The Forme of Cury

The Forme of Cury (The Method of Cooking, cury from Old French queuerie, "cookery") is an extensive 14th-century collection of medieval English recipes, written in Middle English. Although the original manuscript is lost, the text appears in nine manuscripts, the most famous in the form of a scroll with a headnote citing it as the work of "the chief Master Cooks of King Richard II". The name The Forme of Cury is generally used for the family of recipes rather than any single manuscript text. It is among the oldest extant English cookery books, and the earliest known to mention olive oil, gourds, and spices such as mace and cloves. The book also includes the earliest known recipe for macaroni and cheese.

The book has notable influences from the cuisine of several different countries. The book's relatively few vegetable and salad recipes indicate influence from the era's Spanish cuisine and Portuguese cuisine. The book's pasta recipes are clearly influenced from the era's Italian cuisine. A number of the book's recipes and the syrup cooking techniques are based on the era's Arabic cuisine. They were probably derived from Sicily, where the culture still had Arabic influences.