Pertrich Stewyde, Stewed Partridge (1430)
Reader ratingsMedieval stewed partridge: whole birds stuffed with peppercorns and marrow, simmered in beef broth and red wine with cloves and mace, finished with saffron.
- Recipe makes
- 4 partridges, serving 4
- Prep
- Cook
- Total
Stuffing and sewing the birds takes about 20 minutes. They simmer for 30 to 35 minutes, then stand off the heat for 5 minutes with the ginger, salt and saffron.
Four stewed partridges in a wine broth with whole cloves and peppercorns.
The story behind the recipe
Whole peppercorns and a piece of marrow go inside the bird, and then the vent is sewn shut: that is how Pertrich stewyde begins its partridge, before stewing it whole in a broth of beef or mutton with wine. The recipe was written down in England about 140 years after Bishop Swinfield’s Christmas of 1289. His roll sends all eight of that day’s partridges to the kitchen and is silent on what happened to them there.
What was pertrich stewyde?
A small bird cooked in a pot of strained meat broth, which Harleian MS. 279 files among its “potage dyvers,” its sundry pottages. The partridge is stuffed with “hole pepir, an merw,” whole pepper and marrow, and boiled with cloves, maces and more whole pepper. Only when the pot comes off the fire, as the bird is about to be served, do powdered ginger, salt and saffron go in.
The wine is measured only by a phrase: “a gode quantyte of wyne, as þow it were half.” Thomas Austin, who edited the manuscript in 1888, glosses both “mary” and “merw” as marrow, and notes that the same recipe in the Douce manuscript, its no. 28, has “my3ty brothe,” mighty broth, where this one has marrow.
The manuscript is dated about 1430 or 1440, so this is a later English recipe for a bird on the bishop’s list, and nothing ties it to his kitchen.
Read more about this recipe
Making it today
Farmed partridges are sold by game dealers and butchers through the winter, often at around 400 g oven-ready. We read “as though it were half” as half as much wine as broth, and that is our choice; the manuscript gives no other measure. Beef marrow comes from marrow bones, pushed out of the cut bone or scooped from bones split lengthwise. The manuscript names its ginger, salt and saffron without amounts, so those are ours too.
The same Christmas Day brought in two geese, stewed here with ale in A Goos in Hogepotte, Goose Stewed with Ale (1430). The partridges are counted with the rest of the kitchen’s share in What Did a Medieval Bishop Eat at Christmas?
.xviij. Pertrich stewyde.—Take fayre mary, brothe of Beef or of Motoun, an whan it is wyl sothyn, take þe brothe owt of þe potte, an strayne it thorw a straynour, ...
Recipe makes: 4 partridges, serving 4
Ingredients
For 4 partridges, serving 4. Quantities are shown as written.
Quantities as written here, for 4 partridges, serving 4.
- Oven-ready partridges4Author measures: about 1.6 kg.
- Beef bone marrow, chilled60 g
- Whole black peppercorns, for the birds1 tsp
- Beef broth1 l
- Dry red wine500 ml
- Cloves6
- Blades mace2
- Whole black peppercorns, for the pot1/2 tsp
- Ground ginger1/2 tsp
- Salt1 tsp
- Saffron threads1 pinch
Measurement notes
Ingredients as written here
- 4 oven-ready partridges (about 1.6 kg)
- 60 g beef bone marrow, chilled
- 1 tsp whole black peppercorns, for the birds
- 1 l beef broth
- 500 ml dry red wine
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 blades mace
- 0.5 tsp whole black peppercorns, for the pot
- 0.5 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 pinch saffron threads
Equipment
- Heavy pot that holds the birds snugly, with a lid
- Trussing needle and kitchen string, or wooden toothpicks
Fine sieve
Instant-read thermometer- Wide serving dish
Instructions
Pour the beef broth through the fine sieve into the heavy pot and add the red wine, the cloves, the mace and the whole black peppercorns, for the pot. Bring to a simmer.
Meanwhile, pat the partridges dry inside and out. Cut the beef bone marrow into four pieces and put one piece in each bird with a quarter of the whole black peppercorns, for the birds.
Sew the vent of each bird shut with the trussing needle and string, or pin it closed with toothpicks, so the marrow stays inside.
Lower the birds into the simmering broth, breast up; the liquid should come most of the way up their sides. Cover and simmer gently for 30 to 35 minutes, turning them once, until the thickest part of the thigh and the center of the cavity read 165°F (74°C).
Take the pot off the heat. Stir the ground ginger, salt and saffron threads into the broth, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
Lift out the birds, pull out the string or toothpicks, and set them in the warm serving dish. Spoon the broth over them, leaving the cloves and mace behind, and serve hot.
Nutrition
600calories per serving
- Recipe makes
- 4 partridges, serving 4
- Servings
- 4
Estimated per serving from USDA FoodData Central values for game bird meat and skin, beef marrow, red wine and beef broth, counting the broth and the wine in full.
Recipe notes
When adjusting quantities
Allow one partridge per person and about half as much wine as broth, with enough liquid to come most of the way up the birds.
Notes
Quantities mentioned in these notes don’t change when you adjust the servings.
Poussins of about 450 g each, or Cornish game hens, can stand in for partridges; allow them longer, and go by the thermometer. Butter can take the place of marrow. The broth is thin, the way the manuscript leaves it; serve bread with it to soak it up. The wine only simmers, so the dish keeps some of its alcohol.
Scaling changes the ingredients only; pan sizes and cooking times need their own judgment. To adapt this recipe further, try the recipe tool at TuneMyRecipe (opens in a new tab), our sister site.
Sources and attribution
After Harleian MS. 279, Pertrich stewyde, as printed in Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books, ed. Thomas Austin (London: Early English Text Society, 1888)
Recipe details
- Course
- Main course
- Dish family
- Meat & Poultry
- Region
- British
- Era
- Medieval
- Main ingredient
- Poultry & game birdsSpices
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Occasion
- Christmas
- Season
- Winter