Even the briefest look at a collection of Medieval recipes will reveal the ingenuity and creative skills of the chefs of the time.  But then, perhaps this should come as no surprise.  The period covered by this musical anthology was one of great innovation in the food world; with the opening of trade routes to the East, cooks had access to new and exotic spices.  These could be combined with the staggering array of fresh produce found in abundance in the market place: vegetables, salads, meat, fish, dairy products, grain and flour, sauces, herbs, etc.  Moreover, everything was organic!
 
 

See Apparuerunt apostolis. A very appropriate dish for the monks of Fountains Abbey, who brewed their own ale and who would have been expected on important holy days to eschew meat in favor of fish.  This recipe has been adapted from an anonymous 15th Century cookbook (Laud Ms 533), but any firm-fleshed white fish can be used.  The best results have been achieved using good quality lagers, as they tend to be closer in texture to Medieval ales than modern bitters and stouts, the heavy taste of which can sometimes mask the flavor of the fish.

Serves 4
1lb thick piece of skinned and filleted haddock
Freshly milled black pepper
2 onions, finely sliced
Freshly ground sea salt
2½ oz butter
10 oz lager
Generous pinch of saffron
Flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Gently stew the onions with the saffron in 1 oz butter for about 20 minutes, or until very soft but not browned.  Spoon them into the bottom of a shallow ovenproof dish in which the fish will just fit.   Lay the fish on top and season it well.   Pour in the lager, then cover the dish with foil.   Bake in a moderate oven 350 F for about 20 minutes until the fish is just cooked through.

Strain off the liquor into a small pan and reduce rapidly by fast boiling to intensify the flavor.   Divide the fish and onions between 4 shallow bowls (old-fashioned soup plates are ideal) and keep warm.  Whisk the remaining butter into the liquor and pour over the fish.   Sprinkle with plenty of parsley and then serve with fresh crusty bread.
 
 

Saffron, taken from the stamen of the crocus, was beloved by people in the Middle Ages, especially for its vivid color.  This is a sophisticated dish: saffron was and is horrendously expensive and baking in the 15th Century was no easy matter, requiring as it did a brick oven heated by lighting a fire to raise the bricks to the right temperature.  The fire was then raked out and the baking could begin.  (I have used such an oven and can vouch for the fact that it is not easy to get it right!).  As a consequence, yeasted cakes with a shorter cooking time were much favored.  Sultanas and raisins were dried in the sun, the finest coming from Cyprus.  The mace in question was the herb mace, as the West Indies had not yet been discovered, but for your own purposes West Indian mace is just as good and certainly easier to come by.

1 lb plain flour
2/3 cup milk
½ oz yeast
1 tsp salt
¼ lb butter
1 tsp each powdered mace and mixed spice
2 oz castor sugar
½ tsp saffron filaments
2 oz each sultanas and currants
For glazing, 2 tbsp milk and 1 tbsp sugar

To prepare the saffron and the yeast: Take half the milk and heat to boiling point.  Put the saffron filaments on a dish and put in a hot oven for 5 minutes.  Crumble into a cup, pour over a little hot milk and leave to infuse.  Pour the remaining hot milk, which by now will be lukewarm, over the yeast and mix to a cream.

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a warmed bowl.  Sprinkle in the dry spices and stir in the creamed yeast.  Now mix in the softened butter with your hands, and when it is well mixed add the saffron infusion and the remainder of the milk.  The dough should be soft but not runny.  Mix in the fruit, cover and leave to rise for a couple of hours.  When it has doubled in volume, knock it down lightly.  Sprinkle with flour, transfer to a buttered tin, and leave to rise for a second time.  It is a slow rising dough and will take a minimum of 45 minutes to 1 hour to return to life and reach almost to the top of the tin.

Bake in the center of the oven at 400 F, 15 minutes.  Move to a lower shelf and cook for a further 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, glaze, and leave for 15 minutes before turning out.
Although saffron cake is best enjoyed when freshly cooked, it can be reheated in a very low oven.  It is a subtle accompaniment to a sweet Sauternes, a dessert wine, or a glass of Madeira.