Pear electuary from Cod Pal Germ 551, section 2

5 An electuary of hard pears (regell pirn)

Peel the pears nicely and cut them in quarters and take out the cores (kern). Then put the pears in a pot, set that on the embers and pour a fiertell (measure) of water into it. Close the pot so that the steam may not leave it. When they have cooked enough, pound them small and put them in a cauldron, set it on a trivet and put embers under it. Stir them by themselves and every little while, add a little water and honey. Season them with good spices etc.

Interestingly, this recipe has no clear parallel in section one, despite the wealth of electuary recipes collected there. It is relatively close to the pear puree recipe (#14), though, and I suspect it is not really for an electuary, which would be cooked down to nearly solid consistency, but for a fruit puree eaten fresh.

I owe thanks to my friend Libby Cripps for pointing me to the as yet untranslated fifteenth-century culinary recipe collection that is bound with similar works on fabric dyes and on medicine in the Heidelberg Cod Pal Germ 551. It looks, at first glance, unexceptional, but I will try to keep up a flow of recipes and see whether it has anything of particular interest to offer.

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