Weekend Cooking: Mawmenee (sweet wine stew with foul and nuts)

Mawmenee ^[1]. XX.

Take a pottel of wyne greke. and ii. pounde of sugur take and clarifye the sugur with a qantite of wyne an drawe it thurgh a straynour in to a pot of erthe take flour of Canell ^[2]. and medle ^[3] with sum of the wyne an cast to gydre. take pynes ^[4] with Dates and frye hem a litell in grece oþer in oyle and cast hem to gydre. take clowes ^[5] an flour of canel hool ^[6] and cast þerto. take powdour gyngur. canel. clower, colour it with saundres a lytel yf hit be nede cast salt þerto. and lat it seeþ; warly ^[7] with a slowe fyre and not to thyk ^[8], take brawn ^[9] of Capouns yteysed ^[10]. oþer of Fesauntes teysed small and cast þerto.

( Footnotes )

Modern English translation:

1. Take a pot of Greek wine and two pounds of sugar. Dissolve the sugar with a quantity of wine and strain it in an earthware pot.
2. Take and mix powder of cinamon with some wine togather.
3. Take and fry nuts with dates a little in lard or oil. Add them into the pot.
4. Add cloves and whole flour of cinamon into the pot.
5. Colour it with sandalwood if needed.
6. Add salt gently and let it simmer in a slow fire.
7. Pull and add flesh of caponised chickens or pheasants in pieces by the fingers into the pot.

From: The Forme of Cury: A Roll of Ancient English Cookery Compiled, about A.D. 1390 written by Samue Pegge (1704-1796)

The Forme of Cury is the first known English cookery book to mention cloves. Its recipes show influence of Italian, Portugese, Spanish and Arabian cuisine.

Further Reading:
From Medieval Baghdad to Medieval England: The Recipe of Mawmenee in the Forme of Cury
Mawmenee, a medieval speciality - the recipe