Tart in Ymber Day

Onion & Egg Tart

This recipe taken from Forme of Curye, ab. 1390 A.D. (Pages 76v & 77r). The images below are from the original manuscript as digitized by the John Rylands University Library and the 1780 printing edited by Samuel Pegge.

Original Recipe:

Tart in Ymber Day

Tak & parboyle oynons & erbes & presse oute þe water & hewe hem smale, tak brede & bray hit in a mortar & temper hit wit ayron, do þerto butter, safron, & salt & raysons corans & a litul sugar wiþ poudor douce, & bak hit in a trap & serue hit forth.

My Translation:

Tart in Ember Day

Take and parboil onions and herbs and press out the water and chop them small, take bread and pound it in a mortar and temper it with egg, do thereto butter, saffron and slat and raisins Corinth and a little sugar with fine powder and bake it in a shell and serve it forth.

My Interpretation:

Bring pot of water to boil. Peel and quarter onions, place in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then drain. Chop onions and parsley and combine with bread crumbs, eggs, butter, currants, sugar, salt, and spices. Pour into prepared pie crust and bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes, ensuring that the egg is set. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting into serving sizes.

Notes on the Transcription & Translation:

During the initial test cook, a ½ cup or raisins and a ½ cup of currants were used and no herbs were added. This variation came out quite well.

Notes on the Transcription & Translation:

The original text and transcription preserve the shorthand of writing that was common practice in the late 14^th century. I have taken the liberty of spelling each word fully in my transcription for clarity.

Ymber (Ember) Days are a series of three fast days during a specific week during each season of the year according to the religious practices in England during the 14^th century.

References:

Media Information. Digital image. Tart in Ymber Day. The John Rylands University Library, Jan. 2009. Web. 18 Jun. 2012. <http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/Man4MedievalVC~4~4~6140~100162:Tartee?sort=Reference_Number%2CImage_Sequence_Number%2CPage%2CImage_Title#>. This is a digitized image of page 76v of the Forme of Cury housed at The John Rylands University Library in Manchester, England. This codex, written on vellum, dates from the late 14^th century.

Pegge, Samuel, ed. Forme of Cury London: Society of Antiquaries, 1780. The Forme of Cury. Greg Lindahl. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/foc/.

Pegge, Samuel. The Forme of Cury. London: J. Nichols, 1780. Google Books. 5 Mar. 2009. Web. 18 June 2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=L1JAAAAAYAAJ>.

Pegge, Samuel, ed. The Forme of Cury The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forme of Cury, by Samuel Pegge. Project Gutenberg, May 2005. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8102/pg8102.html. This is the transcription of Forme of Cury of the Samuel Pegge edition originally published in 1780.

Philological Society. A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. Ed. Sir James A. H. Murray, Sir William A. Craigie, and Charles T. Onions. Vol. 3. N.p.: Clarendon, 1891. Google Books. 6 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 June 2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=k2xXAAAAYAAJ>..

"Ember Days - Wikipedia Advanced." Ember Days - Wikipedia Advanced. Wikipedia Advanced, 11 July 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org.advanc.io/wiki/Ember_days. This web article provides an overview of Ember Days. After providing a clear and concise defintion of an Ember Day, it expands upon Ember Weeks, Origins of Ember Days, Timing of Ember Days and the Etymology of the word. The article is well referenced providing links for citations as well as for further information.