Eowtes of Flessh
(Herbs Like Flesh)

Origin: English      Period: Medieval

Original Recipe

Eowtes of Fleſsh (from A Forme of Cury)

Take Borage, cool. langdebef. ̲pſel. bet⁹. orage. auance. violet. ſaw^ray. and fenkel. and whane þey buth ſode. preſſe hem wal ſmale. caſt hem in gode broth ā ſeeþ hē. and sūe hem forth.

The word Eowtes is probably a corruption of Jowtes which refers to spinach, leeks and/or herbs, and this recipe is for what might be termed 'hedgerow herb' soup. As a result I've added the original ingredient and tried to substitute a more commonplace modern equivalent where possible.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

150g Borage (This is a fairly common herb and very easy to grow in your own garden. If you can't find any substitute with thinly-sliced cucumber).
300g colewort (kale)
bugloss Buglossum sylvestre (this is actually a member of the borage family, the quantities of borage given above cover this).
large handful of freshly-chopped parsley
400g Orach (Artiplex sp also known as mountain spinach and French spinach). Substitute young spinach leaves.
60g Avens (Herb Bennet). If you can't find or don't grow this herb, an approximation can be gained by boiling several cloves in water and blanching young celery leaves in this.
110g Violet Leaves (The leaves are safe to eat and though a little tough and bland they exude a thickening agent. If you don't have violets growing locally substitute 60g finely-chopped okra.)
Large pinch of finely-chopped savory leaves
1 large bulb of fennel, finely sliced
600 ml Beef broth

Method:

Preparation

Wash the herbs and leaves thoroughly then chop them finely and place in a large pan. Add a 200ml beef broth and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and steam the herbs/vegetables for about five minutes. Add the remaining beef broth and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the fennel becomes tender. Blitz with a hand blender and serve the soup immediately.

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