From Medieval Baghdad to Medieval England: The Recipe of Mawmenee in the Forme of Cury

How did an Arabic recipe reach the shores of England and appear in a Medieval royal recipe collection? The conquest of the southern Mediterranean by the Muslims affected not only the trade relations between the East and the West, but also the European foodways, as they introduced new food products, new cooking techniques and new dishes from their own exceptional haute cuisine, which were assimilated into the preexisting Mediterranean culinary tradition and spread across the rest of Europe via the royal courts and trade networks.[1] The process of their transmission and adaptation into the English recipe collections has a lot to tell us about the shaping of the English cuisine during the Middle Ages. Let’s find out more about the Mawmenee dish in the Forme of Cury!

Page from Forme of Cury, a cookbook from the Late Middle Ages. Dated to the late 14th century. Part of the Rylands Medieval Collection. Picture: A Master chef of Richard II of England, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.*

The Forme of Cury, meaning The (proper) Method of Cooking is one of the oldest recipe collections in Europe. It was probably compiled by the Master Cooks of King Richard II around 1390 and serves as one of the most important sources for the history of Medieval English cuisine.[2] It bears no great resemblance to a modern cookbook, but it is a recipe collection, preserved with some variations in nine different manuscripts, dating to the late fourteenth and fifteenth century.

This recipe collection features a dish called Mawmenee or Mawmenny. As the unfamiliar name already indicates, this is a well-travelled recipe: a dish of Arab origin that mostly calls for rice or rice flour, capon meat or chicken and spices.[3] It appears in a variety of different versions and variations in both the Medieval European and Arabic recipe collections.

Where does its name come from? Many different suggestions on the origin of this word have been made, mostly from a linguistic point of view.[4] Nevertheless, scholars today seem to agree that these recipes were inspired from a dish called ma’mūniyya that has its origins in the ninth-century Baghdad. This recipe was presumably named after the Caliph al-Ma’mūn,[5] as it was said to be his favourite dish.

The name was paraphrased as Mammonia in Latin, a quite similar recipe that can be found in an early fourteenth-century Italian recipe collection written in Latin, the Liber de Coquina (Figure 3)[6], but also as Malmoma (Figure 4) in another late fourteenth-century Italian recipe collection, the anonymous Venetian’s Libro di cucina/Libro per cuoco. This Latin name was also paraphrased and most likely became the English Mawmenee or Mawmenny.

This is the first recipe of the Mawmenee in the Forme of Cury.**

But what about the dish itself? When we take a closer look at the recipes from the Forme of Cury we note, first of all, that there are in fact two different versions of the Mawmenee/Mawmenny, which appear either individually in some of the manuscripts or they coexist in the very same ones. The first one is entitled “Mawmenee” and is included in eight of the nine manuscript versions[7] (Figure 1) and the second one, which bears the slightly different title “For to make Mawmenny”, is included only in three of the nine manuscripts (Figure 2).[8] Thus, three manuscripts feature the two different recipes for the “Mawmenee”.[9] Have these English versions undergone any changes through their process of transmission?

This is the second recipe of the Mawmenny in the Forme of Cury.***

Comparing them to Arabic recipes of the ma’mūniyya (Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), both earlier and contemporary ones, we can identify a degree of resemblance, since they all call for chicken, spices, sugar and most of them for rice or rice flour. The For to make Mawmenny recipe (Figure 2) is quite similar to the Arabic ones as it requires the aforementioned ingredients and by following the given instructions a rice pudding or a porridge dish would probably result. However, the Mawmenee (Figure 1) seems to be a quite different dish, as it would probably look a lot more like pieces of capon floating in the sweet-and-sour, liquid and spiced infusion of a wine-based sauce.[10]

Even though there are many things that could be discussed regarding those two versions in comparison to the Arabic ones, I would like to briefly point out two of the basic ingredients required for the Mawmenee dish: the lard and the wine. When it comes to lard (pork fat), as featured in this recipe and in the Italian one from the Libro di cucina (Figure 4),[11] we can claim that it is an important alteration, since the Muslims are strictly forbidden to consume pork according to the Quran. Actually, the Arabic recipes use the tail of a fat-tailed sheep as fat for cooking.[12]

The addition of wine instead of almond milk is also an important and interesting alternation since none of the Arabic ones that have been mentioned include it as an ingredient. Muslims, according to the Quran, are not allowed to consume alcoholic beverages made from grapes, as they were considered intoxicating (harām).[13] What makes this addition even more interesting is the fact that neither of the two aforementioned Italian ones call for wine, even though no such religious limitations exist. This addition of wine is also featured in some additional recipes of the Mawmenee in other fourteenth- and fifteenth-century English culinary manuscripts.[14]

Considering that the identity of a dish is constituted not only by the ingredients used, but also by the final texture and taste, we could assume that the wine is an English addition and that a hybrid, English Mawmenee dish was eventually created. Even though further research is required in order to prove the validity of this hypothesis, it is important to point out these alternations not only as signs of an ongoing hybridization process, but also as examples of the multiple and unpredictable ways that a foreign recipe can be adapted in order to fit in the current cultural context.[15]

These Mawmenee recipes, as well as other ones originated in the Arabic cuisine that appear in many Medieval European recipe collections, can be used as a starting point to explore the broader cultural exchange between the eastern and the western European world during the Middle Ages, as well as further aspects of this complicated process of transmitting foreign recipes into local cuisines.

Written by Maria Konstantinidou

Bibliography:

Primary Sources

al-Warrāq, Abū Muḥammad al-Muẓaffar Ibn Naṣr Ibn Sayyār (auth.), Nasrallah Nawal (transl.), Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens: Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq’s Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook, Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden, 2007.

Anonimo Veneziano (auth.), Frati Ludovico (ed.), Libro di Cucina, Raffaelo Giusti, Livorno, 1899.

Austin Thomas (ed.), Two Fifteenth-century Cookery Books, Trübner & Co., London, 1888.

Hieatt Constance B. and Butler Sharon (eds.), Curye on Inglysch: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth Century (Including the "Forme of Cury"), Oxford University Press, New York, 1985.

Hughes Glyn (transl. and ed.), The Forme of Cury, From the Master Cooks of King Richard II, the oldest English cookery book, Foods of England, London, 2016.

Ibn Mubārak Shāh, Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad (auth.), Newman Daniel L. (transl. and ed.), The Sultan's Feast: A Fifteenth-Century Egyptian Cookbook, Saqi Books, London, 2020.

Morris Richard (ed.), Liber cur cocorum, A. Asher & Co., Berlin, 1862.

Perry Charles (transl. and ed.), Scents and Flavors: a Syrian Cookbook, New York University Press, New York, 2017.

Secondary Sources

Adamson Melitta Weiss, Food in Medieval Times, Greenwood Press, Westport, 2004.

Chabran Rafael, “Medieval Spain”, in Adamson Melitta Weiss (ed.), Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe, A Book of Essays, Routledge, New York, 2002, pp. 125-152.

Peterson Toby, “The Arab influence on western European cooking”, Journal of Medieval History 6/3 (1980), pp. 317-340.

Rodinson Maxime, “Ma’mūniyya East and West”, in Rodinson Maxime, Arberry Arthur John and Perry Charles (eds.), Medieval Arab Cookery: Essays and Translations, Prospect Books, Totnes, 2001, pp. 183-197.

Salloum Habeeb, “B. Sicily”, in Adamson Melitta Weiss (ed.), Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe, A Book of Essays, Routledge, New York, 2002, pp. 113-123.

Sweetland Dallas Eneas, Kettner’s Book of the Table, a Manual of Cookery: Practical, Theoretical, Historical, Dulau, London, 1877.

Winter van Johanna Maria, “Arabic influences on European Medieval Cuisine”, in Vroom Joanita, Waksman Yona and Van Oosten Roos (eds.), Medieval MasterChef, Archaeological and Historical Perspectives on Eastern Cuisine and Western Foodways, Brepols Publishers, Turnhout, 2017, pp. 25-32.

Ματάλα Αντωνία-Λήδα, Ανθρωπολογία της διατροφής, Εκδόσεις Παπαζήση, Athens, 2008.

Footnotes/ Fußnoten:

[1] See for further information H. Salloum, “B. Sicily” and R. Chabran, “Medieval Spain”, in M. Weiss Adamson (ed.), Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe, A Book of Essays, Routledge, New York, 2002, pp. 113-123, 125-152. See also Toby Peterson, “The Arab influence on Western European Cooking”, Journal of Medieval History 6/3 (1980), pp. 317-340.

[2] C. B. Hieatt and Sh. Butler (eds.), Curye on Inglysch: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth Century (Including the "Forme of Cury"), Oxford University Press, New York, 1985, p. 20. See also C. B. Hieatt, Further Notes on the Forme of Cury et AL.: Additions and Corrections, John Rylands University Library, Manchester, 1988.

[3] See how J. M. van Winter describes this dish in J. M. van Winter, “Arabic influences on European Medieval Cuisine”, in J. Vroom, Y. Waksman and R. Van Oosten (eds.), Medieval MasterChef, Archaeological and Historical Perspectives on Eastern Cuisine and Western Foodways, Brepols Publishers, Turnhout, 2017, p. 29.

[4] See for further information E. Sweetland Dallas, Kettner's Book of the Table, a Manual of Cookery: Practical, Theoretical, Historical, Dulau, 1877, pp. 204-207 and in M. Rodinson, “Ma’mūniyya East and West”, in M. Rodinson, A. J. Arberry and Ch. Perry (eds.), Medieval Arab Cookery: Essays and Translations, Prospect Books, Totnes, 2001, pp. 191-192.

[5] M. Rodinson, “Ma’mūniyya East and West”, p. 187.

[6] Ibid, p. 191 and M. Weiss Adamson, Food in Medieval Times, Greenwood Press, Westport, 2004, p. 99.

[7] Manuscripts London BL Add. 5016 / London BL Arundel 334 / New York, [Morgan] Bühler 36 / Durham, University Library Cosin v iii 11 / London, BL Cotton Julius D viii / Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales Peniarth 394 D / New York, Public Library Whitney 1 / John Rylands University Library of Manchester English MS 7.

[8] Manuscripts London BL Add. 5016 / New York, [Morgan] Bühler 36 / John Rylands University Library of Manchester English MS 7.

[9] See both of the recipes in C. B. Hieatt and Sh. Butler (eds.), Curye on Inglysch, pp. 102, 144.

[10] M. Rodinson, “Ma’mūniyya East and West”, p. 193.

[11] See the recipe for the Blancmange dish along with the recipe for the Malmoma in figures 4 and 5.

[12] See the recipes in M. Rodinson, “Ma’mūniyya East and West”, pp. 189-190.

[13] Nevertheless, there were some exceptions for wines from dates and raisins. See for further information in Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq (auth.), N. Nasrallah (transl.), Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens: Ibn Sayyār Al-Warrāq’s Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook, Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden, 2007, pp. 460-461 and pp. 468-472 and Α.Λ. Ματάλα, Ανθρωπολογία της διατροφής, Εκδόσεις Παπαζήση, Athens 2008, p. 107.

[14] Diversa Cibaria (c. 1325), Diversa Servicia (c. 1385), the Utilis Coquinario (late 14th century), the Liber cure cocorum (1422-1471) and the Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books: Harleian MS. 279 (ab. 1430), and Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, and Douce MS. 55. See further information in C. B. Hieatt and Sh. Butler (eds.), Curye on Inglysch, pp. 45, 68, 88 and in R. Morris (ed.), Liber cur cocorum, A. Asher & Co., Berlin, 1862, p. 26 and in Th. Austin (ed.), Two Fifteenth-century Cookery Books: Harleian MS. 279 (ab. 1430), and Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, and Douce MS. 55, N. Trübner & Co., London, 1888, pp. 22, 48.

[15] See for a very accurate description of the evolvement of the dish though time M. Weiss Adamson, Food in Medieval Times, pp. 99-100 and C. B. Hieatt and Sh. Butler (eds.), Curye on Inglysch, pp. 8-10.

Picture descriptions (Slideshow):

[16] M. Rodinson, “Ma’mūniyya East and West”, p. 191.

[17] The recipe in Italian can be found in Anonimo Veneziano (auth.), L. Frati (ed.), Libro di Cucina, Raffaelo Giusti, Livorno, 1899, p. 23. This English translation of the Italian version was acquired from the online Translation of Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco (14th/15th c.) (Anonimo Veneziano), http://helewyse.medievalcookery.com/libro.html#XLIV. Retrieved in 8/12/2021.

[18] The recipe in Italian can be found in Ibid, pp. 3-4. This English translation of the Italian version was acquired from the online Translation of Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco (14th/15th c.) (Anonimo Veneziano), http://helewyse.medievalcookery.com/libro.html#V. Retrieved in 8/12/2021.

[19] Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq (auth.), N. Nasrallah (transl.), Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens: Ibn Sayyār Al-Warrāq’s Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook, pp. 389-390.

[20] Ibid, p. 392.

[21] Ch. Perry (transl. and ed.), Scents and Flavors: a Syrian Cookbook, New York University Press, New York, 2017, pp. 145-147.

[22] Ibn Mubārak Shāh (auth.), D. L. Newman (transl. and ed.), The Sultan's Feast: A Fifteenth-Century Egyptian Cookbook, Saqi Books, London, 2020, On Dishes.

Pictures (in the written text):

*Master chef of Richard II of England, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

File-URL: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Forme_of_Cury-MS_7-18v.jpg

Page-URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forme_of_Cury-MS_7-18v.jpg

** This translation into modern English is from Gl. Hughes (transl. and ed.), The Forme of Cury, From the Master Cooks of King Richard II, the oldest English cookery book, Foods of England, London, 2016, 20: Mawmenee – Pulled capon in sweet wine sauce.

*** This is the second recipe of the Mawmenny in the Forme of Cury. This translation into modern English is from Gl. Hughes (transl. and ed.), The Forme of Cury, From the Master Cooks of King Richard II, the oldest English cookery book, Foods of England, London, 2016, 194: For to make Mawmenny.

From Medieval Baghdad to Medieval England: The Recipe of Mawmenee in the Forme of Cury

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