Chew on This

The Art of Cookery

The 18th Century Cookbook of Hannah Glasse

 

While watching one of my favorite shows, Two Fat Ladies, I made a mental note of how often Clarissa Dixon Wright (pictured left) mentions the recipes she is embarking on making is from the cookbook by Hannah Glasse. Coincidently, today is actually the birthdate of Glasse. Even more coincidently, Google has dedicated a doodle to her as well. I had heard references to the famous literature before in researching. So I decided today would be the perfect day to dedicate a blog entry to the cookery writer.

Today marks the 310^th birthday of Hannah Glasse, the English cookery writer most famous for her work, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Simple. Published in 1747, the book reigned supreme for almost a century. Glasse would republish the Art of Cookery eighteen times and complete ten cookbooks in her lifetime. Revered as the ‘first domestic goddess’, Hannah Glasse took the then nonexistent culinary world in England by storm. During a time where cookery was exclusive to master chefs, Hannah meant for her book to be understood by servant, housewife, and the like. She states, "in so full and plain a manner, that the most ignorant Person, who can read, will know how to do Cookery well."

 

Eventually her book would make its way to the American colonies and begin the foundation for many recipes, remedies, and techniques we still know today. Even while facing the unknown wilds of their new home, the colonists could easily find many of the ingredients Hannah calls for in her cooking. Wild hare, pheasants, and venison were readily available for skilled hunters. Such meats, according to Hannah, can be alternated to fit the dish you are preparing. Wild berries and nuts were harvested locally and could be preserved for later use. These were used in many of the sweet and savory dishes Hannah includes in her book. The quintessential necessities a household needed were flour, salt, sugar, and water. With a bit of flour, salt, and water a simple crust paste could be made. From there you have the option of making meat ‘pyes’, hard biscut, or fruit and nut puddings.

 

Her instructions were basic and practical. Most of her directions would have been considered common sense to the experienced cook. But, to the average home cook, her detailed descriptions were priceless. I guess you could say, even life saving. For example, in regard to deciding sufficient roasting time for a pig, she explains the need for considering certain factors. "If just kill'd an Hour; if kill'd the Day before, an Hour and a Quarter," would most certainly alter the time needed for cooking. If your pig has been dead for too long, you are out of luck. To test the freshness of an egg, she suggests touching the tip of the tongue to the large end of the egg to feel if it still holds warmth. Seems legit to me. Well, maybe not to the 21^st century folk, but it did hold value to those of the 18^th century.

 

Glasse covered a wide range of topics, including how to prepare fish, soups, puddings, pies, cakes, pickles, potted hams, and jellies, along with sections on making wine and beer and cooking methods of roasting and boiling. Although, like most chefs of the day, Hannah did not emphasize nor encourage medicinal cures, a few were listed in the pages of her cookbooks. For example, a recipe for "hysterical water" that requires a quarter pound of dried millipedes and a concoction that she claimed would ward off the London plague of 1665, which required a mixture of 47 different roots, flowers, and seeds. The all too familiar nutmeg, was in fact used in almost every dish for its properties which aided digestion, cleaned the blood, stopped diarrhea, aided in calming flatulence and mild forms of dyspepsia. So why not use it in everything right! Hannah would allude to practical reasons why you should include such herbs, spices, or ingredients in general in your food, however, merely take them as suggestions, not medical advice.

 

I definitely want to explore deeper into the pages of Hannah Glasse’s cookbooks. Many attributes of her works are simply fascinating. So much in fact, there is no way we can cover them on just one entry. I encourage you to keep watch for new posts regarding Glasse’s cookbooks and feel free to offer insight and discussion in the comments below. If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of Hannah Glasse’s cookbook, there are many online sites that offer printed copies. My favorite is Townsend and Sons. They offer a wide variety of texts known in the 18^th century. I will leave a comment with the link below.   

 

Until next time friends.

And as always…eat your history.



Oxtails

While deciding which recipe to feature for this week, I was having a harder time keeping my two rambunctious cats in line. I noticed they were fighting over which would obtain the prestigious honor of sitting in the empty box that I brought my oxtails home in. Fifteen pounds of oxtails takes a pretty decent sized box, even my fat cat can comfortably fit. Why would someone buy fifteen pounds of oxtails at a time, you wonder? Because it is worth it. Let me explain…

 

My first introduction into oxtails actually happened in my adult life. Oxtails were not something my family ate, at all. Even though we used many of our farms resources, we did not maintain a meat animal to provide food.

 

It was during my time in the big city that a dear friend of mine offered a sample of her lunch, which happened to be oxtails. I remember the spicy aroma, the pitch-black rice around this gelatinous piece of meat, and my old world soul seeming ready to dig in. I was hooked on them immediately as I tasted the meat. For weeks, I studied to acquire the best knowledge on how to cook this long lost food.

My first sample had been cooked Haitian style. The oxtails were fried and braised in an extremely hot pepper marinade very slowly until perfectly tender. The rice was cooked with Djon Djon (a mushroom powder originally from Haiti) which gave it that spectacular black color.

Since then I have been trying new methods of cooking oxtails, even paring them with other dishes.

 

I’ve always said you can connect with people and other cultures through food. A little middle ground will most certainly create foundations for friendships and enriching experiences. As a treat, my friend would often bring me leftovers from dinner when her family made oxtails. They were so divine; I would even face the peril of skin melting heat from the peppers to enjoy them. Once, they had made a less spicy version just for me, but alas, the meal containers unfortunately found themselves with the wrong recipient. With tears streaming down my fire red face, I savored every mouthful. Such memories will always last a lifetime, much like the scars.

 

The term ‘ox’ in oxtail derives from the young castrated male beef cow. Today we would call the ‘ox’ a ‘steer’. After hundreds of years, apparently the term oxtail just sounded better than steer tail. No text or record indicated the first time oxtail was served, or how it was prepared for that matter. Recipes from China, Korea, France, Great Brittan, and the territory of Louisiana all indicate the vast common interest in the delicacy. Each region provides their own versions and ‘correct’ methods of preparing and eating oxtails. Today, however, I will be providing a more Colonial American spin on the fly duster of meats. 

 

 

18^th Century American Oxtails

Ingredients

3 pounds of oxtail meat

1/2 pint of Mushroom Ketchup (or a 1:1 ratio of beef broth and worchestershire sauce. See our upcoming blog regarding Mushroom Ketchup for more details)

1 tomatillo or regular green tomato, finely diced

1 tsp of garlic minced

2-3 green onion/scallions diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Two sprigs of rosemary, thyme, and tarragon 

 

When you buy your oxtails, chances are you will buy pre-cut smaller pieces already vacuum packed from the supermarket. I implore you; find a local butcher or meat market. The quality, in both size and flavor, will be substantially better. In this fashion, your oxtail will come fully intact. Just ask your butcher to cut them at the joint for you. Trust me, you will thank me later. The thicker the slice the better they will hold together after a long slow braising. This is not a stew! Do not treat is as such! You will need some elbow grease for this dish and it’s well worth it.

 

Place your oxtails in a bowl that allows them to have their own space and not be crammed together. Salt and pepper them to season. Let them sit while you prepare the marinade.

 

In a bowl, mix the mushroom ketchup, tomatillo, garlic, and green onion together. Stir to combine. Pour over the oxtails and let them sit in the refrigerator for an hour.

 

After they have had time to marinade, take them out of the refrigerator and let them sit and come to room temperature.

 

On the stove, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large Dutch oven until melted. Set the temperature to medium heat. Sear both sides of the oxtail until golden brown. Once all of the pieces are seared, pour the marinade over them and add the herb sprigs. Cover with the dutch oven lid and place in the oven. Set your oven to 250 degrees F. If you have opted for the larger cuts, per my instructions, you will benefit greater for leaving them to cook at least 2 hours. The smaller portions only need about 1 hour.

 

Once done, you have many options in which to serve them. My favorite is alongside some white buttered rice. Maybe even some stuffed tomatoes and lima beans. However, that is for another blog.

And yes she is still in the box.....

As always...Eat your history!

Tell me about the good old days

My upmost apologies for not sticking to the schedule created at the start of this blog. Due to the sudden death of my grandfather, my attention has had to be elsewhere. Regardless, during my absence, I have not stopped planning new articles and topics. This one struck me the day I drove to the hospice house to see my granddad. I drove past many of the places he took me as a child. One that will forever remain infamous is The Allison Tree. It was a local produce and garden shop nestled on one of those back roads I had always thought was our secret. Besides sharing the same name, the shop had some macabre history. The store is built on the site where the old town hanging tree used to be. Criminals were taken directly from the jailhouse only two miles away to carry out their verdict. Even the logo displayed the iconic tree with a noose and horse. It was here my granddad instilled my love of old fashioned and local. I heard stories of one-room schoolhouses, hog farms, and old Appalachian ghost stories.

 

“Back in my day,” as he would begin every story, it was custom to see sides of meat and bacon hanging from the ceiling, and shelves of tin cans containing lard so big my seven-year-old self could not carry. Dried beans were kept in half –sized wooden barrels. Everything you wanted to buy would be by the pound. My favorite of all of the tasty morsels was the hoop cheese. Yes readers, Appalachian hoop cheese. Also known as farmer’s cheese, only the left over dairy milk is used. Salt and cream is left out during the process. If you were lucky, you would have two types to choose from. The red kind or black kind, in reference to what color wax casing the cheese had. The red kind, which was my favorite, had been aged longer than the cheese in the black rind. Traditionally, you would see the huge wheel or hoop of cheese on display on the counter beside the butchers block. With exact precision, the clerk could cut whatever amount you desired to the ounce. I believe I only witnessed this practice two or three times before health regulations required better storage. Now you can find chunks of the cheese individually vacuum packed. Not as impressive, in my opinion.

 

 

The second item on our shopping list was ground cherries. These dainty fruits date back in the Americas during the time of the Puritans. (If you insist on calling them pilgrims, fine. Just keep in mind they were Puritans who just happened to make a pilgrimage and founded the Plymouth Colonies.) The fruit bares multiple names such cape gooseberries and Inca berries. They are part of the nightshade family like tomatoes and tomatillos. Once you peel back the husk leaf exterior, a cherry sized fruit remains and is immediately ready for eating.

 

Wait…did I say nightshade family? Yes, yes I did. Although the fruit and its cousins are related to the same family as Deadly Nightshade, they are perfectly acceptable for eating. Do not attempt to eat the stems, stalks, or leaves as they can make you sick.

 

But I digress. Being the complex thinker my granddad was, after buying two or three baskets of ground cherries, he set to growing them in his garden. Once we had harvested and dried the seeds we had our own growing by the next spring.

 

Memories like this help ease that troublesome transition of grief. It’s almost impossible to cry when I have so many memories to smile about. Deep in my soul I am thankful for having the opportunity to call this man my grandfather. His words, stories, and lessons will forever be a part of who I am and what I strive for to build my future. My lesson for you today is your own history is never that far away. I fervently suggest you go ask your grandparents about some of these things. They have stories that do not need to be lost.

"Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees."  

~Thomas Johnathon Jackson

 

And as always …eat your history.

Chew on this

Beware Caesar...Cardini?

 

 

 

Beware the Ides of March Caesar. Today is the day some of us history buffs and Shakespeare fanatics feel a bit stabby. Puns, jokes, and yes even memes are becoming popular for this day, the 15th of March. But before you go posting that hilarious photo of one of your kitchen knives through a bottle of Caesar dressing I suggest you chew on this.

 

The true origin of the caesar salad does not come from Rome or Roman Emperors.  It actually was created in 1924 by an Italian immigrant in Tijuana, Mexico by the name of Caesar Cardini. The headstrong entrepreneur opened a restaurant in the destination hot spot to attract American tourists during prohibition. Soon after prohibition, the dish would find its way to the United States.

 

Two instances surface regarding the exact story of how the iconic dish came to be. One story suggests Caesar, being in a panic to serve food for late guests created the dish from the ingredients he had left from the busy day. The other suggests aviators entered the restraunt needing the similar fair, and the salad was shortly named aviators salad. Ultimately because the dish was only attainable at Caesar's, the salad soon gained it's popular name Caesar's salad.

 

Something as simple as egg yolk, anchovies,  garlic, dijon mustard, and olive oil emulsed together became craved by Julia Child herself. It's said she visited the restraunt just to eat the famed salad and years later requested the recipe from Caesar's daughter for her cook book.

 

Traditionally,  the dressing is tossed over romane leaves with grated parmesan cheese and savory crouton. Nevermind the fork ladies. Be prepared to ruin your manicure, because it was fashionable and appropriate to eat the salad with your fingers.

 

So what's a cultured creature to do during the Ides of March? Personally I'd say enjoy the salad and read or watch a rendition of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar anyway. It's even more satisfying knowing you share the same eccentric tastes of the roaring 20's.

 

For more information about Shakespeare, Julia Child,  the roaring 20's, or prohibition use your smart phone for something besides social media OR simply visit your local library.

 

And as always , eat your history.

Nose to Tail

Chew on This: Nose to Tail

During a time when food was mainly associated with survival, it was crucial to keep the waste of food to a minimum. This practice was common with fruits, vegetables, grains, and most importantly, meat. Meat was essential in providing the protein, iron, and fats the body needed. Not to mention it is extremely tasty. Whether you were a serf working your Lord’s fields or with the Colonial militia at Fort William Henry, if you were lucky enough to have that pig or cow, you will find a way to preserve or use every bit of sustenance that animal can provide. Ears, nose, organs, fat, bones, skin, and tails all had their purposes. As my grandmother used to say as she was preparing any portion of her pork, “You can eat everything but the squeal.”

 

Very little of the muscle meat would be eaten fresh. More often than not, it would be dried or preserved in pots to last months at a time. The fat was especially important for cooking oil, lamp oil, candles, sealing wax for meat jars, and making suet. (Stay tuned for our blog on suet and how its made) Blood, if harvested correctly, made an amazing base for sausage and meat puddings. Bones were boiled down to create broth and the natural gelatin, which kept longer during storage. (Yes my dears, your jello jigglers are made with bone marrow. You’re welcome.) Meat from the head, feet, tails, and organs were commonly used for things like headcheese. Imagine the 18^th century version of bologna. The list goes on for how many uses our ancestors had for their animals. I encourage you to do more research if you wish to better understand your own past.

 

This mentality carried on right until the turn of the industrial revolution. Meat packaged in cans, no longer needing to preserve the spring slaughter, and the increasing production of pre-made foods started to alleviate this need of eating nose to tail. Today we live in a world where food waste runs rampant even with the hunger population. Most certainly, it begs the question as to where we went wrong. Even though certain parts of the animal are unappealing to us, with the proper knowledge and work, they can be quite exceptional fair.

 

I am not insisting you need to start slaughtering your own pigs, cows, or chickens. Let’s face it not everyone up to that kind of work. However, if you do a little research about your supermarket, I’m sure you will find things that will make you almost want to be a vegetarian. Simply taking a step backward away from the supermarket, and going back to the local farmer, butcher, or even meat center can make a huge difference. You will find the meat you consume is more flavorful, more filling, and even healthier. The cruelty rate maintained well with small farmers who can tend to the animals more efficiently. Most importantly, you put money in the pocket of everyday individuals, like yourself, who are trying to pay those bills just like you. Down with the bloody big head corporations who could care less about how their hormones are morphing your children.

We live in a world where information is at our fingertips, and yet we have ‘manufactured’ a generation that cannot get their brain past the fluffy bunny videos and expand their knowledge of better things. Not only are we wasting food, but also we are wasting resources, time, and even ourselves.

 

There will be many recipes and future blogs related to the topic of Nose to Tail. But, I just wanted to leave something to macerate in your thoughts until next time.

 

 And as always….Eat your history.

Happy Birthday Michelangelo

When we hear the name Michelangelo, we automatically want to reference the Statue to David or the Sistine Chapel, maybe even St Peters Cathedral in Rome. But, do you begin to imagine his domestic life? Perhaps it is hard to imagine one of the greatest artists of all time needing to bathe, clean, or cook. From the pages of his biography, written by Paolo Giovio, we can see the less divine nature of Michelangelo. To quote Giovio, “His nature was so rough and uncouth that his domestic habits were incredibly squalid, and deprived posterity of any pupils who might have followed him.” For you faint hearts who prefer to understand him as IL Divino (the divine one), see the biography written by Giorgio Vasari, and never mind reading what is next.

 

Diet and Hygiene

The diet and hygiene of Michelangelo are two of the controversies that will surround him for eternity. Monetary and popularity wise, he was very successful with his profession as an artist. However, on his outward appearance, it was said you would not know him from a common beggar. Wealth was not something he thrived on nor did he exert himself on its benefits. His assistants would often remark they dreaded going within several feet of the man while he worked. His ‘personal stench’ was enough to drive them to quit. While painting the Sistine Chapel, records indicate the buckets of paint he desired were hoisted by poles so the apprentice would not have to go near him.

 

He ate very little. In the book, Italy for the Gourmet Traveler, Fred Plotkin discusses some of the favorite foods of the genius artist. Pears were a particular favorite of Michelangelo. There are accounts he would give them as gifts, 33 to be exact. It is recorded that he had a cheese cellar in which he kept different types of cheese. Most likely, they were sheep’s milk cheese. One type called Marzolino, as Plotkin writes, was his favorite. It was special because it was only made in March. Among his crops, Michelangelo had a vineyard and often grew olives for olive oil. Curious as to how a vintage 1503 would favor today. In addition, of course bread was always the centerpiece for any meal.

 

That’s about it folks. It’s acceptable to say he lived on his art more than his food. Many of his assistants would comment he often worked himself to great fatigue. They were not always sure if it was due to lack of nutrition or his own BO.

 

 

During his lifetime, he was the prominent genius ever to grace marble and fresco. And yet he was also the dread of anyone who had to breathe in his presence. Regardless, it was a system that worked. So well in fact, Michelangelo is the only Renaissance master to have his biography written while he was alive. So take a slice of cheese, glass of wine, maybe a pear or two, and let us toast to the birthday of Michelangelo!  543 never looked so good.

 

Maybe we should all take a lesson from this and acknowledge that even when it comes to food, less can be more.

And, as always, eat your history!

 

 

For more information regarding the life of Michelangelo check out:

Machelangelo. The Complete Paintings, Sculptures, and Architecture; TASCHEN Books

 

The Agony and the Ecstasy; Irving Stone

Welcome

If you have ever wondered, where your food comes from or how it became a custom to see it on our plate, this blog is for you. I am a self-taught, inspired, food critic and food historian. Since a young age, I have been inspired by the life work of the late Clarissa Dickson Wright and her infamous partner in crime, the late Jennifer Patterson. This dynamic duo was known as, the Two Fat Ladies. Together they shook the culinary world with their old world food and love of fresh, natural, and local ingredients. This inspired me to chase after all of those foods I have come to know, taste, and discover among my life’s travels. It will be my life’s mission to carry on Clarissa and Jennifer’s work. With each article, I diligently strive to remind people of the true power and control we have over what we eat. Processed and boxed food should be a thing of the past making headway for the old world charm of local, fresh, natural, and healthy: food that feeds the soul as well as the body.

 

Join me on the pathway through time, simply by using your palette. From ancient Greece to the courts of King Henry IIV, from food rations in WWII to the intense flavors of the West Indies: You will discover what it means to, truly, eat your history.

Stay tuned for more posts.

Chew On This ~ Every Wednesday

New Recipes ~Every Monday