The Incident of the Orange Sherbet.

There will be no blog post on Sunday, which is (as if you didn’t know,) St. Patrick’s Day, but I have a St. Patrick’s Day story which must be told, for it is a tale of great patriotism and heroism. Our hero is an Irishman (of course) – a big, brave man, a man prepared to risk his very livelihood, not to mention an international incident, for his principles. The story takes place on St. Patrick’s Day, 1911, in the United States. The Washington Post considered it newsworthy. I repeat their story here: 

ORANGE SHERBET, NEVER!

“Not on St. Patrick’s Day,” Said O’Shea,

and He Won Out.

Though his patriotic feeling nearly cost him his job, Dennis O’Shea, one of the chefs in the Columbia University commons, where most of the students on Morningside Heights eat, flatly refused to profane Friday by making orange sherbet as the dessert for the evening meal. He told Clarence R. Jones, the manager, that he would prevent any of the other chefs from doing so as long as any breath remained in his body.

Jones made out the bill of fare on Thursday evening, and when he put down orange sherbet it did not occur to him that the dish would hardly be appropriate for March 17. O’Shea noticed the offending dish at once. He said nothing to Jones at the moment, but went to work with rebellion in his heart, and as he made up the different dishes he tried to think up a way out of the difficulty. He finally solved the problem by making raspberry sherbet, although he knew that the students had been eating raspberry sherbet every night for a week, and were beginning to get tired of it.

The first Jones knew of the substitution was when he made a trip through the dining room. The first thing he saw was a mournful student studying the menu to see if his eyes had not deceived him. Jones made a dive for the kitchen, where he sought out O’Shea and demanded why his orders had been disregarded.

“’Tis the 17^th of March and no orange sherbet shall be made here if I can help it” was O’Shea’s reply.

Jones argued and threatened, but in vain. O’Shea was obdurate, and when Jones ordered a Greek waiter to freeze some orange sherbet the militant Irishman sat down on the big freezer and dared Jones and the Greek to come on. O’Shea won out.

Had our hero had sufficient advance warning, he would of course have made a green sherbet. I feel sure it would have contained a suitable amount of spirits too. Perhaps some Irish Whisky could be substituted for some of the other spirits in the following recipe?

Mint Sherbet.

Put ten sprigs of fresh mint to soak for an hour in one cup of half each brandy and sherry. Strain and add three cups of water and two cups of sugar which have been boiled to a syrup, two teaspoons of granulated gelatine dissolved and the whites of four eggs beaten stiff. Freeze stiff.

Good Housekeeping Everyday Cook Book, 1903

Sculphlings and Bashaws.

A couple of food-related terms have puzzled me – one for a long time, and one only recently. I am hoping that by tossing them out, I will reel in some interesting comments (which I will try to answer promptly!)

On June 29, 1800, our old friend Parson James Woodforde recorded, as he often did, the dishes that he had for dinner. He had “a Sculphling of Lamb rosted (viz.) a Breast and Neck joined together.”

There are a couple of interesting things about this entry. Firstly, it appears to be the only use of the word ‘sculphling,’anywhere. The Oxford English Dictionary does not know it, and the only thing that Great Google comes up with on ‘sculphling’ is Woodforde’s entry. Of course, Woodforde actually tells us what it is – a breast and neck of lamb joined together – but that is the other interesting point – he does not usually feel the need to define such terms, especially in a private diary. He is intimately familiar with food production, butchering, fishing and all other elemental food preparation, but he must have been intrigued by the word, or the joint, to have felt it worthy of explanation.

My theories: Maybe it was a local dialect word - but then, it would have been familiar to Woodforde, and it would appear in old dialect dictionaries.  Animal carcasses were cut up in different ways in different regions, but the community was very stable, and it is hardly likely that an out-of-town butcher would have done the job – and in any case, the word should still show up in dictionaries. I am out of theories. Please send in yours.

The second word-puzzle was recent, but easily solved. Have you heard of a ‘Bashaw’?

Here is a recipe from Cre-Fydd’s Family Fare (London, 1864).

Bashaws Of Lobster.

Have a very large fresh-boiled hen lobster, split it down the back, take out the meat and mince it quite small; season with three grains of cayenne, a saltspoonful of white pepper, the eighth part of a nutmeg, grated, half a saltspoonful of salt, and two ounces of dissolved butter. Season three ounces of fine crumbs of bread with a quarter of a saltspoonful of salt, the same of white pepper, and the tenth part of a nutmeg, grated. Take off the small claws; wipe out the four quarters of the shell; spread over each a dessertspoonful of the crumbs, and put in the fourth part of the lobster; cover closely with the crumbs. Baste the four bashaws with three ounces of dissolved butter, and bake in a quick oven for ten or twelve minutes. If not nicely coloured, pass a red-hot salamander over the top. Serve in the shells, placed on a neatly folded napkin.

The OED gives bashaw as a form of pasha, the title of a Turkish ruler. I am not able to see a Turkish connection in the recipe however, are you?

To the King’s Displeasure.

In 1604,  James I of England signed a long, long list of ordinances “for the governing and ordering of the King’s Household.”  The intention was to “abate the dayly Charge and Expense of our Household.”  

One of the ways this reduction in expense was to be achieved was to reduce the Bouge (or Bouche) of the Court (meal allowance) for staff and officers of the court, and in some cases to substitute with board-wages. Allowances were already strictly hierarchical, so that more important and senior staff had more dishes to their mess. Alterations were made to the allowances for everyone from the servants in the wood-yard to the King’s physicians and apothecary. The Second Clerk of the Kitchen, for example, was reduced from 2 messes of five dishes each to three dishes at a meal, with a board-wage added.

An important way to contain expense of course was to reduce the amount of pilfering and embezzling that went on – no small feat in a huge household with much purchasing and delivering and general coming-and-going. The cook was singled out for special notice in that regard!

AND furthermore, whereas the Master Cooke for Our Selfe, and Our deare Wife the Queene's Majestie, having an honorable allowance of Diett, doe presume, contrary to all auncient and good Orders, and to the dishonour of Our Service, to take rawe Meate out of Dishes in nature of their Assaies, some quantity of all kindes of Provisions contained in the said Dishes, by which the danger of Our Person can in no sort be prevented, notwithstanding under colour and pretence of the same, this evill Custome hath crept in and been continued onely in the time of Our late deare Sister the Queene; our pleasure and will therefore is, that Our Diett in all sortes be daily served for Us by Our Cookes out of Our Kitchens, in as large and ample manner as they receive the fame into their handes, upon paine of Our grievous displeasure; and that they take not Say of any Dish, but at the Dresser, which is to be given them by Our Sewer [Server], either by cutting off a peece of Meate and giveing our said Cooke to eate, or by giveing a peece of Bread, touching all Meates, as to the discretion of the Sewer it shall from time to time seeme fitting.

I give you, as the recipe for the day, a posh little dish, quite suitable for a King, from a cookbook of the era:

A NEVV BOOKE of Cookerie. VVherein is set forth the newest and most commendable Fashion for Dressing or Sowcing, eyther Flesh, Fish, or Fowle. Together with making of all sorts of Iellyes, and other made-Dishes for seruice; both to beautifie and adorne eyther Nobleman or Gentlemans Table. Hereunto also is added the most exquisiteLondon Cookerie. All set forth according to the now, new, English and French fashion. Set forth by the obseruation of a Traueller, by John Murrell, published in 1615.

To boyle a Capon Larded with Lemons, on the French fashion.

Scald your Capon, and take a little dusty Oatmeale to make it boile white. Then take two

or three ladlefuls of Mutton broth, a Fagot of sweet Hearbes, two or three Dates, cut in long pieces, a few parboyld Currins [currants], a little whole Pepper, a piece of whole Mace, and one Nutmeg. Thicken it with Almonds. Season it with Uergis [Verjuice], Sugar, and a little sweet

Butter. Then take vp your Capon, and larde it very thicke with a preserued Lemmon. Then lay your Capon in a deepe Meat-dish for boyld meates, and poure the broth vpon it. Garnish

your Dish with Suckets [sweetmeats] and preserued Barberries.

A Menu for the Day, and the Servants.

Life was not easy for the new wife in the Victorian era, if one was from the middle class. There was the sudden necessity to be Mistress of the Household and to manage recalcitrant, lazy, thieving, and just plain intimidating staff, for starters - and to do it within the household budget allotted by one’s hopefully loving, but inevitably stern, Husband, all the while producing for him a steady stream of children.

Luckily, there were plenty of authors and publishers willing to come to the rescue. A plethora of cookery and household management books hit the shelves in the second half of the century and a little beyond. One of my favourites of these is Cre-Fydd's Family Fare: The Young Housewife's Daily Assistant on All Matters Relating to Cookery and Housekeeping, published in London in 1864.

Before I give you some of the insights from the book, I want to give you one of its puzzles. The name, or word ‘Cre-Fydd’ is a mystery to me. It appears to be a pseudonym, but I have not been able to find out the real name of the author. The word spelled without the hyphen means ‘religion’ in Welsh. I have no idea what this means, so if you do, please let us know!

Now, to the book. The author’s preface is suitably reassuring to the nervous young housewife:

Let any young housewife in moderate circumstances (and we cannot all afford to invoke the shade of Ude, or have Francatelli at our elbow) answer whether, when she has put the newly-purchased cookery-book into the hands of her cook, she has not been ultimately disappointed. Not from excessive fastidiousness on her part, or from the want of goodwill in the cook, but because, in the majority of instances, the receipts and directions are only suited to those cooks who are well informed, and have had considerable .They are often the result of theoretical ingenuity, or the productions of those who know, but who cannot impart their knowledge to the uninformed. Theory and practice must be combined; and that combination put forth in such language, that while the lady will not object to read, the cook will be able to understand. The Authoress of the present work has, from various motives, sought opportunities, and from peculiar circumstances found them, of acquiring the receipts it contains. They are not all new to the Public, though many of them are, but they have all this recommendation — that they have been tested, and served on the table of the Authoress, under her direct supervision. Those dishes have passed the ordeal of fastidious and almost morbidly critical palates, and have come forth with approval. The materials suggested are reasonably economical, the quantities exact, and the directions plain. The words 'reasonably economical' are used advisedly, as it would be insulting to the understanding of sensible persons to state that inferior materials can be formed into superior dishes. In addition to the receipts on cookery, the Authoress has introduced a variety of other receipts and suggestions for the management of a house and servants. With regard to servants, it may be observed that many of them would be much better for the gentle but firm directions of a kind mistress. Experienced and skillful servants need no direction; but such are not always to be found; and when found, the rate of wages required by them would not be suitable to persons with a moderate income. A mistress, under such circumstances, if she would have a comfortable establishment, must be able, in some degree, to instruct her servants; without this, it is impossible that they, who have but little experience, can know the wants incident to a respectable family.

The necessity of doing what she advises, has been forced on the Authoress during a long life of much experience.

In order to moderate, in some degree, the difficulty of managing a household, these suggestions are made. If the Authoress has aided the young housewife, and smoothed the way in the difficulties of housekeeping, and in that essential to health and comfort, good cooking, her object has been attained.

It will be observed that the quantity of every ingredient used is carefully given, as well as the exact time required in cooking. Each receipt is perfect in itself, for it is found that reference to other receipts is, to the inexperienced, extremely perplexing. French terms are avoided.

It is right to add that the whole of the receipts have been successfully used, with the simple aid of an ordinary range, and the usual appliances found in the kitchen of a small establishment.

The author includes suggested menus for every day of the year for breakfast and dinner, as well as for ‘the kitchen’ – that is, the servants. For today, the menu is:

MARCH 12

BREAKFAST.

Potted shrimps, broiled ham, fried eggs, hot cake, honey.

DINNER.

Fillets of sole, with sweet herbs.

Irish stew, roast pigeons, sprouts.

Ground rice souffle.  Cheese, &c.

KITCHEN.

Meat pudding, potatoes.

Naturally, the author gives recipes for the dishes suggested. For your breakfast delight, I give you her recipe for Potted Shrimps.

Potted Shrimps.

Take off the shells of two quarts of fresh-boiled shrimps ; season with the sixth part of a nutmeg, grated, two grains of cayenne, a saltspoonful of white pepper, and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, dissolved. Press the shrimps into pots or a small pie-dish; pour over the top two ounces of dissolved butter. When firm they are fit for use. Another way, and sometimes preferred, is to pound the shrimps to a paste, add the seasoning, and finish as directed.

Making Pastry.

I revisited an old favourite the other day, and it occurred to me that I have not shared it with you in any previous posts. It is well-known to any half-serious food historian, but good stuff bears repeating, Yes? It is Gervase Markham’s The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman, which was published in 1615. The section I keep returning to refers to pastry making.

In Markham’s time, pastry ‘coffins’ functioned as baking containers (no shaped metal dishes until the Industrial Revolution), and would keep the contents eatable for a long time so long as the shell was not breached by cracking or becoming damp. A housewife had to have quite a repertoire of pastry types and shapes to accommodate different requirements –  how big did it need to be, what were the contents, was the pie to be eaten hot or cold, was it to be kept long?

Markham explains what is needed:

Next to these already rehearsed, our English House-wife must be skilful in Pastry, and know how and in what manner to baked all sorts of meat, and what Paste is fit for every meat, and how to handle and compound such Pastes. As for example,Red Deer,Venison, Wild Boar, Gammons of Bacon, Swans, Elkes, Porpus and  suchlike standing dishes, which must be kept long, would be bak't in a moyst, thick, tough, course, and long lasting crust, and therefore of all other, your Rye paste is best for that purpose; your Turkey, Capon, Pheasant, Partridge, Veal, Peacocks, Lamb, and all sorts of Water-Fowl, which are to come to the Table more than once, (yet not many dayes) would be bak't  in a good white-crust, somewhat thick:  therefore your Wheat is fit for them; your Chickens, Calves-feet, Olives, Potatoes, Quinces, Fallow Deer,and such like  which are most commonly eaten hot, would be in the finest, shortest,and thinnest crust, therefore your fine Wheat-flower, which is a little baked in the Oven before it be kneaded is the best for that purpose.

To speak then of the mixture and kneading of Pastes, you shall understand, that your Rye-paste would be kneaded onely with hot water, and a little Butter, or sweet Seam, and Rye-flower very finely sifted; and it would be made tough and stiffe, that it may stand well in the rising, for the Coffin thereof must ever be very deep; your course Wheat-crust should be kneaded with hot water, or Mutton broth, and good store of Butter, and the paste made stiffe and tough, because that Coffin  mull be deep also: your fine Wheat crust must be kneaded with as much butter as water, and the paste made reasonable light and gentle, into which you must put three or four eggs or more, according to the quantity you blend together, for they will give it a sufficient stiffening.

Of Puffe pasts. Now for the making of puff-paste of the best kind, you shall  take the finest Wheat flower after it hath been a little bak't [dried] in a pot in the Oven, and blend it well with eggs, whites and yelks all together, and after the paste is well kneaded, roul out a part thereof as thin as you please, and then spread cold sweet butter over the same; then upon the same butter roul  another lets of the paste as before, and spread it with butter also; and thus roul leaf upon leaf with butter between ill it be as thick as you think good: and with it either cover any bak't meat, or make paste for Venison, Florentine, Tart, or what dish else you please, and so bake it.  There be some that to this paste use Sugar, but it is certain, it will hinder the rising thereof, and therefore, when your puff-paste is bak't, you shall dissolve Sugar into Rose-Water, and drop it into the paste as much as it will by any means, receive, and then set it a little while in the Oven after, and it will be sweet enough.

“Description of an Indian dish called ‘Caril.’”

I am enjoying this historical travelling: we have visited Lapland in the eighteenth century and Siberia in the nineteenth century this week. Today we are going to early seventeenth century India.

Pietro della Valle was a young Italian nobleman who set off from Venice in 1614 on an eleven year journey to the East. In 1615, in Turkey, he was most intrigued by a black beverage called cahue - which we now call coffee - at that time “unknown in my native country.” By 1623 he was in India. Few Europeans had visited India at that time, so his descriptions of the food there are particularly fascinating.

In December of that year he was in Mangalore, a port on the Arabian sea in the Tulu Nadu region. I have taken the following story from The Travels of Pietro della Valle in India: from the old English translation of 1664 (1892)

The Queen of Olala's Son, who, though he govern not, (for the Mother administers all alone, and will do so as long as she lives) yet for honor’s sake is styled King, … sent for the Brachman, my Interpreter, in the Morning, … bid him bring me to him when my convenience serv'd; for he was very desirous to see me and speak with me. This Message being related to me, I let pass the hour of dinner, (because, having no appetite, and finding my stomack heavy, I would not dine this day) and, when it seem'd a convenient time … He earnestly desir’d of me that I would stay awhile till some meat were prepar’d for me; for by all means he would have me eat something in his House …

…. The meat was not long in preparing, and, it being now in order, the King call’d for me again to enter into the room where it stood ready …   where they had prepared a little square board of the bigness of an ordinary stool, which might serve for a single person, but raised no more than four fingers above the ground ; upon this I sat down, crossing my Legs one over the other; and that little elevation helped me to keep them out from under me, with such decency as I desired. Right before the seat, upon the bare floor, (the Indians not using any Tables) they had spread, instead of a dish, (as their custom is, especially with us Christians, with whom they will not defile their own vessels ; it not being lawful for them ever to eat again in those wherein we have eaten) a great Leaf of that Tree which the Arabians and Persians call Mouza [Musa: the plantain or banana] the Portugals in India Fichi d’India, Indian Fig-trees; and upon the said Leaf they had lay'd a good quantity of Rice, boyl'd, after their manner, onely with water and salt ; but for sauce to it there stood on one side a little vessel made of Palm- eaves, full of very good butter melted. There lay also upon another Leaf one of those Indian Figgs, clean and pared ; and hard by it a quantity of a certain red herb, commonly eaten in India, and call’d by the Portugals Brèdo, [perhaps the tomato?] (which yet is the general appellation of all sort of herbs). In another place lay several fruits us’d by them, and, amongst the rest, slices of the Bambù or great Indian Cane; all of them preserved in no bad manner, which they call Acciaò [Achar]besides one sort pickled with Vinegar, as our Olives are. Bread there was none, because they use none, but the Rice is instead of it; which was no great defect to me, because I am now accustom'd to do without it, and eat very little. The King very earnestly pray'd me to eat, excusing himself often that he gave me so small an entertainment on the sudden; for if he had known my coming beforehand he would have prepared many Carìls and divers other more pleasing meats.

Carìl is a name which in India they give to certain Broths made with Butter, the Pulp of Indian Nuts, [coconuts] instead of which in our Countries Almond Milk may be us'd, being equally good and of the same virtue) and all sorts of Spices, particularly Cardamoms and Ginger, (which we use but little) besides herbs, fruits and a thousand other condiments. The Christians, who eat everything, add Flesh, or Fish, of all sorts, especially Hens, or Chickens, cut in small pieces, sometimes Eggs, which, without doubt, make it more savory: with all which things is made a kind of Broth, like our Guazetti or Pottages, and it may be made in many several ways ; this Broth, with all the abovesaid  ingredients, is afterwards poured in good quantity upon the boyled Rice, whereby is made a well-tasted mixture, of much substance and light digestion, as also with very little pains; for it is quickly boyled, and serves both for meat and bread together. I found it very good for me, and used it often, as also the Pilào elsewhere spoken of, and made of Rice and butter boyled with it and flesh fryed therein, besides a thousand other preparations of several sorts which are so common to everybody in Asia; and I account it one of the best and wholesomest meats that can be eaten in the world, without so many Artificial Inventions as our guttlings of Europe (withall procuring to themselves a thousand infirmities of Gouts, Catarrhs and other Maladies, little known to the Orientals) daily devise to the publick damage.

But to return to my Relation, the King told me he would have given me a better entertainment, but yet desired me to receive this small extemporary one, and eat without any respect, or shyness of those that were present; for thereby he should understand that I liked it. I answer'd that the Favour and Courtesie which his Highness shewed me was sufficient : but as for eating, the time being now past, I did it onely to obey him; and so, to comply with him, although I had little will to eat, I tasted lightly here and there of those fruits and herbs, wherewith my Hand was a little soiled, which upon occasion I wiped with my handkerchief, being they use no other Table-linnen, nor had any laid for me. The King, seeing that I touched not the Rice, spoke to me several times to eat of it, and to pour upon it some of that butter which stood by it prepared. I did not, because I would not grease myself, there being no Spoon; for the Indians eat every thing with the Hand alone and so do the Portugals …

As our recipe for the day I want to consider Achar. The Oxford English Dictionary defines Achar as “In South Asian cookery: a type of pickle or relish made from fruit or vegetables preserved in spiced oil or vinegar.” The word has been used in English since at least the late sixteenth century, and it covers a very wide range of pickles. I give you two recipes from A New System Of Domestic Cookery (1842) by Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell.

Acha.

Half a large Spanish onion, four capsicums, as much salt and lemon-juice as may be agreeable to the palate, all pounded together in a mortar.

Fish Acha.

Boil a piece of salt fish, cut an onion and some capsicums in pieces, pound them well together, and add a little vinegar.

Sustenance in Siberia.

It was interesting, I thought, visiting Lapland with the Swedish botanist Carl von Linné, in the early eighteenth century. Today I want to take you to Siberia with a German guide, in the mid-nineteenth century. Naturally we will focus on the food.

Our source is Travels in Siberia: including excursions northwards, down the Obi, to the Polar Circle, and southwards, to the Chinese frontier (1848) by Adolph Erman. We join our guide in Tobolsk, the original capital of Siberia.

The chief attention of the inhabitants of Tobolsk is devoted to sustenance and to warmth: it must not, therefore, be thought extraordinary if, in a description of that town, the subjects of food and clothing be much enlarged on, as on the choice and mode of procuring these depends many a peculiarity of the land and its inhabitants.

At the feasts which our friends in Tobolsk gave on several occasions, either, as was generally the case, by way of religious celebrations, or else to commemorate some public or private event, the direct influence of the church upon the kitchen was very manifest; for, in order to represent the superstitious meat, or pirog (from pir, a festival), exactly according to the dietetic prescriptions generally accepted, the most curious variety of vegetable and animal ingredients were inclosed in dough, of different degrees of fineness. The correct and orthodox preparation of this chief viand seemed to satisfy the consciences of the faithful, and they did not stickle much about the other dishes, of which, indeed, they ate less. Along with the usual berry wines, good European wines, also, are generally to be had here, of which the stronger, and consequently the most easily preserved from the frost, are brought here on sledges, and so undergo much less enhancement of price than other liquors liable to congelation.

The resources for the table furnished by the trade with Southern Asia, are, from long usage, become so indispensable, that they are looked upon as if they were the produce of the country. The most important of all is tea, — a comfort which no townsman is willing to relinquish. … tea is taken at least twice a day; and in summer, as well as winter, the family assemble at certain hours for that purpose. Among the middle classes, the family and servants take tea together. Otherwise, there is sure to be a samavar in the izba, or servants' apartment. In the evenings, and on festive occasions, conserves of various kinds are served with the tea, after the Chinese fashion. In the first place, there is the nut of the stone pine or Cembro nut, a Siberian production; then a great number of fruits from Southern Russia in Europe, prepared in Chinese sugar (ledinez, icelike, from lied, ice), and which are carried here, under the name of Varenia (confection), in the course of a very active and constant trade. The fruits of Bokhara as, for example, the Uruk, are here dressed as vegetables.

… In the spacious market-place before our dwelling, was to be seen every morning a numerous assemblage of the inhabitants of the adjoining country. There were Russian peasants, and, less frequently, Tatars, who supplied the town with the productions of the soil. The waggons, laden with hay and wood for fuel, were now the most numerous. At this time of the year, kitchen vegetables are rarely brought to market; and a good stock of fermented cabbage (sowerkrout) is to the townspeople indispensable. The pickling of vegetables and fruits does not seem to be very usual here; and it is only on feast-days and great occasions, or at the tables of the rich, that one sees, besides kale, a few other vegetables which are kept from the summer in cold cellars. The most esteemed of these is a very aromatic, yellow, conical root, measuring four or five inches in its greatest diameter. It is seldom that even beef is brought into the town at this season; but every one has either a sufficient stock of it already, or else he buys it of the flesh-dealers in the Gostinoi dvor, or bazaar, who obtain by barter in summer from the inhabitants of the southern government, and especially from the Kirgis, whole herds of cattle, the flesh of which they store in ice cellars. Every household is well provided with corn for the preparation of Quas; and in a particular division of the bazaar, flour is the staple article of a constant trade.

Sadly, I was unable to find an authentic Siberian cookery book, so am unable to give you an authentic Siberian recipe.

What else could I give you than a genuine Victorian Siberian Punch? There are many things that go by the name of Siberian Punch, but the example below is suitably snowy. The rather abrupt and unannounced addition of fruit at the end is an demonstration of the fact that recipe-writing is an inexact science.

Siberian Punch.

1 quart thick cream

½ pint white of eggs beaten

½ tablespoon cornstarch

½ pint fine sugar

⅔ cup best brandy

Let cream come to boiling point. Mix eggs, sugar, corn starch together, then stir slowly in boiling cream, until cooked, let cool, add brandy when partly frozen and candied fruit.

The Federation Cook Book: A Collection of Recipes by the Colored Women of California (1910)

Things to do with Barley.

The other day I gave you a little story on orgeat and I thank those of you who have emailed or commented on the story so far. I plan on a follow-up sometime soon, as the barley and almond elements of the orgeat story become clearer.

In the meanwhile, I think barley needs a little more time in the limelight. Barley is usually seen as a rather dull, second class grain, doesn’t it? It is useful to thicken soups or to add to bread when wheat is scarce, but isn’t likely to star. I did, however, have a marvelous duck dish recently, the duck served on a bed of pearl barley that was so good it almost distracted me from the duck, which, believe me, is quite an achievement.

I give you, to start with, some unglamorous but not uninteresting recipes using barley from World War I. I found them in The Times  of Saturday, Feb 10, 1917, amongst some other utilitarian ideas in an article headed:

FOOD RATIONS

BARLEY AND OATMEAL RECIPES.

Weekly allowance per head:

BREAD: 4 lb. (or 3 lb.Flour for breadmaking)

MEAT: 2 ½ lb.

SUGAR: ¾ lb.                       

The following are some of the recipes which have been tried since the suggestion of voluntary rations and have passed the tests of the cooks and the patrons of the school restaurant at the Borough Polytechnic.

Barley Pudding.

One quart of milk, a small piece of lemon rind, a gill of barley, a tablespoon of white sugar.

Stew the barley and lemon rind very slowly in the milk for four hours or more. Do not stir, and be very careful not to allow to burn. Add the sugar lastly, and remove the lemon rind. Pour into a dish, and serve.

Barley Custard.

About half a pint of barley cooked as above, 2 oz. chopped dates, one egg, ½ oz margarine.

Beat the egg and mix all together, Pour into a buttered mould and steam for three-quarters of an hour.

Barley Rolls.

I lb. flour, 1 lb. barley meal, 1 oz yeast, 1 pint tepid milk and water, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix flour and barley; make a cream of yeast and sugar; pour into a well into the flour, add milk and water, and mix into a dough; knead for 5 minutes; put in a bowl and leave for two hours to rise; work up again for 5 minutes and cut and form into small rolls. Allow them to “prove” (rise) for almost an hour. Then bake in a quick oven.

Barley Scones.

½ lb barley meal, 3 oz. white flour, 1 oz. butter or lard, 1 ½ teaspoonfuls baking powder, a pinch of salt. Mix flour and meal, rub in butter, add baking powder and salt. Mix with a knife to a soft dough with about half a pint of milk, work it lightly into a ball on a baking board, then pat it out to about half an inch thick and bake on a girdle.

The Many uses of Milk.

The snippet of insight into the eating habits of the early eighteenth century Laplander in yesterday’s post intrigued several of you, so I thought to add a little more today. The author of our source, the famous botanist Carl Linné, wrote of his experiences during his tour in Lapland in 1732. The following extract seems to refer specifically to the region of Västerbotten, which I understand is not technically ‘Lapland’, but does border that province. Many of the products are mentioned at several places in his journal.

The use of milk among the inhabitants of Westbothnia is very great; and the following are the various forms in which it serves them for food:

1. Fresh, of which a great deal is taken in the course of the day.

2. Fresh boiled.

3. Fresh boiled, and coagulated with beer, which is called ölost.

4. Sour milk, deprived of its cream, and capable of being cut.

5, Sour milk eaten with its cream.

6. Butter, made, as usual, of cream shaken till its oily part separates and floats.

7- Butter-milk, what remains after the butter is made.

8. Cheese, made of fresh milk heated, coagulated with calves' rennet, then deprived of its whey and dried.

9. This whey being boiled, the scum which rises is repeatedly collected, and called walle. 

10. The remaining whey is used instead of milk or water in making bread.

11. The same fluid kept for a long time till it becomes viscid, is preserved through the winter, and called syra.

12. The whey of cheese boiled to a thick consistence is denominated mesosmör, and with meal is added to the preceding.

13. S tost, or Sweet Cheese, is made of fresh milk boiled till it is partly wasted, and the remainder, of the thickness of pap or gruel, is eaten fresh.

14. Mjölost, Meal Cheese, is milk coagulated with rennet, mixed with meal, and boiled.

15. Tatmjölk, is fresh milk poured on leaves of Butterwort, Pinguecula, as already mentioned.

16. Servet milk. See Aug. 10.

17. Gös-mjölk. See Aug. 10.

18. Lapmjölk, is milk mixed with sorrel leaves, (R. Acetosa,) and preserved till winter in the stomach of a reindeer, or some other animal.

19. The milk of the reindeer is placed in a cellar to prevent its quickly turning sour, inorder to obtain the more cream; if it freezes, they thaw it again.

Later, in his journal entries written in East Bothnia, Linné describes how of some of these milk products are made.

In East Bothnia, as well as in Medelpad, it is customary to have the dairy superintended by a superior female servant, called the fäbodar, who receives for each cow one pound of butter and one of cheese, besides a pound of mesosmör.

To obtain a greater quantity of butter, the milk is set by, either in a cellar or in a double-walled house, to be kept as cold as possible, for at least two days, or- so long as that it will not stick to the finger. The milk will not turn sour, but will become very thin and blue, while the cream collects on the top, of considerable thickness and in great perfection. The cream being taken off, and put into the churn, often proves so rich, that after it has been churned but a short time, if the churn be laid on one side nothing will run out. It is no small labour to churn such cream.

Of the remaining milk cheese is made, being warmed before it is coagulated. If the milk has begun to turn sour, it will not do for this purpose. Such thin milk as this is not very fit for eating, but the whey which separates from it in the making of cheese, is by some people made into syra. This is done merely by putting it, when cool, into a vessel or cask, when, if set by for a considerable time, it will become extremely tough. Most usually however it is boiled, and then kept for two, or three days, when, some new milk being added, it is boiled up again to the consistence of flummery, and then set by in some kind of vessel. If it remains for a long while without being touched, it grows hard, and becomes mesosmör. The blue milk above mentioned may be boiled like fresh milk, and does not readily turn sour.

Gos-mjölk, or rather Gäs-mjölk, (from the Swedish verb gäsa, to work or ferment,) is made as follows. The butter-milk is set by in a tub till it begins to ferment, when about a third or fourth part of the quantity of fresh milk is added, the whole being allowed to work once more. A serum by this time is formed at the bottom, which is drawn off by means of a cock or tap, in the bottom of the tub, and used immediately for food. A similar portion of fresh milk is then put to the remainder, when more whey is, in due time, deposited. This practice is repeated from time to time for the space of a fortnight, at the end of which the milk in the tub becomes of a thick consistence, and is excellent eating.

Servet-mjölk (Napkin Milk) is made by taking a quantity of sour milk just beginning to ferment, when bubbles, like hydatids as it were, are formed between the cream and the milk. This is cut across in various directions, and the thicker substance taken off and hung up in a napkin, that the liquid part may drain away. What remains in the napkin acquires a firm consistence, and is eaten along with fresh sweet cream.

A Laplander’s Wedding Feast.

I don’t believe I have ever given you a story about Lapland before, but thanks to Carl von Linné, the  Swedish botanist, I can now do that. Linné received a grant from the Royal Society of Uppsala, to travel to Lapland in 1732 and record as much of the plant and animal life as possible, there being very little record of them. He also recorded some of the human cultural activities along the way.

In the following extract from A Tour to Lapland, Linné describes some of the features of the wedding arrangements and food at a Lapland wedding.

When such pecuniary matters are finally arranged, the father and mother of the bridegroom present him and his bride with a cup of brandy, … the parents of the bridegroom next partake of some brandy, and the whole stock of that liquor which they had brought with them is fetched for the company.

All the relations of the bridegroom then come forward with their provisions, which generally consist of several cheeses, and a piece of meat dried and salted. The latter is roasted before the fire, while the company is, in the meanwhile, regaled with some of the solid preparations of milk, the bride and bridegroom eating by themselves, apart from the rest.

Two stewards are next chosen, one of them from the bride's party, the other from that of the bridegroom. The last-mentioned party are then required to furnish a quantity of raw meat, amounting to about a pound  and half to each person. This the stewards immediately set about boiling, and their duty moreover is to serve it round to all present.

This meat is dressed in several separate pots, two only in each hut, if there be any neighbours whose huts can serve to accommodate the party on this occasion; for each Laplander has never more than one hut of his own. The fat part of the broth is first served up in basons. Afterwards ariovus petticoats or blankets, of walmal cloth, are spread on the floor, by way of a table-cloth, on which the boiled meat is placed. The chief persons of the company then, as many as can find room, take their places in the hut of the bride's family, sitting down round the provision, while the children and inferiors are accommodated in the neighbouring huts. Grace is then said. The bride and bridegroom are placed near together, for the most part close to the door, or place of entrance. They are always helped to the best of the provision. The company then serve themselves, taking their meat on the points of their knives, and dipping each morsel into some of the fat broth, in which the whole has been boiled, before they put it into their mouths. Numbers of people assemble from the neighbourhood, to look in upon the company through the door; and as they expect to share in the feast, the stewards give them two or three bits of meat, according as they respect them more or less. What remains after everybody is satisfied, is put together, and wrapped up in the blankets or cloths, that part of it which is left by the new-married couple being kept separate from the rest, as no other person is allowed to partake of their share. The dinner being over, the whole company shake hands and return thanks for their entertainment. They always shake hands with the bride and bridegroom in the first place, and then with the rest, saying at the same time kusslăn. After taking some brandy, the whole party go to bed.

Reindeer.

Reindeer, which is brought into the States from Alaska, is not an uncommon meat in the West. It should be hung at least two weeks before being cooked, otherwise it will be very tough. The meat is very good, and easily prepared. Salt and pepper the chops, roll in salad oil, and broil; or fry in frying pan, in the same manner as any other kind of chop or steak. Serve with Maître d’Hôtel or some other fancy meat sauce.

Sunset All-Western Cook Book, 1933

Something to do with Barley.

It was brought to my attention yesterday that in spite of saying that the almond-drink orgeat was originally based on barley, I did not include a recipe for barley-orgeat.  This does indeed seem a silly oversight, but I can only plead the encroaching deadline for my Food History Almanac.

I should, of course, give you a recipe first for good old barley-water, a staple and refreshing beverage in times not too long gone. Here are some comprehensive instructions, with ideas for flavouring the basic version, and some indications for its medicinal use (not recommended today.)

Barley Water.

Scotch or pearl barley may be used. Wash, or boil up, as for barley gruel; to a quart of water, barley two ounces. Simmer till of an agreeable thickness, and strain. Boil the barley up again, and it will make a pint more. This is a very cooling drink. It is also a pleaseant thing to take medicine in. Lemon juice and peel, raisins, figs, liquorice root, sugar, honey, and gum Arabic, with these additions it is often used either for complaints of the chest, confined bowels, or strangury; or powdered nitre a drachm to a quart, is often found good for fever. (Merely for a drink, put sugar and lemon peel.) Rub up the nitre with honey or sugar, mix it with a little barley water, and then pour it on the whole quantity in a boiling state. Stir well together.

The Complete Cook, (1846) by J. Sanderson.

Sanderson does have a recipe for orgeat which is not a syrup, but a ready-to-drink beverage. It is based on milk flavoured with cinnamon and rose-water and spiked with brandy, so I can forgive it for not containing barley.

Orgeat.

Boil a quart of new milk with a stick of cinnamon. Put to it two ounces of loaf-sugar, and let it cool. Blanch and beat to a paste, with a little rose water, three ounces of sweet almonds and two bitter. Stir them to the milk; boil it up again, and continue stirring till cold. Then add half a glass of brandy.

It is proving more difficult than I thought to find a recipe for orgeat with barley. Perhaps the use of barley was discontinued a long time ago, before there were too many written recipes? Perhaps I should not give up after ten minutes research? Perhaps I should get back to The Book?

Things to do with Almonds.

I did meet someone once who didn’t like chocolate, but I don’t think I have ever met someone who doesn’t like almonds, although no doubt there is such a person. It was musing on orgeat that made me realize that I seem to have neglected this almost universally liked nut. I want to address this today, and I may as well start with my muse.

Orgeat is a sweet almond drink which in the past was commonly based on barley. The word itself comes from the old Occitan (Southern France) word orge for barley, and in fact, a supporting quotation from the Oxford English Dictionary suggests that a particular sort of barley may have been used:

a1500   in Englische Studien (1885) 8 281   Item, do gete you ayenst hete sum fyne sugre roset in burneys or in close bagges of lethere, a busshell of clene barly for tysayne, with half a busshell of orgeate.

Orgeat was enormously popular in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in England, and the Italian version orzata is still much enjoyed in that country.  Orange flower water was a common addition, and the base, as mentioned, was originally barley, but seeds such as melon and pumpkin were also used. Orgeat could be made ready for drinking, but was often made in the form of a sugar syrup, or a simple paste of ground almonds and sugar, and either of these were added to water or milk to make a refreshing beverage, or to an alcoholic mix to make a cocktail. It also of course was used medicinally, as you will see below, in the selection of recipes.

To Make Orzat.

Take half a dozen sweet Almonds and as many bitter ones, and four Ounces of Melon Seeds cleans’d; beat these in a Mortar, ‘till it is reduced to a Pastt, sprinkling it now and then with a few Drops of Water, that it may not oil. When they are thoroughly pounded put in a pound of Sugar, and beat that with your Paste, then put the Paste into a Gallon of Water and let it steep; then put in a coupld of Spoonfuls of Orange Flower-Water, and strain it through a Bag, pressing the gross Substance very hard. Put also a Glass of new Milk into the Bag, then put the Liquor into Bottles, and set it by to cool.

The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary (1723) by John Nott

Orgeat Paste.

Pound the almonds as directed for orgeat, with a little orange-flower water; and when it is very fine, work it with as much weight of pounded sugar; it will keep a long while, and by this means you have orgeat ready much  sooner, by dissolving about an ounce of this past in the proportion of half a pint of water,  and then sifting it for use.

The Professed Cook (1812) by B.Clermont.

Orgeat.

Beat two ounces of almonds with a tea-spoonful of orange flower water, and a bitter almond or two; then pour a quart of milk and water to the paste. Sweeten with sugar, or capillaire. This is a fine drink for those who have a tender chest; and in the gout it is highly useful, and with the addition of half an ounce of gum arabic, has been found to allay the painfulness of the attendant heat. Half a glass of brandy may be added if thought too cooling in the latter complaints, and the glass of orgeat may be put into a basin of warm water.

A New System of Domestic Cookery, (1815) by Maria Rundell.