Le Viandier
The recipes found in this book come from a compilation of four partial manuscripts; there is no one (surviving) complete book that makes up Le Viandier. Each manuscript contains variations, and each one contains errors. This book is accredited to Guillaume Tirel, a cook for various members of the French royal family, and was presumably first written in the 1300’s.
The version we have been using is an English translation named “The Viandier of Taillevent: An Edition of all Extant Manuscripts,” which was published in 1988. The only recipe we will draw from this text is one for ‘Brouet de Canelle’ (Cinnamon Brewet). The in-text recipe is as follows:
Cinnamon Brewet: Cook your poultry in wine or in water, or cook any other meat, quarter it and sautee it; then grind unpeeled, dry almonds and a great deal of cinnamon, moisten them with beef broth and strain them, and boil them well with your meat, along with verjuice; and add ground ginger, cloves and grains of paradise. It should be thick and strong. (Taillevent & Scully, 1988)
-Notes for this recipe: We will use a beef roast as our meat.
While we have chosen to use only one recipe from this text, there is a great wealth of information to be found within its pages, and it is certainly worth reading.
Reference
Taillevent, & Scully, T. (Ed). (1988). The Viandier of Taillevent: An Edition of all Extant Manuscripts. University of Ottawa Press.