A Boke of Gode Cookery Presents

Froyde [Mylke de] Almoundys

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

DESCRIPTION: Almond Milk


ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

Take blake sugre, an cold water, an do hem to in a fayre potte, an let hem boyle to-gedere, an salt it an skeme it clene, an let it kele; than tak almaundus, an blawnche hem clene, an stampe hem, an draw hem, with the sugre water thikke y-now, in-to a fayre vessel; an yf the mylke be noght swete y-now, take whyte sugre an caste ther-to.

- 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:

  • 1/2 C raw almonds
  • 1/4 C water for grinding
  • 1 C water, broth, wine, or combination of these
  • 2 T sugar, or to taste
  • Pinch of salt
DOUBLE-THICK ALMOND MILK:
  • 1 C raw almonds
  • 1 ¼ C water
  • 2 T sugar, or to taste
  • Pinch of salt
1. In a saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil enough water to cover the almonds. Pour in un-blanched almonds. Return to a boil for three minutes. Drain them and rinse in cold water. Allow to cool, and squeeze off the skins.

2. In a blender or a food processor, grind the almonds to a very fine paste, adding a quarter cup of water a tablespoon at a time. 

3. In a saucepan, over low heat, completely dissolve sugar and salt in the remaining one cup of water. 

4. In a bowl, combine almond paste and warm sugar water, stirring thoroughly with a fork or whisk, smoothing out all the lumps. Cover, and let stand about an hour. Stir well before using.

Yields one and one half cups; two cups double-thick.

NOTES ON THE RECIPE:

Almond milk is a basic ingredient in medieval cooking, and is called for in many recipes.  Variations on this simple theme are frequently encountered.  Almond milk may be made with wine or broth (or both) instead of water, the amount of sugar may be varied. It may be made double-thick by mixing one cup of almond paste with the warm sugar water instead of the half cup described above.

Metric, Celsius, & Gas Mark Equivalencies

A Boke of Gode CookeryRecipes from A Newe Boke of Olde Cokery

Froyde [Mylke de] Almoundys © 2000 Rudd Rayfield | This page © 2000 James L. Matterer

A Newe Boke of Olde Cokery
ALL GODE COOKERY RECIPES

Please visit The Gode Cookery Bookshop | This site hosted by Visual Presence