Language of cookery – MONK'S MODERN MEDIEVAL CUISINE

Language of Cookery 9: From brawn to brains

Did King Richard II have pig’s brain on the household menu? What’s the evidence for medieval English folk consuming animal brains?

Language of Cookery 8: The etymology of kuskenole

As a follow-up to my post on the kuskenole, I thought I’d share this short note about the origins of the name of this delicious pastry. Thanks go to Salma Quereshi for asking about this via Twitter… and consequently motivating me to look into it in more detail. According to Dictionnaire Étymologique de l’Ancien FrançaisContinue reading “Language of Cookery 8: The etymology of kuskenole”

Language of cookery 7: lard or lardons?

Dr Monk looks at a recipe for medieval fried custards and asks, when is lard not lard?

Language of cookery 6: Capons and “quinces”

What have egg yolks and quinces to do with one another? Follow Dr Monk as he looks at 3 fourteenth-century recipes for a capon dish.

Galentine: cold, hot, sauce or jelly?

I have been writing chapter 5 of my book (working title: How to Cook in the Fourteenth Century) which is dedicated to the sauce and condiment recipes in Richard II’s Forme of Cury. One of these recipes, ‘Galentyne’ in the Middle English text, intrigues me. The main reason for the fascination is that this particularContinue reading “Galentine: cold, hot, sauce or jelly?”

Language of cookery 5: What does Crutoun mean?

I find it so easy to get waylaid by curiosity when translating Forme of Cury, Richard II’s official cookery book. Give me a strange recipe name, and I’ll spend hours trying to work out what it might mean and where it’s from, instead of simply offering a modern English title that captures the essence ofContinue reading “Language of cookery 5: What does Crutoun mean?”

Three medieval soft fruits

I love this time of year: late spring. My strawberries are just beginning to ripen — I’m going to have a fully ripe strawberry in May for the first time in about 10 years! My patio raspberries are being visited by many a bumblebee — I have quite a small garden, so dwarf fruit bushesContinue reading “Three medieval soft fruits”

Language of cookery 4: meat ‘purses’

I love discovering the meanings behind the names given to medieval dishes. Call me scholar, call me nerd, I just can’t help myself. Many of the recipe titles in Richard II’s official cookery book, Forme of Cury (c. 1390), have bamboozled antiquarians and academics for centuries, so I get a kick out of working outContinue reading “Language of cookery 4: meat ‘purses’”

Language of Cookery 3: 14th-century English Pappardelle?

Exploring the linguistic influences on medieval English cuisine Medieval English recipe names are frequently odd. And sometimes, as a translator, I’m led down a dodgy etymological path by a name that looks like a mangled concoction of Middle English and Old French or Anglo-Norman, only for it to turn out to be something quite different.Continue reading “Language of Cookery 3: 14th-century English Pappardelle?”

Language of Cookery 2: Ground beans?

In the second of my short language notes I take a look at a culinary essential of Richard II’s cookery book For to make grounden benes. Take benes & drye hem in an ovene & hulle hem wel and wyndowe out the hulkes & waysche hem clene & do hem to seeþ in god brothContinue reading “Language of Cookery 2: Ground beans?”