Viaund Ryal, Rice Cream (1430)
Reader ratingsViaund ryal, the royal rice cream of the first course at Henry IV’s coronation: almond milk thickened with rice flour, set firm, sliced and strewn with aniseed comfits.
- Recipe makes
- About 13 slices, 8 servings
- Prep
- Cook
- Total
Let the cream set in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, or overnight, before slicing.
Viaund Ryal, almond milk and rice cream in slices, with aniseed comfits.
The story behind the recipe
Viaund Ryal, royal food, is the second dish on the first course of Henry IV’s coronation feast, between brawn in pepper sauce and the boar’s head. The cookery book that preserves the bill of fare, Harleian MS. 279, also has a recipe for it: almond milk brought nearly to the boil, thickened with rice flour until it is “Chargeaunte,” stiff, then colored, sweetened with sugar comfits, salted, cut into slices and strewn with aniseed comfits.
What was Viaund Ryal?
It is a set cream of almond milk; Thomas Austin, the book’s editor in 1888, called almond milk “a constant ingredient of the dishes” in these manuscripts. Stirred over the fire with rice flour, it thickens to a firm cream that can be sliced like a leche. The manuscript has a gap at the point where the coloring was named; Austin printed it as “[gap in MS.]”. The anise in comfit on top is aniseed coated in sugar, a sweet the same book strews on other dishes.
Harleian MS. 279 was copied some thirty or forty years after the coronation, so the recipe shows the dish as an English cookery book wrote it then.
Read more about this recipe
Making it today
Unsweetened almond milk from a carton replaces almond milk pounded in a mortar. We use saffron for the missing color, since the same book colors many of its dishes with it; leave it out for a white cream. Aniseed comfits are sold as sugar-coated aniseed; sugar-coated fennel seeds from an Indian grocer are an easy stand-in.
On the bill it comes before the Crustade Lumbard, Custard Tart (1430). For the Champion’s ride and the subtleties, read What Was Served at Henry IV’s Coronation Feast?
Vyande Ryalle.—Nyme gode Mylke of Almaundys, & do it in a potte, & sette it ouer þe fyre, & styre it tyl it boyle almost; ...
Recipe makes: About 13 slices, 8 servings
Ingredients
For about 13 slices, 8 servings. Quantities are shown as written.
Quantities as written here, for about 13 slices, 8 servings.
- Unsweetened almond milk1 l
- Rice flour120 g
- Sugar70 g
- Salt1/4 tsp
- Saffron threads (optional)8
- Aniseed comfits or sugar-coated fennel seeds1 tbsp
Measurement notes
Ingredients as written here
- 1 l unsweetened almond milk
- 120 g rice flour
- 70 g sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 8 saffron threads (optional)
- 1 tbsp aniseed comfits or sugar-coated fennel seeds
Equipment
- Medium heavy saucepan
Whisk- Square dish or loaf pan, about 20 cm, lightly oiled
Instructions
Whisk the rice flour into a quarter of the almond milk until smooth.
Heat the rest of the almond milk in the saucepan with the saffron, if using, stirring, until it is almost boiling.
Whisk in the rice flour mixture. Keep stirring over medium-low heat, scraping the bottom so it doesn’t catch, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cream is very thick and falls from the whisk in heavy ribbons.
Stir in the sugar and salt until dissolved. We use plain sugar; the manuscript sweetens with sugar comfits.
Pour into the oiled dish, smooth the top, and leave to cool. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, until firm.
Turn the cream out onto a board, cut it into slices about 1.5 cm thick, and lay them overlapping on a plate. Strew with the aniseed comfits and serve cold.
Nutrition
120calories per serving
- Recipe makes
- About 13 slices, 8 servings
- Servings
- 8
Estimated per serving from USDA FoodData Central values for unsweetened almond milk, rice flour and sugar.
Recipe notes
When adjusting quantities
Keep about 120 g rice flour to each liter of almond milk so the cream sets firm enough to slice.
Notes
Quantities mentioned in these notes don’t change when you adjust the servings.
Keeps 2 days, covered, in the refrigerator. Contains tree nuts (almond).
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, Vyande Ryalle, as printed in Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books, ed. Thomas Austin (London: Early English Text Society, 1888)
Recipe details
- Course
- Dessert
- Dish family
- Desserts & Sweets
- Region
- British
- Era
- Medieval
- Main ingredient
- Grains & rice
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Occasion
- State banquet