Recipe Manuscript

To Make Leach

Name: To Make Leach
Prep time: PTPT30M
Cook time: PTPT5H
Yield: 12
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 1 kg calves’ feet (or substitute: beef shank bones with gelatin); 500 g beef feet (or more calves' feet); 2 liters water; 10 g isinglass (or 10 g powdered gelatin sheets); 1 cinnamon stick; 1 teaspoon ground ginger or nutmeg; 1/2 teaspoon aniseed; 100 g sugar; 100 ml white wine; Saffron, pinch (for yellow color); 50 ml red wine or a drop cochineal coloring (for red); Turnsole or natural blue/red food coloring (very little, for purple/red); 2 egg whites; 500 ml single cream or whole milk; 5 g isinglass or gelatin; 50 g ground almonds; 1/2 teaspoon ground mace; 1/4 nutmeg, quartered

1700

From the treasured pages of Receipts in cookery and medicine 1700

Unknown Author

Renaissance (1400 - 1700)European Advanced Dessert

Original Recipe • 1700

Original Manuscript(circa Renaissance, 1400 - 1700)

As inscribed by the original author's hand, transcribed with care by Lost Kitchen Scrolls

To Make Leach

"Take calves feete, and some neats feete, and boyle them in fair water to a litle quantity, and put in isinglass and boyle them together, then straine them into a great dish and let it stand until it bee cold & stiffe, then pair of the fatt of the tope and the grounds of the bottome and put the fairest of it into a skillet and put to it some cynamen & ginger, or nutmegg and a litle anniseeds and some sugar & white wine. ffor yallow leach colour it with saffron clarett for read leach and colour it with turnesole or cutchinneale & for let them boyle, and take whites of eggs & beat them together with the licquor and soe put it in & let it boyle up and then put them into a jilly bagg & let them run severall colours into severall dishes. ffor white leach take creame or new milk, put in isinglass & let it boyle and some almonds beaten very small in a mortar, sugar & a litle mace, and a nuttmegg quartered and soe boyle them & straine them throw a strainer into a dish. keepe the colours luke warme & then put the colours one over the top of the other, first white, then red upon the top of that, then white againe, & let it bee cold, then white againe, and red & white & yallow & what every colour. &c."

Note on the Original Text

Early modern recipes like this are written in continuous prose, with minimal punctuation and no set ingredient lists or measured quantities – the cook was expected to know their trade. Spelling was not standardized ('boyle', 'licquor', 'straine', etc.), and instructions often referred to visible cues ('let it stand until it bee cold & stiffe') rather than precise times. Coloration was vivid and playful, with period food colorings like saffron, turnsole (an extract from the dyer’s plant), or cochineal. The recipe also assumes knowledge of clarifying with egg whites – a method to give a clear, sparkling jelly.

Modern Kitchen Interpretation

Recipe's Origin

Receipts in cookery and medicine 1700 - Click to view recipe in book

Title

Receipts in cookery and medicine 1700 (1700)

You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome

Writer

Unknown

Era

1700

Publisher

Unknown

Background

Step into the kitchen of the early 18th century, where this charming culinary manuscript tempts tastebuds with recipes and secrets from a bygone era. A delicious journey for both the curious cook and the history lover.

Kindly made available by

Folger Shakespeare Library

Historical Background of the Recipe

Learn about old traditions

This recipe for Leach comes from an early 18th-century English manuscript, a period when elaborate jellies and confections were highly prized on aristocratic dessert tables. Leach – also written 'leach' or 'leche' in variations – was a set gel often flavored and colored for visual delight, presented sliced in intricate patterns. Its roots lie in medieval and Renaissance feasting, where the ability to clarify and flavor jellies was seen as both a technical and artistic achievement. Its presence at banquets signaled wealth, given the labor involved and the value of ingredients like spices, sugars, and isinglass.

Culinary Tools when the Recipe was Crafted

Tools and techniques from kitchens of old

Cooks of the era would have used large iron or copper cauldrons for boiling the feet, a fine sieve or muslin cloth for straining the liquor, and shallow earthenware or glazed dishes for setting the jelly. A 'jelly bag' – a pointed cloth suspended over a stand – clarified the jelly after boiling with egg whites. For grinding spices and nuts, a mortar and pestle was essential, while layering was done with care, ladling gently to prevent colors from blending before setting.

Modern Kitchen Adaptation

Ingredients and techniques for today's cooks

ounces, cups, Fahrenheit

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

5 hrs

Servings

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

2.2 lbs calves’ feet (or substitute: beef shank bones with gelatin)
1.1 lbs beef feet (or more calves' feet)
8 1/2 cups water
0.35 oz isinglass (or 0.35 oz powdered gelatin sheets)
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ground ginger or nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon aniseed
3 1/2 oz sugar
3.5 fl oz white wine
Saffron, pinch (for yellow color)
1.7 fl oz red wine or a drop cochineal coloring (for red)
Turnsole or natural blue/red food coloring (very little, for purple/red)
2 egg whites
2 cups single cream or whole milk
0.18 oz isinglass or gelatin
1 3/4 oz ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 nutmeg, quartered

Instructions

To make Leach in modern terms, begin by simmering 2.2 lbs calves’ feet and 1.1 lbs beef feet in 8 1/2 cups of water until it reduces by half and becomes gelatinous.
Add 0.35 oz of powdered isinglass (or leaf gelatin) and continue boiling until dissolved, then strain into a large dish and cool until set.
Once set, trim off any hardened fat on top and the sediments below, retaining the clearest jelly.
Place this in a saucepan and add 1 cinnamon stick, 1 teaspoon ground ginger or nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon aniseed, 3 1/2 oz sugar, and 3.5 fl oz white wine.
To color, add saffron for yellow, a splash of red wine for red, or a touch of cochineal or turnsole for a vivid hue.
Beat 2 egg whites with 1.7 fl oz of the jelly liquor, add to the pan, bring to a boil, then strain through a fine cloth or jelly bag.
For a creamy white leach, simmer 2 cups single cream or whole milk with 0.18 oz isinglass, 1 3/4 oz ground almonds, 1 3/4 oz sugar, 1/4 nutmeg (quartered), and 1/2 teaspoon mace; strain well.
Keep colored jellies just warm, and layer in shallow dishes, first white, then red, then wite, then yellow, allowing each to gently set before pouring over the next.
Contniue until you have the desired number of striped layers.

Estimated Calories

320 per serving

Cooking Estimates

It takes around 30 minutes to prepare the ingredients. Simmering the feet and reducing the liquid takes about 3 hours, with additional time for dissolving gelatin, flavoring, straining, and layering colors, which takes about 2 more hours. Each serving contains about 320 calories, and this recipe makes 12 servings.

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.