To Boile A Ducke

This recipe comes from a manuscript associated with John King, compiled sometime between 1625 and 1725—a period when English kitchens were lively with new ingredients and evolving culinary methods. Intended for the upper classes, such recipes blended savory meats with sweet and tangy notes—here, onions, currants, and vinegar create a complex sauce for a boiled duck. The presence of imported spices like mace and currants highlights the reach of the British trade routes at the time, while the use of sippets (toasted bread) reflects practical and popular serving traditions of the day. Recipes from this era were typically handed down in manuscript form, exchanging practical details among family and friends, rather than being mass-published.

Cooks of the early modern period would have used a large iron or copper cauldron or pot suspended over the hearth fire to boil the duck. Slicing was done with simple, sharp kitchen knives, and the onions would be cooked alongside the meat. A wooden spoon, a ladle for serving the broth, and bread knives for slicing sippets completed the ensemble. The sauce would have been simmered in a pot, perhaps set at the edge of the fire for gentle heating. Serving was informal but practical, with toasted or fried bread forming a 'bed' on a large trencher or platter for the meat and sauce.