Lord Cravens How To Make Sauco For Partridg Or Capon
From the treasured pages of The Lady Cravens Receipt Book
Written by Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven
Lord Cravens How To Make Sauco For Partridg Or Capon
"Take bread and faire water and an Onyon, Boyle them all to gether then mixt them with thick butterr and Lemmon squeesed and gravy if you please And for woodcocks take toste and gravy and squeese Lemmon in Butter For foyles take sago shred it small and wrapp it up with butterr and salt and putt it into one of the foyles belly and when it is rosted take out the sago and lay it in the bottom of the dish with sweet thick butterr. And for pidgeons and Chickens take Butter parsely and Lemmon."
Note on the Original Text
The recipe, like many of its era, is instructive rather than prescriptive: no set timings or precise measurements, reflecting a culture of intuitive cookery and apprenticeship in the home. Spellings such as 'Boyle' (boil), 'Onyon' (onion), and 'to gether' (together) are typical of early 18th-century English and show the lack of fixed spelling conventions. The instructions are grouped by bird, offering variations with minimal detail, which allowed the experienced cook to interpret and adapt as needed. The phrase 'if you please' signals optionality, a hallmark of flexible, context-driven recipe writing.
Title
The Lady Cravens Receipt Book (1703)
You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome
Writer
Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven
Era
1703
Publisher
Coome Abbey
Background
A delectable manuscript brimming with 18th-century English delights, Lady Craven's receipt book whisks readers from luscious cakes and puddings to savory feasts and creamy cheeses. Elegantly organized and sprinkled with recipes from an illustrious social circle, this culinary collection offers a sumptuous taste of aristocratic home economics.
Kindly made available by
Penn State University
This recipe hails from the early 18th-century English manuscript of Lady Elizabeth Craven. Receipt books like hers were practical family archives—a blend of kitchen manuals, social currency, and medical advice. Recipes were shared among the elite, like Lord Craven, and adapted for different game birds as the season or household supplies allowed. The style is inherently adaptable, reflecting the flexibility of country house cooking, where quantities were rarely measured and every dish could be embellished according to taste, social occasion, or what was available. The use of butter, bread, and sago—or their substitution—shows a confluence of luxury and practicality in upper-class English kitchens on the cusp of modernity.
In Lady Craven’s time, a large hearth or open fire was central to cookery. Bread would be sliced with a sturdy knife; onions peeled with a small paring knife. The bread sauce would bubble in a copper or iron pot, stirred with a wooden spoon. Sago or a substitute would be wrapped and stuffed using fingers or a small wooden implement. Roasting was done either on a spit or in a brick oven. Serving was direct and communal: birds were carved at table, sauces spooned over, and accompaniments served from the cooking pot, often straight onto trenchers or platters.
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Servings
4
We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!
Ingredients
- 3.5oz white bread (crusty country loaf)
- 2 cups water
- 1 medium onion (about 4.25oz)
- 1.75oz unsalted butter (plus extra as needed)
- 2-4 tablespoons (1-2 fl oz) fresh lemon juice
- 2 fl oz rich poultry gravy (optional)
- For woodcocks: 1 thick slice toasted bread, 1oz softened butter, lemon juice, pan juices
- For 'foyles': 1oz sago (or arborio rice/pearl barley), 0.5oz butter, pinch of salt
- For pigeons/chickens: 1oz butter, 1 small bunch parsley, 0.5 fl oz lemon juice
Instructions
- To prepare Lord Craven's Sauco for partridge or capon, start by slicing about 3.5oz of hearty white bread and placing it in a saucepan with 2 cups of water and one peeled, quartered medium onion (about 4.25oz).
- Bring to a boil and simmer until the bread breaks down and the onion softens, around 20 minutes.
- Mash or blend the mixture for a smooth consistency.
- Stir in 1.75oz of unsalted, room-temperature butter, two tablespoons (about 2 tablespoons or 1 fl oz) of freshly squeezed lemon juice, and—if desired—a ladle of rich poultry gravy (about 2 fl oz) to round out the sauce.
- For woodcocks, simply toast a thick slice of bread and top with pan juices (gravy), a squeeze of lemon, and some softened butter.
- For 'foyles' (likely a small game bird, or possibly a misspelling for 'foyles' meaning trimmings or offal), take 1oz of sago (or substitute with arborio or pearl barley if unavailable), finely shred, and stuff it with butter and a pinch of salt into the bird’s cavity before roasting.
- When done, remove the sago and serve it at the base of the dish, blending in another 1oz of thick butter.
- For pigeons and chickens, create a sauce by melting butter (1oz) with finely chopped parsley (one small bunch) and a squeeze of lemon as a finishing touch.
Estimated Calories
120 per serving
Cooking Estimates
Preparing this sauce takes a short time: chopping the onion and bread, measuring other ingredients, and blending the mixture. Cooking is mostly simmering the bread, onion, and water until soft, then mixing in the butter, lemon juice, and optional gravy. This sauce recipe makes about 4 servings. Each serving is about 120 calories, mainly from butter and bread.
As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.
We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.
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