Farsure For Chekyns

PERIOD: England, 14th century | SOURCE: Arundel MS 334 | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: Chicken Stuffed with Pork and Currants

ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

Take fressh porke, and sethe hit, and hew hit smal, and grinde hit wel; and put therto harde (y)olkes of egges, and medel hom wel togedur, and do therto raisynges of corance, and pouder of canel, and maces, and quibiz, and of clowes al hole; and colour hit with saffron, and do hit into the chekyns; and then parboyle hom, and roste, and endore hom with raw (y)olkes of egges, and flaume hom if hit be nede, and serve hit forthe.

- 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.

MODERN RECIPE:

• 1 three- or four-pound chicken
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 3 hard boiled egg yolks
• 1 C currants
• 1/4 tsp each cinnamon, black pepper and allspice
• 1/8 tsp each mace and saffron
• 6 whole cloves
• Salt to taste

2. In a frying pan, over medium heat, brown the ground pork.

3. In a bowl, combine pork, crumbled egg yolks, currants and spices. Mix them all together thoroughly. Stuff the chicken loosely with this mixture.

4. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan, and put it in the oven. Reduce heat to 350°, and roast the chicken for thirty minutes per pound, or until the chicken is cooked through.

5. Remove from oven and place on a serving dish. Remove the stuffing and serve it in a separate bowl.

Serves four to six.

Notes on the Recipe:

I have chosen to brown ground pork instead of grinding boiled pork, and I also do not parboil the stuffed chicken before roasting. I substitute pepper and allspice for cubebs. It may be gilded with a glaze of egg yolk and saffron.