The accomplisht cook or, The art & mystery of cookery — Reading Companion

Seasonal Adjustments and Fruit in Savory Pies

May's recipes frequently specify seasonal variations. For a loin or breast of veal baked in a pie, he notes: 'In the summer time you may add to it spinage, gooseberries, grapes, barberries, or slic’t lemon, and in winter, prunes, and currans, or raisins.' This pattern recurs in steak pies, where one version layers 'raisins and prunes' with mutton steaks, cinnamon, and more fruit. The use of fruit—both dried and fresh—alongside butter, sugar, and verjuice (sour grape juice) is a hallmark of May's savory baking. These additions are not mere garnishes but integral to the dish's flavor profile, balancing richness with acidity and sweetness.

Techniques for Pies and Pasties

May provides multiple methods for the same dish, showing a range of techniques. For steak pies, he offers several 'Otherways'—one using a 'cold butter paste' made with 'a gallon of flower a pound and a half of butter, four or five eggs and but two whites.' Another method involves mincing lean mutton with suet, herbs, and cream to form 'little balls, and rouls' placed atop the steaks. The pie is then baked, the lid cut into pieces and 'stick it in the meat round the pye.' May also instructs to 'ice it' (glaze with sugar) and serve hot. These details reveal a cookbook focused on practical execution, with variations for different occasions or preferences.

Herb and Spice Combinations in Stuffings

May's recipes often call for elaborate herb mixtures. For a gammon of bacon, he directs to stuff it with 'all manner of sweet herbs, as sage, tyme, parsley, sweet marjoram, savory, violet-leaves, strawberry leaves, fennil, rose-mary, penniroyal' chopped with hard egg yolks, nutmeg, and pepper. Similarly, a steak pie filling includes 'tops of tyme, penniroyal, young red sage, grated bread, yolks of eggs, sweet cream, raisins of the sun.' The inclusion of violet and strawberry leaves alongside more common herbs suggests a garden-sourced approach, where available greens were used to add subtle flavors. May's reliance on such combinations underscores the era's preference for layered, aromatic seasonings.

May's work is best approached as a record of practice rather than a modern recipe book. Readers should note the frequent use of '&c.' and imprecise quantities, which assume prior kitchen knowledge. The book's value lies in its snapshot of 17th-century English cookery, where hospitality, seasonality, and resourcefulness shaped the table.

Leafing through Robert May’s Accomplisht Cook, I paused over his careful pie crusts, the way a season dictates the filling. It made me think of another voice, decades later, with the same unhurried patience for detail. There is a quiet comfort in knowing that someone else once wrote down every rule so that nothing would be lost—like a familiar recipe, it stays with you. Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book — Key Ideas to Explore holds that same gentle authority.