COCKENTRICE OR HELMETED COCK
A cock and what, I hear you say?
Cockentrice… 😀 😀
One of the more fanciful dishes of the middle ages, and a staple of Tudor feasts – was the Cockentrice.
The Cockentrice was one of the most interesting historical culinary inventions.
It was not just a dish, but a spectacle that baffled and amused the noble guests.
It is a combination of the words “cock” (a capon) and “gryse”(a suckling pig).
The main idea of the dish was to use parts of regular animals to create an impression of a mythical beast.
This would surprise the guests, both with its unusual appearance and impressive taste.
As the name suggests, the most commonly used animals were chicken and pigs, which were stitched together to form a new animal.
The upper body of a suckling pig was sewn onto the bottom half of a capon, or a turkey.
It could also be made vice~versa, with the torso of a capon, sewn to the rump of a pig.
When the torso of a capon was sewn onto the rump of a pig, a small iron helmet was put onto the head of the capon, and the dish was renamed “the Helmeted Cock!”
The decorated capon resembled an otherworldly knight.
These creations were then decorated with eggs, herbs, and various vegetables and fruit, and baked in a stone oven.
Some Medieval chefs brought the dish to the next level.
They decided to make the Cockentrice even more absurd, by adding bear claws, ram’s horns, and makeshift wings to decorate the dish further.
Many versions of the Cockentrice were documented throughout history, as the dish was a common main course of the most extravagant feasts.
However, the most famous one, was the Cockentrice prepared for the banquet of John Stafford, Bishop of Bath and Wells, on 16th September 1425.
It was supposedly decorated with flowers, bones, skulls, and deer antlers!
