filynge of golde

Ingredients

filynge of golde, syluer, golde

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

In a late medieval medical collection (NLW, MS Peniarth 388, f. 14v), a recipe for 'a precious water' (aqua preciosa) specifically 'calls for “filynge of golde”' (gold filings). The preparation instructions further stipulate that the resulting 'water should be kept “in a vessel of syluer or of golde”' (p. 306).

Evidence

"a recipe for ‘a precious water’ calls for ‘filynge of golde’ and claims that the water should be kept ‘in a vessel of syluer or of golde’."

Remarks

This entry highlights the use of high-status metallic ingredients in medieval medicinal preparations. The author notes that such 'precious' recipes existed alongside more practical ones, such as those where 'inexpensive herbs are substituted for costly spices' (f. 11r-v), suggesting a dynamic range of aspirations and intentions within a single manuscript collection (p. 306).