Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany - 56 Sauce sarcenes

Recipes from the Wagstaff Miscellany (Beinecke MS 163)

This manuscript is dated about 1460.

The 200 (approx.) recipes in the Wagstaff miscellany are on pages 56r through 76v.

Images of the original manuscript are freely available on the Yale University Library website.

I have done my best to provide an accurate, but readable transcription. Common abbreviations have been expanded, the letters thorn and yogh have been replaced with their modern equivalents, and some minor punctuation has been added.

Copyright © 2013 by Daniel Myers, MedievalCookery.com

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56. Sauce sarcenes
Make a thykke mylke of almondys do hit in a pot with floure of rye safrone gynger macys quibibis canel sygure & rynse the bottome of the dische withe fat brothe boyle the sewe byfore & messe hit forthe.

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This recipe is a match for recipe 169 in A Noble Boke off Cookry.

To mak sauce sairsnet tak thik almond mylk and put it in a pott with flour of rise saffron maces guingere quybibes canelle and sugur and wet the botom of the disshes with swet brothe or withe wyne and put ther to hole maces and sesson it up with sugur venygar good pouder and guinger strawed with alkened and serve it.  [A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)]

Saracen Sauce seems to have been popular as the recipe is included in several surviving cookbooks. Interestingly, the Wagstaff and Noble versions are the only ones from England that do not call for pomegranate.

Cxxxij - Sauke Sarsoun. Take Almaundys, and blaunche hem, and frye hem in oyle other in grece, than bray hem in a Mortere, and tempere hem with gode Almaunde mylke, and gode Wyne, and then the thrydde perty schal ben Sugre; and 3if it be no3t thikke y-nowe, a-lye it with Alkenade, and Florche (Note: Flourish; garnish) it a-bouyn with Pome-garned, and messe it; serue it forth.  [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]

Sawse Sarzyne. XX.IIII. IIII. Take heppes and make hem clene. take Almaundes blaunched, frye hem in oile and bray hem in a morter with heppes. drawe it up with rede wyne, and do þerin sugur ynowhz with Powdour sort, lat it be stondyng, and alay it with flour of Rys. and colour it with alkenet and messe it forth. and florish it with Pommegarnet. If þou wilt in flesshe day. seeþ Capouns and take the brawnn and tese hem smal and do þerto. and make the lico of þis broth.  [Forme of Cury (England, 1390)]