tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post4174754413848076023..comments2024-03-28T12:23:06.497-07:00Comments on Food History Jottings: A Swan Supper on the ThamesIvan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-14982184738589073892022-07-15T16:28:31.188-07:002022-07-15T16:28:31.188-07:00In many different businesses, hemp can give a chea...In many different businesses, hemp can give a cheaper option in contrast to numerous materials, including those that are not effectively sustainable (like trees). Click here <a href="https://bulkweedinbox.cc/product/lindsay-og/" rel="nofollow">Lindsay OG Strain</a><br />Weedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08327882822845675892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-31509996351139301192013-11-12T10:38:22.034-08:002013-11-12T10:38:22.034-08:00Dear Caroline,
Nice detective work! Thank you for...Dear Caroline,<br /><br />Nice detective work! Thank you for this. The cutting has always been a mystery. 'La cuisinere de la campagne et de la ville' looks like an interesting book. best regards<br /><br />IvanIvan Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-86545864716989361722013-11-12T10:01:50.973-08:002013-11-12T10:01:50.973-08:00Hi,
I realise that this might not be of much use ...Hi,<br /><br />I realise that this might not be of much use as this is an old post but I found the source for the French cutting. It comes from 'La cuisinere de la campagne et de la ville'. The two other 'surprises' mentioned at the end of the cutting are also worth reading, although I wouldn't attempt the first one. A digital copy is available on the website from the Bibliothèque National de France: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k54008652/f60.image.r=La%20cuisinière%20de%20la%20campagne%20et%20de%20la%20ville.langENAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08427025053742589551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-44950994409940841382013-08-26T07:00:23.614-07:002013-08-26T07:00:23.614-07:00Michael,
I have never seen a royal Christmas menu...Michael,<br /><br />I have never seen a royal Christmas menu from the 1840s. I have a print of the Windsor Castle game larder in 1857 at Christmas which shows a lot of birds hanging up, including a peacock, but not a swan as far as I can see. You can see this image on this posting - http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/eat-entire-creation-if-you-will.html<br /><br />In the later royal Christmas menus from Osborne House, the sideboard is alway dressed with a raised (Christmas) pie, a collared brawn, a boar's head, a woodcock pie (a gift from Ireland) and a baron of beef. Because there was not a large roasting range at Osborne House, which is on the Isle of Wight, the baron (always served as a cold cut) was roasted at Windsor and sent by train and yacht to Osborne. There is a marvellous photograph album at Osborne which has an image of the 1888 Christmas sideboard with all these dishes displayed on it. Ivan Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-20835779816371199212013-08-24T22:59:22.932-07:002013-08-24T22:59:22.932-07:00All over the net--almost as an urban legend--is th...All over the net--almost as an urban legend--is the claim that Queen Victoria's Christmas table in the 1840s included roast swan. I have no reason to doubt it, but I would like to see an authentic menu from that period, just to confirm and to see what else was served.<br /><br />The many authentic royal Christmas menus that are available online--all from later in the 19th century--have a remarkable sameness to them. I'm curious what those earlier menus really looked like.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-48192182259093090942013-08-24T22:46:04.845-07:002013-08-24T22:46:04.845-07:00The paper "They Dined on Crane" by Umber...The paper "They Dined on Crane" by Umberto Albarella and Richard Thomas is a fascinating examination of the archaeological evidence for the consumption of wild birds in medieval England. In general, consumption of great numbers of wild birds was the norm, just as the written sources would have us believe, although the practice was largely confined to high-status sites, unsurprisingly. Notably, consumption of swan increased as the Middle Ages progressed. <br /><br />Tundra swans are legal game in a few parts of the United States for a short season, and swan hunting is popular among some people. They say the mature wild birds make a good roast, but I have not yet had a chance to test their claims. Feral mute swans are a pest in the US, and some states issue permits for eradicating them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-25720925460749868142013-08-24T04:09:24.764-07:002013-08-24T04:09:24.764-07:00Ivan - I a recent discussion about swans as food. ...Ivan - I a recent discussion about swans as food. From hatch to fledgling they have a phenomenal growth rate and an excellent feed conversion rate, so from an economic point of view they are an perfect. The main difficulty with them is that they lay a limited number of eggs and are highly seasonal. Also they tend to eat aquatic vegetation, rather then graze, which is likely a major reason why we have domesticated geese, not swans.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-40964871181043283942013-08-23T15:53:52.406-07:002013-08-23T15:53:52.406-07:00Great post,
Is it me or the swan looks like a per...Great post,<br /><br />Is it me or the swan looks like a perfect summary of the enclosure process? A privilege of the gentry until the Edwardian age when the collapse of land prices caused brought the system to an end.<br /><br />Benjamin Guilberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04316614145729971837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-34486724901046993232013-08-22T09:25:14.284-07:002013-08-22T09:25:14.284-07:00I've seen it all. Magnets to make food swim a...I've seen it all. Magnets to make food swim across the plate... What they thought up. Today, in the US, baby swans sell for $200.USD. I've never been able to eat my farm animals - too much of an animal lover. I have eaten my chicken's eggs though at first, I had to choke them down. The TUDORS showed Henry VIII eating a swan pie.donna bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13507579686738843451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-46695018282314585832013-08-22T06:05:21.716-07:002013-08-22T06:05:21.716-07:00Thank you Elise. Yes. Joop's paper is very use...Thank you Elise. Yes. Joop's paper is very useful on the subject of these archaic avian delights.Ivan Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-18745790779953712042013-08-22T05:08:10.316-07:002013-08-22T05:08:10.316-07:00Joop Witteveen, in Petits Propos Culinaires #24, w...Joop Witteveen, in Petits Propos Culinaires #24, wrote an article entitled "On Swans, Cranes and Herons". Part 1 deals with swans. He starts by examining the sources he used, then the types of swans that were probably eaten, and ends with the differences in swan preparation in countries such as France, England, Germany and the Netherlands. In England, cygnets were to be roasted "brown a long time before a slow fire."Elise Fleming/Alys K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02042501679460805720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-49472938758733232212013-08-22T02:15:28.187-07:002013-08-22T02:15:28.187-07:00Hi Sue,
The pie illustrated here was actually a p...Hi Sue,<br /><br />The pie illustrated here was actually a prop which had to be displayed for a year, so it was a fake one. However, twice in my life I have sampled swan. On both occasions I was given birds that had suffered violent deaths, One had got itself tangled in some barbed wire and the other had swallowed some fishing tackle. The first was an adult and was not good to eat. I baked it in a raised pie hoping that the slow cooking process would tenderise the meat. It did to a certain extent, but it was rather stringy. The second was a five month old cygnet. Unlike the birds that were fattened for the table, this one was pretty lean. I roasted it on a spit according to Murray's directions. It was n't bad, but I would not describe it as 'worthy of a prince's table'. He was right, a lot of care went into raising the young birds for the table, which is no longer done in this country. I have never tasted a young swan that was raised in this way. Ivan Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-65441943369636619542013-08-21T16:12:49.208-07:002013-08-21T16:12:49.208-07:00I hope that wasn't a real swan in your pie? ;-...I hope that wasn't a real swan in your pie? ;-)Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.com