11 Comments
User's avatar
Taryn Leffler's avatar

So according to chatbot: "leich brayn" could potentially refer to a dish combining the textures of a leich (a thickened or sliced sweet) with brain, though this would be quite unusual as a combination.-yes indeed chatbot,yes indeed. 🤢🤮

Expand full comment
Yvonne Aburrow's avatar

So the pork, cheese, and figs were in eyren which is Middle English for eggs. Which means that it’s technically a quiche. Implying that there is an English word for quiche (depending on whether a coffin of pastry implies a lid on the pie or not). Thank you for this marvellous word!

You can read (but not download) 99 papers a month on JSTOR if you sign up for a free account.

Expand full comment
Tracey's avatar

Fun post!

I read "flampet" with a hard-T sound at the end, but after reading this:

"But I consulted several digitized versions, and all I found was a passing reference to a dish called a flampayne."

I'm now thinking its a long-A sound at the end, like "flam-PAY", which sounds far more sophisticated. Plus, pastry coffins are all the rage this year in Paris, I'm sure.

Expand full comment
Lev Grossman's avatar

Bury me in a pastry coffin!

OED offers 'flan pointé" as an origin for flampet, which def supports the long-A

Expand full comment
Mike McClelland's avatar

This is a delightful journey down the rabbit (venison?) hole

Expand full comment
Megan's avatar

Individuals without connection to a college or university can get a JSTOR account. I used to have one just for fun, as I recall you couldn’t have totally unlimited access and were constrained to like a hundred articles a month. Which is likely plenty?

Expand full comment
Lev Grossman's avatar

You're totally right about JSTOR -- thank you, I should've figured that out ages ago. Though I still drew a total blank for flampet: https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=flampet&so=rel

Expand full comment
Lev Grossman's avatar

I hadn't thought of that. I do agree, a 6-inch styth is barely a styth at all

Expand full comment
Timothy Deer's avatar

I will be henceforth using "secret London business" as a euphemism.

Expand full comment
Lev Grossman's avatar

Lamorak uses that one _all the time_

Expand full comment
Kurt Busiek's avatar

Now I'm hungry.

But am I reading "a styth of Iren that was largely half a fote of height" right? Is the sword stuck through an anvil that's only 6 inches high? I had always pictured something rather heftier.

Expand full comment