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| The Old Foodie |
| The Old Foodie gives you 400 words each weeday on a food history topic related to the day, plus a historic recipe and sometimes a historic menu. |
| Language: English |
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| The Magazine of Taste. |
| 2008-05-11 14:30:00 |
May 12 ...The wonderfully eccentric Dr. William Kitchener (1775-1827), author of the best-selling The Cook’s Oracle (1817) was an unusual host for the time. He actually did the cooking for his guests, or at least had a substantial hand in the cooking. He was also an absolute stickler for punctuality on the part of dinner guests to the extent that the door was locked and late guests not admitted after the appointed hour. On this day in 1826, he wrote to one of his regular guests, William Brockedon. My dear Sir,The Honor of Your Company is requested to dine with The Committee of Taste, on Monday May 22nd.The Specimens will be placed upon the table at Half past Five o’ Clock precisely, when the Business of the Day will immediately commence. I have the Honor to be, Your most obedien...
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| A fig for some liver. |
| 2008-05-08 15:00:00 |
May 9 ... Yesterday’s post stimulated a little email feedback on the topic of liver – and the tone was not enthusiastic. Offal-phobes seem more inclined to voice their phobias than liver-philes do their philes (?). I am not sure why this is, but am pretty sure that even liver-haters will enjoy the story of why liver in Italian is called fegato. Fegato comes from the Latin word ficatum, meaning figs – and an entire culinary story is encased in that one word. For at least two and a half thousand years humans have fattened geese on figs specifically for the purpose of enjoying their fat livers (foies gras if you like). So, the figs became livers lingistically as well as biologically. Nice, isnt it? Liver is one of the few foods that has a place ...
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| Using your brains. |
| 2008-05-07 14:30:00 |
May 7 ... Today, if you will excuse a reverse of the usual sequence of events, I wish to start with a recipe. It will speak for itself, I believe. Sauces for a Pig.When you have cut up the pig, take out the brains and chop them, put them into a stew-pan with half a pint of white broth or gravy, the seasoning in the inside, and the gravy that comes from the pig, put a little flour and butter in to thicken it, and as quick as you can give it a boil up, and put it in the dish under the pig.[The English Art of Cookery, According to the Present Practice. Richard Brigg. 1788] Often, very old recipes have something about them that suggests the very modern – recipes that have at their heart some idea that would not be out of place at the sharpest cutt...
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| Poetic Smells. |
| 2008-05-06 14:48:00 |
May 6 ... It so happens that Christopher Morley, the poet who gave us yesterday’s quotation was born on this day in 1890. We should honour him by considering ‘onions fried and deeply browned.’ There is little doubt that onions are good for you – the evidence is building for the protective effects of onions against a whole range of malignancies including prostate and bowel cancer – although it has to be admitted, that such evidence as there is does not point to ‘onions fried and deeply browned.’ Fried onions: the smell of hot fat, caramelised sugar, and osmazome/umami. Resistance is futile – biology says so. We are programmed to salivate at the smell and seek out the source. There are always a few kill-joys around however, so let us get their opinions out of the wa...
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| An important flavour. |
| 2008-05-05 14:30:00 |
May 4 Nineteenth century scientist became intrigued by a substance that they referred to as ‘osmazome’. Osmazome was a substance - or perhaps it was a concept - that had been recogniseable to gourmets everywhere for ever, but was difficult to pin down. Was it a taste? A smell? A single substance? A combination of substances? It was first given its name by a French scientist, M. Thénard, in first few years of the nineteenth century, and was finally defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “A name formerly given to that substance or mixture of substances soluble in water and alcohol which gives meat its flavour and smell; (more generally) meat juice or extract.” Brillat-Savarin, in his Physiology of Taste, described it thus: ...
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| Potato and Cheese. |
| 2008-05-04 16:05:00 |
May 3 ... Any dish containing both potato and cheese has got to be good, right? Instead of potato AND cheese, how about ‘potato cheese’? Potato cheese is just what it sounds like – cheese made with the inclusion of potato. Cant be bad, can it? I only discovered this concept recently, although it is apparently moderately old – and I have yet to actually try it. If you know anything about it, do please let us all know via the comments. In the meanwhile, here are my scattered gleanings on the topic. There are a number of references in English writings of the nineteenth century to ‘potato cheese’ from Germany or the Savoy region. Some recipes sound more like a fermented cheesy potato pancake rather than a potatoey cheese. From a magazi...
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| Luncheon with the Royals. |
| 2008-05-01 15:21:00 |
May 2 ... Russian salad is the puzzle of the day today. It did not start out as a puzzle, it started out as one of the dishes served to the King and Queen, and the Duke and Duckess of York on this day in 1924 – and I thought it was about time I gave you another historic menu. The royals were making an ‘informal inspection’ of the palaces at the British Empire Exhibition being held at Wembley – the Palaces of Industry, Engineering etc that is. After four hours of touring the exhibits ‘almost as precisely as ordinary visitors do’, they were allowed a luncheon break before continuing their inspection. This was the luncheon menu: Les Canapes souveraine.--Les petites soles Colbert.--Les côtes d’agneau double g...
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| Pepys' Porke. |
| 2008-04-30 14:30:00 |
May 1 ... My old friend Samuel Pepys gives me my story today, as he has done so often in the past. It was common in his time to give and receive spontaneous ‘gifts’ of food – and there are frequent mentions in his diary of the exchange of such things as haunches of venison, swans, fruit, and barrels of oysters and sturgeon. On this day in 1663 he was slightly puzzled by a gift of pork: “This day Capt. Grove sent me a side of porke, which was the oddest present, sure, that ever made to any man; and the next, I remember I told my wife, I believe would be a pound of candles or a shoulder of mutton. But the fellow doth it in kindness and is one I am beholding to.” I don’t know why Sam thought a present of pork was odd. Perhaps for a slightly snobby recipient it was too cl...
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| More Fairy Food. |
| 2008-04-29 14:34:00 |
April 30 ...Yesterday’s find of eighteenth century Fairy Butter delighted me, although I am not sure why – perhaps because it is a is a fun recipe from a time when cookbook writers were not at all frivolous. What do fairies eat, really? I have no idea, but I am informed that if you leave food out for them, should there appear to be any leftovers next morning - avoid the temptation to scoff them yourself – do not even feed them to the domestic animals, - for the fairies have taken all the substance from your gift. As for Fairy Butter, it appears that fairies do indeed have a thing for that mellow yellow grease. On May Day (tomorrow), they are entitled to steal any butter left unattended – so unless you can keep y...
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| Butter to follow the Bread. |
| 2008-04-28 14:30:00 |
April 29 ... Butter is the natural corollary to bread. After several - Nay! - Numerous bread stories over the last couple of years, I am finally induced to write about the lovely, pure, vitamin-rich (A and D), all-natural and very tasty yellow grease. Olive Oil may be all very well and equally pure and natural, but you cant make decent pastry and cakes with olive oil. Butter’s only crime is that it is currently politically-nutritionally incorrect. As for its substitute, the awful yellowish grease called m..g….e, – to paraphrase someone whose name escapes me – Who do you trust most, cows or factories? Margarine has been described as being only one step away from plastic, and I for one believe it. In less enli...
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| Bread and Mutiny. |
| 2008-04-27 14:36:00 |
April 28 ... Today is the anniversary in 1789 of the Mutiny on the Bounty. In case you haven’t read the books or seen the movies, the famous incident took place during a voyage whose purpose was to transport breadfruit trees to the West Indies to provide slave food. The mutiny was led by the infamous Fletcher Christian against Captain William Bligh – and was triggered, they say, by Bligh’s allocation of some of the scarce water supply to keep the breadfruit trees alive – or maybe it was the mutineers preference for returning to the temptations of Tahiti. The significance of the breadfruit (which was the subject of a previous story) is revealed in its name. It is, or was, the ‘bread’ – that is, the starchy staple – of the areas where it ...
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| Anzac Day. |
| 2008-04-24 18:31:00 |
April 25 ... Today is Anzac Day in Australia, the day that we pay homage to the brave men who fought and died at Gallipoli. It is a public holiday, so there will be many picnics and BBQ’s later in the day. Anzac biscuits are the food most associated with the day, and we have looked at their history on a previous Anzac Day (see the links below), so today I give you a couple of recipes with Aussie names, just for fun. They are proof of the idea that each nation re-names the classics in its own honour – the following could just as easily be Irish Stew and Fruit Bread. They are from an undated version of The Coronation Cookery Book, compiled by the Country Women’s Association of NSW. Drovers Dream.Flour and season 6 thick shoulder chops, place in a casserole. Fry 1 medium s...
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| Freudian Food. |
| 2008-04-23 14:37:00 |
April 24 … Clement Freud, grandson of Sigmund, politician, celebrity chef, restaurateur, and food writer was born on this day in 1924. He is responsible for more than his fair share of quotable quotes, which seems like a good place to start today’s story. “In moments of considerable strain, I tend to take to bread-and-butter pudding. There is something about the blandness of soggy bread, the crispness of the golden outer crust and the unadulterated pleasure of a lightly set custard that makes the world seem a better place to live.” “If you resolve to give up smoking, drinking and loving, you don't actually live longer; it just seems longer.” “Congealed fat is pretty much the same, irrespective of the delicacy around which it is conc...
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| St.George's Day. |
| 2008-04-22 14:29:00 |
April 23 ... It is St George’s Day today, and all over the world the legendary dragon-slayer is celebrated with special dishes and big dinners – or at least, he used to be. Not so much fuss is made of him in modern times. Perhaps we have so many more – and more animated – superheroes to choose from nowadays. In New York, on this day in 1880, the St George’s Society held their ninety-fourth anniversary dinner at Delmonico’s. Some trouble had clearly been gone to to anglicise the menu, at least in the naming of the dishes. This was the bill of fare: OystersSoupsBritannia Mock Turtle FishSalmon, lobster sauceGreen Peas--Roast Ribs of Beef. Chicken with Mushrooms.Boiled Potatoes. TomatoesLamb Scollop...
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| Table d’Hôte. |
| 2008-04-21 15:00:00 |
April 22 ... A New Zealand newspaper carried the following amusing little story one day in 1895, under the heading “Table Dottie”. A little time ago, on one of the Cunard boats, one of the crew (while the passengers were at dinner) picked up a menu , and, seeing on the top "Table d'hote" inquired of one of his mates the meaning of it".. "What does this 'ere mean, Joe ? " Joe, taking the menu gazed on it with a puzzled air, scratched his head, and said : "I can't make nothing of it. Let's go to old Coffin ; he's a scholard, and sure to know." On giving the menu to the boatswain he thoughtfully stroked his chin, and said: "Well, lock 'ere, mates ; it's like this 'ere. Them swells down in the saloon haves some soup, a bit of fish, a bit of this, and a bit of that, and a bit o...
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| Curry Crime. |
| 2008-04-20 14:27:00 |
April 21 ...Compared with, say, those of Charles Dickens, the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle are pretty minimalist in terms of food references. Charles Dickens’ stories with the food removed would be diminished indeed, but one could be forgiven for believing that food was of no importance at all to Sherlock Holmes. Unless the food is a clue towards solving a dastardly crime, of course. In Silver Blaze, Sherlock quickly realises that a mutton curry is crucial to solving the mystery of the disappearance of the favourite runner for the Wessex Cup, and the murder of its trainer. He explains to the ever-present Watson: “It was the first link in my chain of reasoning. Powdered opium is by no means tasteless. The flavour is not disagreeable, but it is p...
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| Cake in Imitation of a Haunch of Lamb. |
| 2008-04-19 15:32:00 |
The amazing T.W Barritt has done it again. He has created a Retro Cake that is so Retro it must be due for a come-back - except that few would have the skill or patience to construct it. His Cake in Imitation of a Haunch of Lamb, inspired by a recipe in Theodore Garrett's late ninteenth century Encyclopaedia of Cookery, is HERE. While you are visiting, do check out his other Retro Cakes. Surely they are worth publishing in a real book?...
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| Mock Food No. 5 |
| 2008-04-17 15:19:00 |
April 18 ... I have saved the best till last for you this week. I have had to make some tough choices. Sadly, in the morning rush (I have been writing on the fly this week, not in organised-ahead fashion), my computer has mislaid the recipe for Mock Tapioca that I know you would have loved. Firstly, I give you a mock chicken recipe using up all those fish sounds you probably have languishing in your freezer, as you are probably tired of Eliza Acton’s recipe for them by now. Cod Sounds to look like small Chickens.A good maigre-day dish. Wash three large sounds nicely,, and boil in milk and water, but not too tender; when cold, put a forcemeat of chopped oysters, crums of bread, a bit of butter, nutmeg, pepper, salt, and the yolk...
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| Mock Food No. 4 |
| 2008-04-16 14:30:00 |
April 17 ... In view of the pre-occupation with finding acceptable Lenten substitutes for meat, it might be expected that ‘mock fish’ or ‘mock seafood’ would not be common historically. It would be an incorrect assumption, but once the idea is grasped, it is obvious that only the more desirable fish and seafood would be imitated. I don’t remember ever seeing a recipe for ‘mock flake’ (shark meat to you non-Aussies), or ‘mock flathead’. There is a wonderfully apocryphal story about the ancient king Nicomedes’ cook, who, when his master called for anchovies in spite of the fact that he and his army were stationed many miles from the ocean, mocked some up from strips of salted turnips – each s...
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| Mock Food No. 3 |
| 2008-04-15 14:33:00 |
April 16 The very strict dietary rules decreed for hundreds of years by the Christian Church were a very powerful inspiration for fake food. At some times in history almost half the days of the year were ‘fish’ days. There were multiple and overlapping reasons for this. The prevailing idea was that ‘flesh’ food stimulated bodily heat and lust, whereas fish, which came from the water was cooling, including cooling to the passions. The fact that fish do not have an observable sex life enhanced the belief that it was more suitable for times of religious observance when distracting thoughts were best kept to a minimum – and for those in religious orders, that meant all the time. There were economic and political reasons too: encouraging fish consum...
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| Mock Food No. 2 |
| 2008-04-14 14:30:00 |
April 15 ... The feedback yesterday convinced me that the rationale behind the mock chicken pie made from pork and potatoes was indeed because chicken was a luxury meat ‘back then’ – compared to ordinary every-day pork. The second part of the conundrum remains however – was it intended to fool the family (or guests)? If they were fooled, did the cook have the last laugh silently, or did she reveal the trick after receiving the praise? Today’s choices cause no such dilemma. They are foods intended purely for fun, and as they come from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, they demonstrate for just how long we have been playing with our food. The first one is from The Form of Cury, the first known English cooke...
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| Chicken pie without the chicken. |
| 2008-04-13 14:56:00 |
April 14 ... The Editor of The Cultivator – the journal of the New York Agricultural Society –made a ‘polite invitation’ to Farmers’ wives and daughters to furnish recipes for future publication in the issue of January 1849. The response must have been underwhelming, for in March, the Editor’s wife herself supplied a few recipes. This one is intriguing: Mock Chicken Pie.Boil common potatoes – season highly with salt and pepper; some prefer a little thyme or summer-savory. Pour milk over them, and stir till of a moderate paste; fill a pie dish with crust above and below the contents. Strew pieces of pork through it. Bake in an oven, and serve hot. A single crust, filled and doubled, is called tarn-overs. My puzzle is this: why ...
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| The Monk’s Choice. |
| 2008-04-10 14:30:00 |
April 11 ... According to the Gregorian calendar, the plant for this day, dedicated to St Leo, was the Dandelion (Leontodon taraxacum), a member of the sunflower family which is far less grand than the signature member, and in fact usually considered to be a weed. My appreciation of the dandelion is coloured by two childhood perceptions. One was the sincerely repeated folktale that if you picked dandelions you would wet the bed. This was clearly not a belief confined to the north of England, as even our old enemy across the channel calls it piss-en-lit. I absolutely did not believe such a ridiculous theory, but on the other hand, there was no way I was going to test it out. The other was my favourite soft drink ‘Dandelion and Burdock’. I have to admit that I did not for a long ti...
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| Shop Bananas. |
| 2008-04-09 14:30:00 |
April 10 ...Window-shopping took on a whole new meaning on this day in 1633 in Holborn (London), when Thomas Johnson put a strange new fruit on display. Johnson, the man who edited Gerard’s Herball, had come by a banana plant which had survived the journey from the Bahamas. He hung up the stalk with its strange ‘hand’, and the general public were able to watch it ripen over the next few weeks. Johnson recorded the event: "Aprill 10. 1633. my much honored friend Argent (now President of the Colledge of Physitions of London) gave me a plant he received from the Bermuda's: the length of the stalke was some two foot; the thicknesse thereof some seven inches about, being crested, and full of a soft pith, so that one might easily with a knife cut it asu...
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| “Comeback” meals. |
| 2008-04-08 14:27:00 |
April 9 ... Some cooks cook with the express intent of having leftovers. I am one of those cooks. I understand (no, I don’t, actually) that some cooks abhor leftovers, and some eaters refuse them. I have puzzled over the issue in several previous stories (two of them are here and here), and had no intention of bringing up the subject again (at least for a while) until I came across the term ‘comeback’, in relation to a meal. I naively thought this meant a meal so good that everyone came back for more, so there were no leftovers to agonise over. I was wrong, it seems. A ‘comeback’ is restaurant-speak for a particular type of leftover. At least that is what Mr. Charles Fellows indicates in his book Fellows’ Menu Maker (Chicago, 1910). I d...
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| Bon Voyage. |
| 2008-04-07 14:33:00 |
April 8 ... When Britain took on the Boer republics in 1902, her colonial citizens heeded the call to come to the aid of their mother country. In August 1902 a contingent of New Zealanders, their stints over, travelled home in the ship Britannic. In a pattern that is probably as old as the colonial navies of the world, the officers dined well, the troopers not so well aboard ship. The nicely printed menu for one, and the description of the other, demonstrate the difference quite clearly. OFFICERS’ MENU.Anchovies, Olives.Oyster a la Plessy, Consomme Faubonne.Baked Bass, Piquante Sauce.Braised Sheep’s Head, Calves Feet au Pascaline.Sirloin of Beef, Baked Potatoes, Boiled Chicken, Bacon,Parsley Sauce, Leg of Mutton a la Bretonne.Yellow Squash, Cabbage, Boiled P...
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| Rough and Icy. |
| 2008-04-06 14:33:00 |
April 7 ...The New York Tribune made mention of granita on this day in 1887, in an article which explained that ‘granites … must be frozen without much beating, or even much stirring, as the design is to have a rough, icy substance.’ Mark Twain knew of granita a couple of decades earlier . In Innocents Abroad (1867) he described the scene in Venice, where people sat at small tables ‘smoking and taking granita (a first cousin to ice-cream)’. Ice-cream’s other cousin is sorbet, or sherbert, and the desirable texture for sorbet is smoother than granita but not as creamy as ice-cream. The Italians made these frozen delights their own, and then took them with them wherever they went in the world, so the world can be forgiven for thinking them Italian. And maybe they are. But thei...
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| To solve the dinner problem. |
| 2008-04-03 14:30:00 |
Those of you who are regular readers will be aware that I love menu recipe books – especially the sort that give you a menu for every single day of the year, with the recipes for each dish. Takes the work out of planning the dinner. Doesn’t take the work out of actually cooking the dinner of course – and in the early nineteenth century, that could represent quite some work. John Simpson was cook to the Marquis of Buckingham, and he wrote a comprehensive cookbook in 1816, called A Complete System of Cookery, on a plan entirely new, consisting of an extensive and original collection of receipts ….. (it is hard to know when the title stops and the front matter begins in some of these old books). It is not certain whether the Bills of Fare for Every Da...
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| A Good Old Idea. |
| 2008-04-02 14:30:00 |
April 3 …I know I have said this before, but I am constantly surprised that cooks and chefs do not look to the past for inspiration when trying to invent ‘new’ dishes. For those of you in this situation professionally, I dedicate today’s story. The English Folk Cookery Association was founded in 1928 in “an attempt to capture the charm of England's cookery before it is completely crushed out of existence.” The Association actively sought local and national recipes which were in danger of being lost. In 1930, the following story was submitted by Miss Janet Esdaile, from the charmingly-named Milton-under-Wychwood, in Oxfordshire. ‘The other day my landlady served me with a delicious vegetable. It looked like very young and tender asparagus in the dish, but peat colour in...
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| A Mighty Spread. |
| 2008-04-01 14:30:00 |
April 2 .. It is unarguable that Charles Dickens had a way with words – and a large number of his words concern food: his novels are wonderfully embellished and enriched with food incidents and food stories – as are his letters and journals. On this day in 1842, he was in America, on his second day aboard the steamboat Messenger en route from Pittsburg to Cincinatti. “We are to be on board the Messenger three days: arriving at Cincinnati (barring accidents) on Monday morning. There are three meals a day. Breakfast at seven, dinner at half-past twelve, supper about six. At each, there are a great many small dishes and plates upon the table, with very little in them; so that although there is every appearance of a mighty 'spread,' there is seldom really more than a joint: ...
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| Tree Fruit. |
| 2008-03-31 14:25:00 |
The very authoritative British journalist and broadcaster Richard Dimbleby hosted the very authoritative current affairs program Panorama in the 1950’s - it was, naturally, on the BBC – and you cant (or couldn’t, in the 50’s) get any more authoritative than the BBC. On this date in 1957 he reported on the springtime harvest of spaghetti in Switzerland (not such vast spaghetti plantations as in Italy). He described how the growers always had an anxious time in March for fear of frost, which harmed the flavour of the crop, but that thankfully the dreaded ‘spaghetti weevil’ had all but disappeared. He discussed the fact that each strand of spaghetti grew to the same length each year thanks to intense cultivation by growers over many generations. He even showed pictures of the cro...
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| Too much Bumboo. |
| 2008-03-30 14:30:00 |
March 31 ...An eighteenth century Sussex village shopkeeper by the name of Thomas Turner kept a diary for a number of years, and although it is by no means as comprehensive as those of our friends Samuel Pepys and James Woodforde, it still gives a fascinating insight into community life of the time. On Friday last week (the 28th) I was going to give you his diary entry for that day in 1756, but the idea got pushed rudely aside in view of the vehement feedback on the Aussie damper issue. I give you his diary entry belatedly today: “I went down to Jones, where we drank one bowl of punch and two muggs of bumboo; and I came home again in liquor; Oh! With what horrors does it fill my heart, to think that I should be guilty of doing so, and on a Sunday too! Let me once more endeavour ne...
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| Damper, Episode 2. |
| 2008-03-27 15:12:00 |
Yesterday's promised post is postponed, for two reasons: after two weeks of redecorating, both my home and my wits are in disarray, and I have no idea what I was going to write about, and secondly because my thoughts on Aussie damper yesterday provoked some flak from my sister and from one of my best friends. Here is the correspondence. You haven't heard the last of this, I can tell you. From my Little Sister, Val:Well big sis, what can I say. Aussies DO eat damper! Our variety when camping is to make up the damper dough & mould it around a stick & toast it just like you do with marshmallows. Yummy. Then you dunk your damper kebabs in bush honey (or golden syrup) & eat. A much better variety than in the ashes plus you get to chat companionably around the fire & stare a...
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| Unconspicuous Consumption. |
| 2008-03-26 14:33:00 |
March 27 ... Tuesday’s story of sixteenth century wedding breakfast splendour and Wednesday’s story of nineteenth century wilful extravagance were in such contrast to Monday’s story on the simplicity of scones (the awful simplicity, in the case of Bloater Scones) that I felt they needed an equally simple Wednesday buffer. For some reason understood only by the relevant brain cells, it was obvious that I had to write about Aussie Damper. Australians feel very sentimental about damper. No-one actually eats it, but nevertheless it is held in great affection. It is a superb example of historic distance lending enchantment to the taste. Those sturdy bush folk who ate it because it was the only ‘bread’ possible in a blisteringly hot yeast-killing climate with no oven would, I am ...
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| Conspicuous Consumption. |
| 2008-03-25 15:11:00 |
March 26 ... The most enthusiastic guilders of already golden lilies during the Golden Age were the Vanderbilts. Mrs. Vanderbilt held the party of the season at their home on Fifth Avenue at 53rd street on this day in 1883. Twelve hundred of the social elite were invited, and the town was a-buzz with anticipation for six weeks. It was to be a costume ball. The idea had been announced a week before Lent, and since then, said the New York Times, ‘It has been on every tongue and a fixed idea in every head … It has disturbed the sleep and occupied the waking hours of social butterflies, both male and female, for over six weeks, and has even, perhaps, interfered to some extent with that rigid observation of Lenten devotions which the Church exacts. … Amid the rush and excitement ...
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| A wedding breakfast, 1571. |
| 2008-03-24 15:06:00 |
March 25 ... I don’t think I am giving you enough historic menus - in spite of a great surplus on my computer. I have plenty to spare because quite a large number in my ‘collection’ do not have an exact date, so they are no use in my book Menus from History, which has an ‘on this day’ theme. It seems a shame that these fine bills of fare should languish un-appreciated, so I will bring one out from time to time and dust it off for your interest. I confess to another motive for my generosity: I have been completely stumped by some of these menus. I am unable to authenticate a number of them, or to discover any other interesting details on an awful lot more. Perhaps you might be able to help? Today’s menu is mentioned as a curiosity under ‘Banquets’ in Larousse (at l...
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| What flavour scones? |
| 2008-03-23 16:02:00 |
March 24 ... I know exactly what made me decide to feature ‘scones’ today. Sheer astonishment at the degree to which the human cook will go to adapt, modify, and ‘improve’ a perfectly good recipe, that’s what. I was quietly browsing an Australian cookbook (undated, but probably late 1930’s), not seeking to be shocked, disgusted, or even intrigued when I came across a chapter of recipes for ‘scones’. We have tackled the subject in a previous post, but just to remind you, a scone is ‘generally, a soft cake of barley- or oatmeal, or wheat-flour, baked in single portions on a griddle or in an oven. Also with defining words, denoting varieties of this cake, as butter, potato, soda, treacle scone; brown scone, one made of whole meal; dro...
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| Good Friday Buns. |
| 2008-03-20 17:28:00 |
March 21 ... It is Good Friday today according to the Christian calendar, and the day when it is traditional to eat hot cross buns. Although the phrase ‘cross buns’ was first recorded in 1733, the tradition appears to have very ancient roots. ‘Bread’ in one form or another has played an important symbolic role in all cultures in which grain is a staple (as does rice in Eastern cultures), and it seems that bread marked with a cross-like symbol may go back a very long way indeed – perhaps to Ancient Greece or Ancient Egypt. The original ‘cross’ may in fact have represented the crossed horns of an ox – a traditional sacrifice in many times and places. Today I want to consider when ‘cross buns’ became ‘hot’. I don’t know fo...
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| Cakes and Travellers. |
| 2008-03-19 13:37:00 |
March 20 ... Charles Joseph La Trobe was born on this day in 1801, and when I discovered that fact, I was sure that today there would be an Australian story. La Trobe was the Superintendent of the Port Phillip District from 1839 to 1851, and Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria from 1851 to 1854. He was a man of great vision and good intentions, although his period in office was not without its controversies and difficulties. His name has been given to several locations and institutions, particularly in Victoria, where the State Library holds a large collection of his papers and correspondence. I had no idea that La Trobe ever visited the United States, until my brief foray into his life-story. In 1824, he accompanied his student-protégé the Comte de Pourtalés on a long trip to the ...
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| Bean-Bellies |
| 2008-03-18 14:30:00 |
March 19 ... As we discovered yesterday, the folk of Leicestershire used to be nicknamed “Bean Bellies”. I don’t suppose they still are, but here is the explanation for the name, given in a book from 1801. ‘Leicestershire … the air is sweet and wholesome. It is a champaign country in general, and abundantly fertile in corn and grass …. Besides wheat, barley, oats and pease, it produces the best beans in England. They grow so tall and luxuriant in some places, particularly about Barton-in-the-Beans, that they look, towards harvest-time, like a forest; and the inhabitants eat them not only when they are green, as in other places, but all year round; for which reason their neighbours nickname them bean-bellies.’ An ethnic slur with jealousy at its root, it seems: ...
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