“Apple Muse – Take Appelys an sethe hem, an Serge – . [ Sift. ] hem þorwe a Sefe in-to a potte; þanne take Almaunde Mylke & Hony, an caste þer-to, an gratid Brede, Safroun, Saunderys, & Salt a lytil, & caste all in þe potte & lete hem sethe; & loke þat þou stere it wyl, & serve it forth.“
The Austin Manuscripts, c. 1440
Via the invaluable Foods of England Project, a recipe for making an apple porridge, or possibly a pudding of some sort. Muse, mousse? Let’s see if we can unpick it.
Take apples and seethe (boil) them, then sift (pass through a sieve) them into a pot, add almond milk and honey, grated brede (breadcrumbs?), saffron, saunderys (a colourant made from sandalwood), and a little salt. Boil it all together in the pot, making sure you stir it well, and then serve it forth.
Okay, next on the Austin Manuscripts menu:
“Apple Moyle – Nym Rys, an bray hem wyl, & temper hem with Almaunde mylke, & boyle it; & take Applys, & pare hem, an smal screde hem in mossellys; þrow on sugre y-now, & coloure it with Safroun, & caste þer-to gode pouder, & serue forth.“
Take (nym or nimen) rice and grind (bray, in a pestle?) it well, mix in almond milk and boil it. Peel apples and shred (screde) them small into morsels (mossellys); add sugar enough and colour with saffron and add mixed spices (gode pouder, as per goldenspurtle.com) and serve it forth.
So that’s a thin rice dessert, probably closer to semolina than rice pudding, coloured with saffron and flavoured with apples and spices? Again, that’s definitely something I’d be willing to try.
What do you think? They both sound tasty enough to me. Any suggestions or corrections, please do leave them in the comments.