Martial, Epigrams, V.66: Saepe salutatus numquam prior ipse salutas: / sic eris? Aeternum, Pontiliane, vale. “Greeted often, you are never the first to greet. Is that to be your way? Pontilianus, farewell for ever.” Pontilian is one of the people whom Martial makes fun of in several of his satires. The author chooses a pompous way to end the book, similar to the last line of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus: Terminat hora diem; terminate Author opus (“The hour ends the day; the author ends the work”). Only this is a cookbook, a genre which would not usually end with a Latin motto. However, selecting lines from one of Martial’s epigrams goes along with the text’s satiric aim.

“A witty remark, a bon mot” (OED).

The word takes on two meanings here – both “of low social status; spec. not of the nobility or gentry” and “of a political body, authority, etc.: weak; comparatively powerless” (OED), yoking Royalist social status derision to powerlessness.

“Anything fragile, insubstantial, empty, or worthless; a deceptive show” (OED).

The Rump Parliament was the insulting name given to the English Parliament after members who opposed the trial and execution of Charles I were expelled in 1648.

Hursley House in Hampshire came into the Cromwell family through Richard’s marriage to Dorothy Major in 1649. Richard Cromwell lived there when he took power but was quickly forced into exile (DNB). Here, Hursley House is imagined as a safe retreat for Elizabeth and her daughter-in-law Dorothy while Richard is in exile.

Elizabeth’s son Henry Cromwell married Elizabeth Russell while Elizabeth’s daughter Frances Cromwell married Sir John Russell. Thus Sir John Russell and Elizabeth Russell were siblings who married siblings (DNB). By mentioning this “cross match,” the authors are suggesting nepotism and pointing out ways the Cromwells were working to consolidate power through intermarriage.

Elizabeth’s son Henry Cromwell married Elizabeth Russell while Elizabeth’s daughter Frances Cromwell married Sir John Russell. Thus Sir John Russell and Elizabeth Russell were siblings who married siblings (DNB). By mentioning this “cross match,” the authors are suggesting nepotism and pointing out ways the Cromwells were working to consolidate power through intermarriage.

Both “a (typically married) woman whose main occupation is managing the general running of a household” (OED) and “a frivolous, impertinent, or disreputable woman or girl; a hussy” (OED). Referring to Elizabeth as a “Huswife” allows the author of this satire to feign respect while actually undercutting her character.

The Rump; or, The Mirrour of the Late Times (1660-1) by John Tatham satirized the Rump Parliament and was one of the first plays performed in London in eighteen years, since Oliver Cromwell closed the theaters. The Rump features the character Lady Lambert who is domineering and arrogant, despite being a social-climbing rube.

Charles Fleetwood, the second husband of Oliver and Elizabeth Cromwell’s daughter Bridget, and the English Parliamentarian who ultimately turned against brother-in-law Richard Cromwell and helped to overthrow him (DNB).

Oliver Cromwell’s funeral was notoriously lavish and is ridiculed here. According to the diary of Thomas Burton, “For the solemnization of the funeral, no less than the sum of sixty thousand pounds was allotted to defray the expence.” See Burton (1657-8).

Oliver Cromwell’s funeral was notoriously lavish and is ridiculed here. According to the diary of Thomas Burton, “For the solemnization of the funeral, no less than the sum of sixty thousand pounds was allotted to defray the expence.” See Burton (1657-8).

I.e., “risk.”

Elizabeth’s son Richard Cromwell, the second Lord Protector, is referred to here with a diminutive nickname which belittles him and casts him as a foreign outsider.

“A servant or attendant who clears the table after a meal” (OED). The term is used metaphorically here as a way of discussing “clearing out” the old regime and setting up the new regime with the Restoration of Charles II.

An ironic statement, since it essentially suggests that following the recipes in this collection and emulating the Cromwells’ diet does nothing for one’s health.

Stating that the Cromwells did not observe “Fish and Flesh days” suggests that they were impious and aligns them more closely with Puritanical Christians rather than with patriotic Anglicans. Fast days are explicitly named in The Book of Common Prayer (1662) in the section “Tables, and Rules for the Moveable and Immoveable Feasts; together with The daies of Fasting and Abstinence through the whole year” (p. 13).

“Fish and Flesh days” refer to the Anglican (by way of Catholic) tradition of abstaining from meat during Lent and on Fridays to commemorate Good Friday. Since fish are cold-blooded, they were excluded from this practice and could be consumed on fast days.

The cook will judge for herself when the preserves have reached the right consistency.

So as not to remove too much of the flesh.

This recipe, with minor alterations in spellings, appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 4; Woolley (1675b), p. 3; and Woolley (1686), p. 2.

I.e., “core.”

These instructions are the second half of the recipe “To make Quince Cakes” in Woolley (1675a), p. 3; Woolley (1675b), p. 1; and Woolley (1686), p. 1. The first half of the Woolley recipe appears in the initial part of the preceding recipe in this collection, “To make red Quince Cakes” (p. 146).

These instructions are the second half of the recipe “To make Quince Cakes” in Woolley (1675a), p. 3; Woolley (1675b), p. 1; and Woolley (1686), p. 1. The first half of the Woolley recipe appears in the initial part of the preceding recipe in this collection, “To make red Quince Cakes” (p. 146).

That which has been made of quinces and barberries, as in the previous recipe

As is done in the preceding recipe.

I.e., parboiled.

The recipe cautions the cook against adding too much water and making the syrup too runny.

I.e., “pretty,” meaning “considerable” or “sizeable” (OED).

A phrase frequently applied to the process of making fruit preserves, marmalades, and sweetened fruit fillings. The fruit is first weighed and an equal amount of sugar is applied, often in stages, as the fruit mixture cooks down and thickens. This phrasing remained common into the nineteenth century. It is clarified further in Dolby (1833), where cooks are instructed to “weigh as much sugar as the weight of the fruit” (p. 286).

I.e., “cores.”

A similar recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 3; Woolley (1675b), p. 1; and Woolley (1686), p. 1. The recipe similarities end after the “juice of Barberies.”

A nearly identical recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 137 and Woolley (1675b), p. 320.

Dunked in boiling water to loosen the skin.

Withdraw.

Ayrton (1974) indicates that “[i]n earlier times a pie was often partly cooked with a false lid made of flour and water crust, which was broken away and replaced by the rich pastry lid just as we replace foil with pastry today” (pp. 88-9).

A quarter of a pint.

A similar recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 144; Woolley (1675b), p. 335; and Woolley (1686), p. 175. This version offers an extended step, adding the cream, eggs, sugar, and nutmeg for a second bake.

Thorough baking (OED).

A nearly identical recipe appears in Rabisha (1661) under the title, “To make a Pie with whole Pippins” (p. 168).

The recipe cautions against poking too many holes in the top of the pie.

The recipe assumes that the cook has already prepared the dough for a pie.

This recipe, with minor alterations in spelling, appears in Rabisha (1661), p. 167. May (1660) includes four recipes for quince pies, pp. 224-5.

The recipe assumes that the cook would know how long to bake a fruit pie, and to subtract fifteen minutes from that time, so the pie is slightly undercooked.

A nearly identical recipe appears in Rabisha (1661), p. 167; Woolley (1675a), pp. 130-1; Woolley (1675b), p. 306; and Woolley (1686), p. 160.

Root, specifically when used in reference to ginger (OED).

Clarified in Woolley (1675a, 1675b, 1686) as “the blood.”

The gall, or gallbladder, of fish is poisonous. If it breaks during cleaning, it will leak bile into the flesh of the fish, causing it to taste bitter.

It is best to prepare and cook freshwater fish soon after you kill them, since they spoil quickly.

A nearly identical recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), pp. 114-5; Woolley (1675b), pp. 271-2; and Woolley (1686), pp. 142-3. A similar version appears in Rabisha (1661), p. 108. May (1660) provides seven different ways to stew carp (pp. 291-5). This recipe’s flavor profile most clearly echoes the version “To Stew a Carp in the French Fashion” (p. 292).

With the skin on the bottom.

A similar recipe appears in Rabisha (1661), pp. 117-8.

Sour. “Pungent in taste; also, having strong acid, alkaline, or caustic properties” (OED).

This recipe, with minor alterations, appears in Woolley (1675a), pp. 108-9; Woolley (1675b), p. 159; and Woolley (1686), p. 136. A very similar recipe also appears” in Rabisha (1661), p. 125.

Perhaps because scallop shells are rounder than the oblong oyster shells. This recipe differs from Woolley (1675a, 1675b, 1686) in suggesting “scollop shells” as the best way to “dish them.” However, this detail appears in Rabisha (1661).

May (1660) includes three recipes for broiling oysters which have some similar features, like the instruction, “Take the greatest oysters you can get” (pp. 376-7).

This recipe, with minor alterations, appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 142; Woolley (1675b), pp. 331-2; and Woolley (1686), p. 173. A very similar recipe appears as “How to broyl Oysters” in Rabisha (1661), p. 125.

“Burning strongly . . . hot” (OED).

The “paper” here, similar to parchment paper, is used as a base to put the pastry on while cutting out a shape. It keeps the pastry clean and prevents it from sticking to the work surface. In “Inviting a Friend to Supper” (1616), Ben Jonson references this paper placed under a pastry, though with the double meaning of his own pages of poetry (l. 26).

Slash or cut.

If the mixture is too thin it may run over the sides of the cakes and dissolve them.

Thirsk (2006) cites this mention of “naples bisket” to show how Elizabeth Cromwell “did not eschew all current food fashions, some of which, we may guess, were no longer actually recognized as foreign” (p. 117).

Rabisha substitutes orangado.

Run the milk through a strainer so the liquid whey will pass through it and the curds will gather on the strainer. Then press these curds against the strainer to squeeze out the excess whey.

A nearly identical recipe appears as “To make Cheese Cakes,” in Rabisha (1661), p. 163. However, the Cromwell recipe increases the quantity of eggs from fourteen to sixteen. Rabisha’s cheesecake recipe calls for the cheese mixture to sit on top of the pastry, and so would look more like the cheesecakes we are used to. These cheesecakes are small, like tarts, and so would look like mini cheesecakes.

This recipe appears as “To make Cheese-Cakes, the best way,” in Woolley (1675a), p. 99; Woolley (1675b), pp. 242-3; and Woolley (1686), p. 128. May (1660) includes ten different cheesecake recipes, but none are especially similar to this one.

A tart or pie containing a sweet cheese (or curds and cream) mixture. Unlike the cheesecake we are familiar with today, this cheesecake is a pie made with puff-paste containing a cheese filling.

Beating egg whites makes them thick and frothy. This process closely replicates making a meringue (a term that does not appear in English recipe books until the eighteenth century), where the lemon juice acts as an acid that stabilizes the egg whites.

A similar recipe appears as “To make Cast Cream” in May (1660), p. 268. However, the number of differences make it unlikely that this recipe was copied directly.

Beating egg whites makes them thick and frothy.

After the liquid has sat overnight, separate the fat from the top and the sediment from the bottom.

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), pp. 7-8; Woolley (1675b), pp. 11-12; and Woolley (1686), pp. 6-7.

In order to press the butter and paste together and warm it up for easier rolling.

As though you are making a sandwich with the butter on the inside and the paste outside.

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 112; Woolley (1675b), pp. 266-7; and Woolley (1686), p. 140.

This step makes the paste that will then be folded with the butter.

A quarter of a pint.

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 116; Woolley (1675b), pp. 274-5; and Woolley (1686), p. 144.

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 129; Woolley (1675b), p. 303; and Woolley (1686), p. 158.

This recipe also appears in Rabisha (1661), under the title “To bake a Pigg to be eaten hot” (pp. 177-8).

“Bake thoroughly” (OED).

Used in the brewing process to boil the “wort,” a mixture of malted grain and water.

Cromwell’s military victories can be partially attributed to his well-disciplined cavalry that would remain in strict formation during the initial charge and regroup quickly afterwards. London papers began calling Cromwell “Ironside” after his victory at the Battle of Marston Moor (1644). His cavalry troops were known as “Ironsides,” a reference to the metal cuirasses worn by cavalrymen.

A member of the cavalry—or a soldier on horseback—who wears a cuirass, or piece of armor made of either leather or metal that covers the chest and back down to the waist (OED).

The typical way of slaughtering a pig is stunning it by bludgeoning it over the head, hanging it upside down over a basin, and severing the major blood vessels in its neck (what is known as “sticking” the pig). The butcher would then bleed the pig, or wait for the blood to drain out of it into the basin so the meat would be clean to eat. The collected blood could be used to make blood or black puddings, a type of sausage made from pork blood, pork fat, oats, and spices.

“The ‘mouth’ of a cask” (OED).

Oliver Cromwell’s father, Robert, was a member of the landed gentry who owned a modest estate in Huntingdon that generated a reasonable income compared to those of other gentlemen. Smear campaigns against Cromwell suggested that his mother, his father, or even Cromwell himself had been a brewer, an insulting profession for a member of the landed gentry. The truth of such claims has been debated. See Barclay (2011), pp. 24-5.

Termed such because Elizabeth Cromwell bakes the pig in the furnace stoke-hole of a brewery rather than some more usual oven.

This recipe is also found in Rabisha (1661), pp. 175-6; Woolley (1675a), p. 130; Woolley (1675b), pp. 305-6; and Woolley (1686), pp. 159-60. A slight variation of this recipe appears in May (1660) as “To bake Steak Pyes the French way” (p. 210).

Sic. Likely typesetting error. Should be “loin” or “loyn.”

A similar recipe appears as “To boyl a Neck, Loyn, or Chine of Mutton, or a Neck, Legg, Fillet, Knuckle of Veal, Legg or Loyn of Lamb” in Rabisha (1661), p. 174. The title of the recipe is significantly simplified here.

The primary sense of “collering” means to cut up a piece of meat and press it into a roll, but the word here also carries the secondary sense of “capture or seize,” perhaps emphasizing Cromwell’s illicit means of obtaining the deer (OED).

Beef and mutton were staple meats of the English diet, and unlike venison, would have been available to people of all classes, including the “vulgar,” or commoners.

Poke holes in the pastry to allow steam to escape.

“Spread or beat out thin” (OED).

I.e., “flour.”

Robin Hood had been a well-known figure and folk hero in England since the late thirteenth century, but his most famous trait, that he robbed from the rich to give to the poor, only became a central part of his lore in the sixteenth century. The author refers to the legend that Robin Hood’s outlaw status began when he was exiled for killing a king’s deer in Sherwood Forest.

The author suggests that Cromwell’s policies made this meat available for all classes of people, not merely the “great worthy personages” that Manwood (1665) describes (p. 107). Thirsk (2006) offers some possible explanations for this statement: either hunting, as a royal(ist) pastime, became less popular in Cromwell’s England, or agriculturalists shifted perception of parks from royal playground to national preserve (p. 116).

A nearly identical recipe, without the prefatory political commentary, appears as “How to season and bake a pasty of Venison” in Rabisha (1661), p. 141. The recipe also appears as “To make a Venison-Pasty” in Woolley (1675a), pp. 109-10; Woolley (1675b), pp. 260-1; and Woolley (1686), pp. 136-7.

Cover the sides of the bowl with the spinach to make a nest for the venison to rest.

The author blames the Cromwells for making venison widely available, which in turn the author uses as an excuse to publicize this recipe.

Manwood (1665) notes that foresters took an oath to protect game from poachers (pp. 400-39). However, here the author implies that the prevalence of poaching can be blamed on their inattentiveness and venality.

During Cromwell’s rule, venison went from being a royal meat to a common one. Venison had been restricted to the upper classes to preserve the deer for nobility. The author claims that the removal of these laws destroyed deer populations and made their meat cheap and available.

“To make vile, defile, dishonour, debase” (OED).

The Cromwells, as lesser gentry, would not have had access to this type of meat before they supplanted Charles I. According to the author, Mrs. Cromwell is taking advantage of her newly advanced position to satisfy her “curiosity” regarding food that was previously off-limits.

A nearly identical recipe, without the prefatory political commentary on royal taste, appears in Rabisha (1661), pp. 49-50; Woolley (1675a), pp. 129-30; Woolley (1675b), pp. 304-5; and Woolley (1686), p. 159.

The packets of herbs hang amongst the strips of meat to add additional savor in the roasting.

The author cautions against letting the strips dangle too close to the fire. To avoid this, the cook should double or fold the strips and skewer both ends together.

The “harslet” (i.e., “haslet”), presumably, is what is “nauseous,” since venison was generally praised for the goodness of its meat. See Manwood (1665), p. 113. There is a double insult in this sentence: the author lets us know not only that haslet, a cheap and distasteful type of meat, was plentiful at Mrs. Cromwell’s table, but also that venison, a delicacy, was prepared in the same manner as offal. The suggestion is that Mrs. Cromwell is ignorant of the proper way to prepare venison.

A nearly identical recipe appears as “To roast Venison” in Rabisha (1661), p. 104. Alternative recipes for roast venison that are nearly identical to one another but that differ from this one appear in Woolley (1675a), p. 134; Woolley (1675b), p. 314; and Woolley (1686), p. 164.

To lard and draw means to add melted fat and to flavor that fat with herbs.

A nearly identical recipe appears as “To roast a whole Lamb or Kid,” in Rabisha (1661), p. 101. Rabisha calls for “cream” while this recipe calls for “bran.” In May (1660), roast lamb or kid is named as an especially appropriate dish for All Saint’s Day or Christmas Day (“Bills of Fare”).

The satirical commentary at the end of this recipe is a unique addition. It seems to be chastising Elizabeth Cromwell for cooking dishes out of the proper season. Given the nutmeg, cinnamon, and sack, this recipe was likely intended for winter months. Serving such a dish in the summer may have signaled a lack of refinement and understanding of taste trends. As Thirsk (2006) comments, “People did not have to be rich or to engage in lavish expenditure to savour changes in the daily menu. The seasons, the alternation of fish and meat days, and the variety of England’s wild plants and animals over short distances, drove away monotony” (p. 26). This perhaps renders Elizabeth Cromwell even more “rustical,” in that she cannot even properly follow trends that do not require great expense.

“Rustical” could simply refer to someone living in the country, but also came to mean “of a person: boorish; unsophisticated” (OED). The latter is likely intended here.

A nearly identical recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 116; Woolley (1675b), p. 274; and Woolley (1686), p. 144. Recipes for cheese and cream that follow similar steps and include similar spices appear in Rabisha (1661), pp. 27-8 and May (1660), pp. 278-9. A simpler recipe appears in Grey (1653a), pp. 5-6; Grey (1635b), p. 3; and Grey (1671), pp. 5-6.

This editorial aside is an instance of the satirical quality of this cookbook. In criticizing the smell of this dish, with the harsh beer vinegar and the onions, and claiming that Cromwell’s court “exalted” the dish, it suggests that the court not only had bad taste but also was likewise foul, with a metaphorical stench. “Hogo” means “[a] strong and unpleasant smell or (formerly) taste” (OED). It is derived from the French “haut-goût” meaning “[a] high or piquant flavour” (OED). The bastardized French ridicules the failed pretension of the Cromwell court as well.

I.e., “Carrier,” meaning either the one who bears the dish to the table.

Recipes for pickled broom buds can be found in Grey (1653a), p. 35; Grey (1653b), p. 19; Grey (1671), pp. 35-6; Rabisha (1661), p. 6; Woolley (1675a), pp. 20-1; Woolley (1675b), pp. 36-7; and Woolley (1686), p. 21, among others.

A similar recipe appears as “How to pickle Cowcumbers” in Rabisha (1661), p. 1.

Rabisha (1661) only calles for “Lemmon,” not “barbaries” (p. 100).

This parenthetical does not appear in Rabisha (1661), pp. 99-100.

A nearly identical recipe appears in Woolley (1675b), pp. 346-7 and Woolley (1686), pp. 180-1. A very similar recipe appears in Rabisha (1661), pp. 99-100.

I.e., “withdrawn from the oven.”

I.e., “cloth.”

A nearly identical recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 112; Woolley (1675b), p. 266; and Woolley (1686), pp. 139-40. Rabisha (1661) includes two different recipes for eel pie (pp. 23, 126); however, neither recipe replicates this one. Four different eel pie recipes with illustrations appear in May (1660), pp. 342-5.

Crow (forthcoming) suggests that the word “‘Delicacy’ highlights the fragility of this dish during the cooking process,” and taken with other recipes in the book that explicitly reference the Cromwells, “depict the Cromwell household as insubstantial and inclined to come apart at any moment. Their kitchen staff are preoccupied with preventing the dissolution of dishes that can be read as metonyms of the Cromwells themselves. Their favored foods sit uncomfortably in the environments in which they are prepared, and make excessive demands on the cooks’ time, requiring constant attention and adjustment.”

Frances Cromwell (1638-1720), the youngest daughter and ninth child of Oliver and Elizabeth Cromwell.

These lines include a joke about flatulence.

The Rabisha (1661) recipe ends here (p. 67).

As in many sausage recipes, this “pudding” has the cook sew, or “knit,” the prepared meat in a natural casing (in this case, made from the “maw,” that is, the pig’s stomach).

I.e., “flour.”

This recipe, with minor alterations, appears in Rabisha (1661), p. 67.

Crow (forthcoming) suggests that Oliver’s favorite dish “depicts his body as constituted of watery, insubstantial meals.”

Sic. Likely typesetting error. Should be “walms.”

A similar recipe appears in Rabisha (1661), p. 44. Other recipes for “Barley Broth” appear in May (1660), pp. 13-4.

A dish more akin to a soup than a broth, made with barley, a popular grain. Another more hearty seventeenth-century recipe “To make Barley Broth” (late 17th c.) calls for barley to be boiled with veal, mutton and bone marrow and finished, like the recipe in this collection, with eggs (Osborn b115).

As Crow (forthcoming) notes, the meals explicitly referenced as favorites of the Cromwells in this text appear quite insubstantial.

Elizabeth and Oliver Cromwell.

Sic. Likely typesetting error. Should be “the.”

The last line of the Rabisha (1661) version of this recipe reads “this may be heated as you have occasion. It is not only Cordial, but good against a Consumption also” (p. 39).

The previous recipe also calls for citrus juice at the end, though oranges instead of lemons.

I.e., “basin.”

The wine in this recipe acts as a substitute for the dried fruits included in the previous recipe for “A cordial strengthning Broth” (p. 113).

This recipe, with minor changes in wording, appears as “An excellent Cordial Broth” in Rabisha (1661), p. 39.

Thirsk (2006) notes that “dried fruits such as currants, dates, raisins, prunes, and oranges” were often used in winter by “those with money in their purse” (p. 263).

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 38; Woolley (1677), p. 89; and Woolley (1686), pp. 42-3.

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 7; Woolley (1675b), p. 11; and Woolley (1686), p. 6.

With the sculpture of a tree in the middle, surrounded by ingredients of various colors and textures, as well as turnips cut in different shapes, this dish would be very visually impressive.

Rabisha (1661) includes more details explaining how one might make a wax tree (which he suggests as one type of large, ornamental figure for the center of such a dish) in his recipe “To make a Grand Sallet for the Spring” (pp. 95-6). Constructed of “Paste . . . made of Rye” (p. 96), it should be “washed in the yolks of eggs, and all made green with herbs . . . and stuck with flowers, so that you may not perceive it but to be a tree” (p. 95).

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 113; Woolley (1675b), p. 268; and Woolley (1686), p. 141.

I.e., “flour.”

This recipe, with minor alterations in wording, appears in Rabisha (1661), p. 82.

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), pp. 111-2; Woolley (1675b), p. 265; and Woolley (1686), p. 139.

I.e., “sew.”

This identical recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 110; Woolley (1675b), pp. 261-2; and Woolley (1686), p. 137.

Woolley (1675a) omits these instructions.

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), pp. 124-5; Woolley (1675b), pp. 293-4; and Woolley (1686), p. 153.

I.e., liquid or brine in which the oysters have been kept.

I.e., preserve them.

I.e., preserve them.

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 117; Woolley (1675b), p. 276; and Woolley (1686), p. 145. Similar recipes can be found in May (1660), pp. 373-4, and Marnettè (1656), p. 26.

The ending of the Rabisha (1661) recipe is somewhat different: “and Capers minced, with drawn butter and gravy, pour this all over your meat, and garnish it with Lemmon” (p. 78).

Rabisha (1661) also begins with the word “boyl” (p. 78) but Woolley (1675b) and Woolley (1686) begin with the word “broyl” (p. 273) and “broil” (p. 128), respectively. Given that to carbonado a meat is “to score across and grill” or broil (OED), “broil” seems more likely to be the correct word.

This recipe appears in nearly identical form in Rabisha (1661), p. 78; Woolley (1675a), p. 100; Woolley (1675b), pp. 243-4; and Woolley (1686), pp. 128-9.

Rabisha (1661) writes “bones” (p. 76). Woolley (1675a) and Woolley (1675b) write “chines” (p. 115). “Bones” makes the most sense, given that they are mentioned earlier in the recipe, so “lines” may be a typographical error. However, in this instance, “lines” might also mean “strips of meat.”

The word in Rabisha (1661) is “toss” (p. 76); in Woolley (1675a) and Woolley (1675b), it is “toast” (p. 115). Given the context, “toss” makes more sense.

Sic. Likely typesetting error. Should be “hash,” as this is also the word that appears in Rabisha (1661), Woolley (1675a), and Woolley (1675b) as well.

Rabisha (1661) writes “roasted” (p. 76). Woolley (1675a) and Woolley (1675b) begin the recipe: “When your Rabbit is Wash’d, you must take the Flesh from the Bones” (p. 115). It seems that the rabbit is first roasted, then washed, and finally minced.

A nearly identical recipe appears in Rabisha (1661), p. 76. A very similar recipe also appears in Woolley (1675a), pp. 115-6; Woolley (1675b), pp. 273-4; and Woolley (1686), pp. 143-4.

“Draw out the viscera or intestines; disembowel” (OED).

A similar recipe appears with the title “To stew a breast of Mutton” in Rabisha (1661), p. 72.

Sic. Likely typesetting error. Should be “loin” or “loyn.”

May (1660) and Rabisha (1661) add onto the end of the recipe: “To these eggs sometimes use musk and ambergreece, and no pepper.”

This recipe is identical to one in Woolley (1675a), p. 111; Woolley (1675b), p. 264; and Woolley (1686), p. 139. A version of this recipe also appears in May (1660), p. 428, and Rabisha (1661), p. 196. May includes a second variation of the recipe as well.

This final commentary does not appear in Rabisha (1661) or any of Woolley’s versions.

I.e., spiced or seasoned with foreign spices.

“Characterized by deviation from the ordinary as if determined by mere caprice; fantastic, fanciful” (OED).

Rabisha (1661) again includes several additions: “fryed Oysters, Chesnuts and Pistaches.”

Rabisha (1661) adds “Pistaches, Chesnuts” here as well.

A new dish, which Rabisha (1661) makes clear.

Rabisha (1661) also adds “some Pistaches, Chesnuts.”

Rabisha (1661) writes “leave” instead of “tear.” “Leave” makes more sense given the word “whole” that follows.

Rabisha (1661) writes “brawns” instead of “brains.” In this instance, “brawn” means “the muscle or flesh of animals as food” (OED).

Rabisha (1661) begins his recipe, “Take twelve Partridges.”

This recipe appears with minor differences in wording in Woolley (1675a), pp. 121-2; Woolley (1675b), pp. 286-7; and Woolley (1686), p. 150. It also appears under the title “To make a Hash of Partridges or Capons” in Rabisha (1661), pp. 191-2.

This recipe is identical to the one in Woolley (1675a), p. 113. It also appears in Woolley (1675b), pp. 268-9, and in Woolley (1686), p. 141.

May (1660) states that the spice is cinnamon, while Rabisha (1661) calls for cinnamon and nutmeg.

“As much as can be bought or sold for a penny” (OED).

“Half a pound of Pippins” in Woolley (1675a), Woolley (1675b), and Woolley (1686). “Half a pound of Raisins” in Woolley (1677).

Woolley (1675a), Woolley (1675b), Woolley (1677), and Woolley (1686) specify that the eggs should be “hard boyl’d.” The recipe “To make egg Pies” that appears in Rabisha (1661) also calls for “the yolks of about twenty eggs boyled hard and minced very small” (p. 151).

This recipe appears in Woolley (1675a), p. 99; Woolley (1675b), p. 243; Woolley (1677), p. 81; and Woolley (1686), p. 128. May (1660) has a similar recipe, “To make Minced Pies of Eggs” (p. 430).

Rabisha (1661) does not include the ending description of the “modern way.” Instead, he simply writes, “and lay it round with slices of Bacon.”

Rabisha (1661) instead writes “and some of your broth.”

A very similar recipe appears in Rabisha (1661) under the title “To boyl Pigeons the French Fashion” (p. 190).

Rabisha (1661) states, “take also about four sweet-breads, as many Lamb-stones.” The instructions about sweet-breads may have been accidentally omitted from this since it mentions sweet breads later in the recipe.

A similar recipe appears in Rabisha (1661), p. 155. Similar recipes also appear in Woolley (1675a), pp. 146-7; Woolley (1675b), p. 341; and Woolley (1677), p. 87.

Sic. Likely typesetting error. Should be “in.”

Sic. Potential typesetting error. “Pour” seems to make more sense.

I.e., “ten.”