The BBC reports that John Rylands University Library of University of Manchester is currently in the process of digitizing a group of early English manscripts from their collection for viewing over the internet. Included is the The Forme of Cury: A Roll Of Ancient English Cookery Compiled about A.D. 1390 by the Master Cooks of King Richard II.
The Forme of Cury is the name given to a collection of manuscripts thought to have been written by the Master Cooks of King Richard II around 1390 at the request of his royal highness.
According to Alan Davidson (1999): “Although there are other such compilations, this (The Form of Cury) gives the fullest and best impression of (medieval) Anglo-Norman cuisine.”
Reprints of the manuscript include:
- Samuel Pegge (1780) under the title: The Forme of Cury
A Roll of Ancient English Cookery Compiled, about A.D. 1390 - Richard Warner (1791) under the title Antiquitates Culinariae
- Prospect Books (1981) facsimile of Richard Warner’s 1791 edition.
- Curye on Inglysch (Constance Hieatt and Sharon Butler, 1985) also contains other early cooking manuscripts
- Metropolitan Museum of Art (1975) not a reprint, but a collection of original recipes from The Forme of cury interpreted by Lorna Sass for use in the modern kitchen
Why not try Sawse Madame (goose stuffed with garlic, fruit, and herbs), Chykens in Hocchee (chicken stuffed with herbs, garlic, and grapes and boiled broth) or Sambocade (elderflower cheesecake)???