Foods Author:Edward Smith Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: The cause of these differences is that of the habits, breed, and food of the two classes. The boar's head has been for ages in repute in the halls of the grea... more »t for its flavour when roasted and stuffed with nutritious and appetising compounds. It was anciently the first dish on Christmas-day, and waa carried to the principal table with great solemnity. In the 'Collection of Christmas Carols,' published in 1521 by Wynkin de Worde, is ' A Carol bryngyn in the Bore's Head.' This ceremony is still performed at Queen's College, Oxford, and the following ditty sung:— The boar's head in hand bear I, Bedecked with bays and rosemary; And I pray you my masters be merry, Quot estis in convivio. The boar's head, as I understand, Is the bravest dish in all the land; When thus bedecked with a gay garland, Lot us seruire cantico. Our steward hath provided this In honour of the King of Bliss, Which on this day to be served is In Beginensi Atrio. Refrain after each verse :— Caput apri defero Reddens laudes Domino. One of the most sumptuous dishes which have been handed down to us, is that of roasted wild pig, which- was in use in the Norman and Early English periods of our history. The following recipe is of the fourteenth century:— ' Cok A Grees (Cock and Wild Pig). ' Take and make the self fars ; but do thereto pyn and sug. Take an hole raosted cok, pulle hy (in pieces) and bylde (cast)hym al togg'd, saue (save) the legg. Take a pigg and hilde (skin) hy fro the mydd' donward, fylle hi ful of the fars and Bowe hy fast toged'. Do hy in a panne and seethe hy wel, and when thei bene isode, do he on a spyt and rost it wele. Colo it Tv zolkes of ayren (eggs) and safron. Lay theron foyles (leaves) of gold and of silu', and sue hit forth.' The so-called boar's head of th...« less