Jacobin Sops

Introduction

A dish served at the Festival of Elvegast – Greenwood Gathering for “The Sheriff’s Spice,” cooking competition on April 12, 2026.

Robin Hood’s men are outlaws, not ascetics — and when a lord’s hunting party passes through Sherwood with roast capons packed for their leisure, it would be poor woodsmanship to let such provisions go to waste.

Jacobin Sops come from Chiquart’s Du fait de cuisine (1420), and their genius is that the foundations are entirely humble: toasted bread soaked in herb-scented broth, with good cheese melting into it. Bread, broth, and cheese were within reach of anyone. The roast capon laid across the top in good order — wings, legs, and shredded white meat scattered over the whole — is what makes it feast food. The Merry Men had a full meal already. They just needed one small act of redistribution to turn supper into a celebration.

Country of Origin: France (Savoy)  |  Approximate Date: 1420  |  Period Source: Chiquart’s Du fait de Cuisine

Translation from Terence Scully:

To serve Jacobin Sops you need your good capons, and, depending on the size of the feast, that will be one or two hundred fat capons, and a large number of other poultry to serve if those capons run out; and they should be properly roasted. When fat oxen are being cut up, their marrow bones should be taken and carefully washed, and then set to boil in good clean cauldrons with good mutton among them. After that, arrange to get a quintal [120 lbs] of very good Crampone cheese and Brie cheese, the finest that can be made and found, and have this cheese properly pared and cleaned, then cut it up very small.

The cook who is ordered to make these Jacobin Sops should take two or three hundred loaves of table bread and cut this bread into good slices and toast them very neatly without burning them, so that they are brownish, and then put them into good clean two-handled pots; and you should have two immaculately clean work-tables to slice that toasted bread for the Jacobin Sops. Then you should set out your gold, silver and pewter dishes in a row, and place your bread delicately on them with the cheese on top.

Take your capons and dismember them, that is, remove the wings and the legs, and remove the rump; then take the white meat of each capon and cut it up very small and scatter this white meat from the capons on your Jacobin Sops. After that take the members of the capons, that is, the wings, legs and rump, and place them in orderly fashion on top of your Jacobin Sop.

Check on your broth of beef and mutton marrow, that they are good and soft, and filter this broth into a large good clean kettle; get a good bonnette – bouquet garni of sage, parsley, marjoram and hyssop which should be thoroughly cleaned and washed, and put this into your broth.

Over by the dressing table where you will be serving up the Jacobin Sops, arrange to have a good coal fire under the kettles containing your broth so that it will keep on boiling, and cover your Jacobin Sops with this broth.

Discussion

• Capons are castrated male chickens — still occasionally available modernly, but expensive and hard to find. The chief differences between a roasting chicken and a capon are that the capon is larger, the meat is fattier, and they need to be roasted more slowly, yielding a more tender and succulent result. Since capon wasn’t available, I used a high-heat roast on a spatchcocked chicken, one on the larger side, which produces a consistently tender, juicy result. I believe capons were specified in the original to differentiate from an old laying hen retired from production, which would be tough if roasted.
• Bread in this redaction is a simple peasant loaf — I deliberately did not make a softer, whiter bread. The Merry Men would have had cheaper bread than what appeared on a lord’s table, and the more substantial loaf stands up to the sops treatment without becoming soggy.
• Cheeses are close modern substitutes. Brie has been made in the region for centuries, but the US version is blander and made from pasteurized milk; Chiquart’s Brie was likely a lactic acid cheese rather than a rennet-set one, and would have been more delicate. “Crampone” was a pressed cow’s milk cheese — Ken Albala identifies it as most similar to modern Cantal or Salers, which are similar in turn to Gruyere.
• Herbs are those modernly available. Marjoram tastes like a more subtle oregano; hyssop is closely related to thyme but with a mint-like note that plays well with the mutton in the broth. I used oregano and thyme with a small amount of mint as substitutes.
• Broth was made using standard modern technique. I don’t know that Chiquart would have roasted his bones first, but I prefer the flavor it produces.
• “Jacobin” — the name has almost nothing to do with the later political revolutionary movement. Early French Cookery explains: “The qualification ‘Jacobin’ in the name of this dish is interesting. In Paris at this time the Dominican order had its House in the Rue St. Jacques, of which the Latin etymon is ‘Jacobus’; as a consequence of this association the local sobriquet for members of the Dominican order became the ‘Jacobins.’ Because the Dominican order tended to attract its members from the aristocracy — as opposed to the Franciscans who came overwhelmingly from less exalted spheres in society — the former monks acquired a reputation for not whole-heartedly accepting a vow of poverty and for maintaining something of the life-style to which in their secular existence they had been accustomed. In particular the epithet Jacobin appears to have come to suggest a certain gourmandism or gluttony related to members of that order in Paris.” (p. 106)

Jacobin Sops

Toasted bread with Brie and Gruyere, minced roast chicken, and herb-scented bone broth — a 15th-century feast dish from Chiquart’s Du fait de cuisine, scaled for a modern kitchen

Ingredients

• For the Broth

• 2½ lbs beef marrow bones, pre-sliced

• 1 lb ground lamb

• 2–3 bay leaves

• Salt, to taste

• Bouquet garni: parsley, sage, oregano, thyme, small amount of mint

• For the Bread

• 5 cups flour (mix of white and whole wheat)

• 2¼ tsp active dry yeast

• ~2 cups water (hydration will vary; goal is stiff dough)

• 1–2 tsp salt

• To Assemble

• Broth (as above)

• 1 large roasting chicken, spatchcocked and salted

• Bread (as above), sliced thick

• Brie, rind removed, cut into small pieces

• Gruyere, finely shredded

Directions

• Lightly salt marrow bones and roast at 400°F until browned.
• Brown ground lamb in a large heavy pot.
• Add roasted bones, bay leaves, and enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer.
• Simmer until richly flavored, skimming foam and fat as necessary.
• Strain broth into a clean pot. Add bouquet garni and simmer 1 additional hour. Remove herbs.
• Continue to reduce until broth is richly concentrated. Season with salt.
• Combine flour, yeast, water, and salt. Knead thoroughly until dough passes the windowpane test.
• Allow to rise until doubled in volume.
• Shape into a loaf and allow to rise again.
• Bake at 400°F until done, approximately 30–35 minutes. Cool before slicing.
• Roast the spatchcocked chicken at high heat (425°F) until cooked through. Carve breast meat and mince finely; moisten with a small amount of broth.
• Slice bread into thick slices and toast until lightly browned.
• Top each toast with small pieces of Brie (rind removed), then a layer of shredded Gruyere.
• Bring broth to a rolling simmer just before serving.
• To serve: place a cheese-topped toast in each guest’s dish or cup, scatter minced chicken over the toast, then ladle hot broth over everything at the table.

Notes

• Per Chiquart’s original, the legs and wings of the roast bird should be arranged on top for presentation. For a feast serving, reserve leg and wing pieces and place them on top of the assembled sops before ladling the broth.

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