Medieval England · England
Forme of Cury's Tart de Bry
From The Forme of Cury · Richard II's master cooks · 1390
Verified from original source
A medieval tart of cream, eggs and cheese baked in pastry with saffron.
History
Tart de Bry appears in The Forme of Cury, a late 14th-century English cookbook compiled by Richard II's master cooks around 1390. This medieval tart featured brie cheese as its primary ingredient, combined with eggs and sometimes other dairy or flavourings, baked in a pastry case. Such cheese tarts were typical fare at aristocratic tables, demonstrating the medieval fondness for savoury custard-based dishes. The recipe reflects England's access to Continental cheeses through trade and court connections. Cheese tarts remained popular through subsequent centuries, evolving into both sweet and savoury variations in British cookery, though the specific medieval brie preparation largely disappeared.
Sources
- The Forme of Cury, edited by Samuel Pegge, 1780 (earliest scholarly edition of the c.1390 manuscript)
- Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler, Curye on Inglysch: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth Century, 1985
- C. Anne Wilson, Food and Drink in Britain, 1973
- Terence Scully, The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages, 1995
- Barbara Santich, The Original Mediterranean Cuisine: Medieval Recipes for Today, 1995
Serves
6
Prep
20m
Cook
40m
Difficulty
Medium
Ingredients
- · 250 g shortcrust pastry
- · 240 ml double cream
- · 3 eggs
- · 100 g soft cheese (ricotta or curd)
- · 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- · Pinch of saffron threads
- · Pinch of salt
Method
- 1
Line a 23 cm tart tin with pastry and prick the base.
- 2
Steep saffron in 1 tablespoon warm cream.
- 3
Beat eggs with remaining cream, cheese, sugar and salt.
- 4
Stir in saffron cream.
- 5
Pour into pastry case and bake at 180°C for 35-40 minutes until set.
