Douce Ame: Medieval Chicken Dish

 

 

Douce Ame: A  Medieval Recipe

 

Another recipe from the Forme of Cury, a medieval collection of recipes.  This one is for chicken in a sweetened herb cream sauce. I’ll write out the original and then try to decipher it.

 

Take gode Cowe mylke and do it in a pot. Take parsel, sawge, ysope, sauerray and ooþer gode herbes. Hewe hem and do hem in the mylke and seep hem. Take capouns half yrosted and smyte hem on pecys and do perto pynes and hony clarified. Salt it and colour it with safroun and serve it forth.

 

Take good cows’ milk and put it in a saucepan. Add chopped parsley, sage, hyssop, savory and other good herbs. Take a half-roasted chicken (unless you can find a capon) and cut it into pieces. Add to the pot. Also add honey and pine nuts. Add salt and saffron for color. Cook until the chicken is fully cooked.

This actually sounds really nice. Chicken in a creamy herb sauce.