This is an excerpt from Le Menagier de Paris
(France, 1393 - Janet Hinson, trans.)
The original source can be found at
David Friedman's website
HERBED CHICKEN. - VEAL with HERBS. In winter, killed chickens, dampened and then placed six days in the ice, and in summer dead for two days (without sun) or smothered under a mattress; put on to cook in water and with bacon to give appetite, and add parsley, sage, egg-shell(?) and hyssop, a little verjuice to sharpen it, and a very little ginger, and saffron to add color. This is a proper soup if it is served cold, but if served hot, you need neither chicken nor veal but only bacon and saffron.