Sauce for a Gos

PERIOD: England, 15th century | SOURCE: Ashmole MS 1439 | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: Garlic and Grape Sauce for Fowl

ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

Take percelye, grapis, clowes of garleke, and salt, and put it in þe goos, and lete roste. And whanne þe goos is y-now, schake out þat is wiþ-in, and put al in a mortre, and do þer-to iij harde (y)olkes of egges; and grind al to-gedre, and tempre it vp wiþ verious, and cast it upon the goos in a faire chargeour. & so serue it forþ.

- Austin, Thomas. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Harleian MS. 279 & Harl. MS. 4016, with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1429, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS 55. London: for The Early English Text Society by N. Trübner & Co., 1888.

MODERN RECIPE:

• 1 ten- to fifteen-pound goose, or 2 four-pound ducks or chickens
• 2 cup chopped parsley
• 2 cup seedless grapes
• 12 whole cloves of garlic, or to taste
• salt to taste
• 3 hard-boiled egg yolks
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar

2. In a bowl, combine grapes, garlic, parsley, and salt. Stuff the goose, ducks or chickens with this mixture.

3. Put the bird on a rack in a roasting pan, and put it in the oven. Reduce heat to 350º, and roast for 20 minutes per pound for the goose, or 25 minutes per pound for the ducks or chickens, or until the fowl is cooked through. Draw grease out of the pan frequently.

4. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about fifteen minutes. Remove the stuffing, and put it in a blender or food processor. Add the egg yolks and vinegar and purée the mixture.

5. Put the roast goose on a serving platter and pour the sauce over it.

Yields two cups of sauce. Serves six to eight.

Notes on the Recipe:

Garlic and grapes was a popular combination with various fowl, as a stuffing and as sauce. The amount of garlic I used is based on personal preference. I have substituted cider vinegar for verjuice.