A Boke of Gode Cookery Presents

Haddocke in Cyuee

PERIOD: England, 15th century | SOURCE: Laud MS 553 | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: Onion Ale Sauce for Fish


ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

Shal be yopened & ywasshe clene/ & ysode & yrosted on a gridel: grind peper & saffron, bred & ale/ mynce oynons, fri hem in ale, & do therto, and salt: boille hit, do thyn haddok in plateres, & thi ciuey aboue, & \if forth.

- 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:

  • Two or three pounds of haddock or other fish
  • 1 C ale or beer
  • 3 medium onions
  • 1 T oil
  • 1/2 C white bread crumbs
  • 1 tsp. black pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/4 tsp. saffron
1. Prepare fish and roast, broil, or grill it until it is cooked through.

2. Mince the onions, and in a large frying pan or heavy pot, over medium heat, heat the oil  and sauté them until they are translucent. Add ale and spices, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for five or ten minutes.

3. Stir in bread crumbs. If sauce gets too thick, add more ale.  

4. Arrange fish on a serving platter, and pour the sauce over it.

Yields one and a half cups of sauce. Serves four to six.

NOTES ON THE RECIPE:

Another cive, quite different from the previous one.  I suspect the instruction to fry the minced onion in ale may be a mistake, and it should be in oil.

Metric, Celsius, & Gas Mark Equivalencies

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Haddocke in Cyuee © 2003 Rudd Rayfield | This page © 2003 James L. Matterer

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