the Middle English poem known as The Alliterative Morte Arthure (c.1400): "Flesh flourisht of fermison, with frumentee noble." The dish, described as 'furmity' and served with fruit and a slug of rum added under the counter, plays a role in the plot of Thomas Hardy's novel The Mayor of Casterbridge. It is also mentioned in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass as a food that snapdragon flies live on. Snapdragon was a popular game at Christmas, and Carroll's mention of frumenty shows it was known to him as a holiday food. And it appears in a girl's recitation of holiday traditions, in My Lady Ludlow, published 1858, by Elizabeth Gaskell: "furmenty on Mothering Sunday, Violet cakes in Passion Week." (Chapter 2) Recipes Steve Roud, librarian and folklorist, compiled a compendium of The English Year including three recipes for frumenty. They show considerable variation with place and time. A healthy dose of spirit is often mentioned as accompanying the frumenty. Elsewhere A dish made with boiled cracked wheat and soured milk was made in Ancient Persia, and is still used, often as the basis for a soup, in Greece and Cyprus (as trahanas), and in Turkey (tarhana). Kutia is an Eastern European dish to a similar recipe. See also , whole wheat eaten as a food References Further reading Black, William (2005) The Land that Thyme Forgot Bantam. ; p. 346 Adamson, Melitta Weiss (2004) Food in Medieval Times External links Middle Ages recipes Puddings Porridges Medieval cuisine English cuisine Christmas food Wheat dishes