Medieval applesauce from England

Greasy!

Elsewhere on Coquinaria I have published a recipe for Apple Sauce for Lent. On this page is an English recipe with different versions for meat days and fish days, called apple moys. The Dutch name for apple sauce is appelmoes, so to me (being Dutch) that sounds very familiar.

This apple sauce is special because of the fat that is added to it: suet (or lard) on meat days, and olive oil on fish days. This makes the apple sauce more nourishing than modern-day apple sauce.

The original recipe

An English recipe from the fifteenth century with versions for meat days and fish days. It is called ‘apple moys’, which sounds very much like Dutch ‘appelmoes’. Source: Laud ms 533 (Bodleian Library, edition Austin pp.113/114, see bibliography). Practically the same recipe can be found in Diuersa Servicia (edition Hieatt & Butler p.65, recipe II,17, ‘For to make appulmos’, see bibliography), from the late fourteenth century. The recipe is quite simple.

Modern adaptation of the recipe

In the recipe the apples are cooked in advance and kept in pots. The apple sauce can then be finished according to whether it is a meat day or a fish day. The bacon is not in the original recipe, which mentions suet (white grease). However, I liked using bacon instead.
Side dish for 6 to 8 persons; preparation in advance 5 minutes; preparatioin 20 minutes.

1 kilo (2 pounds) apples
2 Tbsp sugar
some crushed saffron
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp powdered cinnamon

Meat days
2 Tbsp suet or lard
2 dl (¾ cup) not degreased beef stock

Fish days
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 dl (¾ cup) almond milk

Preparation in advance

Peel the apples, remove the core, chop them up.

Preparation

Boil the apples in a little water. Use two tablespoons of the hot cooking liquid to crush the saffron in. Drain the apples. Stir the saffron water and sugar in the apples and mash them.
On a meat day – Melt the suet or lard, add to the apple sauce with the beef stock and mix well.
On a fish day – Heat the olive oil, add to the apple sauce with almond milk and mix well.

To serve

Serve while it is still warm (especially with the meat-day version), and sprinkle powdered ginger and cinnamon over it. If there are any leftover cracklings from making lard, these can be served with the apple sauce.

Ingredients

All descriptions of ingredients

Suet

This cooking fat is hardly ever used in Dutch cuisine. Suet is the firm fat around the kidneys and loins in beef, but there is also suet from veal and mutton or lamb. Its use is more common in the English cuisine, to make mince pies and suet puddings. See also Tallow.

Bibliography

The editions below were used by me. Links refer to available editions.

• Thomas Austin, Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (Early English Text Society Original Series). Harleian ms.279 (ab.1430), & Harl.ms.4016 (ab1450), with extracts from Ashmole ms.1439, Laud ms.553, & Douce ms.55. Reprint Oxford University Press, 2000, digital edition).
• C.B. Hieatt en S. Butler, Curye on Inglysch (Middle English recipes) (Early English Text Society Supplementary Series), Londen, 1985.

English recipe for apple sauce on meat days and on fish days
© Author Christianne Muusers