To Make A Hare Pye

This recipe comes from the 17th century, during the era when England was shifting from medieval banquet feasts to the more refined and household-based dining culture of the Restoration period. It belongs to a manuscript possibly connected with the Cromwell family, a period marked by experimentation and adaptation within English kitchens. Game pies—particularly 'venison pies'—were esteemed dishes at gentry tables, symbolizing both hospitality and status. Hare was a common game meat, appreciated for its rich flavor and ability to mimic venison in pies for those unable to source the more prestigious deer meat. The use of veal udder reflects a nose-to-tail ethos and a penchant for luxurious textures and flavors among elite cooks.

A skilled cook of the 17th century would use a heavy, round earthenware or stoneware pie dish, a sturdy chopping knife, a wooden board, and perhaps a large mortar and pestle for grinding seasoned spices. Pastry would be rolled by hand with a wooden rolling pin, and the pie would be baked in a wood-fired oven or hearth, using embers to control heat. Fat for the recipe might have been rendered over open flame or collected from cooked meats.