Newly-Discovered 12th Century Recipes To Be Recreated

A newly-discovered 12th century manuscript contains recipes that predate the earliest known ones by 150 years. The recipes will be recreated as part of a cookery workshop for history, English and archaeology Master of Arts (MA) students from Durham on April 25th at Blackfriars Restaurant in Newcastle.

Here is a taste of what you might expect:

“The recipes are for sauces to accompany mutton, chicken, duck, pork and beef. There’s even a seasonal version of the chicken recipe, charmingly called “hen in winter”. We believe this recipe is simply a seasonal variation, using ingredients available in the colder months and specifying “hen” rather than “chicken”, meaning it was an older bird as it would be by that time of year. The sauces typically feature parsley, sage, pepper, garlic, mustard and coriander which I suspect may give them a middle eastern, Lebanese feel when we recreate them.

Link via The Presurfer