Quote by Francine Segan

““The Elizabethans used many more herbs than we do today, including those rarely seen in modern kitchens, such as hyssop, pennyroyal, tansy, and rue. According to a sixteenth-century nutrition guide, A Dyetary of Healthe, “There is no Herbe, nor weede, but God hae given vertue to them, to helpe man.” Puréed Carrots with Currants and Spices SERVES 6 Let me see; what am I to buy for our sheep-shearing feast?””

Francine Segan

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“White potatoes, although introduced into England during Shakespeare’s lifetime, were not commonly eaten until late in the eighteenth century. White potatoes originated from South America but were misnamed “Virginia potatoes” because they were thought to have come from the Virginia colony in America. Another vegetable from the New World, corn, was also misnamed and called granoturco, “grain of Turkey,” by…

Francine Segan

“Children and fried food; the more you make, the better they come out.”

Francine Segan

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“Elizabethan cookbooks included not only carving instructions, but the proper terminology for each type of meat such as “breake that deer, leach that brawn,…

Francine Segan

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“Renaissance Rice Balls SERVES 10 (APPROXIMATELY 36 RICE BALLS) RICE BALLS like these, today known as “arancine,” or little oranges, are still made in many parts of Italy. During the Renaissance these savory balls would have been colored purple or yellow with dried edible flower petals or saffron. This dish can be easily re-created using food coloring to produce the…

Francine Segan

“Romans introduced the practice of gelding to England, changing chickens into tender, plump capons. In The Castle of Health, William Elyot wrote, “The capon is above all other fowles praised for as much as it is easily digested.” The carving term for a capon was to “sauce” it, a much prettier term than some of the others for cutting fowl,…

Francine Segan

“PEASE PORRIDGE in the pot, nine days old” fairly well summarizes the technique of stew preparation in Shakespeare’s day. A thick soup would have…

Francine Segan

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“Here on this grass-plot, in this very place, To come and sport: her peacocks fly amain … THE TEMPEST, 4.1 Peacock, long a symbol of nobility and immortality, was one of the most esteemed feast foods in Shakespeare’s time. Served roasted and placed back in its feathers, it was then dusted with real gold. Metal rods were inserted into the bird’s…

Francine Segan

“Cauliflower Chowder SERVES 4 TO 6 VERJUICE, THE JUICE of unripe grapes now available in most gourmet grocers, adds a lovely touch to this…

Francine Segan

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“ORIGINAL RECIPE: To make pursses or Cremitaries Take a little mary, small raysons, and Dates, let the stones bee taken away, these being beaten together in a Morter, season it with Ginger, Sinemon, and Sugar, then put it in a fine paste, and bake them or fry them, so done in the serving of them cast blaunch powder upon them.…

Francine Segan

“Oddly, recipes came with warnings that to eat reheated cabbage was fatal. “Twice cooked cabbage is death,” an ancient adage popular in the Renaissance,…

Francine Segan

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“...fundamental Italian cookery rule that less is more!”

Francine Segan

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“Damson plums were a favorite Elizabethan fruit and “eaten before dyner, be good to provoke a mans appetyde.” They were also popular dried into prunes. It is unclear why, perhaps because they allegedly inflamed men’s appetites, but stewed prunes were a favorite dish at Elizabethan brothels and also were a synonym for prostitutes. Shakespeare mentions prunes in that context in…

Francine Segan

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