Wortes

Wortes

Wortes

This recipe of boiled buttery cabbage is quite tasty, and a great side dish for a dinner.


Country: England Century: 15th

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add cabbage, leeks, and parsley and cook until just tender.* Drain cabbage, leek and parsley and put on top of the bread pieces. Pour butter over cabbage (more or less can be used as according to taste) and salt to taste.

*This is probably a matter of opinion from person to person. I like my cabbage just wilted, not boiled to mush. Also, you may want to add the parsley towards the end since it does not take as long to cook at the cabbage and leeks.


Original Recipe Sources

Source [Gentyll manly Cokere (MS Pepys 1047) , James L. Matterer (transcr.)]: To make buttyrd Wortys. Take all maner of gode herbys that ye may gette pyke them washe them and hacke them and boyle them vp in fayre water and put ther to butture clarefied A grete quantite And when they be boylde enowgh salt them but let non Ote mele come ther yn And dyse brede in small gobbetts & do hit in dyshys and powre the wortes A pon and serue hit furth.

Source [ Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books , T. Austin (ed.)]: Buttered Wortes. Take al maner of good herbes that thou may gete, and do bi ham as is forsaid; putte hem on the fire with faire water; put there-to clarefied buttur a grete quantite. Whan thei ben boyled ynogh, salt hem; late none otemele come there-in. Dise brede small in disshes, and powre on the wortes, and serue hem forth.

Source [ A Noble Boke off Cookry , Robina Napier (ed.)]: To mak buttered wortes tak good erbes and pik them and wesche them and shred them and boile them in watur put ther to clarified buttur a good quantite and when they be boiled salt them and let none otemele cum ther in then cutt whit bred thyn in dysshes and pour on the worte.

Source [ A Noble Boke off Cookry , Robina Napier (ed.)]: To mak wortes tak coles and stripe them from the stalks then tak betees avens borage violettes mallowes parsly betayne prymrose pacyens the whyt of lekes and cropes of nettilles and parboile them upon a bord and pres out the water and mynce them smalle put ther to otemelle and tak the brothe of turbot congur samon or other fisshe and put them in a pot with the for said erbes and when the pot is at boillinge call in the erbes and the wort and boile them up and salt them and ye tak brothe tak eles and boile them and tak them upe and strip the fisshe from the bones and grind it up with the sam brothe and put them all to the wort and sethe them up. Also ye may sethe muskelles with as mych water as they may swym in and boile them tille they be opyne then streyne the brothe and tak some erbes as ye did befor and put it to the muskall brothe and set them on the fyere and boile them and when they be boiled put to the erbes and the brothe and put to the drawen muskalls and salt them, and ye may tak pessen drawe through a streyn and mak them up with the wort and faire water and put ther to oile that hath bene skald and in the boiling alay it up with pessene ye shall put none otemele ther in, also parboile the whit of lekes and pres out the water and chop them smalle and canebyns with faire water and set it to the fyere to boile it and put yt to the whit of leekes but do none otemele ther in and salt it and serue it.