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Knight's Mechanical Encyclopedia (ed. Knight), W. (search)
I. directed the sheriff of London to purchase 100 pieces of whale for his table. Whales found on the coast were perquisites of royalty; they were cut up and sent to the king's kitchen in carts. Edward II. gave a reward of 20 shillings to three mariners who caught a whale near London Bridge. Those found on the banks of the Thames were claimed by the lord mayor, and added to the civic feast. Pieces of whale were often purchased in the thirteenth century for the table of the Countess of Leicester. England was supplied with this choice dainty by the fishermen of Normandy, who made it an article of commerce. The Normans had various ways of cooking it; sometimes it was roasted and brought to the table on a spit, but the usual way was to boil it and serve it with peas. Epicures looked out for a slice from the tongue or the tail. The grampus or sea-wolf was also highly esteemed, but, of all the blubber dainties, the porpoise was deemed the most savory. The Saxons called it sea-swin