To make Blewe manger is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for a classic white dish of chicken meat set in a milk and cream base thickened with rye flour and flavoured with sugar and rose water. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of: To make Blewe manger.
To make Blewe manger.
Take a capon and cut out the brawne of hym a lyue and perboyle the brawne tyll the fleſſhe come from the bone, and then drye hym as drye as you canne, in a fayre clothe, then take a payre of cardes, and carde hym as ſmall as is poſſyble, and then take a pottell of mylke and a pottel of creame, and halfe a pounde of Rye flower, and your carded brawne of the capon, and putte all into a pan, and ſtere it al together and ſet it vpon the fyre, and wha- it begynneth to boyle put thereto halfe a pounde of beaten Suger and a ſauſer full of Roſe water, and ſo let it boyle tyll it be very thicke, then put it into a charger tyll it be colde, and then ye maye ſlyce it as ye doe lieche and ſo ſerue it in.
Modern Redaction
This dish hearkens back directly to Medieval time when this blank maunger (literally 'white food' was a very common dish). The medieval dish was made with almond milk, this one is made with milk and cream. The recipe above calls for a pottle each of milk and cream. A pottle is an Elizabethan volume measurement, equivalent to half a gallon (2.25l). This is a lot! I have therefore reduced the quantities somewhat in the following redaction. Rye flour is called for here, but you could use rice flour, plain flour or even potato starch or cornflour as thickeners. The recipe calls for the 'brawne' of a chicken. Typically this means the dark meat (legs thighs and wings). However, there were occasions in Medieval usage where the brawn could mean the white meat and it seems, as this dish should be very pale that chicken breast meat is best.
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
500ml single cream
500ml whole milk
50g rye flour (or rice flour)
50g caster sugar
4 tbsp rose water
Method:
Bring a pan of lightly-salted water to a boil. Add the chicken and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until very tender. Drain the chicken and remove the skin then chop the meat as finely as you can (best if passed through a mincing machine or chopped in a food processor).
Mix together the milk and cream in a jug. Work some of this into the rye flour to make a smooth paste. Pour the remaining milk and cream mix into a pan then whisk in the rye flour slurry and the chopped chicken meat until smooth.
Bring to a simmer then stir in the sugar until dissolved. Continue cooking gently whilst stirring constantly, until the mixture is very thick (think a custard). Stir in the rose water and continue cooking for a few minutes more.
Take off the heat. Line a small loaf tin or a terrine dish with a sheet of clingfilm (plastic wrap) then pour in the blancmange mixture. Set aside to cool until hardened then turn out onto a serving dish. Remove the clingfilm and slice before serving.
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