Butter is little used. 'Tis first mentioned No. 81, and occurs but rarely after [88]; 'tis found but once in the Editor's MS, where it is written boter. The usual substitutes for it are oil-olive and lard; the latter is frequently called grees, or grece, or whitegrece, as No. 18. 193. Capons in Grease occur in Birch's Life of Henry prince of Wales, p. 459, 460. and see Lye in Jun. Etym. v. Greasie. Bishop Patrick has a remarkable passage concerning this article: 'Though we read of cheese in Homer, Euripides, Theocritus, and others, yet they never mention butter: nor hath Aristotle a word of it, though he hath sundry observations about cheese; for butter was not a thing then known among the Greeks; though we see by this and many other places, it was an ancient food among the eastern people [89].' The Greeks, I presume, used oil instead of it, and butter in some places of scripture is thought to mean only cream. [90]
Cheese. See the last article, and what is said of the old Britons above; as likewise our Glossary.
Ale is applied, No. 113, et alibi; and often in the Editor's MS. as 6, 7, &c. It is used instead of wine, No. 22, and sometimes along with bread in the Editor's MS. [91] Indeed it is a current opinion that brewing with hops was not introduced here till the reign of king Henry VIII. [92] Bere, however, is mentioned A. 1504. [93]
Wine is common, both red, and white, No. 21. 53. 37. This article they partly had of their own growth, [94] and partly by importation from France [95] and Greece [96]. They had also Rhenish [97], and probably several other sorts. The vynegreke is among the sweet wines in a MS of Mr. Astle.
Rice. As this grain was but little, if at all, cultivated in England, it must have been brought from abroad. Whole or ground-rice enters into a large number of our compositions, and resmolle, No. 96, is a direct preparation of it.
Alkenet. Anchusa is not only used for colouring, but also fried and yfoundred, 62. yfondyt, 162. i. e. dissolved, or ground. 'Tis thought to be a species of the buglos.
Saffron. Saffrwm, Brit. whence it appears, that this name ran through most languages. Mr. Weever informs us, that this excellent drug was brought hither in the time of Edward III. [98] and it may be true; but still no such quantity could be produced here in the next reign as to supply that very large consumption which we see made of it in our Roll, where it occurs not only as an ingredient in the processes, but also is used for colouring, for flourishing, or garnishing. It makes a yellow, No. 68, and was imported from Egypt, or Cilicia, or other parts of the Levant, where the Turks call it Safran, from the Arabic Zapheran, whence the English, Italians, French, and Germans, have apparently borrowed their respective names of it. The Romans were well acquainted with the drug, but did not use it much in the kitchen [99]. Pere Calmet says, the Hebrews were acquainted with anise, ginger, saffron, but no other spices [100].
Pynes. There is some difficulty in enucleating the meaning of this word, though it occurs so often. It is joined with dates, No. 20. 52. with honey clarified, 63. with powder-fort, saffron, and salt, 161. with ground dates, raisins, good powder, and salt, 186. and lastly they are fried, 38. Now the dish here is morree, which in the Editor's MS. 37, is made of mulberries (and no doubt has its name from them), and yet there are no mulberries in our dish, but pynes, and therefore I suspect, that mulberries and pynes are the same, and indeed this fruit has some resemblance to a pynecone. I conceive pynnonade, the dish, No. 51, to be so named from the pynes therein employed; and quære whether pyner mentioned along with powder-fort, saffron, and salt, No. 155, as above in No. 161, should not be read pynes. But, after all, we have cones brought hither from Italy full of nuts, or kernels, which upon roasting come out of their capsulæ, and are much eaten by the common people, and these perhaps may be the thing intended.
[Addenda: after intended. add, 'See Ray, Trav. p. 283. 407. and Wright's Trav. p. 112.']
Honey was the great and universal sweetner in remote antiquity, and particularly in this island, where it was the chief constituent of mead and metheglin. It is said, that at this day in Palestine they use honey in the greatest part of their ragouts [101]. Our cooks had a method of clarifying it, No. 18. 41. which was done by putting it in a pot with whites of eggs and water, beating them well together; then setting it over the fire, and boiling it; and when it was ready to boil over to take it and cool it, No. 59. This I presume is called clere honey, No. 151. And, when honey was so much in use, it appears from Barnes that refining it was a trade of itself [102].