Sunday, October 24, 2010

Ways to serve your meat

On her blog today, Sister The Bride lists a fine collection of the names of buildings inside the Private Paradise of the Emperor of China.  I thought I'd follow suit with the terms used for carving various meats, at least according to Wynkyn de Worde, the author of the early cookbook, The Boke of Keruying, which has the colophon:
Here endeth the boke of servyce and kervynge and sewynge and all manner of offyce in his kynde unto a prynce or ony other estate and all the feestes in the yere. Emprynted by Wynkyn de Worde at London in the Fletestrete at the sygne of the sonne. The yere of our lorde, M, CCCCC, VIII.
In modern English, that reads:
Here ends the book of service and carving and serving and all manner of office in kind unto a prince or any other estate, and all the feasts in the year. Printed by Wynkyn de Worde at London, in Fleet Street, at the Sign of the Sun. The Year of our Lord, 1508. [See the simple power of agreed-upon spelling conventions?]
de Worde lists proper reference terms for carving of any fish, fowl or meat that might grace the table of King Henry VII (who was king when de Worde was publishing). (I've translated the ones I can figure out, unless they are so obvious it's quaint).   It reads like a carnivore's violent poetry of dinner.

Termes of a Kerver

Break that deer
Lesche that brawne (anybody have a clue?)
Rear that goose
Lift that Swanne
Sauce that capon
Spoil that hen
Frusshe (?) that chicken
Unbrace that mallard (duck)
Unlace that cony (rabbit)
Dismember that heron
Display that crane
Disfigure that peacock
Unjoint that bytture (? a bittern?)
Untack that Curlew
Allay that Pheasant
Wing that Partridge
Wing that Quail
Mince that Plover
Thigh that Pigeon
Border that Pasty
Thigh that Woodcock
Thigh all manner of small byrdes
Timber that fire
Tyere (tear?) that egg
Chine that salmon
String that Lamprey
Splat that Pike
Sauce that Tench
Splay that Bream
Side that Haddock
Tusk that Barbell
Culpon that Trout (culpon means to cut a piece out, from the French, did you know)
Fin that Cheven (? some kind of fish, clearly)
Trausene (?) that Eel
Tranch that Sturgeon (to tranch is to slice a sturgeon, if you look it up)
Undertranch that porpoise (? they ate porpoises in Tudor England?)
Tame that Crab
Barb that Lobster.
Here hendeth the goodly termes.

You might note that he doesn't mention beef, mutton, veal or pork -- do you suppose they were perhaps too obvious to make a point of? --  and that "hennes" are distinct from "chickens", which are distinct from "capons".

2 comments:

Vivi said...

lesche that brawne is to drain it?


Eeeuuuwwwww.

peaceable_tate said...

What a fantastic list! I take it as evidence that vivid writing transcends generations.