The Forme of Cury | Page 3

not, the _Magistri Coquinæ_,
Kitcheners, of the monasteries, we may depend upon it, were always
monks; and I think they were mostly ecclesiastics elsewhere: thus when
Cardinal Otto, the Pope's legate, was at Oxford, A. 1238, and that
memorable fray happened between his retinue and the students, the
Magister Coquorum was the Legate's brother, and was there killed [40].
The reason given in the author, why a person so nearly allied to the
Great Man was assigned to the office, is this, 'Ne procuraretur aliquid
venenorum, quod nimis [i.e. valde] timebat legatus;' and it is certain
that poisoning was but too much in vogue in these times, both amongst
the Italians and the good people of this island [41]; so that this was a
post of signal trust and confidence. And indeed afterwards, a person
was employed to _taste_, or _take the assaie_, as it was called [42],
both of the messes and the water in the ewer [43], at great tables; but it
may be doubted whether a particular person was appointed to this
service, or it was a branch of the _Sewer's_ and cup-bearer's duty, for I
observe, the Sewer is sometimes called _Prægustator_ [44], and the
cup-bearer tastes the water elsewhere [45]. The religious houses, and
their presidents, the abbots and priors, had their days of _Gala_, as
likewise their halls for strangers, whom, when persons of rank, they
often entertained with splendour and magnificence. And as for the
secular clergy, archbishops and bishops, their feasts, of which we have
some upon record [46], were so superb, that they might vie either with
the regal entertainments, or the pontifical suppers of ancient Rome
(which became even proverbial [47]), and certainly could not be
dressed and set out without a large number of Cooks [48]. In short, the
satirists of the times before, and about the time of, the Reformation, are
continually inveighing against the high-living of the bishops and clergy;
indeed luxury was then carried to such an extravagant pitch amongst
them, that archbishop Cranmer, A. 1541, found it necessary to bring the
secular clergy under some reasonable regulation in regard to the

furnishing of their tables, not excepting even his own [49].
After this historical deduction of the _Ars coquinaria_, which I have
endeavoured to make as short as possible, it is time to say something of
the Roll which is here given to the public, and the methods which the
Editor has pursued in bringing it to light.
This vellum Roll contains 196 _formulæ_, or recipes, and belonged
once to the earl of Oxford [50]. The late James West esquire bought it
at the Earl's sale, when a part of his MSS were disposed of; and on the
death of the gentleman last mentioned it came into the hands of my
highly-esteemed friend, the present liberal and most communicative
possessor. It is presumed to be one of the most ancient remains of the
kind now in being, rising as high as the reign of king
Richard II. [51]. However, it is far the largest and most copious
collection of any we have; I speak as to those times. To establish its
authenticity, and even to stamp an additional value upon it, it is the
identical Roll which was presented to queen Elizabeth, in the 28th year
of her reign, by lord Stafford's heir, as appears from the following
address, or inscription, at the end of it, in his own hand writing:
'Antiquum hoc monumentum oblatum et missum est majestati vestræ
vicesimo septimo die mensis Julij, anno regni vestri fælicissimi
vicesimo viij ab humilimo vestro subdito, vestræq majestati fidelissimo
E. Stafford, Hæres domus subversæ Buckinghamiens.' [52]
The general observations I have to make upon it are these: many
articles, it seems, were in vogue in the fourteenth century, which are
now in a manner obsolete, as cranes, curlews, herons, seals [53],
porpoises, &c. and, on the contrary, we feed on sundry fowls which are
not named either in the Roll, or the Editor's MS. [54] as quails, rails,
teal, woodcocks, snipes, &c. which can scarcely be numbered among
the small birds mentioned 19. 62. 154. [55]. So as to fish, many species
appear at our tables which are not found in the Roll, trouts, flounders,
herrings, &c. [56]. It were easy and obvious to dilate here on the
variations of taste at different periods of time, and the reader would
probably not dislike it; but so many other particulars demand our
attention, that I shall content myself with observing in general, that
whereas a very able Italian critic, _Latinus Latinius_, passed a sinister
and unfavourable censure on certain seemingly strange medlies,
disgusting and preposterous messes, which we meet with in _Apicius_;

Dr. Lister very sensibly replies to his strictures on that head, 'That these
messes are not immediately