What English cookbook from about 1390 includes the cheesecake-like sambocade?
Answer
Forme of Cury
Answer
Forme of Cury
The English cookbook from about 1390 that includes the cheesecake-like sambocade is The Forme of Cury.
The Forme of Cury is a substantial collection of medieval English recipes associated with the cooks of King Richard II. It was written in Middle English near the end of the 14th century, and the surviving text is preserved in multiple manuscripts rather than one original volume. The title’s “cury” comes from a medieval term for cooking, not from the modern South Asian dish called curry.
Its sambocade is a cheese-based preparation flavored with elderflower and rose water. It resembles cheesecake in its use of fresh cheese and a sweet filling, although medieval sambocade would not have had the cream-cheese texture or cookie crust associated with many modern versions.
The other options point to different culinary traditions or periods. De re coquinaria is associated with ancient Roman cooking, Le Viandier is a French medieval cookbook, and The Good Huswifes Handmaide is a later English household work. The Forme of Cury is the specific late-14th-century source linked to sambocade.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026