Tagged ‘ginger’

Bag of Pudding

May 18th, 2013 by KM Wall

Not just any bag – the pudding bag! Pudding in a bag? Isn’t that messy? Not if you know how it’s done.

Possible the most famous bag pudding is the Christmas Pudding that Mrs Cratchit serves in Dicken’s The Christmas Carol:

“Mrs Cratchit left the room alone — too nervous to bear witnesses — to take the pudding up and bring it in… Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper which smells like a washing-day. That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastrycook’s next door to each other, with a laundress’s next door to that. That was the pudding. In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered — flushed, but smiling proudly — with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quarter of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.”

 

 

Christmas Pudding - IN A BAG

Christmas Pudding – IN A BAG

Often the bag is a linen napkin ……. bag is a verb as well as a noun…..

Bag Pudding (OED)

[f. BAGn.1 + PUDDING.]

1. A pudding boiled in a bag.
1598 in FLORIO. 1600HEYWOOD1 Edw. IV, Wks. 1874 I 47 Thou shalt be welcome to beef and bacon, and perhaps a bag-pudding.

1641W. CARTWRIGHTOrdinary II. i, A solemn son of Bagpudding and Pottage.

And if there’s bag pudding, could pudding bag be far behind?

 

Puddingbag (OED)

A bag in which a pudding is boiled. Also transf. and fig. Cf. pudding-poke.

c1597 T. DELONEY Jack of Newberie (1619) iv. sig. G3, The other maide..with the perfume in the pudding-bagge, flapt him about the face.

1626 in NARES (Halliw.), [A piece of Sail-cloth] about half a yard long, of the breadth of a pudding-bag.

And now for what very well be the most comprehensive pudding recipe in any English cookbook ever, no matter the century. I have added the numbered and letter divisions to help you keep track of the possibilities:

Oatmeal Puddings, otherwise of Fish or Flesh Blood.

Take a quart of whole Oatmeal, steep it in warm Milk overnight, and then drain the groats from it, boil them in a quart or three  pints of good Cream; then the Oatmeal being boyled and cold have Tyme, Penny-royal, Parslee, Spinnage, Savory, Endive, Marjoram, Sorrel, Succory, and Strawberry-leaves of each a little quantity, chop them fine and put them to the Oatmeal, with some Fennel-seeds, Pepper, Cloves, Mace, and Salt,

  1. boyl it in a Napkin,

  2. or bake it in a Dish,

  3. Pie,

  4. or Guts:

    1. sometimes of the former Pudding you may leave out some of the herbs, and add these, Pennyroyal, Savory, Leeks, a good bigg Onion, Sage, Ginger, Nutmeg, Pepper, Salt, either for fish or flesh dayes, with Butter or Beef-suet, boyled or baked in Dish, Napkin, or Pie

1661. William Rabisha.  The Whole Body of Cookery Dissected. p. 184.

 

Rag Pudding - a 20th century dish that may hearken back to the 19th century, but is a pudding in a pie

Rag Pudding – a 20th century dish that may hearken back to the 19th century, but is a pudding in a pie

 

You are he that did eat the pudding and the bag.

Proverbs Collected by J. H. Esqr. London 1659

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Three Rice tarts

May 14th, 2013 by KM Wall

Three tarts of rice, each a little different. They were in three columns to compare and contrast, but they don’t want to seem to stay that way. Sigh.

But the line divisions did remain, so compare away.

BTW – Oranges are pretty unlikely for New England in 1627, but rice is a common commodity on ships; eggs easy to come by in May; and milk – from goats, if not from cows – would be new enough to New England, and still scarce enough to be special .

To make a Tart of Ryce.

Boyle your Rice,

and put in the yolkes of two or three Egges into the Rice,

and when it is boyled, put it into a dish,

and season it with Suger, Sinamon

and Ginger,

and butter,

and the juyce of two or three Orenges,

and set it on the fire againe.

1596. T. Dawson. The Good Housewifes Jewell

 

 

To make a Tart of Rice.

Boyle your Rice, and pour it into a Cullender, then season it with Cinnamon,

Nutmeg,

Ginger,

and Pepper,

and Sugar,

the yolkes of three or four Eggs,

then put it into your Tart with the juyce of an Orange,

then close it, bake it, and ice it,

scrape on Sugar,

and serve it.

1653. W.I. A True Gentlewomans Delight.: 1991.p. 51.

 

To make a Tart of Rice.

Boil the rice in milk or cream, being tender boil’d pour it into a dish, & season it with nutmeg,

ginger,

cinnamon,

pepper,

salt,

sugar,

and the yolks of six eggs, put it in the tart with some juyce of orange; close it up and bake it, being baked scrape on sugar,

and so serve it up.

1671. Robert May. The Accomplist Cook (third edition). p.245.

pies

Now we tend to think of tarts as being open, and pies being closed, even though there are pies without a top crust….think lemon meringue, coconut cream, tarte tartin ,….

Thomas Dawson doesn’t mention pastry or baking, yet both W.I and Robert May have an upper crust as in, “close it, bake, it, ice it” and “close it up and bake it”.

There are clearly tarts with tops on.

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Tart of Ryce

April 1st, 2013 by KM Wall

 

rice

rice

 

1596. T. Dawson. The Good Housewifes Jewell.

To make a Tart of Ryce.

Boyle your Rice, and put in the yolkes of two or three Egges into the Rice, and when it is boyled, put it into a dish, and season it with Suger, Sinamon and Ginger, and butter, and the juyce of two or three Orenges, and set it on the fire againe.

 

1653. W.I. A True Gentlewomans Delight. Falconwood Press: 1991.p. 51.

Still Life of a roast chicken blah blah blah and an ORANGE

Still Life of a roast bird blah blah blah and an ORANGE

To make a Tart of Rice.

Boyle your Rice, and pour it into a Cullender, then season it with Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, and Pepper, and Sugar, the yolkes of three or four Eggs, then put it into your Tart with the juyce of an Orange, then close it, bake it, and ice it, scrape on Sugar, and serve it.

1654. Jos. Cooper. The Art of Cookery. London. p. 138.

Portuguese baked rice pudding

Portuguese baked rice pudding

How to make a Rice–pudding baked.

Boyle the Rice tender with Milke, and season it with Nutmeg or Mace, Rosewater, Sugar, yolks of Eggs, with half the whites, with grated Bread, and Marrow minced, with Ambergriece (if you please) temper them well together, and bake it in a dish buttered.

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Potato of Canada

January 11th, 2013 by KM Wall

The Story of the English Underground, Colonial Edition.cont

 

Jerusalem artichoke

from the OED:
2. Jerusalem Artichoke: a species of Sunflower (Helianthus tuberosus), a native of tropical America, cultivated in Europe, having edible tuberous roots, somewhat resembling the Artichoke proper in flavour.
‘The name of Jerusalem Artichoke is considered to be a corruption of the Italian Girasóle Articiocco or Sunflower Artichoke, under which name it is said to have been distributed from the Farnese garden at Rome, soon after its introduction to Europe in 1617.’ W. B. Booth in Treas. Bot.
1620 VENNER Via Recta vii. 134 Artichocks of Ierusalem, is a roote vsually eaten with butter, vinegar, and pepper.

1641 R. BROOKE Nat. Eng. Episc. I. iv. 16 Error being like the Jerusalem-Artichoake; plant it where you will, it overrunnes the ground and choakes the Heart.

also in New England:
Champlain at Nauset, 1605
“…and roots which they [Natives] cultivate, the later having the taste of an artichoke.” in Sailor’s Narratives, p. 87.

Jerusalem artichoke before they reach 7' tall and sprout yellow flowers

Gookin, 1674
“Also they [natives] mix with the _____ pottage several sorts of roots; as Jerusalem artichokes, and ground nuts and other roots…”

“We in England, from some ignorant and idle head, haue called them Artichokes of Jerusalem, only because the roote, being boyled, is in taste like the bottome of an Artichoke head: but they may most fitly be called, Potaoes of Canada, because their rootes are in some forme, colour and taste, like unto the Potatos of Virginia, but greater, and the French brought them first from Canada into these parts)…

 

“…but after they [the stalks] be withered, and so all the winter long vntill the Spring againe, they are good, and fit to bee taken vp and vsed, which are a number of tuberous round rootes, growing close together; so that it hath been obserued, that from one roote, being set in the Spring, there hath been forty or more taken up againe, and to haue ouer-filled a pecke measure, and are of a pleasant good taste as many haue tryed.”

-Parkinson, p. 518.

 

Jerusalem artichokes - the root part you eat (and why Parkinson calls them Potatoes of Canada)

The naming confusion continues – now (as in this morning) you can find them called :

  • sunchokes
  • sunroots
  • topinambour
  • earth apples

“The rootes are dressed diverse waies;

some boil them in water, and after stew them with sacke and butter, adding a little Ginger:

others bake them in pies, putting Marrow, Dates, Ginger, Raisons of the Sun, &c.

Others some other way, as they are led by their skill in Cookerie.

But in my judgement, which way soever they be drest and eaten they stir and cause a filthie loathesome stinking winde within the bodie, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented…

1633. John Gerard The Herbal p. 754

 

 


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Twelth Night

January 5th, 2013 by KM Wall

TWELFTH NIGHT : OR, KING AND QUEEN.
by Robert Herrick

NOW, now the mirth comes
With the cake full of plums,
Where bean’s the king of the sport here ;
Beside we must know,
The pea also
Must revel, as queen, in the court here.

Begin then to choose,
This night as ye use,
Who shall for the present delight here,
Be a king by the lot,
And who shall not
Be Twelfth-day queen for the night here.

Which known, let us make
Joy-sops with the cake ;
And let not a man then be seen here,
Who unurg’d will not drink
To the base from the brink
A health to the king and queen here.

Next crown a bowl full
With gentle lamb’s wool :
Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,
With store of ale too ;
And thus ye must do
To make the wassail a swinger.

Give then to the king
And queen wassailing :
And though with ale ye be whet here,
Yet part from hence
As free from offence
As when ye innocent met here.

 

J. Greaze - Gateau au Rois

I know- wrong country, wrong century and you can hardly see the cake….

This is a modern Kingcake, not an early modern babycake.

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Three French Hens

December 28th, 2012 by KM Wall

Faverolles cock and hen

One. One French hen…and one handsome boy-chick. But in the recipe you could easily use three.

To boyle Chickens after the French fashion.

Quarter the Chickens in four peeces: then take after the rate of a pinte of wine for two chickens: then take time & parsley as small minced as ye can, and foure or five Dates, with the yolkes of foure hard Egges, and let this boil together, and when you will season your pot, put in salt, sinamon and Ginger, and seve it foorth.

1594. Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin. Stuart Press: p. 65.

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Drink: Buttered Beer

December 21st, 2012 by KM Wall

 

The Brewer

To make Buttered Beere

Take three pintes of Beere, put five yolkes of Egges to it, straine them together, and set it in a pewter pot to the fyre, and put to it halfe a pound of Sugar, one penniworth of Nutmegs beaten, one penniworth of Cloves beaten, and a halfepenniworth of Ginger beaten, and when it is all in, take another pewter pot and brewe them together, and set it to the fire againe, and when it is readie to boyle, take it from the fire, and put a dish of sweet butter into it, and brewe them together out of one pot into an other.

-1588. The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin.

 

Jan van de Velde

Buttered Beer.

Take beer or ale and boil it, then scum it, and put to it some liquorish and anniseeds, boil them well together; then have in a clean flaggon or quart pot some yolks of eggs well beaten with some of the foresaid beer, and some good butter; strain your butter’d beer, put it in the flaggon, and brew it with the butter and eggs

Buttered Beer or Ale otherways.

Boil beer or ale and scum it, then have six eggs, whites and all, and beat them in a flaggon or quart pot with the shells, some butter, sugar, and nutmeg, put them together, and being well brewed, drink it when you go to bed.

Otherways.

Take three pints of beer or ale, put five yolks of eggs to it, strain them together, and set it in a pewter pot to the fire, put to it half a pound of sugar, a penniworth of beaten nutmeg, as much beaten cloves, half an ounce of beaten ginger, and bread it.

- 1664. Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook.

 

Jan Steen -The Drinker - 1660 The Hermitage

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Idolatry in a crust

December 20th, 2012 by KM Wall

A modern mince pie

Mincemeat, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, was in fact, minced meat. Usually beef, sometime mutton, occasionally veal. Not just the meaty bits we now buy – sometimes tongue as well. But meat alone isn’t mincemeat. It also had copious amounts of raisins (a/k/a ‘raisins of the sunne’) and currents and sometimes dates and prunes, as well as generous amounts of spices and sugar. The weight of the dried fruit might equal or exceed the weight of the meat, and in the 1620 the raisins were much more expensive per ounce then the meat was.
Suet isn’t something we cook much with any more, but fat is another component of the mince pie. The fat is what makes it rich. During the 1700′s butter starts to come in as the fat of choice, and by the 20th century seems to be more common.
If I were making this mincemeat at home (and I have) I would take three pounds of beef, one to one and a half pounds of butter, three pounds of dried fruit, all cut small and well mixed (and be grateful that I don’t have to pick stems off the raisins and take the stones out of them) with some orange peel (two or three oranges worth – well washed, preferably organically grown oranges). Salt, pepper, cloves (this can be strong – not too much) and mace (or nutmeg if you have that – they have a very similar flavor profile). Put it into pastry – you can use pie pans if you want, sprinkle more sugar on top and bake them in your oven.
If you want to risk idolatry, make little rectangle pies and have them symbolize the manger where the Christ child was born. If you don’t want to fall into idolatry, make little rectangle pies just because they’re fun. You could even use frozen puff pastry and ‘let your soul delight in fatness’. And if you want to be thoroughly superstitious, go out on each of the Twelve Days of Christmas to a different house and eat a mince pie in each one to have good luck for each of the twelve months in the year ahead.

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Secret Life of Beets:Lumdardy Tarts Revisited

December 10th, 2012 by KM Wall

So, back to Lumdardy tarts…..

If beets are as likely the leafy green, what is a lumdardy? Years later, even after an update and revision and going on-line, the closest the OED gets to Lumdardy is Lumbard – is this a case of close enough?

lumbard

4.Cookery. [ellipt.: see B. 2.] Some kind of dish or culinary preparation. Obs.

1657REEVEGod’s Plea 130 The Hoga’s, and Olies, and Lumbards of these times.

Not terribly descriptive….but there’s more:

2.Cookery. In certain AF. names of dishes as leche lumbard (see LEACHn.1 2); frutour lumbard [frutour = FRITTER]; rys lumbard [F. ris sweetbread]. Also in lombard pie (see LUMBER-PIE).

?c1390 [see LEACHn.1 2]. c1430Two Cookery-bks. 35 Leche lumbarde. 1452Reliq. Ant. I. 88 Frutour lumbert..Lesshe lumbert. 1466-7Durh. Acct. Rolls (Surtees) 91 Et in 2 lib. dell powderlomberd empt. de eodem, 3s. 3d. 14..Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 438 Rys Lumbarde.Leche Lumbarde.

So on to Lumber-pie…

Lumber-pie

Also lumbar-pie. [See LOMBARDa. 2.]

A savoury pie made of meat or fish and eggs.

1656 MARNETTÈ Perf. Cook II. 1 To make a Lumbar Pye. Take three pound of Mutton [etc.]. 1663 in Jupp Acc. Carpenters’ Comp. (1848) 206 It is..ordered..that the provision be as followeth; vizt..Roast Turkey, Lumberpie, Capon, Custurd, and codling tart. 1688R. HOLMEArmoury III. 83/1 Lumber pie, made of Flesh or Fish minced and made in Balls..with Eggs..and so Baked in a Pye with Butter. 1694MOTTEUXRabelais (1737) IV. lix. 243 Lumber-Pyes, with hot Sauce. 17..E. SMITHCompl. House wife (1750) 150 To make a Lumber pye. Take a pound and a half of veal, &c. 1849W. H. AINSWORTHLanc. Witches III. ix, There were lumbar pies, marrow pies, quince pies [etc.].

Still unclear, but….one never knows what causes light to dawn over Marblehead….

Hit the books – check. Now it’s time to get back into the kitchen.

So, beets as a leafy green – check . Grated bread still seems to be breadcrumbs – check.

Cheese – what would cheese be????

One named cheese that comes up from time to time is variations of ‘Parmysent‘ – Parmesan? The same cheese I would shake over my spaghetti and meatballs at school lunch? The same cheese I now buy in wedges and save the rinds to add to my pasta fazoole? It would fit the pattern of the so-called ‘Old Cheese‘ that is also sometimes mentioned.

This combination of Swiss Chard, breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese sounds vague familiar…what does it remind me of?

Lets cut some beets and go back to the kitchen…..

Beets, cut November 30th...

 

How to make Lumbardy Tarts

Take beets, chop them small, and to them put grated bread and cheese, and mingle them wel in the chopping.  Take a few corrans, and a dishe of sweet butter, and melt it.  Then stir al these in the butter, together with three yolkes of egges, sinamon, ginger, and sugar, and make your tart as large as you will, and fill it with the stuffe, bake it, and serve it in.

1588. The Good Huswifes Handemaide

 

And now my translation:

 

One bunch swiss chard

Breadcrumbs (plain)

Grated Parmesan cheese

Currants or raisins

Butter

3 egg yolks

cinnamon

ginger

sugar

 

Pastry for a top and bottom for a 9 or 10 inch pie.

Wash and dry the Swiss chard carefully. Pull of any sad or buggy bits. Cut off the stems and save for a side dish. Chop the leafy parts very small, nothing larger then ½ square.

Melt 2 – 4 tablespoons of butter; when somewhat cool beat the 3 egg yolks. Toss the butter/egg yolk mix with the chopped Swiss chard. Add enough breadcrumbs so sop up all the liquid (two or three handfuls – it depends on the size of your eggs and the how juicy the Swiss chard). Add enough grated cheese to make it smell good (it depends on how strong your cheese and how much you like it). Add a handful of raisins. If you like things sweet add one or two more handfuls. Mix together ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ginger and ½ teaspoon sugar. Mix everything all together. Smell it and decide – more cinnamon? More ginger? Make it good!

Put this lovely stuff in a pastry lined pie pan and cover with a top crust. Cut some vents for the steam to escape. Bake in a 375 oven for ½ hour. Turn down the heat to 350 until it is done – the pastry should be golden brown-tan and the filling should be a darker, denser green and it should smell wonderful.

Cool on a rack. Serve at room temperature.

 

Jan Steen - The Fat Kitchen (notice the woman eating the pie with her fingers!)

The minute the cheese and the Swiss Chard were mixed together it hit me – tortellini. It smelled like tortellini. If the cinnamon and ginger  were nutmeg….Could Lumdary Tart be a giant early modern English tortellini? Oh, the mysteries of of food. Oh, the power of smell to invoke memory.

Here in Plymouth now, talk  of tortellini  means  it must be getting close to Christmas…..and so it is.

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The Secret Life of Beets

December 7th, 2012 by KM Wall

Chapter One.

Lumdardy Tart.

How to make Lumbardy Tarts

Take beets, chop them small, and to them put grated bread and cheese, and mingle them wel in the chopping.  Take a few corrans, and a dishe of sweet butter, and melt it.  Then stir al these in the butter, together with three yolkes of egges, sinamon, ginger, and sugar, and make your tart as large as you will, and fill it with the stuffe, bake it, and serve it in.

-1588. The Good Huswives Handemaide.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago in a place not so far away.…

So there I was with my pilgrim sister and future pilgrim sister. Just what was a Lumdardy? The Oxford English Dictionary – several of us had joined a book of the month club because a copy of the condensed version – complete with magnifying glass – was the welcome gift – had no better answer then we did.

But, we were young and we had beets – lots of beets. It had been a great year for beets. And, really, what could this tart be but an olde-timey version of a vegetable quiche. Right?

Enter, stage right, Myrtle Winslow. Myrtle was a lovely lady who had retired about the time most of us youngun’s were just being born. She also liked to whitewater raft and road her bike all along Cape Cod, a trip of dozens , if not scores of miles, being fairly ordinary. She could cram more movement in after a full days work then many of us could even contemplate for a weekend. I never felt more sluggish then near her. But she was also whip-smart and kind and wise and thoroughly no-nonsense. And kind.

She was also the best gardener. She had a vested interest – she was also a vegetarian. So it was her beautiful red beets that we harvested. She thought that they’d be easier to chop if they were boiled first – seemed reasonable. Even someone with a small amount (and we had no idea just how small at that time) of time with 17th century recipes knows that they can be frustratingly lacking in real basic details.

Beet boiled, skinned and chopped. A pile of vegetable rubies.

The some grated bread – we were using a cornbread – a skillet cornbread made with sour milk….if it sounds a little frontier, well, that’s another story. Golden-yellow bread crumbs. (Golden yellow breadcrumbs)

As for the cheese, we had been given some chedderish bit, from the local supermarket, a lovely orange shade.

Then we added butter and currents, which were actually raisins; three egg yolks from our hens, fresh laid and the color of the sun; but it didn’t seem like enough to make the quiche like dish we thought we OUGHT to be making, so we adding 4 or 5 other eggs…….

The came the spice, and it all went into a pastry coffin. I’m pretty sure that we baked it in a Dutch oven on the hearth, but we did have an outdoor clay oven then, so if someone else was baking – and we baked pretty much every day back then, we might have thrown it in with the bread, but I don’t think so.

And when it was done – did I mention that we all assumed that since it was a tart, it wouldn’t have a top on? – it was fragrant and truly beautiful. Gloriously striking. A color unlike any other, unless you’ve been a bridemaid in a seventies wedding….

And we had to wonder – if there were instructions to make a tart carry the color white (cream and egg whites) and another for a tart to carry the color yellow (cream and egg yolk, and sometimes saffron) and to carry the color black (prunes, stewed) and green (spinach or other herbs) –

WHY WAS THIS TART NOT NOTED FOR IT’S COLOR??  and then

WHAT WAS IT THAT WEREN’T UNDERSTANDING??

It was delicious, but we decided we needed to do a little more research before trying it again.

Tomorrow – Chapter Two.

Seems like a good time to remind that that subscribers get Pilgrim Seasonings right in their in box, just put your e-mail address in the little space and don’t miss the next episode of

The Secret Life of Beets


 

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