itself." (Sip)   "Whites of eggs, bay salt, milk, and pump water, beat together, and pured into a vessel of wine to prevent its fretting." (Wright, v2, p. 725.)

Parelling Staffe  = a long stick, “one cubit in length,” which was stuck through the bung hole, and used for mixing the liquid inside the cask. (Sip)

Parma = An adjective qualifying a dish (after the town of Parma in Italy) (OED, Flandrin). (Viandier)

parmerienne (French) = (adjective) Parma (the Italian city) (the more usual translation of 'Parmesan' would mislead by suggesting the cheese).(Viandier)
 
 

pasta = noodles of various shapes and ingredients, but basically a stiff dough of flour and water, rolled out and cut into shapes. Types:

• itria (Greek), 6th century - noodle
• lakhsha (Iranian/Persian) 10th century - 13th century, recipe in Kitab al-Tabikh -a stiff dough of flour and water, 'rolled out thin with a rolling pin and cut with a knife into strips.'"
• rishta (Arabic/Persian/Iranian) - the word 'rishta' replaces 'lakhsha' by 13th century . Rishta is more like a beef soup with noodles. It is important to note also that rishta is a dried noodle whereas salma and tutmaj are both a fresh noodle.
• Shushbarak (Arabic) is a tutmaj dough stuffed with meat and served in a yogurt sauce.
• Salma (Arabic) is a noodle - slices are cut off a roll of dough, and then struck like a coin with the thumb. Tutmaj (Arabic) is a noodle that is rolled out and cut.  They are both served with a yogurt, mint and garlic sauce and are both served with fried meats.  The only other difference in the two is salma mentions onions also.  (Donnan)
• Loseyns - 14th c. English - a flat rolled-out noodle, sometimes replaced by obleis (sacramental wafers)
"Forme of Cury" (c. 1390) - "Hares in Papdele. Take hares; perboile hem in gode broth. Cole the broth and waisshe the fleyssh; cast a[₃]eyn togydre. Take obleys o[th]er wafrouns in defaute of loseyns, and cowche in dysshes. Take powder douce and lay on; salt the broth and lay onoward & messe forth."
• Martino, (Italian 15th c.) - "To make a devised meat after the Romane manner." This is pasta which you

form by wrapping it around a stick to make hollow straws, i.e. ziti or penne. (Rain)
• Torta de Lasagne, from the 14th c. Neapolitan "Liber De Coquina"  is a dish lined with lasagne then filled with raviolis, eggs, cheese etc in layers. It's then decorated with a dough sculpture. (Rain)

Paste-Royall = sugar paste strengthened with gum Tragacanth and flavored with rosewater, cinnamon and sometimes ginger.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Paste-royall white...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Paste-Royall in Spices...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a Walnut, that when you crack it...Take a peece of your Paste-royall white...

Pastil, pastille = small scented tablets or lozenges; some were medicated, others were burned for their scents. (Sip)

Pater Noster = a prayer, used as a measurement of time, about 20 seconds.

Patience =   Rumex patientia, Polygonaceae.  A type of Dock used as a potherb.  (See Dock.)  (TTEM)

paupiette = A strip of meat rolled around some stuffing (OED). Also called a roll, bird or olive (Rombauer et al.) (Viandier)
 

pavise = A large shield used as a defence against archery (OED). (Viandier)

pavonazo, pauonazo, pavonazi (Italian) = (adj.) peacock blue color

(Epulario, 1518, xxxv b) - " ... Anchora notarai similmente puoterai fare pauonazo laltro quarto biancho con le charotte o vero niffero (?) cotte sotto la brasia molto bene & poi le monderai dextramente col coltello quella parte de sopra la quale ha el colore pauonazo ..."

(Maestro Martino; Faccioli 198) - " ... Simelmente poterai fare pavonazo l'altro quarto bianco, havendo de le carote cotte sotto le brascie, et mondate, levarai dextramente col coltello quella parte di sopra la quale ha il colore pavonazo, et quella mettirai in fondo del sacco in nel quale si cola la decottione de la gelatina, ..."

Cuoco Napoletano, MS Bühler, 19 (Scully) [f.35r] [#88] Gelatina de Carne ho de Pesso, et de piu colori" ... et per fare de pavonazi, piglia carotte cotte he leva un pezo de la scorza he pista..."

• (Forme of Cury, English c. 1390) - Payn Fondew
• (MS Beinecke 163, English 15th Cent.)  -Payn Purdyeu
• (Harleian MS. 279, English c. 1430)  - Payn Pur-Dew
• (Harleian MS. 4016 , English c. 1450) - Browne Fryes
• (Harleian MS. 4016, English c. 1450) - Payn Purdeuz
• (Das Buch von Guter Spise, German c. 1450), Atlas translation) - Calcus
• (Das Buch von Guter Spise, German c. 1450), Atlas translation) - Colris
• (Platina, Milham and Mallinckrodt translations, Venetian/Italian c. 1475)  - Offa Inaurata
• (De Nola, Carrol-Mann and Cuenca translations, Spanish c. 1529)   - Sopas Daurades
• (The Cookbook of Sabina Welserin, German c. 1553,  Armstrong translation) - Egg Pudding
• (The Cookbook of Sabina Welserin, German c. 1553 , Armstrong translation) - Filled Semmel
• (Granado ,Spanish c. 1599, Carrol-Mann translation) - Sopas Doradas
• (The English Housewife, by Markham, English c. 1615)  - Panperdy
• (The Compleat Cook, 1655  found in The Queens Closet Opened by W.M.)- "To make Poor Knights."
• (Martha Washington's Cookbook) - A Made Dish

Pear =  Pyrus communis L., Malaceae.  Gerard, in 1597, said:  "To write of Peares and Apples in particular, woulde require a particular volume:  the stocke or kindred of Peares are not to be numbred..."  See also Wardon.  (TTEM)

peare-plum =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Apricocks... in like manner you may preserve a peare-plum.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... of pearle prepared two drammes... [MEDICINE]
(Hess, Martha Washington's Book of Cookery) - #70 To Make a Restoratiue Marmalet...put in 6 leavs of gold & 2 drams of prepared perle... [MEDICINE]

peeces = pieces

Pellitory = Chrysanthemum parthenium or Anacyclus pyrethrum, Compositae.  Bitter plants that were used as purgatives.  (TTEM)

Penny ale refers to the amount of ale which could be purchased for a silver penny.  It is based on the price controls found in the Assize of Beer which sets
the quantity of brew purchased by a penny based on the price of the grain used.  Penny ale is a full strength brew.  (Decker)

PEPYR , pevere, pevre = Pepper

perboyle = parboil. To partially cook in boiling water.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Quinces... and then perboyle them, and pill off the outermost white skinne...

pe`s d'Espaigne, pets d'Espaigne, Pet-de-nonne, nun's farts, nun's puffs = Meaning 1: "Pet-de-nonne n. m. (1795) qui remplace _pet d'Espaigne_ [Espagne] (1393), avec le même sens" meaning. My translation:"Pet-de-nonne masculine noun (1795) which replaces _pet d'Espaigne_ [Spain] (1393), with the same sense".  From Rey, Alain., et al., eds.  Dictionnaire historique de la langue française: 1992, 3 vols. Paris: Le Robert, 1998.  The modern meaning of "pet-de-nonne" is "fritter (made with choux pastry)" [Collins Robert.  Collins Robert French Dictionary French-English, English-French. 2nd ed. London: Collins, 1987.] in modern times but with other pastry in period -- see one of the real 'pet d'Espagne' recipes.

'Pet' means 'fart', but the usual translation of it in culinary senses by people trying to avoid the word is the reasonably accurate 'puff'.  So 'nun's puffs' is the polite / poetic / culinary version
of 'nun's farts'.  Meaning 2: misspelling of pot d'Espagne (which see)  At least one manuscript of Viandier [not the Vatican one] has the misspelling [Scully], but clearly it's about a pot not a fart.  (Prescott)

Petecure = from O.F. petit keuerie, meaning small cookery, or cookery on a small scale.

Physical = medicinally beneficial. (Sip)

pfund (Gr.)  --  The German pound of 16 ounces, actual weight depending on local measure.  Most weighed between slightly more than 1 pound (454 grams) and 1.2 pounds (560 grams).  The latter may be referred to as the Viennese pfund.  Modernly 500 grams. (Decker)  See also pound.
 

pie = "A pie is a filled pastry.  It is also a magpie. As a filled pastry, there is a question as to whether or not the word derives from the Middle Latin, "pica" or "pia."  The earliest written appearance of "pie" in English is from 1190 while "pica" can only be dated to 1310 and "pia" to 1230.  It is suggested that the Middle Latin "pica" derives from the earlier Latin "pica" (magpie) because the miscellany of ingredients resembles the miscellany of things gathered by a magpie.  The term "pie" could be relating the miscellany of birds  to the miscellany of a magpie or it may be that an earlier version was cased in dough.  Or it might be for a reason not yet considered.  Take your pick." (Decker)

Many dishes cooked ‘in a pie’ would have had the crust discarded (as in modern cooking en croute). see also "coffin" (Viandier)

pig's petitoes = pig's feet

pignolet (French) = Pine nut paste (Pichon et al. Huguet suggests pine nut kernels.). (Viandier)
 

pill =
1- (verb) to peel

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Pippins greene... and pill off the outermost white skinne...

pinperneau (French) = A small kind of eel (Pichon et al., OED under 'pimpernol'). (Viandier)
 

pint  = At the time the Paris pint was 0.93 litres, significantly larger than the modern pint (Montagne, Zupko). (Viandier)

piña (Sp.) = pineapple

Pinto (Sp.) =  "a variety of cheese that is frequently mentioned in Granado and Nola. I have not been able to identify it.  "Queso de Pinto mantecoso" would be "buttery [or fat] Pinto cheese". (Carroll-Mann)

Pipe = a cask holding from 100 to 140 gallons. (Sip)

pipkin = A three legged clay pot with a handle and lid.  It has to be moved slowly over the coals so as not to crack the pot. (AEduin)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Cherries... put it in an earthen pipkin, and set it over the fire...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To candie all manner of Flowers, Fruits... then put it into a pipkin that is not very rough... and so put your pipkin into a Still...

pippins = a type of tart green apple good for cooking.

pique (French) = Soured (of wine) (Montagne). (Viandier)

piscina (Latin) = a fish pond, used to ensure a supply of fish for the kitchen. (Higginbotham)

Plant = to garnish.

Plantane, plantan = Plantain

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... Plantane seeds halfe a dramme... [MEDICINE]
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a blanch for any Ladies face. ...Plantane water as much... [INEDIBLE]
(Hess, Martha Washington's Book of Cookery) - #70 To Make a Restoratiue Marmalet...plantan seeds, halfe a dram... [MEDICINE]

plate =
1- sugar plate, made with sugar and gum tragacanth and used for sculpting of subtleties etc.
2- pewter, silver, gold or other metal dishes used for serving or display.
3- by extension, certain metal implements for cooking. (Robert)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Prince-bisket bread... then put it into your coffins of plate, or frames of wood...

pleiz (French) = Plaice (fish) (OED). See also carreletz. (Viandier)

point = to sharpen the flavor by adding a souring agent.

Poitevin = A kind of sauce (named after the region of Poitou). A recipe is in Additional Recipes. (Viandier)

pomace, pomes, pumis, pomice, pommice, pummice, pummace, pomys =
1-- Crushed apples in the cider press. OED lists the earliest citation for this usage (spelt 'pomes') as 1572 .  The OED says that the variant meaning for this citation is the pulp after the liquid has been pressed out, so it would seem to have about the same meaning as 'cider-marc'.

2-- honeycombs being crushed to extract the honey . (Troy)

 From Royal 17. A. iii, f.123v & f.124 :

" 9. To make mede. Take hony combis & put hem into a greet vessel & ley (th)ereynne grete stickis, & ley (th)e wei(gh)t (th)eron til it be runne out as myche as it wole; & (th)is is callid liif hony. & (th)anne take (th)at forseid combis & se(th)e hem in clene water, & boile hem wel. After presse out (th)erof as myche as (th)ou may & caste it into ano(th)er vessel into hoot water, & se(th)e it wel & scome it wel, & do (th)erto a quarte of liife hony. & (th)anne lete it stonde a fewe dayes wel stoppid, & (th)is is good drinke.

10. To make fyn meade & poynaunt. Take xx galouns of (th)e forseid pomys soden in iii galouns of fyn wort, & i galoun of liif hony & se(th)e hem wel & scome hem wel til (th)ei be cleer inow(gh); & put (th)erto iii penywor(th) of poudir od pepir & i penywor(th) of poudir of clowis & lete it boile wel togydere. & whanne it is coold put it into (th)e vessel into (th)e tunnynge up of (th)e forseid mede; put it (th)erto, & close it wel as it is aboue seid."

While some experience with medieval English recipes suggests that the "forseid pomys" referred to in the second paragraph (recipe 10) is a reference to apples (as in pomys d'or, for example, a glazed meatball dish made to resemble apples), the problem lies in the absence of any mention of apples in the previous section. In fact, as far as I know, there is no reference to apples anywhere in the manuscript source.

This leaves us with the possibility of scribal error, or perhaps an intentionally incomplete copy of another manuscript. Alternately, it's possible that at some point a scribal error generated the word "pomys" where "combis" was intended. Either of these would explain the use of "forseid pomys", a term which appears to refer to some previously mentioned item, when the assumed item (i.e. apples) is not in fact referred to previously.

However, I believe the most likely explanation is that this is a usage of the word "pomace", meaning just about anything pressed for liquid, ranging from crushed apples, olives, fish, grapes, etc., previously unrecorded by the OED and antedating the OED's estimated earliest use and citation. In short, the pomace may in this case be honeycombs.  (Troy)

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Pomecitron, Pomcitrons =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Pomecitrons... Of your Pomcitrons take one pound... then put it in your Pomcitrons...

Pomegranate = Punica granatum L., Punicaceae.

Pomemaunder = a pomander, a scented ball or sachet bag used to provide scent fabric, rooms, etc.  Pomanders are not intended to be eaten, and may contain inedible ingredients.
 

pommeau, pommeaulx (pl.) (French) = Quenelle (a dumpling of forcemeat (stuffing) (from context and Montagne). (Viandier)

pond (Dutch)  --  Dutch pound of 16 ounces, weight undetermined, but probably variable between states in the Low Countries.  Modernly, 500 grams.  See also pound.

Porringers = small round dishes used for eating porridge.  Porringers varied in size, and typically had one or two triangular handles.  Approximate volume = 1/2 to 1 1/2 cups. (Sip)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste of Violets... wring the juyce from them into a Porringer...

Porry, porray, poree, porrey = a soup or pottage of green vegetables, esp. leeks, peas, and cabbage.

Porree (Ger.) = leeks.

pors, porze, porst,  post, sweet gale = an herb, Myrica Gale, used in brewing.

Posset, poshet, possot = a warm drink of spiced sweetened milk, curdled with wine or ale. (Sip)

Possnet, posnet = presumably a small saucepan used for making possets. (Sip)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Quodiniack of Plums... put them into a Posnet with a pound and a halfe of Brasill Sugar...then put it again into the Posnet...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make printed Quodiniacks of Quinces, a ruby colour... put them into a Posnet with three... and put it into a faire Posnet, and let it boyle..

pot d'Espaigne (French) = Spanish pot (OED under 'potew'). (Viandier)

potato (white) = "White potatoes originate in the Andes highlands of Bolivia, Columbia, Peru and Ecuador.  They've been used by the natives for over 7,000 years, but they were not as widely spread as maize, squash or the sweet potato.

"Gonzalo Jiminez de Quesada is often credited with being the first European to encounter the white potato.  This is very possible, as he led the first expedition into the Colombian highlands in 1536 and founded Bogota in 1537. The honor might also belong either to Sebastian de Benalcazar or Nikolaus Federmann, who were exploring in the same region.  The three explorers joined forces in 1539.

"Federmann was in the service of the Welsers, one of the Augsburg banking families.  There is no direct evidence, but it is possible that he is responsible for introducing potatoes into Germany.  Supporting this idea is a recipe for white potatoes appearing in Max Rumpolt's "Ein neue kochbuch" of 1581, five years before the botanists of northern Europe were trading specimens of the new plant.

"When the white potato first appeared in Europe is something of a puzzle. Dates between 1534, when Pizarro returned to Spain from Peru, and 1570 abound in various sources.  The first published reference to potatoes appears in Pedro (Creca) de Leon's "Chronica del Peru" published in Seville in 1553 and there is speculation that it was he who introduced the potato to Spain.  They were definitely in use by 1573 when the Hospital de la Sangre in Seville recorded the purchase of potatoes in its provisions.  There is nothing to show whether these were grown locally or were imported from New Spain, but they likely represent a local crop.

"In any event, Spain and Germany appear to be the first adopters of the white potato, primarily as a poverty or hardship food. (Decker)

potato (sweet) =  The sweet potato is originally commented upon in the Diary of Christopher Columbus. (Decker)

Murrell, John.   A Delightful Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen. 1621. - #61. "To make past of Potatoes. Boyle your Potatoes very tender, pare them and picke out all the blackes of them..."
Murrell, John.   A Delightful Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen. 1621. - #62. "To preserve Potatoes. Take a pound of the clearest Potatoes, pare them and lay them in faire water, a pound of clarified Sugar, cutting your Potatoes in quarters and put them in the hotte Sugar..."
Murrell, John.   A Delightful Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen. 1621. - #63. To dry Potatoes. Take preserved Potatoes washing them or out of the sirrup with a little warme water..."
Libro del Arte de Cozina (Spanish, 1599) - CARNE DE LIMON, Y BATATAS
Gerard,  Herbal, 1597 . "This plant which is called of some Sisarum Peruuianum, or Skyrrits of Peru, is generally of vs called Potatus or Potatoes.

Pottle = a unit of measurement equal to 2 quarts; also refers to a pitcher holding that amount.

poucin (French) = Chick (Montagne). (Viandier)

poudre douce  = literally "sweet powder" -   A mixture of "sweet" spices, usually heavy on the ginger and cinnamon and also containing cloves, nutmeg, etc.  See more here .

--Menagier (circa 1395) has for Sweet Powder (within his recipe for Hippocras):

  Take four ounces of very fine cinnamon, two ounces of fine cassia flowers, an ounce of selected Mecca ginger, an ounce of grains of
  paradise, and a sixth [of an ounce] of nutmeg and galingale combined.  Crush them all together.  Take a good half ounce of this powder and eight ounces of sugar ...

In Viandier (also circa 1395)  Sweet Powder in the recipes:

  Hippocras

pou(l)dre fine = see fine powder

Poudyr Lombard = see Lombard Powder.

poullet (French) = Pullet (Montagne). (Viandier)

pouder fort, powdour fort = literally strong powder.  An unspecified mixture of strong spices.  See more here.

pound = At the time  [early 1300s] the Paris pound was 489.5 grams (Montagne, Zupko).(Viandier)

A common European measure of weight divided into 12 or 16 ounces based on the Roman "libra pondo" (pound of weight) of 12 ounces.  England uses "pound."  Germany uses "pfund."  Danish, "pund."  Dutch, "pond." Frances uses "livre."  Spain, Portugal and Italy use "libra."  An English pound is about 453.6 grams.

The "libra pondo" was about .722 English pounds and stayed roughly the same for 12 ounce Italian "libra."    The Spanish "libra" was larger, weighing in at about 1.01 English pounds  The Portuguese "libra" was larger still (about 460 grams).  Both the Spanish and Portuguese "libra" have 16 ounces.

The French and Greek "livre" of 16 ounces varied depending upon market. From 1350 until the adoption of the metric system, the French pound was the "livre de Paris" or the "livre poids de marc" and weighed 489.5 grams or 1.079 English pounds.  The modern French and Greek "livre" are 500 grams.

The "pfund" depends upon time and place, but most fall between 1 pound (454 grams) and 1.2 pounds (560 grams).  Since the 19th Century, the "pfund" has been set at 500 grams.

The modern "pond" and "pund" are also pegged at 500 grams.  The traditional Swedish or Stockholm "pund" was 425.1 grams or .937 English pounds. (Decker)

pourcel (French) = Piglet (in the recipe "Soux de pourcel") (Scully 1988, Tobler. A mis-writing for persil meaning 'parsley' is possible, since the recipe as it appears mentions parsley but not piglet.). (Viandier)

powre = to pour

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Marigolds in wedges; the Spanish fashion... then powre it upon a wet Pie-plate...

Primrose = Primula species, Primulaceae.  Common garden plants that have been used for salads, teas, and confections.  (TTEM)

prins (French) = Set (of jelly). (Viandier)

print = (verb) to impress a design upon the top of a paste, jelly, etc. by use of a carved mold.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make paste of Eglantine... then print it with your molds...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste-royall white...and then you may print it with your moulds...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste of Violets...take it up, and print it with your moulds, and so dry it in your stoue, and not by the fire, for feare of danger...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make paste of Goose-berries... and print it with your moulds...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Quodiniack of Plums... then print it with your moulds on what fashion you please.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make all sorts of banqueting Conceits of March-pane stuffe...then you may print some with Moulds, and make some with hands...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make printed Quodiniacks of Quinces, a ruby colour... then print it with your moulds: you shall know when it is ready to print, by rolling a little upon the back of a Spoone: and if you see it will stand, and not run downe, print it...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Quodiniacks of Raspice, or English Coriants... till it be readie to print: then print it in your moulds... [endnote] Your Moulds must lye in water one night before you vse them; and an houre before you print with them, take them out of the water.

1515 Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) C iv b/2 To toste white sheuers and to make prophitroles And after talking oft time to fill the bowles.
1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Carp, They likewise make a pottage of profitrolles with Carp flesh minced. (OED)

Provençal = Of the region of Provence. (Viandier)

Prune, Prune[₃] = Prunus domestica L., Amygdalaceae.  The word prune[₃] referred to both fresh and dried plums.  (TTEM)

PUGIL = Etymologically, this means a handful; but from the 17th century defined as a pinch; as much as can be picked up between the thumb and first two fingers.

pund =  The Scandinavian pound of 16 ounces, originally Danish, weight variable.  The Swedish (Stockholm) pund weighed 425.1 grams or  .937 pounds. (Decker)  See also pound.

puree of peas = In context it is obviously a thin liquid like beef broth, presumably water in which peas had been cooked (Plouvier).
(Viandier)

purer (French) = To drain (from context. The literal meaning is 'purify' or 'strain', but it is clear in these contexts that it is the solid matter that is important. This is not conveyed by 'strain', so I have translated it as 'drain'.) (Viandier)

Purslane, perseline, pourslane, pourcelaine, etc. = Portulaca oleracea L. , a common low-growing herb that tastes like okra. It is used in salads, pickles, and as a pot-herb.

put them up = to preserve for long-term storage

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636)
- To preserve Cherries...and thus, being cold, you may put them up, and keepe them all the yeare.
-To preserve Red-rose leaves... and so, when they be thorow cold, put them up, and keepe them very close.
- To preserve Gooseberries... and so, betwixt hot and cold, put them up, and keepe them all the yeare.

Pynotys, Pynes, etc. = Pine nuts, pignolia nuts.

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Quarterne = one-fourth of a unit of measurement. (Sip)

quart = At the time the Paris quart was 1.86 litres, significantly larger than the modern quart (Montagne, Zupko). (Viandier)

quelquechoses = A dish made of many things, perhaps left-overs, and often including eggs. Quelquechoses may include meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, and more. (Robert)

Markham, "The English Huswife" (1615) "To make a Quelquechose, which is a mixture of many things together; take the Eggs and break them, and do away one half of the Whites ...And in this manner as you make this Quelquechose, so you may make any other, whether it be of flesh, small Birds, sweet Roots, Oysters, Muscles, Cockles, Giblets, Lemmons, Oranges, or any Fruit, Pulse, or other Sallet herb whatsoever; of which to speak severally, were a Labour infinite, because they vary with mens opinion."

quenelle = A ball of forcemeat (stuffing), boiled like a dumpling. (Viandier)

Querne = a hand mill used for grinding grain. (Sip)

Queso de Aragon is also known as Queso Tronchon. It was originally a goat cheese, but is now made from a blend of cow and goat milk. (MacDonald)

queso fresco (Sp.) = new cheese

Quince = Cydonia oblonga Miller (Pyrus cydonia), Rosaceae.  The quince fruit is fragrant, fuzzy, and yellowish when ripe.  It is roughly pear-shaped, but lumpier and typically larger than a pear.  The fruit must be eaten cooked since it is very astringent raw; the cooked pulp has a pretty pink color.  (TTEM)

quintals (French) = unit of measurement.   A "hundredweight."  Originally, the Roman "centenarius" of 100 Roman pounds ("libra pondo").  The unit was adopted by the Arabs as the "qintar" (or "cantar") and returned into Europe as the "quintal."  The French quintal is 100 livres.  The Spanish quintal is 100 libras.  The Portuguese quintal is about 128 libras.  The quintal has been used in the
Arab World and Europe for over 2000 years.  See also -- hundredwieght, zentner. (Decker)

Quodiniack, quiddony, condiniak , confiture de coings (Fr.), dulce de membrillo (Sp.) = quince paste.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636)-To preserve Pippins greene... as you doe from your Quodiniack into a Bason...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636)-To make all kind of birds and beasts... they being seasoned as for your Quodiniack...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) Heere begin Banqueting Conceits, as Marmelades, Quodiniacks, and such like...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Quodiniack of Plums...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make all kinds of birds and beasts to stand... poure it into your moulds, they being seasoned as for your Quodiniack...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make printed Quodiniacks of Quinces, a ruby colour... In like sort you may make your Quodiniack of Pippins...

Quybibes, Quibbibs.  (See Cubebs.)

quylle = while
 
 

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To candie Ginger ...then take it out race by race...

Raisins of Corinth.  (See Currants.)
 

rappe (French) = Grape dish, grape sauce (a conjecture, from the ingredients, and from rape, meaning 'grape stalk' and possibly 'grapes' (OED). The recipes in Le Viandier do not match the usual suggested translation of 'grated dish' (OED). Scully (1988) suggests that the grapes are mashed, but this seems unlikely.) (Viandier)

rasher =

raspices, rasps = raspberries

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Raspices... Take of your fairest and well-coloured Raspices, and picke off their stalkes very cleane...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Quodiniacks of Raspice, or English Coriants. Take Raspices ripe and well coloured...

ratiz (French) = Mesentery (Guilbert). (Viandier)

ratl (Arabic) = unit of measurement. 1 ratl = 406.25 grams = 14.328 ounces (.8955 pound) "Technically, a ratl = 144 dirham (drachms), but in practice these measures often varied in the
marketplace." (Gillett)

recipe =
1- (verb) to take

Harley MS 5401 #53 Jonreye. Recipe bolace & seth [th]am...

Receipt = a recipe.

Rectified spirit of wine = alcohol purified by distillation.   “Also distilled of it selfe, is called Spirit of wine, which serueth to dissolve, and to draw out the tincture of diuers things, and for many other purposes,” (Parkinson, p. 566). (Sip)

red deer  = A European deer (Cervus elaphus). (Viandier)
 

red gurnard = A saltwater fish (Trigla cuculus). (Viandier)
 

red mullet  = A saltwater fish (Mullidae barbatus). (Viandier)

reffaire (French) = To refresh (meat) (from context). (Viandier)

Renge = a ring strainer

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez, xxij.  For to make floure Rys... [th]erow a crees bunte syfte hem, & for defaute of a bonte, take a Renge.

requeson (Sp.) = curds

ressuyer (French) = To dry again. (Viandier)

restyng, resting = becoming rancid.

(Liber Cure Cocorum) #84 For to save venysone fro restyng.

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ribelete (French) = Cracklings (a conjecture from context, guided by Rombauer et al., Montagne under rillettes, and OED under 'greaves'). (Viandier)

riddle, hriddel, riddil, redell, ryddle, also ridder, hrider, rydder, rydoun (scribal error), rudder, ruther (dialect) = a coarse sieve used for winnowing grain, etc. See wheterydoun.

Rissoles, risshens = n. As a noun it refers to a pastry in Old French deriving from the Vulgar Latin "russeola" meaning red paste. (Decker) Generally chopped meat, fish, or fruit encased in dough or batter and fried.

(Liber Cure Cocorum) #99. For risshens.

rissole, rissolé = verb or adj. Refers to browning ,being the past participle of the French "rissoler" (to brown) and possibly  deriving from the earlier noun. (Decker)

Rockes, rochet =  Rocket, Eruca sativa, an herb whose seeds were used as an aphrodesiac.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... then powder the seeds of red Nettels, of Rockes, of each one dram... [MEDICINE]
(Hess, Martha Washington's Book of Cookery) - #70 To Make a Restoratiue Marmalet...then take y^e powder of y^e seeds of red nettles & rochet, of each one dram... [MEDICINE]

rocke-candie =
1-- (noun) sugar candy, candy of crystallized sugar
2-- (verb) to slowly form candy crystals (sometimes around a spice or flower, etc.) by evaporation of a strong sugar solution.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To candie Ginger ...and it will be rocke-candied in a very short space.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie all manner of Flowers, Fruits... and, in the space of twelve dayes, it will be rocke-candied.

Rompney, Romenay, Rumney, Romney, etc. = a sweet wine

ropy = An adjective describing wine that has developed oily threads due to bacterial or fungal contamination.(Viandier) See also gras.

Rosa Solis, Ros Solis =
1. The plant sundew, Drosera rotundifolia.
2.  A cordial or liqueur made from or flavored with the juice of the plant sundew, but later replaced with spirits (esp. brandy) flavored with essences or spices, sugar, etc. Both show earliest usage as 16th Century. (OED)

Rosemary-flower-water =

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Rosemary-flowers...and dissolve them in Rosemary-flower-water....

rossaille (French) = Rudd (fish) (OED under 'red-eye', discovered by analogy with setaille meaning 'seven-eye'). (Viandier)
 

rouget (French) = Red mullet (fish) (Montagne). (Viandier)
 

roussir  (French) = To brown (by frying). (Viandier)
 

round pepper = A kind of pepper. It probably refers to ordinary black peppercorns. (Viandier)

roux = A mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used as a thickening agent. From the French "roux," browned, from the Old French "rous," reddish brown, from the Latin "russus," red. (Decker)

The Cookbook of Sabrina Welserin - #9 "To make a yellow sauce for game or birds. First put fat in a pan and fry some flour in it, then take some wine ..."

Rowle, roule =
1- (noun) a roll

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make the vsuall Bisket sold at Comfit-makers... make it in a long Rowle, and bake it...

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a March-pane, to ice it...when it is beaten to perfect Paste, roule it thin...

Forme of Cury p.85  (c. 1390) "Chastlete. Take and make a foyle of gode past with a roller of a foot brode, & lynger by cumpas. Make iiii Coffyns of [th]e self past uppon [th]e rollere [th]e gretnesse of [th]e smale of [th]yn Arme. of vi ynche depnesse. make [th]e gretust in [th]e myddell. fasten [th]e foile in [th]e mouth upwarde. & fasten [th]e o[th]e foure in euery syde..." [Note: spelling is approximate due to the shorthand used in the MS.]

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Muskadine Comfits... then drive it very thin with a rowling pin...

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Muskadine Comfits... some cut with a rowle spoone on the sides...
Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery,  Recipe S197 - To make Muskadine Comfits...  cut sume with a rowell....

roye (French) = Striped. (Viandier)

rosy (French)= A kind of dish named for its colour, otherwise untranslatable (Godefroy). (Viandier)

roze (French) = Rosy. (Viandier)

Runlet, Rundlet = from OF rondelle, a cask of varying capacity, but smaller than a hogshead.  Identified by Mendelsohn (p. 288) as holding 15 imperial gallons or 18 1/2 wine gallons or 18 1/2 U.S. gallons.  Harrison confirms it holds “18 gallons and a pottle.” (Sip)

Running, Rennyng = a description of consistency, meaning runny, not thick.  (TTEM)

Rys = rice.

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sabra fruit = the fruit of a prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) which is of Central American origin and was introduced into Palestine in the late 19th Century. (Decker)
Sack = a strong, light colored wine from Spain. (Sip)

Sack Cask = a wooden cask which had contained Sack wine.  The cask absorbed the wine’s flavor and imparted that flavor to liquids subsequently stored in the cask.   (Sip)

sade (French) = Solid (OED, Grandsaignes. Not 'agreeable' as Pichon et al. and Godefroy suggest.) (Viandier)

saferon, crocum, safroun, zaffrono, zafarano = saffron. Crocus sativus L., Iridaceae.  Saffron is the dried stigmas of the saffron crocus.  (TTEM)

sain de lart (French) = Lard (Montagne). See also lart. (Viandier)

Saint Merry Sauce = A kind of sauce (named after a street in Paris). Instructions are given in Le Viandier in the recipe that calls for it ("Roast geese and goslings"). (Viandier)

salamander = "A circular iron plate which is heated and placed over a pudding or other dish to brown it." (O.E.D.) "Salamander is a generic term for any item that is placed in a fire and can withstand the heat.  This includes various kinds of heating irons and pokers.  The earliest written usage is 17th Century and it pre-dates the usage of Salamander as a browning tool.  A branding iron could be considered
a salamander." (Decker)

1755 H. Glasse, Art of Cookery (ed. 5) 331 Put it in the Oven to brown, or do it with a Salamander.

Magia Naturalis by Giambattista della Porta, 1658 tr.,...Saltpeter, powdered, or the cleansing of Saltpeter, called vulgarly Salazzo...

Sallet = salad

salmon trout = A saltwater fish (Salmo trutta) which spawns in freshwater. It appears under both round and flat saltwater fish.(Viandier)
 

salmonde (French) = Avens (Pichon et al., Montagne, Grieve). (Viandier)

Salpeter, Saltpeter = Potassium nitrate, KNO3. (Sip)

salsa fina (Spanish) = generally,  like powder fort,  a strong blend of spices including ginger, cloves, cinnamon, pepper and other warm spices.   14th to 16th century.  (Mc Donald)

Saltspoonful = 1/4 teaspoonful. (Sip)

Samphire, sampere, sampiere, samphier , sampyre, pers-pere, perce-pierre, persepire = an herb, Crithmum maritimum . The fleshy leaves of samphire are often served pickled. It is also known as "crest marine" and "glasswort" and "rock samphire".   The name is believed to be an alteration of the French, "herbe de Saint Pierre."
 

sancte (French) = Not translated. Pichon et al. could not identify this fish. The literal meaning is 'holy' or 'saint'. The John Dory is called also the Saint Peter fish (Scully 1988, OED, Montagne). (Viandier)

Sandalwood (Red), Saunders, SAWNDERYS = Ptero-carpus santa-linus L., Leguminosae.  The heartwood of this plant was used as the red food dye saunders.  Red Sandalwood is available either powdered or in the form of small bark chips.   (TTEM) There is also a white sandalwood that is used as incense, but is not what is being called for in medieval culinary recipes.

sandragon, Sanc dragon = lit. dragon's blood.  Another name for vermilion or cinnabar,  a crystalline form of mercuric sulfide. Sandragon is toxic.  "Powdered vermilion was mixed with gum water and applied to dishes, such as artificial fruits, that were intended for decorative use... There is a recipe called Sanc dragon in Curye on Inglyshe which calls for "sanc dragon", or "dragon’s blood":

#30 Sanc dragon.  Milke of alemauns & flour of rys & god poudre of gyngere & sucre, & hit shal beon icolored wi[th] sanc dragon.

sangre de drago (Spanish) = lit. dragon's blood. A red resin from  Sanguis Draconis.  Common name: Resin of Dragon. It originated in India, but it also exists in the zone of Guaraní, a region in South America. A hemostatic astringent used in dentistry, medicine, and in fumigation. Supplier.  Used in some old Spanish recipes. "Sanguis Draconis, cools and binds exceedingly." (Culpeper's Herbal) Compare with O.E. sandragon.

sangwyn, sanguine (M.E.), sanguin (O.F.), sanguineus (Latin) =
1 - bloody, blood-coloured
2 - fabric that is blood-coloured
3 - cheerfully optimistic in temperament.  This last derives from the medieval notion of the four humours or bodily fluids (blood, bile, phlegm, and black bile). A person who was sanguine in temperament had a "ruddy face and a disposition marked by courage, hope, and a readiness
to fall in love."

sappa = Reduced grape must, also called "defrutum."  Originally used in Roman cooking in the preparation of sauces and marinades.  Rather than adding wine and boiling the liquid down, the Romans preferred to used reduced wine or must.  Reduced wine is "caroenum."

Saterion, Satyrion = Dogs Stones, Fools Stones, and Goats Stones, types of orchids, especially Orchis mascula, the purple orchis. O. mascula  contains starch and is used to produce salep, a starch meal used as food, as a drink, and as an aphrodisiac. (Decker) (See Gerard's Herball, Chapters 110 to 117.)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Saterion roots.  Take your Saterion roots, and pick out the faire ones...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... of Eringo and Saterion roots, of each...[MEDICINE]

sauce-alone = an herb, Sisymbrium Alliaria, Jack-by-the-hedge, a garlic-flavored herb used in salads, etc. as a seasoning.

sauces = At the time occasionally served poured over the dish, but more often served separately in small bowls. Sauces were referred to by their first names (as Cameline rather than as Cameline Sauce). See entries for each sauce individually by name. (Viandier)

Saupiquet  = A kind of sauce. Instructions are given in Le Viandier in the recipe that calls for it ("Roast hares"). (Viandier)

scallion = An onion (Allium fistulosum). If unobtainable, use green onion. (Viandier)

scholle, schulle = a plaice

Scincus marinus = not a fish, a lizard, Scincus officinalis, the skink,  used in medicine as an aphrodesiac, and sold dried and salted. See Hess for more.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make another sort of Marmelade... of the belly and back of a fish called Scincus marinus, three drammes... [MEDICINE]

scotch = (verb) to "score" it, to cut slashes or notches in it.

to scrape on sugar = Crusts (in late 1500s to mid 1600s England) were often decorated with sugar when the cooked pie was removed from the oven. If the cooked pies were hot and/or moist enough, the sugar would cling long enough for the pie to be put back in the oven to melt the sugar. Sometimes a more shiny topping was desired, and the crusts were sprinkled or brushed with (any combination
of) eggwhite, rosewater, rice flour, & butter before the sugar was scraped on (from the loaf of sugar). The pie was then put back in the oven to melt the mixture. When removed & cooled, the pie would "shine lyke Ice".  See ice.

Scum =
1- (noun) the froth that rises to the surface of the boiling liquid.
2- (verb) to skim the froth that rises to the surface of the boiling liquid

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Violet flowers...but you must scumme it often, lest it bee not cleare enough...

se prendre (French) = To set (of jelly). (Viandier)

se retraire (French) = To shrivel, to shrink. (Viandier)

se tenir (French) = To hold together. (Viandier)

sea bream = A saltwater fish (Chrysophrys major). (Viandier)

seame, seyme =
1- fat, grease, lard. Fat skimmed off the broth from boiling meat; essentially clarified beef drippings, etc.  (Troy)

SEARCE  =
1- (noun) a sieve.  See also Strainer, Hair sieve, lawne searce.
2- (verb) to sieve.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To candie Rose leaves...searce Sugar thinly all over them... sometimes searcing Sugar on them...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To candie all manner of flowers in their naturall colours... take fine searced Sugar, and dust over them...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste -royall in Spices... mingle it with your searced Sugar...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a Walnut, that when you crack it... mixed with a little fine searced Cinamon...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make mosse-powder... then searce them thorow a course haire searce...  [INEDIBLE]
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make a March-pane, to ice it... with a pound of Sugar finely searced...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To make Prince-bisket bread... as much Sugar thorowly searced...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make the vsuall Bisket sold at Comfit-makers...Sugar it with searced Sugar...

Nola, Roberto de, 15th cent. "Libro de Cozina"- (Poluora de duque) - "...todo esto bien molido y passado por sedazo..."

Barcelona MS 68, fol. 197 r. Libre de Sent Soví (ca.1450), Chapter 45 (Salsa de pago) - "...e colatsla ab un sedas...  (McDonald)

Sellandine =  Celandine Poppy, Chelidonium majus L., Papaveraceae.  Celandine Poppy is poisonous, and may prove fatal if ingested. (Sip)  It is included in some medicinal beverage recipes.

sere =
1-(adj.) dried or withered
2-(adv.) separately
3-(adj) distinct, separate
4-(adj.) sundry, various, divers

Liber Cure Cocorum #103 Tartlotes...Set hit with fryed almondes sere...

serof, serue = to serve

MS. Harley 5401:
22,3 -- hard sodyn egges, & seth it with hony & sugure, & serof. To make Amydon. Recipe whete
53,3 -- it with [y]olkes of egges; [th]an take hony & bole it & cast it [th]eron, & serof
83,4 -- let it bake; & els take clarifyed hony in stede of sugur; & serof. To bake a
93,1 -- sugur, & serof it forth. To Clarify Hony. Recipe hony, & do it in a pot, &
93,1 -- serof it forth. To Clarify Hony. Recipe hony, & do it in a pot, & cast [th]erto

SETHE = (verb) to boil in water or oil.

sethyne = then

sewer = (noun) server.

Sextarius = a Roman unit of measurement = approx. 1 1/2 English pints or 0.853 liters. (Sip)
 

shad = A saltwater fish (Alosa vulgaris) which spawns in freshwater. (Viandier)

sharpen = to acidify the flavor of by adding vinegar, verjuice, or other sour juice.  See also Point.

sheeres = (noun) shears

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Cherries... with a paire of sheeres clip off their stalkes...

shell, schole, shale, sheel, schellen (Ger.) = to remove the shell of, to peel

(Liber Cure Cocorum) #134 Oystere in browet. Take and schole hom...

13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1398 [th]enne was alle [th]e halle flor hiled with knytes, & barounes at [th]e side-bordes bounet
ay-where;
1470-85 Malory Arth. vii. v. 220 "The knyght..took hym vp and sette hym at a syde bord, and sette hym self afore hym.
Malory Morte d'Arthur -- "And the herte wente aboute the Rounde Table, and as he wente by the syde-bourdis the brachet ever boote hym by the buttocke and pulde outte a pece, wherethorow the herte lope a grete lepe and overthrew a knyght that sate at the syde-bourde..."

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To candie all manner of flowers in their naturall colours...set them drying on the bottome of a Sieve in an Oven...

sile , sylud (p.p.) =
1- (verb) to sieve a liquid, esp. milk,  through a fine cloth.

Liber Cure Cocorum #47 Harus in a sewe. ...In hir owne blode seyn or sylud clean...

Siledish = (noun) a dish used for sieving liquid (Markham - English housewife, p. 170)

SIMNEL = a bread first boiled then baked. (Seton)

Sithe =
1- a sieve or milk-strainer. See sile.
2- chives. From sive, cive.

Sives =
1- chives
2-(possessive noun) a sieve's

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make mosse-powder... dry it in an oven upon a Sives bottome...  [INEDIBLE]

skirret, Scirret, skirwort, skyrwit, skiriworts, and many other variations in spelling = Sium Sisarum, a type of water parsnip used as a root vegetable. Turner, Names Herbes (1548 ), "Fuchsius rekoneth that our skyrwort or skyrwit is a kynde of siser. Persnepes and skirwortes are commune in Englande.  See O.E.D. for more.
 

Culpepper's Herbal --"Sisari, secacul. Of Scirrets. - They are hot and moist, of good nourishment, something windy, as all roots; by reason of which they... stir up appetite..."

 Liber Cure Cocorum # 118. For Ioutes ...Take sklyset, enbawdet [th]enne...

slimy  = Fish have a protective mucous in addition to or instead of scales (especially lampreys and bony fishes). This slimy coating is full of colloidal proteins that can be used (like gelatine) as a base for jellies. (Viandier #70, Jelly of slimy fish and of meat.) (Viandier)

Smallage, smalledge, smale ache, etc. = Apium graveolens,  wild celery, and other varieties of celery or parsley..

Small Spices = Spices such as grains of paradise, cloves and long pepper. "'Minute Spices' was frequently adopted to describe specifically those items sold in small quantities at high prices" (Labarge). (Viandier)

smethe = smooth

Liber Cure Cocorum - #117 For gruel of fors ...With otene grotes, [th]at ben so smethe...

sofregit (Catalan) = to fry gently, without burning, as in the method used for caramelizing onions

sofritto (It,) = a type of light frying/sweating ; also  a basic mixture of vegetables similar to the mirepoix.

softly = gently

sollar, selor, solere, saller, solar, solier (Fr.) =  a loft or attic at the top of the house or other structure, used sometimes as a storeroom or drying room.  Sollers were sometimes built to let in light and air.  This word is easily confused with "cellar."

Liber Cure Cocorum #84 For to save venysone fro restyng...Lede hit home, selor hit lay...
Diuersa Servicia #57 For to kepe venisoun fro restyng...led yt hom & do yt in a soler [th]at sonne ne wynd  may come [th]erto...

sop, Soppys = A bit of bread for dipping in a liquid, such as a soup or wine. (Viandier)
--Harleian MS. 4016 #130 Oyle soppes.
--Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers, xxxiij.  Oyle Soppys.

sorbetto (Italian) = "any kind of supping broth; also a kind of drink used in Turkey, made of Lemonds, Sugar, Corrans, Almonds, Musk and Amber very delicated called in England Sherbet." (1688 English-Italian dictionary cited by Elizabeth David in Harvest of the Cold Months.)

Soringue = A kind of eel dish, probably from saracen, otherwise untranslatable (Godefroy, Flandrin 1982).
(Viandier)

Sorrel = Rumex and Oxalis species.  Culpeper (p. 272-3) says of wood sorrel (Oxalis) "[they] are of a fine sour relish, and yielding a juice which will turn red when it is clarified, and maketh a most dainty clear syrup."

sotto la brasia, sotto le brascie (Italian) = 'under the braizer'. A braizer is a charcoal burner with a grill on top. So, 'under the braizer can be read "in the embers".

(Epulario, 1518, xxxv b) - " ... Anchora notarai similmente puoterai fare pauonazo laltro quarto biancho con le charotte o vero niffero (?) cotte sotto la brasia molto bene & poi le monderai dextramente col coltello quella parte de sopra la quale ha el colore pauonazo ..."

(Maestro Martino; Faccioli 198) - " ... Simelmente poterai fare pavonazo l'altro quarto bianco, havendo de le carote cotte sotto le brascie, et mondate, levarai dextramente col coltello quella parte di sopra la quale ha il colore pavonazo, et quella mettirai in fondo del sacco in nel quale si cola la decottione de la gelatina, ..."

sothun = past tense of to seethe.

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souffrire (French) = To fry lightly (from modern Italian soffriggere. Pichon et al. quote Le Menagier as specifying that frire meant frying in an iron pan, and souffrire meant frying in a pot. Sabban rejects Le Menagier's explanation, and notes that it is always used as a pre-cooking step preparatory to the final cooking.). (Viandier)

Sour Pepper = A kind of sauce. It appears to be an alternate name for “Yellow Pepper” (Pichon et al., Power). (Viandier)
 

Souse, sowse =
1- (noun) A kind of sauce. The title “Piglet Souse” refers to earlier recipes for a sauce for piglet offal (Scully 1988). The alternative title “Parsley Souse” better matches the recipe in the manuscript. The recipe is in Le Viandier. (Viandier)
2- (verb) to pickle.
3- (noun) liquid used for pickling
4- (verb) to cover in liquid or liquor; immerse, drench.
5- (noun) pickled pig's (or other animal's) parts
6- (noun) a pickle or condiment.

soustil (French) = Subtle (OED). (Viandier)
 

soux (French) = Souse (a pickling mixture) (OED). (Viandier)

Spanish jusce = water boiled with liquorice root, and concentrated; used in the 18th century to color porters & stouts.
 

Spanish pots = the name of an illusion dish. (Viandier, #196, Hedgehogs and Spanish Pots.) The result should look like a vase with flowers in it.

Sparagus = asparagus

sparling, sperling, sparlynge, sperlynge = a fish, the smelt, Osmerus eperlanus. The name is also used for immature herring, and the sprat, Clupea sprattus.

Spatter = (noun)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Gooseberries... and so stirre them in round with a woodden spatter till they be candied...

spiedo (Italian), spito, verum (Latin) =  a skewer or spit. See Broch.

Spikenard = See also nard, espic.

Spinach  = Spinacea oleracea, Chenopodiaceae. S.oleracea, our cultivated variety, is a native of S.W. Asia.  In medieval times the name ‘spinach’ was used for many green leafy vegetables.  These included:  Chenopodium album (Lamb’s Quarters); C. Bonus-Henricus (Good King Henry); Blitum capitatum (Strawberry Blite); Atriplex hortensis (Orache); A. rosea (Red Orache); and Salicornia species (Chickens’-toes and Sea-grass).  (For an essay on the introduction of spinach to Europe, see Root, pp. 469-471.)   (TTEM)

speck or spot with gold = to apply small bits of gold leaf to an object for decorative purposes.  Method:"...then take the white of an egge being beaten to froth, and with your pensell wet the toppes of your Comfits, and here and there a spot on your tower, then take leafe gold and cut it in square peeces like a diamond on your gold cushion, then dip your pencell in the white of an egge, and touch your gold at one corner with it, & it will sticke to it, and lay vpon every place where you wet, a Diamond of your cut gold..." (Murrell, 1617, #76)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make paste of Genua the true way... if it please you, you may spot them with gold.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Biskettello... and so speck them with gold, and so box them...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Prince-bisket bread... then spot it with gold, and give it...

spyt (Middle Low German), spiedo (Italian), spitone(m) (Latin) =  a skewer or spit. See Broch.

stale =

stale ale - The word stale, in conjunction with the word ale, can mean either clear (settled and clarified), or stale (no longer fresh).  (TTEM)

stamp = (verb) to pound in a mortar with a pestle, to beat.

Standing, Stondyng = a description of consistency, meaning thick, not runny.  (TTEM)

Star Anise =  A spice, Illicium verum Hook., Magnoliaceae.  The large, brownish-red seeds come in star-shaped pods that are very pretty and flavorful when added to a mulled drink.  They are used medicinally as a digestive aid. (TTEM)

STEPE = v. to soak. (Seton)

stick = a stick of eels is a N. Engl. unit of measurement defined by Benson (p. 119) as 25 eels.

Still =
1-- (noun) a distillation apparatus, used for distilling alcoholic beverages, perfumes, medicines, etc.

"The English Housewife"  (1615)  "Therefore, first I would have her furnish herself of very good stills, for the distillation of all kinds of waters, which stills would be either of tin, or sweet earth; and in them she shall distil all sorts of waters..."

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie all manner of Flowers, Fruits... and so put your pipkin into a Still, and make a small fire of small coales under it...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candy Borage-Flowers... you must set them in a Still, and so keepe them in a sheet of white paper, putting every day a chafingdish of coles into your Still...

Still room, Stillroom, Still-room  = "from distillation. The room in a house where the still was kept. One kept a still because a household and especially the mistress of a household would work upon the distillation of perfumes and cordials. And it was also the room in which she might make her various preserves, comfits,  and confections. Later, cakes and liqueurs, etc. might be kept there and even tea and coffee, etc. prepared therein... OED only traces it back to c1710 with quotation "C. 1710 Celia Fiennes Diary (1888) 299 On one side is a building,a summer parlour for a still room." The 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. has this listing: "1698 A door in the housekeeper's room should open into the still-room, in which the housekeeper, assisted by the still-room maid, would make preserves, cakes, &c" But its use is much earlier than that. Markham includes a chapter "Of Distillations" in The English Housewife and Michael Best includes a picture of the title-page to The Accomplished Lady's Delight in Preserving... which shows a 2 women at work in a still-room. Markham does not seem to use the word "stillroom" in that section. C. Anne Wilson in her essay "Water of Life" traces domestic distilling in the houses of the gentry in England to the mid-16th century." (See Liquid Nourishment. Food and Society 5.1993.) (Holloway)

Stockfish = split air-dried fish, especially cod, that must be soaked in water before use.  Originally dried hake, later other dried fish (OED).

Stopple = a stopper or bung. (Sip)

storax calamite = Styrax japonicus but can also refer to the resin of various members of the Styrax, and has been used to refer to the resin of various members of the Liquidambar, especially L. orientalis resin used in pomanders. "Styrax Calamitis, helps coughs, and distillations upon the lungs, hoarseness, want of voice, hardness of the womb, but it is bad for head-aches. " (Culpeper's Herbal)
 

• "1694 Pechey Compl. Herbal 333 The resin of Storax, which is sold in the Shops is two-fold, dry and liquid. The dry is called Storax-Calamite because it is put up in Reeds." (OED)
• "(...) Or els make a pomemaunder vnder this manor. Take of Lapdanum .iii. drammes, of the wodde of Aloes one drame, of amber of grece .ii. drames and a half; of nutmegges, of storax calamite, of eche a drame and a half; confect all these togyther with Rose-water, & make a ball. And this aforesayd Pomemaunder doth not onely expell contagyous ayre, but also it doth comforte the brayne, as Barthelmew of Montagnaue sayth, & other modernall doctors doth afferme the same: (...)" (Andrew Boorde's Dietary of Health (1542), cited in Andrew Boorde's Introduction and Dyetary ... Ed. F.J. Furnivall. London 1870, EETS E.S. 10, page 290-91).
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make an especiall sweet Powder... Benzoin and the Storax of each three drams... beat them all save the Benzoin and Storax and powder them by themselves...  [INEDIBLE]

Stove, stoue =
1- (noun) A heated closet or small room, sometimes with rows of shelves used for drying.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To candie Marigolds in wedges...then lay them on a sheet of white paper, and put them in a Stove.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Violet flowers... put them into a box, and keepe them in a stove.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Rosemary-flowers...and keepe them to your use in your Stove.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make Paste of Violets...and so dry it in your stoue, and not by the fire, for feare of danger...

3- (verb) To dry or preserve by storage in a stove.

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Eringo roots...and so put them in a Stove, and keep them all the yeare.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) -To candie Enula-Campana...and so stove them, and keep them all the yeare.
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To make paste of Eglantine... then stove it...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Muskadine Comfits... being thus cut, stove them, and so keepe them all the yeare...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) ...To make all sorts of banqueting Conceits of March-pane stuffe... then stove them, and you may keepe them all the yeare.

streynour = (noun) a strainer.  Strainers and sieves were made of wood slats, hair, metal, cloth or pottery, and were of various shapes and sizes depending on the intended use.  See also searce, sieve, hair sieve, and a page of illustrations.

strike, stryk =
1- (noun)  a piece of wood used to pass along the top of a bushel measure of grain to level the contents.  Occasionally, these pieces were curved to cheat the buyer.
2- (verb) to measure by using a strike. Also struck, stroke.
3- (noun) a old unit of dry measure that varied by district from 1/2 bushel to 4 bushels.
4- (adj.) measured using a strike; levelled, not heaped up.
5- (noun) the proportion of malt used to make ale or beer. The first strike = strong beer, beer of the first running.

Strom = according to the OED, a “strom” is “an oblong basket of wickerwork placed over the bung-hole within the wash-tub to prevent the grain and hops passing through when the liquor is drawn off.”

Strong Powder = A standard spice mixture (poudre forte). It is not actually called for in any recipe in Le Viandier. It is almost certainly the same as 'Spice Powder'. See Spice Powder. (Viandier)
 

Strudel = the German word for a pastry that consists of a filling enclosed in thin sheets of strudel or filo dough. See Filo.

subtlety = A pageant, model, inedible dish or edible dish, presented as entertainment or decoration between courses. Hence, any dish in which extra care is taken over the appearance and presentation. (Viandier)

sugre = cane sugar.  "Cane sugar probably originates in the Indus Valley and was transported East into Asia fairly early on.  There are various quibbles about precisely where it originates, but the best arguments I've seen say India.  The Greeks found cane being grown and used in 325 BCE when Nearchus led Alexander's army into Northern India.  This is described in Pliny.
Sugar cane was transplanted to Mesapotamia, probably during the Macedonian expansion, where sugar refining is believed to have developed before 500 CE. Some sources place sugar refining as early as 100 BCE and I have no reason (as yet) to doubt them.  White sugar was being refined by the time of the Islamic expansion... of the 7th and 8th Centuries... "(Decker)

SUGAR CIPRE = cane sugar from Cyprus. (Seton)

Sugre of Alisaunder =

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez. xxvij.  Appraylere.  "... & [th]an haue a gode Bature of Spicerye, Safroun, Galyngale, Canel, & [th]er-of y-now, & flowre, & grynd smal in a morter, & temper it vp with raw Eyroun, & do [th]er-to Sugre of Alisaunder y-now; & euer as it dryit, baste it with bature, & sette forth in seruyce."

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Superficies = the surface of the liquid in the cask or bottle. (Sip)

sur (French) = Rather (as in “sur jaune” and “sur le jaune” meaning “rather yellow”) (from context, and by analogy with "Mectes dedans du succre et non pas tant qu'il oste le gust du verjust, car il ne doibt pas estre sur le doulx" meaning "Add some sugar and not so much that it removes the taste of the verjuice, for it should not be overly sweet" quoted from Chiquart by Scully (1988). (Viandier)
 

surmontain (French) = Bastard lovage (Godefroy, OED). (Viandier)

sware = square.

“Sweet and clean” = when used of a cask, or other container, it means one which is sterilized, clean, and ready to use. (Sip)

Sweet flag = Acorus calamus.

Sweet Powder = A standard spice mixture. Probably every cook had a personal mixture, or bought it from a merchant. The composition varied, but was always mostly sugar. It is not actually called for in any recipe in Le Viandier. A recipe is embedded within the recipe for "Hippocras" in Additional Recipes. Power reads poudre douce as 'Duke's powder' rather than as 'sweet powder'. Santich decides on 'sweet powder'. (Viandier) See also  poudre douce.

SWERDE = Rind. (Seton)

syfte = to sift

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez, xxij.  For to make floure Rys.  Take Rys, an lese hem clene... & [th]erow a crees bunte syfte hem

sylphium = see laser. Illustration.

Sylud = a past participle of to sile.

Liber Cure Cocorum #47 Harus in a sewe. ...In hir owne blode seyn or sylud clean...

Syrup, ceripe, ceryp =
1- a thick sugar solution, sometimes medicinal.  From Culpeper's Herbal:
  "[On Syrups] 2dly, Syrups made by decoction are usually made of compounds, yet may any simple herb be thus converted into syrup: Take the herb, root, or flowers you would make into a syrup, andbruise it a little; then boil it in a convenient quantity of spring water; the more water you boil it in, the weaker it will be; a handful of the herb or root is a convenient quantity for a pint of water, boil it till half the water be consumed, then let it stand till it be almost cold, and strain it through a woollen cloth, letting it run out at leisure: without pressing. To every pint of this decoction add one pound of sugar, and boil it over the fire till it come to a syrup, which you may know, if you now and then cool a little of it with a spoon. Scum it all the while it boils, and when it is sufficiently boiled, whilst it is hot, strain it again through a woollen cloth, but press it not. Thus you have the syrup perfected."

2- a sweetened wine sauce, boiled down to the consistency of syrup.

A Noble Boke off Cookry, p. 30, Alander de beeff...serue them in a good ceripe.
A Noble Boke off Cookry, p. 27, Chekyns in sauce...put the ceryp in dyshes...

TAIL = is fat from sheep tails, commonly used as a cooking oil in medieval Islamic recipes. (Seton)

taille  (French) = Not translated. The word as it appears means 'sliced'. The recipe itself is for meat days, the next recipe is for fish days, and the one after that is for Lent ("Lenten slices"). Scully reads this word as tuille meaning 'tile-coloured' or 'tiled' (from the colour or overlapped appearance of analogous dishes). On the other hand, the table of contents entry for the recipe "Slices" is mis-written as tuilleiz. OED under 'tailye'. (Viandier)

taillis (French) = Slices.(Viandier)

Tansy = Tanacetum vulgare L., Compositae.  Tansy is a toxic plant having clusters of yellow button-shaped flowers.  (TTEM)

TEMPER = (verb) to Mix .

tendron(e), tenderon = a tender young plant shoot or sprout.
testo (Italian) = The word "testo" is used in the early Italian cookbooks for some heating device, kind of hot stone(s), it seems, possibly kind of an oven; see, e.g., the Anonimo Toscano and the Anonimo Veneziano . See also the 'Dizionario etimologico de la lingua italiana' by Cortelazzo & Zolli, Vol. 5, p. 1336. As to this description: "... a three legged iron pot with a thick lid. You can pile coals around and on top of it so that it functions like a small oven" , this image of such an oven is from Scappi's Opera, 1570. But the text line does not include the word "testo" (but rather: "Forno di rame có li trepiedi").

tewel, tuel = an opening or vent in a piecrust lid that allows steam to escape.  In a raised crust pie , these openings frequently included a strip of pastry, twisted and pinched to form a pipe or funnel-cone shape.  (These holes could also be ornamented to look like a flower, a turret, etc.) If the pie were to be kept for storage, as many raised-crust pies were, once the pie was cooked and cooled, strong gelatin-rich broth and liquid fat could be poured through the tewel into the pie, completely covering the filling and excluding the air that would spoil the pie.

(Liber Cure Cocorum) - #95 For lamprays bakun.  ...In myddes [th]o lydde an tuel [th]ou make...

[th]erf, [th]eorrf , therf , [th]eorf  (A.S.), [th]erfling, [th]errflinng, [th]jarfr (Icel.) = (adj.) unleavened,  therf looues or therf breed = unleavened bread. (Mayhew & Skeat)

thorow =
1-- thoroughly, completely

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Red-rose leaves... when they be thorow cold put them up...

THRIDDENDELE, thirdendale, thredden dele, thirdindeale, etc. (see below) =
from OED:
     "thirdendeal. Obs. Forms: 1 priddan dÊl; 4 pridden-, 4-5 thridden-, 5 threden-, thredden-, thryden-, thyrdyn-, 6 thirdin-, thyrden-, (thirding-, 7
     thurron-), 6-8 thirden-; 4-5 -del, 5-7 -dele, 6 -deale, deall, 7 -dell, 7-8 - -deal; 4-6 (9 dial.) -dale. OE. (pone) priddan dÊl, accus. case of (se)pridda
     dÊl the third part (see thirdel, deal sb.1, dale2). Cf. halfendeal, farthingdeal.

     1. The third part of anything; a third.

 
     C. 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 98 Seope on wÊtere to priddan dÊle;

     C. 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 120 Bewyl op priddan dÊl;

     13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 7306 + st. 65 Thriddendel his lond haue he schold.

     14.. E.E. Misc. (Warton Cl.) 72 With the thyrdyndele of gume, and twyse so mych of water.

     A. 1500 in Arnolde Chron. (1811) 147 Euery Sonday a soule out of purgatory and the thredden dele of al synnes releced.

     1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. i. i. (1580) 37 b, Drinke thereof two thirdendales of a glassefull.

     1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 459 b, Athyrdendeale of the Crowne of Thornes is shewed at Paris in the Holy Chappell there.

Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers lxxxiiij.  Vyaund de ciprys Ryalle.  Take [th]e to del [₃]olkys of eyron, [th]e [th]ridde dele Hony; take Clowes & kutte hem...
 

 
     1423 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 256/1 Thredendels and hoggeshedes so aftur lesse mesure.

     14.. MS. Cantab. Ff. 5. 48, lf. 55 b (Hartshorne Anc. Metr. T. (1829) 54), Hit holdis a gode thrydendele Ful of wyne euery mele.
 

 
1571 in Shaks. Jahrbuch (1896) 142 The hooped pot commonly called a thirdindeale and a half thirdindeale.

1590 [Tarlton] News Purgat. (1844) 114 When Tapsters..Fill thirdingdeall pots till the drinke run ouer.

1620 Melton Astrolog. 32 Many of them dare not goe to bed without a Thurrondell Pot of six shillings Beere.

1678 Phillips (ed. 4), Thirdendeal, a Liquid Measure used in Salisbury containing three Pints."

tisane = an infusion

Anthimus (c. 526CE). De Observatio Ciborum. LXIIII Of Tisane.Tisane which is made of barley...

Scappi - PER FARE TORTIGLIONE RIPIENO
Granado, Libro del arte de cozina, 1599 - PARA HAZER TORTILLON RELLENO

tortilla (Spanish) = literally little cake, from 'torta' (cake).  The Spanish term for omelette is "tortilla de huevos" (literally little cake of eggs), but even in the 16th century, they were already shortening it to "tortilla".  In Latin American Spanish, "tortilla" became synonymous with a flat cake of cornmeal.  In "Historia natural y moral de las Indias" [Natural and Moral History of the Indies, 1590], José de Acosta also mentions the Indians making tortillas from maize, which they cook on the fire and eat while still hot.

"Crónica de la Nueva España" (Chronicle of New Spain, 1554)by Francisco Cervantes de Salazar --   "Para hacer el pan, que es en tortillas, se cuece con cal y, molido y hecho masa, se pone a cocer en unos comales de barro, como se tuestan las castañas en Castilla, y de su harina se hacen muchas cosas, como atole, que es como poleadas de Castilla, y en lugar de arroz se hace del manjar blanco, buñuelos y otras cosas muchas, no menos que de trigo.
 

My translation:
"To make bread, which is in flat cakes, they cook it with lime, and being ground up and made into dough, they set it to cook on some earthenware dishes, just as they toast chestnuts in Castile, and from its flour they make many things, such as atole, which is like the poleadas [gruel/porridge] of Castile, and instead of rice, they make from it blancmange, fritters, and many other things, no less [than is made from] wheat."   (Carroll-Mann)

tostee (French) = Toast (OED). (Viandier)
 

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tourne (French) = To curdle (in some contexts). (Viandier)

tranche = a cut or slice.

trancher (O. F.), trincar (Port., Sp.), trencar, trinquar,  (Prov.), trencar (Catalan), trinciare (It.), trincare, truncare (Lat.) = to cut.

Trap¯, trape = a pan or dish

Forme of Cury (c. 1390) - #165 Tart in Ymbre day... and bake it i¯ a trap¯...
Forme of Cury (c. 1390) -  #152 Rafyols... Make a Crust i¯ a trape...
Forme of Cury (c. 1390) - #153 Whyte Mylat¯ ...make a foile i¯ a tra¯p & bake it wel...

Trencher = a plate made of wood, or a stack of sliced stale bread, used for holding food at table.
"...dining in a great household was a ritual as well as a meal.  It was a display of the wealth and power of the head of the household and was meant to create a sense of community among the members of
the household.  Trenchers served to demonstrate wealth and piety.  Only a wealthy and therefore powerful house could afford the expense of using bread for plates, which were taken up between courses and given to the poor as alms.

"Originally trenchers were just small round loaves sliced in half, as shown by an illustration in an early 12th Century copy of Gregory's Moralia, but by the late 13th Century they were being squared and presented to the table in an increasingly more elaborate ritual.

"A comparison of accounts between the 13th and 16th Centuries show a decline in the expenditures for bread, suggesting that trenchers moved from being used at every meal to being used primarily for pomp and ceremony.  For example, Dembinska comments that in mid-16th Century Poland it was common to use bread trenchers on fast days." (Decker)

trendle, trindle, trundle =
1- (verb) to roll
2- (noun) a wheel
3- (noun) a flattened round or oval tub or vessel used by bakers

trespies (Castilian), trespeus (Catalan), trespiedi  (Italian) = a tripod. Picture a flat ring of iron, about an inch wide, about a foot in diameter, with three feet attached. On this, any fire-safe pot or grill could be set over coals. The diameter of the ring ranged from a few inches to over a foot across. The height of the legs also varied from a few inches to about a foot. (McDonald)

Trifle = "IIRC, the earliest trifles did not have any cake at all, although I could be mistaken. ...Hannah Glasse (1747) uses a mixture of "Naples biscuits broke in pieces, mackeroons broke in halves, and ratafia cakes". ("just wet them all through with sack, then make a good boiled custard, not too thick and when cold pour it over it, then put a syllabub over that. You may garnish it with ratafia cakes, currant jelly, and flowers, and strew different coloured nonpareils over it" (Rognvaldardottir) [Note: see Alan Davidson's & Helen Saberi's new book "Trifles", due to be published by Prospect Books in 2001.]

• Thomas Dawson, The Good Huswifes Jewell, 1596. - TO MAKE A TRIFLE Take a pint of thick cream, and season it with sugar and ginger, and rose water. So stir it as you would then have it and make it luke warm in a dish on a chafing dish and coals. And after put it into a silver piece or a bowl, and so serve it to the board.
• 1598 Florio, Mantiglia, a kinde of clouted creame called a foole or a trifle in English. (OED)

trimolette = An adjective qualifying a dish, otherwise untranslatable (Godefroy). Partridge trimolette is similar to the modern French recipe salmis (Godefroy, Montagne). (Viandier)

troncon (French) = Section. (Viandier)

troussant (French) = Stiff (of sauce) (Pichon et al., but I am not entirely convinced). (Viandier)

trunde, trounde[₃] (n.)=  "[Perh. from runde n. with influence from trendel n. or a related culinary term beginning with tr- (e.g., trenchur n.); cp. OE tryndel (var. of trendel) & MnE dial. trundle something globular.] ?A round slice of bread." (Middle English Dictionary)

  (Harl 279, c. 1430)   42 "Payn pur-dew... take fayre brede & kytte it as trounde[₃] rounde..[th]an take & wete wyl [th]in trounde[₃] in [th]e [₃]olkys..."

Vincenzo Campi's The Poultry Seller (Cremona) is roughly contemporaneous with Rumpolt's work (no more than 10 years difference) and it has a Central American turkey rather prominently displayed in the woman's lap.  See illustration from Rumpolt , and a turkey sculpture in bronze c. 1600

turnsole = An herb (Chrozophora tinctoria) yielding a purple, red or blue dye depending upon treatment (OED). Power says green, but this is surely a mistake. Plouvier suggests litmus and Scully suggests orchil lichen, but these are probably wrong. (Viandier)

tusk, tuske = (verb) to carve a barbel

Usquebaugh =  from the Gaelic, uisce beatha, “the water of life.”  Distilled alcohol.

vanilla = "It was Hugh Morgan, apothecary to Oueen Elizabeth I, who is said to have suggested the use of vanilla as a flavouring for other foods." (Andrew Dalby , Dangerous Tastes, p.148.)  "There are recipes for chocolate that use vanilla published in France by M. St. Disdier in 1692. See Sophie and Michael Coe's The True History of Chocolate. pp.162-164." (Holloway)

She mentions Hernandez's account of an Aztec recipe for chocolate that inflames the
venereal appetites on pages 90-94. It also includes mention of vanilla.
 

vendoise (French) = Dace (a fish) (OED). (Viandier)

vent =
1-- a hole in a wooden cask that permits fermentation gasses to escape, thereby preventing explosion of the vessel.

Digby (1669) White metheglin of my Lady Hungerford - ...Then give it some little vent, else the Barrel would break...

verjuice, verious, v⁹ions, v⁹ious, v^-ions, v⁹iaws = Sour juice, usually from specially grown unripe grapes. Also made from crabapples, sorrel, gooseberries, or any other sour item according to the season. Flandrin et al. mention the addition of salt as a preservative. Lemon juice is a modern substitute. (Viandier)  "Verius: m. Veriuyce; especially that which is made of sowre, and unripe grapes; also, the grapes whereof it is made." (Cotgrave)

• (The Forme of Cury ,c. 1390)  #15 Tredure, "...and do [th]⁹to a lytel v^-ions"
• (The Forme of Cury ,c. 1390)  #48 Roo broth, "...Powdo^~ fort. safron^- v^~ions & salt.
• (The Forme of Cury ,c. 1390)  #136 Sawse blan^-che for Capon^-s ysode, "...temp^- it up with v⁹ions and powdo^~ of gyngyn⁹"
• (The Forme of Cury ,c. 1390)  #137 Sawse Noyre for Capon^-s yrosted, "...grynde it up w* v⁹ions. and wit [th] grece of Capon^-s.
• (The Forme of Cury ,c. 1390)  #154 Crustard⁹ of Flessh, "wi[th] v⁹iaws do [th]⁹to safron^-"
• (The Forme of Cury ,c. 1390)  #156 Crustard⁹ of Fysshe, "stewe he^- wi[th] Alman^-d Mylke and v⁹ions"
• (The Forme of Cury ,c. 1390)  #157 Crustard⁹ of Eerbis on fyssh Day, "...lye it up almost wi[th] as myche v⁹ions as wat^-"
• Ashmole MS. 1439. Sauces.18 Black sauce for capouns y-rostyde.  "...tempre hit up wi[th] verious."
• Ashmole MS. 1439. Sauces.17 White sauce for capons y-sode.  "...tempre it up wi[th] verious ..."

verjus en grain (French) = Verjuice grapes (whole) (from context, and Flandrin et al.) (Viandier)

Vernage or Vernaccia = a heavy, sweet white wine similar to sherry, produced in Italy but not exported.  Substitute sherry.  (TTEM)

vertgay (French) = Bright green (the literal meaning is 'gay green', referring to a mixture of green herbs and saffron used to colour a dish. Also 'yellowish green' or 'clear green' (von Wartburg). (Viandier)

vertocher (French) = To tap the bung in (a conjecture from context, from comparison with the remedies for wines in Montagne, and possibly from verge, cognate with Spanish vara (rod), and toquer (to rap or tap). OED under 'verement' has c. 1440 "Buschement, or verement”. This implies that busche and vere mean the same. Bouchement is the action of corking. Bouchon means 'bung'. In addition, verrou means 'bolt' or 'stopper'. Godefroy suggests 'make a barrel ready for serving' and cites a passage dated 1387. Pichon et al. don't think that fits but confess themselves unable to give any satisfactory explanation.). (Viandier)

verum (Latin) = a spit. See broch.
 
 

viande (Fr., Engl.), viandas (Spanish) = Food (not just meat) (OED). - food, food stuff, dish, meat

--"Viandas de Quaresma" -- Nola, 15th c.

vinaigrete (French) = Vinegar dish.(Viandier)

Vin cuict (Fr.) = "Wine boyled on the fire to a certaine thicknesse, and then put into vessells, and reserved for sweet sawces. Cot.[grave]" (Furnivall, Part 2, p. 76)

Vinegar = Vin + egar/eger/aigre or sour wine

Violet = Viola odorata L., and related species, Violaceae.  "...the syrup of violets... being taken in some convenient liquor... giveth to the drink a claret wine colour, and a fine tart relish, pleasing to the taste." (Culpeper, p. 298-9)  Violets have been used in sauces, pottages, salads, candies, etc.  (TTEM)

viper's bugloss, slangekruid, serpentien (Dutch) = Echium vulgare.

vncis (English) = ounces

wafer, wafrouns, obleis= a wafer or sacramental wafer, still used in baking in Europe.  These are sold in Germany as 'back oblaten'.
 

• "Forme of Cury" (c. 1390) - "Hares in Papdele. Take hares; perboile hem in gode broth. Cole the broth and waisshe the fleyssh; cast a[₃]eyn togydre. Take obleys o[th]er wafrouns in defaute of loseyns, and cowche in dysshes. Take powder douce and lay on; salt the broth and lay onoward & messe forth."
• (A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Biskettello... and so put a Wafer in the bottome of every one of them, and bake them...

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Orenges and Lemmons... let them boyle two or three walmes in your sirup...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To preserve Gooseberries... Then put in your Gooseberries, and let them boyle a walme or two...

Wardons = pears.  "The red Warden and the Spanish Warden are reckoned among the most excellent of Peares, either to bake or to roast..." (Parkinson, p. 594). See also pears.

MS. Harley 5401:

• 56,1 -- ...it kele. Mete of Lyfe. Recipe sodyn wardons or rostyd, & pike of [th]e skyn; [100r] [th]en...
• 60,1 -- ...serof. ||63| To make a Syrop of Wardons. Recipe wardons & seth [th]am til [th]ai be softe...
• 60,1 -- To make a Syrop of Wardons. Recipe wardons & seth [th]am til [th]ai be softe in clene...
• 60,6 -- ...when it is sodyn cast in [th]i wardons & serof it forth. For to make Jowtis. Recipe...

Wastel bread = a fine wheat bread.  Chaucer’s Prioress extravagantly fed her little dogs "with rosted flessh, or milk and wastel-breed."  (See also Paindemaine, Manchet.)  (TTEM)

well(e), wællan, wyllan  =
1- (verb) to boil
2- (verb, with over), to overflow
3- (adj.) completely

wesels = The sole known occurance of this word is in Liber Cure Cocorum, Page 52., #130 For wesels.  About the word "wesels", the O.E.D.  merely says "meaning obscure". While there is an obvious resemblance between this word, "wesels", and the words for weasel [wesel(e), wesell] (and if one uses a bit of imagination, this long thin batter-coated 'sausage' may resemble a weasel), there is another, stronger, possibility as to its meaning.  Since we are stuffing a capon's throat skin with a mixture, it is possible that the name comes not from "weasel", but from "wesand", meaning windpipe, throat, or gullet.  (Alternate spellings include wezzon and wezzand.  Note:  There are many more spelling variations.) This is supported by a note in Furnivall (II, p.  42) "Omasus, in tripa vel ventriculus qui continet alia viscera, a trype, or a podynge, or a wesaunt, or hagges.  Ortus in P.P." (Renfrow)

whess = to wash

(Laud MS. 553), #3 For to make amydon... eueryeday whess wel thy whete/

White hoare = literally white filth. Peach fuzz?

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) To preserve Peaches... and with a wet linnen cloth wipe off the white hoare of them...

White Powder = A standard spice mixture. Probably every cook had a personal mixture, or bought it from a merchant. The composition is much debated. Use a mixture of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and (optionally) cloves or mace (Sass, Hieatt et al. 1979, d'Amberview). (Viandier)

wild rosemary, marsh rosemary, Sumpfporst,  Pors, Porsch, Post, Kien-Porst, Kühnrost, Kiefernporst, Pursch, Porst, wilder Rosemarin, Bienenkraut, Borse, Brauerkraut, Gruitkraut, Gruiz, Grund, Gruut, Tannen-porst, Moor-rosmarin, Wilder Rosmarin, Böhmischer Rosmarin, Waldrosmarin, Morose, Mottenkraut, Flohkraut, Wanzenkraut, WeiBe heide, Hartheidem Zeitheide, Bienenheide, Bienenscheide, Heidenbienenkraut, Mutterkraut, Zeitheil, Altseim, Gichtlanne, Sautanne, Gränze, Schweineposse, Robkraut, Bagen, Baganz, and Rausch , swamp rosemary, moeras-rozemarijn = an herb used for flavoring beer, Ledum Palustre.

Winchester bushel = a standard dry measure adopted during Henry VII's reign, containing 8 gallons (4 pecks)

Wine and Salt Sauce = A kind of sauce. No recipe is available. Use any modern white wine fish sauce with added salt (Rombauer et al.).
(Viandier)
 

Wine Sauce = A kind of sauce. No recipe is available. Use any modern white wine fish sauce (Rombauer et al.). (Viandier)

wodde of Aloes =

WORTES = green vegetables and herbs

wrythe = to writhe, wring, twist

wyn = wine

wyn, wynn (N. Engl. dialect) = will

wynaker = vinegar

yet, [₃]et, [₃]eotan, yat, etc. = (verb, obscure dialect) to pour.

yetling, [₃]ettlyne, yetteling, etc. = (noun) a pot made of cast iron, typically with a handle and 3 feet; (adj.) made of cast iron.

y-fere, in fere = together

y-helid, y-helyd, yheled = (adj) covered or concealed. See also helde.

(Laud MS 533) For to make amydon ...that thy whete be yheled...
(Harleian 279), Vyaunde Furnez, XXX Sew trappe ...so [th]at [th]e pan be al y-helyd...
(Harleian 279), Leche Vyaundez, XXXJ To make Stekys of venson or bef... straw on pouder Canelle y-now, [th]at [th]e stekys be al y-helid [th]er-wyth...

ylkadel, ilk deal il del, ildell = every part, completely.

y-now,  = enough

yrayd = arrayed

y-sothe =   sodden, seethed, or boiled.
 

yssues (French) = Pluck (Montagne). (Viandier)

y-wronge = (verb) wrung

 Harleian MS. 4016, #112 Fried creme de almondes. ...a faire lynnen cloth that is faire wassh, and [th]e water y-wronge oute there-of;

(Scully, Cuoco Napoletano, #220) Zabaglone. Per fare quatro taze de Zabaglone, piglia .xii. rossi de ova fresca...

Zedoary= Curcuma zedoaria,  an herb so bitter it is rarely used in foods, and more often occurs in medicinals.

zentner  =  A German "hundredweight" equivalent to 100 pfund, and weighing between 110 and 120 pounds, depending on the market.  Also spelled centner. See also -- hundredweight, quintal.

zest, zeste (Fr.) = lemon or orange peel. Also the oil squeezed from the peel.
 
 

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SOURCES

Anonymous.  A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen. Or, The Art of Preserving, Conserving, and Candying. With the manner how to make divers kinds of Sirups, and all kinde of Banqueting stuffes. Also divers soveraigne Medicines and Salves for sundry Disesases.  London, Printed by Iohn Haviland. 1636.

_____ Barcelona MS 68, fol. 197 r. Libre de Sent Soví (ca.1450).

_____ Catalunya MS 2112, De apereylar be de menyar (ca.1380).

_____ Cod. guelf. 16.17. Aug. 4°, Blatt 111r/v; nach 1415, wohl noch erste Hälfte 15. Jh.

_____ The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchen, 1594, ed. by Stuart Peachey, Stuart Press, 1992.

_____ MS Harley 279, found in Austin, 1888.

_____ MS Harley 4016, found in Austin, 1888.

_____ MS Harley 5401 (Based on: C. Hieatt, ed., in: Medium Aevum 65, 1996, 54-71.)- concordance

_____ Laud Ms. 553, found in Austin, 1888.

_____  Liber de coquina, early 14th c., Latin, ed. by Mulon.

_____ Staindl 1569 - partially online

_____ Valencia MS 216,  Libre de Sent Soví (ca.1400).

Anthimus. De Observatio Ciborum. circa 526CE. Translated by Weber, Shirley Howard. Anthimus, De Observatio Ciborum: Text, Commentary and Glossary with a Study of the Latinity. Dissertation. Published by E.J. Brill Ltd., Leiden 1924.

Athenaeus.  The Deipnosophists, or The Sophists at Dinner.  Tr. by Charles Burton Gulick.  Wm. Heinemann, Ltd.  London.  G.P. Putnam’s Sons.  New York, 1927.  Ed. by E. Capps, T.E. Page, W.H.D. Rouse.  The Loeb Classical Library.  7 volumes dating from circa 228 A.D.

Atlas, Alia, tr.  Ein Buch von guter spise. Translation copyright 1993.

Austin, Thomas, ed.  Two Fifteenth Century Cookery-Books --Harleian MS. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harleian MS. 4016 (ab. 1450).  London, Oxford University Press, 1888.  Rpt. Vivian Ridler, Printer to the University, 1964.  Original series no. 91.

Benson, George.  Later Medieval York:  The City and County of the City of York from 1100 to 1603.  York.  Coultas and Volans, Printers, Little Stonegate, 1919.

Boorde, Andrew. Dietary of Health, 1542,  Ed. F.J. Furnivall. London, 1870, EETS E.S. 10

Cervantes de Salazar, Francisco. "Crónica de la Nueva España" (Chronicle of New Spain, 1554)

Crossley-Holland, Nicole. Living and Dining in Medieval Paris. The Household of a Fourteenth Century Knight. Cardiff:  University of Wales Press, 1996. [paperback 2000]

Culpeper, Nicholas. The English Physitian or Herball, 1653.

Dawson,  Thomas. The Good Huswifes Jewell. 1596.

della Porta , Giambattista, [1535-1615]. Magia Naturalis. 1658 English Translation

de la Vega, Pedro. Flos Sanctorum. Zaragoza, G. Coci, 1544.

Driver, Christopher, ed. "John Evelyn, Cook. The Manuscript Receipt Book of John Evelyn".  Prospect Books, 1997.

Dyer, Christopher. Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages: Social Change in England c. 1200-1520. Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Fleming, Elise  and Cindy Renfrow, Complete Anachronist # 109, "The Colorful Cook", by  Society for Creative Anachronism, 2000. Passages noted as (CA #109) are from this work.

Flower,  Barbara, and Elisabeth Rosenbaum.  The Roman Cookery Book, a critical translation of The Art of Cooking by Apicius.  George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd., London, 1958.
[I should like to point out (once again), that -- as far as I can see --the Apicius-collection we have in our hands now, is NOT a text _written by_ Apicius. The real Apicius (the gourmand) was born around 25 B.C. Very probably he wrote a general cookbook and a more special cookbook on sauces. THESE WORKS ARE LOST NOW. What has come down to us under the name of Apicius was finished by the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century. It seems that about 2/3 of the recipes in this collection can be said to go back to the two lost works of Apicius somehow, while the rest of the material is taken from different texts on agriculture, dietetics partly written in Greek. For more details see Maier, ed., Das romische Kochbuch ..., Stuttgart 1991, 250f. and E. Brandt, Untersuchungen zum romischen Kochbuche, 1927. (Th.)]

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Furnivall, Frederick J., ed.  The Babees Book (Manners and Meals in Olden Time ),Aristotle's ABC, Urbanitatis, Stans Puer ad Mensam, The Lytille Childrenes Lytil Boke, The Bokes of Nurture of Hugh Rhodes and John Russell, Wynkyn de Worde's Boke of Kervynge, The Booke of Demeanor, The Boke of Curtasye, Seager's Schoole of Vertue, &c. &c. with some French & Latin Poems on like Subjects, and some forewords on Education in Early England.  Trinity Hall, Cambridge, 1867? Reprinted in Suffolk for the EETS, Boydell & Brewer Ltd., 1997.

Glasse, Mrs. Hannah.  The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy.  Originally published 1747.  1796 edition.  Rpt. Randolph C. Williams.  Richmond, Virginia, 1976.
 

"Glossaire technique" in Grégoire Lozinski's La Bataille de Caresme et de Charnage, Paris 1933.

Granado, Diego . Libro del arte de cozina, 1599. English translation: Robin Carroll-Mann.

Harrison, William.  The Description of England.  1587.  A new edition by Georges Edelen, subtitiled:  “The Classic Contemporary Account of Tudor Social Life,” is available from the Folger Shakespeare Library and Dover Publications, Inc.  Washington, D.C., and New York, 1994.

Hartley, Dorothy.  Lost Country Life, Pantheon, New York, 1979.

Henisch, Bridget A.  Fast and Feast , Food in Medieval Society.  The Pennsylvania State University Press.  University Park, 1978.

Hess, Karen, ed.  Martha Washington’s Booke of Cookery, and Booke of Sweetmeats:  being a Family Manuscript, curiously copied by an unknown Hand sometime in the seventeenth century, which was in her Keeping from 1749, the time of her Marriage to Daniel Custis, to 1799, at which time she gave it to Eleanor Parke Custis, her grandaughter, on the occasion of her Marriage to Lawrence Lewis.  Columbia Univ. Press.  New York, 1981.  The recipes contained in the MS. are dated 1550 to 1625 by the editor.

Hieatt, Constance B. and S. Butler, eds. Curye On Inglysche. © The Early English Text Society, pub. 1985 Oxford University Press, London, New York, Toronto.

Hieatt, Constance B. and Robin F. Jones, "Two Anglo-Norman Culinary Collections Edited from British Library Manuscripts. Additional 32085 and Royal 12.C.xii." Found in  Speculum,  vol. 61, Issue #4, Oct. 1986, pp. 859-882.

 Higginbotham, J.: Piscinae. Artificial fishponds in Roman Italy. Chapel Hill, NC 1997.

Holley,  G. H. . "The earliest roll of household accounts in the muniment room at Hunstanton for the second year of Edward III (1328)", Norfolk Archaeology, 21 (1920-2), 77-96; Norfolk R. O., N.H.8.

 Kent, Elizabeth Grey, Countess of.  A True Gentlewomans Delight [which is bound with A Choice Manual of Rare and Select Secrets in Physick and Chyrurgery] in 1653. Published by W.I. Gent. The Author is credited [not without dispute] to be Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Kent.  The 1653 is a second edition.  (Holloway)

[M., W.] The Queens Closet Opened, Incomparable Secrets in Physick, Chirurgery, Preserving And Candying, And Cookery; As They Were Presented To The Queen. Printed by J.G. for Nathaniel Brook. 1655.  "Transcribed from the true copies of Her Majesties own Receipt-Books, by W. M." [consists of three distinct titles:  The Pearl of Practice;
The Compleat Cook; A Queens Delight.]

Maimonides, Moses (1135-1204 CE). Maqalah Fi Bayan Ba'D Al-A'Rad Wa-A;-Jawab 'Anha Ma'Amar Ha-Hakra'Ah. edited and translated by Leibowitz, JO and Marcus, S. _Moses Maimonides on the Causes and Symptoms (Maqalah Fi Bayan Ba'D Al-A'Rad Wa-A;-Jawab 'Anha Ma'Amar Ha-Hakra'Ah [and] De Causis Accidentium)_ Published by University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 1974. ISBN 0-520-02224-6 LCCCN 71-187873

"Mrs Sarah Longe her Receipt Booke, c. 1610", from Fooles and Fricassees:  Food in Shakespeare's England (Published by the Folger
Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, 1999

Markham, Gervase.  The English Housewife, Containing the inward and outward vertues which ought to be in a compleat woman; as her skill in physick, cookery, banqueting-stuff, distillation, perfumes, wool, hemp, flax, dairies, brewing, baking, and all other things belonging to a household.  1615, 1623, and 1631 editions, collated and edited by Michael R. Best.  Queen’s Univ. Press.  Kingston.  1994.

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Masson, Madeleine, ed. The Compleat Cook, Or the Secrets of a Seventeenth-Century Housewife. 1974. Contains the manuscript receipt book of Rebecca Price, begun 1681.

Mayhew, Rev.  A.L., and Rev.  Walter W.  Skeat. A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D.  1150 to 1580.  Oxford, at the Clarendon Press, 1888.

Mendelsohn, Oscar A.  The Dictionary of Drink and Drinking.  Hawthorn Books, Inc.  New York.

Merck & Co., Inc.  The Merck Index.  Fifth Edition.  Rahway, New Jersey, 1940.

Morris, Richard, ed. Liber Cure Cocorum Copied and edited from the Sloan MS. 1986 by Richard Morris, author of "The Etymology of Local Names", member of the Philological Society. Published for the Philological Society by A. Asher & Co., Berlin. 1862.

Murrell, John.  A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen.  1617. Rpt. Falconwood Press, New York.

Murrell, John.   A Delightful Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen. 1621.

Napier, Mrs. Alexander, ed. A Noble Boke of Cookry ffor a Prynce Houssode or Eny Other Estately Houssolde, reprinted verbatim from a rare MS. in the Holkham Collection. London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.C.  1882.

Nola, Roberto de, 15th cent., Libro de Cozina, ed. Carmen Iranzo. Temas de España, 75. Madrid: Taurus Ediciones, 1969.

Oxford English Dictionary.

Parkinson, John.  Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris.  Or A Garden of all sorts of pleasant flowers which our English ayre will permitt to be noursed vp, etc.  Collected by John Parkinson Apothecary of London.  Humfrey Lownes and Robert Young.  London, 1629.  Facsimile rpt. Dover Publications, Inc.  New York, 1976.

Pegge, Samuel, ed.  The Forme of Cury, A Roll of Ancient English Cookery, Compiled, about A.D. 1390, by the Master-Cooks of King Richard II, Presented afterwards to Queen Elizabeth, by Edward Lord Stafford, And now in the Possession of Gustavus Brander, Esq.  Illustrated, with notes, and a copious index, or glossary.  A manuscript of the editor, of the same Age and Subject, with other congruous Matters are subjoined.  J. Nichols, Printer to the Society of Antiquaries.  London, 1780. [Note: This manuscript uses a type of shorthand, and many characters used in this manuscript are not printable here. The symbols "~", "-" and "9" are an attempt to represent these characters. In most cases the character in question appears over the preceding letter.   Clicking on the link above will take you to an online facsimile of this book. This book contains a second manuscript, dated 1381, entitled Ancient Cookery, and is also at this web address.  For a Transcription of Forme of Cury, click here.]

Perry, Charles. "The Taste for Layered Bread among the Nomadic Turks and the Central Asian Origins of Baklava", Culinary Cultures of the Middle East, edited by Sami Zubaida and Richard Tapper.  London; New York: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1994, Pages 87-91. [ISBN: 1-86064-035-4]  This paper also appears in A Taste of Thyme : Culinary Cultures of the Middle East ,by Sami Zubaida (Editor), Richard Tapper (Editor), a Tauris Parke paperwork. [ISBN: 1860646034]

Pichon, Jérome, ed. Le Ménagier De Paris, Traité De Morale Et D'économie Domestique Composé Vers 1393, Par Un Bourgeois Parisien; Contenant Des préceptes moraux, quelques faits historiques, des instructions sur l'art de diriger une maison, des reuseignemens sur la consommation du Roi, des Princes et de la ville de Paris, à la fin du quatorzième siècle, des conseils sur le jardinage et sur le choix des chevaux; un traité de cuisine fort étendu, et un autre non moins complet sur la chasse à l'épervier. Ensemble: L'histoire de Griséldis, Mellibée et Prudence par Albertan de Brescia (1246), traduit par frère Renault de Louens; et le chemin de Povreté et de Richesse, poëme composé, en 1342, par Jean Bruyant, notaire au Chàtelet de Paris; Publié Pour La Premiére Fois Par La Société Des Bibliophiles François. Tome Second. A Paris, De L'imprimerie de Crapelet, Rue de Vaugirard, 9. 1846.

Pliny the Elder.  Natural History.  c. 77 A.D.  H. Rackham, ed.  Harvard Univ. Press.  Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1938.

Power, Eileen. The Goodman of Paris (Le Menagier de Paris), A Treatise on Moral and Domestic Economy by A Citizen of Paris (c. 1393). George Routledge & Sons, LTD. London, 1928.

 Rätsch, Christian. "Urbock: Bier jenseits von Hopfen und Malz."

Rose, Giles. "A perfect School of Instructions For the Officers of the Mouth: shewing The Whole Art of A Master of the Houshold, A Master Carver, etc.", London, Printed for R. Bentley and M. Magnes, in Russel-Street in Covent-Garden, 1682.

Rumpolt, Marx. New Kochbuch, 1581.

Scully, Terence. Cuoco Napoletano - The Neapolitan Recipe Collection (New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS Bühler, 19): A Critical Edition and English Translation, Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press, 2000, pp. 63-64 [Italian], pp. 190-191 [English].

Seelye-King, Christine. "366 Days of Celebrations".

Thibaut-Comelade, Eliana. La Table Medievale des Catalans. Montpellier,  Presses du Languedoc,  1995. ISBN: 2859981489

Tirel, Guillaume, Le Viandier de Taillevent, c. 1386 - 1393, by Guillaume Tirel, called Taillevent.

Vehling, Joseph D., ed.  Apicius, Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome... Apicius de re Coquinaria. Dover Publ., Inc.  New York, 1977.

Wright, Thomas, Esq.  Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, containing Words from the English Writers Previous to the Nineteenth Century which are no longer in use, or are not used in the same sense. And words which are now used only in Provincial Dialects.  In Two Volumes.  London:  George Bell and Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1880.

Zupko, Ronald Edward. Italian weights and measures from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. Philadelphia : American Philosophical Society, 1981.
Zupko, Ronald Edward. A dictionary of English weights and measures; from Anglo- Saxon times to the nineteenth century. Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1968.
Zupko, Ronald Edward. French weights and measures before the Revolution : a dictionary of provincial and local units. Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 1978.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES:

English and French Glossaries from Le Viandier  de Taillevent, tr. by James Prescott , Alfarhaugr Publ. Society, copyright 1987, 1989, reprinted with permission of the author.  Passages noted as (Viandier) are from this work.

Online glossary compiled by James Matterer, incorporated here with permission of the author.

Glossary from Take a Thousand Eggs or More, by Cindy Renfrow, by the author, copyright 1991, 1998, reprinted with permission of the author.   Passages noted as (TTEM) are from this work.

Glossary from A Sip Through Time, by Cindy Renfrow, by the author, copyright 1994, reprinted with permission of the author.  Passages noted as (Sip) are from this work.

Online glossary compiled by Phillipa Seton, reprinted with permission of the author. Passages noted as (Seton) are from this work.
 

With additional contributions by:

AEduin
Volker Bach
Ides Boone
Vincent Cuenca
Terry Decker
David Dendy
Elizabeth Donnan
Ted Eisenstein
Margaret FitzWilliam
Susan Fox-Davis
Elise Fleming
T.G.
Mark S. Harris
Melissa Hicks
Johnna Holloway
Elaine Koogler
Devra Langsam
Karen Larsdatter
Robin Carroll-Mann
Niccolo diFrancesco
John Gillett
Sherry Levi
Tom McDonald
Christina Nevin
Rise Peters
James Prescott
Eden Rain
Cindy Renfrow
Kirrily Robert
Nanna Rognvaldardottir
Christine Seelye-King
Phillipa Seton
Bethra Spicewell
Nicolas Steenhout
Phil Troy
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa

This page was last updated on March 17, 2006.

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