It is among the oldest extant English cookery books, and the earliest known to mention olive oil, gourds, and spices such as mace and cloves.

The collection was named The Forme of Cury by Samuel Pegge, who published an edition of one of the manuscripts in 1780 for a trustee of the British Museum, Gustavus Brander.

The Forme of Cury may have been written partly to compete with Le Viandier of Taillevent, a French cookery book created at about the same time.

[6] The Forme of Cury is the first known English cookery book to mention some ingredients such as cloves, olive oil, mace and gourds.

[8] Yellow was achieved with saffron or egg yolk, red with "sanders" (sandalwood) or alkanet, and green often with minced parsley.

There are recipes for preparing many types of animal meat, including whale, crane, curlew, heron, seal and porpoise.

[6] Some recipes in The Forme of Cury appear to have been influenced by the Liber de Coquina, which had contributions from Arabic cuisine.

Whan the gees buth rosted ynouh, take hem of & smyte hem on pecys, and take þat þat is withinne and do it in a possynet and put þerinne wyne, if it be to thyk; do þerto powdour of galyngale, powdour douce, and salt and boyle the sawse, and dresse þe gees in disshes & lay þe sowe onoward.

Take cheese and grate it and add it and place butter beneath and above as with losyns [a dish similar to lasagne], and serve.

clower, colour it with saundres a lytel yf hit be nede cast salt þerto.