Ye Olde Holiday Cuisine: Recipes from a Historical Cookery Book

The winter holidays are a time when families gather in the warmth of their homes to share meals together. Often, recipes that have been passed down for generations are dusted off, and Grandma’s famous candied yams are proudly placed on the table for everyone to enjoy.  

Not everyone has a recipe that has been passed down for generations, however. In an effort to help you create your own traditional meal, we are providing some suggestions. Now, these recipes aren’t from the staff’s own personal collection, but were found in a book in our special collection. They are historically authentic, given that they were originally gathered way back in the 17^th century.

We discovered The closet of Sir Kenelm Digby, knight, opened after pondering the question, what do we house in our special collections in terms of gastronomy of the past? Excerpted below are some of our favourites.

Please enjoy these recipes, and feel free to add them to your holiday menu: 

To make excellent meathe and a weaker, but very pleasant, meathe:

To make My Lady of Portland’s Minced Pyes:

To bake pidgeons:

To make cheese cakes:

The Great Library wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday and we look forward to helping you with your research needs in 2024!