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

The only relevant gleanings from Alan Davidson's Oxford Companion
to Food a

1. The name "is thought to have been derived from the French
_fouler_ (to mash)".

2. "[O]ne of the earliest fools Norfolk fool, popular during the
17th century, contained no fruit." I mention this because of the
name plus the date, although that would not seem to be any sort of
precedent. You might also look at white pot/whitepot/whitpot, if
you are looking for fools regardless of whether they contain fruit
or not. Fools with fruit were being made at the same time,
according to the same source.

--
Jean B.