Manchet, manchette or michette, is a wheaten, yeast-leavened
bread of very good quality, or a small flat circular loaf. It was a bread that was small enough to be held in the hand.
History
One of the first recipes printed in English for manchet breads comes from 1588 and the recipe book ''The Good Huswifes Handmaide'' by an unknown author. In it the author explains that the flour must be fine and have been
''boulted'' twice.
There are several recipes for manchets mentioned in
Florence White's classic English cuisine book ''Good Things in England'' first published in 1932. She gives five regional varieties of the bread and quotes from sources for the recipes. The first is from
Gervase Markham
Gervase (or Jervis) Markham (ca. 1568 – 3 February 1637) was an English poet and writer. He was best known for his work '' The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman'', first publishe ...
in
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
published in 1615 where White quotes an anonymous source that describes a manchet as 'Your best and principal bread'. Gervase Markham writes that the dough should be kneaded by hand and with the brake, and if no brake is available, wrapped in a cloth and trodden underfoot.
There is also a reference to "Manchetts for the Queen's Maides", a royal ordinance originating from Eltham Palace in 1526 during Henry VIII's reign which describes a menu for medieval aristocracy. It is inserted because a correspondent had requested when manchets were to be served at court. This suggests that in origin it was a luxurious bread containing ingredients that were available only to the wealthy. The most superior wheat for a manchet was said to come from Heston, near Hounslow during the reign of Elizabeth I.
Breakfast in the household of
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, KG (27 April 1564 – 5 November 1632) was an English nobleman. He was a grandee and one of the wealthiest peers of the court of Elizabeth I. Under James I, Northumberland was a long-term prisoner ...
, according to the household accounts from 1564 to 1632, for the earl and his lady on a ''flesh day'' was "a loofe of bred in trenchors, 2 manchets, 1 quart bere, 1 quart wyne, a Chyne of Muton or Chyne of Beef Boilid." The two older sons had "2 loaf of household Breid, a Manchet, 1 Potell
wo quartsof Bere, a Chekynge
hickenor ells 3 mutton Bonys boyled."
Florence White makes reference to three contemporary versions: the Cornish manchet, a version from the Isle of Wight, and a recipe from Sussex for "Lady Arundel's Manchet" which is notable for the inclusion of butter, eggs, and milk. The recipe for Lady Arundel's manchet was first published in 1653 in ''A True Gentlewoman's Delight'', printed for the Countess of Kent.
[ Originally published in London by Allen Lane, 1977.]
Manchets crossed the Atlantic to Virginia with the early colonists.
Manchets are little made today with the traditional
Bath bun and
Sally Lunn bun
A Sally Lunn is a large bun or teacake, a type of batter bread, made with a yeast dough including cream and eggs, similar to the sweet brioche breads of France. Sometimes served warm and sliced, with butter, it was first recorded in 1780 in ...
amongst the best-known contemporary styles still made commercially. According to Elizabeth David, only the wealthy could have manchets for their breakfast or dinner and these became the "ancestors" of eighteenth-century French rolls.
In popular culture
In
series 3 of the television series ''
The Great British Bake-off
''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, att ...
'', Cathryn Dresser from Sussex made Lady Arundel's manchets, serving them with an inner layer of cream and jam.
See also
*
List of British breads
This is a list of bread products made in or originating from Britain. British cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. Bread prepared from mixed grains was introduced to Great Britain aro ...
*
List of sweet breads
This is a list of sweet breads. Sweet bread, also referred to as pan dulce, buns or coffee bread, is a bread or cake that is typically sweet in flavor. Some sweet breads, such as Portuguese Pao Douce, may be prepared with potato flour, which i ...
References
External links
Sca Cooking
{{British bread
Yeast breads
Medieval cuisine
British breads
Sweet breads