From John Murrell, A New Booke of Cookerie (London, 1615): Take a Pome-water or any other Apple that is not hard, or harsh in taste: mince it small with a dozen or twenty Razins of the Sonne: wet the Apples in two Egges, beat them all together with the backe of a knife, or a Spoone. Season them with Nutmeg, Rosewater, Sugar, and Ginger: drop them into a Frying-pan with a Spoone, frye them like Egges, wring on the juyce of an Orenge, or Lemmon, and serve them in.
As a professional cook, John Murrell must have appreciated a little throwaway recipe like this that calls for a couple of eggs, an apple, and flavorings found in most kitchens. He is totally precise on execution: the variety of apple must be sweet and soft so it needs no extra cooking; the eggs are to be broken up with a spoon or the back, not the cutting edge, of a knife. (Note that our four-tined table forks, which whisk eggs quite efficiently on a saucer, had not yet appeared in the kitchen.) “Razins of the Sonne” could have referred to the plump purple muscatel raisins from Málaga, in southern Spain, still a local specialty, or to regular dark raisins. For the one ingredient, an orange, that might have been scarce, Murrell suggests the alternative of a lemon.
