Sunday, June 23, 2013

Boke of Kervynge, part 5 (into modern English)


The carver must know the carving and the fair handling of a knife and how he shall bring/fetch all manner of fowl/ your knife must be fair and your hands must be clean and pass not two fingers and a thumb upon your knife. [only two fingers and a thumb should be touching the knife]
In the middle of your hand, set the haft [handle of the knife] sure “unlassynge” [unlacing?] and mincing with two fingers and a thumb.
Carving of bread laying and voiding of crumbs with two fingers and a thumb.
And see that you have the cure [unsure what this means]
Set never on fish, flesh, beast or fowl, more than two fingers and a thumb
Then take your loaf in your left hand and hold your knife surely [and do] not soil the table cloth, but wipe [it] upon your napkin. The take the trencher loaf in your left hand and with the edge of your table knife, take up your trenchers as close [to] the point as you may, then lay four trenchers to you sovereign [at his place on the table] one by another and lay thereon another four trenchers or else two, then take a load in your left hand and pare the loaf round about, then cut the over crust to your sovereign and cut the nether crust and void the paring and touch the loaf no more after it is so served, then cleans the table that the sewer may serve your sovereign.

Also you must know the “fumosytes” [fumosyte are vapors] of fish, flesh and fowl and all manner of sauces according to their appetites. These be the vapours of salt, sour, rancid, fat, fried, nerves, skins, honey, croups [translates as rump but could be crops/gizzards], young feathers, wings [or terminal part of a birds wing], bones, all manner of legs of beasts and fowls the other side for these have fumes, lay them never to your sovereign.

Service.

Take you knife in your hand and cut brawn in the dish as it lie and lay it on you sovereigns trencher and [make sure] there is mustard. Venison with frumenty is good for your sovereign, do not touch the venison with your hand but [only] cut it with your knife 12 droughts with the edge of your knife and cut it out into the frumenty. Do the same with peas and bacon. [For] beef chine and mutton, pare the beef [and] cut the mutton and lay it to your sovereign. Beware of fumes [from] salt, nerves, fat, rancid and raw [meat].


In syrup pheasant, partridge, stock dove and chickens in the left hand, take them by the wingtip and with the forepart of your knife, lift up your wings, then mince it into the syrup. Beware of skin, raw [meat] and nerves. Goose, teal, mallard and swan, raise the legs then the wings, lay the body in the middle or in another platter, the winds in the middle and the legs after, lay the brawne [removed meat] between the legs and the wings in the platter.

Capon or henne of Greece, lift the legs then the wings and cast on wine or ale, then mince the winge and give [to] you sovereign.

Pheasant, partridge, plover and lapwing, rise the wings and after the legs.
Woodcock, bittern, egret, snipe, curlew, heron, then raise the legs and let the feet be on still, then the wings.
A crane, rise the wings first and beware of the trumpet in his breast.
Peacock, stork, bustard and “shovyllard” [possibly Shovelers], unlace them as a crane and let the feet be on still.
Quail, sparrow, lark, martin, pigeon, swallow and thrush, the legs first then the wings.

Fawn, kid and lamb, lay the kidney to your sovereign, then lift up the shoulder and give your sovereign a rib. 
Roast Venison, cut it in the dish and lay it to your sovereign.
A cony, lay him on the back, cut away the vents [openings] between the hind legs, break the collarbone then raise the sides, then lay your cony in the womb on each side the chine [cut of meat along the backbone], the two sides departed from the chine [splitting the rabbit into two sides and the chine], then lay the bulk chine and sides in the dish. 
Also you must mince four slices to one morsel of meat [so] that your sovereign make take it in the sauce. 
All bake meats that [are served] hot, open them above [remove the lid] the coffin [the pastry casing] and all that are cold, open them in the midway [sliced open through the pie]. 
Custard “cheke them” inch square [cut them into 1 inch squares] that your sovereign may eat from them. 
Doucettes, pare away the sides and the bottom, beware of fumes. 
“Fruyter vaunte”, fritters are good, better are fritter pouch, apple fritters are good hot, and all cold fritters touch not. 
Tansy is good, hot worts [pot-herb/vegetable] or gruel of beef or of mutton is good. 
Jelly, mortrus [mortrews... dish with ground meat], almond cream, blanc manger [a white dish], jussel [egg/bread dish] and charlet [meat dish with eggs and milk], cabbage and numbles [offal] of a deer are good, beware of all other pottage and dishes.

Here ends the carving of flesh.
And begins sauces for all manner of fowls. 


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See notes here for information on the book and translation. In this case, I did refer to other versions of the same book for better translation. 
Note: this is not divided up the same as the original


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