The Forme of Cury

The Forme of Cury is the name antiquarian Samuel Pegge gave a curious collection of texts he prepared for publication dating from the 1390's in the form of a roll of manuscripts assembled by the master cooks of King Richard II. Apparently, this assemblage of old recipes had once in bygone days been presented as a gift to Queen Elizabeth I by Edward Lord Stafford. I like to think that she had her kitchen staff try to whip up one of the old dishes that very night.

When Pegge had it put to the printing press in 1780, it was presented as an amusing curiosity; thus we see him peremptorily excusing himself for dwelling on so "light" and unimportant a subject as food preparation. However, there is nothing light about the food prep for a king's banquet and the masterful chefs in charge of board need to be given due recognition, even seven hundred years later.

The Forme of Cury, meaning "Method of Food Preparation" is the most illustrious out of a handful of Medieval recipe collections that has survived the ravages of time and come down to us. It is written in Middle-English and is exactly contemporary with the works of Geoffrey Chaucer.

The compiler[s] set themselves the task of instructing cooks in all the necessaries of the most basic dishes. Instruction would be given how to build upon those basic necessaries to construct extravagant and gilded concoctions meant to support the prestige of the ruling classes through the power of sumptuous banquets.

In the Middle Ages and Renaissance era, European culinary practices were far more sophisticated than they are given credit for, and the flavor combinations they relished were far more daring than anything we would eat until the modern age. As with ancient Roman food, there is emphasis on the contrast between sweet, sour, and savory notes at play in Medieval dishes. However, here it is the warming combinations of pepper, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, saffron, mace, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and even grains of paradise, long pepper and galingale (used in modern Thai cooking) into different "sweet" and "strong" powders which are used to season the delicacies of their lavish banquets; these spices figure heavily in the creation of the tangy sauces which drench their spit-roasted meats, slow-cooked in their own drip of juices. Vinegar or verjuice (is the sour juice of unripe grapes and can be found at most Middle-Eastern import grocers) develops the dimension of tartness, whereas gravies and stews are thickened with breadcrumbs or almonds crushed in the mortar.

Color contrasts and striking presentation are prized in this form of cookery. Sauces and dishes can be colored yellow with saffron or egg yolk, green with garden herbs and sorrel, black with cooked blood, or red with saundres, an edible form of sandalwood powder.

Familiarity with Middle-Eastern cuisine and Asian cuisine in general has begun to teach our palettes that what we consider "baking spices" can be used to great effect in the cooking and flavoring of meats and vegetables; so it's time to move past eggnog and cinnamon rolls, and have your mind blown by nutmeg.

In conclusion, if you like almonds and wish they could find new meaning in your diet--if you enjoy the heart-warming aromatics of baking spices, redolent of distant trade routes, but you would like to taste them in a new context far from the nostalgic sentimentality of pumpkin pie--then try out some of the delectable delicacies found in this collection of fourteenth century recipes. Although there are neither hot peppers nor coconut milk in these dishes, many of them could be called a form of curry.