The “Forme of Cury”

The John Rylands Library in Manchester, Britain, has digitised and uploaded a medieval cookery book. Called the Forme of Cury, the manuscript dates from c.1420 and includes recipes only the very rich could afford; indeed, the work was written by the chefs to English King Richard II. There are a hundred pages and hundreds of recipes but news reports, such as this one from the BBC, have picked out the one involving cooked Porpoise; this isn’t a meal which has survived in Britain, although I’m sure we all know people who’d try it. Other meals include “Noumbles” and “Roo Broth”. The Rylands Medieval Collection can be accessed here.