In July, 1517, Henry VIII entertained the newly arrived embassy from Spain with a joust followed by a great feast which lasted seven hours. It impressed Francesco Chiericati, the Apostolic Nuncio, with its lavish magnificence, ‘but the jellies,of some twenty sorts perhaps, surpassed everything; they were made in the shape of castles and animals of various descriptions, as beautiful as can be imagined.’1
The cooks of the royal household were expert in the art of jellymaking, for, as stated in the Eltham Ordinances of 1526, King Henry and Queen Catherine’s second course at dinner always commenced with a jelly hippocras costing 8d. as its pottage.2
JELLY HIPPOCRAS3
| ½ pt / 300 ml claret | 6 cloves |
| 4 oz / 100 g sugar | ¼ tsp coriander seeds |
| 2-3 pieces root ginger | pinch of salt |
| 2 in. / 5 cm stick of cinnamon | 4 tsp / 5 leaves gelatin (for calf’s feet & isinglass) |
| ¼ nutmeg, crushed |
Lightly bruise the spices and gently simmer with the salt and 1/2 pt water for 10 minutes. Pour the claret into a pan, stir in the gelatin, and leave to soak for 10 min. Strain the spiced water through a fine cloth {or coffee filter paper} into the pan, stir in the sugar and the gelatin mixture, and gently heat while stirring until fully dissolved, then pour into a dish and leave to set.
In addition to continuing its role as a second-course dish, jelly now became a feature of a new high-status, exclusive entertainment called a banquet. This was not merely a large communal dinner, as we use that word today, but a select gathering of the wealthy and great designed to impress through its display of costly dress, entertainment, tableware, food and drink. Frequently held in a separate room, in specially-constructed tents or leafy bowers, or in the open air, its tables were heaped with sweetmeats and sweet, spiced wines, the most expensive, aspirational and fashionable of fare. Such banquets and their ‘banqueting stuff’ had developed out of the ‘void’ of digestive sweet spices served at the end of medieval dinners, but had now become a major, competitive social display among the aristocracy and gentry. Their banquets could cost vast amounts in time, energy and materials, especially when entertaining Elizabeth I on her progresses around the country.
In 1591, when the Earl of Hertford entertained the Queen at Elvetham, for example, ‘there was a banket served, all in glass and silver, into the low gallery in the garden … by two hundred of my Lord of Hertford’s gentlemen, every one carrying so many dishes, that the whole number amounted to a thousand {led by} a hundred torch bearers.’4 Their sweetmeats included the most elaborate of sugarwork, as well as jellies and leaches, probably made by the army of professional cooks hired for the event. In many major houses the making of banqueting stuff became an interesting and rewarding hobby for their ladies, giving them a welcome opportunity to display their confectionery skills to their peers. In the latter part of Elizabeth’s reign the London book-trade began to publish books such as The Good Huswife’s Jewell of 1596 or Delightes for Ladies of 1600, which included recipes for all kinds of ‘banqueting stuff’, including the following for jellies and leaches. The original gelling agents of calf’s feet, knuckles of veal and isinglass have here been replaced with gelatin, and the scented musk omitted.
{AMBER} CRYSTAL JELLY5
| 4 tsp / 5 leaves gelatin | 6 cloves |
| ½ oz / 12 g root ginger | 2 oz / 50 g sugar |
| ½ tsp white peppercorns | 1 tbs rosewater |
| ⅛ nutmeg |
Bruise the spices in a mortar and simmer them in 1 pt / 600 ml water in a covered pan for 15 minutes. Meanwhile soak the gelatin in ¼ pt / 150 ml cold water in a jug. Strain the spiced water through a fine cloth {or coffee filter paper} onto the gelatin, stir in the sugar and rosewater until all is dissolved, then pour into a dish and leave to set.
STRAWBERRY, MULBERRY OR RASPBERRY
JELLY6
| 1 lb / 450 g soft fruit | 4 oz / 100 g sugar |
| ¼ pt / 150 ml rosewater | 5 tsp / 7 leaves gelatin |
Grind or liquidize the fruit with the rosewater and sugar, bring to the boil, and strain through a piece of fine cloth or muslin into a clean pan. Add the gelatin which has been pre-soaked in ¼ pt/150 ml water for 10 minutes, gently heat and stir until it has dissolved, then pour into a dish.
CLARET JELLY7
| ½ pt / 300 ml claret | 6 cloves |
| 4 oz / 100 g sugar | ¼ tsp coriander seeds |
| 2-3 pieces root ginger | pinch of salt |
| 2 in. / 5 cm stick cinnamon | 5 tsp / 7 leaves gelatin |
| ¼ nutmeg |
Bruise the spices and salt in a mortar and simmer in ½ pt/300 ml water in a covered pan for 15 minutes. Meanwhile soak the gelatin in ¼ pt/150 ml cold water in a pan for 10 minutes. Strain the spiced water through a fine cloth {or coffee filter paper} onto the gelatin, add the sugar and claret, and stir over a gentle heat until fully dissolved before pouring into a dish.
Being more solid than jellies, leaches were ideal for banquets, since they could be lifted to the mouth by the use of the fingers, rather than a spoon. The first recipe here might only be flavoured with milk and isinglass, but the real ostentation came in its covering of gold leaf. Pure gold leaf is edible, but not the base-metal ‘gold leaf ’ usually sold in craft shops today, which should never be consumed.
A WHITE LEACH8
| 1 pt / 600 ml whole milk | 4 oz / 100 g sugar |
| 6-7 tsp / 8-10 leaves gelatin | gold leaf |
| 1½ tsp rosewater |
Soak the gelatin in a quarter of the milk for 10 minutes in a pan, add the rest of the milk, rosewater and sugar, and heat gently while stirring until all is dissolved. Use a sugar-boiling thermometer to ensure the temperature does not exceed 60ºC, beyond which it is likely to curdle. Leave to cool, then pour about 1 in./2.5 cm thick into a very lightly greased metal tray or plastic box, and leave to set firmly, preferably overnight. Turn out onto a freshly-rinsed and smoothed cloth, cut into 1 in./2.5 cm cubes using a knife dipped in warm water, and arrange in a chequerboard pattern on a dish, at which point the gold leaf may be applied, a task best left to those with practical skills in gilding.
LEACHES OF ALMONDS9
Follow the previous recipe, but use the milk (instead of water) to make 1 pt of rich almond milk following the instructions given on page 60
As in the medieval period, leaches made with pike, tench or isinglass were still being used to make artificial eggs. This recipe comes from The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchen of 1588.
TO MAKE EGGS IN LENT10
| 1 batch of leach, as in the recipe for a white leach, above | |
| large pinch of saffron | eggshells |
Save eggshells after they have been served as boiled eggs, prop them vertically in a bed of uncooked rice or flour, fill with the leach and leave to set. Using a teaspoon dipped in warm water, scoop out the holes for the yolks, melting the removed leach with the saffron to turn it a deep yellow. Allow this to cool, then pour into the whites to produce very realistic eggs.