Tudor Recipe - 'a tarte that is courage to a man or woman'

Today I give you an autumnal pudding-ish recipe from The Good Huswifes Jewell of 1596. At first sight this seems delicious, but then you spot those four sparrow brains.

Image courtesy of The Internet Archive archive.org

To make a tarte that is a courage

to a man or a woman.

TAke twoo Quinces, and twoo or three

Burre rootes, and a potaton, and pare

your Potaton, and scrape your rootes and

put them into a quart of wine, and let them

boyle till they bee tender, & put in an ounce

of Dates, and when they be boyled tender,

Draine them through a strainer, wine and

all, and then put in the yolkes of eight

Egges, and the braynes of three or foure

cocke Sparrewes, and straine them into

the other, and a little Rose water, and seeth

them all with suger, Cinamon and Gyn-

ger, and Cloues and mace, and put in a lit-

tle sweet butter, and set it upon a chafing dish

of coles between two platters, and so let it

boyle till it something bigge.

As you might expect from a book published in 1596, the spellings of words in this recipe are all over the shop. Some of the cooking terminology may also be unfamiliar:

• 'Potaton' is potato of course, but the 'n' on the end is unexpected;

• 'Burre rootes' probably means burdock roots;

• 'Seeth' means simmer or boil gently.

The Tree Sleuths, 2026, www.tree-sleuths.com