Venyson Y-bake A-nother manere

PERIOD: England, 15th century | SOURCE: Harleian MS. 279 | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: A venison pie with eggs, honey, & spices

ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

.xix. Venyson Y-bake. Take hoghes of Venyson, & parboyle hem in fayre Water an Salt; & whan þe Fleyssche is fayre y-boylid, make fayre past, & cast þin Venyson þer-on: & caste a-boue an be-neþe, pouder Pepir, Gyngere, & Salt, & þan sette it on þe ouyn, & lat bake, & serue 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.

GODE COOKERY TRANSLATION:

Venison Pie. Take hocks of venison, and parboil in salted water; and when done, make pastry dough, and put the venison on: & cover above & beneath with pepper, ginger, & salt, & then set in the oven, & let bake, & serve.

ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

.iij. A-nother manere. Take fayre porke y-broylid, & grind it smal with yolks of Eyroun; þan take Pepir, Gyngere, & grynd it smal, & melle it with-al, & a lytel hony, & floryssche þin cofns with-ynne & with-owte, & hele hem with þin ledys, & late hem bake, & serue 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.

GODE COOKERY TRANSLATION:

Another manner. Take broiled pork, & grind it up with egg yolks; then take pepper, ginger, and mix with the rest, & a little honey, & garnish your pies within & without, & cover them with lids, and bake, & serve.

MODERN RECIPE:

(This recipe is a combination of the two original receipts from Harleian MS. 279, using the venison & spices from the first and the honey and eggs from the second.)

• 1 1/2 lb. venison, parboiled and ground or in pieces
• 1/3 cup honey
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. each pepper & ginger
• one 9" pie shell, with lid.

As you can see, this version of Venyson Y-bake is essentially the original recipe but with the addition of honey and egg yolks, which make the pie much less dry then the plain venison of the original. Meat pies of all varieties were enormously popular in the Middle Ages, and venison is an acceptable period substitution for the pork in the original receipt for A-nother manere.