The CWI Cookbook

Posts Tagged ‘wine’

1 rump roast
Water
1 pint red wine
Carrots
Turnips
1 head celery
garlic
Ground cloves
Salt and pepper
Scraped horseradish
Stuffing (“forcemeat”) to taste

Take out as much of the bone as can be done with a saw, that it may lie flat on the dish, stuff it with forcemeat made as before directed, lay it in a pot with two quarts of water, a pint of red wine, some carrots and turnips cut in small pieces and strewed over it, a head of cellery cut up, a few cloves of garlic, some pounded cloves, pepper and salt, stew it gently till sufficiently done, skim the fat off, thicken the gravy, and serve it up; garnish with little bits of puff paste nicely baked, and scraped horse-radish.

From The Virginia Housewife, or, Methodical Cook, by Mary Randolph, 1860 edition of 1831 book.

Comment: Mrs. Randolph does not tell us how big a rump she wants us to cook, but from the quantity of water we would guess it is a fairly large one. The days of mechanized meat cutting and the packaging of ever-smaller cuts in individualized plastic trays lay far in the future. And that’s not a typo in the recipe; that was how Ms. Randolph spelled “celery.” Standardized spelling lay in the future as well.

 1 lb. ratafia cake (cake or cookies flavored with almond liqueur)
2 bottles port wine
1 bottle claret
1 bottle brandy
2 lemons, juice and grated peel
1 tbs. nutmeg
2 oz. almonds, blanched and ground
Rose water
Sugar to taste
Very fresh milk, quantity not specified
Cream

One pound of ratafia cakes pounded and steeped in two bottles of Port wine, one of claret, and one of brandy, the grated peel and juice of two lemons, one large nutmeg grated, and two ounces of sweet almonds, blanched and pounded with a little rose-water, and pounded sugar sufficient to make it sweet. Put all these ingredients, well mixed, into a large China bowl, or bowls of an equal size, and let the milk of a good cow be milked upon them; add a little rich cream and sifted loaf sugar, and cover it to keep it warm. It may be served out into glasses with a silver ladle.

From The Cook’s Own Book by “A Boston Housekeeper” (Mrs. N. K. M. Lee) Boston 1832.

Comment: Apparently a “China bowl” was a very large bowl indeed. Considering it needs to hold some pounds of solids and quite a few bottles of this and that as well as that very fresh milk, it would have to be. We would think this would be a little alarming to the cow, as well as painful for the cook to carry from the kitchen to the barn, but since Mrs. Lee is not available for questioning at the moment we have only her written words to go on.

The remarkable part of this recipe is really the addition of the almond cookies. Syllabubs are normally made entirely of liquid ingredients, so this would almost qualify as a “syllabub pudding” rather than a beverage. Make sure your silver ladle is properly shined up for the dispensing of this item.

 Fish
Large onion
4 whole cloves
15 whole allspice 15 whole pepper
Flour
Butter
Per pint of sauce:
1 glass wine
1/2 glass mushroom catchup
1 tsp. essence of anchovy
few grains Cayenne pepper
Bread toasted or fried

Put the fish into a stew-pan, with a large onion, four cloves, fifteen berries of allspice, and the same of black pepper; just cover them with boiling water, set it where they will simmer gently for ten or twenty minutes, according to the size of the fish; strain off the liquor in another stew-pan, leaving the fish to keep warm till the sauce is ready.
Rub together on a plate as much flour and butter as will make the sauce as thick as a double cream. Each pint of sauce season with a glass of wine, half as much mushroom catchup, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy, and a few grains of Cayenne; let it boil a few minutes, put the fish on a deep dish, strain the gravy over it; garnish it with sippets of bread toasted or fried.
N.B.-The Editor has paid particular attention to the above receipt which Catholics, and those whose religious tenets do not allow them to eat meat on maigre days, will find a very satisfactory substitute for the meat gravy soup. Mushroom catchup and onions supply the place of meat better than any thing.

From The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner, MD, New York, 1829

Comment: One of the most fascinating aspects of Dr. Kitchiner’s book, especially considering its date of publication, is that it contains recipes specifically designed for Catholics who were obliged to abstain from meat not merely on Fridays but on a great number of other days of religious significance throughout the year. Even the book’s subtitle–as interminably longwinded as such things usually were in the period–includes the line “with A Complete System of Cookery for Catholic Families.” Alas, this in fact consists of just a few recipes like the one above rather than the “complete system” advertised.

It should however be noted that America in this period was still (outside of Maryland and a few other enclaves) overwhelmingly Protestant in religion, with Catholicism regarded as near-heresy, and its adherents looked at with considerable suspicion. The “American Party” (better remembered today as the “Know-Nothing” Party) was growing rapidly at this time. Its platform was based on little more than animosity to immigrants who had the bad taste to be from southern Europe and therefore more likely to be Catholic. Publishing even something as politically neutral as a cookbook therefore required a certain amount of courage when it spoke admiringly of such a group.

 1/2 c. port wine
8 oz. brandy
Juice of 1/4 lemon
1 tbs. sugar
Berries or other fruit, in season

Fill the tumbler with shaved ice, shake well, and ornament with fruits in season, and serve with a straw.

From Bon-Vivant’s Companion, or, How To Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas, 1862

Comment: This is a somewhat unusual drink–particularly a punch– for this period as it does not call for the addition of a good amount of water, seltzer, milk or other fluid which serves to dilute the alcohol content somewhat. This is straight brandy cut with port wine, and we doubt that the juice of half a lemon is going to have much of a dilutive effect. Load up on the ice as suggested, or prepare to be tipsy in very short order.

 Anchovies
Mushroom catsup
Walnut pickle
1 gal. Madeira wine
Black mustard seed

Take a common sized pot of anchovies, bruise and strain them; add a quart of mushroom catsup, a quart of walnut pickle, a gallon of Madeira wine, and a little black mustardseed; boil half an hour, bottle, and cork tight; seal with wax, and in ten days the soy will be fit for use.

From The Carolina Housewife by Sarah Rutledge, Charleston S.C. 1847

Comment: The briefest glance at the ingredients here will tell you that the word “soy” has undergone a pretty massive shift in meaning from the 19th century to today. If you were expecting a black fluid based on the soybean, go scarf a few packets at your local Chinese takeout. This “soy” is a different thing altogether, much more closely related to the “catsups” of the period, as indeed “mushroom catsup” is one of the ingredients above.

The quantities called for here would make enough sauce to last for many months or even years unless the household was a very large one indeed. Recipes which call for soy as an ingredient rarely ask for more than a tablespoon or two. This was probably stored in the large crock mentioned above, then a pint or so would be tapped off periodically into a smaller vessel for kitchen or table use.

 1/4 pint “mountain wine”
1/4 pint white wine
Grated peel of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 lemon
Sugar
1 qt. rich cream

A quarter of a pint of mountain, the same of white wine, the grated peel of two, and juice of one lemon; sweeten, and add it to a quart of rich cream; whisk it for an hour, and put it into glasses. It will keep a week in cold weather.

From The Cook’s Own Book by “A Boston Housekeeper” (Mrs. N. K. M. Lee) Boston 1832

Comment: Syllabubs can be compared to milkshakes, in that they are both based on milk and they come in a vast range of varieties. The main difference between the two is that milkshakes must include ice cream (and only became popular after ice cream began to be made in commercial quantities rather than in small batches at home) while syllabubs almost invariably include alcohol in some form. Mrs. Lee does not describe what she means by “mountain wine” but other sources say that it refers to a variety of Malaga wine grown in, logically enough, the mountains.

Those contemplating making up a batch of this recipe should first brood long and hard upon the phrase “whisk for an hour” before getting underway. Attempts to cheat by using an electric mixer may result in a batch of wine-flavored butter, given that the base ingredient is “rich cream.” While this may be interesting in its own right, it cannot really be called a syllabub. As its name indicates this product is to be fairly thick, but downright chewy is right out.