Revising the Dickens

After finding this 16th century recipe for mincemeat pie, I decided to nix mincemeat pies from our Christmas Eve Dickensian feast. Yuck. And yuck again. I'm sorry. I try to be open-minded about food, but this sounds so unappetizing to me - mutton, saffron, suet, vinegar, prunes, raisins, and dates...oh, and powdered beef broth.

I don't want to waste all that good fruit!

Pyes of mutton or beif must be fyne mynced & seasoned with pepper and salte and a lytel saffron to colour it

suet or marrow a good quantitie

a lytell vynegre

pruynes

great reasons

and dates

take the fattest of the broath of powdred beefe.

And if you will have paest royall

take butter and yolkes of egges & so to temper the floure to make the paest.

Other changes: Nonna requested figgy pudding - like the song! - instead of plum pudding, so I changed from the brandy hard sauce to vanilla ice cream.

Comments

Hot Chocolate Agasajo-Style {Spice It Up!}

photo by D For my Spice It Up! kiddos this week, I was looking for an exotic drink to serve while we learned about saffron. I found a recipe from food historian Maricel Presilla that mimicked traditional Spanish hot chocolate from the 17th century where it was served at lavish receptions called agasajos . When I teach, I don't always get to shoot photos. Thankfully, D grabbed my camera and snapped a few. Ingredients serves 14-16 1 gallon organic whole milk 3 T dried rosebuds - or 2 t rosewater 2 t saffron threads, lightly crushed 3 T ground cinnamon 3 whole tepin chiles, crushed 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate Procedure In a large soup pot that can hold a gallon plus, combine milk, dried rosebuds (or rosewater, if you are using that), saffron threads, ground cinnamon, chiles, vanilla beans, and sugar and warm over medium heat till it steams. Whisk to dissolve sugar, then lower heat an...

Ki Ngombo = Okra

In honor of Mardi Gras, I searched for traditional recipes for gumbo...only to discover that there is no canonical recipe for gumbo. It seems there are as many recipes for gumbo as there are cooks! The only two constants in a gumbo: variety and okra. The term 'gumbo' likely comes from an African dialect whose word for okra is ki ngombo . Gumbos can have meat, seafood, just about anything. In Mark Huntsman's "The History of Gumbo" he refers to written mentions of using muskrat and owl in gumbo recipes. I embraced the unlimited potential of ingredients and opted for a combination of fish, chicken, pancetta, oysters, mussels, octopus, shrimp, and squid...and lots of okra!

A Cheese Board Anchored on a Trio of Italian Cheeses + A Pinot Nero from Alto Adige #ItalianFWT on CulinaryCam.Com

I am in the process of migrating over to my new domain. Come on over to read " A Cheese Board Anchored on a Trio of Italian Cheeses + A Pinot Nero from Alto Adige " for December's #ItalianFWT.

Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Search This Blog