Recipe - A Fourteenth Century Pie

Short crust pastry
3 Young partridges
6 Quail
12 Larks
Bacon
Boned thrushes and other
Small birds
1 Egg yolk

1. Make a firm short crust using some eggs with the water to mix the flour
and a little salt; but no sugar. 2. Roll it out but not to thin, and with
it line a tin pie mould that opens and is kept closed with a metal skewer.
3. Put in the middle of the pie 3 young partridges (boned) and 4. round
them put 6 fine quail boned and stuffed. 5. Round these put 12 larks,
boned. 6. Cut a little bacon and dice and sprinkle them into the pie. 7.
Put in some sour grapes and a very little salt. 8. And fill up with boned
thrushes ans other small birds. 9. Put in neither spice, nor cheese nor
water. 10. Ornament the top crust; make a hole in the middle; brush it over
with yolk of an egg, and bake in a very moderate oven for several hours
according to size. Meantime make some good clear nicely flavoured game
stock that will be a firm jelly when cold; strain it, and directly the pie
comes from the oven pour it, hot, into the pie by means of a funnel placed
in the hole in the middle of the lid.

NB This pie may be eaten hot or cold. For a ball supper it will of
course be eaten cold.
Posted to MMRecipes Digest V4 #268 by Matt mdj@cableinet.co.uk on Oct
04, 1997