The French cook.: Prescribing the way of making ready of all sorts of meats, fish and flesh, with the proper sauces, either to procure appetite, or to advance the power of digestion. Also the preparation of all herbs and fruits, so as their naturall crudities are by art opposed; with the whole skil of pastry-work. Together with a treatise of conserves, both dry and liquid, a la mode de France. With an alphabeticall table explaining the hard words, and other usefull tables. / Written in French by Monsieur De La Varenne, clerk of the kitchin to the Lord Marquesse of Uxelles, and now Englished by I.D.G.

7. A Method for to make ready & serve up the Lean Potages.

1. Potage of hearbs.

WArm some water with butter and salt; then take sorrell, buglose, burredge, succory, or lettice, and beets; after they are well clensed, cut them, and put them into an earthen pot, with the first cut of a loaf; boyl all some while, untill it be well consumed; then stove your bread, take up and serve.

2. Potage of Crawfish.

Clense your Crawfish, and seeth them with wine and vinegar, salt and peper; after they are sod pick the feet and taile, and fry them with very fresh butter, and a little parsley, then take the bodies of your Crawfishes, and stamp them in a mortar with an onion, hard eggs, and the crummes of a loaf; set them a stoving with some good hearb broth, or some other, if you will use pease porridge, it must be very clear; after it is boyled, strain all together; after it is strained, set it before the fire, then take some butter, with a little min∣ced parsley, and fry it, then put it into your broth well seasoned, and stove it with your

dry crusts, covered with a dish or a plate, put also on your bread, a little of a hash of Carp, and juice of Mushrums; fill up your dish, and garnish it with your feet and tails of Craw∣fish, with Pomegranat, and juice of Lemon, and serve.

3. Potage of Carp.

Take out the bones of a Carp, and put the bones to boyl in pease porridge, with some onion or hard eggs, and crummes of bread, after they are boyled, strain them, fry them with little parsley, and put them in the broth again. After they have boyled, dry and stove your bread, make a hash of the flesh of your Carp; and when it is sod, put it upon your bread, and fill it garnished with Andovillets, and all well seasoned, serve with lemon juice, and mushrums upon it.

4. Potage of Tenches.

Take your Tenches, take out the bones and the flesh, then farce them with their flesh minced very small, after this you shall close up again neatly the hole whereat you have put in your farce, all being well seasoned. As for the broth, take it, if you will, of pease por∣ridge, or of turnips, or of herbs, or of tenches, or of almonds, or of carps, or of crawfish it matters not, so that it be good; stove your bread, and garnish it with tenches either far∣ced or rosted, with what other garnish you will, then serve.

5. Potage of Carps farced.

Take out the bones and the flesh of your

Carps, and farce them with their own flesh, sowing up again very neatly the place where∣at you have put in your farce, as at the ten∣ches, seeth them in a dish with broth, but∣ter, verjuice, chibols, and peper; seeth the bones, and take out and strain the broth ther∣of, which you shall have seasoned with salt, peper, and crums of bread, and garnish it with your farced carps, capers, and mushrums, then serve.

6. Potage of rosted Carps.

After they are dressed, slit them on the top, melt some butter, and endore your Carp with it, put it on the gridiron, and broyl it with∣out scails, make a sauce with butter, parsley, chibol, a drop of verjuice and vinegar, all well seasoned and stoved with broth taken out of another pot, or with pease porridge. Then take some turnips, cut them in two, after they are whitened, flowre them and fry them; after they are fryed, put them into a pot with some water or pease porridge, and when they are sod and seasoned, stove your bread, and garnish it with your carps, turnips, and with capers, then serve.

If you doe not put in turnips, you may gar∣nish with mushrums, or cut sparagus, and with the Omelets of Carps.

7. The Queens pottage.

Take Carps or Tenches, seeth them with water, some salt, and an onion, some parsley, hard eggs, and the crummes of a loaf; when

they are sod, strain your broth, and put it into another pot, with as much butter as you would put into another broth; take some almonds, and stamp them well, mixe them with the half of your broth, and after they have boyled together a while, strain them, and put in an onion sticked with cloves, and set it upon a few warm cinders; stove your dish with a little of your first broth, and fill up your dish with white broth, with the yolk of an egge allayed with verjuice, and the juice of mushrums, so that it neverthelesse be not too much thickned; then serve gar∣nished with Pomegranate, and slices of Le∣mon.

8. The Princesses potage.

Take pease porridge very clear, in it seeth the bones of Carps with some yolks of eggs, and a bundle of herbs, all well seasoned, then dry a loaf and stove it, fry into it a very little of hash of Carp, and the juice of mushrums; fill up your dish by degrees as it is stoving, and garnish it with mushrums, trouffles, melts, liver of Lotte, with all kinde of hearbs, Pomegranate, and with Lemon slices, then serve.

9. Potage of Tortoise.

Dresse them, and cut them into peeces, pass them in the panne with butter, parsley, and chibol; after they are well passed and season∣ed, set them a stoving in a dish on the cha∣sing dish with little broth. Which for to make,

you shall clense well your Tortoises, and shall seeth them in water, well seasoned, and shall use it. Have a care you doe not burst the gall in cutting of them; stove your bread, and then garnish it with your Tortoises, and with their sauce, with sparagus broken about the dish, mushrums, troufles, lemon slices, and the juice of mushrums, then serve.

10. Potage of Mushrums farced.

Take the pickings of your Mushrums, and wash them well; seeth them in water, or in some other broth, with an onion sticked and a twigge of thime, all well seasoned; strain your broth, and put it into a pot, then passe also your mushrums in the panne with butter, parsley, and capers, and put them in the same pot again, you may make the bot∣tome of your potage with some Carpe bones, which you shall boyl with your mushrums; stove your bread, and when it is well stoved, put on it a bed of hash of Carpes, and then fill it up with your implements by degrees as it doth stove; after it is filled, garnish your potage with your mushrums farced with the same farce where with you have made your hash sod between two dishes, and with melts; and when you are ready to serve, put about it Pomegranate, or Lemon, then serve.

11. Potage of Soals without bones farced.

Fry them almost outright, and open them along the bone, which you shall take out; take

Melts, oysters, capers, mushrums, troufles, and pass them in the pan with parsley and whole chibols; farce your soales with these imple∣ments, and after they are farced, stove them with a little broth, fresh butter, lemon or o∣range juice or verjuice, stove your bread with the broth of any fish you have, as you will and garnish it with your soales, with mush∣rums, troufles, melts, and juice of mushe∣rums, and set about the dish some of slices le∣mon, serve.

12. Potage of smelts.

Make broth with Almonds, or with fish, or with mushrums, or with pease broth; all being well seasoned, stove your bread, and put a little white broth over it, with yolks of eggs allayed, and the juice of musherums; take your smelts, fry them, and garnish your potage with them, or if you will, before you garnish, put them with ragoust; which to do, you shall take some parsley, chibols, butter and verjuice, you shall fry them together, and then shall strain them, and after they are strained, you shall put them with your smelts; serve garnisht with pomegranate and lemons.

13. Potage of Sparagus.

Take store of herbs, put them in a pot, with crums of bread, and season them well, then fry them, and after they are fried, put them again in the pot; stove your bread, and garnish it with sparagus, which you shall have caused to seeth with water and salt, and

being drained, put them with fresh butter, salt and nutmeg; over your potage, you shall serve fried broken sparagus, then serve.

Another way.

Use the same broath, put upon it a little of hash of carpe garnished with fried sparagus, and other mushrums, and melts, then serve.

Another way.

After your bread is well stoved, garnish it with hearbs and sparagus, with capers and yolks of eggs, and serve. You may whiten your potage if you will.

14. Potage of haslets of fish.

Take carpes, take out the bones, and make a hash with butter well seasoned with good hearbs, take the bones, and boile them with pease broath, or other broath, with a bundle of herbs, butter and salt; then with your skins of carps, make some haslets, that is some peeces of skinns of carpe spreading them, and put∣ing them upon your hash seasoned, and eggs for to allay them, then roule them up like small chitterlings; after they are thus rowled up, seeth them in a dish with butter, a little verjuice and a chibol, after they are ready, garnish your bread with your hash and has∣lets, and put upon it mushrums and broken sparagus, then serve.

15. Pottage of lettice farced.

Take lettice, whiten them in fresh water, make a farce of fish or of hearbs, and after

you have farced them with it, set them a sto∣ving in a pot with some pease broath, or some other broath, and season them well with but∣ter, with salt, and with an onion sticked with cloves; stove your bread, and garnish it with your lettice, which you shall cut into halfes; you may put to it a bed of a hash of fish, then serve.

16. Pottage of Cabidge, (or Cole∣worts,) with milke.

Cut them into quarters, and whiten them, then put them in the pot with water, store of butter, some salt and peper, and an onion sticked with cloaves; after they are well sod∣den, put some milk to them, stove your bread, and serve it garnished with your coleworts (or cabidges.)

17. Pottage of cabidge, or coleworts, with frried bread

Whiten your coleworts, or cabidge, and put them in the pot, as abovesaid, and serve garnished with fried bread.

18. Potage of coleworts, or cabidge, with pease broath.

It is made as abovesaid, but instead of wa∣ter, you put them in the pot with pease broath: garnish and serve alike.

19. Potage of pumpkin with butter.

Take your pumpkin, cut it into peeces, and seeth it with water and salt; after it is sod, straine it, and put it into a pot with an onion sticked with cloaves, fresh butter and peper;

stove your bread, and if you will, allay three or foure yolks of eggs; and powre them over it with some broath, then serve.

20. Potage of pumpkin with milke.

Cut it and seeth it as abovesaid, then pass it through a straining panne with some milk, and boile it with butter, seasoned with salt, peper, an onion sticked, and serve with yolks of eggs allayed as abovesaid.

21. Potage of turnips fried.

Scrape them well and cut them into quar∣ters, or in two, whiten them, flowre them, and passe them in the panne with refined butter, which you shall take away when it is very brown, and then you shall put them in the pot with some water, or with some pease broath, let them seeth well, and season them; stove your bread, and garnish it with your turnips, and with capers, then serve.

Another way.

After your turnips are scraped, cut into quarters, and whitened, seeth them with wa∣ter, butter, salt, and an onion sticked with cloaves; after they are well sod, stove your bread, and after you have put your turnips with some fresh butter, and stirred them of∣ten untill the butter is melted, garnish your potage with them, and serve.

22. Potage of milke with yolks of eggs.

Take very new milke, and boile it, season it with salt and sugar; when it is ready to

boile, allay seaven yolks of eggs for one great dish, and for a small one proportionably, put them into your milke, and stirre it well, in making of it's broath, take bisket or bread, and make your potage with it, which you shall serve sugred.

Another way.

Make your milke ready and garnish it with eggs poached in water, well chosen and very new, to the end they may poach the better, then serve.

23. Potage of Profiteolles or small vailes.

Stove your bread with the best of your lean broths, then take six small loaves made for the purpose; drie them wel, and open them on the top about the bignes of one shilling wher¦at you shall take out the crum; when they are very dry, fry them with refined butter, and after you have drained them well, set them a stoving upon your bread, when you are ready to serve, fill them up with all kinds, as with melts, mushrums, broken spa∣ragoes, troufles, hartichocks, and capers, co∣ver up your loaves againe with their covert, and garnish with melts, mushrums, pomgra∣nates, and lemon slices, then serve.

24. Potage of green pease.

Passe them in the panne with butter or melted lard, the smallest and newest you can finde, and set them a stoving into a small pot, well seasoned with a little parsley and chibel:

then stove a loafe with some hearbe broath, or some old pease broath, after it is stoved, garnish it with greene pease, and serve.

Another way.

Take the biggest, and seeth them, then take out the broath of them, and frie some butter into it with a little parsley and minced chibol, and season it well; stove your potage, and put capers into it, and garnish it with fried bread.

25. Potage of hearbs without butter.

Take a great quantity of good hearbs, when they are new, break them, put them into boi∣ling water, with the first cut of a loafe, and season them well, so that they may be some∣thing sharpish with store of sorrell; stove your bread, take up your potage, and mixe some capers with it, if you will, then serve.

For to make your potage somewhat sharp, take half of the hearbs half sod, and straine them; and for to make it green, you must ••ampe some sorrell.

26. Potage of onion.

Cut your onions into very thinne slices, frie them with butter, and after they are fried, put them into a pot with water or with pease broath; after they are well sod, put in it a crust of bread, and let it boile a very little, you may put some capers in it; drie your bread, then stove it; take up, and serve with one drop of vinegar.

27. Potage of cowcombers farced.

Take your cowcombers, pare them, and emptie them very neatly, whiten them; and after they are whitened in fresh water, draine them; make a farce with sorrell, yolks of eggs, and whole eggs, all well seasoned, and powre it into your cowcombers; after this put them into a pot with some water or pease broath, seeth, and season them well, with capers if you will; then stove your bread, and garnish it with your cowcombers, which you shall cut into quarters, then serve.

28. Potage of snow.

It is made with milk well seasoned with salt and sugar; when you are ready to serve, take the whites of the yolks of eggs which you have allayed for to put into your milke; frie them well, and powre them into your milke, serve and sugar.

Another way for flesh dayes.

Stove your bread with some almond broath, a little minced meate and juice of mutton al∣together; when you are ready to serve, frie some whites of eggs, and put them upon your potage, and passe the fire-shovell red hoat over them, and serve.

29. Potage of mussles.

Scrape and wash them well, then boile them in a panne with some water, some salt, and an onion, after they are boiled, take them out, and picke them, taking off the shell to some, and leaving it to others for to

garnish after they are thus picked, passe them in the panne with a little minced parsley; as for your broath, after it is setled, leave the bottome, least there be some gravell, then boile it, and when it boiles, frie into it a little parsley with some very fresh butter; stove your bread; after it is well stoved, take up your potage, garnish it with your mussles, and whiten it with yolks of eggs allayed in ver∣juice, if you will, then serve.

30. Potage of oisters.

After your oisters are well whitened and flowred, passe them in the panne with a little parsley, then stove them in a pot; stove your bread in other broath, as white meat; after it is well stoved, garnish it with your oisters, whereof you shall frie some, like fritters, for to garnish with pomgranat, lemon slices, and juice of craw-fish, then serve.

31. Potage of grenosts.

Dresse them and seeth them after the man∣ner of stewing, season it with all kinds of good hearbs, with butter, and a drop of white wine: stove your bread, and garnish it with your grenosts, capers, mushrums, and melts of carpes, if you have any then serve.

32. Potage of salmon.

Cut salmon into slices, and frie it, then stove it with a little white wine and some su∣gar; stove also your bread with any other broath you have, so that it be well seasoned; garnish it with your salmon, the sauce upon

it, and thus let it boile a little, then serve.

33. Potage of frogs with saffron.

Trusse up your frogs, and boile them with broath, or with pease broath, and season them with parsley, an onion sticked with cloaves, and a twig of thime; stove your bread, and garnish it with your frogs whitened, with saffron or yolks of eggs, then serve.

Another way.

Trusse them up cherrie-like, frie them, and stove them between two dishes with a little fresh butter, a drop of verjuice, the juice of an orenge, or of a lemon, and season them well with a bundle of hearbs, then for to make your broath, boile some with pease broath, or water, salt, parsley, chibols, one handfull of stamped almonds, and yolkes of eggs; after which you shall straine altoge∣ther; stove your bread, upon which you may put a little of the hash of carpe, or other fish; fill up your dish and garnish it with your frogs, lemon, and pomgranate, then serve.

34. Potage of bran.

Take wheat bran the biggest you can finde, boile it well with water, with one handfull of almonds, and a bundle of hearbs, and sea∣son it well; then passe it through a strainer, and put it againe to boile; stove your bread, and fill your dish with this broath, which you may whiten if you will, with eggs allayed with verjuice, and garnish it with fleurons if you have any, then serve.

35. Potage of hops.

Take good store of herbs, which you shall season as a potage with the crums of a loaf; fry all, and put it to boyl in a pot, fry also in∣to it some fresh butter in the panne with a little parsley, and a bundle of herbs; and powre it into your pot, stove your bread with your broth, after this, seeth your hops with water and salt; after it is sod and drained, put it with butter, and garnish your bread with it, then serve your potage whitened, if you will, with yolks of egges allayed in ver∣juice.

36. Potage of Rasberries.

Allay some eggs with some rasberryes, and strain all together, boyl some milk, well sea∣soned with salt and when it boyls, powre your implements into it, and stirre it well, take it up, garnish it with rasberries, and serve.

37. Potage of Parsenips.

Clense them well, and chuse the middle ones, seeth them with butter and a bundle of herbs, and season them with salt, and clove sticked, then take them out, and take off the skinne if you will, and then put them with butter, and a drop of broth; stove them, and you shall find your sauce allayed; your bread being also well stoved, and your potage fill∣ed, garnish it with your Parsenips, then serve.

38. Potage of Leeks.

Take the white of your Leeks, and cut them

very small, keep some of them, which you shall cut in length for to garnish, and shall tie them together; whiten them, and seeth them with pease broth or water; after they are sod, stove your bread, and garnish your potage with the Leeks you have cut in length, then serve.

You may whiten them with yolks of egs al∣layed with verjuice.

You may also put to it some milk and peper, and serve forthwith.

If you will serve them without whitening of them, you must seeth them with pease broth, put some capers to them, and season well; stove, and serve garnished as the other.

39. Potage of Barnicle farced.

After it is well dressed, take off the flesh, and mince it wel with butter, mushrums, yolks of eggs, salt, peper, fine herbs, as parsley, chibols, thime, an egge raw for to allay the flesh, then farce your Barnicle, and close it up with a scure, or a thread; put it in the pot with pease broth, the clearest you can get, and seeth it well, it thickneth but too much with boyling; stove bour bread, and take up your Barnicle with what garnish you have, then serve.

40. Potage of Lotts.

Flowre them, try them, and garnish your potage with them, after that your bread is well stoved with the best of your broths, when it is very full, garnish it with what you have,

as mushrums, trouffles, sparagus, melts, and whiten them with almond broth, or otherwise with the broth of Crawfish.

41 Pottage of broken sparagus.

Dry some crusts, and stove them with the best of your broths, garnish them with your sparagus and mushrums, and if you will with sparagus in length, then serve.

If you will have them to relish greenenesse, whiten them in the broth wherewith you stove your bread.

42. Potage of Coliflowers.

Fit your Coliflowers as for to put them with butter, and whiten them but very little, then make an end of seething them, and season them well; stove your bread with any broth you have, and garnish it with your Coliflow∣ers fryed in butter, salt and nutmegge, and besprinckle them with broth of almonds, then serve.

43. Potage of Fidelles.

Peele five or six onions, and mince them, boyle them with water and butter; after they are sod, strain them through a linnen cloth, and seeth your Fidelles with the broth, and season them with salt and peper; after they are sod, stove your bread, and garnish it with them, then serve.

You may seeth them with milk.

44. Potage of Rice.

Whiten your Rice, and when it is very clean, burst it in water or milk; seeth it; after

it is sod, take some proportionably, and strain it, for to make your broth; being seasoned as the Fidelles, stove your bread, put a little Rice upon it, and garnish it with puft Tailladins, and Fleurons; then serve.

You may make a potage with milk the same way, and serve it, if you will, sugred, and gar∣nished with Macaron.

45. Potage of Tailladins.

Make a paste seasoned onely with salt, spread it, and cut it as thinne as you can after the forme of Tailladins, paste them in the pan, and stove them with a very little of good broth, after they are well stoved, take very little bread, and garnish it with the rest of your Tailladins, seasoned as the Fidelles, then serve.

Another way.

If you have a little of fine paste, or of puft paste, spread it, and cut it into Tailladins, fry it in refined butter, garnish your potage with it, and serve.

46. Potage of broth of green pease.

Seeth your pease but a very little, beat them in a mortar, and strain them with the broth of herbs well seasoned, and a bundle of herbs, then take chibols, parsley, and butter, & all being fryed together, powre it into your pease broth, which you shall boyl.

For the garnish, cleanse some lettice, suc∣cory, or cowcombers, and small pease fryed, and sod with butter, salt, and a little peper;

when you are ready to serve, stove your bread with your pease broth, and garnish with what you have, or with Artichocks in bottomes if you will, then serve.

47. Potage of pease broth of common pease served green.

Seeth them with water, to have done the sooner, take your pease broth out very clear, and when you are ready to use it, fry into it parsley, charvel, young sorrell, butter, and capers, then boyl it with all these seasonings; stove your bread with some of your broth; and if you have nothing to garnish with, gar∣nish it with fryed bread, or with Fleurons, then serve.

For to serve it green, stamp beets or sorrel, and drop it about your dish.

48. Potage of Barnickle with turnips.

After your Barnickle is dressed, larde it with Eele or Carpe, then passe it in the pan, and seeth it with half water, and halfe pease broth well seasoned with butter and a bundle of herbs; when it is almost sod, cut your tur∣nips, flowre them and passe them in the pan with butter, and when they are very brown, seeth them with your Barnickle; when it is sod, stove your bread, and garnish with it, to∣gether with your turnips. If your potage is not thickned enough, fry a little flowre into it, some capers, and a drop of vinegar, then serve.

49. Potage of Barnickle garnished.

It is done as the other, but that if you will have your turnips to make a shew, you may fry them, and season them with a bundle of herbs or onion, and good butter; after it is well sod, serve your potage well garnished with mushrums and artichocks, and a little thickned.

50. Potage of Leeks with pease broth.

Whiten them a very little, and seeth them with pease broth, well seasoned with butter and salt, stove your bread, garnish it with your leeks, which for to whiten, allay some yolks of eggs with broth, and powre them on it, then serve.

Another way.

After your Leeks are sod, and reduced to little water, put to them some milk well sea∣soned, and serve.

51. Potage of Flounders.

Take off the tails and heads of your Floun∣ders, and half fry them, then put them in raux or castrolle with a very long sauce, and well thickned; stove your bread with some of the best of your broths, and garnish it with your Flounders at the top, with mushrums, and capers, then serve.

If you have no fish broth, the pease broth is good.

52. Potage of herbs with cowcombers.

Take all kind of herbs, cleanse them well, and stove them with butter and a bundle of

herbs, over a small fire, then by little and little fill them with warme water. After they are well boyled and seasoned, put in it the first cutting of a loaf, with an onion sticked, and some capers, if you will, and you may garnish it with sodden lettice; and you may also seeth some pease among the herbs; serve readily, and garnish with cowcombers.

53. Potage of onion with milk.

After your onion is cut very thinne, and fried with butter till it be very brown, seeth it with a little water, well seasoned with salt and peper; after it is enough, put milk to it, then boile it, and serve readily, stoving your dry crusts.

54. Potage of Lofches.

Being whole, farce them with a little sor∣rell, yolks of eggs, and milk, and season them well with melted butter, mixe all together, without flowring them but of themselves, and seeth them with butter, parsley, salt, and pe∣per, and stove your crusts with the best of your broths, and garnish them with your Losches, which you shal whiten with the yolks of eggs, then serve.

You may serve them at the Entree or first course, or fry them; you may also garnish some potage with them, or use them that it may be brown, and garnish as soon as they are fryed.

55. Potage of Wivers.

After they are well cleansed, boyl them with a little pease broth and white wine, oni∣on

sticked, or a bundle of herbs, all well sea∣soned, then take out your Wivers, and put them with ragoust, taking some thickning or troufles; let them stove wel seasoned with salt, fresh butter, minced capers, and one anchovie, and cover them; passe the broth through a strainer, and boyl it with fresh butter, paste, parsley, and minced capers; stove a crust of bread, and put over it a few minced mushe∣rums, and of the flesh of a Wiver; when it is well stoved, garnish it with your Wivers, and the ragoust upon, then serve.

The potage of Gournet is made, served, and garnish'd alike.

57. Potage of Mushrums farced.

It is made the same way as that of the Princess; garnish it with your mushrums far∣ced, and with melts; fill up with the best of your broth, with such other garnish as you will, and serve.

58. Potage of Almond milk.

After your Almonds are stamped, stove them with milk and the crummes of one loaf; then strain them, and season them with salt and sugar; when you are ready to serve, put some sugar in it again, and serve.