It has been problematic to find barley-based recipes in England within the period under consideration by this team. As a result, recipes from other areas of Europe and England from a later period have been utilised.
Chicken in Ale Sauce
Chykonys in Bruette (Austin, T., Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books)
Take [an] Sethe Chykonys, & smyte hem to gobettys; than take Pepir, Gyngere, an Brede y-grounde, & temper it vppe wyth the self brothe, an with Ale; an coloure it with Safroun, an sethe an serue forth.
In a large pot or heavy frying pan, add water or stock to the pot, add the chicken pieces. Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer the chicken, covered, until chicken is cooked through and tender. Remove the chicken.
Remove all but ¾ cup of the stock from the pot/pan, reserving the leftover stock for other dishes. Over a medium heat, combine the stock, ale and the spices. Stir in bread crumbs, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring as the sauce thickens, for about five minutes.
Arrange chicken pieces on a serving platter, and pour the sauce over them.
Take [an] Sethe Chykonys, & smyte hem to gobettys; than take Pepir, Gyngere, an Brede y-grounde, & temper it vppe wyth the self brothe, an with Ale; an coloure it with Safroun, an sethe an serue forth.
- 1 1.5kg chicken, cut into pieces
- 2-3 cups chicken stock
- ¾ cup ale
- ¼ tsp each pepper and powdered ginger
- ¼ tsp saffron strands, ground
- ½ cup bread crumbs (in this case, we used some crumbs from the barley bread made for this entry)
- Salt to taste
In a large pot or heavy frying pan, add water or stock to the pot, add the chicken pieces. Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer the chicken, covered, until chicken is cooked through and tender. Remove the chicken.
Remove all but ¾ cup of the stock from the pot/pan, reserving the leftover stock for other dishes. Over a medium heat, combine the stock, ale and the spices. Stir in bread crumbs, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring as the sauce thickens, for about five minutes.
Arrange chicken pieces on a serving platter, and pour the sauce over them.
Soft Cheese using Ale as a starter
In researching recipes for soft cheese for the barley polenta recipe (further below), the following curd cheese recipes which used ale as a starter were found. Although they didn’t meet the original purpose of the cheese recipe being sought and they are 100 years after the time period under consideration by the team, the concept of an ale based soft cheese was too interesting not to try.
Leche Vyaundez (Harleian MS. 279)
Take cow Mylke, & set it our þe fyre, & þrow þer-on Suanderys, & make a styf poshotte of Ale; þan hange þe corddys þer-of in a pynne, in a fayre cloþe, and lat it ourer-renne; þan take it and put hony þer-to, & melle it yfere; þen feche þe coddys of þe deye and melle hem to gederys, & lay it on a chesefatte or it be torne, fold, in linen coþe & salt it & leche it; and þanne serue it forth.
Modern English - Take cow’s milk and set it over the fire and throw there-on sandalwood and make a stiff posset of ale; then hang the curds there-of on a pin, in a fair cloth and let it run over, then take it and & put honey thereto and mix it together; then fetch the curds of the dairy maid and mix them together, and lay in a cheese press before it is turned, three fold or four fold, in linen cloth, salt it and cut it and serve it forth.
Potage Dyvers (Harleian MS. 279) (Anderson, p48; and Renfrow, p40)
A potage on fysshday. Take an Make a styf Poshote of Milke an Ale; pan take and draw pe croddys prow a straynoure with white Swete Wyne, or ellys Rochelle wyne, and make it sum-what rennyng and sum-what stondyng, and put sugre a gode qunatyte per-to, or hony, but nowt to muche; pan hete it a lytl and seue it forth al a-brode in the dysshys; an straw on Canel and Gyngere, and if pou haue Blank powder, straw on and kepe it as white as yt may be, and pan serue forth.
Modern English - A potage on fishday. Take and Make a stiff Posset of Milk and Ale then take & draw the curds through a strainer with white Sweet Wine, or else Rochelle Wine, & make it somewhat running and somewhat standing, & put Sugar and a good quantity thereto, or honey, but not too much; then heat a little, & serve it forth all about in the dishes; and strew on Cinnamon, & Ginger, and if [though] have White powder, strew on and keep it as white a[s] it maybe, & then serve f[orth].
Notes on redaction:
Renfrow included a redaction of this recipe in 'Take 1000 Eggs or More', and used 1 cup milk to ½ cup ale, to achieve 2 or so tbs of curds. The curd is as she described – a much drier texture than that of cottage cheese and it does indeed have a strong ale flavour. The stronger flavour is not surprising, given the lower acidity of ale to vinegar or lemon juice, and therefore the need for a higher ratio of ale to milk than would otherwise be the case. Unless a stronger acid is added to the ale (such as vinegar), the ale on its own does not convert enough of the milk protein into curds. As the photos demonstrate (click here), there was a substantial amount of milk left over from the cheese process. The cheese created as a result of this is dry and, not being an ale drinker, somewhat revolting in both texture and taste.
Leche Vyaundez (Harleian MS. 279)
Take cow Mylke, & set it our þe fyre, & þrow þer-on Suanderys, & make a styf poshotte of Ale; þan hange þe corddys þer-of in a pynne, in a fayre cloþe, and lat it ourer-renne; þan take it and put hony þer-to, & melle it yfere; þen feche þe coddys of þe deye and melle hem to gederys, & lay it on a chesefatte or it be torne, fold, in linen coþe & salt it & leche it; and þanne serue it forth.
Modern English - Take cow’s milk and set it over the fire and throw there-on sandalwood and make a stiff posset of ale; then hang the curds there-of on a pin, in a fair cloth and let it run over, then take it and & put honey thereto and mix it together; then fetch the curds of the dairy maid and mix them together, and lay in a cheese press before it is turned, three fold or four fold, in linen cloth, salt it and cut it and serve it forth.
Potage Dyvers (Harleian MS. 279) (Anderson, p48; and Renfrow, p40)
A potage on fysshday. Take an Make a styf Poshote of Milke an Ale; pan take and draw pe croddys prow a straynoure with white Swete Wyne, or ellys Rochelle wyne, and make it sum-what rennyng and sum-what stondyng, and put sugre a gode qunatyte per-to, or hony, but nowt to muche; pan hete it a lytl and seue it forth al a-brode in the dysshys; an straw on Canel and Gyngere, and if pou haue Blank powder, straw on and kepe it as white as yt may be, and pan serue forth.
Modern English - A potage on fishday. Take and Make a stiff Posset of Milk and Ale then take & draw the curds through a strainer with white Sweet Wine, or else Rochelle Wine, & make it somewhat running and somewhat standing, & put Sugar and a good quantity thereto, or honey, but not too much; then heat a little, & serve it forth all about in the dishes; and strew on Cinnamon, & Ginger, and if [though] have White powder, strew on and keep it as white a[s] it maybe, & then serve f[orth].
Notes on redaction:
Renfrow included a redaction of this recipe in 'Take 1000 Eggs or More', and used 1 cup milk to ½ cup ale, to achieve 2 or so tbs of curds. The curd is as she described – a much drier texture than that of cottage cheese and it does indeed have a strong ale flavour. The stronger flavour is not surprising, given the lower acidity of ale to vinegar or lemon juice, and therefore the need for a higher ratio of ale to milk than would otherwise be the case. Unless a stronger acid is added to the ale (such as vinegar), the ale on its own does not convert enough of the milk protein into curds. As the photos demonstrate (click here), there was a substantial amount of milk left over from the cheese process. The cheese created as a result of this is dry and, not being an ale drinker, somewhat revolting in both texture and taste.