"A Cook thei hadde with hem for the nones,
To boylle chyknes, with the mary bones,
And poudre marchaunt tart, and galyngale;
Wel cowde he knowe a draugte of London ale.
He cowde roste, and sethe, and broille, and frie
Maken mortreux, and wel bake a pie.
But gret harm was it, as it thoughte me,
That on his schyne a mormal had he:
For blankmanger that made he with the beste."
This description would be hardly worth quoting, if it were not for the source whence it comes, and the names which it presents in common with the "Form of Cury" and other ancient relics. Chaucer's Cook was a personage of unusually wide experience, having, in his capacity as the keeper of an eating-house, to cater for so many customers of varying tastes and resources.
In the time of Elizabeth, the price at an ordinary for a dinner seems to have been sixpence. It subsequently rose to eightpence; and in the time of George I. the "Vade Mecum for Malt Worms (1720)" speaks of the landlord of The Bell, in Carter Lane, raising his tariff to tenpence. In comparison with the cost of a similar meal at present, all these quotations strike one as high, when the different value of money is considered. But in 1720, at all events, the customer ate at his own discretion.
Their vicinity to East Cheap, the great centre of early taverns and cook's-shops, obtained for Pudding Lane and Pie Corner those savoury designations.
Paris, like London, had its cook's-shops, where you might eat your dinner on the premises, or have it brought to your lodging in a covered dish by a porte-chape. In the old prints of French kitchen interiors, the cook's inseparable companion is his ladle, which he used for stirring and serving, and occasionally for dealing a refractory garçon de cuisine a rap on the head.
The Dictionary of Johannes de Garlandia (early thirteenth century) represents the cooks at Paris as imposing on the ignorant and inexperienced badly cooked or even tainted meat, which injured their health. These "coquinarii" stood, perhaps, in the same relation to those times as our keepers of restaurants.
He mentions in another place that the cooks washed their utensils in hot water, as well as the plates and dishes on which the victuals were served.
Mr. Wright has cited an instance from the romance of "Doon de Mayence," where the guards of a castle, on a warm summer evening, partook of their meal in a field. Refreshment in the open air was also usual in the hunting season, when a party were at a distance from home; and the garden arbour was occasionally converted to this kind of purpose, when it had assumed its more modern phase. But our picnic was unknown.
Paul Hentzner, who was in England at the end of the reign of Elizabeth, remarks of the people whom he saw that "they are more polite in eating than the French, devouring less bread, but more meat, which they roast in perfection. They put a good deal of sugar in their drink."
In his "Court and Country," 1618, Nicholas Breton gives an instructive account of the strict rules which were drawn up for observance in great households at that time, and says that the gentlemen who attended on great lords and ladies had enough to do to carry these orders out. Not a trencher must be laid or a napkin folded awry; not a dish misplaced; not a capon carved or a rabbit unlaced contrary to the usual practice; not a glass filled or a cup uncovered save at the appointed moment: everybody must stand, speak, and look according to regulation.
The books of demeanour which have been collected by Mr. Furnivall for the Early English Text Society have their incidental value as illustrating the immediate theme, and are curious, from the growth in consecutive compilations of the code of instructions for behaviour at table, as evidences of an increasing cultivation both in manners and the variety of appliances for domestic use, including relays of knives for the successive courses. Distinctions were gradually drawn between genteel and vulgar or coarse ways of eating, and facilities were provided for keeping the food from direct contact with the fingers, and other primitive offences against decorum. Many of the precepts in the late fifteenth century "Babies' Book," while they demonstrate the necessity for admonition, speak also to an advance in politeness and delicacy at table. There must be a beginning somewhere; and the authors of these guides to deportment had imbibed the feeling for something higher and better, before they undertook to communicate their views to the young generation.
There is no doubt that the "Babies' Book" and its existing congeners are the successors of anterior and still more imperfect attempts to introduce at table some degree of cleanliness and decency. When the "Babies' Book" made its appearance, the progress in this direction must have been immense. But the observance of such niceties was of course at first exceptional; and the ideas which we see here embodied were very sparingly carried into practice outside the verge of the Court itself and the homes of a few of the aristocracy.
There may be an inclination to revolt against the barbarous doggerel in which the instruction is, as a rule, conveyed, and against the tedious process of perusing a series of productions which follow mainly the same lines. But it is to be recollected that these manuals were necessarily renewed in the manuscript form from age to age, with variations and additions, and that the writers resorted to metre as a means of impressing the rules of conduct more forcibly on their pupils.
Of all the works devoted to the management of the table and kitchen, the "Book of Nurture," by John Russell, usher of the chamber and marshal of the ball to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, is perhaps, on the whole, the most elaborate, most trustworthy, and most important. It leaves little connected with the cuisine of a noble establishment of the fifteenth century untouched and unexplained; and although it assumes the metrical form, and in a literary respect is a dreary performance, its value as a guide to almost every branch of the subject is indubitable. It lays bare to our eyes the entire machinery of the household, and we gain a clearer insight from it than from the rest of the group of treatises, not merely into what a great man of those days and his family and retainers ate and drank, and how they used to behave themselves at table, but into the process of making various drinks, the mystery of carving, and the division of duties among the members of the staff. It is, in fact, the earliest comprehensive book in our literature.
The functions of the squire at the table of a prince are, to a certain extent, shown in the "Squire of Low Degree," where the hero, having arrayed himself in scarlet, with a chaplet on his head and a belt round his waist, cast a horn about his neck, and went to perform his duty in the hall. He approaches the king, dish in hand, and kneels. When he has served his sovereign, he hands the meats to the others. We see a handsome assortment of victuals on this occasion, chiefly venison and birds, and some of the latter were baked in bread, probably a sort of paste. The majority of the names on the list are familiar, but a few—the teal, the curlew, the crane, the stork, and the snipe—appear to be new. It is, in all these cases, almost impossible to be sure how much we owe to the poet's imagination and how much to his rhythmical poverty. From another passage it is to be inferred that baked venison was a favourite mode of dressing the deer.
The precaution of coming to table with clean hands was inculcated perhaps first as a necessity, when neither forks nor knives were used, and subsequently as a mark of breeding. The knife preceded the spoon, and the fork, which had been introduced into Italy in the eleventh century, and which strikes one as a fortuitous development of the Oriental chopstick, came last. It was not in general use even in the seventeenth century here. Coryat the traveller saw it among the Italians, and deemed it a luxury and a notable fact.
The precepts delivered by Lydgate and others for demeanour at table were in advance of the age, and were probably as much honoured in the breach as otherwise. But the common folk did then much as many of them do now, and granted themselves a dispensation both from knife and fork, and soap and water. The country boor still eats his bacon or his herring with his fingers, just as Charles XII. of Sweden buttered his bread with his royal thumb.
A certain cleanliness of person, which, at the outset, was not considerably regarded, became customary, as manners softened and female influence asserted itself; and even Lydgate, in his "Stans Puer ad Mensam (an adaptation from Sulpitius)," enjoins on his page or serving-boy a resort to the lavatory before he proceeds to discharge his functions at the board—
"Pare clean thy nails; thy hands wash also
Before meat; and when thou dost arise."
Other precepts follow. He was not to speak with his mouth full. He was to wipe his lips after eating, and his spoon when he had finished, taking care not to leave it in his dish. He was to keep his napkin as clean and neat as possible, and he was not to pick his teeth with his knife. He was not to put too much on his trencher at once. He was not to drop his sauce or soup over his clothes, or to fill his spoon too full, or to bring dirty knives to the table. All these points of conduct are graphic enough; and their trite character is their virtue.
Boiled, and perhaps fried meats were served on silver; but roasts might be brought to table on the spit, which, after a while, was often of silver, and handed round for each person to cut what he pleased; and this was done not only with ordinary meat, but with game, and even with a delicacy like a roast peacock. Of smaller birds, several were broached on one spit. There is a mediaeval story of a husband being asked by his wife to help her to the several parts of a fowl in succession, till nothing was left but the implement on which it had come in, whereupon the man determined she should have that too, and belaboured her soundly with it. At more ceremonious banquets the servants were preceded by music, or their approach from the kitchen to the hall was proclaimed by sound of trumpets. Costly plate was gradually introduced, as well as linen and utensils, for the table; but the plate may be conjectured to have been an outcome from the primitive trencher, a large slice of bread on which meat was laid for the occupants of the high table, and which was cast aside after use.
Bread served at table was not to be bitten or broken off the loaf, but to be cut; and the loaf was sometimes divided before the meal, and skilfully pieced together again, so as to be ready for use.
Acton, Eliza
Addington, Surrey
Aigredouce
Albans, St., Abbey of
Ale
—Cock
—Elder
—Kentish
Alfred and the cakes
Al-fresco meals
Alfric, Colloquy of
Amber puddings
Angelica
Anglo-Danish barbarism
Anglo-Celtic influence
Anglo-Saxon names of meats
Animal food
Anthropophagy
Apicius, C.
Apuleius
Arms and crests on dishes
Arnold's Chronicle
Arthur
Ashen-keys, pickled
Asparagus
Assize of ale
Australian meat
Babies' Book
Bacon, Lord Keeper
Bag pudding
Baker
—Parisian
Bakestone
Banbury cake
Bannock
Banquet, order of a fourteenth century
Barba, M.
Bardolf, a dish
Bardolph
Bartholomew de Cheney
—St., Hospital of, at Sandwich
Battalia pie
Beef, powdered
—Martlemas
Beer
—composition of the ancient
Bees, wild
Bellows
Birch wine
Bit and bite
Blackcaps
Bolton, Charles, Duke of
Book of St. Albans
Books of demeanour
Branderi
Brass cooking vessels
Brawn
Bread
Britons, diet of the
—Northern and Southern
Brittany
Broach or spit turner
Broom-buds, pickled
Broth
Bun
Butler, ancient duties of the
Butter
Caerleon
Caesar, evidence of
Cakes
Calais
Calves, newly-born
—removal of, from the mother, while in milk
Cannibalism
Carps' tongues
Carving, terms of
Castelvetri
Caudles and possets
Caviary
Charlet
Chaucer, G.
Chaworth's (Lady) pudding
Cheesecakes, Mrs. Leed's, etc.,
Cheeses
Chimney, kitchen
China broth
China earth
Christmas
Clare Market
Cleikirai Club
Clermont, B.
Coals
Cobham, Lord
Cockle
Colet, Dean
College wine
Colonial cattle
Condiments
Confectioner
—master
Confectionery
Conserves
Cook
—master
Cookery-books, lists of
—with the names of old owners
Cook's-shops
Cooking utensils, great value of
—lists of
Cooper, Joseph
Copley, Esther
Copper, art of tinning
Cornish pasty
Coryat, Thomas
Court, the ancient
Cows
Crab-apple sauce
Creams
Cromwell, Oliver
—his favourite dishes
Cuisine bourgeoise of ancient Rome
—English, affected by fusions of race
—Old French
Cuisinier Royal, Le
Curds and cream
Danish settlers
Danish settlers, their influence on our diet
Deer-suet, clarified
DelaHay Street
Deportment at table, gradual improvement in the
Dishes, lists of
—substituted for trenchers
—different sizes and materials of
—mode of serving up
Dods, Margaret
Dripping-pans
Dumplings, Norfolk
Earl, Rules and Orders for the House of an
East-Cheap
Eating-houses, public
Ebulum
Edward III.
Eggs
—buttered
Elizabeth, Queen
Endoring
English establishment, staff of an
Ennius, Phagetica of
Epulario
Etiquette of the table
Fairfax inventories
Falstaff
Farm-servants' diet
Feasts, marriage and coronation
Finchmgfield
Fireplace
Fish, cheaper, demanded
—on fast-days
—considered indigestible
—lists of
—musical lament of the dying
Fishing, Saxon mode of
Florendine
Flowers, conserve of
Forced meat
Forks
Foreign cookery
—Warner's strictures on
Form of Cury
Forster, John, of Hanlop
Fox, Sir Stephen
Francatelli
French establishment, staff of a
French Gardener, the
Fricasee
Fruit-tart
Fruits, dried or preserved
Frying-pan
Frying Pan Houses at Wandsworth
Furmety
Galantine
Galingale
Game
Garlic
Gilling in Yorkshire
Gingerbread
Ginger-fork
Glass and crystal handles to knives and forks
Glasse, Mrs.
Glastonbury Abbey
Glazing, or endoring
Gomme, G.L.
Goose
—giblets
Grampus
Grape, English, used for wine
Greece, Ancient
Greek anthropophagy
Greene, Robert
Hamilton, Duke and Duchess of
Hare
Harington family
Hen, threshing the fat
Henry II.
—III.
—IV.
—IV. and V.
—VII.
—VIII.
Hill, Dr.
Hippocras
Holborn and the Strand, suburbs of
Home-brewed drink
Hommes de Bouche
Hops
Hospitality, decay of
Inns, want of, in early Scotland
—and taverns in Westminster, rules for
Italian cookery
—pudding
Italy, the fork brought from
Jack, the
Jacks, black
Jigget of mutton
Joe Miller quoted
Johannes de Garlandia
Johnson, Dr.
Johnstone, Mrs.
Jumbals
Junket
Jussel, a dish
Kail-pot
Kettle
Kitchens
—furniture of
—staff of the
Kitchener, Dr.
Knives
Ladies and gentlemen at table
Landlord and lawyer, exactions of
Land o' Cakes
Laver
Leveret
Liber Cure Cocorum
Liqueurs
Liquids, storage of
Loaf of bread
—sugar
Lombards
London cooks famous
Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor's Pageant for 1590
Lucas, Joseph, his Studies in Nidderdale
Lumber pie
Luncheon
Luxury, growth of
Lydgate's Story of Thebes
—"London Lickpenny"
Malory's King Arthur
Manuturgium
Maple-wood bowls
Marinade
Marketing, old
Marlborough cake
Marmalade
Maser
Massinger quoted
Master-cook
—ancient privileges of the
Meals
—in the Percy establishment
Meats and drinks
Menagier de Paris quoted
Merenda, a meal
Metheglin or hydromel
Middleton, John, chef
Milk
Modern terms for dishes first introduced
More, Sir Thomas
Morsus
Morton, Cardinal
Moryson, Fynes, quoted
Mulberries
Mushrooms
Music to announce the banquet
Mustard
Nasturtium-buds, pickled
Neckam, Alexander
Nevill, Archbishop
Newcastle coal
New College pudding
Nidderdale
Noble Book of Cookery
Norfolk dumplings
—yeoman
Norman cuisine
—influence on cookery
Normandy
Nott, John, chef
Oatmeal
Oblys
Odysseus
Odyssey
Olio
—pie
Omelettes
Orders and Ordinances of Lord Burleigh as steward of Westminster
Ordinaries, London
—Parisian
Oriental sources of cooking
Oxford
Oxford cake
Parisian cook's-shops
Partridges not recommended to the poor
Passage, a game
Pastry
Peacocks
Pelops
Pepper
Peter of Blois
Peterborough Abbey
Pewter, utensils of
Phagetica of Ennius
Pheasants
Pickles
Piers of Fulham
Pies
Pig's pettitoes
Ploughman (husbandman)
Plovers
Pockets
Poloe
Polyphemus
Pome de oringe
Poor, diet of the
—relief of the
"Poor Knights," a dish
Pope, Alex.
Porcelain
Pork
Porpoise
Porte-chape
Potato
Pot-au-feu
Pot-hook
Pot-luck
Poudre-marchaunt tart
Poultry
Powdered beef
—horse
Puddings
Pulpatoon
Quinces
Rabbit
Radish-pods, pickled
Raisin-sauce
Rasher
Rear-supper
Receipts of eminent persons
—Early
Religious scruples against certain food
Rents, excessive
Roasting-spit or iron
Robert, Master, and his wife Helena
Romans, culinary economy of
—obligation to Greece
Roses, conserve of
Rundell, Mrs.
Rush, Friar
Russell's Book of Nurture
Salt
—, fine
—cellar
Sandwich, Kent
Saracen sauce
Saucepan
Sauces
Sausage
Saxon influence on diet
Scotland, want of Inns in
Scots, the
—their early food
—their poverty
Scott, Sir Walter
Scottish cookery, early
Secret house, keeping
Shakespeare, W.
Shrewsbury cakes
"Sing a song of sixpence"
Smith and his Dame, a tale
Smith, E., Preface to her Cookery Book
—select extracts from the work
Soap
Song of the Boar's Head
Soups
Soyer, Alexis
Spanish influence on cookery
—Armada
Spice with wine
Spinach
Spit-turner
Spit, turning the, a tenure
Spoons
Spread-eagle pudding
Spruce-beer
Squire, functions of the, at table
"Squire of Low Degree"
St. Albans Abbey
St. John's College, Cambridge
Stanton-Harcourt
"Store of house"
Subtleties
Sugar
Swan
Swinfield, Bishop
Sykes, Colonel
Syrups from flowers
Table-cloth
Table-furniture
Tansies
Tart, fruit
Tea caudle
Temse
Tiffany cakes
Tillinghast, Mary
Tinder-box
Tom Thumb
Touchwood, Peregrine, Esquire
Towel
Trencher
—Posies on the
Tripe, double
Tripod
Trivet
Trumpet, dishes brought into the hall to the sound of
Tureiner
Tusser, Thomas
Ude, Louis Eustache
Utensils
—treatise on, by Alex. Neckam
Vegetable diet
Venison
Venner, Tobias
Viard et Fouret, MM.
Village life, early
Vocabularies, primary object of
Wafery
Wandsworth
Warham, Archbishop
Westminister
Westphalia hams
Whale
Whetstone cakes
Whey
White grease
Whittinton, Robert
Wigs
William I.
—III., his posset
William of Malmesbury
Wines
—lists of
Wolsey, Cardinal
Wood-Street cake
Wormwood cakes
—wine
Wotton, Sir Edward
Yeoman, diet of the
—bad state of the
Yorkshire
Young Cook's Monitor, the, by M.H.