We have no need of barbarous cuisine

Week 20 of WolfCrawl

May 20, 2024

On the table this week
The heart better proof against chips and fractures
Reshuffle the cards

‘We have no need of barbarous cuisine’

This is Frescobaldi's reaction to the young Cromwell's suggestion to start work as a cook in his household. Sounds like Frescobaldi has certain reservations about the English cuisine… This man obviously doesn't know Thurston. Our chef is on top form this week: a jelly in the shape of a castle made in stripes of red and white including edible archers shooting candid arrows. Thomas Cromwell now not only travels like a a high noble man (with a cook and a provision wagon in tow), but also eats like a king:

In 1517 Francesco Chieregato, the apostolic nuncio in England wrote in a letter about jellies served at the English Court:’…but the jellies (zeladie), of some 20 sorts perhaps, surpassed everything; they were made in the shape of castles and of animals of various descriptions, as beautiful and as admirable as can be imagined.’1

This week's other culinary references: The provision cart brings venison, almonds and sweet wine. After the conversation with Queen Katherine, Cromwell has no energy left for more than a bowl of broth. And he regrets not bringing Catherine any lemons, as he thinks it would remind her of the land of her childhood. They taste as sour as her last years in England. Still Life Of A Wanli Kraak Porcelain Bowl Of Citrus Fruit And Pomegranates On A Wooden Table by Jacob van Hulsdonck (1582-1647)

Jacob van Hulsdonck, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

‘The heart better proof against chips and fractures’

This realisation comforts Cromwell as he grows older, but some fractures never heal completely. His daughters' pearl and coral necklaces in the drawer are a reminder of this. Corals were thought to protect children.

The necklaces were probably delicate necklaces made of small river pearls and coral. Now Cromwell could buy his daughters necklaces like the one in the portrait. If they were only still alive. Portrait of Anne of Austria wearing a necklace of pearls and coral, wife of the French king Louis XIII by circle around Daniel Dumonstier, between 1620 and 1630

Workshop of Daniel Dumonstier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Coral Fishers by Jacopo Zucchi between 1570 and 1590 (the title of the painting should also mention the pearls- look at all the pearl necklaces and the pearls lying on the ground)