Chappons, veel, aux Herbes (Capon with Herbs)
Recipe from Handout
1 quart water4 chicken breasts
1 slice fresh side bacon
1 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped sage
1 Tablespoon hyssop
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 pinch saffron
5 thin slices gingerroot
Place all these ingredients into the pot and set it to boil for approximately 1 hour. Then serve forth.
Source for Recipe Presented
The Viander of Taillevent - Redaction Kateryn de DevelynNotes and additional versions
Capons are castrated, fattened roosters. I've put together a group of recipes including both capon and hen recipes.
The Viander of Taillevent
Le Menagier de Paris
Capon With Herbs (Chappons, veel, aux Herbes)
Set them to cook in water, bacon fat, parsley, sage, hyssop, dittany (or costmary), wine and verjuice; saffron and ginger are optional.
HERBED CHICKEN. - VEAL with HERBS.
In winter, killed chickens, dampened and then placed six days in the ice, and in summer, dead for two days (without sun) or smothered under a mattress; put on to cook in water and with bacon to give appetite, and add parsley, sage, egg-shell and hyssop, a little verjuice to sharpen it, and a very little ginger and saffron to add color. This is a proper soup if it is served cold, but if served hot, you need neither chicken nor veal, but only bacon and saffron.
Kateryn de Develyn's 14th Century French Meal
Stefan's Florilegium Period and SCA recipes for chicken.
Cariadoc's Miscellany - Poultry
Other Chicken Soups/Stews
Harleian MS. 4016.
Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers
Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers
Harleian MS. 4016
Harleian MS. 4016.
Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers
Le Menagier de Paris
Le Menagier de Paris
Le Menagier de Paris
Du Fait de Cuisine, by Maistre Chiquart, 1420
Du Fait de Cuisine, by Maistre Chiquart, 1420
Lady Elinor Fetiplace, 1604
Lady Elinor Fetiplace, 1604
Lady Elinor Fetiplace, 1604
From Sallets, Humbles & Shrewsbery Cakes, which reproduces the recipe but doesn't identify which cookbook it came from
From Sallets, Humbles & Shrewsbery Cakes, which reproduces the recipe but doesn't identify which cookbook it came from
From Sallets, Humbles & Shrewsbery Cakes, which reproduces the recipe but doesn't identify which cookbook it came from
John Murrell, A Booke of Cookerie
John Murrell, A Booke of Cookerie
Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook, 1660
19 Capons Stwed. Take parcelly, sauge, isoppe, rosemary, and tyme, and breke hit bitwen thi hondes, and stoppe the capon therewith; colour hym with safferon, and couche him in a erthen potte, or of brasse, and ley splentes underneth and al abou(gh)t the sides, that the capon touche no thinge of the potte. Strawe good herbes in (th)e potte, and put thereto a pottel of the best wyn that thou may gete, and none other licour; hele the potte with a close led and stoppe hit abou(gh)te with dogh or bater, that no eier come oute, and set hit on (th)e faire charcole, and lete it seeth easly and longe till hit be ynowe. And if hit be an erthen potte, (th)en set hit on (th)e fire whan (th)ou takest hit downe, and lete hit not touche (th)e grounde for breking. And whan (th)e hete is over past, take out the capon with a prik; then make a sirippe of wyne, reysons of corance, sugar and safferon, and boile hit a litull; medel pouder of ginger with a litul of the same wyn and do (th)ereto; then do awey the fatte of the sewe of the capon, and do the siryppe to (th)e sewe, and powre hit on (th)e capon, and serve it forth.
Cxiij. Bruette saake. Take Capoun, skalde hem, draw hem, smyte hem to gobettys, Waysshe hem, do hem in a potte; (th)enne caste owt (th)e potte, waysshe hem a-gen on (th)e potte, & caste (th)er-to half wyne half Bro(th)e; take Percely, Isope, Waysshe hem, & hew hem smal, & putte on (th)e potte (th)er (th)e Fleysshe is; caste (th)er-to Clowys, quybibes, Maces, Datys y-tallyd, hol Safroune; do it ouer (th)e fyre; take Canelle, Gyngere, tempere (th)in powajes with wyne; caste in-to (th)e potte Salt (th)er-to, hele it, & whan it is y-now, serue it forth.
xlj. Gelyne in dubbatte. Take an Henne, and rost hure almoste y-now, an choppe hyre in fayre pecys, an caste her on a potte; an caste (th)er-to Freysshe bro(th)e, & half Wyne, Clowes, Maces, Pepir, Canelle, an stepe it with (th)e Same bro(th)e, fayre brede & Vynegre: an whan it is y-now, serue it forth.
Gelyne endobat. Take a hen, and roste hir al-moost ynogh, and chop hir small if faire peces, and caste hem into a potte; and take fressh broth and halff wyne, and caste there-to Maces, Peper, Clowes, and canell; and stepe faire brede with the same broth and with vinegre, and drawe hit thorgh a streynour; and whan it hath wel boiled, caste thereto pouder of ginger and vinegre, and seson hit vppe and serue it forth.
64 Gelyne in brothe. Take rawe hennes, chop hem, caste hem into a potte; cast to fressh broth Wyne, parcelly, oynons myced, powder of peper, clowes, Maces, saffroun, and salt; then stepe brede with vinegre and (th)e same broth, and draw hit thorgh a streynour, and cast it thereto, and lete boyle ynogh; And caste thereto pouder ginger, and sesone hit vp, & serue forth.
lxvij. Bruet of Almaynne. Take Almaundys, & draw a gode mylke (th)er-of with Water; take Capoun, Conyngys or Pertriches; smyte (th)e Capoun, or kede or Chykonys, Conyngys: (th)e Pertreche shal ben hol: (th)an blaunche (th)e Fleyssh, an caste on (th)e mylke; take larde & (mynce) it, & caste (th)er-to; take an mynce Oynonys & caste (th)er-to y-nowe, do Clowes & smal Roysonys (th)er-to; caste hol Safroun (th)er-to, (th)an do it to (th)e fyre, & stere it wyl; whan (th)e fleysshe ys y-now, sette it on (th)e fyre, an do (th)er-to Sugre y-now; take pouder Gyngere, Galyngale, Canel, & temper (th)e pouder wyth Vynegre, & caste (th)er-to; sesyn it with salt, & serue forth.
CAPON SOUP. Cook your capons in water and in wine, then dismember and fry in grease, then grind up the livers from your capons and livers and almonds, and mix with your stock and put on to boil, then take ginger, cinnamon, clove, galingale, long pepper and grains of Paradise, and mix with vinegar and put on to boil; and when serving, divide your meat among the bowls, and pour the soup over it.
Verjuice and Poultry Soup. (This is for summer.) Cook in quarters your poultry or veal or chicks, in stock or other liquid with bacon, wine and verjuice, until the taste of the verjuice passes: then fry your meat in good sweet fat, and have egg yolks and powdered herbs well beaten together and put through the sieve; then pour your eggs into the pot into your stock, pouring from above in a fine thread, and stir briskly with the spoon, and let the pot be at the back of the fire: then have defoliated parsley and grain verjuice, boiled in meat stock, in the spoon, and let the pot be at the back of the fire, or otherwise boiled in a small pot in clear water to remove the first greenness; then serve your meat, and pour the soup over it, and on top add your parsley and grain verjuice, boiled.
Savoy Soup. Take capons or hens and boil with very lean bacon and the livers: and when it is half cooked, take it out, then add bread crumbs moistened with stock, then grind ginger, cinnamon, saffron, and take them out; then grind the livers and lots of parsley, then sieve, and then grind and sieve the bread, then boil it all together. (Note that the parsley makes the soup green and the saffron makes it yellow, so that it ends up a bad color. But it seems to me that the color would be better if the bread was toasted, as toasted bread and saffron together make green and parsley also makes green.)
Bruet of Savoy
3. And again, another potage, that is a bruet of Savoy: to give understanding to him who will be charged with making this bruet, to take his poultry and the meat according to the quantity of it which he is told that he should make, and make ready his poultry and set to cook cleanly; and meat according to the quantity of potage which he is told to make, and put to boil with the poultry; and then take a good piece of lean bacon in a good place and clean it well and properly, and then put it to cook with the aforesaid poultry and meat; and then take sage, parsley, hyssop, and marjoram, and let them be very well washed and cleaned, and make them into a bunch without chopping and all together, and then put them to boil with the said potage and with the meat; and according to the quantity of the said broth take a large quantity of parsely well cleaned and washed, and brayed well and thoroughly in a mortar; and, being well brayed, check that your meat is neither too much or too little cooked and salted; and then according to the quantity of broth have white ginger, grains of paradise, and a little pepper, and put bread without the crust to soak with the said broth so that there is enough to thicken it; and being properly soaked, let it be pounded and brayed with the said parsley and spices, and let it be drawn and strained with the said broth; and put in wine and verjuice according as it is necessary. And all of the things aforesaid should be put in to the point where there is neither too little nor too much. And then, this done, put it to boil in a large, fair, and clean pot. And if it happens that the potage is too green, put in a little saffron, and this will make the green bright. And when it is to be arranged for serving, put your meat on the serving dishes and the broth on top.
Bruet of Almayn
2. Again, a bruet of Almayn: and to give understanding to him who will make it, according to the quantity which he should make, take these capons and dress them cleanly, and cut them in quarters; according to the quantity of the said potage which is given into his charge, let him take meat in proportion to the said poultry according as it is left over from the other potage, either pork or lamb, kid or veal, and such meat should be cut up in proportion to the quantity of the said poultry; and for this take onions according to the quantity of the meat which you are making and chop them very small, and take some bacon fat and melt it thoroughly; and put your meat either in cauldrons or in fair and clean pots, according to the quantity which you have, and then put your onions and the lard in with your meat and fry it all together; and, according to the quantity of your meat, take almonds and have them cleaned so that there are no shells and have them very well washed in good hot water, and then have them very well brayed without blanching and have them moistened with beef broth; and then take a fair cornue and strain them with the beef broth according to the quantity which you want to make, and take heed that it is not too salty; and then take good white wine and verjuice according to the quantity of the broth and put in, and white ginger, grain of paradise, pepper and not too much, nutmeg, and all minor spices such as cloves and mace, and saffron to give it color--and all these spices put in in moderation; and, these being ground, put them into your broth; and this broth in with your sautéed meat, and sugar therein in great quantity according to the quantity of the broth. And when all of this is together, taste it to see that there is nothing of which it has too much or too little so that you can correct it, and check the salt; and check that the meat is not overcooked, because the kid and veal are more tender than the poultry. And when your meat is cooked to the right point and one wants to arrange it for serving, put your meat separately and put it on serving dishes and then put the said broth on top.
To Boyle Chickens. Take a peece of mutton and boyle in water and salte, scum it cleane then put into it a peece of sweete butter and a handfull of the best Lettuse you can gett wth some large mace, and Reasons of the Sunne, then put in the Chickens and lett them boyle well therin, when you dish it upp take the yelkes of 3 eggs and a little vergis wth some sugger, beate it well together an put it into yor Chicken broath, Lett it boyle noe more after you have put in these thinges, but serve upe yor Chickens on sippets.
To Boile Chickins. Take a good handfull of parselie, pick it small, & a good handfull of gooseberries, & a pretie quantitie of tyme, mince it small, & three large mace, & put these all together in a dish, & a little pepper, & salt, & half a pinte of white wine, & some broth that the chicken were boiled in, & a piece of sweet butter, & let it boile halfe an hower, & when the chickins are boiled inough, put that broth to them, & serve them; put some sugar into it.
To Boyle a Capon. Take water & spinage, & whole mace, some perselie, & currance & reasins of the Sunne, & boile it till the water bee almost boyled away, then putr in some sack & marrowe & dates, & whole pepper & ginger grated, & some prunes, & sugar, & boile it all together, when it is boiled inough put a little butter into it, & put it all to the Capon & serve it, put the yolks of two eggs beaten, into it.
To boile Mutton and Chickens
Take your mutton and Chickens and sette uppon the fire with faire water and when it is well skummed, take two handfull of Cabadge, Lettice, a handfull of currants a good peece of butter, the juice of two or three Lemmons, a good deale of grosse Pepper and a good peece of Suger, and let them seeth all well together, then take three or four yolkes of egges togeather harde rosted, and straine them with parte of your broth, let them seeth a quantitye of an houre. Serve your broth with meate uppon Sippets.
To boile a Capon with Orenges and Lemmons
Take Orenges or Lemmons pilled, and cutte them the long way, and if you can keepe your cloves whole and put them into your best broth of Mutton or Capon with prunes and currants and three or fowre dates, and when these have beene well sodden put whole pepper, great mace, a good peece of suger, and some rose water, and either white or claret Wine, and let all these seeth together a while, & so serve it upon soppes with your capon.
To boile a Capon in white Broth with Almondes
Take your Capon with marie bones and set them on the fire, and when they be cleane skummed take the fattest of the broth, and put it in a little pot with a good deale of marie, prunes, raisons, dates, whole maces, & a pinte of white wine, then blanch your almondes and straine them, with them thicken your potte & let it seeth a good while and when it is enough serve it uppon soppes with your capon.
To Boyle Chickens with Sparagus
Boyle your Chickens in faire water, and with a little whole mace, put into their bellies a little parsley, and a little sweet butter, dish them upon sippets and pour a little of the same broath upon it, and take a handful of sparagus being boyled, and put them into a Ladle full of thicke butter, and stir it together in a dish, and pour it upon your Chickens or pullets, strew on salt, and serve it to the Table hot.
To Boyle a Capon or Chicken with Colle-flowres
Cutt of the budds of your flowres, boile them in milke with a little Mace, till they be very tender: then take the yolkes of two eggs, straine them with a quarter of a pint of Sacke, then take as much thicke butter being drawne, with a little vinegar and a sliced Lemmon, and brue them together, then take the flowers out of the Milke, and put them into the Butter and Sacke, then dish up your Capon being tender boyled, upon sippets, strowing a little salt upon it, and so poure on the sawce upon it and so serve it to the Table hotte.
To Boil a Capon or Chicken with Colliflowers
Cut off the buds of your flowers and boil them in milk with a little mace till they be very tender; then take the yolks of 2 eggs and strain them with 1/4 pint of sack; then take as much thick butter being drawn with a little vinegar and a slict lemon, brew them together; then take the flowers out of the milk, put them to the butter and sack, dish up your capon being tender boiled upon sippets finely carved and pour on the sauce, serve it to the table with a little salt.
Constance B. Hiett, Brenda Hosington and Sharon Butler. Pleyn Delit: Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks. Second Edition. Copyright 1996. Published by University of Toronto Press.
p. 80 Thousand Eggs, Volume 1 (Harleian MS 4016 - Gelyne in brothe)
p. 86 Thousand Eggs, Volume 1 (Harleian MS 4016 - Capons Stwed)
p. 100 Thousand Eggs, Volume 1 (Harleian MS 279 - Bruette Saake)
p. 158 Thousand Eggs, Volume 2 (Harleian MS 279 & 4016 - Geylyne in dubbatte/Gelyne endobat)
p. 163 Thousand Eggs, Volume 2 (Harleian MS 279 - Bruet of Almaynne)
Cindy Renfrow. Take a Thousand Eggs or More: A Collection of 15th Century Recipes. Copyright 1990.
p. 88 Odile Redon et al - Capon Soup (Brouet of capons, 149 Menagier de Paris)
Odile Redon, Francoise Sabban, and Silvano Serventi. The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy. Translated by Edward Schneider. 1998: The University of Chicago Press.
p. 94, 124, 190 Fetiplace
Hilary Spurling. Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book: Elizabethan Country House Cooking. 1986: Elisabeth Sifton Books, VIKING.
p. 10 (To boile Mutton and Chickens), 19 (To boile a Capon with Orenges and Lemmons, 20 (Murrell - Sparagus), 23 (To boile a Capon in white Broth with Almondes), 24 (Murrell - Colle-flowres) Beebe
Ruth Anne Beebe. Sallets, Humbles & Shrewsbery Cakes: A Collection of Elizabethan Recipes Adapted for the Modern Kitchen. 1976: David R Godine, Publisher.
NOTE: Recipes coming from this book were taken from four cookbooks: The Good Huswife's Jewell (1596) The Good Huswife's Handmaide for the Kitchin (1594) The English Huswife (1615) Delightful Daily Exercise for ladies and gentlewomen (1621)
p. 232, 365 Shakespeare (Murrell)
Madge Lorwin. Dining With William Shakespeare. 1976: Atheneum.
p. 64 Pepys (May)
Christopher Driver and Michelle Berriedale-Johnson. Pepys at Table: Seventeenth Century Recipes for the Modern Cook. 1984: University of California Press.
Bruet of Savoy from Du Fait de Cuisine
Poultry and Bacon Stew with Hazelnuts (Savorys by Shenanchie, no source given)
Potage de Nombre 4 (adaptation of Gascony Bisque found in From the Hearth)
Updated September 9, 2002
