Pescoddes is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for a snack of marrow filled pastry half moons that are deep fried. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of Pescoddes.
Take marybones and pull the mary hole out of them, and cutte it in two partes, then season it with suger, synamon, ginger and a little salte and make youre paeste as fyne as ye canne, and as shorte and thyn as ye canne, then frye theym in swete suette and caste upon them a lyttle synamon and ginger and so serve them at the table.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
60g bone marrow
2 tsp sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp freshly-grated ginger
2 tbsp lard for frying
salt to taste
22cm pie crust shell (use the standard pie-crust recipe)
cinnamon and ginger to sprinkle before serving
Method:
Make the pastry according to the standard pie-crust recipe. Then mix the marrow, sugar, cinnamon and ginger to make a smooth paste. Add sugar to taste.
Roll the pastry on a floured board until it becomes very thin (but not unmanageable). Using a cutter cut the pastry into as many 7cm diameter circles as you can. Spread a thin layer of marrow mixture across the centre of each round then wet your finger and trace it around the edge of each circle. Fold these in half and seal the edges.
Once you have a pile of these half-circles heat up your lard in a frying pan and brown the pescoddes on each side. Arrange on a plate, sprinkle with cinnamon and ginger then serve.
