Frumenty
Encyclopedia
Frumenty was a popular dish in Western European medieval cuisine
. It was made primarily from boiled, cracked wheat
- hence its name, which derives from the Latin word frumentum, "grain". Different recipes added milk, eggs or broth. Other recipes include almond
s, currants
, sugar
, saffron
and orange flower water. Frumenty was served with meat as a pottage
, traditionally with venison
or occasionally porpoise
(considered a "fish" and therefore appropriate for Lent
). It was also frequently used as a subtlety.
For several centuries, frumenty was part of the traditional Celtic Christmas meal. In England it was often eaten on Mothering Sunday
, the fourth Sunday of Lent
. On that day many servants were allowed to visit their mothers and were often served frumenty to celebrate and give them a wholesome meal to prepare them for their return journey. The use of eggs would have been a brief respite from the Lenten fast. Frumentee is served with venison
at a banquet in the mid-14th century North Midlands poem Wynnere and Wastoure
: "Venyson with the frumentee, and fesanttes full riche / Baken mete therby one the burde sett" (334-5).
The dish, described as 'furmity' and served with fruit and a slug of rum added under the counter, plays a major role in the plot of Thomas Hardy
's novel The Mayor of Casterbridge
. It is also mentioned in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass
as a food that snap-dragon flies live on.
It has been asserted that frumenty is "our [England's] oldest national dish".
A "healthy" dose of spirit
is often mentioned as accompanying the frumenty.
Medieval cuisine
Medieval cuisine includes the foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various European cultures during the Middle Ages, a period roughly dating from the 5th to the 16th century...
. It was made primarily from boiled, cracked wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
- hence its name, which derives from the Latin word frumentum, "grain". Different recipes added milk, eggs or broth. Other recipes include almond
Almond
The almond , is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree...
s, currants
Zante currant
The Zante currant , or currant are dried berries of small, sweet, seedless grape variety Black Corinth . The name comes from the Anglo-French phrase "raisins de Corinthe" and the Ionian island of Zakynthos , which was once the major producer and exporter...
, sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
, saffron
Saffron
Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus. Crocus is a genus in the family Iridaceae. Each saffron crocus grows to and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are each the distal end of a carpel...
and orange flower water. Frumenty was served with meat as a pottage
Pottage
Pottage is a thick soup or stew made by boiling vegetables, grains, and, if available, meat or fish.It was a staple food of all people living in Great Britain from neolithic times on into the Middle Ages...
, traditionally with venison
Venison
Venison is the meat of a game animal, especially a deer but also other animals such as antelope, wild boar, etc.-Etymology:The word derives from the Latin vēnor...
or occasionally porpoise
Porpoise
Porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the word "porpoise" has been used to refer to any small dolphin, especially by sailors and fishermen...
(considered a "fish" and therefore appropriate for Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
). It was also frequently used as a subtlety.
For several centuries, frumenty was part of the traditional Celtic Christmas meal. In England it was often eaten on Mothering Sunday
Mothering Sunday
Mothering Sunday is a Christian festival celebrated throughout Europe that falls on the 4th Sunday in Lent. Secularly it became a celebration of motherhood. It is increasingly being called Mother's Day, although in countries other than the UK and Ireland that holiday has other origins...
, the fourth Sunday of Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
. On that day many servants were allowed to visit their mothers and were often served frumenty to celebrate and give them a wholesome meal to prepare them for their return journey. The use of eggs would have been a brief respite from the Lenten fast. Frumentee is served with venison
Venison
Venison is the meat of a game animal, especially a deer but also other animals such as antelope, wild boar, etc.-Etymology:The word derives from the Latin vēnor...
at a banquet in the mid-14th century North Midlands poem Wynnere and Wastoure
Wynnere and Wastoure
Wynnere and Wastoure is a fragmentary Middle English poem written in alliterative verse sometime around the middle of the 14th century.-Manuscript:The poem occurs in a single manuscript, British Library Additional MS. 31042...
: "Venyson with the frumentee, and fesanttes full riche / Baken mete therby one the burde sett" (334-5).
The dish, described as 'furmity' and served with fruit and a slug of rum added under the counter, plays a major role in the plot of Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
's novel The Mayor of Casterbridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge , subtitled "The Life and Death of a Man of Character", is a tragic novel by British author Thomas Hardy. It is set in the fictional town of Casterbridge . The book is one of Hardy's Wessex novels, all set in a fictional rustic England...
. It is also mentioned in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass
Through the Looking-Glass
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is a work of literature by Lewis Carroll . It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
as a food that snap-dragon flies live on.
It has been asserted that frumenty is "our [England's] oldest national dish".
Recipes
A compendium of "traditional" "English" date-related activities includes three recipes for frumenty. They show considerable variation with place and time.- 1 : The typical method of preparation was to parboil wholegrains of wheat in water, then strain off and boil in milk, sweeten the boiled product with sugar, and flavour with cinnamon and other spices.
- 2 : Take clean wheat and bray it in a mortar till the hulls be all gone off, (this broadly equates to modern bulgurBulgurBulgur is a cereal food made from several different wheat species, most often from durum wheat. In the United States it is most often made from white wheat. Its use is most common in Middle Eastern cuisine, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Armenia and Bulgaria...
or cracked wheat) and seethe it till it burst, and take it up (out of the water) and let it cool; and take clean, fresh broth and sweet milk of almonds, or sweet milk of kineKineKine may refer to:* An archaic plural for cow* Kine or kino, Greek-English prefix referring to motion* A pestle used with the Japanese usu* A helper character from the Kirby video game series...
(cow's milk) and temper it all, and take yolks of eggs. Boil it a little and wet it down and mess it forth (mess here in the sense of "serve to table", the same root as naval messMessA mess is the place where military personnel socialise, eat, and live. In some societies this military usage has extended to other disciplined services eateries such as civilian fire fighting and police forces. The root of mess is the Old French mes, "portion of food" A mess (also called a...
) with fat venison or fresh mutton. - 3 : SomersetSomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
-WiltshireWiltshireWiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
: About forty years ago (from an unspecified date) country women in shawls and sun bonnets used to come to the market at Weston-super-MareWeston-super-MareWeston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
in little carts carrying little basins of new wheat boiled to a jelly, which was put into a large pot with milk, eggs, and sultanas, and was lightly cooked; the resulting mixture was poured into pie-dishes and served on mid-Lent SundayMothering SundayMothering Sunday is a Christian festival celebrated throughout Europe that falls on the 4th Sunday in Lent. Secularly it became a celebration of motherhood. It is increasingly being called Mother's Day, although in countries other than the UK and Ireland that holiday has other origins...
and during the ensuing week. Frumenty is still prepared at DevizesDevizesDevizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The town is about southeast of Chippenham and about east of Trowbridge.Devizes serves as a centre for banks, solicitors and shops, with a large open market place where a market is held once a week...
for Mothering SundayMothering SundayMothering Sunday is a Christian festival celebrated throughout Europe that falls on the 4th Sunday in Lent. Secularly it became a celebration of motherhood. It is increasingly being called Mother's Day, although in countries other than the UK and Ireland that holiday has other origins...
A "healthy" dose of spirit
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
is often mentioned as accompanying the frumenty.