Note that you must start by St. John's Day which is the
twenty-fourth day of June.
First, take five hundred new walnuts, and be sure that neither
the shell nor the kernel are yet formed and that the shell is also neither
too hard nor too tender, and peel them all round, and then pierce them
through or in a cross. And then put them to soak in water from the Seine
or a spring, and change it every day: and they must soak ten to twelve
days and they will become black and when you chew one you will not be able
to taste any bitterness; and then put them on to boil in sweet water and
let them boil just for the length of time it takes to say a Miserere, and
until you see that there are none which are too hard or too soft. Then
empty the water, and put them to drain on a screen, and then boil a sixth
of honey or as much as they need to be all covered, and the honey should
be strained and skimmed: and when it is cooled down to just warm, add your
walnuts and leave them two or three days, and then put them to drain, and
take as much of your honey as they can soak in, and put the honey on the
fire and make it come to a good boil and skim it, and take it off the fire:
and put in each hole in your walnuts a clove in one side and a little snip
of ginger in the other, and then put them in the honey when it is lukewarm.
And stir it two or three times a day, and at the end of three days take
them out: and gather up the honey, and if there is not enough, add to it
and boil and skim and boil, then put your walnuts in it; and thus each
week for a month. And then leave them in an earthenware pot or a cask,
and stir once a week.
Take, around All Saints Day (November 1), large turnips, and peel
them and chop them in quarters, and then put on to cook in water: and when
they are partially cooked, take them out and put them in cold water to
make them tender, and then let them drain; and take honey and do the same
as with the walnuts, and be careful not to over-cook your turnips.
Item, on All Saints, take carrots as many as you wish, and when
they are well cleaned and chopped in pieces, cook them like the turnips.
(Carrots are red roots which are sold at the Halles in baskets, and each
basket costs one blanc.)