tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87454933989481987552024-03-18T13:19:49.908-07:00Food History JottingsIvan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-3986596192894547852017-01-31T08:47:00.002-08:002017-08-31T08:59:29.771-07:00The Jonah Mould - Or Size Matters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguznWOkXYylMX7xAdhdz_cwUgKSE3K1SrVbpVlZyKfRXGCnyFBTam9Bav_GYeZDfefkPSfYuLYg9hkZkvpQQMdLMAbOFpt_8SKKKdJyTp_MsQ1hfe0dPF6p8hLXD_BThZmxQwAA9IrR8A/s1600/dresser.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguznWOkXYylMX7xAdhdz_cwUgKSE3K1SrVbpVlZyKfRXGCnyFBTam9Bav_GYeZDfefkPSfYuLYg9hkZkvpQQMdLMAbOFpt_8SKKKdJyTp_MsQ1hfe0dPF6p8hLXD_BThZmxQwAA9IrR8A/s640/dresser.jpeg" width="560" /></a></div>
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Visitors to my kitchen frequently remark on the large number of antique jelly moulds scattered around the room. I usually explain that just a few of them were actually used for turning out jellies and even some of those had other uses. For instance, on the kitchen dresser in the photo above there are moulds for making puddings, ice compotes, nougat compotes, nougat cornucopias, chocolate peacocks, raised pies, sugar baskets, cakes and ice cream bombes. There are also some jelly moulds, but they are in a minority. "All that glitters is not gold" and all that is shiny copper is not necessarily a jelly mould.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">This advertisement for culinary moulds produced by the Paris firm Trottier in the 1860s testifies to the remarkable variety of moulds available for kitchen and confectionery use at this period.</td></tr>
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It is actually a size thing. Nineteenth century copper moulds for jelly are rarely over five inches high. The highest they were ever made was six and a half inches and that was pushing it a bit. This is for a very simple reason. Any taller than this and the jelly will split and collapse, especially if of a light set. Moulds higher than this were designed for making other dishes, such as cakes, boiled puddings etc. Of course it is possible to make taller jellies, but an inordinate amount of gelling agent has to be used, making them rubbery and unpleasant to eat. More stable jellies could be made in the taller moulds when fruit (or even profiteroles) were enclosed in the gel. These additions strengthened the jelly by creating what I guess could be called an edible, internal armature. Most moulds over five and a half inches were probably designed for this particular purpose.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3bt8JiAoojfTM6O8L6lJA6bf9PJvEI6F6h-7pRkcRGGSNPQ0A1uK_ez7Tz4rZnOQW0WCgdS-L2xhyphenhyphenLLZiIpEwnK0aeiM_nI-xsQJHdzWCkeQ3qTeOH-A5v6UM44cuQMyoqtNBjMryOrY/s1600/File+31-01-2017%252C+15+13+04.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3bt8JiAoojfTM6O8L6lJA6bf9PJvEI6F6h-7pRkcRGGSNPQ0A1uK_ez7Tz4rZnOQW0WCgdS-L2xhyphenhyphenLLZiIpEwnK0aeiM_nI-xsQJHdzWCkeQ3qTeOH-A5v6UM44cuQMyoqtNBjMryOrY/s640/File+31-01-2017%252C+15+13+04.jpeg" width="402" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">This late nineteenth century advertisement clearly illustrates the range of mould heights for jelly moulds. Those in the six and a half inch high category were probably designed for being filled with fruit to make the finished jelly more stable.</td></tr>
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One specialist six-inch tall mould for making a jelly with a fruit macedoine core came provided with a separate internal liner in the form of a dome. This created a cavity within a cortex of transparent jelly, which would be filled with a macedoine of fruit. A jelly made in the outer mould alone is terribly unstable. It usually splits and dramatically collapses within a few seconds. Some taller moulds were designed to hold other specialist liners, such as the taller versions of the Belgrave, Alexandria and Brunswick Star. When set, these all had internal blancmange 'armatures' which gave them a degree of stability and helped them hold together. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrcCf20pYc1VgTNl5YZU7E2IxicyqMg4_UxM-DLLajR_DUNOZUbTGDXflnAD6KokpFob1nJhylSLAR-LM6wdsw0bySvrtIhDEGJfoWf8syxHyy3qDaYp7e4K6ZC9oAGyXHLE7CMDPyyU/s1600/File+30-01-2017%252C+11+43+06.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrcCf20pYc1VgTNl5YZU7E2IxicyqMg4_UxM-DLLajR_DUNOZUbTGDXflnAD6KokpFob1nJhylSLAR-LM6wdsw0bySvrtIhDEGJfoWf8syxHyy3qDaYp7e4K6ZC9oAGyXHLE7CMDPyyU/s640/File+30-01-2017%252C+11+43+06.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A lesson in size - the small four inch tall mould on the right is a typical size for a jelly mould. The second mould from the right (nine inches high) is not a jelly mould, but a cake mould used for turning out Savoy or Baba cakes. The two six inch high moulds on the left are both macedoine moulds with an inner liner to create a cavity, which can be filled with fruit.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvvkL5bZqTf5Chdlsx9DJYBFPk3TeWYXAzS1RFQCfstvG8nTOEbp7crIzAScSqqERp9O1BLMwd8hzFUfJOU2T9znqVIHlZxAGwnNpdam_RqSewqHxmxwwGXKBp9ux42Kw0-ngOQ4yJPto/s1600/belgrave+etc%252C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvvkL5bZqTf5Chdlsx9DJYBFPk3TeWYXAzS1RFQCfstvG8nTOEbp7crIzAScSqqERp9O1BLMwd8hzFUfJOU2T9znqVIHlZxAGwnNpdam_RqSewqHxmxwwGXKBp9ux42Kw0-ngOQ4yJPto/s640/belgrave+etc%252C.jpg" width="474" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Perhaps the most spectacular of all Victorian jellies. The Macededoine Jelly in the foreground was made with one of the moulds illustrated in the previous photograph. While the Belgrave Jelly behind it was made with the mould below. These internal structures lent a stability to the jelly.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Mould and liner for the mysterious Belgrave Jelly illustrated above.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRWfTFNteiMXg3bN9E-ZU5xi8R-G7EsJ9lIx61SwwjeGx80AQlUErdM3f7m_AYvJLrd2kJNGaF7F8IOQYJpX7pn9dk5-y1iZ3vjmogJEKX5PucfxLJ8pn28UdFEPfuMHYai0FN4Vn2y8/s1600/File+30-01-2017%252C+11+43+39.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRWfTFNteiMXg3bN9E-ZU5xi8R-G7EsJ9lIx61SwwjeGx80AQlUErdM3f7m_AYvJLrd2kJNGaF7F8IOQYJpX7pn9dk5-y1iZ3vjmogJEKX5PucfxLJ8pn28UdFEPfuMHYai0FN4Vn2y8/s640/File+30-01-2017%252C+11+43+39.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The famous Alexandria Cross mould as illustrated in the Marshall advertisement above was made in three sizes - six and a half inches, four and a half inches and three inches. The mould on its side with liner inside is the tall six and a half inch version. At this marginal height it takes a great deal of skill to make it with a decent light jelly set so that it is edible and holds together on the plate. The little three inch Alexandria Cross is extremely rare.</td></tr>
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Some of the taller moulds were designed with other purposes in mind - not just for jellies. For instance, some savoury dishes, like the <i>pain de gibier </i>in the image below, were strong enough to be de-moulded without collapsing, as they were based on a firm and quite solid purée of meat held together with isinglass. Because of their solid consistency dishes of this kind were more difficult to get out of the mould than a much more pliant jelly, but a skilled cook of the nineteenth century would have had few problems doing this. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A recreation of a Waterloo banquet from 1839, which I produced for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo at Apsley House in 2015. The magnificent Portuguese service is in the middle of the table. My food is on serving dishes gifted to the Duke of Wellington by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. The <i>pain de gibier à la gelée m</i>ade from a Câreme recipe on the far left, sits on an ornamental wax <i>socle</i> and is garnished with hatalet skewers of truffles and turned mushrooms. </td></tr>
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All this goes to show that nineteenth century moulds were designed for a complex and flexible cuisine, which has been mainly forgotten. Modern chefs are not taught how to use what is now considered to be obsolete equipment. The English TV production company Wall to Wall, who specialise in living history programmes, recently featured a very large copper mould in two different programmes, with predictably disastrous results. In one of the programmes, <i>The Victorian Bakers at Christmas</i>, which I have already mentioned in a previous article, the mould was used to boil a plum pudding. I could tell when I watched the mould being filled with pudding mixture that this was just not going to work. Not because the mould was too large in this case, but it was not thoroughly greased and the mixture was too slack. I took some screen shots to show you what happened.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">This very large and quite spectacular castle mould has a wired rim and a hanging ring, so I am sure it is French. It was probably designed for turning out a<i> pain de gibier à la gelée </i>or similar savoury dish. Its design is too fussy for a Savoy Cake or Baba, though with care it could be used for those. In this case it is being used to boil an English plum pudding - possible, but risky,</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInaglj780H02EaVFg5QZUii0qa-D0XQ0iRzM2Ue5h3yR6-2uf_5VGQZM-2DP-Yof3LeLNSLCRym01DI-qb6yVv2C-6cbhxfGOt0Fn2v1U9nBR__GNsDkdYYmj_AZiLVyvMUVBEmL-aPg/s1600/Chris+Pud+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInaglj780H02EaVFg5QZUii0qa-D0XQ0iRzM2Ue5h3yR6-2uf_5VGQZM-2DP-Yof3LeLNSLCRym01DI-qb6yVv2C-6cbhxfGOt0Fn2v1U9nBR__GNsDkdYYmj_AZiLVyvMUVBEmL-aPg/s640/Chris+Pud+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The pudding refuses to come out in one piece. It is likely that the top of the pudding either burnt to the mould, or the mould was just not greased thoroughly. Victorian cooks would have chosen a simpler mould.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The rest of the pudding remains in the mould - embarrassing</td></tr>
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The very same mould turned up a few weeks later in Wall to Wall's BBC production <i>Further</i> <i>Back in Time for Dinner </i>presented by Giles Coren and the excellent food historian Polly Russell from the British Library. Debbie, the hard-pressed chef who made a valiant job of cooking food for the family was provided with the same totally inappropriate mould for turning out a jelly. Again in the screen shots below you can see the result - a predictable failure and not the fault of the cook. If the chef had been given a sensible-sized mould designed for jelly, I am sure she would have produced an attractive dish. But I guess these failures are perceived by the producers as making better television. I personally think it is misguided and unfair to the cook. Perhaps we will see the 'Jonah mould' again soon - I gather Wall to Wall are making a programme on the history of confectionery - third time lucky!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Oh no! It is that same Jonah mould again - you can gauge its huge size - being used in another Wall to Wall production for BBC- <i>Back in Time for Dinner</i>. This time to turn out a jelly. Not wise!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The jelly fails because of the totally inappropriate choice of mould.</td></tr>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-50797054466005345012017-01-19T17:52:00.001-08:002017-01-24T14:50:06.674-08:00The Edible Monument - Detroit Institute of Arts In 2015 I was commissioned by the Getty Research Institute to produce a replica of a sugar table centrepiece designed by the eighteenth century French cook and confectioner Menon. The designs first appeared in Menon's illustrated manual on confectionery <i>La Science de Maitre d'Hotel Confiseur </i>(Paris: 1749). My large scale pastillage version was displayed in the seminal exhibition <i>The Edible Monument</i> curated by my friend and colleague Marcia Reed, chief curator at the Research Institute. Marcia's stunning illustrated book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edible-Monument-Art-Food-Festivals/dp/1606064541" target="_blank">The Edible Monument</a> should be on the bookshelves of every food historian. I first displayed a version of this at Fairfax House in York in 1998 at the exhibition <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pleasures-Table-Display-European-1600-1900/dp/B00GSZ79JQ/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484876779&sr=1-5&keywords=the+pleasures+of+the+table+brown+day" target="_blank">The Pleasures of the Table</a></i>, so it has been around the houses - York, LA and now Detroit. The original piece is still used for the Christmas dining room display at Fairfax House.<br />
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If you were unable to get to York, or did not see the exhibition in Los Angeles, The Edible Monument is currently on show at the fabulous Detroit Institute of Arts (see details at the end of this post). But for those of you who cannot get to the DIA, here is a short video about my contribution to the show.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5Lu3T30VYxk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5Lu3T30VYxk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUH4F0kXfX_u7l-d5joGUYaoXV9-jgSPydZNx6kvLIwTND63ljkRgGxxxiGdtZAhFU5TKUhUMTWjeuwAAMv0LBcXfGhHfMibGFY52MR2f3nGvibhxgX9uMaKBliy5ZjTlz2zD_0dIWAeY/s1600/Fairfax.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUH4F0kXfX_u7l-d5joGUYaoXV9-jgSPydZNx6kvLIwTND63ljkRgGxxxiGdtZAhFU5TKUhUMTWjeuwAAMv0LBcXfGhHfMibGFY52MR2f3nGvibhxgX9uMaKBliy5ZjTlz2zD_0dIWAeY/s640/Fairfax.jpg" width="596" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The original Fairfax House setting of the Menon centrepiece</td></tr>
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I am in Detroit in early February and will be presenting a number of events at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial and at the DIA itself. </div>
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<b><b>Timetable of Edible Monument Events</b></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold;">Friday, February 3, 2017. Cuisine d’Art - GROSSE POINTE FARMS, MICHIGAN</b><b> - </b>The War Memorial invites guests to travel back in time and dine like 18th century nobility during its unique experiential event, <i>Cuisine d’Art</i>. Attendees will enjoy a memorable evening in The War Memorial’s lakefront ballroom, experiencing edible high-art, period drinks, and special talks by food historian Ivan Day and DIA curator Alan Phipps Darr. Plus extraordinary period-inspired food by Frank Turner, Executive Chef at the War Memorial. For full details visit the <a href="http://www.warmemorial.org/cuisinedart/">War Memorial website</a> or ring 313.881.7511. </div>
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<b>Saturday, February 4, 2017, 10:30 a.m.–noon. Two part seminar and demonstration</b></div>
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I am afraid the this is a private event only open to to members of the DIA’s auxiliary group, the Visiting Committee for European Sculpture & Decorative Arts (VCESDA). If you are a VCESDA member here is a link for more details of the event - <a href="http://www.dia.org/auxiliaries/event.aspx?id=6143&iid=&aux_id=8&cid=61" target="_blank">Ivan Day Sugar Sculpture Event</a>. If you are not a member, you can see what I will be making below. Details of how you can become a VCESDA can be found on <a href="http://www.dia.org/support/membership.aspx" target="_blank">this page of the DIA website</a>.</div>
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<b>Part 1:</b> Using a set of original 18th-century wooden moulds and equipment, I will demonstrate how to make the sugar figure of Neptune below.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj59SxDQS-6bhL3-v3tbiDa2woJ_BQZmVO2-JxW4MAxJMJNcOEQWAAYDOazwrqf_r7EDWL-Ozm0Jp9T6YenA_dCxhlbZtL1H3RZb_oj9xecKwsRpc5Bfll5b742q3GRmksmNzKfRtYI08s/s1600/File+19-01-2017%252C+20+19+32.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj59SxDQS-6bhL3-v3tbiDa2woJ_BQZmVO2-JxW4MAxJMJNcOEQWAAYDOazwrqf_r7EDWL-Ozm0Jp9T6YenA_dCxhlbZtL1H3RZb_oj9xecKwsRpc5Bfll5b742q3GRmksmNzKfRtYI08s/s1600/File+19-01-2017%252C+20+19+32.jpeg" width="453" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-weight: bold;">Part 2:</b> Using original moulds and equipment I will demonstrate how to make the Renaissance style sugar tazza below in the style of Giulio Romano, the Renaissance painter, architect and protégé of Raphael.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz04KBAYIoFdSowt9rQyoI-5UgtVJ3rjvdFbUTIUbdZrj4V8BeZgUcF4Y-KXdJIu3mZveQVLJaArk_RIaj0a-t7_4MOXq4um4diIcDmM9lmWwd5qIuVgUQ60UIl527STNAu-DMUE4RWKE/s1600/Dolphin+tazza.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz04KBAYIoFdSowt9rQyoI-5UgtVJ3rjvdFbUTIUbdZrj4V8BeZgUcF4Y-KXdJIu3mZveQVLJaArk_RIaj0a-t7_4MOXq4um4diIcDmM9lmWwd5qIuVgUQ60UIl527STNAu-DMUE4RWKE/s640/Dolphin+tazza.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><b>Saturday, February 4, 2017, 2 p.m.</b></b><br />
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<b><b>Lecture: Eating the Edifice</b> </b></div>
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This is my main event. I will outline the evolution of sugar sculpture and other forms of table art from the Renaissance to the 18th century. Beginning with gilded sugar coins distributed at fifteenth century Italian wedding feasts and continuing on to papal displays of sugar trionfi, I will introduce the materials, equipment and methods used by past masters of such edible ephemera.</div>
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DIA Marvin and Betty Danto Lecture Hall—5200 Woodward Avenue—Detroit, MI 48202. </div>
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Sponsored by the Visiting Committee for European Sculpture & Decorative Arts. </div>
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Enter through the John R entrance. Free with museum admission. For further </div>
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information, call 313.833.1720 or visit<a href="http://www.dia.org/auxiliaries/event.aspx?id=6144&iid=&aux_id=8&cid=61" target="_blank"> the DIA website</a>. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xhYz-VIrwcm2JGD5TwbmuS-p2FPBGu8mAreg0K1N-CckqqSCNZl90j-PsdsKtuXA2oOZKAHzUaiWcaDHh-aeRdqJ3AX8xauQEwEuaSrXad7eYAWfUBbR8Ql_9Aux-mWmruB6QNyEe-o/s1600/Menon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xhYz-VIrwcm2JGD5TwbmuS-p2FPBGu8mAreg0K1N-CckqqSCNZl90j-PsdsKtuXA2oOZKAHzUaiWcaDHh-aeRdqJ3AX8xauQEwEuaSrXad7eYAWfUBbR8Ql_9Aux-mWmruB6QNyEe-o/s640/Menon.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original design that inspired the sugar paste centrepiece</td></tr>
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<span class="textrun"><span lang="EN-US"><b>Sunday,
February 5, 2017, 12-4 p.m.<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="textrun"><span lang="EN-US"><b>Artist Demonstration: Ivan Day and the Edible Monument</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="textrun"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="textrun"><span lang="EN-US">Using traditional tools and techniques
to create a white gingerbread sculpture. Everyone is invited to take a close
look into this unique art form and a limited number of participants will be
able to create their own small sculpture to take home as supplies last. This
program is in conjunction with the special exhibition <i>The Edible Monument:
The Art of Food for Festivals</i> on display through April 16, 2017. This is a family event, f</span></span>ree with museum admission. For further information, call 313.833.1720. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOF2twwFfaL2ILu1Lcr9dEiYBKkyVxEwJqb84N2sb7DEq2fAMk0BkZo2PRhcbWh6dTxcuFtlt8kDheD5z8IB9rwXAFutk7WVc0S5VHa9CP7FBLMP948utGnh17nlZzGSbn_BxNlYMzB7Y/s1600/File+19-01-2017%252C+14+20+36.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOF2twwFfaL2ILu1Lcr9dEiYBKkyVxEwJqb84N2sb7DEq2fAMk0BkZo2PRhcbWh6dTxcuFtlt8kDheD5z8IB9rwXAFutk7WVc0S5VHa9CP7FBLMP948utGnh17nlZzGSbn_BxNlYMzB7Y/s640/File+19-01-2017%252C+14+20+36.jpeg" width="582" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Gingerbread figures made from a seventeenth century mould. The fine lady in the middle is made from red gingerbread, the two other figures from white gingerbread. Both these early gingerbread were popular at the time of Shakespeare.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYCnbcyQoa8Z5sdkOCKsOyOZ4aLU5mFNdaWd4NF8VpmRUNyMVMBMhP3Ua9_QG4WOLm8SDHaTe8pf6Vu30RA1kh0h5I1ye_BxslOcz8EDFvM4RycGfneqEYOJwmLf90bjMY4-z4RzDH_hw/s1600/File+19-01-2017%252C+14+25+12.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYCnbcyQoa8Z5sdkOCKsOyOZ4aLU5mFNdaWd4NF8VpmRUNyMVMBMhP3Ua9_QG4WOLm8SDHaTe8pf6Vu30RA1kh0h5I1ye_BxslOcz8EDFvM4RycGfneqEYOJwmLf90bjMY4-z4RzDH_hw/s640/File+19-01-2017%252C+14+25+12.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">A mould to make three gingerbreads where the usual dominant role of humans over animals is reversed.</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc7Zc6wA54b0Aw_cP4vfKfDzWYtTalll7fSMjyJdihhBoUABEY9ckOK1dGaKh_BsfgZQtW3CCKb4ZltzWObliya4Cso6b3jPb0k04AdNR_9CqwJbOMFSTqTbUp7zB8fPhon7hSXtGTvYk/s1600/File+19-01-2017%252C+14+30+59.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc7Zc6wA54b0Aw_cP4vfKfDzWYtTalll7fSMjyJdihhBoUABEY9ckOK1dGaKh_BsfgZQtW3CCKb4ZltzWObliya4Cso6b3jPb0k04AdNR_9CqwJbOMFSTqTbUp7zB8fPhon7hSXtGTvYk/s400/File+19-01-2017%252C+14+30+59.jpeg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Children might like to have a go at making this cute gingerbread squirrel</td></tr>
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<b></b><br />
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<b><b>The Edible Monument Exhibition: The Art of Food for Festivals - through Sun 16th April 2017</b></b></div>
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The Edible Monument includes about 140 prints, rare books and serving manuals from the Getty Research Institute collection and private collections. The artworks illustrate in lush detail the delectable monuments and sculptures made of food that were an integral part of street festivals as well as court and civic banquets in Europe in the 16th to 19th centuries. The exhibition has been organized by the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.</div>
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Public celebrations and street parades featured large-scale edible creations made of breads, cheeses and meats. At court festivals, banquet settings and dessert buffets featured elaborate table monuments made of sugar, flowers and fruit. These edible sculptures didn’t last long, but images of towering garden sculptures and lavish table pieces designed for Italian and French courts have survived in illustrated books and prints, many of which are featured in the exhibition.</div>
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The exhibition includes a monumental sugar sculpture based on an 18th-century print. “Palace of Circe” by sculptor and culinary historian Ivan Day is set on an 8-foot table and features sugar paste sculpted into a classical temple with sugar statues and sugar-sand gardens. The figures were meant to impart the consequences of gluttony with a story about the ancient Greek hero Ulysses. When he landed on the island of Aeaea, his men were so greedy that the sorceress Circe turned them into pigs. </div>
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By the mid-17th century cookbooks and guides to the new skills and professions of carving and pastry-making were published. Copied and plagiarized, they became models that spread throughout European court culture. Examples of such books are included in the exhibition, such as one by Bartolomeo Scappi, the “private cook” to Pope Pius V; Joseph Gilliers, the dessert chef to King Augustus of Poland; and Juan de la Mata, court chef to the Spanish kings Philip V and Ferdinand VI.</div>
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<b>Bitter/Sweet: Coffee, Tea and Chocolate - through Sunday March 5 2017</b></div>
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This is another wonderful exhibition at the DIA.</div>
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From social revolutions that changed the way we drink our morning blends, to design revolutions that changed the objects that we drink from, step back in time to when gathering over a cup of your favorite hot beverage caused a stir that upended the world.</div>
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Bitter/Sweet: Coffee, Tea & Chocolate is the first exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts to engage all five senses. In addition to seeing art, you can touch, hear, smell and even taste coffee- and tea-related beverages.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gp.lib.mi.us/the-edible-monument-at-the-dia/" target="_blank"><b>The</b> E<b>dible Monument Lecture by Alan Darr February 7, 2017 at 7 p.m.</b></a></div>
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Another unmissable event is a lecture entitled <b>The</b> <b>Edible Monument</b> by Dr. Alan Phipps Darr, Senior Curator of the European Art Department at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The lecture is free, open to the public, and is sponsored by the Friends of the Grosse Pointe Public Library. It will be held on February 7, 2017 at 7 p.m. at the <a href="http://www.gp.lib.mi.us/the-edible-monument-at-the-dia/" target="_blank">Grosse Pointe Public Library Ewald Branch, 15175 E Jefferson, Grosse Pointe Park, MI 48230.</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.dia.org/" target="_blank">Detroit Institute of Arts Website</a></div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com56tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-38739702857548040662017-01-15T12:30:00.001-08:002017-01-16T05:51:08.958-08:00Silent Culinary Witnesses<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KEqBRQZSXvdRKNJsx4Vu6a0yOmF4fkWRm8gOaXjwiTaIRHVmXadx7s163ikTyfa_YyPMVQ3jRYCCioT5DWONa4BCA5ST4hA1y3AqiRmPF42PVal-aJBuWHwgbMVF0raXLzR6J0MNiOw/s1600/Nep+and+trident.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KEqBRQZSXvdRKNJsx4Vu6a0yOmF4fkWRm8gOaXjwiTaIRHVmXadx7s163ikTyfa_YyPMVQ3jRYCCioT5DWONa4BCA5ST4hA1y3AqiRmPF42PVal-aJBuWHwgbMVF0raXLzR6J0MNiOw/s640/Nep+and+trident.jpg" width="484" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Behind the sugar moulded torso of Neptune and his trident is an almond cake, decorated with ornamental bands of snow sugar and surmounted by a dragant figure of Neptune. The illustration is in Conrad Hagger, <i>Neues Saltzburgisches Koch-Buch </i>(Augsburg; 1719). The sugarwork, (just two components of the complete sculpture) was pressed from a fruitwood mould from the same period (see last illustration below). </td></tr>
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Trying to recreate food from the past is fraught with all sorts of problems. I remember my friend and colleague Peter Brears once telling me that he had frequently been served truly diabolical reincarnations of medieval food by historical re-enactors with loads of enthusiasm, but little knowledge or skill. He explained that one of the reasons he wrote his extraordinary book<i> Cooking and Dining in Medieval England</i> was to give a bit of help and direction to enthusiasts who enjoyed cooking within this culinary genre. As a museum curator who spent a long career dealing with objects, Peter like me, has always been an advocate of utilising period kitchen equipment in the recreation of old dishes. Some refer collectively to these redundant utensils as 'kitchenalia', a term I absolutely hate. I prefer to regard these objects as the silent culinary witnesses of our past food culture. Understanding how to use them can truly bring an ancient dish screaming and shouting into the modern world - a rebirthing experience that can be revelatory. Witness Mr and Mrs Early Stuart Gingerbread below.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4TA64S6SZ-mdGg3CXd0CxCh8UQM8fcLwhlJxAYwvg8s6u_slj894_ZvJNSyFlgpE1M1PoHwz4qq3wxizJ6RpDhbIy18Kd4RyeeD5RdddKKxQYwegodmPvsdl9kDy6shfQasH2ytGThI/s1600/Ginger2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4TA64S6SZ-mdGg3CXd0CxCh8UQM8fcLwhlJxAYwvg8s6u_slj894_ZvJNSyFlgpE1M1PoHwz4qq3wxizJ6RpDhbIy18Kd4RyeeD5RdddKKxQYwegodmPvsdl9kDy6shfQasH2ytGThI/s640/Ginger2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Two white gingerbread figures made from a mould carved during Shakespeare's lifetime - with a wooden trencher and two late Tudor eating knives for good measure.</td></tr>
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So I would like to say a little more about my methodology when it comes to recreating historical dishes. For instance, how on earth would one go about preparing the baroque almond cake surmounted by a sugar figure of Neptune at the top of this post? Or for that matter, the other early eighteenth century Hapsburg dishes (all from Conrad Hagger) illustrated below? The bakery is easy enough - just follow the recipes. But what about the rather tricky ornaments? One could attempt to model them from gum paste. But it would be far better to employ the equipment the bakers of the period used - skilfully carved wooden boards, which allowed you to knock out an impressive three dimensional figure of Neptune, Cupid or some other sugar deity. I have the basic skills to freely model figures like these, but if I did, they would be entirely twenty-first century creations, unavoidably watermarked with the zeitgeist of this moment in time. No matter how much of an effort I make to give them a period 'feel', they will only exist in the realm of pastiche. But use a mould carved by a master of this period and the chances of creating something authentic are much higher.<br />
<br />
Those of us who attempt to recreate the food of the past, must deeply understand the culinary aesthetics of a particular period. I too have seen many attempts, particularly on television, where the creators look very pleased with themselves, but their creations are either heavily lumpen or resemble modern junior school art projects. We all need to up our game. Food ornamentation and presentation was closely related to the prevailing trends in the decorative arts. Of course, very few modern kitchens are equipped with these ancient examples of culinary material culture and not all dishes require their use. And of course, some of these objects are just too precious to use. But I have made it my vocation over a long lifetime to acquire a working collection, which now consists of thousands of objects from the fifteenth to the early twentieth century - enabling me to gain a much richer insight into this subject than I would get by just sitting in the British Library reading old recipes. Of course, once you own objects like this, you then have to learn to use them. And without much surviving instruction in the literature and with no living practitioners to show you how, it is often extremely difficult to master extinct skills.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjas-4_FJv7BDLwYcZ1Se-muMJSDXvDnYAxLC2gcvaTLXyVgNVMh-8GYUo3zbMF0Fk9-BlBRsIRgWNu56UBMLj_06zkZM4MMQe15jlt9zzaWcIECeZmtoVmXlab37Z-Vad7nNiJMJ-Tyuk/s1600/Nep+and+Dol+old.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjas-4_FJv7BDLwYcZ1Se-muMJSDXvDnYAxLC2gcvaTLXyVgNVMh-8GYUo3zbMF0Fk9-BlBRsIRgWNu56UBMLj_06zkZM4MMQe15jlt9zzaWcIECeZmtoVmXlab37Z-Vad7nNiJMJ-Tyuk/s640/Nep+and+Dol+old.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The wooden board on the right, dating from the first half of the eighteenth century, allows the construction of a figure of Neptune from different body parts. His legs and trident are on the other side of the mould. The boil on Neptune's buttock was created by a burrowing furniture beetle, probably back in the reign of the Empress Maria Theresa.The mould on the left, dating from the seventeenth century or earlier, was designed to enable the creation of a dolphin. I will be using both of these moulds in a demonstration workshop on baroque sugar sculpture at the Detroit Institute of the Arts in early February. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8r7-DiM0u2D3g2dyp8fJ9VBf8HBoPuMy6wqvBib4467aIksg_-aNJ_IcVSWS__wfb2Io5xVm-zNHOj1YgnmdCT-7R0IiUOQbfGdq7qWslPw29fCy_Wq0LzSBas60L0EtMUsjBMTN8GuQ/s1600/Cpid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8r7-DiM0u2D3g2dyp8fJ9VBf8HBoPuMy6wqvBib4467aIksg_-aNJ_IcVSWS__wfb2Io5xVm-zNHOj1YgnmdCT-7R0IiUOQbfGdq7qWslPw29fCy_Wq0LzSBas60L0EtMUsjBMTN8GuQ/s640/Cpid.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">This eccentric pastry centrepiece of three ornamented 'dorten' also features candleholders. The Cupid embellishing its summit would have been made using a mould identical to this one. </td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQ86Asw862bEIg20SKjveuDL5pqvFfkAM0rF4sVnsffrnNcTL_atqAXlbmjYlzDld7NndS4oDBdq4HlJOI2HKwXCHj2eFgajJV0-1h5uIQHBXbs5Ifb1EcWiKZK7lqKQy151xoPrZqlg/s1600/spit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQ86Asw862bEIg20SKjveuDL5pqvFfkAM0rF4sVnsffrnNcTL_atqAXlbmjYlzDld7NndS4oDBdq4HlJOI2HKwXCHj2eFgajJV0-1h5uIQHBXbs5Ifb1EcWiKZK7lqKQy151xoPrZqlg/s640/spit.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A Hapsburg <i>Krapffen-Dorten</i> - 'doughnut cake', the precursor of <i>baumkuchen</i>, which was once much more like the <i>gateau à la broche</i> still baked in front of the fire in the France on conical spits like this one illustrated in Hagger. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZyCEud_3ErOd8Al4ZHpfBRK7QvDE5FahfIsQjBakz9qHU7vKNIVVVYTFLLtCpFTCbKLyMp3V1P0mi44I5LUdAMVd2b5ChU0tOeA9KvaGilQom8foVwR_OndsmGH97xzVYvdMfFM0dr8/s1600/Spit+Cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZyCEud_3ErOd8Al4ZHpfBRK7QvDE5FahfIsQjBakz9qHU7vKNIVVVYTFLLtCpFTCbKLyMp3V1P0mi44I5LUdAMVd2b5ChU0tOeA9KvaGilQom8foVwR_OndsmGH97xzVYvdMfFM0dr8/s640/Spit+Cake.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">I hope this is the only time you ever see a valuable copy of Hagger's book on a kitchen floor, but I wanted to show you the impressive scale and cut of my '<i>Spiss zu dem grossen Krapffen</i>!</td></tr>
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Of course putting a collection together of this scope and quality - we are talking expensive antiques here - is a major investment. And then there is the problem of those that are just too fragile and precious to use - or dangerous - as in the case of early bronze and bell metal cooking pots and a few other utensils. Modern reproductions are the only answer here, but commissioning one-offs of these can be even more expensive than buying originals. Combined with my taste in expensive antiquarian recipe books this priority in my consumer behaviour is the reason why I have never owned a decent car!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcVf6mmhHuKzjzdm16Sbx58MdHMHP58u-88HeHncTAOVG594iLVnugtOEpfTjC_u1z_I20IZXFU2jhEOJ9OW7huG2N6p8mIC6qKLFDb_XCmS2noJ0Cvzo9B3whfGXU-xykAfupS8sOmY/s1600/Scappi+aggers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcVf6mmhHuKzjzdm16Sbx58MdHMHP58u-88HeHncTAOVG594iLVnugtOEpfTjC_u1z_I20IZXFU2jhEOJ9OW7huG2N6p8mIC6qKLFDb_XCmS2noJ0Cvzo9B3whfGXU-xykAfupS8sOmY/s640/Scappi+aggers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">An embarrassment of riches. Two of my mid-sixteenth century bronze Italian pastry jaggers, as illustrated in Bartolomeo Scappi. <i>Opera</i> (Venezia: 1621). Perhaps my favourite kitchen utensils of all. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOeUQVN2ZpzE9lW8ifuKMfqyupz_dczaY6JG-5qTsXpPFTJ4c2K0q-BUMPh8Bs66Km7mjd4cKGpw7BGvgaUsyYIcSCNi7OOoGrpiHeTvMy4dGAGob5HBV_l7P4gkTdPzeTi_EgekfarW0/s1600/Scappi+Knives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOeUQVN2ZpzE9lW8ifuKMfqyupz_dczaY6JG-5qTsXpPFTJ4c2K0q-BUMPh8Bs66Km7mjd4cKGpw7BGvgaUsyYIcSCNi7OOoGrpiHeTvMy4dGAGob5HBV_l7P4gkTdPzeTi_EgekfarW0/s640/Scappi+Knives.jpg" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every kitchen should have a set of these, also illustrated in Scappi.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirT8TvcwMkx8vuB2PbuqvQkQtnAlWdThS-H30kDaD8lIoMQYXY4XVPeZMbmtGdDQqX2tHyM6KRKlrejGKi8xtpmng_MhzsEvRXN4hBjmh3qoQd4EqiskPbkpzwCNRYkGQSOz15xz493IU/s1600/Scappi+Knives2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirT8TvcwMkx8vuB2PbuqvQkQtnAlWdThS-H30kDaD8lIoMQYXY4XVPeZMbmtGdDQqX2tHyM6KRKlrejGKi8xtpmng_MhzsEvRXN4hBjmh3qoQd4EqiskPbkpzwCNRYkGQSOz15xz493IU/s640/Scappi+Knives2.jpg" width="384" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">All the Scappi knives in the woodcut above in my kitchen. There are surviving kitchen knives from the medieval and early modern periods, but none are useable. The only answer is to commission quality reproductions. Of course knives like this do not make any difference to the appearance or authenticity of a dish. But what a wonderful insight into renaissance kitchen knife craft you get when you eventually master using them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dYUNT45yWT4I9iPaKxZOE87oskDrsZAT3hbIIF4QstICek9JPzdCh9-VmELISfxoQvhRfzguMQpE4CaUuS9bwmsSbeNCahEJ5vY6NTBWkWYhlBQu0kZqCgcMdvO6sGJm4kAwxeymJgs/s1600/Ginger1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="572" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dYUNT45yWT4I9iPaKxZOE87oskDrsZAT3hbIIF4QstICek9JPzdCh9-VmELISfxoQvhRfzguMQpE4CaUuS9bwmsSbeNCahEJ5vY6NTBWkWYhlBQu0kZqCgcMdvO6sGJm4kAwxeymJgs/s640/Ginger1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Gingerbread again. Eating knives are important to me too. They say so much about the culture of dining. This is an original English scale-tanged gudgeon-handled eating knife from c.1400. An everyday knife for an ordinary person, but very attractive. The rich with their gold, amber and ivory did not have a monopoly on beauty. Gudgeon is the root of the boxwood tree and was cheap. It sets off this medieval gingerbread perfectly. The brick red colour is from the sanders powder in the recipe. Sanders is also made from the wood of a tree. The decorations are box leaves attached to the gingerbread with cloves.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiollR3NgvK4skKRFOZMtdz0ZVlXSkwtVB0ODVg6acI8xfECih5_NOQxCgDA4MowPRu3Ebc4rO0kpo27nDjsya5vwIWdjzEm88PDP_ZAhoQtUHA1IE3nGnn7D-vqkiEBk5xgnoDHaO90VE/s1600/Nep+and+Dolph1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiollR3NgvK4skKRFOZMtdz0ZVlXSkwtVB0ODVg6acI8xfECih5_NOQxCgDA4MowPRu3Ebc4rO0kpo27nDjsya5vwIWdjzEm88PDP_ZAhoQtUHA1IE3nGnn7D-vqkiEBk5xgnoDHaO90VE/s640/Nep+and+Dolph1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Back to the King of the Ocean and googly-eyed friends. Components of a nautically themed baroque sugar<i> </i>sculpture on my work-table<i>, </i>which I will construct in a workshop at the DIA in Detroit in early February. I have to carry these fragile components in my cabin baggage. Have <i>piece montée</i>, will travel! I will post a photograph of the finished article.</td></tr>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-23174868848681968662017-01-08T15:27:00.002-08:002017-01-10T02:38:12.542-08:00It is not too late to wish you all a Merry Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Twelfth Cake as <u>not</u> seen on TV!</td></tr>
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Recently I have watched a lot on British television (and heard even more on the radio) about Twelfth Night, the so-called last day of Christmas. But according to the liturgical calendar, the ecclesiastical season of Christmas doesn't actually end until Candlemas, the 2nd of February, a celebratory period of not twelve, but forty days. So with this in mind, and the fact that it is the 8th of January today, I guess it is still not too late for me to wish you all a Merry Christmas and apologise for my lack of communication this past year. That's my excuse anyway!<br />
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One old food custom here in the English Lake District which marked out this forty-day season was to eat 'sweet pie' for Christmas morning breakfast. This Cumberland variant on the mince pie contained mutton as well as dried fruit, spices and sugar and was the first flesh meal after the vigil of Christmas Eve, originally a day of abstinence from meat. Even during my lifetime, there were local farming families who saved a small piece of the Christmas breakfast pie in the larder to be consumed forty days later on Candlemas Day. A reclusive old Georgian shepherd called Richard Nicholson, who lived on a windswept mountain called Black Combe in the parish of Whitbeck, used to kill a sheep every year to make his sweet pies. In his <i>History of Cumberland</i>, the antiquarian William Hutchinson (1794) gives a long account of this eccentric man and his superstitious beliefs, which includes this passage,<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTrIg8HPkU9o5ivLrqOwChHbslU2YcKuhf6zeMvrHRdlzvK4m5QVrAmSkbvFg7u_XKl9ecoHoxPwRzJBnPybBKI_cyUL6r6t0sFps-dmumxnPUvNokrmrPiplIgzVjtB6cG0PmpSzvnA/s1600/Sweet+Pie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTrIg8HPkU9o5ivLrqOwChHbslU2YcKuhf6zeMvrHRdlzvK4m5QVrAmSkbvFg7u_XKl9ecoHoxPwRzJBnPybBKI_cyUL6r6t0sFps-dmumxnPUvNokrmrPiplIgzVjtB6cG0PmpSzvnA/s640/Sweet+Pie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Wilkinson and his neighbours were so superstitious that they believed that the oxen and other animals in the byres and stalls all genuflected on Christmas Eve when the clock struck twelve!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of a Twelfth Cake mould signed by James Gunter.</td></tr>
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Anyway, back to the British television programme I hinted at earlier, which featured Twelfth Day celebrations. It was a fun Christmas edition of a production called <i>The Victorian Bakers</i>. It, like the original three-part version screened last year, was full of interesting facts about professional bakers in the nineteenth century. But for me it held one terrible disappointment - the quality of the food that the bakers produced. If you watched the programme, please do not believe that what you saw was really anything like the food of the nineteenth century. I sometimes had to hold my hands over my eyes and frequently wanted to roll my sleeves up to show them how to do it properly. However. this was not the fault of the bakers themselves, who were all modern professionals with incredible contemporary skills. I guess the TV company wanted them to 'bring the period back to life' through discovering the difficulties and making lots of mistakes on the way. The whole thing reminded me a bit of a food history series from a number of years ago called <i>Supersizers</i>. I was the "historical advisor" to that series, but the producers rarely took my advice. And although the series was highly entertaining, the food cooked by modern culinary professionals was absolutely awful, with an emphasis on offal, cods head and other dishes chosen for their shock value. As is the wont of these 'living history' productions, the <i>Victorian Bakers</i> also featured lashings of tripe, tongue etc. to shock our modern squeamish sensibilities (yawn!). But what was missing were the incredible skills (now mainly lost) that Victorian bakers and confectioners possessed. I prefer to celebrate those. </div>
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However, I have a confession to make. The makers of the programme did ask me to teach the bakers to decorate some twelfth cakes, but the scene we eventually filmed was not used in the final cut. I was asked to make and decorate a twelfth cake to show them the skill level, but also to teach two of the bakers to decorate one themselves. We had a great day and I think they learnt quite a lot. But what made the session very special was that I let them have a go at using some of my precious confectioner's moulds to make their cake really true to period. In fact we used moulds carved by the greatest twelfth cake decorator of all, the London based Italian confectioner William Jarrin, which was I suppose a bit like letting a modern art student use Rembrandt's actual paintbrushes. As you can see, the king and queen mould above came from the celebrated confectionery shop belonging to the Gunter family, for whom Jarrin worked as an ornament maker for a few years after the battle of Waterloo, In later life, Jarrin was paid by Lord Mansfield to travel from London to Scone Palace in Scotland to decorate a special shortbread for a visit of Queen Victoria. That always seems a bit bizarre to me - an Italian confectioner going to Scotland to decorate a shortbread! For me, it is an incredible privilege to own and to be able to use moulds carved by this nineteenth century master. I wish the BBC had also appreciated this.</div>
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Anyway, to return to the Victorian Bakers. I was commissioned by the production company to make the cake at the top of this page with its neo-gothic gum-paste decorations, while the two bakers had a go at ornamenting the one below, using some of Jarrin's moulds. Harpreet Baura-Singh, who makes high-class contemporary cakes for a living, particularly took to the challenging task of pressing gum paste from these extraordinary moulds. Both cakes were iced with a base of pink cochineal icing as per the instructions of a number of the early authorities. The other baker, John Foster confessed that he would rather have spent his time with me making some traditional pies. Some of the other bakers did have a go at making a pie on the programme - a gargantuan Yorkshire Christmas Pie, very loosely based on a recipe in Francatelli. But the less I say about how it turned out, the better - though I suspect Mr Francatelli may be rotating rapidly in his grave. And I am not going to say too much either about the gingerbreads and moulded Christmas pudding, which would have worked much better if the bakers had been taught to use the kit properly. Anyway, this is what the twelfth cakes looked like, because sadly they did not make it to the final edit.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Twelfth cake ornamented by Harpreet Baura-Singh and John Foster, with a little help from William Jarrin and Ivan Day<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">A much more satisfying pre-Christmas project was a feature I worked on on the subject of English Christmas traditions for the popular Japanese magazine RSVP. This was written by Kirstie Sobue with some stunning photos of the dishes by her husband Hideyuki. The article was eighteen pages long and profusely illustrated. Here is a selection of the dishes below, which as you can see did include another twelfth cake specially made for the feature.Another memorable and fun moment at the tailend of my year was feeding Edward Stourton a bowl of plum potage for the Radio 4 programme <i>Sunday, </i>which was broadcast on Christmas morning. When Edward saw the dark brown mess before him, he did not look impressed, but after tasting it declared that it was delicious. I have put one of Hideyuki's photos of the potage at the end of this post. I hope you all enjoy the twenty-five remaining days of Christmas. I will actually be in Detroit on Candlemas Day to give a couple of workshops and a public lecture at the wonderful exhibition <i><a href="http://www.dia.org/calendar/event.aspx?id=5958&iid=" target="_blank">The Edible Monument</a></i>, so if any of you are there and are feeling hungry, I will share a piece of my forty-day-old sweet pie with you, that is if immigration allow me to bring it into the US. Merry Christmas! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My kitchen at Christmas. <i>Photo - Hideyuki Sobue</i>, </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another twelfth cake, this time for the Japanese magazine RSVP. Note the crowns on cushions. <i>Photo -</i><i> Hideyuki</i><i> Sobue</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This lucky slice contained the bean, so he who gets the bean gets the crown.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the oldest of all British Christmas traditions - plum pottage. <i>Photo -</i><i> Hideyuki</i><i> Sobue</i></td></tr>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-87378028446697919002015-12-19T06:04:00.002-08:002015-12-20T11:05:23.102-08:00The Grand FeastAt the School of Artisan Food<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">François Marin's intensely flavoured 'restaurant', a restorative quintessence which gave its name to the early Parisian eating houses of the same name. Photo: Miriam White.</td></tr>
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Earlier this year I presented an event at the <a href="http://www.schoolofartisanfood.org/" target="_blank">School of Artisan Food</a> at Welbeck Abbey, Britain's leading culinary institution, which you should check out as soon as you have finished reading this. We offered our guests a range of dishes of the kind that were likely to have been experienced by English travellers who made their way to the cultural centres of Italy on the Grand Tour. A number of those who enjoyed this event have been in touch asking for more details about the food we served, so I thought it would be helpful to write this post with some recipe translations appended at the end. </div>
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Many British travellers wrote negative reports of the food
they encountered on their journey from England to the great European centres.
Some were so nervous that they carried copious supplies of plain British food
for their channel crossing and the first leg of their onward journey. European
rural inns particularly came in for criticism, as did the quality of much of
the meat they encountered on the way. However, a lot of the food was just not
to conservative British taste. English travellers were not used to garlic and olive oil and many yearned for
good old roast beef and plum pudding. In some locations they actually managed
to find British food. In 1771 Lady Anne Miller was delighted when she was able
to eat English mince pies in Florence. Describing another meal in Rome in her diary she said,</div>
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<i>‘Our table is served
rather in the English style, at least there abounds three or four homely
English dishes (thanks to some kind English predecessors who have taught them),
such as bacon and cabbage, boiled mutton, bread puddings, which after they have
boiled, are cut in pieces, fried and served with a wine sauce strongly spiced, etc.
so don’t think we are likely to starve here.’</i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8745493398948198755#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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This reminds me of those modern tourists who are relieved to find fish and chip shops in Benidorm! However, most had to survive on local food. No doubt many did experience excellent dishes, particularly in the
great cities. The selection of European delicacies we prepared for our Grand Tour feast was aimed at the more
adventurous time traveller - certainly not those who hope to find supplies of boiled mutton and bread pudding at their
destination! This was our menu.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Bill of Fare</b></div>
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<i>Restaurant</i> - Paris 1769</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Punch à la romagne</i> - pan-European 1820</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Plato de truchas, y yervas</i> - Zaragoza 1745</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Porchetto ripieno di macharonni</i> - Naples 1776</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Insalata ala reale</i> - Naples 1682</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Spongata and parmesan ice cream</i> - London 1789 and 1820</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
1. Restaurant</h3>
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This nutritious consommé or bouillon designed to ‘restore’ the constitution, or weakened spirit, called, ‘quintessence or restaurant’ was served in specialised eating-houses in Paris during the eighteenth century. The soup gave its name to these establishments, thus ‘restaurants’. The earliest restaurants established before the French Revolution probably offered very few dishes other than restorative broths of this kind. They were sometimes referred to as 'houses of health'. Later ones offered much more extensive bills of fare. Restaurant must have been encountered by many British Grand Tour visitors passing through, or visiting Paris. Like bouillon it also formed the basis for many other soups and sauces. The recipe we used was that of François Marin, <i>Les Dons de Comus.</i> (Paris: 1739). I have appended a full translation of his directions in the recipe section at the end of this post.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3vmkhz0a22xmDG61PqqAJs1o-DCpZwmfX2ChH63B9wFn2GG9psJ2dvxHmp5kV5gEhQqtBKINct6unH89xE4mmEEVmzWw8z7QmkhKC4BLTQirkSSNwTHrk6SysWiqpst36fx_acviPuNU/s1600/Les+Dons+de+Comus+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3vmkhz0a22xmDG61PqqAJs1o-DCpZwmfX2ChH63B9wFn2GG9psJ2dvxHmp5kV5gEhQqtBKINct6unH89xE4mmEEVmzWw8z7QmkhKC4BLTQirkSSNwTHrk6SysWiqpst36fx_acviPuNU/s640/Les+Dons+de+Comus+title.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The title page and frontispiece of my copy of the first edition of Marin's important little book.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Broths of this kind were much in demand, especially for the delicate and infirm. They were often prepared by proprietors who were not licensed to sell a range of dishes, but could get away by offering just one. All kinds of broths were considered to be 'physical'. There is an extensive chapter on quasi-medicinal soups in Vincent la Chapelle's<i> The Modern Cook</i> (London: 1733). He gives one recipe for a 'Strengthening Broth, to warm the Blood of elderly and weak People', which starts 'Get about two hundred Sparrows ready pick'd and drawn'. I wanted to spare our guests (and the Welbeck sparrow population), so opted to serve Marin's 'Quintessence ou restaurant.'<br />
<div>
<br />
After leaving England, most travellers visited Paris and would have encountered these new establishments. Curiously, one of the first which offered a full menu, rather than just a bowl of 'restaurant'. was La Taverne Anglaise founded by Antoine Beauvilliers, who opened his restaurant in 1786 in the Palais Royale. The name was probably an attempt to attract English travellers. After the Revolution, he moved to the Rue de Richilieu and named his new establishment La Grande Taverne de Londres in honour of the celebrated London Tavern in Bishopsgate. He later (probably under some pressure from the new regime) re-christened his business, La Grande Taverne de la République. His various establishments were restaurants in the modern sense, with truly gargantuan menus. The English traveller Francis Blagdon in <i>Paris as it Was and As it Is</i> (London: 1805) - my all time favourite guide to Paris - gives a detailed description of Beauvilliers’ establishment, including a full bill of fare. Blagdon tells us, 'Good heaven! the bill of fare is a printed sheet of double folio, of the size of an English newspaper. It will require half an hour at least to con over this important catalogue'. La Grande Taverne was certainly not a simple soup kitchen offering comforting bowls of restaurant to those of a delicate constitution. Blagdon quotes the entire menu and it lists thirteen different soups. I will reproduce the full menu in a later post.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQkpYoaOJYobkKZEDf7NGn3iMk6uo7KwruoE3hGgpg6o2msxkrk9GBR1iHji3J9ILoHWkzXkGiNQSMIRKhRIb2z8d4dJGxdRu8RlQSgpkkhD0WjJpDro2vIrSami6q5WcMX7b5LCQBHS4/s1600/Restaurant5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQkpYoaOJYobkKZEDf7NGn3iMk6uo7KwruoE3hGgpg6o2msxkrk9GBR1iHji3J9ILoHWkzXkGiNQSMIRKhRIb2z8d4dJGxdRu8RlQSgpkkhD0WjJpDro2vIrSami6q5WcMX7b5LCQBHS4/s640/Restaurant5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Marin's 1769 recipe for restaurant - there is a translation of his full text towards the end of this post.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Beauvilliers published a recipe in his 1814 cookery book<i> L'art du Cuisinier</i> for croûtes au pot. These delicious croûtons were fortified with bouillon before they were crisped up and served with soups. So our 'restaurant' was garnished with these crunchy, umami flavoured morsels.</div>
<div>
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<h3>
<b>2. Punche a la romaine - </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Roman punch</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vBqVXjTSV19flmP7zfGhyum9oqlXwfKa-kybAgIugYOYjSUk2FAjCisqkaRbyQZO6d9vOtA5doZYXJNn1psuJazwZsdLavzK_0WD37FPH4WpAP3L_Agb484wDyQ5zjWOyFB0kjwvfnU/s1600/punch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vBqVXjTSV19flmP7zfGhyum9oqlXwfKa-kybAgIugYOYjSUk2FAjCisqkaRbyQZO6d9vOtA5doZYXJNn1psuJazwZsdLavzK_0WD37FPH4WpAP3L_Agb484wDyQ5zjWOyFB0kjwvfnU/s640/punch.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Punch romaine in some eighteenth century syllabub glasses on a silver waiter. The silver gilt spoon on the left is from a set made for the Prince Regent by Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. I made this punch romaine for the BBC documentary <i>Pride and Prejudice, Having a Ball</i>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Popular in Rome, Florence and Venice with travellers before Napoleon invaded the Italian peninsula and disrupted the flow of tourists, punch romaine travelled to Paris and became the most fashionable refreshment of the Empire period. It does not appear to have come to England until after Empress Josephine’s death in 1814 when a chef called Molas started work for Prince Lieven at the Russian embassy in London. The Italian confectioner Giugliamo Jarrin, who knew Molas, seems to have been the first to publish the secret recipe in an appendix in a later edition of his Italian Confectioner published in London in 1820. <br />
<h3>
<b><br /></b></h3>
<h3>
<b>3. Plato de truchas, y yervas - </b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>trout with leafy vegetables</i></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Altmiras's Plato de truchas, y yervas (trout with leafy vegetables). Photo: Miriam White.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-US">Juan
Altamiras, the author of this recipe, was the <i>nome de plume</i> of a Franciscan monk whose real name was Friar Raimundo Gómez. He is without doubt my favourite Spanish cookery writer. Gomez was born at
the end of the seventeenth century and died in 1769. He ran the kitchens of
a large religious school in the city of Zaragoza in Aragon in Northern Spain. His
recipes are often sprinkled with wit and dry humor, as in these idiosyncratic
instructions for cooking trout with bacon and meat dripping. He anticipates
that some of his more pious readers would see this cooking method as being
against the strict dietary regulations of the Catholic Church, so he makes a
little joke about it. Of course the dish is designed for a
day when meat was allowed and the bacon is an excellent addition. Many British protestant travellers were
annoyed by the Catholic tradition of strictly adhering to fish days. They could
not even get eggs to eat at breakfast! Altamiras’s book <i>Nuevo arte de cocina </i>was published in Madrid in 1745. The monks for
whom he cooked must have eaten much better than the many Englishmen who dined
out in Madrid. They constantly complained about everything they were served
except the superb fruit. The recipes in Altamiras's wonderful little collection are fairly simple and represent the everyday cookery of his region of Aragon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Rhlzko0gLAJqhAzYsbh2Rpu_EC0gdtNgYJjHaUcxboVCLRgkQPlCPqAdas4ZW_sE0XuJaWPKlTljD9Ir6czZIoN5ZdQBrxxIBqFMcc5EfBH3_FpNDIpsmTC4ZvLJ85yfdQ9NlT9bscU/s1600/Altamiras+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Rhlzko0gLAJqhAzYsbh2Rpu_EC0gdtNgYJjHaUcxboVCLRgkQPlCPqAdas4ZW_sE0XuJaWPKlTljD9Ir6czZIoN5ZdQBrxxIBqFMcc5EfBH3_FpNDIpsmTC4ZvLJ85yfdQ9NlT9bscU/s640/Altamiras+title.jpg" width="354" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">My copy of the 1758 edition of Altamiras's <i>Nuovo Arte de Cocina</i>. A previous owner has written over the printed date in the early nineteenth century with the probable year when he acquired the book. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnyRELPwvlJpdRSpQdYoAnj9ShkPr13aqsFJDUh15RL0o2IKCz3yuCwMcla0-qJkpVvyV_5JQyQxWGwNRz8CQzi4yb2ufHYFh6z8ekP28OwvPICIpILNWVSb9R47uhmQkdesBdOrBSBHA/s1600/Altamiras+trout+recipe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnyRELPwvlJpdRSpQdYoAnj9ShkPr13aqsFJDUh15RL0o2IKCz3yuCwMcla0-qJkpVvyV_5JQyQxWGwNRz8CQzi4yb2ufHYFh6z8ekP28OwvPICIpILNWVSb9R47uhmQkdesBdOrBSBHA/s640/Altamiras+trout+recipe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">I have appended a translation of this in the recipe section at the end of the post.</td></tr>
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Freshly caught trout turn up in countless accounts of alfresco meals eaten by British travellers at various European riverside locations. While on his Grand Tour, James Hume praised the massive trout he enjoyed at Pont l’Eveque in 1714. Fresh fish repasts like this were rarely complained about.<br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">4. Porchetto ripieno di macharonni - <span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>suckling pig stuffed with macaroni</i></span></span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzFAqux-2hIOVxY9pd2LmWMY8x0V9e9xCLUAzGToV0dbGgnBf936S9xlXINEx9goLvNQoSCyMLUMj8FSV70dMp4sXPkadsm1Ya2GqBx5shfU_uPLILNaeO34jW6SlTxjFv8Ju-L9B7Rs/s1600/Macaroni+pig2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzFAqux-2hIOVxY9pd2LmWMY8x0V9e9xCLUAzGToV0dbGgnBf936S9xlXINEx9goLvNQoSCyMLUMj8FSV70dMp4sXPkadsm1Ya2GqBx5shfU_uPLILNaeO34jW6SlTxjFv8Ju-L9B7Rs/s640/Macaroni+pig2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Suckling pig stuffed with macaroni cooked in stock with cheese, pepper, chopped sausages, prosciutto and served with a ham coulis from Vincenzo Corrado, <i>Il Cuoco Galante</i> (Naples: 1786). Photo: Miriam White.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFvRYq4JeOEEMJexqSmMDbqelyocgI7h-ItRYohWk6hxA36ICjLJ-uoZRZTWd0buoxVkqnuiMzRUWllc9GsoSxsSuFL3ST4j5O52CMf-6m9s4eBn8MmbAhEKg6_Lug1PIvLuuRhoK8mw/s1600/Porchetto+ripieno.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFvRYq4JeOEEMJexqSmMDbqelyocgI7h-ItRYohWk6hxA36ICjLJ-uoZRZTWd0buoxVkqnuiMzRUWllc9GsoSxsSuFL3ST4j5O52CMf-6m9s4eBn8MmbAhEKg6_Lug1PIvLuuRhoK8mw/s640/Porchetto+ripieno.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Corrado's recipe for <i>Porchetta Ripieno di Maccheroni. </i>There is an English translation of this in the recipe section at the end of this post.</td></tr>
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The final destination for most British travellers on the Grand Tour was the city of Naples, famous for its <i>mangiamaccharoni</i>, <i>cuccagna</i> festivals and street ice cream vendors. The surrounding countryside provided the city with superb vegetables and fruit. In fact Neopolitans were noted for their enormous enthusiasm for greenery. Now we think of <i>salsa di pomodoro</i> as the iconic dish of Naples, but the tomato was not commonly eaten with pasta until the late 19th century. Travellers to Naples were more impressed by some of the local meat and game dishes, a few of which featured pasta used in some unusual ways.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjleVnuBuvPgtfQMgvMVcoG94hJpT8GzjJZZ09YVnuapBL3WnJwyGrAK3c9GyTfWpyU02RRGfcXzOeunQcFlLChoAdqpkrcd2Uw8NauC5WjV9QOv7p2jZqcpwHXqYzo3qFby84bJ1fvxzg/s1600/Corrado+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjleVnuBuvPgtfQMgvMVcoG94hJpT8GzjJZZ09YVnuapBL3WnJwyGrAK3c9GyTfWpyU02RRGfcXzOeunQcFlLChoAdqpkrcd2Uw8NauC5WjV9QOv7p2jZqcpwHXqYzo3qFby84bJ1fvxzg/s640/Corrado+title.jpg" width="444" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The title page of my rather well-used copy of the second edition of Corrado's<i> Il</i> <i>Cuoco galante.</i></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">Suckling pig has been popular in Italy since Antiquity. To be a true
suckling pig, the animal must still be feeding on its mother’s milk. The 1st century AD Roman cookery writer Apicius gave seventeen different recipes for
preparing this most delicate of meats. In his book <i>Il cuoco galante</i> (Naples: 1776). Dominican monk and Neapolitan
cookery author, Vincenzo Corrado, also devotes a whole chapter to the animal,
which he initiates by quoting a recipe from Apicius, in which the suckling pig
is boiled in stock and served with a sauce flavored with wine, honey, rue, long
pepper, and coriander. The good monk obviously tried this ancient Roman recipe,
because he declares it to be “an excellent dish”. Corrado’s other recipes
include a French inspired suckling pig <i>fricassée</i>,
but are mainly from the local Neapolitan repertoire. In one distinctive dish,
the pig is cooked over a charcoal stove and served with a sauce of quinces,
cinnamon and pistachios. In another, the suckling pig is stuffed with pieces of
eel, fennel seeds, garlic and bay leaves. However, nothing could be more
quintessentially Neapolitan than the recipe above, in which the belly of the
pig is filled with pasta, sausage and cheese. <i>Colí di prosciuto</i> was made by cooking small pieces of ham in <i>brodo</i> and reducing it after the ham had
been removed. It demonstrates that the all pervading French practice of
heightening the flavour of dishes with coulis, had intruded into native
Neapolitan cookery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhie1EvbxyQbDVtXO9ljZQ7dcp53wz6kDRLEPlsiHZSsIvB9YqMeJapE5dqHj1CfUjqgBb2oBcSiUj_3g-MnaXkd_97Jn_vrDwwhqRJzDGvnv9-rBXIR93Hz1D1xIlE2ADeu1KrDOf-fko/s1600/Corrado+Portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhie1EvbxyQbDVtXO9ljZQ7dcp53wz6kDRLEPlsiHZSsIvB9YqMeJapE5dqHj1CfUjqgBb2oBcSiUj_3g-MnaXkd_97Jn_vrDwwhqRJzDGvnv9-rBXIR93Hz1D1xIlE2ADeu1KrDOf-fko/s640/Corrado+Portrait.jpg" width="486" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The man himself. <span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> Corrado is one of my all-time food heroes and I avidly collect his books. When I get time, I will devote an entire post to him.</span></span></td></tr>
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<h3>
<span style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;"> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;">5. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">Insalata alla Reale - <span style="font-weight: normal;">Royal Salad</span></span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefxMnyQEOBE4HsNANzJFvyIm1ZqjNuA_SgQ1BORdr_9wukBoYd0qllMukIObTqwu4CRKg39w1YEB375uQbFQ84o7KbwFNOA6F_27yONrBRvp43u_N0snXtIf0pXlSQVQJDukA21QUj8A/s1600/insalata+reale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefxMnyQEOBE4HsNANzJFvyIm1ZqjNuA_SgQ1BORdr_9wukBoYd0qllMukIObTqwu4CRKg39w1YEB375uQbFQ84o7KbwFNOA6F_27yONrBRvp43u_N0snXtIf0pXlSQVQJDukA21QUj8A/s640/insalata+reale.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">This incredible baroque fish salad is from Antonio Latini's <i>Lo Scalco Moderna</i> (Naples: 1682 and 1684). From the feedback we received after the event it seems to have been the most popular dish. Photo: Miriam White.</td></tr>
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This is a Southern ancestor of the well-known modern Tuscan bread salad. I have already touched on it in another post - <i><a href="http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_01_archive.html" target="_blank">Salads to reach round the World</a></i>. The b<i>iscottini</i>, or ‘little biscuits’ in the recipe are ship’s biscuit, a hard dry rusk made by cutting bread into slices and putting it in the oven a second time to dry. <i>Friselle</i> and <i>taralli</i> are hard ring-shaped breads, which are both still made in Southern Italy. Like <i>biscottini</i> they were usually softened in water. The radishes of this period were white and long-rooted rather than the round, bright red ones popular today. <i>Tarantello</i> was a common ingredient in Italian recipes of the early modern period. It was made by salting part of the belly of young tuna fish. The city of Taranto was the centre of production, but this ancient delicacy is no longer made in modern Italy. I make my own. <i>Botarga,</i> however, is still readily available; the most prized being made by salting tuna roes. Citrons or <i>cedri</i> were commonly grown in Southern Italy and both the preserved peel and fresh flowers were popular ingredients in both sweet and savoury dishes. Sugared comfits were a common garnish for dishes of this kind – those of anise or fennel being the most popular. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhluMLrtmMYYPjrPvDhTU52vsnQRHQN5O5S5_9j_0VZGiBFvdw4RXwPnywVJnyxM4sZ6XSZsLw9kAhGAz_yr1nhNLrS-C7OQ8tQkLna0OqQ2ZP0XoRTaicGafmgHCjs550UYQ1vXWlKJ6s/s1600/Latini1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhluMLrtmMYYPjrPvDhTU52vsnQRHQN5O5S5_9j_0VZGiBFvdw4RXwPnywVJnyxM4sZ6XSZsLw9kAhGAz_yr1nhNLrS-C7OQ8tQkLna0OqQ2ZP0XoRTaicGafmgHCjs550UYQ1vXWlKJ6s/s640/Latini1.jpg" width="564" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Latini's original recipe. I have included a translation at the end of the post in the recipe section.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiz-cG_udCoO5qFlqtv-Z7Cq_yFGAbx9iJ2v_G5L_gByDEf3kJZDL4vcwkSEO3wIv_7VRNZxRP3m5mosXBkaZt3kuoJ5OqvlL9A8cyHy1zGbut3SQztJlUEzfUluIx1IKF5BvGezUahi4/s1600/Latini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiz-cG_udCoO5qFlqtv-Z7Cq_yFGAbx9iJ2v_G5L_gByDEf3kJZDL4vcwkSEO3wIv_7VRNZxRP3m5mosXBkaZt3kuoJ5OqvlL9A8cyHy1zGbut3SQztJlUEzfUluIx1IKF5BvGezUahi4/s640/Latini.jpg" width="418" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: left;">
The author of this salad, Antonio Latini, was the <i>scalco</i> (house steward) to the Spanish regent of Naples. His two volume book is a remarkable collection, not only of recipes, but also of menus and carving instructions. It is one of the most beautiful of all baroque books on food and dining.</div>
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</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sxOUQd87Y-iQhElqlmHDCLhtBh0r89vobbdilQA_e1AZ1hgFJM2MbHtqqQWPX_bxKcc99beZ83NdFfkggR69hIYdULZQ_DJFL8oYE6WLws3puqUAMJ4QGxDkLSoMPPYwSUGbMseFnho/s1600/IMG_3421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sxOUQd87Y-iQhElqlmHDCLhtBh0r89vobbdilQA_e1AZ1hgFJM2MbHtqqQWPX_bxKcc99beZ83NdFfkggR69hIYdULZQ_DJFL8oYE6WLws3puqUAMJ4QGxDkLSoMPPYwSUGbMseFnho/s640/IMG_3421.jpg" width="544" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Italian and Spanish Royal Salads were the inspiration behind the English Grand Salads of this period, like this winter salad of preserves and pickles with its standard of rosemary flecked with whipped egg white to represent snow.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><b>6. Spongata and parmesan ice cream</b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBadVw5SrcOtL6rf3Xzg7okBGIe-UsR-yGoDgWft7NBnIrt31SVxDz4rG8Jd6auBH_qodhgv-pvYT4AV1yiWBpNWyrYiknIVDDIgm3P9x1pssGTEryXXabkRqHfvy-twJTxeWUWZBliJE/s1600/spongata+and+parmesan+ice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBadVw5SrcOtL6rf3Xzg7okBGIe-UsR-yGoDgWft7NBnIrt31SVxDz4rG8Jd6auBH_qodhgv-pvYT4AV1yiWBpNWyrYiknIVDDIgm3P9x1pssGTEryXXabkRqHfvy-twJTxeWUWZBliJE/s640/spongata+and+parmesan+ice.jpg" width="534" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Two continental delicacies that could have been enjoyed in London confectionery shops on the grand tourist's return - spongata cake and parmesan ice cream. Photo: Miriam White.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Tourists travelling back to London could continue to enjoy French and Italian food when they arrived home. A number of London-based Italian warehousemen sold imported luxury goods, such as olive oil, olives, vermicelli, truffles, morels, capers and fine wines. There were confectionery shops run by Italian natives in St James, New Bond Street and Westminster, which catered specifically for returning ‘macaronis’. One establishment in Berkeley Square, the Pot and Pineapple, founded by Domenico Negri in the late 1750s, sold high class Italian confectionery, ices and even sugar sculpture for the dessert tables of Mayfair aristocrats. Negri eventually returned to Turin and sold his share in the business, but it continued to trade well into the next century. One of Negri's apprentices, Frederick Nutt included a recipe for parmesan cheese ice cream in a collection of recipes he published anonymously in 1789. It is possible that it was an ice he learnt from his master Negri. The earliest European recipe for parmesan cheese ice cream was published in Joseph Gilliers, <i>La Cannamaliste</i> <i>Français. </i>Nancy: 1751. There is a modern misconception that this is a savoury ice cream - it is not. I started making parmesan ice cream in the 1970s and taught it on my ice cream courses in the early nineties well before the chefy craze for such unusual flavours. I love it. I use Frederick Nutt's 1789 recipe<br />
<br />
The Italian confectioner and ornament maker Gugliamo Jarrin, who had worked for Napoleon, arrived in London in 1816. In 1820, he published <i>The Italian Confectioner</i>, the most important work ever to appear in print on the extraordinary art of confectionery as practiced in the long eighteenth century. Nothing as detailed was ever published in Italian. Spongata or spongati, was a local speciality from Jarrin’s home town of Colorno, near Parma. Local tradition claims it could be traced back to Roman times. Here is Jarrin's recipe, which of course he wrote in English. There is another post about it on this blog at <i><a href="http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/spongata-italian-minced-pie-in-georgian.html" target="_blank">Spongata</a></i>.<br />
<br />
<b>Fine Spongati Italian Cake</b><br />
<br />
<i>One pound six ounces of white bread, dried in the oven and reduced to a coarse powder; one pound four ounces of walnuts, blanched, and chopped very fine with a double handled knife; six. ounces of currants, well washed and cleaned; five ounces of wild pine kernels ; five pounds five ounces of virgin honey, clarified ; three grains of cinnamon in powder, one grain of cloves ; one grain of strong pepper ; and one grain of nutmeg in powder. The above articles must be mixed together, and enclosed in a crust paste, made of the following materials, viz., two pounds eight ounces of the best wheaten flour ; six ounces of fresh butter ; five ounces of loaf sugar, pounded; one ounce of olive oil, of Aix, in Provence, and half an ounce of salt, with a sufficient quantity of white wine to mix the whole. This paste, being of a moderate consistence, is to be formed into round cases or crusts, into which the first mixture is to be introduced, and a cover of the same paste must be put on, which must be pricked all over with the point of the knife. Let them stand for a whole day, put them in an oven, moderately heated, on plates dusted over with flour : these cakes should be an inch thick ; they may be iced or not, as you please.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
From William Jarrin, <i>The Italian Confectioner</i>. <i>(London: 1820).</i><br />
<br />
<b>Parmesan Ice Cream</b><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<i>Take six eggs, half a pint of syrup and a pint of cream put them into stewpan and boil them until it begins to thicken ; then rasp three ounces of parmesan cheese, mix and pass them through a sieve, and freeze it.</i><br />
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
From Frederick Nutt<i>, The Complete Confectioner. </i>(London: 1789).<br />
<h2>
<b style="text-align: left;"><br /></b><b style="text-align: left;">Recipe Translations</b></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Apart from the last two recipes, which were both published in English, here are the translations of the French, Spanish and Italian recipes. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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<br />
<b>Quintessence or Restaurant </b><br />
<br />
Take a well-tinned and very clean pan. Put into it several slices of onion, with a little beef marrow, slices from a round of nice white veal. On top of the veal slices, place several cleaned ham rinds from which the fat has been removed, and also some slices of parsnips and carrots. Take a good healthy freshly killed hen, and clean it well both inside and out. Cut it into pieces and crush the pieces. While still warm, put them into your casserole and then put in a few more slices of veal and small pieces of ham rind. Note that for two pints of this quintessence, you will require only about four or five pounds of veal and four ounces of ham as well as the hen. All being well arranged in your pan, add a glass of your stock, seal your casserole well and put it on a strong heat. If you cook it over a low fire, the meat yields its juices, but does not brown, so the liquid sticks to the meat and hardens during cooking and does not fall to the bottom of the casserole to form the restaurant that is required. When the meat has browned, put your casserole over a moderate fire for the space of three quarters of an hour. Take care that nothing sticks to the pan and from time to time moisten it with some bouillon, just to the point that the restaurant is not bitter or too strong, but sweet, unctuous and proper for a variety of sauces., which are normally made with ingredients that have their own taste and savour. Many cooks may put in this quintessence strongly flavoured things, such as garlic, cloves, basil, mushrooms, but I prefer the simpler fashion as I believe it is best for both taste and for health.<br />
<br />
From François Marin, <i>Les Dons de Comus</i>. (Paris: 1739).<br />
<br />
Note. A French pint of this period is equivalent to a modern British quart. A French livre, or pound, was slightly heavier than a modern British lb – 1.07 lb.<br />
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<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: small;">Plato de truchas, y yervas</span></b></h3>
Take some large trout, scale them, split them and cut into little pieces. Fry them in lean and fat bacon. Take some white lettuce hearts, which are the best, and cook them in salted water. When the trout are fried, fry some slices of white bread, then add the lettuce to the pan with the remaining fat and fry them so that they do not dry out. Remove them and place them on a layer of bread slices, then another of hearts of cabbage, then pieces of trout, then add pepper and oranges, and in the middle, pieces of the fried bread, and a few pieces of lean bacon among the cabbage, then more trout. Serve hot. To make this dish even tastier, use dripping instead of oil. But I can already hear your qualm of conscience, which goes something like this: Brother Cook, here you are dealing with fish dishes, in which bacon is forbidden, so how can we legitimately use dripping and bacon? This little scruple, which, not being observed, would be a source of great pleasure to you, I wish to overcome as follows:<br />
<br />
It is true that in this chapter it is my intention to cover fish dishes, and so I am dealing with trout, which by their nature may be eaten on days of abstinence from meat, but the method of preparing them described above is normally used on non-fasting days, and so this is something with which you cannot burden my conscience, for although I am a cook, I cannot allow you this pleasure, although it costs so little, because the pleasure and expense given by this poor cook are very much in conformity with Gospel teaching, as you will observe.</div>
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From Juan Altamiras, <i>Nuovo Arte de Cocina. </i>(Barcelona; 1758).<br />
<br />
<b>Porchetto ripieno di macharonni</b></div>
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Stuff the suckling pig with macaroni, first cooked in stock and well seasoned with cheese, pepper, chopped sausage, ham, and minced beef marrow and baste it with really good stock while it is roasting on the spit, or bake it in the oven, and serve it covered with an excellent coulis of ham.</div>
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From Vincenzo Corrado, Il Cuoco Galante. (Naples: 1776).<br />
<br />
<b>Insalata alla Reale</b><br />
<br />
Take endive, or scarola (another variety of endive or chicory), mince it finely and put it to one side, until you have prepared a large basin, at the bottom of which are eight, or ten biscottini, friselle, or taralli, soaked in water, and vinegar, with a little white salt; put the said chopped endive on top, intermix with other salad stuff, albeit minced finely, make the body of the said salad on top at your discretion, intermix with radishes cut into pieces lengthways, filling in the gaps in the said basin with the ingredients listed below, all arranged in order. Pinenuts four ounces, stoned olives six ounces, capers four ounces, one pomegranate, white and black grapes ten ounces, twelve anchovies, tarantello (salted belly of tuna) four ounces, botargo three ounces, comfits, six ounces, preserved citron (and) preserved pumpkin twelve ounces, four hard boiled eggs, whole pistachios four ounces, four ounces of raisins, other black olives six ounces. Caviar, four ounces, minced flesh of white fish, six ounces, little radishes, salt, oil, and vinegar to taste, garnish the plate with slices of citrons, and citron flowers round about in order, take heed not to add salt or seasonings, until it goes to the table, and is about to be eaten.</div>
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From Antonio Latini,<i> Lo Scalco Moderna.</i> (Naples: 1694).<br />
<br />
Look out for more events of this kind and some of my historic cookery courses at the <a href="http://www.schoolofartisanfood.org/" target="_blank">The School of Artisan Food Website</a>. There will be more!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8745493398948198755#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Jeremy Black, The Grand Tour in the Eighteenth Century. (London: 1992) p. 151.<br />
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-6105924237901529672015-12-13T09:40:00.002-08:002015-12-17T01:46:23.143-08:00A Christmas Medley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Merry Christmas Everybody - Unless you live in 1652!</span></div>
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The changing face of Christmas food fascinates me. These days English supermarket shelves are full of exotic delights like panetonne and stolen, both almost unknown fifteen years ago. I recently made ten short features for a popular daytime television food series which explored this issue in an historical context. Not in any depth of course, because British daytime television is aimed at a demographic that is mistakenly assumed not to be able to cope with anything too mentally taxing. But I had some fun exploring a lot of lost British seasonal traditions. For instance most have heard of the wild boar's head served as a Yuletide dish 'in days of yore' (daytime television speak). This particular dish has become just as much a stereotypical symbol of 'Christmas Past' as that other latter-day Christmas cliché, the so-called turducken or multi-bird roast. But you may not know that in the Victorian period, boar's heads were imitated in sponge cake, iced with chocolate and stuffed with ice cream - much nicer to eat than the real savoury dish. I had a go at making one of these eccentrically shaped choc ices for the series, which is being screened here in the UK at the moment. The long and complicated recipe can be found in Charles Elmé Francatelli's superb The <i>Royal English and Foreign Confectionery Book</i>. (London: 1862), together with a delightful chromolithograph of the finished result (above).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">I usually publish a photograph of one of my Twelfth Cakes at Christmas, but this year, here is a version of Francatelli's Imatation Wild Boar Cake.</td></tr>
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The recipe involves baking a number of savoy cakes in paper cases, joining them together with apricot marmalade and then carving the result into the shape of a wild boar's head. It is then covered in cooked chocolate icing. The ears are made from <i>pate d'office</i> masked with some of the same transparent chocolate icing, the tusks and teeth from gum paste, while the eyes are moulded over marbles from <i>pastillage</i>, which are painted, then dipped in blown sugar to give them a scary, amazingly realistic gloss. After being mounted on an ornamental <i>socle</i>, the head is garnished with silver hatelet skewers impaled with chocolate truffles and marzipan coxcombs. The hollowed-out head is stuffed with white and red ice cream, meant to resemble fat and lean, before being garnished around with white and yellow jelly croutons. Interestingly, this recipe appears to include the earliest mention of chocolate truffles. Francatelli's instructions for garnishing the ornamental skewers does not agree with his illustration. I decorated mine with the garnishes he describes - the imitation truffles and coxcombs, while the chromolithograph shows stars and spheres made out of some unknown material. <br />
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Real truffles and coxcombs on silver skewers were used to garnish savoury versions of the dish, as in the truly spectacular <i>tête de sanglier</i> above from Emile Bernard and Urbain Dubois's <i>La Cuisine Classique</i> (Paris: 1856). These technically accomplished chefs moulded and carved the fancy stand and leaping deer from fat! I love their oak leaves and acorns and added a similar pastillage embellishment to my chocolate incarnation. <br />
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Dubois and Bernard made their highly ornamental <i>tête</i> for Kaiser Wilhelm I. Whether it was really as truly amazing as the engraver has depicted, we will never know. One very faded photograph of another decorated boar's head which graced Queen Victoria's sideboard at Osborne House in 1888 shows that the English branch of the family did not insist on such artistic ambition. This wildly squinting beast has one eye not only larger than the other, but it stares in a different direction! A surprisingly amateur effort for a regal dining room.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The Christmas sideboard at Osborne in 1888. This arrangement agrees exactly with surviving royal menus from this period. The dishes are from left to right - boars head, collar of brawn, baron of beef, woodcock pie and raised Christmas pie. Courtesy of the Royal Collection</td></tr>
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Coming back to my chocolate piggy, the stand or socle was embellished with oak leaves and other ornaments in gum paste, loosely following Francatelli's scheme. I used what nineteenth century carved wooden moulds I had to hand.<br />
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In another episode I explored the strong associations that gingerbread has with Christmas and made a number of moulded figures, including this white gingerbread figure of St Nicholas. The German or Dutch mould was carved in the nineteenth century and belongs to my friend Charlotte Rees. Watch out for Charlotte, she is a food history prodigy. The three little boys sitting in a salting tub were allegedly rescued and brought back to life by St Nicholas. According to the legend, a wicked butcher had killed them and was salting them in preparation for selling them as hams in his shop! The myth was considered too violent for an afternoon teatime BBC audience and did not get explained in the programme. These moulds were used to make gingerbread gifts for children for the feast of St Nicholas on 6th December, usually, at least in the Netherlands, being given on the evening of the 5th December.<br />
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Those of you who do manage to watch the episode in the series concerned with the subject of wassailing may be mystified by the sudden appearance of a large wooden bowl ornamented with greenery. Unfortunately, the historical source of this object was left out in the final edit, making the whole story a bit open ended and puzzling. So for the benefit of any viewers who might be curious to know what was going on here, here is the source of that mystery object.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPK_xH_QK2OIimaUAFz4JwGKBPyGSjjRyEVjy9kpDIbKoUGb8sll4xhrjlqN6UEJW_Xzm1_dQxMhBBxpmJkV2NtV2NZGgt9-ydDBYjG-aEny3SK-2L_zB1JTOWBO_idnH_9JcNktbC1dk/s1600/wassail1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPK_xH_QK2OIimaUAFz4JwGKBPyGSjjRyEVjy9kpDIbKoUGb8sll4xhrjlqN6UEJW_Xzm1_dQxMhBBxpmJkV2NtV2NZGgt9-ydDBYjG-aEny3SK-2L_zB1JTOWBO_idnH_9JcNktbC1dk/s640/wassail1.jpg" width="435" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A wassail bowl ornamented with Christmas greenery from Frederick Bishop, <i>The Wife's Own Book of Cookery. </i>(London: 1856). The same illustration appeared in a slightly different format in Bishop's earlier version of this work, <i>The Illustrated London Cookery Book</i> (London: 1852).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDV3FA09xfs4gpj2txRr3K-0K7OtMbqSPdpN3oDl0Rjw4I2LgYv0aIIP8HWgIt835MDh5SC-Ua11aJq45Nl-7I5E9GKJRV-sYZvSetDDGoIeb1rMQk2OTj8CkcSIYKSF_k9Ep8-0heORU/s1600/Wassail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDV3FA09xfs4gpj2txRr3K-0K7OtMbqSPdpN3oDl0Rjw4I2LgYv0aIIP8HWgIt835MDh5SC-Ua11aJq45Nl-7I5E9GKJRV-sYZvSetDDGoIeb1rMQk2OTj8CkcSIYKSF_k9Ep8-0heORU/s640/Wassail.jpg" width="540" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">My version of the Gloucester wassail bowl decorated with rosemary, bays and mistletoe.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTVCXY1yVbFaL14iJufhZe16iqpbCwDX9wb8yVTyyUNFPvKTUq7TbYczfTX4Uk6sE_1GrtVjhQD1Stq7FFN4XrEp08pRiG9vBg6wQpm1bAvareOZ0LvqIXxu6uvcTbrhLsRqYxZisunI/s1600/wassail2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTVCXY1yVbFaL14iJufhZe16iqpbCwDX9wb8yVTyyUNFPvKTUq7TbYczfTX4Uk6sE_1GrtVjhQD1Stq7FFN4XrEp08pRiG9vBg6wQpm1bAvareOZ0LvqIXxu6uvcTbrhLsRqYxZisunI/s640/wassail2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">I also made a gentry version of wassail - a lambs wool in fact - based on sherry rather than ale in this nice 1740s English Delftware punch bowl</td></tr>
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However, my tipple of choice this Christmas in my own home will be some bishop served in a replica of a faience bishop's mitre bowl made by my friend John Hudson. I have already posted a lengthy article about bishop in which I illustrate these rare and curious vessels - <a href="http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/some-christmas-nightcaps.html">Some Christmas Nightcaps.</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKKhY0w7q7MAiOjq3cnLciKZhCrsqIC0SLbIWL7hGGwhNZ-gpNW_lmv8iNpOxrOlN8YonLBIyRILhRV53iZAMOwAKP-3FgmCCcfaEVs2NwuMYKWdgbmvFGXLfCQVCPrWTQBehYLWy7mM/s1600/Bishop+bowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKKhY0w7q7MAiOjq3cnLciKZhCrsqIC0SLbIWL7hGGwhNZ-gpNW_lmv8iNpOxrOlN8YonLBIyRILhRV53iZAMOwAKP-3FgmCCcfaEVs2NwuMYKWdgbmvFGXLfCQVCPrWTQBehYLWy7mM/s640/Bishop+bowl.jpg" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">I have looked for an original one of these rare vessels for a long time. As far as I know there are only about five in existence. So I commissioned my potter friend <a href="http://www.hudsonclaypotter.co.uk/" target="_blank">John Hudson</a> to make one for me.</td></tr>
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And finally another wonderful acquisition. This is the time of year that journalists and celebrity chefs start banging on about how Oliver Cromwell banned minced pies. There is not really any evidence to suggest that this really happened. There are certainly no acts from the commonwealth parliament that specifically outlaw these Christmas pastries, because I have hunted through all of them and have not found any. But the Commonwealth did outlaw the celebration of Christmas and I suspect that the stories about forbidden mince pies originate from these parliamentary declarations. It must be understood that England was being administrated at this time by a seventeenth century version of the Taliban, who discouraged all forms of enjoyment. Anyway, a few days ago, I acquired the extraordinary document below, a parliamentary resolution from Christmas Eve 1652 which forbids the observation of Christmas Day - here it is. <br />
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Now this very rare broadside, probably printed so it could be attached to a church door, has been deliberately damaged. Somebody has excised the coat of arms of the commonwealth from the document, probably in an act of defiant vandalism. To me this makes it even more extraordinary. However, to show you what it would have looked like when complete, I have used Photoshop to show you its original appearance. Merry Christmas!</div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-17901650959213065392015-11-27T06:29:00.001-08:002015-11-27T06:29:49.230-08:00Forthcoming Events<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Late eighteenth century dessert table at the Gardiner Museum, Toronto</td></tr>
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I have just had another extremely busy year and have had no time at all to contribute any new posts to this blog. However, as I have a little more time on my hands over the next few weeks I will resume posting again, as I do have a great deal to say. <div>
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I have worked on two major museum projects this year with lots of TV and other media jobs thrown in. My most enjoyable and rewarding project was the installation of the c.1790s dessert table pictured above, which can now be viewed at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. I will tell you more very soon in another post devoted to this lovely installation. The other important task was to recreate an earlier dessert centrepiece from a mid-eighteenth century design for the wonderful exhibition <i>The Edible Monument</i>, which is showing at the moment at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Here is a photograph of the finished assemblage of sugar sculpture, parterres etc on my kitchen table before it was shipped to California. I will also be posting a detailed account of this in the not too distant future.<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWEZ13BcZbfVhopMe-Ky2CUChSdw4aAstOizIXsAlqNGqdWfN732Of1L8gll7UyR7P5sLzAZbm6SCj_kzO_csbY5nbSluVckuY2VrHnNZY49fs6jL3dszTKUryb7LpcsoMi3hqO8L-Vs/s1600/Getty1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWEZ13BcZbfVhopMe-Ky2CUChSdw4aAstOizIXsAlqNGqdWfN732Of1L8gll7UyR7P5sLzAZbm6SCj_kzO_csbY5nbSluVckuY2VrHnNZY49fs6jL3dszTKUryb7LpcsoMi3hqO8L-Vs/s640/Getty1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ivan's installation for the Getty Research Institute exhibition The Edible Monument</td></tr>
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In the meantime, here is a warning of a few events I am involved in over the next few months. I am afraid they are a bit international, but I hope to see some of you there.</div>
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<b>December 9th 2015.</b> <b><a href="https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/events/college-candlelight-500-years-festive-food" target="_blank">College by Candlelight.</a></b> I will be exploring the 500 year old history of celebratory dining at the Royal College of Physicians in London with silver expert Christopher Hartop and historian Annie Gray.</div>
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<b>29th January 2016</b>. I will be giving a lecture at a conference at the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, Holland. A one day symposium relating to the wonderful exhibition <b><a href="http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/en/exhibitions/dutch-dining" target="_blank">Dutch Dining</a> </b>currently showing at the museum. Contact the museum for details. </div>
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<b>31st January 2016</b>. I am giving two short demonstration/workshops on sugar sculpture techniques at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, they are already sold out, but there are still places at a lecture I am delivering on the same day - <b><a href="http://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/events/art_of_food/index.html" target="_blank">Eating the Edifice</a>. </b>This is one of a series of lectures in the Getty's Art of Food series. If you cannot get to mine, try to make it to others in this excellent programme. Ken Albala on Playing the Scalco and Deborah Krohn on Bartolommeo Scappi look like being real highlights. </div>
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So book your flights to London, the Hague and LA and I will see you there! </div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-63996843124290373902014-12-29T06:06:00.003-08:002015-01-10T04:41:24.219-08:00Pastry Jiggers and Pastry Prints - a marvellous new book by Michael Finlay <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front dust jacket of Michael Finlay's new book. <span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">Photo</span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"> © Michael Finlay.</span></td></tr>
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A few years ago, I worked on a television series with a well-known celebrity chef. In one of the programmes I constructed an elaborate pie, the lid of which I crimped with an eighteenth century pastry jigger. The chef, who was English (not Italian) referred to this object as a 'ravioli wheel'. She also called the sixteenth century wood-fired oven in which we baked the pie 'a pizza oven'. I was somewhat surprised that this highly successful professional had no idea that centuries before ravioli and pizza came to Britain, English cooks were shaping pastry with similar tools and baking their wares in wood-fired ovens. In this country her 'ravioli wheels' were once called by various names, the most common being <i>rowles</i> (also used to describe equestrian spurs), <i>jagging irons</i>, <i>pastry jaggers</i> and <i>pastry jiggers</i>.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A jigger or <i style="text-align: left;">sperone de pasticiero, </i><span style="text-align: left;">being used to trim ravioli made to a fifteenth century recipe. However, these wheels and their attached implements were used for a multiplicity of other purposes by both professional cooks, bakers and housewives.</span></td></tr>
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Old culinary utensils like pastry wheels are nowadays frequently referred to as 'kitchenalia', a word I dislike almost as much as the even more meaningless 'retro'. Objects that were used in the past by our ancestors in the preparation of food frequently give us clues about all-important details that are not mentioned in recipes. These utilitarian, but sometimes beautifully made objects are also testimonies to human ingenuity and the evolution of design. I have a friend who has been collecting antique nutmeg graters for more than forty years, yet she continues to discover examples that she has never come across before. An enormous amount of cooking has gone on in the course of human history, so the material culture of the kitchen is vast and probably unfathomable. The true expert will humbly admit to the limitations of their knowledge and an author embarking on a book about a particular family of kitchen objects will often have to lower their aspirations and not attempt the 'comprehensive study'. After publication, they are bound to make those annoying new discoveries that they failed to include in their final draft. There are plenty of general books on culinary utensils, but few have attempted specialist monographs which deal with a particular type of kitchen object. A notable exception is this new, profusely illustrated book by Michael Finlay on pastry jiggers - or what my contemporary chef friend called 'ravioli wheels'. In fact, Mr Finlay reveals that the earliest examples he has found are from renaissance Italy - so perhaps she was right in calling them by that name and I just proved myself to be a stuffy old pedant by referring to them as rowles, jaggers and jiggers. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Perhaps the original 'ravioli wheels'. Two sixteenth century bronze Italian pastry jiggers or <i>sperone de pasticiero</i> illustrated in Michael Finlay's book. The sickle-like blades were used for trimming excess pastry. <span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> © Michael Finlay.</span></td></tr>
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Michael Finlay is well known for his in-depth books on other families of antique objects. His <i>Western Writing Implements in the Age of the Quill Pen</i> (Plains Books: 1990) is the authoritative work on the subject. His much quoted <i>English Decorated Bronze Mortars and their Makers </i>(Plains Books: 2010) is also the most comprehensive work ever written in the field. Many of the objects described in these two works were in Mr Finlay's personal collections. His latest book on pastry jiggers and prints is also based on a remarkably rich collection that he put together in just a few years. He traces the development of these humble kitchen drawer objects from the sixteenth century to the present day, dazzling us with the almost infinite variety of design solutions that the metalworkers and woodcarvers who made them came up with. Jiggers made from metal and wood are dealt with in great detail, including those with wheels made from recycled coins, bone, glass and ceramic. There is also a very useful chapter on scrimshaw jiggers, many of which were made by whalers as love tokens for their wives and girlfriends.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Perhaps my favourite object illustrated in Michael Finlay's book. The handle of this seventeenth century Dutch pastry jigger represents a pastry cook wearing the livery of his guild. The sheet of pastry draped across the rolling pin is a particularly evocative detail. Photo © Michael Finlay.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of above. <span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">Photo</span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"> © Michael Finlay.</span></td></tr>
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Another anthropomorphic bronze pastry jigger. Late sixteenth/early seventeenth century Italy. <span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">Photo © Michael Finlay.</span> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very rare English silver jagger hallmarked London,1683, maker's mark AB. <span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">Photo © Michael Finlay.</span> </td></tr>
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A very nice feature of this book are the many photographs of reconstructed period pastry and other dishes that Mr Finlay has made to illustrate how these objects were used. A particularly amusing example in his recipe section is his rendition of Richard Bradley's 1736 recipe for making 'artificial Coxcombs' by cutting tripe into the shape of cocks' combs with a pastry jagger. He paraphrases Parson Woodforde, who said 'I shall not dine on roasted tongues and udder again very soon.' Finlay says, 'I shall not dine on artificial cocks' combs again very soon.' Whether you want to make 'artificial Coxcombs' or not, this is an excellent book for all those interested in the history of food, pastry, kitchen antiques and design.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a small selection of Michael Finlay's collection. <span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">Photo © Michael Finlay.</span></td></tr>
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You can buy <i>Pastry Jiggers and Pastry Prints</i> by Michael Finlay directly from the author. Here is the link you need.</div>
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<a href="http://www.michaelfinlay.com/MF_WEBSITE_TRIAL/PUBLICATIONS_1.html" target="_blank">Buy Pastry Jiggers and Pastry Prints by Michael Finlay</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.michaelfinlay.com/MF_WEBSITE_TRIAL/PASTRY_JIGGERS_1.html" target="_blank">You can see more examples of pastry jiggers and prints in his collection here.</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.michaelfinlay.com/MF_WEBSITE_TRIAL/PASTRY_JIGGERS_2.html" target="_blank">And more here!</a></div>
Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-10270482429181174622014-12-19T06:14:00.003-08:002014-12-19T06:14:57.920-08:00Merry Christmas - This Year's Twelfth Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have not posted much on this blog for a long time. I have had a busy and rather difficult year. I just wanted to wish all my followers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. So here are a couple of cheerful images of some seasonal dishes I have made recently. The twelfth cake above is currently part of a lovely dining room display at <a href="http://www.fairfaxhouse.co.uk/whats-on/exhibition-keeping-christmas/" target="_blank">Fairfax House in York called <i>The Keeping of Christmas</i></a>. It also features in a short video showing me decorating it in a new BBC series called <i>Home Comforts, </i>which airs in the New Year. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: <a href="http://www.mountainsportphoto.com/" target="_blank">Dave Willis</a></td></tr>
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I have roasted four geese so far since November. This one was for an article I wrote for the Christmas edition of BBC Countryfile Magazine. This is how we roasted potatoes in the eighteenth century, in the radiant heat beneath the rotating goose. The best ever.</div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-34285192748723517042014-12-19T05:44:00.000-08:002015-02-06T07:51:45.118-08:00Sucket and See<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A selection of 'wet suckets' - citrus fruits preserved in syrup. <i>Clockwise from top left </i>- green orange, lemon, bitter orange and citron succade on a wooden trencher with a Tudor fruit knife (ca.1560) and a sucket fork (ca.1680-1700). The sucket fork is made of the copper alloy latten and would originally have been tinned to make it safe to use. In its uncleaned condition it would not be usable and is just posing here to look nice. </td></tr>
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A short while ago a friend gave me a gift of the late seventeenth century sucket fork illustrated above, now a much treasured addition to my small collection of early eating knives and flatware. I already own a silver sucket fork, a fairly high status object, but my new one is made of latten, a lowly utilitarian alloy of copper. It may once have been owned by a diner who was refined enough to indulge in expensive luxury foods, but not rich enough to afford tableware made of precious metal. Or perhaps it came from a tavern or ordinary. The fork end was designed for spearing sticky suckets, (preserved citrus peels), while the small spoon was used for supping up the unctuous and flavoursome syrup in which they were stored. Amazingly, double ended spoon/forks similar to this were in use in England well before the Norman Conquest. An Anglo-Saxon horde of silver excavated at Sevington in Wiltshire, now in the British Museum, includes a pair of spoons with fork blades at the handle ends. These have been dated to the 9th century from some coins of the period contained in the same horde. Sucket forks were probably the first forks to be used in England, though what purpose these early Anglo-Saxon examples served remains a mystery, as sugar was unknown in Britain at this time.*<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My other sucket fork, this time made of silver. Provincial English, probably by Joseph Hicks of Exeter ca.1770.</td></tr>
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Half a millennium later, Henry VIII possessed a similar object. The jewel house inventory of his goods includes, <i>'Item one spone wt sucket forke at thende and gilt poz one oz iii quarters'. </i>A sucket fork<i> </i>is also mentioned in Edward VI’s estate household silver inventory of 1549. These royal examples, gilded and no doubt highly embellished, were a world away from my humble latten example, which at some time has been tinned over to prevent the copper alloy from tainting the food. Traces of the tinning remain here and there, but most has worn off. My friend bought it in a job lot at a sale, with sadly no indication of its provenance, though we both suspect it may be a metal detector find. The veneer of verdigris on its surface certainly indicates that it could have been buried underground for a long time. Individual silver sucket forks are pretty scarce, full sets are much rarer, but ones made of a cheap metal like latten seem to be the rarest of all. In fact it is the only one we have ever seen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGFnTwX1xqKwkphoyU_9UChbu_GbaqcMe4dt2vbj9l4qXQLFqhiylCzmLmQvNOSzwzKfp-IRP8GOFoZFB5IJmFkch6Bjc_YEWGIGaTFv-EFY_nov3dCpi1OFM_HUIm9dO_jPZ8ehUFyE/s1600/sucket+spoon+manchester.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGFnTwX1xqKwkphoyU_9UChbu_GbaqcMe4dt2vbj9l4qXQLFqhiylCzmLmQvNOSzwzKfp-IRP8GOFoZFB5IJmFkch6Bjc_YEWGIGaTFv-EFY_nov3dCpi1OFM_HUIm9dO_jPZ8ehUFyE/s1600/sucket+spoon+manchester.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pair of silver sucket forks by Elizabeth Tookey, London 1675-1700. Photo © Manchester City Galleries</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Late seventeenth provincial English sucket spoon and fork. Photo © M. Ford Creech Antiques</span></div>
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Despite much earlier archival records most of the sucket forks that have survived date from the middle of the seventeenth century onwards. They were still being made in the late eighteenth century. Similar implements were also produced on the continent, particularly in the Netherlands. There are also a few colonial Dutch and English examples made in North America in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, like the one below I saw at Yale last year.</div>
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Silver sucket fork ca.1680–90 made by Jesse Kip (1660 - 1722) in New York City. The long handle is engraved with the name of the owner - Maria van Rensselaer (1673-1713). The Rensselaer family were a prominent New Amsterdam colonial family with a large estate near Albany. Photo © Yale University Art Gallery.</div>
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Sucket forks, sometimes also referred to as sucket spoons, should not be confused with sweetmeat forks, which do not have a spoon at the opposite end. These are also frequently mentioned in medieval and renaissance inventories, with a number of English examples surviving from as early as the fourteenth century. A nice sixteenth or early seventeenth example excavated from the site of the Rose Theatre can be seen in the Museum of London. It may have been mislaid by a theatre goer at the time of Shakespeare.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sixteenth or early seventeenth century sweetmeat fork.<span style="text-align: left;">Photo ©</span> Museum of London</td></tr>
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Sweetmeat forks were among the first British forks to be included in sets of flatware. The two late seventeenth century trefid examples in my collection illustrated below have become separated from their matching knives and spoons, but would have been part of a dessert set that graced a banquet table during the reign of James II. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KoiDSpnHXFBV8OKYoiSn1d2syUmd0cueWfLPnyvkyG0Rci7xgwq53BnpXyq3o96x6wh0VSVpsCKt75UmLmJ4zIvh72gGFomZYCJ0VaSOKEaqRB2vYvqczy3tZ2OqHSjo5VyEm_-5Qek/s1600/silver+trefid+sweetmeat+forks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KoiDSpnHXFBV8OKYoiSn1d2syUmd0cueWfLPnyvkyG0Rci7xgwq53BnpXyq3o96x6wh0VSVpsCKt75UmLmJ4zIvh72gGFomZYCJ0VaSOKEaqRB2vYvqczy3tZ2OqHSjo5VyEm_-5Qek/s1600/silver+trefid+sweetmeat+forks.jpg" height="396" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pair of English trefid sweetmeat forks, silver gilt. Unascribed ca.1685. </td></tr>
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Sucket forks obviously derived their name from the suckets which they were used to spear. 'Sucket', 'soket', or 'suckitte' is a corruption of French <i>succade</i>, generally meaning a fruit, root or citrus rind preserved in sugar syrup. More specifically, the word was often used to describe a preserve made from the peel of the cedro or citron (<i>Citrus medica</i> L.). In a glossary of definitions of imported goods published by the customs officer James Smyth in <i>The Practice of the Customs.</i> (London: 1821), we are told, <i>'The peel of Citron preserved in sugar, and all other moist sweetmeats not particularly enumerated in the table of duties, are denominated Succades.' </i>I heard a discussion the other day about citron on the BBC Radio 4 programme <i>The Kitchen Cabinet</i>, in which it was stated that citron was the first citrus fruit to come to Britain. I am doubtful that this is actually true, but would love to hear the evidence that it is based on.</div>
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Most etymologists assume the word succade is derived from the Latin <i>succidus</i> - 'juice', or from French <i>sucre</i> - sugar. There is however, a suspicion (though no real proof). that it evolved from the Hebrew סוכות - <i>sukkot</i> or <i>sukoth</i>. Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, is an ancient Jewish religious rite at which citrons are displayed with willow branches, myrtle and palm fronds in a temporary booth known as a סוכה (sukkah). Specially selected citrons, known as <i>etrog</i> are still used in the ceremony. Citrons are a genetically capricious fruit with numerous morphological variations. To be kosher the citrons used at Sukkot, must have certain fixed characteristics, which distinguishes them from normal everyday citrons. One of these required features can clearly be seen in an engraving in a book on citrus fruits by the Nuremburg merchant Johann Volckamer published in 1714. In his caption Volckamer refers to this particular variety by its Italian name - <i>cedro col pigolo - </i> the pigolo being the small persistent style at the flower end of the fruit, which in Hebrew is called the <i>pit am. </i>Citrons that have a good <i>pit am</i> are sold for very large sums of money as they are considered to be the purest form of the fruit. In his text, Volckamer gives his native German name for this variety - <i>Juden Citronatapfel - </i>the Jewish citron.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The etrog, Juden-citronapfel, or <i>cedro col pigolo</i>. From Johann Christoph Volkamer, <i>Nürenbergische Hesperides. </i>(Nuremburg 1728 edition).</td></tr>
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Volckamer's book is one of the most beautiful botanical works from the baroque period. Unfortunately, its wonderful engraved plates are very attractive to print collectors, so many copies have been broken up by dealers who sell the plates on for large sums of money. I am lucky enough to possess a complete copy in its uncoloured state. The author lists and illustrates twelve different varieties of citron, or <i>cedri</i> as they were called in the Italian peninsula. These fruits have dry inedible pulp and no juice, but are usually thick skinned, which makes them ideal for preserving as succade. Some grow to a very large size and monstrous, often deformed varieties were much admired by Italian noblemen who grew these fashionable expressions of horticultural mannerism in extensive citrus gardens.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Twelve varieties of citron are described in Johann Christoph Volkamer, <i>Nürenbergische Hesperides</i>. (Nuremburg 1728 edition).</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Cedro ordinario</i> - the common citron. <span style="text-align: left;">From Johann Christoph Volkamer, </span><i style="text-align: left;">Nürenbergische Hesperides. </i><span style="text-align: left;">(Nuremburg 1728 edition).</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The common citron in its unripe, green state. This single specimen weighted 2.7 kilos.</td></tr>
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Some renaissance scholars and poets liked to think that oranges, lemons and citrons all grew in the famed Garden of the Hesperides. Many were of the opinion that the orange was the most likely candidate for the mythical golden apple of the Hesperides, which endowed those who ate it with immortality. However, oranges were unknown in antiquity. Volckamer actually structured his book with chapter headings based on the names of the three nymphs of the Hesperides who tended the Garden - Aegle, Aerethusa and Hesperethusa. He places Aegle in charge of citrons, Aerethusa in charge of lemons while Hesperethusa looks after the oranges. At the beginning of each chapter is an engraving showing each nymph in her part of the garden. That reproduced below shows Aegle, who is holding a large common citron in her left hand.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">From Johann Christoph Volkamer, </span><i style="text-align: left;">Nürenbergische Hesperides. </i><span style="text-align: left;">(Nuremburg: 1728 edition).</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidNyUpuCiVQoahqjiyl01R_E93MTbJ1z9lpUemx6cBaQvH1pI_qo8Y7x8n_c4x6TttZ_1N-vE4RokKM2NAKUFp9YCs3bq8C1VmviUpSzV0CxyJ3fMLALMBV-k5W80wU8ZDnJpdJ1wSWQ/s1600/harm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidNyUpuCiVQoahqjiyl01R_E93MTbJ1z9lpUemx6cBaQvH1pI_qo8Y7x8n_c4x6TttZ_1N-vE4RokKM2NAKUFp9YCs3bq8C1VmviUpSzV0CxyJ3fMLALMBV-k5W80wU8ZDnJpdJ1wSWQ/s1600/harm2.jpg" height="640" width="536" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Harmonillus transformed into a citron tree, a plate from G.B. Ferrari, <i>Hesperides sive de malorum aureorum cultura et usu.</i> Rome 1646 Engraving Cornelis Bloemart after Andrea Sacchi. The original drawing for this image is in the Louvre.</td></tr>
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As well as featuring in Judaic religious rites this fruit, now of very little economic significance, also played a role in classical mythology, or at least in versions of the myths as imagined by renaissance scholars. The most striking of these 'myths' about the citron was invented by Giovanni Battista Ferrari, a Jesuit priest from Sienna, who published a monograph on citrus fruits in Rome in 1646. Ferrari based his self-styled tale on similar legends from antiquity, like that of Apollo and Daphne, or of Adonis and Myrrha as told by Ovid, in which nymphs are transformed into trees. In his book <i style="text-align: left;">Hesperides sive de malorum aureorum cultura et usu. </i><span style="text-align: left;">(</span><span style="text-align: left;">Rome 1646), Ferrari illustrated the metamorphosis of a nymph called Harmonillus into a citron tree. I have reproduced a detail from his engraving above. </span><span style="text-align: left;">Harmonillus's feet are rooting to the ground while </span>her fingertips are turning into branches bearing citron fruit. The citrons growing out of her hands are quite unlike the common citron illustrated above. They are multi-lobed and possess finger-like lobes. Varieties of citron which had this aberrant hand-like form were common in seventeenth century Europe. Ferrari refers to this kind as <i>malum citreum multiforme</i> - the multiform citron, while his German disciple Volkamer called the variety <i>cedro a ditella</i> - the finger citron. Here are their illustrations of these 'monstrous' varieties.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiHRfrq6wMVDrkrifQl8vyNo8ePj_SteG9VkajnjgjAJtznqqZE5w_14EVZMflzLlLefK5YzOTf4y-syYkKs0IasjS21n6yGvVM5SehrRD7yIvQONYX8rbfpIUZzppS_GJNqR7ANS1Lmw/s1600/Harmomillus4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiHRfrq6wMVDrkrifQl8vyNo8ePj_SteG9VkajnjgjAJtznqqZE5w_14EVZMflzLlLefK5YzOTf4y-syYkKs0IasjS21n6yGvVM5SehrRD7yIvQONYX8rbfpIUZzppS_GJNqR7ANS1Lmw/s1600/Harmomillus4.jpg" height="640" width="460" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> G.B. Ferrari, </span><i style="text-align: left;">Hesperides sive de malorum aureorum cultura et usu.</i><span style="text-align: left;"> Rome 1646 </span> caption</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZu4EgikQTtDk17FKlfW5jfQ1wrCBJaRexZT71rsBJLPK3AP9wX2SzJgPP-y_U95st7Da_DchDDZ8Mzu2tZDob1s3W_TuoLG8xKU7c2ZINGsW0d8ZatEAgfsTQ9vAAuAzrhXOkAroesz0/s1600/citron+a+dittela.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZu4EgikQTtDk17FKlfW5jfQ1wrCBJaRexZT71rsBJLPK3AP9wX2SzJgPP-y_U95st7Da_DchDDZ8Mzu2tZDob1s3W_TuoLG8xKU7c2ZINGsW0d8ZatEAgfsTQ9vAAuAzrhXOkAroesz0/s1600/citron+a+dittela.JPG" height="626" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">From Johann Christoph Volkamer, </span><i style="text-align: left;">Nürenbergische Hesperides. </i><span style="text-align: left;">(Nuremburg 1728 edition).</span></td></tr>
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This very old variety still survives and nowadays is usually called the Buddha's Hand Citron. It is widely grown in the Far East and is frequently used as an offering in Buddhist Temples. But it is also cultivated in the US and Italy, where it has been known for at least four hundred years. In China, Vietnam and Japan, it is not used much in the kitchen. Its flavour and scent are not really different to the common citron, but it is becoming fashionable among contemporary chefs, who have probably been attracted by its outlandish appearance. However, the common citron has just as good a flavour.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhho8dG2P0R0o6_ygZlXsaxvXvE8THNlKN3gVoepd4h6UhLInvRZmcwrmOEzjI3NIScduJlOu2UJfe6wyFHQ9S97MBqA-cNSk4vbTxQdUUBWkkVjyWCWGJx0q6k0V_Bs2rAx9xRuHgP72E/s1600/Citrus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhho8dG2P0R0o6_ygZlXsaxvXvE8THNlKN3gVoepd4h6UhLInvRZmcwrmOEzjI3NIScduJlOu2UJfe6wyFHQ9S97MBqA-cNSk4vbTxQdUUBWkkVjyWCWGJx0q6k0V_Bs2rAx9xRuHgP72E/s1600/Citrus.jpg" height="420" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A selection of citrus fruit, including ripe yellow common citrons and a finger citron.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8O0VaapxQ7X_B_cffGKh7iGP-BeEEj6kmQTsvaMSKM0T5H0izICYtZcMvLtvsoC2YB5ezuq3s4JfA0QtRE-kI0hShYCacQ9rTFdteBkKjpFMZUTuEXA0JuLeFyYiRa6IXVcaqKb0d5iE/s1600/Citron1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8O0VaapxQ7X_B_cffGKh7iGP-BeEEj6kmQTsvaMSKM0T5H0izICYtZcMvLtvsoC2YB5ezuq3s4JfA0QtRE-kI0hShYCacQ9rTFdteBkKjpFMZUTuEXA0JuLeFyYiRa6IXVcaqKb0d5iE/s1600/Citron1.jpg" height="334" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">I have found Buddha's Hand citrons in Wholefoods in the US, though I purchased these two in a market near Hanoi in Vietnam. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGkHAHCuIBSpDaMWnjObFG0AKa3YuX_M1zAFlpakMqaXxSdvBNLhPujA1lZqEq2p3tnRqPcbkYAvdAahuX-3Ba8LvnHdrdq8BuF5_wyt4hdfT0aVsbFNH0x2QX30vD7V6rJXA4110q8co/s1600/Citron2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGkHAHCuIBSpDaMWnjObFG0AKa3YuX_M1zAFlpakMqaXxSdvBNLhPujA1lZqEq2p3tnRqPcbkYAvdAahuX-3Ba8LvnHdrdq8BuF5_wyt4hdfT0aVsbFNH0x2QX30vD7V6rJXA4110q8co/s1600/Citron2.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like other varieties of citron, finger citrons have no juicy flesh or pips.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghLqhzV7WHuVIORdf_RbiLozgZOVYAAIgzWvwgmWgQJTVSlw349rqJQ3qbGEC3dadrTCn4zZxT2VwvXLgJSMcQr7sJk2ishy_nUF0jYHKTuSKKxKoHMeA8fJ9O2HV7p2oaeLFQiz-Bn4o/s1600/Jade+Citron.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghLqhzV7WHuVIORdf_RbiLozgZOVYAAIgzWvwgmWgQJTVSlw349rqJQ3qbGEC3dadrTCn4zZxT2VwvXLgJSMcQr7sJk2ishy_nUF0jYHKTuSKKxKoHMeA8fJ9O2HV7p2oaeLFQiz-Bn4o/s1600/Jade+Citron.PNG" height="640" width="422" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buddha's Hand citrons frequently feature in Chinese art. This jade carving dates from the seventeenth century.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TgEhRBYRxZtdzavoRnF6xIDO7iqi1VYiw-3ARqaQs2VUudA4Vn29a7z95xIF7ygNVZN7a0w6aabqJdyJEhNHYbRLlbdhg5Wkrk1gQgyhrrSREenTo67DOJSJFA_513441QmPOkzL-SI/s1600/Hanoi+Shrine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TgEhRBYRxZtdzavoRnF6xIDO7iqi1VYiw-3ARqaQs2VUudA4Vn29a7z95xIF7ygNVZN7a0w6aabqJdyJEhNHYbRLlbdhg5Wkrk1gQgyhrrSREenTo67DOJSJFA_513441QmPOkzL-SI/s1600/Hanoi+Shrine.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buddha's hand citrons on an altar in a temple in Vietnam.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6ZpbTG1Vo4LKaB0qseL1jfF3kCsG-REQ0_uqZDZmodour8pAPkOXCoy3kSrGeSu_mWph2xC2gKuOjPWdorS8OqEtMg1ufaFDNQeR09ODPMBWXBR0OJAlNUb7jcCq74vwPpotKXI10cw/s1600/Suckets+in+Syrup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6ZpbTG1Vo4LKaB0qseL1jfF3kCsG-REQ0_uqZDZmodour8pAPkOXCoy3kSrGeSu_mWph2xC2gKuOjPWdorS8OqEtMg1ufaFDNQeR09ODPMBWXBR0OJAlNUb7jcCq74vwPpotKXI10cw/s1600/Suckets+in+Syrup.jpg" height="636" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">I preserve citrons and other relatives, like the bitter orange and pomelo rinds here by first poaching the rinds in boiling water until they are soft. I then poach them briefly in a thin sugar syrup for just five minutes (1 kilo of granulated sugar dissolved in 1 litre of boiling water - taken off the heat immediately and stirred until all sugar crystals are dissolved). I leave the peels to steep in this syrup for twenty four hours, then remove the fruit from the syrup, which I boil for five minutes - the syrup that is - not the fruit. The thickened syrup is poured over the fruit and the whole process repeated for twelve days altogether. I leave the fruit in the thick syrup. It is much more succulant and flavoursome than any commercial candied fruit.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ykdn_wCFCKaMstS0Z_xgDCsAExTcvBMT3En2E_5O5vh1sxFxXPSFvtObRCesw03DP8bCqJQ79p-hsJW1vsz2PIICuALpMWaTuNi_R1gcukK_KYxwoZv-OId-R6N5ztyknfdMTowNb7Q/s1600/Fanshawe+citrons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ykdn_wCFCKaMstS0Z_xgDCsAExTcvBMT3En2E_5O5vh1sxFxXPSFvtObRCesw03DP8bCqJQ79p-hsJW1vsz2PIICuALpMWaTuNi_R1gcukK_KYxwoZv-OId-R6N5ztyknfdMTowNb7Q/s1600/Fanshawe+citrons.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">I more or less use this technique described by Lady Anne Fanshawe for preserving citrons. It works very well with other citrus fruit. Photo © Wellcome Library.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjMK3GS7TCIdf168zKywOJyGl6ukhoNpmd6Lut5B1Ke8fSVG9vGVWLcwbHZr8YM9b29hQ8Dz4kDyi0ZeJ-O9XXYFTg8_farp12PC4mu2Bu2zzFhjNrmb2WmtCxLoZY_PdExWrFWtumUg/s1600/citron+stand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjMK3GS7TCIdf168zKywOJyGl6ukhoNpmd6Lut5B1Ke8fSVG9vGVWLcwbHZr8YM9b29hQ8Dz4kDyi0ZeJ-O9XXYFTg8_farp12PC4mu2Bu2zzFhjNrmb2WmtCxLoZY_PdExWrFWtumUg/s1600/citron+stand.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Whole preserved citrons were an important decorative feature of the baroque dessert course. This silver citron display stand is one of a number illustrated in Joseph Gilliers, <i>Le Cannemeliste français</i>. (Nancy: 1751). If objects like this were actually made, none appear to have survived.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">*Hawkins, E. (1838): 'An Account of some Saxon Pennies and other articles, found at Sevington, North Wilts'., <i>Archaeologia</i>, xxvii, 305-5 and pl. 24; Fairholt, F. W. (1857): <i>Miscellanea Graphica</i>, London, pl. 18, 1; Jackson, C. J. (1893): 'The Spoon and its history; its form, material and development, more particularly in England', <i>Archaeologia</i>, liii, 117; Wilson, David M, <i>Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork 700 - 1100, in the British Museum</i>, London, BMP, 1964.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://digi.azz.cz/showpage.php?BookID=21&PageID=5&lng=2" target="_blank">Johann Christoph Volckamer, <i>Nürnbergische Hesperides. Nuremburg: 1708-14. (A digitised version of the 1728 edition).</i></a></div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-22455251816565836532014-08-08T08:10:00.000-07:002014-08-08T12:14:19.218-07:00A Victorian Altar to Curry and Other Events<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWt7IO9Slh1nL2-RrBs8Wax1LzcIJ7ZHYv9J-Dv0646oKUh4ZrN7mRVNYPtZElgehO2hG2Q0QytamwFOLLTBzvUxPgHW31paBi9JUXjaQ2Gq0zazRIjQLmmGKrUVNWONw9IiQCbduUWjM/s1600/Hutton1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWt7IO9Slh1nL2-RrBs8Wax1LzcIJ7ZHYv9J-Dv0646oKUh4ZrN7mRVNYPtZElgehO2hG2Q0QytamwFOLLTBzvUxPgHW31paBi9JUXjaQ2Gq0zazRIjQLmmGKrUVNWONw9IiQCbduUWjM/s1600/Hutton1.jpg" height="362" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A high Victorian table at Hutton-in-the-Forest (Photo: Cressida Vane)</td></tr>
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I have been so busy over the past few months, that I have had no time at all to post on this blog. I have really missed it. So very briefly, here are some of the things I have been doing lately. As well as catching up with various writing commitments, much of my summer has been taken up with filming what seems like innumerable food history features for popular BBC programmes, such as the <i>Great British Bake Off</i>, <i>James Martin's Home Comforts </i>and others<i>.</i> However, the real highlight of the year was working with my Korean friend Wook-Jung Lee on another episode of his remarkable series <i>A Food Odyssey</i>. This time we looked at curry in Victorian England and the images here are of a 1890s table I recreated for the programme. Various Anglo-Indian curries and some English savoury dishes are served around a dessert set out on a <i>surtout de table</i>. You might spot a Twelfth Cake in the middle of the table, which I made for another production, but just for fun recycled it here as a striking centrepiece. It took me two days to make and decorate, so I thought I would get a bit of extra mileage out of it. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0TykMk_0IOkIZdvrhn886OZkshcqApqEVGKWAYBSqOXznbk4f9rvX1trwxxbQxg3KWtK98EV6HKQLyazY7-w2dM8n7lj-6-dYZsMnQigja6K7gWm1jjMMuNm_AHlXTW5oj0YE8ONM7U/s1600/Hutton2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0TykMk_0IOkIZdvrhn886OZkshcqApqEVGKWAYBSqOXznbk4f9rvX1trwxxbQxg3KWtK98EV6HKQLyazY7-w2dM8n7lj-6-dYZsMnQigja6K7gWm1jjMMuNm_AHlXTW5oj0YE8ONM7U/s1600/Hutton2.jpg" height="286" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCN2YJYy36DYdHRoLsp8GMELTlggBn0aslohkP7cn1CLfdt2yCqd53Ws0dZzS3-ZafhGb56L2rukK3CruNfYZj8e_Ls2h6aOs7FCFcPcoiqahH11cHCnVcR7ire2ERPbNZZUfu8lfImjc/s1600/Hutton3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCN2YJYy36DYdHRoLsp8GMELTlggBn0aslohkP7cn1CLfdt2yCqd53Ws0dZzS3-ZafhGb56L2rukK3CruNfYZj8e_Ls2h6aOs7FCFcPcoiqahH11cHCnVcR7ire2ERPbNZZUfu8lfImjc/s1600/Hutton3.jpg" height="598" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A Victorian Moorghabee or Fowl Pullow made from a recipe in Dr. R. Ridell. <i>Indian Domestic Economy and Receipt Book. </i>(Madras: 1850).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrNbFmCd4x3kn7pJIN2cZ8v5KP0GfCfFv3oM4XoR9gdHfVhvJq1idrSZjIsAHcsQX7w4QCLAMtswDJcamug4r7ZYM9FBOAtRRhNiFWJi5lbHxP4XCYGpoUhEHMV7ErcEGTu6gbwFNh4w/s1600/Hutton4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrNbFmCd4x3kn7pJIN2cZ8v5KP0GfCfFv3oM4XoR9gdHfVhvJq1idrSZjIsAHcsQX7w4QCLAMtswDJcamug4r7ZYM9FBOAtRRhNiFWJi5lbHxP4XCYGpoUhEHMV7ErcEGTu6gbwFNh4w/s1600/Hutton4.jpg" height="598" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Among the many Indian dishes were a few choice English ones.</td></tr>
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The cake also turned up at a lecture/demonstration I gave on the last day of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow for <i>Scotland Can Make It! </i>To celebrate the Games, ceramic artist <a href="http://www.katywest.co.uk/scotlandcanmakeit1.php" target="_blank">Katy West</a> was commissioned to design a Common Wealth jelly mould, made using a clay body provided by Highland Stoneware of Lochinvar and inspired by the Art Deco interior of the celebrated Glasgow restaurant and cocktail bar Rogano. I was invited to put Katy's creation into context at a jelly tasting, which involved an illustrated lecture on the history of moulded foods, a marathon jelly un-<span style="text-align: center;">moulding session followed by a tasting session at which the eighteen historic jellies I created, rapidly disappeared into the highly enthusiastic audience. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kX44c1Ou-4yQCtPmZW-fLHLODmG9CKHA3-U75QPvbSVlxAT-zoH2IvvxhBOLkQkvH_SA4K4j5GULkQtItte5BYxvU3m0JeB8T87VLIzYJagAdHSvp8Hq0mfhcvfOBiwI3hnImQug334/s1600/Panel14+-+eoin+carey_1902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kX44c1Ou-4yQCtPmZW-fLHLODmG9CKHA3-U75QPvbSVlxAT-zoH2IvvxhBOLkQkvH_SA4K4j5GULkQtItte5BYxvU3m0JeB8T87VLIzYJagAdHSvp8Hq0mfhcvfOBiwI3hnImQug334/s1600/Panel14+-+eoin+carey_1902.jpg" height="508" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: <a href="http://www.eoincareyphoto.com/about/" target="_blank">Eoin Carey</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWP0Mq84skC4FzoE5ZlhUhJbqvfFBstlaINFfgNLPPSr9K1WJzxZ45Vseovacq-0LrYAPIIyHDbNtBlFbVOEs0is_n328y2AKVqyo9-2mgOO6rcsXGjJnqVLlegjQZ2lL-hPLxgEH5yzI/s1600/Panel14+-+eoin+carey_1906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWP0Mq84skC4FzoE5ZlhUhJbqvfFBstlaINFfgNLPPSr9K1WJzxZ45Vseovacq-0LrYAPIIyHDbNtBlFbVOEs0is_n328y2AKVqyo9-2mgOO6rcsXGjJnqVLlegjQZ2lL-hPLxgEH5yzI/s1600/Panel14+-+eoin+carey_1906.jpg" height="462" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A marbree jelly made in Katy West's mould. Photo: <a href="http://www.eoincareyphoto.com/about/" target="_blank">Eoin Carey</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgFKBKhcrr9d7E3UlOMKDeHzsggH1kLtD0dXkrzF8LlSRZSs6tB9Soxov954-_nLOmzOB3nQ1TxSrfzKz27fN8mgne8-Q70Jlr1UqTPM8_N7DHkfIBOKInz3KNDPRpGDBIezt-aWAQ8o/s1600/Panel14+-+eoin+carey_1968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgFKBKhcrr9d7E3UlOMKDeHzsggH1kLtD0dXkrzF8LlSRZSs6tB9Soxov954-_nLOmzOB3nQ1TxSrfzKz27fN8mgne8-Q70Jlr1UqTPM8_N7DHkfIBOKInz3KNDPRpGDBIezt-aWAQ8o/s1600/Panel14+-+eoin+carey_1968.jpg" height="430" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: <a href="http://www.eoincareyphoto.com/about/" target="_blank">Eoin Carey</a>.</td></tr>
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If you missed this event, you may be interested in a few others I am involved in over the next few weeks. On 28th August, I am presenting a lecture in Prague at a conference called<a href="http://www.operabarocca.cz/opera_barocca_an/Opera_Barocca___News_an/Entries/2014/6/30_LA_SONTUOSA_FESTA_-_The_international_conference_on_the_occasion_of_300th_anniversary_celebrations_of_the_birthday_of_Empress_Elisabetta_Cristina..html" target="_blank"> La Festa Sontuosa</a>. The event is being held on the 300th anniversity of an entertainment given at his palazzo in Rome on 28th August 1714 by Johanna Wenzel, Count of Gallas, to celebrate the birthday of the Empress Elisabetta Cristina. The conference is being held in the count's Prague residence, the extraordinary baroque Clam Gallas Palace. The most important feature of this event will be the modern world premiere of <i>Sacrificio a Venere,</i> a lost and recently rediscovered serenade composed by Giovanni Battista Bononcini in 1714 especially for the occasion. My lecture <i>Trionfi di Tavola</i> examines the extravagant emblematic table centrepieces created for occasions of this kind.<br />
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At the count's entertainment five tables covered in ices, jellies and confectionery regaled the guests after Bononcini's performance. The centrepiece was an artificial tree hung with one hundred and fifty moulded ice cream fruits. A few years ago at the Oxford Food Symposium, my friend Robin Weir demonstrated the logistics of creating an ambitious caprice of this nature on a hot summer's day. Rostislav Muller, one of the organisers of the Prague conference has created a 3-D model of the Gallas table. A reconstruction of the table will feature in the performance later this month.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY5A64F7inwvbluTC3tIf3Acfmq8Kqw4S5O4cZMBVooUb9Ai82o15rEZy4CWNwRgnO4ClBOt1LpNFEd00sxWkN5k0r91z32WAZNrxc7wAN7FN2PFz0BHCH4S4RpwJSPgOFPzdk73JjoFM/s1600/Table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY5A64F7inwvbluTC3tIf3Acfmq8Kqw4S5O4cZMBVooUb9Ai82o15rEZy4CWNwRgnO4ClBOt1LpNFEd00sxWkN5k0r91z32WAZNrxc7wAN7FN2PFz0BHCH4S4RpwJSPgOFPzdk73JjoFM/s1600/Table.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A detail of he <i>gran rifresco</i> at Count Gallas's party in Rome on 28th August 2014 at which Bononcini's <i>Sacrificio di Venere</i> was first performed. Photo; courtesy of Getty Research Institute.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7Z6dVULNIjSbostXuQKCUJjwfDyEYJ_bBypEhDrSHu5hhk7tlqWStuLigF0W0SUo6wEN_2yqanz2oyIh6I-SAfsx-FSazsIKooSJT0ayX7sd44pXO9Et0y-MLWnzyoAYMON3ffBuPlg/s1600/shapeimage_19.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7Z6dVULNIjSbostXuQKCUJjwfDyEYJ_bBypEhDrSHu5hhk7tlqWStuLigF0W0SUo6wEN_2yqanz2oyIh6I-SAfsx-FSazsIKooSJT0ayX7sd44pXO9Et0y-MLWnzyoAYMON3ffBuPlg/s1600/shapeimage_19.png" height="274" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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3D reconstruction (detail) of the <i>trionfo da tavola</i> designed on the occasion of the celabration of the birthday of Empress Elisabetta Cristina. <i>Copyright</i> Rostislav Maria Muller.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-q6PEbwjy3hCcSNbGHHWieFOLSDXyUg8IWWlkxULrGY62m1bJhqmZ4zH8xhDC59F56x4z9_QyVAI2IUdp4sExKPtOWQvEi5qtDXBPZflcFm5yurOJI56KN_TyY81l5GaYx2aQyLP0z0E/s1600/Panel14+-+eoin+carey_1957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-q6PEbwjy3hCcSNbGHHWieFOLSDXyUg8IWWlkxULrGY62m1bJhqmZ4zH8xhDC59F56x4z9_QyVAI2IUdp4sExKPtOWQvEi5qtDXBPZflcFm5yurOJI56KN_TyY81l5GaYx2aQyLP0z0E/s1600/Panel14+-+eoin+carey_1957.jpg" height="640" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Many different ices, jellies and other items of confectionery featured at Count Gallas's entertainment. This is my own interpretation of a dish described on the table (note the Italian is in its eighteenth century form -<i> 'una piramide di gelo d'agresta con odore di gelsomino e con agresta intiera siroppata dentro'</i> - verjuice jelly scented with jasmine, with verjuice grapes in syrup inside - delicious! Photo: <a href="http://www.eoincareyphoto.com/about/">Eoin Carey</a>.</td></tr>
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If you cannot make it to Prague, perhaps you can catch up with me on September 6th at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas where I will be giving a lecture at a one day symposium <a href="http://www.mfah.org/calendar/39th-annual-ruth-k-shartle-symposium-english-count/9990/" target="_blank">'The English Country House - Then and Now'.</a> My talk is entitled <i>From Banquet to Ball Supper – Dining and Entertaining in the British Country House 1600-1914</i>. </div>
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Nearer to home, I am giving a lecture on early Georgian dining at the Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London on 17th September entitled <span style="background-color: white;"><i><a href="http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/event/lecture-regal-ragouts-courtly-dining-and-cookery-in-early-georgian-britain" target="_blank">Regal Ragouts: courtly dining and cookery in early Georgian Britain</a></i></span></div>
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Perhaps I will see some of you at these events. I hope you can make it.<br />
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-79138708542547573492014-05-02T03:18:00.000-07:002014-07-03T15:13:42.798-07:00Ryce Puddings in Scoured Guts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPNk0JG3Pr5YH1EjeRzeGLiglI8HjbsWxhY3N9o8SGLrhzlDGXkz7gKdn6lEZI1jNZSVhW25_7QlDo-XMcPa1ktDOzlgA-u5FiZv9rsflAU1F0uLorHYK0HOG9gt84GxondID1aOV_6E/s1600/Rice+puddings1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPNk0JG3Pr5YH1EjeRzeGLiglI8HjbsWxhY3N9o8SGLrhzlDGXkz7gKdn6lEZI1jNZSVhW25_7QlDo-XMcPa1ktDOzlgA-u5FiZv9rsflAU1F0uLorHYK0HOG9gt84GxondID1aOV_6E/s1600/Rice+puddings1.jpg" height="416" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rice puddings boiled in skins made from Gervase Markham's 1615 recipe (see below)</td></tr>
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When I was a child, I frequently heard the popular idiom, 'he could n't knock the skin off a rice pudding' - usually being applied to someone who had behaved in a cowardly way. The skin referred to, was of course that delicious, caramelised, not-quite-burnt crust that forms on a British oven baked rice pudding. Many of us, including me, are of the opinion that this nutmeg-scented membrane is the choicest bit of this once ubiquitous and homely pud. But in the far distant past the skin of a rice pudding had a more literal meaning. During Shakespeare's lifetime, rice puddings were usually made in lengths of intestine, what we would now call sausage skins - they were literally cooked in skins. So the earliest recipes for rice pudding indicate that it was originally one of the vast genus of true boiled puddings made in animal guts that were popular and widespread during the early modern period and beyond. Some of its first cousins, like mealy puddings, white puddings and black puddings still survive to this day. The recipe in black letter below is for a rice pudding of this kind published a year before Shakespeare died, in which a mixture of boiled rice and other ingredients is stuffed into 'scoured guts' before they are parboiled.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDtMO13krjLaxFFAQ5kdZyOFdjU_NCqoGTeQDijmpLaW2GXXv3BIBJAe_4x5l9La1UJD42WVm5gJ_HmqYbLyLaBdvB8G6tX8n_la6cAcFNaLBL3BwW5k2TFebOC1dWvbEcu9gn4TbMhM/s1600/Murrell+rice+pudding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDtMO13krjLaxFFAQ5kdZyOFdjU_NCqoGTeQDijmpLaW2GXXv3BIBJAe_4x5l9La1UJD42WVm5gJ_HmqYbLyLaBdvB8G6tX8n_la6cAcFNaLBL3BwW5k2TFebOC1dWvbEcu9gn4TbMhM/s640/Murrell+rice+pudding.jpg" height="454" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From John Murrell, <i>A Newe Booke of Cookery.</i> (London: 1615).</td></tr>
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Murrell's recipe stands out as it calls for barberries, as well as the more usual currants included in puddings of this kind. Nowadays barberries, the fruits of the British native<i> Berberis vulgaris</i> L. are hardly used at all in British cookery, but were immensely popular at this time for their pleasant acidic flavour and stunning red colour. They were frequently used as a striking garnish and were the basis of a number of sweetmeats and preserves. Another important role they enjoyed was to add acidity as well as colour to forcemeats, pie fillings and in this case - puddings. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3X3vQ8w7DDkYQi0EA71c5BFpbgyd8-DYP-6XMp6C_FE_5SxOhQAiJy5n3Uwdlgh-dBt8n1RvKJ9IB2WdHJTGD_kyeDzXDFlksj2RUj0C9TWxaY_K6zJZy1gABKch17e__NKRmg0RxHw/s1600/barberry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3X3vQ8w7DDkYQi0EA71c5BFpbgyd8-DYP-6XMp6C_FE_5SxOhQAiJy5n3Uwdlgh-dBt8n1RvKJ9IB2WdHJTGD_kyeDzXDFlksj2RUj0C9TWxaY_K6zJZy1gABKch17e__NKRmg0RxHw/s1600/barberry.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bright red fruits of <i>Berberis vulgaris</i> L.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-kaG10Gv9N3q48VxQtlmSw9PPU8cQ2j8004EollfSOhQk1TdtfXXyFBk1jA4VhWNIaWOfNQ1YbTio0rRXNdsc3Sb_CXAJ33a_1oSDNQ_u0ly9YINNZfjozHFudXwappnTec_if2UIRU/s1600/Murrell+pudding1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-kaG10Gv9N3q48VxQtlmSw9PPU8cQ2j8004EollfSOhQk1TdtfXXyFBk1jA4VhWNIaWOfNQ1YbTio0rRXNdsc3Sb_CXAJ33a_1oSDNQ_u0ly9YINNZfjozHFudXwappnTec_if2UIRU/s1600/Murrell+pudding1.jpg" height="570" width="640" /></a></div>
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Early pudding makers used little funnels to fill the lengths of intestine, a procedure that is beautifully and amusingly illustrated in the seventeenth century engraving below. Although one can get good at it with practice, this is a slow and laborious process. An improvement came with the introduction of pudding forcers, a kind of syringe which the length of gut could be stretched over. But even these were hard to use, though considerably faster than the funnels.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3V6o9GJY5uH8QFdUl7hsorw-0BR22zGovXuXSUsUjK-bww0Ry0cqh2mcQSeXRF6b0MxDkZoyOVkvh7ORFDnAcSkP6tVx_GcoqNsteYPplrj2B7ML2wdHIEA3dTbetLJZxOV2luyBnNa4/s1600/pudding+girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3V6o9GJY5uH8QFdUl7hsorw-0BR22zGovXuXSUsUjK-bww0Ry0cqh2mcQSeXRF6b0MxDkZoyOVkvh7ORFDnAcSkP6tVx_GcoqNsteYPplrj2B7ML2wdHIEA3dTbetLJZxOV2luyBnNa4/s1600/pudding+girl.jpg" height="640" width="458" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How a pudding funnel was used at this period - slow work!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9o64sCZU1n2gtEyEBZJ7F9JL_dFjAQv6k5qSCg-_Nwn5sIpXIH5FfSi8ODS-QOfo8CzXD8GzqGdrt3htTzbqzfzA0OmPaZeDgc3PrCxEFdJscICcvt_awkLj_FS7SJ72bBgrirqenC20/s1600/Murrell+pudding2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9o64sCZU1n2gtEyEBZJ7F9JL_dFjAQv6k5qSCg-_Nwn5sIpXIH5FfSi8ODS-QOfo8CzXD8GzqGdrt3htTzbqzfzA0OmPaZeDgc3PrCxEFdJscICcvt_awkLj_FS7SJ72bBgrirqenC20/s1600/Murrell+pudding2.jpg" height="430" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A long length of gut was massaged over the neck of the pudding funnel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgKSGRJY8TGH-PMz7mTvQGf-mmimiHjIzsLPcu14s7VblZaE74M9AhS67kT6-0twIeiRVfwQKjuF-S24Q__Ls2PKrjljb8WXtuQnViMp9sWq3Yk6o1uMnJ-iIzJFa9z4KS14Jl_7AgNHA/s1600/Murrell+pudding3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgKSGRJY8TGH-PMz7mTvQGf-mmimiHjIzsLPcu14s7VblZaE74M9AhS67kT6-0twIeiRVfwQKjuF-S24Q__Ls2PKrjljb8WXtuQnViMp9sWq3Yk6o1uMnJ-iIzJFa9z4KS14Jl_7AgNHA/s1600/Murrell+pudding3.jpg" height="490" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pudding mixture was then pushed through the funnel into the gut with a finger</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjVZWZWOWdNK4n8wS-jf6DKtXuWYM5r7zOjnMr1wuCBWOR3GG0X2XThkD1HcYxkvOMKI9Bmv8kycgl3R-Iy4cpR4Qm_UlezWFsyzhOMGsH8C5u4E0FMBZ9QTI7EaRr6U_3ytqYC-tCow/s1600/Murrell+pudding4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjVZWZWOWdNK4n8wS-jf6DKtXuWYM5r7zOjnMr1wuCBWOR3GG0X2XThkD1HcYxkvOMKI9Bmv8kycgl3R-Iy4cpR4Qm_UlezWFsyzhOMGsH8C5u4E0FMBZ9QTI7EaRr6U_3ytqYC-tCow/s1600/Murrell+pudding4.jpg" height="322" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pudding forcer made an easier job of this messy and slow business.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nC_jxzaQp6GkchS21yxQnBt-4A555EVZusQlwEFozwQhe8Utb32wGdEhQ6FBNLteHIjDKbIk-RTxQ2DB1xpOJ_jtcf4eZh4ZPpJS7qARNZeekvwIgUewS35FqpL1dBTOrhr2QYbrELU/s1600/Markham3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nC_jxzaQp6GkchS21yxQnBt-4A555EVZusQlwEFozwQhe8Utb32wGdEhQ6FBNLteHIjDKbIk-RTxQ2DB1xpOJ_jtcf4eZh4ZPpJS7qARNZeekvwIgUewS35FqpL1dBTOrhr2QYbrELU/s1600/Markham3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A rare contemporary engraved portrait of Gervase Markham, equestrian, playwright and author of books on countless subjects. Like Murrell, Markham published a recipe for Rice puddings in skins in 1615 in his celebrated recipe collection, <i>The English Housewife</i> (London: 1615). Here it is below.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIo9b5XiCDBxtsT0mg9fQ4TfcKj4KKIpmWrm6HGRFBooiJ_cQ0JXmgUCTLtyeKxBjzKud7VGGsTYbQ0HlG8xLUNCUon3O5QTLNGVC1h-CWzXVMeIn6fttNW87RvvPHmDHoLWljmhzLh30/s1600/Rice+puddings5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIo9b5XiCDBxtsT0mg9fQ4TfcKj4KKIpmWrm6HGRFBooiJ_cQ0JXmgUCTLtyeKxBjzKud7VGGsTYbQ0HlG8xLUNCUon3O5QTLNGVC1h-CWzXVMeIn6fttNW87RvvPHmDHoLWljmhzLh30/s1600/Rice+puddings5.jpg" height="206" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Gervase Markham's recipe for rice puddings, published the same year as Murrell's. By 'farms' is meant 'forms, a common term for guts.</td></tr>
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I made both Murrell's and Markham's rice puddings a few days ago for a dinner celebrating the 450th anniversity of Shakespeare's birthday. Variant recipes for rice puddings continued to be published in the later seventeenth century, that below coming from Robert May's <i>The Accomplisht Cook</i> (London: 1660), with a specific direction to tie the ends of the guts together, making a ring shaped pudding. This incarnation is flavoured generously with a quarter of a pint of rose-water!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIq4-WzTRKTCS2GsYq7LgcHYVSsQbBUwuSjzCGKDHQ1FpG4PCmQIWrL9RZ14qB24MSPEIA6O_MoOUTY1XoOVOcLwydBhNZlx4fO5vY6hTVGmx_oGPvhk9CrKMTV5artv9Lhw80E1-WV94/s1600/Rice+MY.jpg" height="450" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: left;">From Robert May's </span><i style="text-align: left;">The Accomplisht Cook</i><span style="text-align: left;"> (London: 1660)</span></span></td></tr>
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Another of May's rice pudding recipes instructs us to boil a very similar preparation in a bag or napkin. However, as an afterthought, he explains that when you make rice puddings in guts, you should toast them before the fire 'in a silver dish or tosting pan'. This makes much more sense of Murrell's 1615 recipe, who instructs us to parboil the puddings, indicating that there was a second cooking process to follow. Toasting or broiling them afterwards cooks the puddings so they end up looking like grilled sausages. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzse6UY9uQarXo0-E7Oa9M4FHwKDBA-NmQPTq1FyUmNISo5pM6q2VumJ6oLzoOpmfNkCOZQxPnFn-hKkjTZSqIKT0R7b6DNdXiXPwwZkeccAokidCz0cjpwWEGk9IbVRX62YppAbNjrk/s1600/Rice+puddings+in+skins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzse6UY9uQarXo0-E7Oa9M4FHwKDBA-NmQPTq1FyUmNISo5pM6q2VumJ6oLzoOpmfNkCOZQxPnFn-hKkjTZSqIKT0R7b6DNdXiXPwwZkeccAokidCz0cjpwWEGk9IbVRX62YppAbNjrk/s1600/Rice+puddings+in+skins.jpg" height="356" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">From Robert May's </span><i style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">The Accomplisht Cook</i><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"> (London: 1660)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0ZTpzMNmWlFuePxwLccxaFDkud1i-RAuP1hG7L3rQVho5HnKsxTAQT14VlSO00uDhmY1iaupo5OjHt5C3aMwOWD5_IDXncI4zWywkEUthX3WdgCp1G-UZ70NnSvd_D0TBr2hNisOoYQ/s1600/Rice+puddings3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0ZTpzMNmWlFuePxwLccxaFDkud1i-RAuP1hG7L3rQVho5HnKsxTAQT14VlSO00uDhmY1iaupo5OjHt5C3aMwOWD5_IDXncI4zWywkEUthX3WdgCp1G-UZ70NnSvd_D0TBr2hNisOoYQ/s1600/Rice+puddings3.jpg" height="638" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Robert May's marrow puddings of rice and grated bread simmer for about quarter and hour. Like all skin puddings, the forms must not be tightly filled as the contents will swell and burst the skins. They must also be pricked to release any air before they are very gently poached in the simmering, not boiling, water.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmwmjAgnfdI3L6our9u6UH6HOBWTmbUOhJ40NIvb5LKaaLFVufWLbQ6Dawr0MQJ0SJ2P1nWR7WBh4fbV1zcdM29APz4DgpsrWp3cFrqHBKgMg8zkVDDaKBjo8o_uKslAcvBvKqaMagts/s1600/Rice+puddings4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmwmjAgnfdI3L6our9u6UH6HOBWTmbUOhJ40NIvb5LKaaLFVufWLbQ6Dawr0MQJ0SJ2P1nWR7WBh4fbV1zcdM29APz4DgpsrWp3cFrqHBKgMg8zkVDDaKBjo8o_uKslAcvBvKqaMagts/s1600/Rice+puddings4.jpg" height="640" width="558" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Before the puddings are toasted in front of the fire, I find that hanging them up to dry out for a day really improves them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACCsywzzq_IaGa8_MGg7oV6dNSc28JHPjPpSUZi7e3FWo2qt_L2x0mhDa4W1N2pzRpEGXmO-Hz3kzu6ebcxcO9tDj56YH8ltAh1GhDHJmInP6F5_m1bQqykj3BOEkSyvumca63izxbyg/s1600/Rice+puddings2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACCsywzzq_IaGa8_MGg7oV6dNSc28JHPjPpSUZi7e3FWo2qt_L2x0mhDa4W1N2pzRpEGXmO-Hz3kzu6ebcxcO9tDj56YH8ltAh1GhDHJmInP6F5_m1bQqykj3BOEkSyvumca63izxbyg/s1600/Rice+puddings2.jpg" height="576" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A toasted rice pudding</td></tr>
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Rice puddings like this survived into the eighteenth century, as witness this recipe from the Yorkshire cookery author Elizabeth Moxon. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTYLyO1VAYQKjUIPWSMEcgoR2UKTJvzdQnmkghWRCPBh-k4XkspUQzX0cUNensJDQfd6QJfzBSWTGTO2CjhhKJrH3RFDJCJg-vzZhb6VkvSiiIrOmHWbOAss8q7tdL_WPOy_UPOBLFKQ/s1600/Moxon+Puddings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTYLyO1VAYQKjUIPWSMEcgoR2UKTJvzdQnmkghWRCPBh-k4XkspUQzX0cUNensJDQfd6QJfzBSWTGTO2CjhhKJrH3RFDJCJg-vzZhb6VkvSiiIrOmHWbOAss8q7tdL_WPOy_UPOBLFKQ/s320/Moxon+Puddings.jpg" height="620" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Rice puddings boiled in skins from Elizabeth Moxon (Leeds: 1749). Elizabeth tells us to 'cree' the rice in milk. This interesting word is from the French <i>crever</i>, to burst or split. To cree rice or frumenty was to boil it until it burst and came to a soft mash. However, it could also mean to crush, mill or kibble. The wheat or barley used for making frumenty was 'creed' or crushed in a 'creeing trough'. </td></tr>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-11895939040353675942014-04-10T16:45:00.000-07:002014-04-14T06:00:05.820-07:00To Roast a Pike<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIsNNSpUGViDLFqrLccvrnn6Gx2kDbJlTa1GQclez7Uoad_Z2C8cSeJXt3xPeGkvIYmX_nYyASeILbyn-g2W0gWMx3_ewZ8RCR4PJfLhkomvXNkJY_dTdK2f_XbBXkS9D8CjjBKCAm-M/s1600/Pike1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIsNNSpUGViDLFqrLccvrnn6Gx2kDbJlTa1GQclez7Uoad_Z2C8cSeJXt3xPeGkvIYmX_nYyASeILbyn-g2W0gWMx3_ewZ8RCR4PJfLhkomvXNkJY_dTdK2f_XbBXkS9D8CjjBKCAm-M/s1600/Pike1a.jpg" height="252" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A pike roasted in front of the fire according to the directions in <i>Elizabeth Birkett Here Booke 1699. </i>It is stuffed with pickled herring, herbs, spices, anchovies, butter and garlic.</td></tr>
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I am currently working on a project at a wonderful seventeenth century house not far from where I live in the Lake District in a stunning village called Troutbeck. The property, which is called Townend Farm, is now in the ownership of the National Trust, but for many centuries was the former home of the Brown family. The Browns were 'statesmen', a local term for farmers who were proprietors of their own land. Statesmen farmers were a fiercely independent bunch who valued education. The Browns were no exception. Over many generations they built up an extensive library and never threw anything away. A vast collection of their domestic papers has survived, leaving a remarkable record of the minutiae of domestic life in this beautiful house over nearly four centuries. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQbgdgUlSVEnkEYD3uA8w8Y9VIEhGtRcXos5HQ9gC2KUKnXlR3Mf6z8bm44enKk-4dIvdrhm-Ct2UkcKhb7W5qz4UmU3YnIixpF6dl8clr9MxonuSr_DKVNxt5QpHyHBGMMoSzjdAFRA/s1600/Townend+exterior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQbgdgUlSVEnkEYD3uA8w8Y9VIEhGtRcXos5HQ9gC2KUKnXlR3Mf6z8bm44enKk-4dIvdrhm-Ct2UkcKhb7W5qz4UmU3YnIixpF6dl8clr9MxonuSr_DKVNxt5QpHyHBGMMoSzjdAFRA/s1600/Townend+exterior.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Townend Farm, Troutbeck, Cumbria - perhaps the best surviving example of a Lake District statesman's house.</td></tr>
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Among the papers is a small hand written collection of medical, domestic and cookery recipes which was compiled in 1699 by Elizabeth Birkett, also from Troutbeck, who married the house's owner Benjamin Brown in 1702. With my help, the National Trust are using this book, which is now on display at Townend, to interpret the domestic life of the house as it was in Elizabeth's day. I have trained the staff to cook some of her recipes in the 'downhouse' (kitchen), so every Thursday visitors are treated to 'A Taste of Townend'. I have also set up the 'firehouse' (best room) with a table laid with typical dishes of early eighteenth century Lakeland. One of these is a replica of Elizabeth's roast pike recipe. In order to make this very convincing replica, I had first to roast a real pike using her directions.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVe6ePtLrME0SjCzDa_gFUATv2otrPRt85uJAMktNcIsRgMrLFTUtoLA3zYsXADovUu70EzOTts8d9KA2kquC8nWNgnfbPWj9bEFhu9oWp1qdlxy8lVj5NhdYEC-D74FojSU65MwO6lQ/s1600/Pike+Receipt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVe6ePtLrME0SjCzDa_gFUATv2otrPRt85uJAMktNcIsRgMrLFTUtoLA3zYsXADovUu70EzOTts8d9KA2kquC8nWNgnfbPWj9bEFhu9oWp1qdlxy8lVj5NhdYEC-D74FojSU65MwO6lQ/s1600/Pike+Receipt.jpg" height="276" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Elizabeth's 1699 recipe for roasting pike, a fish which has always been plentiful in the English Lakes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVHCSqFTelXL34xswMOlfOZ3c8Ff9HfGprU6FQUOeBCT8MA4cXDGpC0sP_eQzHVUTSf1yg2ycm7GXdhMYR-X0CCuzhkr8TlXHYvm3cMC4qEjfpAoKx_kkw5o3oG5LbGtdmKgFuCxYV0G0/s1600/Brown+cob+irons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVHCSqFTelXL34xswMOlfOZ3c8Ff9HfGprU6FQUOeBCT8MA4cXDGpC0sP_eQzHVUTSf1yg2ycm7GXdhMYR-X0CCuzhkr8TlXHYvm3cMC4qEjfpAoKx_kkw5o3oG5LbGtdmKgFuCxYV0G0/s1600/Brown+cob+irons.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Although they are displayed in front of a nineteenth century fireplace, the cob irons and spit in this photograph date from the lifetime of Elizabeth Birkett. It is just the sort of arrangement that could have been adapted for roasting a large fish such as a pike.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZUk_SX_Wum6vyzCu2qJrS-QsP9kxSp558DuAllAdfofaH7YEEkCeP1KYnT_u6KqLeyug_pg9Oib8MpexpnpDffOD0pjhMw93y9iw19Bh9xAHy9Tp4PBd25uD2Nc8xCiMiy88uRM9mP_c/s1600/Ben+and+Eliza's+Chair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZUk_SX_Wum6vyzCu2qJrS-QsP9kxSp558DuAllAdfofaH7YEEkCeP1KYnT_u6KqLeyug_pg9Oib8MpexpnpDffOD0pjhMw93y9iw19Bh9xAHy9Tp4PBd25uD2Nc8xCiMiy88uRM9mP_c/s1600/Ben+and+Eliza's+Chair.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">This wainscot chair is carved with the initials of Benjamin and Elizabeth Brown and 1702 - the date of their marriage. It was however, carved much later than this.</td></tr>
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To roast a large fish like a pike on a spit requires a technique sometimes called 'splinting' which involves lashing hazel wands around the fish to create a cage. This prevents the fish falling off when it starts to cook and become fragile. Elizabeth must have used this method, though she does not mention it in her recipe. A very full account of the technique was given by Isaac Walton in <i>The Compleat Angler </i>(London: 1653) in a recipe which is very similar to that of Elizabeth. However, Walton suggests filling the pike's belly with oysters, while Elizabeth gives the alternative of pickled herring. I have tried both recipes and they are equally good. I always use Walton's directions to splint the fish with lathes and filleting.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggCBciyJsE8lttfBsj4bl5QTlzFcy-hKFe51A0ueEzPN1RxMstVRKV5CvzmMwUqStUhEXfXapM38Cx5orklTwV2RCTOWv7gDlqDv_tDR9Z0Xgmem2PSVnrQXEGeNKw05u_Hx8kGTj-Nx0/s1600/Walton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggCBciyJsE8lttfBsj4bl5QTlzFcy-hKFe51A0ueEzPN1RxMstVRKV5CvzmMwUqStUhEXfXapM38Cx5orklTwV2RCTOWv7gDlqDv_tDR9Z0Xgmem2PSVnrQXEGeNKw05u_Hx8kGTj-Nx0/s1600/Walton.jpg" height="640" width="534" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isaac Walton (1594-1683) by Jacob Huysmans. </td></tr>
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Here are Walton's directions -<br />
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<i>'First, open your Pike at the gills, and if need be, cut also a little slit towards his belly; out of these take his guts, and keep his liver, which you are to shred very small with Time, Sweet-margerome and a little Winter-savoury; to these put some pickled Oysters, and some Anchovies two or three, both these last whole (for the Anchovies will melt, and the Oysters should not); to these you must adde also a pound of sweet butter, which you are to mix with the herbs that are shred, and let them all be well salted (if the Pike be more than a yard long, then you may put into these herbs more than a pound, or if he be lesse, then lesse Butter will suffice): these being thus mixt with a blade or two of Mace, must be put into the Pikes belly, and then his belly sowed up, and so sowed up, as to keep all the Butter in his belly if it be possible, if not, then as much of it as you possible can, but take not off the scales; then you are to thrust the spit through his mouth out at his tayl, and then with four, or five, or six split sticks, or very thin lathes, and a convenient quantity of Tape or Filliting, these lathes are to be tyed round about the Pikes body from his head to his tayl, and the Tape tyed somewhat thick to prevent his breaking or falling off from the spit, let him be roasted very leasurely, and often basted with Claret wine, and Anchovyes, and Butter mixt together, and also with what moisture falls from him into the pan: when you have roasted him sufficiently you are to hold under him (when you unwind or cut the Tape that tyes him) such a dish as you purpose to eat him out of; and let him fall into it with the sawce that is rosted in his belly, and by this means the Pike will be kept unbroken and compleat: then to the sawce, which was within, and also in the pan, you are to adde a fit quantity of the best Butter, and to squeeze the juyce of three or four Oranges: lastly, you may either put into the Pike with the Oysters, two cloves of Garlick, and take it whole out, when the Pike is cut off the spit, or to give the sawce a hogo, let the dish (into which you let the Pike fall) be rubbed with it: the using or not using of this Garlick is left to your discretion.'</i><br />
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From Isaac Walton, <i>The Compleat Angler</i> (London: 1653).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNYPw_yLt1qctOw_37c5B2IyI0Qccdmw1vBdJhtUIBc7ojULSRCE-9aN5qE0epoDILRS9H4o67OtfhKBgHGTaIB3I83Cxx6xiRaFhT-gblmeoTsD8cNHlR3dz2BZUBb2o1k5a66-0jnCM/s1600/Pike+Taped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNYPw_yLt1qctOw_37c5B2IyI0Qccdmw1vBdJhtUIBc7ojULSRCE-9aN5qE0epoDILRS9H4o67OtfhKBgHGTaIB3I83Cxx6xiRaFhT-gblmeoTsD8cNHlR3dz2BZUBb2o1k5a66-0jnCM/s1600/Pike+Taped.jpg" height="284" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Windermere pike about to be lashed to a spit with a cradle made of hazel lathes and tape (filleting).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh58yOKbrE-ymwWCLNQP0izDk70h8eUr99-22uKx-3hRPY0rd0w8ANsYuzlgME_EPNEwyekE-hjZ4V2Qxizdv-nx_4Hx1XR35z7TO88B8B0x3swAkWoUlUexovx1OGtccfsrpeivQoVXg/s1600/Pike+cradled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh58yOKbrE-ymwWCLNQP0izDk70h8eUr99-22uKx-3hRPY0rd0w8ANsYuzlgME_EPNEwyekE-hjZ4V2Qxizdv-nx_4Hx1XR35z7TO88B8B0x3swAkWoUlUexovx1OGtccfsrpeivQoVXg/s1600/Pike+cradled.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pike roasts in front of the fire/</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiNhvNiaLALjfBMhrAA-uYEIVQqt3TKfS6Tcmcr3Zk5TLHOD0J8CQTnckeE2lTinb5ly_dOiUOR8ozhoE6XW7gzdWSRb_21CvsCPzN4NEsuUuZZMCdFGXS-63-CqoFXCrk-hE13rAKoNc/s1600/Gainsborough+Salmon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiNhvNiaLALjfBMhrAA-uYEIVQqt3TKfS6Tcmcr3Zk5TLHOD0J8CQTnckeE2lTinb5ly_dOiUOR8ozhoE6XW7gzdWSRb_21CvsCPzN4NEsuUuZZMCdFGXS-63-CqoFXCrk-hE13rAKoNc/s1600/Gainsborough+Salmon.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A salmon cooked using the same method. This was roasted at Gainsborough Hall a few months ago. Note the similarity of the cob irons to those at Townend Farm.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQbndccRXue0Wd1pavOqBvm6Vt7gjFgXKSGzycPX6kp6JB3lCblkVXW0C11dXZE3Zir8HVOk6HyqnMRIyaPX6kUu1FYLupUeE4s-SIyU-rY7AjpAAOV7HaW2NFP86vqiUU16GXj5M7Oc/s1600/pike+with+oranges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQbndccRXue0Wd1pavOqBvm6Vt7gjFgXKSGzycPX6kp6JB3lCblkVXW0C11dXZE3Zir8HVOk6HyqnMRIyaPX6kUu1FYLupUeE4s-SIyU-rY7AjpAAOV7HaW2NFP86vqiUU16GXj5M7Oc/s1600/pike+with+oranges.jpg" height="396" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pike roasted to Elizabeth's recipe and garnished with jagged Seville oranges.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbA8N2d8EFPrwW2K5aI5WHXVF8EeSufvCIDPfw4-4Cizfjn_qUCs8_S8SA5ywM1jIuJmgHubsynVEwjPDw3RsFrhIr8JrSnEMfUpCV59Qx-siXlKx3Rl19Vchnd-YoXc4IH27zeCdiME/s1600/Pike+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbA8N2d8EFPrwW2K5aI5WHXVF8EeSufvCIDPfw4-4Cizfjn_qUCs8_S8SA5ywM1jIuJmgHubsynVEwjPDw3RsFrhIr8JrSnEMfUpCV59Qx-siXlKx3Rl19Vchnd-YoXc4IH27zeCdiME/s1600/Pike+2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pike for the Townend table</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OCqXiHhdGHfseU_fxm3k2hvqOSrSLTS1n4jT2cQDENy2N7sNEImBWDpYxkACwuo0muAXu7pFfPhDQWmakzFB2euKL7p4_H60Zd8bmYt7mvnOusVJcWNFEM57pvoUSKQkSG-NRWfHax4/s1600/Firehouse+Table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OCqXiHhdGHfseU_fxm3k2hvqOSrSLTS1n4jT2cQDENy2N7sNEImBWDpYxkACwuo0muAXu7pFfPhDQWmakzFB2euKL7p4_H60Zd8bmYt7mvnOusVJcWNFEM57pvoUSKQkSG-NRWfHax4/s1600/Firehouse+Table.jpg" height="640" width="598" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A special occasion dinner in the Townend Firehouse</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZshzZPkC5WRPpCEv11Z25cXgVoiljcWfNrGwpAVMm1Ww6dIXP5uYuYpPiaCF1lXMr5wsDWsD34fKu2v1mXpbT5CF-1JboVgXXSOierdQWL-r_MOE9u8Gt7nQgkxwUHrQzaCOu85hTeoc/s1600/Strickland+pike+sauce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZshzZPkC5WRPpCEv11Z25cXgVoiljcWfNrGwpAVMm1Ww6dIXP5uYuYpPiaCF1lXMr5wsDWsD34fKu2v1mXpbT5CF-1JboVgXXSOierdQWL-r_MOE9u8Gt7nQgkxwUHrQzaCOu85hTeoc/s1600/Strickland+pike+sauce.jpg" height="358" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A recipe for a sauce for boiled pike in Elizabeth's hand, but given to her by Lady Winifred Strickland of Sizergh Hall. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjYVdqw_RQgNrhIonOZA-X8CqLLfXPq5-tDAt-cGrcYvtCrlezEFYVY2SDrloMJBfDB-jVQN6EUxYJWsaOHn5sACvxuk2e6Uq_iL1QCjknBv5ATeQcxJw6XF8LoprBYiDK5HHpvjWkQTk/s1600/Strickland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjYVdqw_RQgNrhIonOZA-X8CqLLfXPq5-tDAt-cGrcYvtCrlezEFYVY2SDrloMJBfDB-jVQN6EUxYJWsaOHn5sACvxuk2e6Uq_iL1QCjknBv5ATeQcxJw6XF8LoprBYiDK5HHpvjWkQTk/s1600/Strickland.jpg" height="640" width="482" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Winifred Trentham Lady Strickland, by William Wissing. Courtesy NT. </span></span></td></tr>
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Elizabeth's recipe book contains a number of old charms for various ailments that would have been frowned upon as 'papist' in late seventeenth century Westmorland. There are also a number of recipes from local Catholic recusant families such as the Braithwaites of Burneside and most notably from the Stricklands of Sizergh Hall. I have reproduced <i>Madame Strickland's sawce for boyld pike </i>above<i>.</i> After the Glorious Revolution of 1688 Lord and Lady Strikland went into exile in France with James II. It is possible that Elizabeth's family were Catholics. I will deal with some Elizabeth's other recipes in future postings.<br />
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<a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/townend/" target="_blank">Visit Townend Farm website</a></div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-52455245096829650932014-01-20T21:59:00.001-08:002014-04-29T10:12:08.063-07:00A Medieval Meal for Real<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQjQo2AGSvgGEWPLOvH9iV-XK2diaw-NtiVN230Us5NVhzSih7nzsDefmna5x2wQ4KGF3M_1ua5EM1aiXv1E1q6fSEogpKtFavMXVNTQ3v7W-tSkZuNrYZQU09ucIH8BRnLs1Nx78dfE/s1600/Gainsborough2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQjQo2AGSvgGEWPLOvH9iV-XK2diaw-NtiVN230Us5NVhzSih7nzsDefmna5x2wQ4KGF3M_1ua5EM1aiXv1E1q6fSEogpKtFavMXVNTQ3v7W-tSkZuNrYZQU09ucIH8BRnLs1Nx78dfE/s1600/Gainsborough2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The roasting range in the kitchen of Gainsborough Hall, probably being used for the first time in four hundred years as it was intended, for roasting a full range of meats and poultry for a high status meal. A goose sawce madame, four rabbits, four mallard, a woodcock and other game birds roast on the hand turned spits.</td></tr>
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I am often rather grumpy about the way in which food history is represented on British television. Commissioning editors in this country seem to regard it as a niche subject area only suitable for three minute intercuts into popular food programmes such as <i>The Great British Bake Off. </i>I suspect<i> </i>the purpose of these bijou interludes is to afford viewers a brief moment to make a coffee between the thrills and spills of the great cupcake, or gingerbread house challenge.<i> </i>Another approach has been the 'Carry on Banqueting' comedic slant, such as that of the <i>Supersizers</i> series some years ago, when Giles Coren and Sue Perkins took the piss out of our culinary past, while a medley of well-known celebrity chefs made fools of themselves making a mess at recreating ancient dishes. Because the food genre is considered a branch of entertainment, there has never been a serious cultural survey of our food traditions. You might say, 'what about the living history programmes, such as <i>The Tudor Farm,</i> or Clarissa Dixon-Wright's <i>Hannah Glasse</i> or <i>The King's Cooks</i>?' I don't suppose I am going to be popular for saying it, but I am afraid these programmes give the false impression that the food of our ancestors was terribly lumpen and unskillfully prepared. Watching the 'expert' presenters for instance, making raised pies that look like wobbly junior school pots does not really celebrate the incredible skills that our ancestors possessed in pastry work. I am afraid that they really need to up their game. </div>
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When a virtuoso chef such as Heston Blumenthal is given the opportunity to examine our culinary past, he favours an approach which tends to use highly technical contemporary methods, telling us more about modern restaurant presentation than past traditions. Very little recognition is given to real experts. For instance, the makers of a recent BBC documentary about the food writer Dorothy Hartley actually filmed Peter Brears in his home kitchen talking about her dessert recipes. But this excellent sequence never made it into the final edit. This is ironic, as the outstanding contribution that Mr Brears has made to our understanding of English food will prove in the long term to be far, far more important than that of Miss Hartley. I think we have a lot of growing up to do when it comes to this subject on British television. </div>
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Imagine my surprise then, when I was recently invited by KBS, the South Korean equivalent of the BBC to work with them on a programme about medieval food and dining in England. They did n't want a celebrity chef or restaurant critic presenter and they did n't want to dumb down the narrative. What they did want was to celebrate the true history of English food using real expertise, rather than bang on in the usual stereotypical way about how bad it was. During the process of making the documentary, which was directed by the celebrated Korean producer Kim Seung Ook, I quickly discovered the remarkable technical virtuosity, fresh perceptions and high production values of his outstanding crew. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZps8Lz3WD9mi4BRd7V6HYuaesiV2aDPdhXfzD5bDr2wc4RadvAD1tN5wOPOIf-RR5CHSr_HX0YPh0Icioe8R0au0AUMHQW5BsefqfSoxGlQQvGFh35EcTvipk3fzNOb3dtA_66pnkzM/s1600/photo.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZps8Lz3WD9mi4BRd7V6HYuaesiV2aDPdhXfzD5bDr2wc4RadvAD1tN5wOPOIf-RR5CHSr_HX0YPh0Icioe8R0au0AUMHQW5BsefqfSoxGlQQvGFh35EcTvipk3fzNOb3dtA_66pnkzM/s1600/photo.PNG" height="370" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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The recipe for Sawce Madame, a goose stuffed with quinces, pears and herbs from <i>The Forme of Cury</i>. <span style="text-align: left;">This is a page from a c.1420s version of the text - courtesy John Rylands Library, University of Manchester. The original text dates from the 1390s.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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My aim was to accurately recreate an ambitious medieval meal in a high status household, so we chose to film at Gainsborough Hall in Lincolnshire with its wonderful great hall and kitchen complex. I enlisted the help of the outstanding re-enactment group Lord Burgh's Retinue, who regularly work at the hall. Led by Paul Mason, the group excelled themselves in a long, but exciting day's filming. I coached the kitchen crew in using their roasting range properly, showing them how to splint a salmon with hazel wands and how to skewer meats authentically, so they did n't stay still while the spits rotated. We also spent two days in my own kitchen where I demonstrated the preparation of a number of fifteenth century dishes, including a sawce madame, bake metes of partridge, gingerbread decorated with box leaves and a hastelet of fruyte. At Gainsborough we filmed a high table sequence led by Paul with full Plantagenet dining ritual, from Latin grace and blessing to washing of hands with an ewer and basin. The table and buffet was dressed correctly for the period and there were demonstrations of carving, sewing and correct service.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGaixw7zN853gDq-N4IN5AS1tfHe0np99HJYopWWEeJsc0vnmu-qpRLSNCBDn2kBL3uoEBoiJ23ECeqeBk3ttE_IDxQSAN3XpKk66w4ZnjdQyyXI4teEN8bNmrQoMJy63R2zvP7LW6C0/s1600/sawce+madame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGaixw7zN853gDq-N4IN5AS1tfHe0np99HJYopWWEeJsc0vnmu-qpRLSNCBDn2kBL3uoEBoiJ23ECeqeBk3ttE_IDxQSAN3XpKk66w4ZnjdQyyXI4teEN8bNmrQoMJy63R2zvP7LW6C0/s1600/sawce+madame.jpg" height="394" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">The finished sawce madame at the servery </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6wju9ZjApQU84CBELgzY2VuS5F9Xagy0zEk5n0SRcOpYV2jUf7K0m8-M_c3YQiMt-nNPD8NWEgsdG2foy0Pc3Hf2HgpCi3NKs_Dx1GXhxpxtgp461Q9hyphenhyphenyd7EX5DaMZm1bN2Yf1WyG0/s1600/Gainsborough3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6wju9ZjApQU84CBELgzY2VuS5F9Xagy0zEk5n0SRcOpYV2jUf7K0m8-M_c3YQiMt-nNPD8NWEgsdG2foy0Pc3Hf2HgpCi3NKs_Dx1GXhxpxtgp461Q9hyphenhyphenyd7EX5DaMZm1bN2Yf1WyG0/s1600/Gainsborough3.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bake mete of partridge surmounted by the bird itself with gilded beak and spots of gold on its feathers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-qtQbV5B6f9cm_Q-vNGYsD_TR5yxz9GmefdEeDibFAHVTwVNZWpQtSKov6clL7EPqGNCk7mnzUzu8syaKTicLA7oN9auhEgbraT2YqXUt6Sj3tjdx2OiXUPSEeghIcCqOH4DqKi1EgBE/s1600/Gainsborough4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-qtQbV5B6f9cm_Q-vNGYsD_TR5yxz9GmefdEeDibFAHVTwVNZWpQtSKov6clL7EPqGNCk7mnzUzu8syaKTicLA7oN9auhEgbraT2YqXUt6Sj3tjdx2OiXUPSEeghIcCqOH4DqKi1EgBE/s1600/Gainsborough4.jpg" height="564" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
A soteltie waits to be taken to the top table. This was originally made by my incredibly gifted friend and colleague Tony Barton for my 2003 exhibition, <i>Royal Sugar Sculpture</i> at the Bowes Museum. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsl7xHRrsFG8gM2BfqaqGRwgnJ3-wSkw77OZsEXB2YDj7WSQUmAQ25UUXBbUbcvIKgPrYJGvOWhnSJBlA8hm5ChloRyaO-F8WyItss1dXPnKO37JfW7RKkxP6avb9NPG3rP3O_EyH5OGI/s1600/G2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsl7xHRrsFG8gM2BfqaqGRwgnJ3-wSkw77OZsEXB2YDj7WSQUmAQ25UUXBbUbcvIKgPrYJGvOWhnSJBlA8hm5ChloRyaO-F8WyItss1dXPnKO37JfW7RKkxP6avb9NPG3rP3O_EyH5OGI/s1600/G2.jpg" height="404" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">The kitchen at Gainsborough Old Hall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87K7spT0dwWucu2dnEaRpsI2ucExAVso49_aJ8EIdw1NWMGg8T8ZRMytV4NwJZrusIt9KUO4iXV65Lei_ZGOwTrn5OpmY6q7vBs9R3t2FXNYUKhRxVKk5LNcBVkBI1EQtaoYGFF4nhqc/s1600/Gainsborough1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 13px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87K7spT0dwWucu2dnEaRpsI2ucExAVso49_aJ8EIdw1NWMGg8T8ZRMytV4NwJZrusIt9KUO4iXV65Lei_ZGOwTrn5OpmY6q7vBs9R3t2FXNYUKhRxVKk5LNcBVkBI1EQtaoYGFF4nhqc/s1600/Gainsborough1.jpg" height="640" width="468" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A chastelet, a pie made in the form of a castle with different fillings in each tower awaits a spectacular flambé with brandy before being brought to the table</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDy_a0f1Z2wVC8HMZogobufEIo-3oaBDd9jzQk26hG15mzFXQx7nlz968Kh_LhcxZO1-3YrcziYiETuumZqGbW5pC3dDxfdvorqCqPjEfl1mDv0ZwTGiOsmAn8IHSHSKtFZmxC0pCVY-E/s1600/Gainsborough5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDy_a0f1Z2wVC8HMZogobufEIo-3oaBDd9jzQk26hG15mzFXQx7nlz968Kh_LhcxZO1-3YrcziYiETuumZqGbW5pC3dDxfdvorqCqPjEfl1mDv0ZwTGiOsmAn8IHSHSKtFZmxC0pCVY-E/s1600/Gainsborough5.jpg" height="604" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">An early fifteenth century gingerbread coloured with red sanders is ornamented with box leaves pinned on with cloves</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVefttB7VD1Wa1FNgd2MMNYonANNIs5eCoOXAV422yckkSmY5DOtzTcp_3ZpOO7fDeCV3BljFKxd7DFEKV-R6o4Xdaj7BvWvjTEirxGFhIFhFhnEtRPmqLvVmj2bLpAYQqR5bPucslsXI/s1600/G1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVefttB7VD1Wa1FNgd2MMNYonANNIs5eCoOXAV422yckkSmY5DOtzTcp_3ZpOO7fDeCV3BljFKxd7DFEKV-R6o4Xdaj7BvWvjTEirxGFhIFhFhnEtRPmqLvVmj2bLpAYQqR5bPucslsXI/s1600/G1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">The great hall at Gainsborough. There was originally a lantern on the roof, which allowed the smoke from the central hearth to escape. The magnificent perpendicular oriel window floods the high table with bright light.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMugiwQ1aCMvHnf80ya6ipb3LP4-IS3zG0wOu4oj81nJjbYpIwyNqrH4yIhpIz6THtXe4xhT5MuU-Sk8ROepBbCb9Ec7dZQxd6dSk2TDA8IQ4KO7kGiluYMKGE9LzbV3T9TwF7vka77k/s1600/KBS+Portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMugiwQ1aCMvHnf80ya6ipb3LP4-IS3zG0wOu4oj81nJjbYpIwyNqrH4yIhpIz6THtXe4xhT5MuU-Sk8ROepBbCb9Ec7dZQxd6dSk2TDA8IQ4KO7kGiluYMKGE9LzbV3T9TwF7vka77k/s1600/KBS+Portrait.jpg" height="354" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: left;">
KBS director Kim Seung Ook(second from right) and his remarkable crew. Development producer <a href="http://www.ginamcdonaldtv.com/" target="_blank">Gina McDonald</a>, who co-ordinated the production in the UK with me is in the middle.</div>
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The programme will be screened later this year as an episode in the wonderful KBS series <i>A Food Odyssey</i>, a visually stunning and highly intelligent global celebration of food culture. A DVD will also be available. BBC commissioning editors please take note. </div>
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_DuUPwkpvMhQ3l3eXVNal9ZMUk/edit?usp=drive_web&pli=1" target="_blank">Watch a trailer for <i>A Food Odyssey</i> documentary series</a></div>
Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-36713628597606459972014-01-08T03:53:00.000-08:002014-01-08T03:58:59.923-08:00Macedoine Jelly Revisited<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aSWSpAKJGgH2T4zYD8jfIg2LAaA4Vt_aIcPcc3tWJd3ZZnqxHKMGOjRjeedKT4BbmX_pFiHqNs_dlc3og0-o_VM-cHJB2V2nq-_OrHbhQATbljg9hG5szgPbXgOfIchwyGPSdisafGA/s1600/Macedoine+Mould5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aSWSpAKJGgH2T4zYD8jfIg2LAaA4Vt_aIcPcc3tWJd3ZZnqxHKMGOjRjeedKT4BbmX_pFiHqNs_dlc3og0-o_VM-cHJB2V2nq-_OrHbhQATbljg9hG5szgPbXgOfIchwyGPSdisafGA/s1600/Macedoine+Mould5.jpg" height="640" width="524" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A couple of glamorous victorian entremets in my kitchen</td></tr>
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Just a quickie. I have just spent a couple of days filming with a BBC crew making a number of items of period food. Yesterday I put together a couple of nineteenth century maraschino fruit macedoine jellies to show how glamorous Victorian food could be - at least on the upper class table. I am posting a few iPhone snapshots I took in my kitchen this morning of the jellies with their fruit garnitures. I have garnished them with a couple of nice silver hatelet skewers from the 1870s, which gives them a striking sense of formality.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-AMoiiajjBEtKaKBFGl547JNex8MvgeV3mXrPOQu_Er0FT8MeQWgtSQiXrKImuApUy1NTkVb-k0fJMlWN6bGEQzegmm5Ux8fjaZ0ePZCjNIv8xIJbn5Phpetq118C3DwC3adekYKmoM0/s1600/Macedoine7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-AMoiiajjBEtKaKBFGl547JNex8MvgeV3mXrPOQu_Er0FT8MeQWgtSQiXrKImuApUy1NTkVb-k0fJMlWN6bGEQzegmm5Ux8fjaZ0ePZCjNIv8xIJbn5Phpetq118C3DwC3adekYKmoM0/s1600/Macedoine7.jpg" height="270" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A neo-gothic macedoine mould and liner from Urbain Dubois,<i> Cosmopolitan Cookery</i> (London: 1870). I am fortunate enough to own a complete example of this two component mould, so am able to replicate these stunning Victorian entremets with a great deal of accuracy. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qvKQhzLlfxKq4V_qvfb6wmqoMcZJfXqPOf-_RuloH1gLFVDPFL5Bg4z5Q6KlxcCqJLNrFdYZNL4ih9EK60OhzKD3omaJWA1mi9kCbYXspr_wxcsHlosofCKps9hl5G-z6fbHqzePjps/s1600/Macedoine+Mould6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qvKQhzLlfxKq4V_qvfb6wmqoMcZJfXqPOf-_RuloH1gLFVDPFL5Bg4z5Q6KlxcCqJLNrFdYZNL4ih9EK60OhzKD3omaJWA1mi9kCbYXspr_wxcsHlosofCKps9hl5G-z6fbHqzePjps/s1600/Macedoine+Mould6.jpg" height="486" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Two different macedoine jellies with their moulds. To stop it moving or floating in the jelly, the inner liner is clipped to the outer mould.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIg6-rRQETTYu803G1fW0y7QCvcDKne4deoJxBOsiQInnxVX_Btx7Fcfky85tp7SqBMKDgGVQgbW9CrF5IV6raEx-_Wk4hl6vXnOz0l4ZcaAb4tWKLGuFiB1X6zJLstpWiMs4yxOBdHg/s1600/Macedoine+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIg6-rRQETTYu803G1fW0y7QCvcDKne4deoJxBOsiQInnxVX_Btx7Fcfky85tp7SqBMKDgGVQgbW9CrF5IV6raEx-_Wk4hl6vXnOz0l4ZcaAb4tWKLGuFiB1X6zJLstpWiMs4yxOBdHg/s1600/Macedoine+1.jpg" height="558" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Macedoine%20Jelly" target="_blank">Here is another post with more information and images of these stunning jellies</a></div>
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If you are tempted by these dishes, why not learn how to make them yourself on my <a href="http://www.historicfood.com/Jellies%20and%20Mould%20Foods%20Course.html" target="_blank">Jellies and Moulded Foods Course</a></div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-63085305585159669972014-01-02T14:31:00.001-08:002014-01-03T06:18:28.821-08:00To Roast a Pound of Butter<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj50g7D6TaZM4XbE0Kig4OTVROS1RpLdf_mwfhDrIwFgNlexIyiwM6vYhU0bCF1-35hv81R3sJS5KjO1QOlRmgrTU_RYtuSD1BQzrGMu75TpL2ULNWEPGdfKQ3UgZyu_NBv3Fk4jSFANQ/s1600/Butter6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj50g7D6TaZM4XbE0Kig4OTVROS1RpLdf_mwfhDrIwFgNlexIyiwM6vYhU0bCF1-35hv81R3sJS5KjO1QOlRmgrTU_RYtuSD1BQzrGMu75TpL2ULNWEPGdfKQ3UgZyu_NBv3Fk4jSFANQ/s640/Butter6.jpg" width="612" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Some butter rotates 'a good distance from the fire' on a wooden spit in an abortive attempt to roast a pound of butter according to instructions from William Ellis, <i>The Family Companion</i> (London: 1750). </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrv-i9kD4uFxzfA0jteTHrku9tnb6UcFQ0ZK8rFzkz4z0Rih0qZl0Xn-UezcFXzEi_n4N_waU7vV4MDU6V2_2Tzotc_9ke_HvpE0KJWHnQ9o5E2t7m66Y779ZoMP2z-2x_8E1PnOFaqOg/s1600/Butter4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrv-i9kD4uFxzfA0jteTHrku9tnb6UcFQ0ZK8rFzkz4z0Rih0qZl0Xn-UezcFXzEi_n4N_waU7vV4MDU6V2_2Tzotc_9ke_HvpE0KJWHnQ9o5E2t7m66Y779ZoMP2z-2x_8E1PnOFaqOg/s640/Butter4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Hannah Glasse, <i>The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy</i> (London: 1747)</td></tr>
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Don't waste your time with this one. Although if you do try it and actually succeed in making this mysterious dish, please let me know exactly how you did it, as you may have stumbled across the culinary holy grail. Over the past three decades I have tried many times 'to roast a pound of butter'. All my attempts failed. On each occasion, I was convinced I had overlooked (or not understood) some important detail in the recipe. Some time after each frustrating failure, I would foolishly have another go. Over the years I have tried three different recipes - that reproduced above from Hannah Glasse (1747) - the earliest printed recipe I know from Gervase Markham (1615) - and a so-called Irish method from William Ellis (1750) - recipes below. All have ended in failure and I have tried all these slightly different methods more than once. Yet something tells me that this was not a joke or hoax and it could have been successfully done. Or perhaps I am a gullible fool. So where have I gone wrong?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzlg-P_ION3nKUvZLvRBe0URaSGpq4vFSe1hHAiEZsxZ2g8Xx7kb9sfv-heJgU0-WJHbglCCaVnmr94GMUSUWoSVQ8t9dxjUIydf-fzVWoxNZPmABfYvT-lhNIT0Z5FMnZ8FfqJWfjn0/s1600/Butter1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzlg-P_ION3nKUvZLvRBe0URaSGpq4vFSe1hHAiEZsxZ2g8Xx7kb9sfv-heJgU0-WJHbglCCaVnmr94GMUSUWoSVQ8t9dxjUIydf-fzVWoxNZPmABfYvT-lhNIT0Z5FMnZ8FfqJWfjn0/s640/Butter1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Gervase Markham, T<i>he English Housewife</i> (London: 1656 edition - first published 1615)</td></tr>
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Markham's recipe is different from the others. Sugar and sweet butter (meaning freshly churned and unsalted butter) are beaten up with egg yolks as in the early stages of mixing a cake. This was the first recipe I ever tried. I found that in order to get the mixture onto a spit it was necessary to let it stiffen by putting it in a cold place. I 'clapped' the stiffened butter preparation on an old wrought iron spit, probably made in Markham's lifetime, and since I understood the term 'soft fire' as a low fire I cautiously rotated it about twenty-five inches in front of the flames. Remember that roasting takes place in front of the fire and 'not over the fire' as many who should know much better often say. As the outside softened I dredged it with a mixture of breadcrumbs, currants, sugar and salt as advised by Markham in the previous recipe for roasting a suckling pig - see below. So far so good. The rotating mass was soon covered with a jacket of uncooked breadcrumbs, but when I brought this a little closer to the fire to 'roast it brown' the breadcrumbs started to slide off as the butter below melted. I dredged these 'bald areas', but gradually more globules of butter mixed with the dredging would fall off. Finally, the iron spit got hot and the whole sorry project fell off into the dripping pan below. Failure number one.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR8ujdRyNFOPZx1GZ5mpxd9HyFiqhId5n22B-k0Ulu0XrGjoQU8-_DkCFReALOfwNxnpQq2l9oXGULxLf8Os1QGZLLeOf-Vuv4mPLHBMaTLOE_khCTjcM_gQ6NtKzBY7zBO0tRtsHxa38/s1600/Butter2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR8ujdRyNFOPZx1GZ5mpxd9HyFiqhId5n22B-k0Ulu0XrGjoQU8-_DkCFReALOfwNxnpQq2l9oXGULxLf8Os1QGZLLeOf-Vuv4mPLHBMaTLOE_khCTjcM_gQ6NtKzBY7zBO0tRtsHxa38/s640/Butter2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Gervase Markham, T<i>he English Housewife</i> (London: 1656 edition - first published 1615)</td></tr>
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I realised that using an iron spit was not a good idea. I had noticed that in his 1750 version of the dish, the Hertfordshire farmer William Ellis suggests using a wooden spit. I thought this was a more sensible approach because metal conducts the heat more quickly, resulting in the butter falling off before the process can be completed. The recipe was given to Ellis by 'a certain Irish woman' who claims to have made twenty-seven pounds of roasted butter one Christmas Eve. I first had a go at doing it this way about twenty years ago. Although the butter did not fall off, the dredging of oatmeal did. Failure number two. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGs45lBq2HUtwnoRP2XMPXTSS1i9_2Si2c64eoPoCkM2TqiHuce9NNeLQDR6aVEwP9MgitaVADXAJW5Sbfw3bIPF3yrEaLweifrk1jg7eRDpRNVS9dXHFleZwhhSyvXiTR0w_ojXXTQU/s1600/Butter3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGs45lBq2HUtwnoRP2XMPXTSS1i9_2Si2c64eoPoCkM2TqiHuce9NNeLQDR6aVEwP9MgitaVADXAJW5Sbfw3bIPF3yrEaLweifrk1jg7eRDpRNVS9dXHFleZwhhSyvXiTR0w_ojXXTQU/s640/Butter3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From William Ellis, <i>The Family Companion</i>, (London: 1750).</td></tr>
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I eventually attempted Hannah Glasse's 1747 method, but using a wooden spit as advised by Ellis. This time the butter was dredged with breadcrumbs before it was put down to the fire and basted with egg yolks. Again the dredging dropped off as the butter softened. The dripping pan filled with a soft buttery porridge! I am glad I did not waste any oysters, which would have been covered in this unpleasant looking gloop. Failure number three. John Timbs in his <i>Things Not Generally Known</i> (London: 1859) describes Glasse's recipe as 'a culinary folly'.</div>
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Just for fun this year, I had another go at Ellis's 'Irish' method. Some Irish friends who turned up on Christmas Eve were intrigued when I told them that roasting a pound of butter could have been an old Irish Christmas Eve tradition. Since I had a fire in the hearth, we had another go at it and the photographs below record that latest attempt. I am always hopeful that I can get this to work, but as you can see it was just another failure.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pound of butter is put on a wooden spit</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fine oatmeal is dusted on the rotating butter.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The oatmeal crust is shed as the butter underneath melts.</td></tr>
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Now all this begs the question - was Markham pulling our leg? If so, he certainly made a gull out of me. So was this just an old culinary joke? If this was the case it does not surprise me that Hannah Glasse was taken in by the ruse. Despite what many others think about her, this particular lady is certainly no kitchen heroine of mine. I agree with her contemporary rival, the Hexham innkeeper Ann Cook, that Glasse was a high-born charlatan who almost certainly did not cook any of the dishes she describes in her book (more on this particular issue one day in another post). Surprisingly Cook does not specifically attack her rival's instructions for roasting a pound of butter in her toxic sixty-eight page critique of Glasse's recipes in <i>Professed Cookery</i> (Newcastle: 1754). However, I doubt very much that Hannah ever had a go at it. </div>
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So how about the Irishwoman who claimed to Ellis that she had roasted 'twenty- seven pounds so' in a day? In my experiments I found that things started to go wrong after about twenty minutes in front of a slow fire. If she succeeded in producing the quantity she claimed, it would have been a long working day on that particular Christmas Eve. Was she feeding Ellis the Blarney? It is obvious from his account that he had not actually witnessed the process or eaten the results. I suspect she may have been lying because I am unaware of any other Irish accounts of this dish. Put me right if you do. </div>
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Now I am aware of various techniques for deep frying butter coated in breadcrumbs or batter, but that is a completely different technique from this particular 'culinary folly'. Alexis Soyer for instance, gives a recipe for <i>Croustades de Beurre</i> in <i>The Gastronomic Regenerator</i> (London: 1846) in which little cylinders of very cold butter are rolled in breadcrumbs three times and then deep fried, resulting in little hollow croustades that can be filled with some savoury preparation. Modern dishes similar to Soyer's <i>Croustades de Beurre</i> (see the link below) instruct us to freeze the butter before it is deep fried. Perhaps the Irish lady put her butter out in the cold to freeze hard before she roasted it. Glasse's instructions to brine the butter before roasting it may have had a minor refrigerant effect, but I think I am clutching at straws here. Even when it is frozen hard the coating still falls of in front of a soft fire and even more rapidly in front of a fierce one. </div>
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<a href="http://www.kcci.com/New-Fair-Food-Making-Fried-Butter-On-A-Stick/-/9357770/7547724/-/q8edc8z/-/index.html" target="_blank">Watch a video of deep fried butter on a stick being made at the Iowa State Fair</a></div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-52815797128772049262013-12-28T16:38:00.002-08:002014-01-02T01:50:08.285-08:00Chef Comes To Pemberley<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And Throws His Teddy Bear Out Of The Pram!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfFlHKNcmyyoaXyIlf9ECpDYLf6_jCcRTbVIDEuOmqaUv039s8M8XPjCsWl3yAKuyD-bPzHBAhNvyb99UqzAcHtn_1aEPLTeAUKVaCwqdgWUpnYocMbcWPDog3aOFha032l9ANl4gKjFk/s1600/Penberley3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfFlHKNcmyyoaXyIlf9ECpDYLf6_jCcRTbVIDEuOmqaUv039s8M8XPjCsWl3yAKuyD-bPzHBAhNvyb99UqzAcHtn_1aEPLTeAUKVaCwqdgWUpnYocMbcWPDog3aOFha032l9ANl4gKjFk/s640/Penberley3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A still from a kitchen scene in <i>Death Comes to Pemberley, </i>a BBC drama production based on the novel by P.D. James</td></tr>
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Earlier this year I was invited to dress a couple of food scenes in the three-part period drama series <i>Death Comes to Pemberley</i>, which is currently screening on BBC television. One of them, a very ambitious ball supper table that features in an Elizabeth Darcy day dream, hardly made it into the final edit. A pity, because it was truly spectacular. But two brief kitchen scenes I set up did get used. In order to make the kitchen sequence exciting from a cinematic point of view, I suggested to the director that I should train the actors to carry out real culinary tasks from the Regency period - larding meat, icing Savoy cakes, garnishing hatelet skewers and unmoulding jellies. I thought these would be more visually exciting alternatives to the stereotypical choppy-choppy, kneady-kneady activities that had been suggested. He thought this was a great idea and put it to me that I actually play the chef. I had some reservations, but accepted the role as I thought it would actually make my job easier supervising the kitchen activities, so my measurements were passed on to the wardrobe department.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ball supper that never happened. A somewhat out of focus pan of a few dishes made it into the final edit</td></tr>
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I enjoy doing this sort of thing for film and television, but I come from a different world and I sometimes get annoyed by the rather elastic licence that is frequently taken by media creatives with the word 'authentic'. It is usually given as the reason for involving me in productions of this kind. When I was first invited to work on this one I was told, 'We want the kitchen table to be really, really authentic and you are the man to do it'. Now that is fine, because I have built a career on attempting to recreate period food in all of its glory in historic settings. So why was I more than a little surprised when I saw the way in which the wonderful kitchen at Harewood House had been set up by the art department prior to my arrival? </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Blood drips from the game birds on to the fine pastry and elaborate ball supper dishes below, but it does n't half frame the shot!</td></tr>
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The flagged kitchen floor had been covered with numerous large sacks of vegetables, making it look more like a market place than a palace kitchen. Hanging from an improvised gantry over the ancient Harewood work table were dozens of pheasants and rabbits. Now what is wrong with that you might well ask? Surely it sets the scene and creates a great atmosphere of a busy kitchen, the hanging game framing the shot perfectly. </div>
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Let us take the vegetables first. The only vegetables that found their way into a kitchen of this status were ones that has been cleaned, peeled and prepared for the chef and his maids by the scullery staff. Raw vegetables were stored well away from the hot kitchen in specially designed bins to keep them cool and from under the feet of the staff. As for the game, there was a specialised game larder for that. Any game bird that came into the kitchen at Pemberley would have been plucked, cleaned and singed in the scullery before it arrived in the kitchen. Some great houses, like Chatsworth, the main location for the production, actually had a specialised 'plucking room'. The last thing you would hang over a table that was designed for the preparation of very fine food were game birds and rabbits dripping blood. I pointed this out and added the observation that the pheasants were in fact hanging by their legs when they should have been hanging by their necks. I was reassured that 'nobody will notice'. A few minutes later Lady Harewood, whose family owns the house, popped in to see how her wonderful kitchen had been dressed and expressed exactly the same concerns about the inappropriate game birds that I had. When told, 'but don't they look good', she replied, 'they look ridiculous'. </div>
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An hour or so later, I noticed the pheasants had been hung the right way round, but remained suspended over a table dressed with delicate pastries and dessert dishes. This was the moment I decided that I did not want to be seen dead in front of it as a member of the cast and told the director that I was turning down my 'bijou' role as the chef. I threw my teddy bear out of the pram!<span style="text-align: center;"> A stand-in was found - a real actor, who suited the part much better than me and the show went on. However, you will notice my hands unmoulding an intricate macedoine jelly at one point. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Despite my misgivings about the way in which the kitchen had been decorated, I really enjoyed working on the production. The crew and cast were delightful. And it is always a pleasure to work at Harewood, a house with which I have a long professional association.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Mrs Darcy (Anna Maxwell Martin) and Mrs Reynolds the housekeeper (Joanna Scanlan) inspect the preparations for the ball supper in the Harewood kitchen.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/newsreview/features/article1356865.ece" target="_blank">Pen Vogler has written this excellent article on the inaccuracies in the production in the Sunday Times.</a></div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-2225934464573886302013-12-24T00:36:00.001-08:002014-01-02T16:09:31.803-08:00Royal Jelly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Jim Broadbent as King William IV having a row with the Duchess of Kent in front of an assemblage of some of my Georgian dessert food, including some Savoy cakes and a moulded ice cream in the form of a palm tree.</td></tr>
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About five years ago I recreated King William IV's birthday dinner for <i>The</i> <i>Young Victoria, </i>which has recently been repeated on BBC television here in the UK. I remember arriving at the chosen location Arundel Castle in my rather small Citroen with enough food to set up a vast dessert table for one hundred diners. Nobody on the set could believe how a repast of such ambitious scale could emerge from the back of such a modest vehicle. I guess it was a kind of regal retake on the miracle of the loaves and fishes. However, having a background in decorative arts and museums, I was horrified by the rather inappropriate tableware that was provided by the prop department. At the original entertainment in 1836 at Windsor Castle, William's table was dressed with brother George VI's Grand Service, still used by the present Queen for state banquets. This was far, far grander than the bric-a-brac we were given to dress our table. The food stylist Katherine Tidy and I set about attempting to hide all the late Victorian crockery under the food. I think we succeeded in creating a fairly royal impression as the dishes were so glamorous, the rather poor stuff upon which they sat fortunately went unnoticed. </div>
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A hundred diners sat down to William's birthday table in 1836. It was much grander than this version we produced for <i>The Young Victoria,</i> as the table was laid with the Grand Service purchased by William's brother earlier in the century from the London goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. </div>
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If you have not seen this film, it is a love story spiced with some juicy dynastic intrigue in its early stages. It attempts to give an impression of the grandeur of court life at this period with lots of fancy frocks and ringlets - and with the food of course. However for me the more successful moments were the quieter ones which explored the passionate love which developed between the young queen and her handsome prince, eventually culminating in their marriage. In real life they had twenty happy years together, but Albert sadly died at the age of forty-two and Victoria mourned him for the rest of her long life. Whenever I walk past my kitchen dresser I tend to think about the lonely widowed queen, as in a prominent position sits a solitary jelly mould made in her image. It is a typical neo-gothic creation surmounted with a profile of the young queen. When it was issued to commemorate the royal marriage in 1840, it had a pendant - another mould, which I do not possess, representing Prince Albert. So sadly the young queen sits in my kitchen alone, just as she did for 40 years after her Prince Consort's death.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWD8vc9VT-LRpm7uhaVQTPLCaEW-LgD_COWE3u8pQHlqN7tx2A92oumCU04ytlb8TZVXZhiIfHbIyhZu0y-B-5VH701SfsrMkvO8KwhlHVYJw_iuF4yObJzef6xbi3tUVyUhUOr4VpTEg/s1600/Victoria+Head+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWD8vc9VT-LRpm7uhaVQTPLCaEW-LgD_COWE3u8pQHlqN7tx2A92oumCU04ytlb8TZVXZhiIfHbIyhZu0y-B-5VH701SfsrMkvO8KwhlHVYJw_iuF4yObJzef6xbi3tUVyUhUOr4VpTEg/s640/Victoria+Head+01.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen Victoria (1819-1901)</td></tr>
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Below is the royal jelly anthropomorph which the mould creates, looking somewhat like a cameo. Just recently I was offered a matching Albert mould, but at such an inflated price, that I am afraid Victoria continues to sit alone on my dresser.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjGmzauROh6hdFCBDbiNu-X0temMXr_yU89VBJTGlUsBFytdngrH5EjqwgkAkY-OuFNBOS3h-l01G9-RU4W94z976ZHLZuesHjoxtcCoo_HIEhme81VOG-OQI0TKI_hl-lAENc4LFhF_NU/s1600/VICTORIA+JELLY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjGmzauROh6hdFCBDbiNu-X0temMXr_yU89VBJTGlUsBFytdngrH5EjqwgkAkY-OuFNBOS3h-l01G9-RU4W94z976ZHLZuesHjoxtcCoo_HIEhme81VOG-OQI0TKI_hl-lAENc4LFhF_NU/s640/VICTORIA+JELLY.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The absolutely staggering jelly created by the mould looks like a cross between a cameo and a penny red stamp.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwt_s8RBm0NDIE7Oc-VcXqJSKZHuNTypXWAlRnH8cn-s5FWbyYK-geDGxOao5SM77vwstdgiewdbVM9cCl6YBQjJZ-f61ZdSxS5V9FTxcNDu5tgUWZCu9FUo2SL81mVhlxjhoO2ti28_Y/s1600/Albert1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwt_s8RBm0NDIE7Oc-VcXqJSKZHuNTypXWAlRnH8cn-s5FWbyYK-geDGxOao5SM77vwstdgiewdbVM9cCl6YBQjJZ-f61ZdSxS5V9FTxcNDu5tgUWZCu9FUo2SL81mVhlxjhoO2ti28_Y/s640/Albert1.jpg" width="450" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The other half of the pair - Prince Albert of Sax-Coburg and Gotha (1819-1861).</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Would look good with a clean, but too many $$$$s, so Victoria remains widowed</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Royal pair were also made in this plainer version</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSCdIpoSHgLsaI7o0nk5JDNeKOJ0DK-04V_vUlVGc0dXw_CQ6Kciy2UzOFUgJQ4H_Qn3qkRmEZAgw25iGYjudgeXTLtswRBbfhss-Lv-Atb-jL6BmmPKgrLmF09yyH435i29kUv76hkgQ/s1600/PC-25b-V-A.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSCdIpoSHgLsaI7o0nk5JDNeKOJ0DK-04V_vUlVGc0dXw_CQ6Kciy2UzOFUgJQ4H_Qn3qkRmEZAgw25iGYjudgeXTLtswRBbfhss-Lv-Atb-jL6BmmPKgrLmF09yyH435i29kUv76hkgQ/s640/PC-25b-V-A.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Has any nation other than Britain celebrated their rulers in this eccentric way? </td></tr>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-48956686658949432242013-12-18T17:11:00.000-08:002014-12-31T04:41:38.710-08:00Some Christmas Night Caps<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzJ_BPphg3mqgkGQWf3Vu48HjRtpV-oaRvoG8m7go8bftZIla_D6itqqF-vXi5WV6n-NYs4hxxGtxwG0fmfa9wFOtysm-NHzXRUjSAxuQAGGsdRHa4oLirVF16Lx3xx_l9btzEu-G-bk/s1600/punch+bowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzJ_BPphg3mqgkGQWf3Vu48HjRtpV-oaRvoG8m7go8bftZIla_D6itqqF-vXi5WV6n-NYs4hxxGtxwG0fmfa9wFOtysm-NHzXRUjSAxuQAGGsdRHa4oLirVF16Lx3xx_l9btzEu-G-bk/s640/punch+bowl.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favourite Christmas tipple - Punch Royal - but why the orange peel? Recipe and explanation below.</td></tr>
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I was recently given a small job by a television production company to check the historical accuracy of the script of a programme about Christmas drinks. Though it only dealt with a limited number of period tipples, the show, which will be transmitted by the BBC over the holiday period, was fairly well researched and I only identified a few issues that needed changes. One of these was an erroneous statement that 'mulled wine' was first mentioned by the poet Geoffrey Chaucer in 1386. This was probably based on a search on Google which yielded information about the medieval spiced beverage hippocras, a cordial wine used as a digestive after a meal and as a celebratory drink at weddings and other important events. The researcher had come across this line from Chaucer's<i> Merchant's Tale</i>,</div>
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<i> 'He drynketh Ypocras Clarree and Vernage Of spices hoote tencreessen his corage'.*</i> </div>
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She assumed that the word <i>hoote (</i>meaning hot) referred to the wine, implying that it was heated up before serving. Chaucer was in fact using the adjective 'hoote' to describe the warming nature of the spices as understood in the Galenic system of medicine - just as we would today describe ginger and pepper as being hot. He did not mean that the wine was served heated up. Although hippocras is almost certainly one of the the noble ancestors of our modern European mulled wines, <i>glühwein</i> etc., I have never come across any instructions in medieval or early modern period recipes to serve it hot. The overwhelming evidence indicates that hippocras was imbibed cold, though I don't suppose we will ever be totally sure about this. A number of Victorian and some latter-day commentators have assumed that hippocras was served hot on the basis of scant or no evidence.<br />
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<b>Mulled Wine</b></h2>
Making assumptions about how our ancestors ate and drank based on the nature of our contemporary culinary practices is a common error. Food and drink in the past were often very different to our own, as was the culture that surrounded them. Take our modern understanding of mulled wine for instance. Although the word 'mull' starts to occur in the early seventeenth century, recipes for 'mulled ale' and 'mulled wine' do not appear in any frequency until late in the following century. Among the earliest to appear in print are these by the Manchester confectioner Elizabeth Raffald,<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2QWyXqtduqIz4izq90H-RJIilmwfONco_0ZMN6QvbBwosfcM_YkNncF-izfhx_dmI7lyoeMVklsR2epU7RmAT8sePslkZa3GBt7IU9y9NaZBU9slVzKXwBZBB8hbFD6-LBNNAnOWi5Dw/s1600/Raggald+mulled.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2QWyXqtduqIz4izq90H-RJIilmwfONco_0ZMN6QvbBwosfcM_YkNncF-izfhx_dmI7lyoeMVklsR2epU7RmAT8sePslkZa3GBt7IU9y9NaZBU9slVzKXwBZBB8hbFD6-LBNNAnOWi5Dw/s640/Raggald+mulled.JPG" height="640" width="442" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Elizabeth Raffald, <i>The Experienced English Housekeeper</i>. Manchester: 1769)</td></tr>
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With its egg yolks and slices of toast, as well as the method of pouring it backwards and forwards from one vessel to another, the mulled wine of Raffald's Georgian Manchester bears little resemblance to that served at the German style Christmas fairs that have been springing up all over England recently. Raffald gives a second recipe for 'mulled wine' which actually contains no wine at all, though I expect this is a mistake, as it is identical to other Georgian recipes for mulled milk, a kind of hot spicy custard served with toast as a supper dish. In 1795 Sarah Martin, cookery writer and housekeeper to Freeman Bower of Killerby Hall, Bawtry, Yorkshire, borrowed Mrs Raffald's book title in her <i>The New Experienced Housekeeper</i> (Doncaster: 1795). However, she did not steal Raffald's mulled wine recipe, as her own version is distinctly different. Its most interesting feature is her very specific use of 'mull' in the context 'mull it backwards and forwards till frothed and smooth', indicating that the verb was being used to describe this to and fro action, rather than meaning 'to heat'.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV9aE-5OI_lux3pu6flVqwNsHOuZTRHIwKX-GDf2rfgQbxvVJMj0DzbZ_W4q460XJ9SbhTqpw44l-DFHg_Bk_7Q8AnR7BW-6VWtQlfDL3K1e3k4zzhOxwVfFLesBUKQ9Ylyn-JegWhZ2Y/s1600/Sarah+Martin.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV9aE-5OI_lux3pu6flVqwNsHOuZTRHIwKX-GDf2rfgQbxvVJMj0DzbZ_W4q460XJ9SbhTqpw44l-DFHg_Bk_7Q8AnR7BW-6VWtQlfDL3K1e3k4zzhOxwVfFLesBUKQ9Ylyn-JegWhZ2Y/s640/Sarah+Martin.PNG" height="342" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: -webkit-auto;">From Sarah Martin, <i>The New Experienced Housekeeper </i>(Doncaster: 1795).</span></td></tr>
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Our ancestors were very found of comforting winter nightcaps like these, particularly at supper. In a world without central heating or electric blankets, you can understand why these hot beverages were so popular before the dreaded ascent of the stairs to an often ice-cold bed chamber. The medical books of the eighteenth century are full of references to mulled wine, often combined with more powerful medicaments for treating all manner of disorders. Both Raffald's mulled wine and ale, with their fusion of egg yolks, spice and alcohol were really types of caudle, a beverage often consumed in a medical context. When cream or milk was added to the alchemical formula, these restoring beverages were usually called possets. Variations on the theme were legion, often requiring specialist cups or pots in which to to serve the drinks. Mrs Raffald instructs us to serve her mulled wine in a chocolate cup. The two examples illustrated below were made during her lifetime. They are both as far as you can get in terms of elegance from the utilitarian plastic cup out of which I drank some modern mulled wine at the marvellous Arundel Christmas Fair a few weeks go. When it comes to elegance the Georgians knock us into touch every time. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCA2wBDiZxoZR0KaMkEmxNJq_YubEsGCYHh_MNfOdD379qsXm_xPj2do9b6pAWQSRxt5AIOt3Z5XR1x0CRrZjMdwVWqogwvRL9NieG5H1WxjJKyUzPQRu5rrBlwmeFxXphOJv1pJEVwuM/s1600/Chelsea+chocolate_jpg_l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCA2wBDiZxoZR0KaMkEmxNJq_YubEsGCYHh_MNfOdD379qsXm_xPj2do9b6pAWQSRxt5AIOt3Z5XR1x0CRrZjMdwVWqogwvRL9NieG5H1WxjJKyUzPQRu5rrBlwmeFxXphOJv1pJEVwuM/s640/Chelsea+chocolate_jpg_l.jpg" height="552" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Chocolate cup and saucer of soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels with exotic birds amongst bushes, and insects. Chelsea ca.1756. Courtesy V&A.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYs6YM6B37mlgU0hN8Msd5ofeP9_HeKYDehmyUNoKF2JZEjJG7POGJM89YMkVZ2YP9LkjCgxMXhE6gJXx6k3EG06HzyLPJvSNRz2WdTH53NTX2U6Tw-QRJx7RC_aUJW0rNYIi9osMSys/s1600/Derby+2+chocolate_jpg_l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYs6YM6B37mlgU0hN8Msd5ofeP9_HeKYDehmyUNoKF2JZEjJG7POGJM89YMkVZ2YP9LkjCgxMXhE6gJXx6k3EG06HzyLPJvSNRz2WdTH53NTX2U6Tw-QRJx7RC_aUJW0rNYIi9osMSys/s640/Derby+2+chocolate_jpg_l.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Caudle or chocolate cup, cover and saucer of soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded. Derby porcelain ca.1770. </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Courtesy V&A. This set was made a year after Raffald's recipe for mulled wine was published.</span></span></td></tr>
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Bishop, Lawn Sleeves, Cardinal and Pope</h2>
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One hot spiced drink, which a few years ago we never heard much about, but which recently has practically gone viral on the web - there are that many postings about it and none of them terribly accurate - is 'Smoking Bishop'. If it sounds vaguely familiar, you may recall it as the Christmas draught that Ebebezer Scrooge promises to Bob Cratchitt towards the end of Charles Dicken's novel <i>A Christmas Carol</i> (London 1842). Scrooge says, <i>'we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob!'</i></div>
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However, I suspect that Dickens inadvertently coined the name 'smoking bishop'. I am pretty sure that the novelist's intention in using the word 'smoking' was to evoke an image in our mind's eye of a punch bowl emanating clouds of alcoholic steam. This was a great choice of adjective by a skilled wordsmith to create an atmosphere of warmth and good cheer. The drink was commonly known to one and all at the time as just plain 'bishop' and had been since at least the mid-eighteenth century. I have failed to find any instances of the usage 'smoking bishop' before 1841 when <i>A Christmas Carol</i> first appeared in serial form. A few of Dicken's contemporaries started to use the term in their books a few year's later - Charles J. Lever in <i>Arthur O' Leary</i> (London: 1845) and Henry Dier in <i>Dustiana</i> (London: 1850). But by then just about everyone in the English speaking world was familiar with the antics of Ebenezer and Bob and the name Smoking Bishop had been subsumed into the national imagination. No doubt one of you will write to tell me that you have found an instance of the name before 1841 and bang will go my theory! But that would be great. This is the reason why I write this blog. Let us together cut through the bullshit and celebrate the real truth about the history of our food and drink.<br />
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The earliest full English recipe for bishop known to me (and it is just plain 'bishop') is to be found in a lovely and incredibly rare book first published in Oxford in 1827 called <i>Oxford Night Caps</i>. This little collection contains recipes for many of the so-called alcoholic nightcaps favoured at the time by the students and dons of the Oxford colleges. In his <i>Year Book</i> (London: 1832), the great Georgian antiquarian William Hone gives a very favourable review of this little forty-two page pamphlet,<i> 'In the evenings of this cold and dreary season, "the dead of winter", a comfortable potation strengthens the heart of the healthy and cheers the spirits of the feeble'.</i> In its pages are to be found numerous recipes for 'potations' such as Rum Fustian, Egg posset, Beer flip and Brown Betty.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQx5P6E2bx3WKFO6p7ucjyWWmufdM0_PouCEuPvvc_lMB_Z_F51ZuW91shL5yS0mp7Ck0lSd-E4TNzn9twlUQgPvQSkaizwLntXAQvGA7S7MTlmdsC4Gtp-664oT6cg3Wo5-AxINpQnyc/s1600/oxford2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQx5P6E2bx3WKFO6p7ucjyWWmufdM0_PouCEuPvvc_lMB_Z_F51ZuW91shL5yS0mp7Ck0lSd-E4TNzn9twlUQgPvQSkaizwLntXAQvGA7S7MTlmdsC4Gtp-664oT6cg3Wo5-AxINpQnyc/s640/oxford2.jpg" height="640" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decorative title page of Richard Cook, Oxford Nightcaps (Oxford: 1827)</td></tr>
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The author of <i>Oxford Nightcaps</i>, Richard Cook, opens his book with a discussion of the history of bishop. He suggests that <i>'it derives its name from the circumstance of ancient dignatories of the Church, when they honoured the University with a visit, being regaled with spiced wine'</i>. He then gives the recipe below,</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KJEsE58fw9IOA38I3Vk2Wgo8x9MCpOVJ9c1r6a4kdUAHQ4HGGfZRbuhE7_zEasje6luioWvPznk9NYxloSAoLMlnYpcVSLhTDL_XTUJTJo9spjgJ387C4bEGb4_SBfwrpTJ2X3ELKqI/s1600/Bishop1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KJEsE58fw9IOA38I3Vk2Wgo8x9MCpOVJ9c1r6a4kdUAHQ4HGGfZRbuhE7_zEasje6luioWvPznk9NYxloSAoLMlnYpcVSLhTDL_XTUJTJo9spjgJ387C4bEGb4_SBfwrpTJ2X3ELKqI/s640/Bishop1.jpg" height="640" width="356" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Probably the first published recipe for bishop from Richard Cook, <i>Oxford Nightcaps</i>. (Oxford: 1827).</td></tr>
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Jonathan Swift wrote the couplet Cook quotes in 1738. It appears to contain the earliest mention of bishop in English. His complete poem consists of just four lines, so I will give the full version here, </div>
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<i>Come buy my fine oranges, sauce for your veal,<br />And charming, when squeezed in a pot of brown ale;<br />Well roasted, with sugar and wine in a cup,<br />They'll make a sweet bishop when gentlefolks sup.</i><br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">J. Swift, '</span><span style="text-align: left;">Women who cry Oranges'</span><span style="text-align: left;"> from </span><i style="text-align: left;">Works</i><span style="text-align: left;">. (London:1755) IV. i. 278. </span></div>
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However, in the year that Swift's poem was first published, a recipe for bishop appeared in Sweden in the first edition of a cookery book by Cajsa Warg, <i>Hjelpreda i hushållningen för unga fruentimber. </i>(Stockholm: 1755). In this popular book, which went into many editions, it is called in Swedish 'biskop', though in some later Swedish works the more German 'Bischof' is used. As in Swift's poem the drink is flavoured with roasted oranges rather than the lemon mentioned in Cook's recipe. I am indebted to Madame Berg for this information. Her English translation of the recipe, perhaps the earliest for bishop in Europe, can be found in her comments at the end of this post. It contains some fascinating details. Do any of you know any early German recipes for bischof?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhymQf3LnHabkzLqFNFARdi804qKZk4T26VxtjX5DWi9VlkoomhgilwebSFGBX3ryiohEf9LrX-3JW2M3RQ7lMmXFo2wwuvjJge3YHhHGQ0ALOJSNwVNoNtuyze7ftIIHkJdmVMe82g2vg/s1600/warg_1_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhymQf3LnHabkzLqFNFARdi804qKZk4T26VxtjX5DWi9VlkoomhgilwebSFGBX3ryiohEf9LrX-3JW2M3RQ7lMmXFo2wwuvjJge3YHhHGQ0ALOJSNwVNoNtuyze7ftIIHkJdmVMe82g2vg/s640/warg_1_2.jpg" height="640" width="370" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Frontispiece from Cajsa Warg, <i>Hjelpreda i hushållningen för unga fruentimber</i>. (Stockholm: 1755). This book contains a recipe for 'biskop' which is much earlier than any published in England.</td></tr>
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Although I have never seen any evidence that they were ever used in England, in the German and Scandinavian world, bishop was sometimes served from specialist lidded bowls made in the shape of bishops' mitres. A number of these have survived, the earliest dating from the 1750s. Perhaps bishop was adopted from the German speaking world and is not English at all. These extraordinary vessels indicate that the beverage had a high profile on the continent nearly a hundred years before Dickens wrote <i>A Christmas Carol.</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLnqIyeGqRw3MXDBEzrkarw_cF78XZbIW7DweJqMHkazcHlmKoP77a3oQ_e16g4yXRpxKhEXBT4HlH7eKoAUKqO7-CRZAR8rrsYmCy4o-Y21Yy69WVsIz6JUOPBiPRSVnc7pgjKWWc0d4/s1600/biskop+bowl+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLnqIyeGqRw3MXDBEzrkarw_cF78XZbIW7DweJqMHkazcHlmKoP77a3oQ_e16g4yXRpxKhEXBT4HlH7eKoAUKqO7-CRZAR8rrsYmCy4o-Y21Yy69WVsIz6JUOPBiPRSVnc7pgjKWWc0d4/s640/biskop+bowl+.jpg" height="640" width="608" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Danish tin glazed earthenware bishops mitre bowl, St. Kongensgade faiance ca.1750. Danish National Museum</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHDSX7SgzMQZpJjTvWRi9OrJlTrBMbhZ1nKWvJr2EAsxTfqljuvzpqGdeSKsHTrEEIh-jNAj-xVKl1ZReqmzr-UwF1dkq-6FAQlMlzm9JOU1Im8BiA0eqLGxtG-TeRARbOENGuAN6CSn0/s1600/bischofsbowle-k%5B17%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHDSX7SgzMQZpJjTvWRi9OrJlTrBMbhZ1nKWvJr2EAsxTfqljuvzpqGdeSKsHTrEEIh-jNAj-xVKl1ZReqmzr-UwF1dkq-6FAQlMlzm9JOU1Im8BiA0eqLGxtG-TeRARbOENGuAN6CSn0/s640/bischofsbowle-k%5B17%5D.jpg" height="640" width="496" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">German faience bischofbowle with rococo design and orange handle. ca.1750s. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20W6HN8sQdsZMivnv_9_hi4PJvERINzDtuibNroPWaeG4xyZkfbg06xEt0VzoG59Ty8Ep95YrzsMgPrRknjbXHtHPX4PuQYZevA8f-zuOk5tMRyCZMOUb93tos1fTzCq9K0YX0ekKruo/s1600/Terrine_Stralsund_KGM_27-37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20W6HN8sQdsZMivnv_9_hi4PJvERINzDtuibNroPWaeG4xyZkfbg06xEt0VzoG59Ty8Ep95YrzsMgPrRknjbXHtHPX4PuQYZevA8f-zuOk5tMRyCZMOUb93tos1fTzCq9K0YX0ekKruo/s640/Terrine_Stralsund_KGM_27-37.jpg" height="640" width="440" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">German faiance bishop bowl ca.1776. Courtesy of <span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span>Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin</td></tr>
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Returning to England however, a few other literary men seem to have aquired a taste for bishop well before Dickens wrote of it. Boswell tells us that Dr Johnson was very fond of the beverage and Coleridge in one of his poems calls it 'Spicy bishop drink divine'. The ritual of making Richard Cook's Oxford bishop, especially if you have an open fire, makes for a great kitchen performance. First a lemon has to be spiked with cloves and roasted in front of the fire. This not only releases a flood of essential oil, but also caramelises the surface of the lemon.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVO1l7XQr9l5UZAdF1S9upEVrk5mEo0Zvpc40XobFcqeNFTIVYVbPOvklQ5MFJto5zspfRV-iiVCS98n8rqVjZaI0j2Z4_H9kmF2CvF1ezxRxy-I3PiyTpcouaVS_q3ICifVOP5OImEzM/s1600/Bishop+Lemon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVO1l7XQr9l5UZAdF1S9upEVrk5mEo0Zvpc40XobFcqeNFTIVYVbPOvklQ5MFJto5zspfRV-iiVCS98n8rqVjZaI0j2Z4_H9kmF2CvF1ezxRxy-I3PiyTpcouaVS_q3ICifVOP5OImEzM/s640/Bishop+Lemon.jpg" height="640" width="434" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roasting bishop - the clove-spiked lemon toasts in front of the fire</td></tr>
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This done, some cloves, cinnamon, allspice, mace and ginger are added to a half pint of water and the liquid boiled until it reduces to half. The room slowly fills with the delicious fumes of roasting lemon and the simmering spices.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJs3YjGijT6Ya1Qh4BIB0l8tdPhkOpbIaVSzEdjYLKn8LraiocVjGz4DRRPeq8YVvUJv11-CqIGn0kH1MpE0HW8s3gZA6szrp-F-IXfxQudInspL722-bXQ40-KKdgj3Q8hS9BOSQFN8/s1600/bishop+spice+boil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJs3YjGijT6Ya1Qh4BIB0l8tdPhkOpbIaVSzEdjYLKn8LraiocVjGz4DRRPeq8YVvUJv11-CqIGn0kH1MpE0HW8s3gZA6szrp-F-IXfxQudInspL722-bXQ40-KKdgj3Q8hS9BOSQFN8/s640/bishop+spice+boil.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boiling bishop - cinnamon, mace, ginger, cloves and allspice bubble in simmering water until it reduces to half.</td></tr>
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Soon added to this is the perfume of the port as it bubbles in a saucepan. The alcohol fumes given off are ignited with a burning paper, resulting in a spectacular electric blue<i> aurora borealis</i> exploding above the pan. If you try this yourself at home be careful not to singe your eyebrows. The way to get it to work is to leave the lid on as the port simmers, light your paper and put it over the pan as you remove the lid and stand well back - pop goes the weasel! As so much of the alcohol is burnt off in this way, it looks like the Oxford scholars preferred their bishop quite weak, which I find rather surprising.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSXo_z-0jvUvxW0Ebwz8R8Ycvzm9-UXasKtwwqWoAzCT5wkn6L9R8wCbeA2ts9vrPrTzWXDfthPvf-FiEsj6Wl3cY5OaTsqMyrj4N7K8u2G5DCLfC-lFb2riscbaAoQi1a3Sw5zyvn4k/s1600/Bishop+burn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSXo_z-0jvUvxW0Ebwz8R8Ycvzm9-UXasKtwwqWoAzCT5wkn6L9R8wCbeA2ts9vrPrTzWXDfthPvf-FiEsj6Wl3cY5OaTsqMyrj4N7K8u2G5DCLfC-lFb2riscbaAoQi1a3Sw5zyvn4k/s640/Bishop+burn.jpg" height="492" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flaming bishop - the excess alcohol burns off in a spectacular fireworks display</td></tr>
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Some lumps of sugar are rubbed on the rind of a lemon and put into a jug or bowl and everything else added. Finally some nutmeg is grated over the surface and the hot bishop is ready to serve. Over to you Ebenezer and Bob!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndfM58G1EopSH485ya3mxRVUpMh2rZrhHVkPCEjaXV0TZt2oTtuHKfelUG4lBtDb_rsUM9S8-a9DJaBnypmHTEQ5SRuiu3JYlJtwoNIDR2tXOXMcSSP9uoQtQbT5nCkWJ8cMUZDhjtO0/s1600/bishop+bowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndfM58G1EopSH485ya3mxRVUpMh2rZrhHVkPCEjaXV0TZt2oTtuHKfelUG4lBtDb_rsUM9S8-a9DJaBnypmHTEQ5SRuiu3JYlJtwoNIDR2tXOXMcSSP9uoQtQbT5nCkWJ8cMUZDhjtO0/s640/bishop+bowl.jpg" height="506" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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'Spicy bishop drink divine' - the finished potation 'smokes' in front of the fire with its grate of nutmeg and roasted lemon.</div>
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Cook's recipe for bishop was quickly plagiarised, appearing word for word two years later in a rather silly book about food and drink called <i>Apician Morsels</i> (London: 1829) by one Dick Humelbergius Secundus. A slightly enlarged edition of <i>Oxford Night Caps</i> was then published in 1830. Fifteen years later Cook's recipe for bishop was also quoted exactly as it was first printed by the celebrated Victorian poet and cookery author Eliza Acton. Curiously she illustrates the recipe with an amusing engraving of some naked cherubs swimming in what resembles a baptismal font!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi83meZKEzXAApjX4PHO_CGDHKqSXphrnzT-wOuBYSkqlPtr6jBZbRRv11ofAAgmu1qFM0bNH4jnZfnKAFCLljy_CJ3yl0u6SSYgPXltP-H404bgXpNhrgBcz91roJh3_rTITLk2m-POQ8/s1600/Acton+Bishop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi83meZKEzXAApjX4PHO_CGDHKqSXphrnzT-wOuBYSkqlPtr6jBZbRRv11ofAAgmu1qFM0bNH4jnZfnKAFCLljy_CJ3yl0u6SSYgPXltP-H404bgXpNhrgBcz91roJh3_rTITLk2m-POQ8/s640/Acton+Bishop.JPG" height="468" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cook's recipe quoted word for word in Eliza Acton, <i>Modern Cookery</i> (London: 1845).</td></tr>
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As well as bishop, the gentlemen of Oxford University also enjoyed some other, closely related winter warmers. These were Lawn Sleeves, Cardinal and Pope. Cook tells us that these variants,<i> 'Owe their origin to some Brasen-nose Bacchanalians, and differ only from Bishop as the species form the genus.'</i><br />
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<b>Lawn Sleeves</b> was made with madeira or sherry rather than port. To impart a satiny texture, 'three glasses of hot calves-feet jelly' were added. <b>Cardinal</b> was made the same way as Bishop, but with claret instead of port. <b>Pope</b> was made with champagne using exactly the same method. Another variant called <b>Cider Bishop</b> was made with a bottle of cider, a pint of brandy and two glasses of calves-feet jelly. It seems strange to us today to add hot melted calves-feet jelly, but this also appears in a number of other Oxford nightcaps, such as Negus, Oxford Punch and 'Storative' (Restorative Punch). At this time, this crystal clear nutritious jelly could readily be purchased in a prepared block from the butchers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A plate of prepared calves-feet jelly, a popular ingredient in punches and spiced wines. It was considered to be a restorative and an easily digested food for invalids, but was also appreciated for the satiny 'mouth feel' it gave to the finished beverage.</td></tr>
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<h2>
Wassail Cup or Swig</h2>
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Towards the end of his little book Cook discusses the celebrated festive drink Wassail Bowl, which he tells us was known to the fellows of Jesus College as 'Swig'. In 1732 a former student at Jesus, the celebrated Welsh Jacobite Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn (1692 –1749), presented the college with a gargantuan silver punch bowl weighing 200 ounces. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigunmDG7MVv68KpBzLxfQ-kyrfufwgY3lkVGBMG7KGbYXTL8c0bU2OGIK2u3ENan9BZBq8Q2rV44IbSWkhWI97e0p_BC57LrIqvlC5iDIJQqOOA1HTWsoSSMFKx2g4duQELUw1gEOYM8I/s1600/Sir_Watkin_Williams_Wynn,_3rd_Bt_by_Michael_Dahl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigunmDG7MVv68KpBzLxfQ-kyrfufwgY3lkVGBMG7KGbYXTL8c0bU2OGIK2u3ENan9BZBq8Q2rV44IbSWkhWI97e0p_BC57LrIqvlC5iDIJQqOOA1HTWsoSSMFKx2g4duQELUw1gEOYM8I/s640/Sir_Watkin_Williams_Wynn,_3rd_Bt_by_Michael_Dahl.jpg" height="594" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, (1692 –1749). Oil on </span>canvas. Michael Dahl.</td></tr>
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Here is Cook's recipe for the swig that was once served annually at the Jesus Christmas feasts from Sir Williams-Wynn's enormous bowl, which holds ten gallons of the stuff, </div>
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Cook goes on to tell us that earlier versions of Wassail Cup had roasted apple or crab apples added to the mixture instead of toasted bread. He then gives recipes for both the well-known wassail cup variant Lamb's Wool and the lesser known Brown Betty. Sir Williams-Wynn's great silver bowl is actually a standard Georgian punch bowl. Earlier wassailers had drunk theirs from wooden bowls called mazers. In the cider drinking regions of England these were turned from apple wood and frequently ornamented with seasonal greenery and ribbons.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHmgHU6my64U_uvFcYsng9lh8jVj6JyjJBYsCErygtcYG-mHg6rfIeleNP5RD8AIe0KLyXaSZyGOexWq4BJ4wjZg7iyeXKHH77AFg4hAPdAY5urutbYG5jmfAdzQKP3mMzYgidtr-pQg/s1600/wassail1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHmgHU6my64U_uvFcYsng9lh8jVj6JyjJBYsCErygtcYG-mHg6rfIeleNP5RD8AIe0KLyXaSZyGOexWq4BJ4wjZg7iyeXKHH77AFg4hAPdAY5urutbYG5jmfAdzQKP3mMzYgidtr-pQg/s640/wassail1.jpg" height="640" width="402" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Frederick Bishop, <i>The Wife's Own Book of Cookery</i>, (London: nd. ca.1850)</td></tr>
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During the course of the seventeenth century, the wealthy drank their Christmas wassail, usually at Twelfth Day entertainments, from beautifully turned bowls made of lignum vitae and ivory, frequently adorned with silver bands and mounts. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQdafhXHylAFxH7dhOq6dXxvckTkSz91dy2F6H9fWoAoxiyPk_F3nwPPgcINhngHchzS5nrb6BGxZzS5p2KNQA66KXqng9CDdU2o1npSTusfWiXYcA4OYTL1sBteW7JPcR5d0aPmVBd6o/s1600/wassail3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQdafhXHylAFxH7dhOq6dXxvckTkSz91dy2F6H9fWoAoxiyPk_F3nwPPgcINhngHchzS5nrb6BGxZzS5p2KNQA66KXqng9CDdU2o1npSTusfWiXYcA4OYTL1sBteW7JPcR5d0aPmVBd6o/s640/wassail3.jpg" height="640" width="466" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Lignum vitae wassail bowl with silver mounts made for the Grocers' Company. 1693. Courtesy Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcvOFEVsYNZc_nbDU1pWbkzLng9sQxZZ9RepEhWcp59LbIC_PWO49PJqmhqvMZWJKtHSqOxAn-ZxMUOkaHoQ7M-oRwx0pzqv1iDgvNkopsc4acw8BM3qXzS6v36Znk6k5qOp1yClU7us/s1600/wassail2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcvOFEVsYNZc_nbDU1pWbkzLng9sQxZZ9RepEhWcp59LbIC_PWO49PJqmhqvMZWJKtHSqOxAn-ZxMUOkaHoQ7M-oRwx0pzqv1iDgvNkopsc4acw8BM3qXzS6v36Znk6k5qOp1yClU7us/s640/wassail2.jpg" height="504" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Wassail drinking set. Lignum vitae and ivory. 1640-60. Courtesy of the V&A. The curious finial on top of the bowl is a box for storing the spices.</td></tr>
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The form of the wassail bowl was imitated in some of the very earliest punch bowls, some of which had little spice boxes on top as well as the foot and stem typical of the wassail bowls. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQXHw5JAkge8gwiffyKo_0XIzRa9f_Mxw5rUwhbaf3vjZYSB4J2itU5TwAjwclRat7Yjn2KMPrCa_Il0XhBT12Zy3Iwzr5xnbYaYSdzy58XLJDSIRsJgL0zaAlA1xV8U8cGpgbc8HYlU/s1600/Punchbowl+with+spice+box+on+lid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQXHw5JAkge8gwiffyKo_0XIzRa9f_Mxw5rUwhbaf3vjZYSB4J2itU5TwAjwclRat7Yjn2KMPrCa_Il0XhBT12Zy3Iwzr5xnbYaYSdzy58XLJDSIRsJgL0zaAlA1xV8U8cGpgbc8HYlU/s640/Punchbowl+with+spice+box+on+lid.jpg" height="640" width="558" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seventeenth century punch bowl in the form of a wassail bowl. Tin glazed earthenware and lignum vitae</td></tr>
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During the course of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, ardent punch made from arrack, rum or brandy started to become as popular as the weaker native wassail drinks made from ale or cider. Usually served hot in the winter months, by the 1780s it was also being chilled with ice, or even frozen into an alcoholic water ice for summer usage.</div>
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Punch Royal</h2>
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My own favourite Christmas tipple is a drink I first came across in John Nott's <i>The Cook's and Confectioner's Dictionary</i> (London: 1723). Punch Royal is a delicious, but deceptively powerful potation based on brandy and lime juice. It contains no spice and has a lovely clean flavour. I always serve it to guests at my <i>Taste of Christmas Past</i> course in a punch bowl garnished with curling zests of orange peel. Here is Nott's recipe with a couple of others thrown in for good measure. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHuFtp47en2QFXqemgFKfEh_fhqx-h4J0uymNslCixaH9X0poGXslVzRXn4iIjaYB61RWSJIdNXt3-hwIvjZO1Jr_K304qpl13DFA9cUh8unko0jIs589BiW834MEzPBaQlJYMN-tuTdg/s1600/Nott+Punch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHuFtp47en2QFXqemgFKfEh_fhqx-h4J0uymNslCixaH9X0poGXslVzRXn4iIjaYB61RWSJIdNXt3-hwIvjZO1Jr_K304qpl13DFA9cUh8unko0jIs589BiW834MEzPBaQlJYMN-tuTdg/s640/Nott+Punch.jpg" height="594" width="640" /></a></div>
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So why do I serve my punch royal with orange zests hanging over the rim of the punch bowl as illustrated at the beginning of this post? Well over the years I have noticed that many eighteenth and early nineteenth century images of punch drinking show exactly that. Here are a few examples.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWO24bea1-8nhOpexfp7PdRz_4njK-uX6CPHfVnNjYZCcJpBhnfSsF-toFKdlIW6dvzA1MEWm85JVgENuN36Qe9AkDR9oeC8C6vLZjQntnlLL1I1VTK7HtvOvz4fUVVJ-h_z-CVXOYN5M/s1600/Patch+Punch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWO24bea1-8nhOpexfp7PdRz_4njK-uX6CPHfVnNjYZCcJpBhnfSsF-toFKdlIW6dvzA1MEWm85JVgENuN36Qe9AkDR9oeC8C6vLZjQntnlLL1I1VTK7HtvOvz4fUVVJ-h_z-CVXOYN5M/s640/Patch+Punch.jpg" height="640" width="546" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Patch, Detail from<i> A Punch Party</i> (1762) Courtesy National Trust (Dunham Massey)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8emB2BJUojQg_WzGjX_GR2__O3QW4RwXv4o_7c2A7ubW1A3O53stAkphmQRD8qg9lAp72U4vR6ONNF2_SCSqc8Lbc6MPrFSwERMGqu3VsZtV5SIaQmK5j1I6NjHcNuLw9nhkV8xDWwps/s1600/Hogarth+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8emB2BJUojQg_WzGjX_GR2__O3QW4RwXv4o_7c2A7ubW1A3O53stAkphmQRD8qg9lAp72U4vR6ONNF2_SCSqc8Lbc6MPrFSwERMGqu3VsZtV5SIaQmK5j1I6NjHcNuLw9nhkV8xDWwps/s640/Hogarth+detail.jpg" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail from William Hogarth, <i>A Midnight Modern Conversation</i> (engraving) 1732.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwhltntDKdk-716FW8INA7cZzW2JCGmH-0lqEO8sz1xgoMD1gq8jRSHsFTLi1tK2aDiv-t8-vbp03LRiGNqSvj04lX3aqEbw_NN9k0w_DJ385UMG9AUptnxRfFo7-FUDHi4JIrEnMVT8/s1600/Hogarth+detail2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwhltntDKdk-716FW8INA7cZzW2JCGmH-0lqEO8sz1xgoMD1gq8jRSHsFTLi1tK2aDiv-t8-vbp03LRiGNqSvj04lX3aqEbw_NN9k0w_DJ385UMG9AUptnxRfFo7-FUDHi4JIrEnMVT8/s640/Hogarth+detail2.jpg" height="264" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another detail from above. Note the discarded zests of orange peel sharing the floor with the human debris.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4d5ZAa1qCIiLcDcBc2PAn4SY-WbgZKpbzpDVMyU7sn_3oSJ7Ds3uYYg4OjfZGYfjNv9jlDkLS3yZabO3foRGlcXQKy2PrZ9iDSuzZZPwXZ6S6awzab6AufzAerZPNndrksXprYFTW1w/s1600/wassail4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4d5ZAa1qCIiLcDcBc2PAn4SY-WbgZKpbzpDVMyU7sn_3oSJ7Ds3uYYg4OjfZGYfjNv9jlDkLS3yZabO3foRGlcXQKy2PrZ9iDSuzZZPwXZ6S6awzab6AufzAerZPNndrksXprYFTW1w/s640/wassail4.jpg" height="450" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail from James Gilray, <i>Anacreonticks in Full Swing</i>. Aquatint 1801. It's that Christmas feeling again!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-D_dNkS47CUaZ3eqE0NOblRHWK4Wv13snAnz2qxaW2DR7orS4v2M2mCy69uxsqKDKgMWoa15qnCM7P2sQi8aTDXwXAWz2EFQG2jnEw29Ap2EwCVr03Y2tv60NKXrnONaDUm9s-lqlmnE/s1600/Modern+conversation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-D_dNkS47CUaZ3eqE0NOblRHWK4Wv13snAnz2qxaW2DR7orS4v2M2mCy69uxsqKDKgMWoa15qnCM7P2sQi8aTDXwXAWz2EFQG2jnEw29Ap2EwCVr03Y2tv60NKXrnONaDUm9s-lqlmnE/s640/Modern+conversation.jpg" height="640" width="636" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Oranges peeled to make long zests for the punch bowl form William Hogarth, <i>A Midnight Modern Conversation</i>. Oil Oainting 1732. Courtesy Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidG_N7HTDvYIb7XQrgN5k55_hHdeguMYkUaeC-wa5unL69AewVyigchR50DGJrfenRJcCpNX_oaRHl5LYfLn9ExDGIdH5MWgFvYzKjj1f3VWObPwxsL3wPzcl6uBslIG0NtUcr0T4HXNM/s1600/Zest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidG_N7HTDvYIb7XQrgN5k55_hHdeguMYkUaeC-wa5unL69AewVyigchR50DGJrfenRJcCpNX_oaRHl5LYfLn9ExDGIdH5MWgFvYzKjj1f3VWObPwxsL3wPzcl6uBslIG0NtUcr0T4HXNM/s640/Zest.jpg" height="494" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A definition of zest from John Nott, T<i>he Cook's and Confectioner's Dictionary</i>. (London: 1723). In his comment below, Adam Balic offers some other definitions of the word with some fascinating thoughts on flaming zests to flavour these beverages.</td></tr>
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These are just a few of the images in which I have noticed strips of orange zest hanging out of punch bowls, though none are 'several fathoms long'. There is a time span of nearly seventy years between the earliest and latest of these illustrations. I have often wondered what the purpose of this custom was. My pet theory is that these strips of what were probably bitter orange peel, would be hung in the punch to impart a nice citrus flavour. If it became too bitter, the peel was removed (rather like we may pull out a tea bag when the tea gets too strong) and thrown on the floor to join the discarded tobacco pipes, empty wine bottles and human debris who could not take their drink. But this is just a guess. It is still a mystery. So can one of you anacreontick enthusiasts out there enlighten me - but only if you have found some convincing evidence! </div>
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Can I draw your attention to the comment by the sharp-eyed Adam Balic, which he has posted below. Adam suggests that these early punch drinkers may have been flaming the zests of peel in the candle flames to flavour the punch in the way that it is sometimes done today in making a number of cocktails.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsz7D7RvyK6iREp-aOP1pJMj6PY44MpKWr2RzsJDaplmMh9QWdbE6GY9f6RfoaZmAig7UIaPFAQCWofajb8I7qkeO9_NU49Z00slB1Yvh7mGcQXWdU6tQeMm7mCiAprLu08VBold-Yhvk/s1600/wassail5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsz7D7RvyK6iREp-aOP1pJMj6PY44MpKWr2RzsJDaplmMh9QWdbE6GY9f6RfoaZmAig7UIaPFAQCWofajb8I7qkeO9_NU49Z00slB1Yvh7mGcQXWdU6tQeMm7mCiAprLu08VBold-Yhvk/s640/wassail5.jpg" height="486" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whatever nightcap floats your boat this season, Plumcake and I say 'Cheers' and wish you all a Merry Christmas.</td></tr>
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* <span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Merchant's Tale. 365.</span></div>
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While we are on the subject of Christmas, Ivan was recently interviewed by Michael Mackenzie, the host of the excellent Australian ABC <i>RN First Bite</i> food programme. We chatted about the extraordinary phenomenon of Empire Christmas Pudding, the subject of which Ivan dealt with in a former posting on this blog. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rnfirstbite/empire-puddings2c-smartphone-recipes-and-a-secret-recipe-revea/5170314" target="_blank">Click here to listen to the programme</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03mckqd/Sunday_Historical_food_interfaith_dining_and_food_wars/" target="_blank">Listen to Ivan talk about Bishop on BBC Radio 4 <i>Sunday</i> with William Crawley</a></div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-37973847087321576352013-12-14T10:47:00.002-08:002013-12-15T03:07:36.628-08:00An Early Modern Christmas Party <h2>
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Or The Pastry Kunstkammer</span></h4>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_H5eEF-WdiDFr44f3DBnxQ8pNrX6ZRdPcDX_2LxrrRkcLopk11ewTruldDikg9Ku4SVFSo7wIq1yX3IZirVntySsO-qTuglWMdWj4wO_R1TcA537vxnNEmPks66oNwfCJ4pS2PzAaVp4/s1600/V+&+A+nef_jpg_l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_H5eEF-WdiDFr44f3DBnxQ8pNrX6ZRdPcDX_2LxrrRkcLopk11ewTruldDikg9Ku4SVFSo7wIq1yX3IZirVntySsO-qTuglWMdWj4wO_R1TcA537vxnNEmPks66oNwfCJ4pS2PzAaVp4/s640/V+&+A+nef_jpg_l.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">The Burghley Nef. Nautilus shell with parcel-gilt silver mounts, raised, chased, engraved and cast, and pearls. France </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">1527-1528 Courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum</span></div>
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Christmas is a time for celebrations and parties, though the style of our entertainments has changed over the centuries. In the past, the really big day for a blowout was the last day of the Christmas holiday - Twelfth Day. Almost half a century ago I came across the passage below in Robert May's <i>The Accomplisht Cook </i>(London: 1660) for a twelfth day entertainment. I was in my early teens when I first read this hilarious account of a slapstick performance at the end of a great Jacobean feast and it really fired my schoolboy imagination. Since then the passage has been much quoted and with its pies full of skipping frogs and flying birds, is the sort of thing that reinforces the modern reader's conception of early modern period dining as a 'Baldrick-style' free for all. If you have never come across it before, please read it now. It is great fun.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgja60VArLKIYlYPijonkzl5xuCVhKZkgoD8btmfthVIAF4QD307SY8xIsOfBI8xvmcm_P9qsLnakbv_RFPW4g8VEf4B5zBmnEvSYf6LFoUj7vHwJqnqg39QdxbgK14IaoLWQHRtKAG0Bg/s1600/Kunstkammer3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="491" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgja60VArLKIYlYPijonkzl5xuCVhKZkgoD8btmfthVIAF4QD307SY8xIsOfBI8xvmcm_P9qsLnakbv_RFPW4g8VEf4B5zBmnEvSYf6LFoUj7vHwJqnqg39QdxbgK14IaoLWQHRtKAG0Bg/s640/Kunstkammer3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">From Robert May, <i>The Accomplisht Cook</i> (London: 1660)</td></tr>
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Just the sort of thing that television producers of 'food history' programmes and tabloid journalists love. Though in in my view this kind of thing can act as a serious distraction, because it tends to reinforce the 'four and twenty blackbirds' stereotypical perception of British food history, when the truth about our gastronomic past is much more complex. </div>
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However, when I was in my mid-twenties back in the 1970s, I actually had a bash at re-staging the whole thing, not to celebrate twelfth day, but for a friend's twenty-first birthday party. With three pet canaries (unharmed) and five frogs from my father's pond (slightly puzzled by the experience but who lived to tell the tale) I made some hollow pies according to May's instructions as temporary homes for these creatures. I proceeded to construct a <i>paste-board</i> (cardboard) armature in the form of a ship's hull and covered it with pastry. I furnished it with cannons made out of <i>kickses</i> (hollow cow parsley stems) and foolishly charged them with some homemade gunpowder. The rigging I made from twine and the sails from wafer paper. I also constructed a castle out of pastry and armed it with the same kind of ordinance. The pastry stag proved more difficult, but I owned a copy of Conrad Hagger's marvellous <i>Neues Saltzburgisches Koch-Buch</i> published in Augsburg in 1719 and made a seated pastry stag along the lines he illustrates. I concealed a pig's bladder inside the stag, which was half filled with red wine and tied with cord so it did not leak. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Diagrams for making pastry deer from Conrad Hagger, </span><i style="text-align: left;">Neues Saltzburgisches Koch-Buch</i><span style="text-align: left;"> (Augsburg: 1719)</span></td></tr>
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We blew the insides out of a dozen eggs, melted candle wax over one of the holes, filled them with rosewater with a syringe and sat them upright in the salt sea around the pastry galleon and stag. All the pies, the stag, ship and castle were all gilded 'over in spots' as in May's instructions. Unfortunately, I overloaded the cannons on the pastry castle with too much gunpowder and when we lit the fuses, the shattered pastry battlements blew across the table, knocking one of the stag's antler's off. The cannons on the ship behaved a little better, though one of the sails went up in flames. Until then I did not realise how well rice paper burns when ignited. Fortunately a quick thinking guest, in the spirit of the occasion put the flames out by emptying a couple of rosewater filled eggs over the ship's rigging. </div>
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As to the frogs, when the lid of their pie was lifted, they refused to budge and despite the noise of the cannons just sat there looking comatose. May explains what should have occurred, <i>'Out skip some Frogs, which make the Ladys to skip and shriek'</i>, but this did not happen. The frogs having found a nice dark warm home, they decided to hibernate. The ladies present hardly noticed them. My friend Andrew's tame canaries did fly out of the pie and took off around the room, but failed to put the candles out. Andrew eventually coaxed them back into their cage. I do not think the 'blood stains' created by the red wine when it poured out of the stag were ever successfully removed from that rather expensive linen table cloth belonging to Andrew's mum. Forty years later I still feel guilty about it. Seen from today's point of view, the whole thing was ill-conceived and a health and safety nightmare. We were lucky that the house did not catch fire.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Examine this carefully and you will see that the pies and birds are gilded 'over in spots', just as Robert May describes in <i>Triumphs and Trophies of Cookery</i>. Jan Breughel the Elder, <i>An Allegory of Taste</i> (detail). 1618. The Prado, Madrid</td></tr>
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Though terribly misguided, I must admit that my juvenile recreation of this event was a lot of fun. But the question I asked myself afterwards was did this sort of thing really happen at great feasts, or was it just something that May invented? He tells us that before the English civil war, 'These were formerly the delights of the Nobility, before good Housekeeping had left England'. But are there any accounts of events like this being held at court or in some of the great ducal palaces? </div>
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The nef was an important symbol of status on the medieval table. From the Grimaldi Breviary. Ghent and Bruges 1515-20. Ms. Lat. I, 99. Courtesy of Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice.</div>
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There are some elements of truth in May's account, though we have to look to the European mainland to find the evidence. Take May's pastry ship with its firing cannons for instance. In France and the German speaking parts of Europe, there had been a custom dating back to the medieval period of embellishing the aristocratic table with a miniature ship called a <i>nef</i>, usually made of goldsmith's work. These frequently served as ceremonial salts and graced many a high status renaissance table. Good examples of these precious objects have survived, such as the Burghley Nef (1527-28) in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated at the beginning of this post. In the second half of the sixteenth century, in German towns such as Augsburg and Ulm, clockmakers started turning their hands to making nefs which doubled up as table automata. Some even had crew members who climbed up the rigging or played musical instruments. Others were fitted with miniature cannons which could actually be loaded with gunpowder and fired, like the example below by Ulm silversmith Joss Mayer.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Table centrepiece or nef in the form of a galley by Joss Mayer (active 1573-1609) Ulm. Silver gilt. The guns can be loaded with powder and fired. Courtesy of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Table centrepiece in the form of a ship. Hans Schlottheim (1544-1624). Silver gilt, brass, enamel with oil painted sails. A mechanism driven by a mainspring and fusee is concealed within the hull. Augsburg 1585. Courtesy Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna</td></tr>
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Another remarkable survival of a nef style table automaton is also to be found in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It was made for Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612) by Augsburg silversmith and clockmaker Hans Schlottheim (1544-1624). A small statuette of the emperor stands on the deck. The ship's masts fly flags emblazoned with the imperial double eagle, so the vessel represents the Hapsburg Empire itself securely captained by Rudolf. The ship actually moves across the table as if putting to sea while miniature musicians play sackbuts and timpani, the finale being a salvo fired by the cannons. A marvellous video of the whole performance has been produced by the curatorial staff of the Kunstkammer in Vienna which I have included below. Please, please play it, as it is an absolute treat. And if you get a chance, visit the superb new Kunstkammer layout in the Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum, where you will be able to see the real thing and a number of other remarkable table automata.</div>
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Although made from precious metals with oil painted sails, Rudolf II's warship is highly reminiscent of May's more humble pastry version. May was born in 1588, just three years after Schlottheim made his ingenious galleon for the Hapsburg emperor. As a child apprentice cook he trained in Paris between 1598 and 1603 and it is possible that he may have come across similar table automata while in France. Fame of the remarkable example in Emperor Rudolf's <i>kunstkammer</i> had certainly spread across Europe by this time.<br />
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Conrad Hagger's designs for pastry stags were published much later - in Augsburg in 1719. Like May, Hagger was an 'old school' cook who worked for the prince archbishop of Saltzburg, a conservative ecclesiastical patron who presided over a table that was more in the style of a renaissance prince than of an enlightenment cleric. Remember, Augsburg, where Hagger's book was published, was also the town where Schlottheim fabricated his <i>Schiffsautomat</i> for the emperor's table.<br />
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So, we have parallels for May's cannon firing ship and his pastry stag, but what about the pastry castle and the pies filled with birds and frogs? Pies in the form of castles go back a long way. In the medieval recipe collection <i>The Forme of Cury</i> (1390s), there is a receipt for a complex pastry in the form of a battlemented fortress called a <i>Chaselet</i> (little castle). Each tower is stuffed with a different filling and presented to table <i>ardent</i>, that is flaming with burning brandy. William Rabisha in <i>The Whole Body of Cookery Dissected</i> (London: 1661) gives some very similar recipes, including this 'orangado pie' in the form of a castle, </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">An orangado pie in the form of a castle from William Rabisha, <i>The Whole Body of Cookery Dissected</i> (London: 1661)</td></tr>
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These curious structures were also made out of sugar paste. The extraordinary mould below, which is in my own collection, was designed for making a battlemented gatehouse out of gum paste.</div>
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So what about the blind-baked pies filled with live birds? Well that is a very old joke, the earliest recipe in English being published in 1598 in a translation of Giovanne de Rosselli's <i>Epulario, </i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <i>Epulario, Or, The Italian Banquet</i>, (London: 1598).</td></tr>
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Title page of Giovanne de Rosselli, <i>Epulario quale tratta del modo de cucinare ogni carne, ucelli, pesci, de ogni sorte, e fare sapori, torte, e pastelli al modo de tutte le Provincie. (</i>Venezia: 1555). Rosselli's work was first published in Venice in 1516. It heavily leant on the <i>Libro de arte coquinaria by Maestro Martino, </i>though its content varied in later editions with extra recipes being added by the publishers. </div>
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Here is Rosselli's original recipe, from which the English version above was translated. <i>Per fare pastelli volativi </i>literally means 'To make pies of flying birds'.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">The original recipe in Italian for the pie filled with living birds from Giovanne de Rosselli, <i>Epulario.</i> (Vinegia: 1594).</td></tr>
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So to sum up, May's extraordinary <i>Triumphs and Trophies of Cookery</i> passage contains elements of culinary extravaganzas from all over Europe. The eccentric live bird pies appear to have been based on the <i>pastelli volativi</i> of Renaissance Italy. The <i>nef</i>, which originally emerged in France was fiddled around a bit by the automaton makers of Augsburg, who added a few firing cannons and musical sailors for dramatic effect. The pastry stag featured at Imperial Hapsburg bean-feasts. Even May's use in the title of the passage of the word 'triumph' is a rare reference in English to the Italian name for an elaborate table ornament made of sugar - <i>il</i> <i>trionfo</i>.<br />
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This kind of thing had died out in England well before the Civil War, though if Hagger's illustrations are based on actuality, similar entertainments were still being carried out in the Archbishop's palace in the Hapsburg city of Salzburg as late as the early eighteenth century. Four years after Hagger's book was published in Augsburg, John Nott in <i>The Cook's and Confectioner's Dictionary</i> (London: 1723) re-wrote May's text, presenting it as an antiquarian curiosity. Here is his version. He refers to the long dead May as an 'ancient artist in cookery'.<br />
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'Divertisiments' and 'diverting Hurley-Burleys' of this eccentric nature did take place at some European courts, though it is likely that many of the real triumphs of the table were made by the goldsmiths and clockmakers of renaissance Augsburg rather than pastry cooks. Below is another video of a remarkable table automaton made for the imperial Hapsburg <i>kunstkammer</i>, this time by the Augsburg goldsmith and inventor Achilles Langenbucher (1579-1650). He fabricated this wonderful triumphal car with Minerva in Augsburg in 1620. Like <span style="text-align: left;">Schlottheim's </span><i style="text-align: left;">Schiffsautomat,</i><span style="text-align: left;"> this <i>Triumphwagen </i>travels down the middle of the table, its two horses rearing up as it goes. Do watch it. Again, it is a remarkable insight into the lavish entertainment style of the renaissance Hapsburg emperors. </span></div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-11916226245484230402013-12-11T16:45:00.003-08:002013-12-13T09:45:27.139-08:00Mrs Agnes Marshall's Cucumber Ice Creams<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkFD6f9ijVChZV2w7yopWQxIWcroSbcEJoNrAHRpROuAfZiT38OKJ4rwvoZdWU3RmfzlE1Z7IpWpRPL1Y0CIl_NEKIO3Rfj8idq40fGSDnFQCMp6cfvk6MYN7vBzRc9GsP4efJ_sSP5JQ/s1600/Cucumber1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkFD6f9ijVChZV2w7yopWQxIWcroSbcEJoNrAHRpROuAfZiT38OKJ4rwvoZdWU3RmfzlE1Z7IpWpRPL1Y0CIl_NEKIO3Rfj8idq40fGSDnFQCMp6cfvk6MYN7vBzRc9GsP4efJ_sSP5JQ/s640/Cucumber1.jpg" height="492" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Agnes Marshall's <i>Parisian Cucumber Cream </i>served<i> </i>on a base of nougat paste and pistachios glazed with boiled sugar. The highly realistic cucunber is flavoured with finely chopped angelica, pistachios and maraschino or noyeau.</td></tr>
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For many years a favourite dish of mine has been a 'ragoo of cucumbers', a lightly cooked cucumber stew, a variety of recipes for which are included in most English cookery books of the eighteenth century. I frequently serve it to guests who attend my courses. All appear to enjoy it immensely, but often express surprise that the English once had a variety of cooked cucumber dishes. Nowadays, cucumber is rarely used in this country outside a few Michelin starred restaurants other than as a raw salad ingredient. So they are even more surprised when I explain that cucumbers in Georgian England were often preserved in sugar syrup as a 'wet' sweetmeat for the dessert course. In the late Victorian period they were even used to flavour ice creams and sorbets. Some ice cream makers took this to extreme lengths, even moulding their cucumber flavoured ices into the form of <i>trompe l'oeil </i>cucumbers, so realistic that they were barely discernable from the real thing.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This recipe is one of a number for cucumber ices in Agnes Berthe Marshall, <i>Fancy Ices</i> (London nd 1890s)</td></tr>
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Mrs Agnes Berthe Marshall, the great entrepreneurial London based cookery teacher of the late Victorian period, not only offered a number of cucumber ice cream recipes in her books, like the one above for Parisian Cucumber Cream, but also sold life size cucumber moulds in her showroom in Mortimer Street. I recently acquired one of these moulds and have 'test driven' it a few times in the process of replicating some of her cucumber ice recipes.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advertisement page of ice cream moulds from Agnes Berthe Marshall, <i>The Book of Ice</i>s ILondon: 1885)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">A page from a Harton and Son ice cream mould catalogue (second half of the nineteenth century). Harton was an important London pewterer who specialised in making novelty ice cream moulds. Among the ice creams illustrated on this page is a cucumber mould.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsXvHQtZT6DWS1HyYS64w3JLM4Se2_PjfTcGVfWFjPkKWBcNk4M8uMmJso4Y2zL2RSB_Aa8hv-qJmgvt5JhLmv0sWyXwVz_kEs5aZlmId3iYR9rH2vm7iAj084mwlghu2T7pw98kkBl8/s1600/Cucumber4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsXvHQtZT6DWS1HyYS64w3JLM4Se2_PjfTcGVfWFjPkKWBcNk4M8uMmJso4Y2zL2RSB_Aa8hv-qJmgvt5JhLmv0sWyXwVz_kEs5aZlmId3iYR9rH2vm7iAj084mwlghu2T7pw98kkBl8/s640/Cucumber4.jpg" height="240" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 1890s pewter cucumber ice cream mould has distinctive hinges which tells me that was made by Harton and Son</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-SBA50wnDpchYWwOgqrINDTFyczzi75954MVNWh5LBjEzfF8Gf-fRPPUjFKnmGITmM5qaGL2-J6IWeUYBPZ06y3NVY06yb3bYnz3js54hWS_ZECoYYmcdng8jWaPheMJGQ06qxthX90/s1600/Cucumber6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-SBA50wnDpchYWwOgqrINDTFyczzi75954MVNWh5LBjEzfF8Gf-fRPPUjFKnmGITmM5qaGL2-J6IWeUYBPZ06y3NVY06yb3bYnz3js54hWS_ZECoYYmcdng8jWaPheMJGQ06qxthX90/s640/Cucumber6.jpg" height="322" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mould is in two hinged halves fixed together with steel pins</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgdfpwDn4GBuHLes257B3MFIxwKCaEzRrTip1qmH12U3_Hatz0ckNKl7luGOaOtHBDgptTwoGvEsgz7ce30RD17JVvA39W6TqtWdJ9nu_E7VkVOO3VnIpvnTK_ombRptP3cK5BsZ_S2Y/s1600/Cucumber5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgdfpwDn4GBuHLes257B3MFIxwKCaEzRrTip1qmH12U3_Hatz0ckNKl7luGOaOtHBDgptTwoGvEsgz7ce30RD17JVvA39W6TqtWdJ9nu_E7VkVOO3VnIpvnTK_ombRptP3cK5BsZ_S2Y/s640/Cucumber5.jpg" height="344" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The long pin is left in prior to the mould being filled with semi-frozen ice cream</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh25dX_Ulvj03XAWFVFEjqHjdVjRfmOOL0rs-CEaUKqM1F6Gi0M6XqeB0JR_q6T052Iw_3GbWZbF6Gy-s9YEhqkGQkDvvRicVXt81rUCAWKzemOdk8RAkjMj3vTBVwqLJOv6Liedtxr6K4/s1600/Cucumber3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh25dX_Ulvj03XAWFVFEjqHjdVjRfmOOL0rs-CEaUKqM1F6Gi0M6XqeB0JR_q6T052Iw_3GbWZbF6Gy-s9YEhqkGQkDvvRicVXt81rUCAWKzemOdk8RAkjMj3vTBVwqLJOv6Liedtxr6K4/s640/Cucumber3.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Parisian Cucumber Cream is paddled into the two separate halvess of the mould with the back of a spoon</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">When they are both full, the two halves of the mould are closed tightly together, the pins inserted and any excess ice cream wiped off. The seams of the mould are then sealed with butter or lard to stop the ingress of any saline solution, and the mould wrapped in brown paper. This little 'parcel' is then plunged into a bucket of ice and salt and left to freeze for about three hours. The finished ice is removed from the mould by dipping it into cold water for about 11 seconds. The brown paper stops pieces of ice from freezing onto the mould. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjatnCJOO2qSaBCZP-AlX1GUdiOEvWOnKtWhh8JxHkM4mxxkDL6as_Ym0olGuJNJ5OAiXYp_eECf0TFjd7Z5xN4gMHL0OVWCUblr6EkMM6sgvHGyP0DSqJkThf_ykhyphenhyphenSP0E3jXP7E2wtSA/s1600/Cucumber9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjatnCJOO2qSaBCZP-AlX1GUdiOEvWOnKtWhh8JxHkM4mxxkDL6as_Ym0olGuJNJ5OAiXYp_eECf0TFjd7Z5xN4gMHL0OVWCUblr6EkMM6sgvHGyP0DSqJkThf_ykhyphenhyphenSP0E3jXP7E2wtSA/s640/Cucumber9.jpg" height="640" width="556" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Another of Mrs Marshall's recipes from <i>Fancy Ices</i>. Though this is moulded into the form of a cucumber it contains no cucumber at all.</td></tr>
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A popular small mould used as a garnishing ice was in the form of a pickled cucumber or gherkin. An ice made from such a mould is one of the garnishing ices here embellishing this large water ice in the form of a beehive.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This, the earliest image of a pewter cucumber ice cream mould appeared in Joseph Gilliers, <i>Le Cannameliste français </i>(Nancy: 1751). It is of course a cornichon or gherkin. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The same 'joke' mould was still being used in the late Victorian period</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGooPw0qhEVbiHOUzkLKMGVbm9yS8Xp10im_B3D_iTcE-3cLxZ7R_c7okvdkm6d9DRawImGPSyKU4t3J6VmgGq0OFXnZCtN3wj8jj4NRytPU5v2TlBsEMiHX3NylB7P6cPuCFEnT4Dp5g/s1600/Scan305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGooPw0qhEVbiHOUzkLKMGVbm9yS8Xp10im_B3D_iTcE-3cLxZ7R_c7okvdkm6d9DRawImGPSyKU4t3J6VmgGq0OFXnZCtN3wj8jj4NRytPU5v2TlBsEMiHX3NylB7P6cPuCFEnT4Dp5g/s640/Scan305.jpg" height="310" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Mrs Marshall also gives a simple cucumber ice cream recipe in <i>The Book of Ices</i> (London: 1885) that does not require moulding. <span style="text-align: center;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5nTW1R6pmLgnfVYNYc03lj5ATZtz8sakjVYxhO4-EEmsGuEfwokJb7LIdWUVOXGlfonZRhbmDPXWfoPuEZUkkxmtRhNKRzOrYHTlyIoGF5SUwVqUzL_o9ostUpJd0nhGi4TERK5k9I9Y/s1600/Scan306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5nTW1R6pmLgnfVYNYc03lj5ATZtz8sakjVYxhO4-EEmsGuEfwokJb7LIdWUVOXGlfonZRhbmDPXWfoPuEZUkkxmtRhNKRzOrYHTlyIoGF5SUwVqUzL_o9ostUpJd0nhGi4TERK5k9I9Y/s640/Scan306.jpg" height="534" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">In <i>Fancy Ices </i>she also gives a recipe for a Cucumber Sorbet designed to be served in cups made of ice. In her day the term sorbet had a different meaning to now. It was a non-dairy or water ice, usually flavoured with some kind of fruit. However, Victorian recipes always included an alcoholic element, in this case cognac and kirsch. They evolved from the frozen punches and sherbets of the Georgian period, which were served in the early stages of a dinner.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1EBjwC0_Ac1t4ZavRJE3AV3r96UUNdcFtN3Eb-LyZmejAUQtvIvwxls4VQcLeNgNEoIDls2ktpILSbtSLl2tHk1W8vCuQs24YCA65RSedDgtu297Pw8CIXJ89ToucHEgljaIn149g0kE/s1600/Ice+Cup+Mould.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1EBjwC0_Ac1t4ZavRJE3AV3r96UUNdcFtN3Eb-LyZmejAUQtvIvwxls4VQcLeNgNEoIDls2ktpILSbtSLl2tHk1W8vCuQs24YCA65RSedDgtu297Pw8CIXJ89ToucHEgljaIn149g0kE/s1600/Ice+Cup+Mould.jpg" height="560" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">A mould for making cups out of ice of the kind mentioned in the above cucumber sorbet recipe. Mrs Marshall sold moulds of this kind from her shop in Mortimer Street</td></tr>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-57872763291292605752013-11-24T11:21:00.001-08:002013-11-24T12:41:02.287-08:002014 - Some Interesting Food History Conferences and Lectures <br />
Twenty-Eighth Leeds Symposium on Food History and Traditions<br />
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<b>Saturday 17th May 2014</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">JACKS AND JAGGERS</span></h3>
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Kitchen Technology in England from 1600 to the Second World War </h3>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">A Selection of Early Modern Period Pastry Jaggers. Photo: Michael Finlay</span><br />
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<b>Convenor - Ivan Day</b></div>
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<b>Papers</b></div>
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Cooking with Charcoal and Steam in the English Kitchen - <b>Peter Brears</b></div>
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The Blacksmith's Tale – Wrought Iron & Steel in the Kitchen - <b>Giles Cowley</b></div>
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The Evolution of the English Weight Driven Spitjack - <b>Tony Weston </b></div>
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Cooking by Gas in the English Kitchen - <b>David J. Eveleigh</b></div>
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Pastry Jaggers - their development from the late sixteenth to the late nineteenth century - <b>Michael Finlay</b></div>
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Friends Meeting House, Friargate, York. YO1 9RL </div>
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<a href="http://www.leedsfoodsymposium.org.uk/">http://www.leedsfoodsymposium.org.uk</a></div>
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This, the twenty-eighth Leeds Symposium, focuses on technological advances both large and small in the English kitchen. </div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">There is a much grander three day symposium which will examine a similar subject area in New York City in April, but with a much more international and predominantly US focus. This is the </span>2014 Roger Smith Conference, which is this year<span style="text-align: left;"> entitled,</span><br />
<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.thefoodconference.com/" target="_blank">From Flint Knives to Cloned Meat: - Our Ambiguous Love, Hate, and Fear of Food Technologies</a></b></h3>
April 3-5 2014 Roger Smith Hotel<br />
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I am in New York on 2nd April to give a lecture to the Culinary Historians of New York, but will sadly miss the Roger Smith conference as I have to fly to Ohio State University the next day to give a lecture at the <a href="http://artsandsciences.osu.edu/cmrs_snapshot" target="_blank">Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies</a> on 4th April. Maybe I will get a chance to meet some of you at one of these two venues.<br />
<br />Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-61304585779651795632013-11-24T08:55:00.000-08:002013-12-12T21:27:51.363-08:00My 2014 Cookery Courses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmz57knGmeIlpwh8nriBqKcpASmZUNse4k4Gi1Ich_sbk9Fa9dBuaIPDPm2o6Plp_iuhUyReM8Lp3ZEOoOhI_j_VgZHDnZVhLL5PAyPuT00nOoRO8HIk6hkjwfywyxE8mIqcE-3xFp5Q/s1600/Christmas+Pie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmz57knGmeIlpwh8nriBqKcpASmZUNse4k4Gi1Ich_sbk9Fa9dBuaIPDPm2o6Plp_iuhUyReM8Lp3ZEOoOhI_j_VgZHDnZVhLL5PAyPuT00nOoRO8HIk6hkjwfywyxE8mIqcE-3xFp5Q/s640/Christmas+Pie.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Learn to make a Yorkshire Christmas Pie on my <i>A Taste of Christmas Past Course</i></td></tr>
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Below is the course diary for the period cookery courses I am offering in 2014. Click on the individual links to read more about each course on my website. If you would like to book a course there is a link to the booking form at the end of this post. All 2014 courses are £310 per person. Please book soon as places are limited and they quickly fill up.<br />
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<strong>COURSE DIARY 2014</strong></div>
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DATE</div>
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STATUS</div>
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COURSE</div>
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<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">8-9 March 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/Medieval%20Cookery.htm" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">LATE MEDIEVAL ENGLISH COOKERY</a></th></tr>
<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">29-30 March 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/Tudor%20and%20Stuart%20Cookery.htm" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">TUDOR AND EARLY STUART COOKERY</a></th></tr>
<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">26-27 April 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/Italian%20Renaissance%20Cookery.htm" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">ITALIAN RENAISSANCE COOKERY</a></th></tr>
<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">24-25 May 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/Early%20Eighteenth.htm" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">GEORGIAN COOKERY</a></th></tr>
<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">14-15 June 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/Victorian%20Cookery.htm" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">VICTORIAN COOKERY</a></th></tr>
<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">5-6 July 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/Advanced%20Sugarwork.htm" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">ADVANCED SUGARWORK</a></th></tr>
<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">23-24 August 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/Pie%20Making%20Course.htm" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">PIE MAKING AND PASTRY</a></th></tr>
<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">13-14 September 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/Jellies%20and%20Mould%20Foods%20Course.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">JELLY AND MOULDED FOODS</a></th></tr>
<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">27-28 September 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/roasting.htm" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">ROASTING AND BROILING</a></th></tr>
<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">11-12 October 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/sugar.htm" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">PERIOD SUGARWORK AND CONFECTIONERY</a></th></tr>
<tr align="left" bgcolor="A2B6EA" class="Captions" style="border-color: rgb(236, 233, 216) rgb(0, 0, 153) rgb(0, 0, 153); border-style: none; border-width: thin; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0px 10px 10px;" valign="top"><th scope="col">15-16 November 2014</th><th align="center" scope="col">PLACES</th><th align="center" scope="col" valign="middle"><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/A%20Taste%20of%20Christmas%20Past.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">A TASTE OF CHRISTMAS PAST</a></th></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Use original confectioners moulds like this to create a remarkable sugar paste neo-gothic church from the time of Lord Byron on my new <a href="http://www.historicfood.com/Advanced%20Sugarwork.htm" target="_blank">Advanced Sugarwork and Confectionery Course</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forget about the<i> Great British Bake-off</i>. Try something more demanding than the 'Great Cupcake Challenge' </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Learn how to make Tudor and Stuart confectionery as it really was made, with original equipment</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Learn how to make extraordinary period jellies and ices on my Moulded Foods Course - Bompas and Parr did</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">My clients come from all over the world. This is Philipp from Vienna, a regular attendant who has just finished off 'jagging' the crinkumcranks on the rim of Daniel Welstead's eighteenth century apple pie</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrgTu0fsg1cDYv6G9g_ZRe6T8F1p1QdnrKYAxGce9Rk8jPPfHdJzUTEiu8bFUXgKS_1apaPqF5oAKCa-zWV92A82LMP1ZnY8PVk0_9sLMshkrGVh6x8636CgnwaOl6TMuTClQfsiEsYU/s1600/Scappi+loin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrgTu0fsg1cDYv6G9g_ZRe6T8F1p1QdnrKYAxGce9Rk8jPPfHdJzUTEiu8bFUXgKS_1apaPqF5oAKCa-zWV92A82LMP1ZnY8PVk0_9sLMshkrGVh6x8636CgnwaOl6TMuTClQfsiEsYU/s640/Scappi+loin.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
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Most of my courses cover the vast, unfathomable depths of British period cookery, but I also have a working interest in the early modern Italian kitchen. This is a loin of veal roasted in an original sixteenth century cradle spit and cooked according to a recipe from Bartolomeo Scappi (1570). The joint is spiked with sage, drenched in malvasia wine, sapa and agresto and roasted over ember-roast onions, prunes, rose vinegar and more malvasia. Amazingly delicious!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIU5f_9GLxrKCE_GdGicF2WFjXmSFgoIiG53os5b8H9T0ss0UOXmUeZH9NIE9X8lp1Ppd0ZLnD0hBR-jNTiYIpGT383W9tJcvU3UpPfGRqKe28Rrb5h6RidZF5zMWQ2cEfGiMpYDycwRk/s1600/Ravioli+in+tempo+di+carne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIU5f_9GLxrKCE_GdGicF2WFjXmSFgoIiG53os5b8H9T0ss0UOXmUeZH9NIE9X8lp1Ppd0ZLnD0hBR-jNTiYIpGT383W9tJcvU3UpPfGRqKe28Rrb5h6RidZF5zMWQ2cEfGiMpYDycwRk/s640/Ravioli+in+tempo+di+carne.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Maestro Martino's <i>ravioli in tempo di carne</i>, being cut with an original Italian Renaissance pastry wheel. Try this out on my Italian Renaissance Cookery Course</td></tr>
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<a href="http://deliciousexpeditions.com/blog/2013/06/summer-love/" target="_blank">Read an account of one of my courses written by a particularly satisfied customer</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/446765/Taste-an-18th-century-Christmas-mango-stuffed-turkey-fruity-ice-cream-and-sweet-haggis" target="_blank">Read a newspaper review of my Taste of Christmas Past course</a></div>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-24283817425147096982013-11-23T12:02:00.001-08:002013-11-24T05:23:19.944-08:00Towards A True Twelfth Cake<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfuplpUdfP3TGFI0pev84w_HNnWiUywKoWkYoQUdF3XisfD82SwuqU97BGs10qiR_Pk9SbNW5JZqEPcNOolquDWd38Ctz_W0uC46mQtNIuCWRq2GauK3E-9bwU36RjPx3oI0o943SZf4o/s1600/Twelfth+Cake4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfuplpUdfP3TGFI0pev84w_HNnWiUywKoWkYoQUdF3XisfD82SwuqU97BGs10qiR_Pk9SbNW5JZqEPcNOolquDWd38Ctz_W0uC46mQtNIuCWRq2GauK3E-9bwU36RjPx3oI0o943SZf4o/s640/Twelfth+Cake4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A group of sugar cavalry officers parade round the Prince of Wales Feathers on top of a Regency period twelfth cake</td></tr>
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It seems ages since I had enough spare time to post on this blog. Since we are approaching Christmas I thought I would touch on a somewhat seasonal theme. On some of my recent courses I have been teaching my students how to make and decorate twelfth cakes and include some illustrations of their efforts here.</div>
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Some dishes are frequently mentioned in literary and historical records well before any recipes for them appear in the cookery books. A striking example of this is the twelfth or wassail cake, once commonly consumed on the Feast of the Epiphany on the 6th January. Formerly these cakes were made throughout Christendom, with numerous references to them in most European languages. From the Renaissance onwards, there are many tantalising descriptions of them in English sources, but a specific recipe does not appear in a printed cookery book until 1803 (John Mollard, <i>The Art of Cookery</i>). </div>
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Although they are first described in the sixteenth century, twelfth cakes were particularly popular in this country between 1750 and 1850, when they were often decorated with sugar or wax figures and other spectacular ornaments. During the Christmas holiday period, city confectioners would dress their windows with these cakes to show off that year's prize creations. Standards of decoration were very high, a fact that should not be too surprising as this was of course Georgian Britain, the age of the Adam Brothers, Thomas Chippendale and Josiah Wedgewood, who all set very high levels of accomplishment in the decorative arts. There are plenty of illustrations of twelfth cakes in contemporary books, newspapers, confectioner's trade cards and the cover designs on packs of twelfth day cards, so we have a pretty good idea of what they looked like. They were embellished according to the prevailing aesthetic trends of the period. Some were embellished with one or two crowns, though this was optional and designs varied enormously depending on the caprice of the confectioner.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBSlVkXugDuaHRzmTWLymidSnw_3-9x3SNd2auqaqo9wwLai-ENFKYyWYHo_QTh7AMK0ED3G0EZE7TlvS2LIBAYiYcml90bD3OpThmQRELjTkF7zaM3ae2UMXqA7kYxftFKuxPqmChCg/s1600/Twelfth+Cake2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBSlVkXugDuaHRzmTWLymidSnw_3-9x3SNd2auqaqo9wwLai-ENFKYyWYHo_QTh7AMK0ED3G0EZE7TlvS2LIBAYiYcml90bD3OpThmQRELjTkF7zaM3ae2UMXqA7kYxftFKuxPqmChCg/s640/Twelfth+Cake2a.jpg" width="618" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A twelfth cake with crown from Robert Chambers, <i>The Book of Days</i>, (London: 1869)</td></tr>
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Anyone wanting to replicate a twelfth cake nowadays would probably assume that they were ornamented with royal icing applied with a piping bag. But in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century when this cake was at its <i>apogée</i>, piping had not yet been introduced into England and another, entirely different mode of decoration was used.This was a technique which employed a material called gum paste, made with a mixture of gum tragacanth and powdered sugar blended into a porcelain-like paste with a little water. Gum paste ornaments were pressed out of very finely carved wooden moulds and stuck onto the cake with royal icing, gum water or isinglass.The moulds, sometimes called 'boards' or 'cards' were often carved by the confectioners themselves. Frequently the standard of carving was that of a virtuoso. Although they were used for all sorts of purposes, such as the construction of sugar <i>pieces montées</i> and other table decorations, many of these moulds were carved with motifs specifically intended for ornamenting twelfth cakes. I own two that were intended for making sugar crowns and one other which allowed a confectioner to construct a three-dimensional Prince of Wales Feathers complete with crown.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80flcM3OJgIt_k4J2o0I91L-ziPvqo9dBc0h_7bsahyPgoD77eGTHvmdTaLT1kzBhnuwXVN-wiw23w-friMxFcrUcGOWn9YIlFsEcWiyYkKIvux6tWlNpZnAu2nRN5C5WdnIhHLinufY/s1600/Crown+Mould.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80flcM3OJgIt_k4J2o0I91L-ziPvqo9dBc0h_7bsahyPgoD77eGTHvmdTaLT1kzBhnuwXVN-wiw23w-friMxFcrUcGOWn9YIlFsEcWiyYkKIvux6tWlNpZnAu2nRN5C5WdnIhHLinufY/s640/Crown+Mould.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">An eighteenth century boxwood mould which allows a three dimensional crown to be made up out of various components</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3wurunsPS0MK8H8-au1ALx-nPHr7gjppsVbdbgHvvsT78kqtOz6YlFlFOkaepLALGUyqSzkQ04hrd95XVI0OdN9-HThCE6UmbIIp3iUtIK-BgRj1v33Q3TJSv_NjAGU-lyIv1m6e9sY/s1600/Crowns+being+gilded.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3wurunsPS0MK8H8-au1ALx-nPHr7gjppsVbdbgHvvsT78kqtOz6YlFlFOkaepLALGUyqSzkQ04hrd95XVI0OdN9-HThCE6UmbIIp3iUtIK-BgRj1v33Q3TJSv_NjAGU-lyIv1m6e9sY/s640/Crowns+being+gilded.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Two sugar paste crowns made from the mould above in the process of being gilded</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeDtjLVaAtF0rKOAo2knUzhLBlhC_yDV35LVRQkNQo_h1gW7W33wH534NWe6PiwHZR795BRCus5GWD-KhkgA3-J8qWWujpJ-yfwaZxtojesrXw5vTi2GX9SxHNxUV9_dDt1sX_S8Nq-8/s1600/Cake+with+Northumberland+motifs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeDtjLVaAtF0rKOAo2knUzhLBlhC_yDV35LVRQkNQo_h1gW7W33wH534NWe6PiwHZR795BRCus5GWD-KhkgA3-J8qWWujpJ-yfwaZxtojesrXw5vTi2GX9SxHNxUV9_dDt1sX_S8Nq-8/s640/Cake+with+Northumberland+motifs.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">A twelfth cake made by students on my Confectionery and Sugarwork Course</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKt0PnObL0q32GsnGtB41l0xq_1KwuJEriMBfBOGLxrfrGqdQlwRYsricmpT0r8mQXpBKVKyqXZAREdV5XofncmRHcfko26krtrwIYLnutcXUMdhPye02g9yustlztWPokyy2HCTpiLKBn/s1600/crown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKt0PnObL0q32GsnGtB41l0xq_1KwuJEriMBfBOGLxrfrGqdQlwRYsricmpT0r8mQXpBKVKyqXZAREdV5XofncmRHcfko26krtrwIYLnutcXUMdhPye02g9yustlztWPokyy2HCTpiLKBn/s640/crown.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">An early nineteenth century gum paste mould for making a crown</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lmSgvR02VXVl8bPr6ayCtlvYT0wlIePdxK9CYhwsdDvpFN4AXPEkQ054tCHUlLZZxGjGilrqq0QYH7ZZfhpoP9HvMWQK1dKJbvt77t7-rH6iyTfSHDqDO9rmN3Nl7HYDjc51R8JFJmcQ/s1600/feathers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lmSgvR02VXVl8bPr6ayCtlvYT0wlIePdxK9CYhwsdDvpFN4AXPEkQ054tCHUlLZZxGjGilrqq0QYH7ZZfhpoP9HvMWQK1dKJbvt77t7-rH6iyTfSHDqDO9rmN3Nl7HYDjc51R8JFJmcQ/s640/feathers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">These two feathers are on the back of the mould indicating that it was used for making the Prince of Wales feathers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUlaMH9P372UAJha4JWaBabWhTwTzhNo51PWypAMH_oVsFQdMooEfYKhfSTolMmLhk1heBbWSxmhp8l7erIL_4YOEgwJLFF-n7mmEvr-LrRsLzUstKCgcKyuOTdZtjMGrprAml60noMY/s1600/feathers+and+mould.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUlaMH9P372UAJha4JWaBabWhTwTzhNo51PWypAMH_oVsFQdMooEfYKhfSTolMmLhk1heBbWSxmhp8l7erIL_4YOEgwJLFF-n7mmEvr-LrRsLzUstKCgcKyuOTdZtjMGrprAml60noMY/s640/feathers+and+mould.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Two feathers pressed from the mould. To create the curled effect, the feathers are stuck back to back, wired and furled round a small confectioner's rolling pin</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEindKqLK8sPPsHnhPFEUpNvv5FMS2jsm9h-Q95cS2KdvUaceaaU8_KF97Q1vKnKEk_HnOD3JuPqVjOSbd14b8aS2IhRnzm9IIdYnnxlsHKhfFqdc_3LvqK7p5uNn-vNfdlQW8rEgu899ts/s1600/Prince+of+Wales+Feathers+motif.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEindKqLK8sPPsHnhPFEUpNvv5FMS2jsm9h-Q95cS2KdvUaceaaU8_KF97Q1vKnKEk_HnOD3JuPqVjOSbd14b8aS2IhRnzm9IIdYnnxlsHKhfFqdc_3LvqK7p5uNn-vNfdlQW8rEgu899ts/s640/Prince+of+Wales+Feathers+motif.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">This is a close-up of a very finely carved Prince of Wales Feathers motif on a card mould from the late eighteenth century. It was used as a repeating relief motif in the top of the cake below</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0pVED2AZGpcNGFxmg6N2SW-j82rYDP5P4IXg1pmLPKQWf9R-hv81knqyuv_JRxlX215s4wgZS1xWSzMWjYfHRA05-JOfM8XZvWhLvnQ9UBzWH0-725-mbTdAAhp8shPN5cvuy1UQUc8/s1600/Twelfth+Cake1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0pVED2AZGpcNGFxmg6N2SW-j82rYDP5P4IXg1pmLPKQWf9R-hv81knqyuv_JRxlX215s4wgZS1xWSzMWjYfHRA05-JOfM8XZvWhLvnQ9UBzWH0-725-mbTdAAhp8shPN5cvuy1UQUc8/s640/Twelfth+Cake1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">Dominated by the Prince of Wales feathers, this twelfth cake has been ornamented with motifs pressed in gum paste from late eighteenth and early nineteenth century confectioner's moulds. The crown is surrounded with the national flowers of England, Scotland and Ireland and small relief Prince of Wales feathers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3-k2o-x8V5YsFs1fyx6yUELl6lleCwkMb0nRR15DK1duYVjineS7byjupSs03huRCmcbj609Vv0fxVeAvgw2apb8eEGn4FMgz51LWf5_rZK4Ez05Wi8HBJwl38aHoTOFCKT2qXNHlwk/s1600/card+mould.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3-k2o-x8V5YsFs1fyx6yUELl6lleCwkMb0nRR15DK1duYVjineS7byjupSs03huRCmcbj609Vv0fxVeAvgw2apb8eEGn4FMgz51LWf5_rZK4Ez05Wi8HBJwl38aHoTOFCKT2qXNHlwk/s640/card+mould.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">An eighteenth century card mould used to create the swags and drops around the cake. It also provided the flowers of England, Ireland and Scotland for the top of the cake </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4mCn1vEzx6Kjq8s8_N0U_gU32B_2EFGuAWZoZ_-vTaU4xx6ooKP13I1RFs41aU4Tb3-cEyu4BKAD0V75hhYxLDuLnRFTxuNJVl-M3V31o8uGpKAZU_WQ7aiUhzOUJ8njs0UsYLPTTIo/s1600/Soldiers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4mCn1vEzx6Kjq8s8_N0U_gU32B_2EFGuAWZoZ_-vTaU4xx6ooKP13I1RFs41aU4Tb3-cEyu4BKAD0V75hhYxLDuLnRFTxuNJVl-M3V31o8uGpKAZU_WQ7aiUhzOUJ8njs0UsYLPTTIo/s640/Soldiers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Difficult to see in this photograph, but the saddle covers on these horses are marked with GR. They probably date from the early 1820s. Attached back to back gum paste pressings of the two motifs were designed to be combined to make a three dimensional cavalry officer. Like most of these three dimensional features a stiff wire was run up one of the legs so the horse and rider could be attached securely to the cake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A detail from an early nineteenth century confectioner's trade card showing a twelfth cake surmounted by figures</td></tr>
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There are some other posts on twelfth cakes on this blog which you might enjoy reading -<br />
<a href="http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/a-forked-stick-for-cookold.html" target="_blank">A Forked Stick for the Cookold</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/this-years-twelfth-cake.html" target="_blank">This Year's Twelfth Cake</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.countryfile.com/countryside/evolution-country-christmas-dinner" target="_blank">An article Ivan wrote for BBC Countryfile Magazine on Christmas food traditions</a><br />
<br />Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8745493398948198755.post-66221291461948737682013-09-11T08:42:00.002-07:002013-09-11T08:57:17.516-07:00Banqueting Stuffe To Go<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have just finished making a table full of early modern period sweetmeats for a BBC production which will chart the arrival of Renaissance culture in England. It will all be dispatched in some carefully packed pizza boxes I have scrounged from the local take away. The photo above shows an assemblage of 'banqueting stuffe' typical of the late sixteenth and seventeenth century. On the large charger on the left are 'cinnamon letters according to arte', jumbals, printed bisket, Shropshire cakes, Naples bisket, artificial walnuts, rolled wafers and date leach. At the back two edible sugar tazze are covered with marchpane in collops, muscadines, white gingerbread, sugar plate playing cards and comfits. To the right of the white hart marchpane is a gilded and painted sugar plate trencher copied from one made of beechwood in the British Museum collection. The white gingerbread figures were printed from an original early Stuart mould in my collection and made from a recipe in Lady Anne Clifford's receipt book in the BL. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White gingerbread figures</td></tr>
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There are two edible sugar tazze. One is in Venetian style, the other inspired by the wonderful designs for salts and tazze supported by dolphins by Giulio Romano in the Fitzwilliam Museum. I am truly fortunate in owning a remarkable wooden mould designed to make a tazza of this kind. Next month, I am running a course on sugarwork and confectionery (full up I am afraid) and my students will get a chance to have a go at making one of these themselves.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sugar tazza in the style of Giulio Romano - moulds below</td></tr>
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Ivan Dayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03500437663759868535noreply@blogger.com9