Tart in Ymbre Day

PERIOD: England, 14th century | SOURCE: Forme of Cury | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: An onion & cheese pie

ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

173. Tart in ymbre day. Take and perboile oynouns & erbis & presse out þe water & hewe hem smale. Take grene chese [brede AB] & bray it in a morter, and temper it vp with ayren. Do þerto butter, saffroun & salt, & raisons corauns, & a litel sugur with powdour douce, & bake it in a trap, & serue it forth.

- Hieatt, Constance B. and Sharon Butler. Curye on Inglish: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth-Century (Including the Forme of Cury). New York: for The Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1985. 

GODE COOKERY TRANSLATION:

Amber Day Tart. Take and parboil onions and herbs & press out the water & cut them small. Take green cheese [see note: bread] & grind it in a morter, and mix with eggs. Add butter, saffron, salt, currants, and spices, & bake it in a pie shell, and serve it.

MODERN RECIPE:

• 3 - 4 small onions, chopped
• 2 bunches of parsley, chopped
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (OR ½ cup unseasoned bread crumbs)
• 8 eggs, beaten
• 1 Tbs. melted butter
• 1/8 tsp. saffron
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ cup currants
• ¼ tsp. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. each cloves and mace
• 1 nine-inch pie shell
• optional spices - ½ tsp. each of any of the following type of herbs: sage, basil, thyme, etc.

Although the original recipe clearly indicates "grene chese" as a main ingredient, other versions of this tart appear in period manuscripts with "brede" instead of cheese, which is why I include both in the Medieval recipe. Clearly, both can be considered correct, and I suggest you try either version, or make your Amber Tart with both cheese and bread crumbs. "Grene chese" is any well-aged cheese; I like using a fine English Cheddar.

"Powder douce" was a mild mixture of spices, often containing sugar with cinnamon & related spices, but without pepper.