A potage on a Fysdaye

Two 15th century cookbooks
Ab. 1420 A.D.

A potage on a Fysdaye

—Take an sethe an .ij. or .iij. Applys y-parede, & strayne hem þorw a straynoure, & Flowre of Rys þer-with; þan take þat whyte Wyne, & strayne it with-alle; þan loke þat it be nowt y-bounde to moche with þe Floure of Rys, þan ȝif it a-boyle; þen caste þer-to Saunderys & Safroun, & loke it be marbylle;*. [i.e. variegated. ] þan take Roysonys of corauns, & caste þer-on, & Almaundys y-schredyd þer-on y-nowe; & mynce Datys Smale, & caste þer-on, & a lytil Hony to make it dowcet, or ellys Sugre; þenne caste þer-to Maces & Clowys, Pepir, Canelle, Gyngere, & oþer spycery y-now; þen take Perys, & sethe hem a lytil; þen reke hem on þe colys tyl þey ben tendyr; þan smale schrede hem rounde; & a lytil or þou serue it in, þrow hem on þe potage, & so serue hem in almost flatte, noȝt Fullyche.

Modern English

A Fishday Pottage

—Take and boil 2 or 3 pared apples, and strain them through a strainer with rice flour; then take white wine and strain this with everything; then make sure that there isn't so much rice flour as to make it too thick, then if(when) it boils; then cast into this red sandalwood and saffron and see that it marbles (the red from the saunders and the yellow from the saffron); then take raisins and currants and cast these in along with enough shredded almonds and finely minced dates and a little honey to make it sweet, or else sugar. Then cast in mace, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, ginger and enough other spices. Then take pears and cook them (in water, whole) a little; then rake them on the coals till they are tender; then shred them small and place them on the pottage. The pottage is served/dished almost flat rather than heaped.