[Sca-cooks] A Noble Book of Royal Feasts

[Christina L Biles]

Wonder if we can get copies?
-Magdalena

ews - How to feed a king - first, splatte your pyke.
                     By Sarah Womack.

                     06/27/2002
                     The Daily Telegraph
                     P9
                     (c) Telegraph Group Limited, London, 2002


                     Social Affairs

                     Correspondent

                     CHOPPED sparrow and roasted swan may not be today's
idea of sophisticated or even acceptable
                     cuisine, but there was a time when such dishes
delighted the palates of English aristocracy.

                     The recipes appear in what is thought to be the
earliest printed cook book in English, newly discovered
                     at Longleat House, Wiltshire, home to the Marquess of
Bath.

                     Dating from 1500, the book features meals based on
almost "any animal that could draw breath". It
                     offers an invaluable culinary and cultural insight
into the life of England's wealthiest and most influential
                     people, including kings and archbishops.

                     A British Library spokesman yesterday described the
book, entitled A Noble Book of Royal Feasts, as
                     an extraordinary find.

                     It is divided into three parts: a history of
important feasts, including that served at Henry V's coronation
                     in 1413, a calendar of seasonal food variations, and
a list of ingredients. Historians said it was
                     designed for the aspiring merchant and gentry
classes, enabling them to discover what was being
                     eaten at the king's court and replicate it. In the
margin, scribbled Latin notes indicate that the recipes
                     were used.

                     Kate Harris, librarian and archivist at Longleat,
said: "One feast listed was that served for George
                     Nevill, who became Archbishop of York in 1465. It is
a huge list of birds, including curlews, gannets,
                     gulls, dotterels, larks, redshanks, peacocks,
partridges, woodcocks, knots and sparrows.

                     "Henry V's coronation feast is also recorded and it
included cygnets, trout, fried roach, perch, carp
                     and lamprey. During the meal the King would have had
swan, but everybody else would have eaten
                     conger eel."

                     The 80-page book was printed by Richard Pynson, a
Norman based in London, whose first known
                     book was produced in 1492. Later, he specialised in
law and became the King's printer.

                     Ms Harris said: "The book came to Longleat when
Elizabeth, the daughter of Margaret Harley - later the
                     first Duchess of Portland - married the first
Marquess of Bath in 1759. It was rebound in the early 19th
                     century by Thomas Whitacker and has been here ever
since but recent archiving has brought it to
                     light."

                     Its full title is A noble bok of festes ryalle and
cokery, A bok for a Prynces housholde.

                     Unlike a modern recipe book, there are no details
about cooking times or amounts to be used.

                     "The cooks would have been highly skilled and moved
the food to and from the fire's heat to ensure it
                     cooked correctly," Ms Harris said. "Like good chefs
today they would have judged when something
                     was ready by eye and smell.

                     "Although most things listed are meats, there are one
or two dairy dishes, including `Ledlards', which
                     were a coloured egg and milk mix.

                     "Meats would have been flavoured with spices
including ginger, cinnamon and cloves. The animals
                     would have been presented whole."

                     Contrary to popular belief, nothing went to waste and
despite using their fingers to eat, noble people
                     were tidy eaters. "They had spoons and knives but
they used fingers instead of forks, which were a
                     later Italian invention," said Ms Harris.

                     "Sons of aristocrats were sent to houses to learn the
rules of etiquette and how to carve meat. There
                     are a lot of fish recipes because three days a week,
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, were fast
                     days when only fish could be eaten."

                     Presentation was crucial and tables would have been
decorated with sugar sculptures that were
                     painted and even gilded. Meals of the type in the
book would have been produced on a huge scale and
                     more than 1,000 people would have been fed.

                     Copies of the book are being made for academics and
visitors to Longleat House.

                     While handwritten recipe books from the medieval
period are in existence, this is the earliest known
                     copy of a printed cook book in English, said a
spokesman for the British Library.