On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:36:44 +0200, Martin S
> wrote:

>On wikipedia it is suggested that "Fool" recipes date back to the 15th
>century. Does anyone know a source for such a recipe? I had a brief look
>in "A Forme of Curry" (which is a bit old being late 14th century) and
>couldn't find it there. Any suggestions on an internet available source?
>The oldest I have is 1658 which is quite a gap.
>
>Martin S
>--
>Old time cookery and brewing:
>theoldecookerybook.com

I can't help with a recipe earlier than 1658. However the OED has the
earliest citation of the word as 1598, the phrasing of which suggests
that the word was in regular use by then.

The source is an Italian-English dictionary, author Florio and the
word being translated from the Italian is Mantiglia.:

"Mantiglia, a kinde of clouted creame called a foole or a trifle in
English."

I looked at the 1611 edition and there is no more substantial text
than that given by the OED. However the wording has been changed to
read: "Mantiglia, a kinde of clouted creame which we call a foole or
trifle."