[Sca-cooks] Re: Chickens in Hochee

[Sheila McClune]

Huette von Ahrens wrote:

>--- Sheila McClune <smcclune at earthlink.net> wrote:
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>>Looking back at the 
>>original recipe, the serving instructions simply say, "/Messe hem & cast 
>>(th)erto powdour dowce."/  I don't have access to an OED, so I can't 
>>look it up, but to me, the term "messe" does not imply a tidy, intact 
>>chicken... :)  I could be off-base on this, but it is another possibility. 
>>
>>Just a thought,
>>Arwen
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>I believe you are off-base here.  There is a huge entry of mess as a noun, which has a lot
>of meanings.  However, the use here is as a verb, which means to portion it out and serve it
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That's what I get for trying to be too concise!

I wasn't thinking of "mess" as in, "That's another fine mess you've 
gotten me into."  I was contemplating the word "messe" and wondering if 
it might be akin to "mass" ("A unified body of matter with no specific 
shape") or the French "mis(e)", meaning to place or set.  And I was also 
considering the fact that while we define "mess" as "serve", would it be 
possible that there were subtle nuances involved in the terms, ones that 
we don't see from our modern perspective.  After all, Forme of Cury, 
which is the source of the recipe, does use the term "serue" as well.  
So why do they use one term in some places, and another in others?  
That's where I was trying to go.

Sorry for the incomplete thought...

Arwen

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