FoodNet

The closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight opened

1910

Page 158

Presented as published in 1910. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
p. 5' ^fc* "Metheglinisesteemedtobeaverywholsom "Drink; and doubtless it is so, since all " the world consents that Honey is a pre- "cious Substance, being the Choice & "Collection which the Bees make of the "most pure, most delectable, & most "odoriferous Parts of Plants, more par- "ticularly of their Flowers & Fruits. "Metheglin is therefore esteemed to be "an excellent Pectoral, good against Con- " sumption, Phthisick and Asthma; it is "cleansing & diuretick, good against "the Stone & Gravel; it is restorative "and strengthening; it comforts and "strengthens the Noble parts, & affords "good Nourishment, being made Use " of by the Healthy, as well as by the Sick. D^TES 281 "My worthy Master, that Incomperable "Sir Kenelin Digby, being a great lover "of this Drink, was so curious in his "Researches, that he made a large Col- " lection of the choicest & best Receipts "thereof." Hartman, Select Receipts, p. I. Concerning the difference between Mead and Metheglin, Borde {Regyment of Helth) says : — ^^ Of Meade: Meade is made of honny & "water boyled both togyther; yf it be "fyred and pure, it preserveth helth; "but it is not good for them the whiche "have the Ilyache or the Colycke. " OfMetheglyn : Metheglyn is made of honny "and water, & herbes, boyled and sod- "den togyther: yf it be fyred and stale, "it is better in the regyment of helth "than meade." But the distinction seems to have been for- gotten in the hundred odd years between the publication of Borde's book and Digby's. GLOSSARY Ana, of each. Apple-Johns, or John Apples, apples considered best when shrivelled, so called because they are ripe about St. John's Day. Aume, aam, anum, a liquid measure used for wine and oil. A Dutch aume of wine equalled about 41 English gallons. Balneum, a vessel filled with water or sand, in which another vessel is placed to be heated. Beatilies, beatilia, battalia, tit-bits (e.g. cockscombs or sweet- breads) in a pie. Bragot, ale boiled with honey. Bunt, the cavity or baggy part of a napkin when folded or tied as a bag. Burthen, a quantity, here signifying no certain amount. Call, a wedge. Calvered, cut in thin slices when " fresh," and pickled. Canicular days, dog days. Cock^s tread, *' The opaque speck or germinal vesicle in the surface of the yolk in an impregnated egg." M. Coddle, to boil gently, to stew. Coffin, a mould of paste for a pie. Cucurbite, a gourd-shaped vessel ; also a shallow vessel with a wide mouth, used for distillation. D emistier =^ demi setier, a measure of quarter-pint capa- city. Electuary, a medical conserve or paste of powder mixed with honey, syrup, etc. Faces, dregs. Fearced, forced, stuffed. 283 284 GLOSSJRT Florejiden, Jlorentine, a kind of pie, of minced meats, currants, spices, etc., baked in a dish with a cover of paste. Gambon, gammon, a smoked ham. Garavanzas, chick-peas. Gelt, castrated. Gmet-moils, gefinet-moil, a kind of apple ripe before others. Hippocras, hypocras hag, a bag used in making hippocras, a medicinal drink consisting of spiced wines. Humble-pie, a pie made of umbles or numbles (the heart, liver, kidneys, etc.) of the deer. Kiver^ kive, keever, a large vessel for fermenting liquors ; a mashing tub. Lardons, strips of bacon or salt pork used for larding. Laton, latton, latten, a utensil made of thin brass, or mixed