--Previous Message--
: Think about the strangest food you've ever eaten. Was it weirder
: than a unicorn? Not only did the author of one medieval cookbook
: believe that the mythical creatures existed, but he provided a
: recipe that explains how to cook the fictional animal.
:
: According to the British Library's Medieval and Earlier
: Manuscripts Blog , Professor Brian Trump of the Medieval
: Cookbook Project recently discovered the long-lost cookbook
: from medieval times. Trump knew the book existed and searched
: for it for years. To Trump, finding the cookbook was a miracle.
: He stated, "We've been hunting for this book for years. The
: moment I first set my eyes on it was spine-tingling."
:
: Perhaps even more "spine-tingling" are the recipes
: that were found inside. While the book contains dishes for
: hedgehogs, blackbirds, herring, and tripe, the most interesting
: recipe begins with, "Taketh one unicorne." The unicorn
: recipe calls for the creature to be marinated in cloves and
: garlic, then roasted over a griddle. The author of the cookbook
: even supplied his own drawings that show how to prepare and
: serve a unicorn.
:
: Scholars believe that the cookbook was written by Geoffrey Fule,
: who worked in the kitchens of Phiippa of Hainault, the Queen of
: England from 1328 to 1369. Apparently Fule was known for
: innovative flavor combinations and has been called the
: "Heston Blumenthal of his day." The unicorn dish isn't
: the only noteworthy recipe in his cookbook. Located between
: other foods, there is a recipe for cooking blackbirds that seems
: to be the origin of the infamous English nursery rhyme about
: blackbirds baked in a pie: "Sing a song of sixpence / A
: pocket full of rye / Four-and-twenty blackbirds / Baked in a
: pie."
:
: Recreating many of these recipes would prove difficult for
: scholars (you can't exactly ask a butcher for a whole unicorn
: these days), but the cookbook provides great insight into
: cooking methods during medieval times.
:
:
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