On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:02:46 -0400, "Jean B." > wrote:

>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.

Yes, Davidson does give that origin. However the OED dismisses the
etymology thus: "Mahn's derivation from F[rench]. fouler to crush, is
not only baseless, but inconsistent with the early use of the word
[fool]."

By this the OED author means that it was only in the 18th century that
crushed, stewed fruit appears in the description of a fool. Before
that a fool was described as a sort of clotted cream or custard.

Here are the citations:

1598 Florio, Mantiglia, a kinde of clouted creame called a foole or a
trifle in English.
c.1600 Day Begg. Bednall Gr. v. (Bullen) 114 My Mother ... could have
taught thee how to a made ... fritters, pancakes, I and the rarest
fools.
1637 B. Jonson Sad Sheph. i. vi, Your cheese-cakes, curdes, and
clowted creame, Your fooles, your flaunes.
1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. iii. 82 Foole is a kind of Custard, but
more crudelly; being made of Cream, Yolks of Eggs, Cinamon, Mace
boiled: and served on Sippets with sliced Dates, Sugar, and white and
red Comfits, strawed thereon.

The first citation for fool as we know it today is from 1747:

1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ix. 79 A Gooseberry-Fool.

The etymology the OED prefers is a play on the words fool/trifle.

Richard