Monday, June 14, 2010

"Auter Tartus" (custard/cheese tart)

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

Auter Tartus
—Take faire nessℏ chese that is buttry, and par hit, grynde hit in a morter; caste therto faire creme and grinde hit togidre; temper hit with goode mylke, that hit be no thikker þen̄ rawe creme, and cast thereto a litul salt if nede be; And (if) thi chese be salte, caste thereto neuer a dele; colour hit witℏ saffron̄; then̄ make a large coffyn̄ of faire paste, & lete the brinkes be rered more þen̄ an enche of hegℏ; lete þe coffyn̄ harden̄ in þe oven̄; þen̄ take it oute, put gobettes of butter in the bothom̄ thereof, And caste the stuffe there-to, and caste peces of buttur there-vppon̄, and sette in þe oven̄ witℏ-oute lydde, and lete bake ynowe, and then̄ cast sugur thereon̄, and serue it fortℏ. And if þou wilt, lete him haue a lydde; but þen̄ thi stuff most be as thikke as Mortrewes.

Modern English

Another Tart (a baked cheese custard/cheese pie)
—Take fair, soft, cheese that is buttery, and pare and grind it in a mortar; cast into this, fair cream and grind with the cheese; temper this with enough good milk to make it no thicker than raw cream, and cast into this a little salt if need be; And if the cheese is salted, don't cast in too much; colour this with saffron; then make a large coffin (free-standing pie shell), and let the sides (of the pastry) be built up more than an inch high; let the coffin harden in the oven; then take it out and put chunks of butter in the bottom of the pastry, and cast the mixture into the shell, and cast pieces of butter on this, and set it in the oven without a lid, and let it bake enough, and then cast sugar over this and serve it forth. And if you will, let it have a lid; but then the mixture should be as thick as for Mortrewes.

No comments:

Post a Comment