Late Middle Ages, England
Macrows
A Forme of Cury dish of thin dough boiled and layered with cheese and butter. The work of about 1390 is distinguished from the 1780 edition, and not equated with tubular macaroni. Home quantities, preparation and taste remain untested.
No record confirms a cooking trial. Quantities, heating times, taste and results should not be read as verified by cooking.
MODERN RECREATION
Modern Adaptation Proposal
Ingredients
Instructions
- Gradually mix water into the flour and knead for an estimated 5–8 minutes until it holds together. Add water in 5mL increments if needed and record additions. Do not taste raw dough.
- Cover and rest for about 20 minutes. This is a modern step for exploring handling, not a time prescribed in MACROWS.
- Dust lightly, roll to a target thickness of about 1mm, and cut pieces about 1cm wide and 3cm long. These modern dimensions explore even cooking; they are not a shape prescribed by the source.
- Add small batches to boiling water. Use 3–5 minutes after it returns to the boil only as an initial checking guide, cooking thoroughly until no raw, floury centre remains. Thickness affects timing; time or floating alone does not establish completion.
- Drain and layer some cheese and butter on a plate, then the boiled dough, then the rest of the cheese and butter. Proportions are provisional and melting is untested; this is not a step to make a uniform cheese sauce.
- Portion with clean utensils and eat promptly without prolonged room-temperature holding. Only after actual testing record flour brand, water quantity, thickness, actual boiling time and results.
HISTORICAL RECORD
Historical Sources and Evidence
These sources provide historical context. They do not necessarily support the quantities or cooking times in the modern adaptation.
Statements supported by sources
MACROWS (XX.IIII. XII., corresponding to 92) instructs cutting thin dough, boiling it thoroughly in boiling water and placing grated cheese and butter below and above before serving. It compares the finishing with loseyns.
The British Library catalogue describes The Forme of Cury as composed about 1390 and associated with Richard II's cooks. Its surviving Add MS 5016 is separately dated to the 1420s and located in England.
The consulted electronic text is mediated by Samuel Pegge's 1780 edition, published in London, printed by J. Nichols. Pegge is the modern editor, not the medieval recipe's author.
Inference and interpretation
- Distinguish composition about 1390, the 1420s manuscript, the 1780 edition and Gutenberg's first release in 2005. The relevant medieval manuscript images and variants in the 1985 edition were not checked; individual recipe authors are not identified.
- Thin dough is specified, but cut size, shape and tubes are not. It is not established as identical to tubular macaroni or modern macaroni cheese; no world's-first origin claim is adopted.
- MACROWS alone does not specify grain type, the presence or absence of eggs or the water ratio. The flour-and-water dough in related LOSEYNS (XX.II. IX.) informs the proposal, but its drying, broth and spices are not all imported as requirements.
- Cheese type, ageing, quantity, seasoning, time and servings remain unspecified. The following comparison with macaroni is a later editorial note, not the medieval text's claim. Béchamel, milk sauce and oven baking are not prescribed.
Modern adjustments
- An untested light-meal quantity for two. Medium-strength flour 150g, an initial 75mL water (about 50% hydration), firm Cheddar 50g and unsalted butter 20g are modern home choices, not conversions of medieval amounts.
- Water adjustments in 5mL increments, a 20-minute rest, 1mm thickness and 1cm by 3cm pieces, 1.5L boiling water and no added salt are modern settings. Handling, cooked texture, cheese melting and taste have not been checked.
- The estimated 45–60 minutes sums about 10 mixing and kneading, 20 resting, 10–15 rolling and cutting, and 5–15 boiling and serving. Kneading for 5–8 minutes and boiling for 3–5 after reboiling are initial observation guides, not measured results or guarantees.
- Food safety: even without eggs, do not taste raw flour or dough. Wash hands, surfaces and utensils and separate flour and dough from cooked food. Beware of boiling water and steam burns; store cheese and butter as labelled and avoid prolonged room-temperature holding.
- Contains wheat and milk. Check actual product labels. The egg-free formulation does not mean that other allergens are absent.
Sources and references
- The Forme of Cury — MACROWS, XX.IIII. XII.（92）; LOSEYNS, XX.II. IX.Open source: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8102/pg8102.html
Electronic primary text through Samuel Pegge's 1780 edition, Project Gutenberg eBook #8102 (first released 2005). MACROWS, its later editorial note and related LOSEYNS were inspected. Medieval manuscript images were not. Identified by heading and number, without a confirmed print-page mapping.
- British Library, Add MS 5016: Forme of CuryOpen source: https://searcharchives.bl.uk/catalog/032-002110532
Catalogue and context: composition about 1390 and association with Richard II's cooks. The surviving Add MS 5016 is dated to the 1420s, England. Images were listed as unavailable when researched; its text images were not inspected.
- The forme of cury — Wellcome Collection / University of Leeds LibraryOpen source: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/jcxg52aa
Catalogue of the 1780 edition: London, printed by J. Nichols; edited by Samuel Pegge. The printed MACROWS page image was not collated.
- FDA, Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to KnowOpen source: https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/handling-flour-safely-what-you-need-know
Modern guidance: do not taste raw flour or dough and prevent cross-contamination; not evidence for medieval methods.
- 厚生労働省「家庭での食中毒予防」Open source: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/shokuhin/syokuchu/01_00008.html
Modern general food hygiene: thorough heating, clean handling and avoiding prolonged room-temperature holding.