The Art and Mystery of Food

Frumenty

Apologies for the lack of recent posts. A new job means that I have a little less time for food history. One quick post then in the way of illustrating how recreating even simple historic recipes isn't plain sailing.

One recipe group that I have been interested in for a while are the frumenty (various spellings based on the Latin frumentum meaing grain). They are of interest to me as the dish has been made in England since at least the Medival period, until the mid-20th century. The dish itself has remained did not change all that much during this time span, but the social context did. Basically, the recipe is wheat pounded and seperated from its hulls, then boiled in cow or almond milk until it forms a gel, this mixture was then sweetened, spiced or coloured as appropriate to the the period. During the Medieval period it most often served without sugar with boiled venison as a type of pottage or in non-meat days with porpoise or beaver tail. Despite being mammals the entire of the former and the tail of the latter were counted as "fish". Having eaten beaver tail I can tell you that it tastes completely unlike fish, which why it was popular on fish dominant days I imagine.

By the modern period frumenty had become associated with Christmas eve, as the following 19th century description indicates:

Christmas-eve is celebrated in almost every family by
a supper of frumenty, made of steeped wheat boiled
with milk, apple-pie, cheese, and yule-cake. It is
accounted very unlucky to cut into the cheese before
supper. At the commencement of supper a large fire
is made, on which is placed the yule-log, and atall mould-
candle, called the yule-candle, which is not to be snuffed,
is lighted and placed on the table; a piece of the log
is preserved until the following Christmas by each
prudent housewife, to secure the house from fire during
the year.

The popularity if frumenty in 19th rural England is rather interesting as for the most part wheat was a recent addition to the diet, especially in the North.  It is possible that this was viewed as a high status dish and was eaten only on festivals where rarities like wheat were more freely available. So popular was frumenty at this period that it was possible to buy the wheat pre-boiled and set into a jelly from vendors. This jelly was called "Creed Wheat" ( to cree grain is to soften it by soaking or boiling) and it is the creed wheat I had a problem with . Buying whole wheat is not a great problem and instructions for preparing the grain where essentially the same since the Medieval period: Beat grain to loosen the hull, then gently boil. Remove the hulls and you will get a wheat gel that will set solid like well made oat porridge. Try as a might I could not get this process to work with the wheat I used. Back to the drawing board. I managed to find another source of wheat, this time with partial removal of the hull ("pearled wheat"). Problem solved, gel formed in roughly 40 minutes of gently boiling. Clearly the important part of all the recipes I looked at was the removal of the hull, however I failed to note this initially. This illustrates part of the difficulty with historical recipes; if I can get this simple process wrong, what hope would I have with a more complicated dish? And in addition, in this instance I had a very good idea what the dish should be like at several stages, often this is not the case with historical recipes.

Above: Wheat in earthenware pot being gently simmered for 8 hours. When this failed to produce a wheat gel, I removed the wheat to a modern saucepan and boiled it hard for about 2 hours - still no gel.

Above: Top right, whole wheat before boiling, and Top left, after ten hours of treatment. Bottom left, wheat with partial removal of hull, and bottom right, after 20 minutes of gently boiling.

Above: Christmas eve frumenty. The creed wheat was mixed with milk, egg yolk, spice and sugar and gently heated to give an indulgent but comforting porridge type dish. I can see why it was popular.

Yorkshire oatcakes/Haverbread

Above: Joseph Pickles born 1823, Hunslet, Yorkshire, UK; died 1897, Strathfieldsaye, Victoria, Australia)

Above: Mine chimney constructed on the Victorian goldfields by Joseph Pickles. This chimney at the "Red, White and Blue Mine" was decorated with red, white and blue bricks!

On the 16th of September, 1854 my Great-great-great Grandfather Joseph Pickles departed from Merseyside on the White Star Line Clipper "Sultana" on a three month voyage which would eventually end in the Hobson Bay in the Port Philip District of Victoria. One of the reasons why I know this information is that he kept a diary of the voyage. Although he came from a relatively poor family in the Hunslet region of Leeds, during the early-mid 19th century young children received a basic education (by the age of 14-15 they are usually employed in the local mill industry). Hunslet and the neighbouring regions of Holbeck and Beeston where early industrial centres largely clothing mills, but also brickworks. In the 1841 census Joseph occupation is listed as "bricklayer", other occupations of his neighbours are listed as "cloth weaver, cloth spinner, clothier and cloth draper".

Although I have a large collection of cookbooks form this period, these are for middle- to upper-class English households, ironically I know more about the food habits of total strangers then my own family. Poor families don't write cookbooks. Happily one of Joseph's interests on the voyage to Australia was with the ship's food. In fact he wrote a poem about how much he disliked it.

"...Then now comes Friday: What's the dish?

Why preserved potatoes and salt fish

Of which the first is very good

A pleasant article of food.

Sometimes the fish is very well

Sometimes it has an offensive smell

Sometimes its rotteness is such

That it will scarcely bide a touch…"

There are many similar verses on his views of the various meals on board the ship (beef and duff, pork and peas, beef and pudding, boiled rice, salt fish and preserved potatoes, ships biscuit and butter, tea and coffee). Joseph's preoccupation with his dislike of ships food resulted in his writing a list of "Useful things to bring with them" for his wife who was to travel to Australia a few years later with their young sons.

Useful things to bring with them

About 2 stone of parafin and about 6 stone of flour and about 1 stone of beef cut rendered and put in jars, and 6 pots of preserves and 1/2 stone of lump sugar and 2 lb of carbonate of soda and a few pounds of currents and about a pound of carryway seeds and a little ginger and a stone of oatmeal, and a little ham and a few pounds of bacon and a few nutmegs, and dont forget a little medicine and oatcake it is very good when it is well dryed before it is put in the box and kept airtight and a bit of common cheese that is well dryed. The best cheese will not keep at sea and a little fresh butter well salted in a jar  and a thin cloth over and well covered with rough salt, and a few scores of potatoes. I should recommend you have a box lined with tin with a partition in to keep the things parted.

Although this list of items can only provide a rough sketch of the food that my English ancestors ate (there is no fresh food on a voyage for instance), it does offer some insights. Carbonate of soda seems to be in regular use as a raising agent and much to my surprise, a relatively expensive spices are being used (possible in boiled puddings or "duff" to be eaten with the meat). However one item that is of great interest is the Yorkshire "oatcakes".

The West Riding of Yorkshire, and neighbouring regions in Lancashire, have a long association with oatcakes. In part this is due to the fact that wheat was not a traditional grain grown in these regions and its introduction to the region occured relatively late (early-mid 19th century) compared to other parts of England.

"Riddle cakes, said to be thick sour cakes and is mostly eaten with tea, being preferred to wheaten bread. The Lancashire oat-bread is made both leavened and unleavened (in refutation of Adam Smith) says handsomer and more muscular men are not reared in any part of the British dominions, than in those countries where the oatmeal diet is predominant.
The 33rd regiment, which goes by the name of ' the Havercake Lads,' and which is usually recruited in those parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire where oat-bread is in common use."

Most people now are familar enough with small thin and crisp Scottish oatcakes, however there was a large variety of oatcakes or "haverbread" ("haver" is of Anglo-Saxon/germanic origin and means "oats", hence "Haversack" or oat bag) made throught the UK. The majority of these oatcakes are no longer made, however there is a large amount of information about the types historical oatcakes made in Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire. In fact soft Staffordshire Oatcake are still made.

There are two main types of oatcake made, the first is made from a stiff dough rolled out and baked until stiff (like a modern Scottish oatcake), called clapbread, oatcake or haverbread/cake. The second type is made from a thin batter which is poured out onto a griddle or "bakstone" (bake stone) and cooked like a large crepe, also known as riddlebread, haverbread/cake or oatcakes. This latter type can eaten fresh when soft (like a modern Staffordshire oatcake) or they could be dried for future use - which is the form that Joseph refers to. This process of producing soft oatcakes and drying them is shown in this print from "The Costume of Yorkshire" by George Walker 1814, note oatcakes being hung from the ceiling to dry.

I have produced these soft oatcakes from a recipe given in Elizabeth David's "English Bread and Yeast Cookery", based on the recipe given for Staffordshire oatcakes. Essentially equal amounts of oatmeal and wheat flour are added together, a thin batter is made using a warm water and milk and a little yeast is added. Historically, no wheat flour would have been used and the yeast would have been replaced by the leaven produced by allowing oatmeal mixture to sour. Nevertheless, I found the modern version to be delicious an much appreciated by my young son. They are equally good spread with butter and honey or filled with egg and bacon.

Above": Recruiting for the "Haverbread Lads" (33rd Regiment). Note the recruiting officer hold aloft a haverbread, decked with ribbons.

Shortbread and Bonnie Prince Charlie

This year I recieved numerous tins of shortbread for Christmas (I feel that this ia a sign of age, like presents of socks and jars of nuts), which is fine as I quite like shortbread. One brand of Scottish shortbread that I really like is Walkers of Aberlour. While I like their style of slightly salty, not too sweet and butter shortbread, another thing that I really love about Walkers shortbread is the tins themselves. In a period where the theme seems to be a jaded and cynical world-weariness, there is just something innocent, simple and non-ironic about a shiney tartan clad tin of Scottish shortbread. Prehaps the most famous design for Walkers is their "Flora Macdonald" range which depicts the late 19th century painting "Prince Charles Edward Stuart Bids Farewell to Flora Macdonald Who Aided His Escape" by George William Joy. This historical and romantic style of artwork depicting Scottish (or at least Highland) history on shortbread tins is so well known that any overly sentimental views on Scotland are often described as "Shortbread tin Scotland".

In this particular case the image shows "Bonnie Prince Charlie" (Charles Edward Stuart, grandson of the deposed James II & VII) taking his leave from Flora MacDonald, who aided his escape from Scotland after the Battle of Culloden, the final confrontation in the failed Jacobite Raising of 1745-46. After 1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie spent the rest of his life in exile in Europe, finally dying in 1788. During this exile period he became shunned by the courts of Europe and was known as a wife-beater and drunkard. However, such was the interest in period of Scottish and English history, that the image of the young, handsome and charismatic "Bonnie Prince Charlie" has become an icon overly-sentimental Scottishness and many, if not most people, know him as "that chap on the Shortbread tin".

Given the fact that the Prince spent the vast majority of his life outwith Scotland, did he actually have anything to do with shortbread in his life time? As there is a record of his household accounts, during the period in which he stayed in Inverness and Culloden House immediately prior to the Battle of Culloden (16th April, 1746), we can see that in fact the household was ordering quite a bit of "Short bread" from the local pastry shop in Inverness:

From the household account book of James Gib, Master of the Household/Butler of Charles Edward Stuart, as recored by Bishop Robert Forbes (publised as "Jacobite Memoirs of the Rebellion of 1745" in the 19th century).

Merch ye 1st (1746)

To on Herin Passtie

Merch ye 3d.

To 2 Cakes Short Bread .
To on Sallmon Pastie . .
To 13 Tairts of Severall Sorts

Merch ye 5th.

To on Plain Custard .
To Short Bread . .
To on Custard . . .
To on Side Cake . .
To on Custard . .
To Short Bread . .

Merch 11th.

To on Orange Pudine

Merch 13th.

To Short Bread
To on Rice Pudine

Merch 14th.

To 7 Minched Pyes of Mutton
To on Cusstard
To Short Bread

Merch ye 18th, 1746.

To Short Bread .
To Short Bread, on Caike, & 2 Westells
To on Weilldfoull Passtie .
To on Side Caick 
To on Venison Pesstie of Hairs Bonned

March ye 30th, To 2 Kaiks short Bread .

Apprill 1st,

To on Sidekaick
To on Mourffoull Passtie

15th,

To 2 Sidkaicks
To ffyring, and attending 80 Dishes

Given that the Jacobite forces had not eaten for two days before the battle of Culloden, it seems that the Princes household in contrast was eating quite well. Certainly there was plenty of "Short bread" being consumed. But what was this short bread like? From the first published Scottish cookbook (Mrs. McLintock’s Receipts for Cookery and Pastry-Work”, 1736) we have the following recipe:

To make Short Bread.

Take a peck of Flour, put three lb of Butter in amoung a little water, and let it melt, pout it in amoung your Flour, put in a Mutchkin of good Barm; when it is wrought divide it in three parts, roll out you cakes longer then broad, and gather from the sides with your Finger, cut down the Middle and job it on Top, then send it to the oven.

Above: 18th century Scottish Shortbread, based the recipes posted here, whisky and a thistle - very shortbread tin Scottish!.

The second published Scottish cookbook (Elizabeth Cleland's "A New and Easy Method of Cookery", 1755) gives a very similar recipe:

To make Short Bread.

Take a Peck of Flour, make a Hole in the Middle, melt three pounds of good Butter in a Mutchkin of Barm, put Carraway or what dry Sweet-meats you please in the Flour; then pour in your Butter and Barm, work it well with your Hands, and if too dry, put in a little warm Water; when it is well worked, roll it out in Cakes of what Shape you please. Prick with a Fork, and bake it on floured Papers.

Again the third published Scottish cookbook (Susanna MacIver's "Cookery and Pastry, 1773) gives a very similar recipe:

To make Short Bread.

Take a Peck of flour, and four pounds of butter English, or three pounds Scots weight; put the butter on to come a-boil; make a hole in the flour, and pour the boiling butter in it; work the flour and butter a little while together; pour in a mutchkin of good yeast amongst the paste; work it together, but not too much; divide the paste, and roll it out oval; then cut through the middle, and plait it at the ends; keep out a little of the flour to work out the bread; flour gray paper, and fire the bread on it: if you make it sweet, allow a pound of sugar to the peck of flour at least; if you want it very rich, put in citron, orange-peel, and almonds, strew white carvy on the top; be sure to mix the sugar and the fruit with the flour before you wet it; remember to prick it well on top.

After Mrs MacIver's death here business partner, Mrs Fraser published the following recipe (in "The practice of Cookery: Pastry, Confectionary, Pickling, Presering &C", 1795) in the 1820 edition of her work.

Rich Short-Bread.
Take a peck of flour, keeping out about a pound to work it up; beat and sift a pound of sugar; take orange-peel, citron, and blanched almonds, of each half a pound, cut in pretty long thin pieces: mix these well in the flour; then make a hole in the middle of the flour, put in three pounds of melted butter, with a table-spoonful of good yeast; then work it up, but not too much; divide it into eight cakes, and roll them Out; prickle them on the top, pinch them neatly round the edges, and strew sugar, carraways, peel, and citron, on the top.— Fire it on paper, dusted with flour, in a moderate oven.

As you can see all of these recipe are very similar to each other (in fact it is likely that the latter recipes are based on the original McLintock recipe). This is very likely to be the type of "Short bread" that was being eaten by the Prince's household. In one major way this 18th century "Short bread"' differs a great deal from todays modern style of "shortbread" - the former style is a yeast raised bread, enriched with butter. These types of breads or cakes were common throughout British Isles, in Scotland they where called "Short bread" as they were literally "short" (friable) due to the large amount of butter they contained. So important was the butter content to the character of the short bread that in Aryshire in 1597, it was enacted that "short-bread should not have less than half ano pund of butter to tho peck". While the term "Short bread" is associated with Scotland, at the period very similar enriched breads were being made in England during this period:

Seed Cake.
TAKE half a peck of flour, a pound and a half of fresh butter, put the butter into a saucepan, with
a pint of new milk, and set it on the fire; take a pound of sugar pounded, half an ounce of all-
spice pounded, and mix them with the flour; when the butter is melted pour the milk and butter in the middle of the flour, and work it up like paste; pour in with the milk and butter half a pint of good ale yeast, let it before the fire to rise before it goes to the oven; put in two ounces of carraway-seeds, put it in a hoop, and bake it in a quick oven.

However, during the early part of the 19th century they use of yeast in Scottish shortbread was abandoned. During this period we find interesting transition recipe which are identical the the earlier yeast raised "Short bread" in all details apart from the use of yeast! From Mrs Margaret Dods' (Isobel Christian Johnston) "The Cook and Housewife's Manual" 1826.

Scottish Shortbread, or Short-cake
To the fourth of a peck of flour, take six ounces of sifted sugar, and of candied citron, orange-peel, and blanched almonds, two ounces each. Cut these in rather long slices, and mix them with the flour. Rub down among the flour a pound of butter in very small bits, melt a half-pound more, and with this work up the flour, &c. The less kneading it gets the more short and crisp the cakes will be. Roll out the paste lightly into a large well-shaped oval cake, about an inch thick, and divide this the narrow way, so as to have two cakes somewhat the shape of a Gothic arch. Pinch the cakes neatly at the edges, and dab them on the top with the instrument, the dabber, used for the purpose, or with a fork. Strew caraway-comfits over the top, and a few strips of citron-peel. Bake on paper, rubbed with flour. The cakes may be squares, or oblong figures.—Ob. Plainer shortbread may be made by using less butter and no candied peel. The whole of the butter may be melted, which makes the process easier. Chopped almonds, and butter, are used in larger quantity for very rich shortbread.

By the mid-19th century, the use of yeast in shortbread recipes had been abandoned and the use of candied fruits, comfits and almonds had also been reduced or abandoned and essentially we have recipes for modern shortbread. It was during this period and the decades shortly after that many of the now well know shortbread producers were founded (Walkers was established in 1898). Bonnie Prince Charlie may now be linked with shortbread, but he more then likely would not have recognised the product that we know see as being typically Scottish.

Address to a Haggis; Part II

As the history of haggis and also peoples reaction to this pudding is so interesting I thought it was well worth adding some additional information about this national dish. As I discussed previously the haggis hasn't always been a purely Scottish dish, nor has it been universally loved even in Scotland. One factor in this is that by the end of the 18th century haggis was firmly associated with Scotland and this was a great problem for many people as Scotland had been part of Britain since 1707. Another issue is that a haggis is a great big lump of steaming offal and then as now this is a difficult thing for many people as the following description of meals served in a mid-18th century Scottish nobles household indicates:

"There was a very long table loaded with a great variety of dishes, some of the most luxurious, others of the plainest—nay, coarsest kind : these were very oddly arranged; at the head were all the dainties of the season, well dressed and neatly sent in ; about the middle appeared good substantial dishes, roasted mutton, plain pudding and such like. At the bottom coarse pieces of beef, sheeps' heads, haggiss, and other national but inelegant dishes, were served in a slovenly manner in great pewter platters; at the head of the table were placed guests of distinction, to whom alone the dainties were offered ; the middle was occupied by gentlemen of his own tribe, who well knew their allotment, and were satisfied with the share assigned to them. At the foot of the table sat hungry retainers, the younger sons of younger brothers, who had at some remote period branched out from the family ; for which reason he always addressed them by the title of “cousin”. This, and a place, however low, at his table, so flattered these hopeless hangers-on, that they were as ready to do Lovat's bidding " in the earth or in the air" as the spirits are to obey the command of Prospero"

We should also keep in mind that the haggis of this period were in fact quite different to those of today. If we look at archetypal haggis recipe from the 18th century, this difference isn't at first obvious; in fact the ingredients are still quite typical of a "modern" haggis.

A Good Scotch Haggies

Make the haggis-bag perfectly clean, parboil the draught ; boil the liver very well, so as it will grate ; dry the meal before the fire ; mince the draught and a pretty large piece of beef very small ; grate about half of the liver ; mince plenty of the suet and some onions small ; mix all these materials very well together, with a handful or two of the dried meal ; spread them on the table, and season them properly with salt and mixed spices ; take any of the scraps of beef that are left from mincing, and some of the water that boiled the draught, and make about a choppin of good stock of it ; then put all the haggis meat into the bag, and that broth in it ; then sew up the bag : but be sure to put out all the wind before you sew it quite close. If you think the bag is thin, you may put it in a cloth. If it is a large haggis, it will take at least two hours' boiling.

In fact the only real difference is the "haggis" itself. Confused? Well I guess it is very confusing unless you realise that "haggis" originally refered to both the sheeps rumen which was used as a casing for the pudding and to the finished pudding itself. Now that haggis are rarely made in a sheep's rumen, we only retain the latter sense of the word. Modern haggis are usually stuffed into bovine caecum or artificial casings. Part of the reason for this is that a rumen from an adult sheep is quite large with a total volume of 5-7 litres. This makes a huge pudding, something to feed a very large group of people with. Another reason is that the rumen has quite a distictive aroma, a cleaned bovine caecum or artifical casing doesn't. Part of the irony of this is that many, many of these modern haggis are eaten specifically for Burns Night suppers in which a poem describing the old syle and quite different type of haggis is read. In fact much of the poem doesn't make sense unless you are familar with the old style, offal boiled in a rumen, haggis. Before I move on to the poem, let me just make it quite clear that I do in fact love the modern style haggis, be it deconstructed, sanitized and reformed into a ziggurat on white bistro plates or battered and deep-fried from a chip shop.

The poem in question is obviously Robert Burns' "Address to a Haggis". Writing at the end of the 18th century in a period when Scots were creating a modern national identity, Burns was able to provide a robust, yet romantic ideal of Scottishness which was accessible to most Scots. So popular was Burns as poet, that shortly after his death "Burns Clubs" were formed. To this day the his birthday (25th of January) is celebrated as a national day in Scotland. On this "Burns Night" haggis are consumed in great numbers and his famous "Address to a Haggis"'is read.

As I was interested in how these 18th century haggis which where so associated with Scottish identity tasted, I made one based on the recipe shown above*. Making this haggis made the Burns poem much more clear

Above: The cleaned sheep rumen.

Above: The ingredients for the haggis stuffing. Offal, suet, beef, oats, onions and spice.

Above: The image that helped make the first part of the poem make sense.

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

Obviously a lot of this part of the poem is about the size of the haggis, as discussed above a haggis from a full grown sheep is going to be huge, absolutely as long as an arm and about to fill a trencher to over-flowing. "Hurdies" can be translated as "buttocks" and as you can see, due to the bi-lobed nature of the rumen, with a bit of imagination you can see some "hurdies like a distant hill". Difficult to see in this image, but some of the melted suet does indeed seep through to the surface of the rumen and has absorbed pigments from offal, these are the "amber beads".

Above: Another view of the haggis, showing the bulging, bi-lobed rumen.

Above: The haggis cut open to show the interior (the "gushing entrails bright").

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn,
they stretch an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve,
Are bent lyke drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
"Bethankit!" 'hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

At this point in British history the French ragout and fricassee, and the Olio (derived from the Spanish Olla Podrida) were firmly established as popular (if foreign) dishes in Britain. However, many people considered them effete and foreign.

Poor devil! see him ower his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle;
An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a haggis!

* Note that as I was unable to obtain an adult sheep rumen, I used a rumen from a smaller animal that held about 1.5 litres.

Butter, lard and breakfast

Butter, lard and breakfast

Rachel's comment about confusing the spanish for "butter" (mantequilla) with "lard" (manteca) reminded me of a similar issue for me. I have no ear for languages, hundreds of dollars have been spent of various language courses, with not result. Considering how much I travel (or did) this can be a problem.

In Sanlúcar de Barrameda they served a fantastic breakfast down near the market, crusty toasted rolls with  a toppping of your choice. One fantastic choice was the fat from cured hams, rendered down then whipped until light and fluffy and studded with chunks of ham. Lovely spread on toast and dressed with freshly crushed tomatoes. Try as I might to say "manteca", I nearly always ended up being served "mantequilla".

Another very popular rendered fat in Andalusia is "manteca colorá" (coloured lard). Also a common choice as a spread for breakfast toast, it is sold in huge tubs in the local markets. From the flavour profile I would guess it is flavoured with bay leaves and marjoram. The colour I would like to think come from pimenton (paprika), maybe made from the excellent sweet nora peppers, but maybe not.

Interestingly, at a more up market hotel in Jerez the breakfast toast was served with a selection of spreads which played with the local "manteca" choices. While it may look like butter, manteca colorá and whipped manteca as described above, it is actually butter, carrot conserve and whipped honey.

One last thing that you may not see mentioned in any Spanish cookbook for English readers. A lot of that bright orange-yellow colour typically of Spanish cooking comes not from saffron or pimenton, but comes from an artificial dye. You can judge how popular it is by the volume it (bright orange powder) takes up at this stall in the Jerez market. There is no stigma attached to using this product locally.

Botargo

On a hot summer evening in 1661 London diarist Samuel Pepys giving up all hope of a comfortable nights sleep, decided that there was really only one thing to be done – he went into his garden and drank huge amounts of wine and ate bread and butter with botargo until “very near fuddled”. Having sat though at least one similarly hot Melbourne night in a bath tub full of cold water with a book and a glass of wine to pass the time, I know exactly where he was coming from. I have never heard of, let alone eaten, the mysterious “botargo” he mentions, but maybe it was worth tracking down for next time there is a power outage during the summer? I little bit of research turned up the surprising fact that botargo was “the salted and dried roe of grey mullet and occasionally tuna”, not something I was likely to come across then.

Eventually, I did come across a small exquisitely labeled and accordingly priced jar of a fine orange-brown dust which claimed to be “Botargo” in an exotic location (a Scottish-Italian Deli in truth). How could one resist charms of an exquisitely labeled jar of exotic powder? Certainly on this occasion not me and later that night I had my first taste of botargo. Five minutes later, and several mouthfuls exotic dust sprinkled pasta later, I still really couldn’t understand why anybody would want to eat what was effectively very expensive salty, fishy nastiness. Just to make sure I wasn’t mistaken the first time, I did try to eat it on several other occasions, and at least once I served it to some long suffering friends (who thereafter referred to the event as “The evening of evil fishy nastiness”). Botargo it seemed was just another one of those food ingredients that looked and sounded exotic enough that I felt that I had to try it, but were just plain nasty. Obviously, Pepys and everybody else in the last four hundred years that said they liked it were obviously mad, lying or both.

Strangely enough though, I recently had a botargo epiphany and have come to the conclusion that not all salted and dried fish roes are created equal. Which was rather a surprise, after all botargo is just salted and dried grey mullet roe, a very simple product, so how could one version be delicious and another just plain nasty? Could it simply be another example of the universal law that everything tastes better on holiday? This was very possible; after all I ate these utterly delicious sparkling shards of botargo in a Spanish bar, drinking salty manzanilla sherry and watching the setting sun turn the Guadalquivir river into a sheet of molten gold.

From previous bitter experience I had learnt that I am a sucker for the whole “setting sun, rivers of molten gold” thing and that under these specific circumstances I am inclined to buy large amounts of retsina wine or obscure herbal-anise liquor combinations, only to regret doing to so when opening these holiday “treasures” back home in non-holiday reality. So obviously there was only one thing to do, I filled up my suitcase with vacuum sealed packets of botargo and took them back to Edinburgh where I was living at the time. During this trip to Scotland’s capital I experienced some of the most low, grey and moisture laden sky known to man, a perfect environment to test the deliciousness (or not) of holiday botargo.

Well obviously the wafer thin slices of botargo sprinkled with a few drops of olive oil and lemon juice and eaten in a dark Edinburgh flat turned out to be one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten and I finally worked out why the botargo I had eaten before was so nasty in comparison. The problem was that botargo although a relatively simply product to make is also quite an expensive product. I had originally bought low grade version of pre-shaved flakes in a jar, in effect I could have simply bought a jar of flaked fish food and saved some cash, that taste and texture would have been same. Good quality mullet botargo looks like two slim orange-brown to dark-brown sausages and has a translucent glow that makes it look more like a children’s sweet then an adult savory. It is an ancient product, with production occurring around the Mediterranean wherever mullet occur and under various names it is also produced in Brazil, Venezuela, Turkey and Senegal. An identical product is also made in Japan where is known as “Karasumi”. Given the wide distribution of production, surprisingly it is traditionally eaten in a restricted number of ways. In fact, in the vast majority of cases it is simply sliced finely and eaten without any other further preparation and it is consumed with one goal in mind as is described in this 19th century dictionary:

BOTARGO: A kind of salt cake, or rather sausage, made of the hard row of the sea mullet, eaten with oil and vinegar, but chiefly used to promote drinking.

It was the “to promote drinking” part that was relevant Samuel Pepys’ interest in botargo and this is how it is still widely consumed today. Botargo was popular enough in England that it was specifically mentioned as one of the few foreign caught "fish" that could be imported by foreigners in Acts designed to protect English fisheries. This is also outlined in:

An act for making Billinsgate a free market for sale of fish" 1699.

8. And for the better encouragement of
the fishery of this kingdom, be it further
enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
no fish (except stock fish and live eels)
taken or caught by any foreigners, aliens
to this kingdom (except Protestant stran-
gers. inhabiting within this kingdom) shall
be imported in any foreign ship, vessel,
or bottom, not being wholly English property,
and uttered, sold or exported to sale
in this kingdom, under the pain of the forfeiture
of such ship, vessel, or bottom, with
the tackle thereunto belonging, and of all
such fish so imported and sold, contrary to the true intent and meaning hereof….

9. Provided nevertheless, That this shall
not be construed to prohibit the importation
of anchovies, sturgeon, botargo or cavear,
nor felling of mackarel before or after divine
service on Sundays.

Botargo is often mentioned along with caviar, in effect they were not dismiliar products in a period before technology developed to preserve caviar in plump salty little balls of individual fish eggs. At this stage caviar would have been a less refined product, with a great deal more broken down eggs, resembling a sort of salty caviar jam. Part of the bill of fare for the Corination of King James II consisted of:

Sweet-meats; toil'd Sallet, hot; ; Pigs Collar'd, cold; Sweet-mcats; Beef a la Royal, hot; Crayfish, cold ; Bolonia Sauiagcs; Salad; Botargo ; Periwincles; 11 Chickens, 4 larded, hot; ; Dozen Glasses of Blumange; Collar'd Eels, cold; Rabbits frigas'd, hot; Sweet-meats; Sallet; Sweet-meats; Tansie ; Pullet Pyes, cold; Sweet-meats; 6 Pheasants, 1 larded, hot; Mangoes, cold; Hung Beef, Sallet; Cockles; Salamagundy ; a Chine of Beef; hot; Goofeberry and Apricot Tarts; souc'd Mullets, cold; Pudding, hot; Sweet-meats; Sallet; Sweetmeats...>

And even in the British West Indian colonies we find botago on the bill of fare at a Plantation banquet during the 17th century:

First then (because beefe being the greatest rarity in the island) I will begin with it, and of that sort there are three dishes at either messe, a rompe boyl'd, a chine roasted, a large piece of the breast roasted, the cheeks bak'd, of which is a dish to either messe, the tongue and part of the tripes minc't for pyes, season'd with sweet herbs finely minc't, suet, spice, and currans; the legges, pallets, and other ingredients for an olio podrido to either messe, a dish of marrow-bones; so here are fourteen dishes at the table and all of beefe : and this he intends as the great regalio to which he invites his fellow-planters ; who having well eaten of it, the dishes are taken away, and another course brought in, which is a potato pudding, a dish of Scots collops of a leg of porke, as good as any in the world, a fricacy of the same, a dish of boyl'd chickens, a shoulder of a young goat drest with his blood and tyme, a kid with a pudding in his belly, a sucking-pig, which is there the fattest, whitest, and sweetest in the world, with the pognant sauce of the brains, salt, sage, and nutmeg, done with claret wine; a shoulder of mutton, which is there a rare dish ; a pasty of the side of a young goat, and a side of a fat young shot upon it, well seasoned with pepper and salt, and with some nutmeg; a loyne of veal, to which there wants no'sauce, being so well furnisht with oranges, lymons, and lymes; three young turkies in a dish; two capons, of which sort I have seen some extreame large and very fat; two henns with eggs in a dish ; four ducklings ; eight turtle-doves, and three rabbits; and for cold bak't meats, two Muscovie ducks larded, and season'd well with pepper and salt: and these being taken off the table, 'another course is set on, and that is of Westphalia or Spanish bacon, dried neats" tongues, botargo, pickled oysters, caviare, anchovies, olives, and (intermixt with these) custards, creams, some alone, some with preserves of plantains, bananas, guavers put in, and those preserved alone by themselves ; cheesecakes, puffs, which are to be made with English flower and bread; sometimes tansies.

It is perhaps from this account by Richard Lingon that Samuel Johnson made the observation in his dictionary that "Portago" is described as a "West Indian Pickle".

Not everybody was keen on Botargo, the 17th century diarist John Evelyn described Bologna as:

This citty is famous also for sausages ; and here
is sold greate quantities of Parmegiano cheese, with
Botargo, Caviare, &c. which makes some of their
shops perfume ye streetes with no agreeable smell.

But in general, where there was 17th century boozing, there was Botargo and this remains true even today. Its salty-sweetness flavor is perfect for the taste profile of sake and fino sherry. It is also a friend to crisp, lager style beers. Happily its subtle fishy-sweetness means that it does work very well in a range of other dishes, small amounts enhancing the flavor of more bland base ingredients. Unfortunately, it remains an expensive product and I have rarely, if ever, seen it offered for sale in Australia. This means that the easiest and cheapest solution is to make the botargo yourself. Unlike many luxury products this is actually very easy to do at home with minimum fuss and bother. A fresh mullet roe will cost less then two dollars and will produce enough botargo to dress enough pasta for ten people. Fresh roes are available from many fishmongers, especially those to cater to a Greek client base. The only other cost is enough sea-salt to cover (approximately 500 gm per roe), what other luxury food item can be produced for so little cost and effort? Botargo itself is quite versatile, depending on how much is used it can be a dominant or background element in a dish. When briefly cooked (as in the pasta recipe given below) the fish aroma which some people find objectionable is neutralized and the botargo gives a savory earthiness to a dish, in much the same manner which occurs when cooking with Thai fish sauce or dried shrimp paste.

Home-made Botargo

INGREDIENTS

1 whole fresh mullet roe, with no tears or splits in the membrane

500 gm of sea salt (fine grade)

METHOD

-          place half of the salt in a shallow plastic container. Rinse and pat dry the roe, place on salt and cover with the remainder of the salt.

-          place in refrigerator and leave for at least 6 hours to over-night.

-          carefully remove the roe from the salt and rinse of salt, pat completely dry. Wrap loosely in kitchen paper and place out-side in full sun or place on a drying rack back in the refrigerator.

-          at night bring the roe inside and place on a plate under a weighted board (a can of soup is about right) in the refrigerator. Change the kitchen paper if it becomes moist.

-          repeat this process for six-eight days until the roe has hardened and has developed a golden-orange colour.

-          the botargo can be stored in a sealed plastic container or bag in the refrigerator for up to a month or for up to a year at least in the freezer.

Thin slices of botargo can simply be served on its own with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, or as Pepys did on a hot summer evening, simply with bread and butter.

Botargo with pasta

INGREDIENTS

500 gm spaghetti or bavette

50 gm botargo, finely grated

1 garlic clove, crushed

100 ml extra virgin olive oil (a lighter flavored style, such as Ligurian is best)

METHOD

-          cook pasta in plenty of lightly salted water until al dente.

-          While the pasta is cooking, gently heat the olive oil in a deep pot with the crushed garlic. When the garlic starts to gently bubble and give its flavor to the oil, add the botargo and cook for no more the thirty seconds or so to avoid burning the botargo.

-          At this point drain the pasta and add to the oil. Mix well and serve.

Botargo with bean crostini

INGREDIENTS

500 gm cannellini beans

2 whole cloves of garlic

One sprig of sage or rosemary

Salt and pepper

One loaf of good quality crusty bread

100 ml extra virgin olive oil for the beans, extra to brush crostini.

METHOD

For the beans:

-          soak beans over-night and drain. Place beans in a heavy casserole and cover with water bring to boil. Drain beans and discard water. This step removes some of the bean carbohydrates that contribute to gas production and removes much of the scum that is produced when beans are initially boiled.

-          place beans back in casserole and cover with water to depth of 3-4 cms. Add garlic and herbs and olive oil. Heat to boiling point, then turn down the heat to the lowest setting. Cook beans until tender and they have absorbed oil and liquid. Beans are cooked when soft, but not broken or pulpy. A good indication of this is when a hot bean is exposed to the air it splits open. Remove herbs and garlic clove and add salt and pepper to taste. At this point the beans can be made hours ahead of time and re-heated just before serving.

For the Crostini:

-          cut 2 cm thick slices of bread, brush with olive oil and either brown under a grill or on a very hot griddle pan (which will give you attractive scorch marks on the bread).

-          for each person place a slice of bread on a serving plate, top with warmed beans and lightly grate on botargo to taste. A very small amount of botargo is required to give depth of flavor to the beans.

Syringed Fritters, Nun's Farts and Churros

I tend to cook a lot of dishes that are never tasted by anybody other then myself. When researching historical recipes, often the only way to develop a sense of the people who wrote the recipes and the food they were eating is to attempt to make their food itself. While this process is quite a fun and relaxing pass time, quite often the food just isn't to modern tastes - other then my own.

Very occasionally I come across a recipe that is both of intellectual interest and produces an absolutely delicious result. In this case the recipe(s) in question are "Syringed Fritters". Recipes for these types of fritters occurs at least as early as the 16th century, with the German cookbook written by Sabina Welserin 1553 desribing how to make fritters called Strauben and Spritzgebackenes out of hot water dough (similar to a modern Choux pastry) with special funnels or a pastry bag and in his "Ouverture de Cuisine" (1604), Lancelot de Casteau describes the production of similar hot water doughs which can be dropped from a spoon or pushed through a speriche or sering (Syringe). In 17th century England Robert May's "The Accomplisht Cook" has a recipe titled "To fry Paste out of a Syringe or Butter-squirt". So it seems that by the 17th century large syringe type devises were used as kitchen utensils in large, well stocked kitchen in many European countries. These were mainly used to squeeze out butter into decorative ribbons or threads (hence "butter squirt") and to pipe out marzipan for baking, but they were obviously also used for making fritters.

The fritters made in this manner were almost always made from a Choux type pastry or other hot water type pastry, most likely because this dough is quite plastic in nature and therefore able to be piped/syringed into hot oil without falling apart. Most recipes for fried choux pastry from the late 17th to early 18th century consisted of small balls of pastry, rather then syringed sticks of pastry. As these small choux pastry fritters were hollow and very light in texture they were often known as "Pets" (farts) in French cooking texts In some cases they were known as "Whore's Farts" or "Nun's Farts" depending on the humour of the author. In the more straight-laced 19th century the nun's "Farts" were often turned into a "Sighs".

In the 18th century "Syringed Fritters" occur in many English cookbooks. Curiously, these recipes are all very similar and are obviously copied from each other, rather then being original creations. The earliest example I have been able to find is from the anonymous  "The Whole Duty of a Woman" 1737.

Syringed Fritters (From "The Whole Duty of a Woman" 1737)

Take about a Pint of water, and a Bit of Butter, the Bigness of an Egg, with some green Lemon-Peel rasp'd, preserved Lemon Peel, and crisped Orange-flowers; put all together in a Stew-pan over the fire, and when boiling throw in fome fine Flour, & keep it stirring, put in by Degrees more flour 'till your batter be thick enough: Then put it in a Mortar with Almonds pounded or Bitter Almonds, biskets , two Eggs, Yolk and White. Temper it with Eggs farther, 'till your Batter be thin enough to be syringed ; Fill your Syringe and your Hogs Lard being hot, syringe your Fritters in it, to make of it a true Lovers Knot; and being well coloured, strew them Sugar: Serve them up hot for a dainty Dish....

This recipe was then published by Hannah Glasse, and later Charlotte Mason, with some re-wording. Richard Briggs re-writes the recipe with more detail.

To make Syringed fritters (From "The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy" 1747, Hannah Glasse).

TAKE about a pint of water, and a bit of butter the bigness of an egg, with some lemon-peel, green if you can get it, rasped preserved lemon-peel, and crisped orange-flowers ; put all together in a stew pan over the fire, and when boiling throw in some fine flour; keep it stirring, put in by degrees more flour till your batter be thick enough, take it off the fire, then take an ounce of sweet almonds, four bitter ones, pound them in a mortar, stir in two Naples biscuits crumbled, two eggs beat; stir all together, and more eggs till your batter be thin enough to be syringed. Fill your syringe, your butter being hot, syringe your fritters in it, to make it of a true lovers-knot, and being well coloured, serve them up for a side-dish.

Syringed Fritters (From "The Ladies Assistant" 1787 by Charlotte Mason).

TO a pint of water, add a piece of butter the size of a large egg, some preferved lemon-peel, crisped orange-flowers, and some green lemon-peel grated ; put them in a stew-pan over the fire, and when they boil throw in fome fine flour ; keep it stirring, and by degrees put in as much flour as will make the batter thick enough ; take it off the fire, stir in two Naples biscuits crumbled, an ounce of sweet almonds, three or four bitter ones, pound them in a mortar, mix it with eggs well beat, till the batter is thin enough to be syringed; let the butter be boiling hot in the frying-pan, and syringe the fritters into it; fry them of a good colour. They make a pretty side dish.

Syringed Fritters (From "The Art of Cookery" 1788 by Richard Briggs).

PUT a pint of water into a stew-pan, with a piece of butter as big as an egg -, grate in the rind of a lemon, a preferved lemon peel rasped, a few orange flowers crisped and rubbed fine-, put all over the fire, and when it boils stir in fome flour, which continue to do till it is as thick as batter; then take it off the fire: take an ounce of sweet almonds and
four bitter ones, blanch and beat them fine in a mortar, rub two Naples biscuits through a fine cullender, and beat two eggs; mix all well together, and put in eggs till your batter is thin enough to syringe; then fill your syringe, have a pan of hogs lard boiling hot, syringe in your fritters as quick as you can, in any form you please -, have a slice ready to take them out in a moment, .....lay them on a sieve to drain, dish
them, and sprinkle powder sugar over them.

Hannah Glasse re-interpreted and re-wrote the recipe from "The Whole Duty of a Woman", as butter is used to shallow fry the fritters, rather then the original method of deep frying in lard, this method is copied by Charlotte Mason. In fact some later authors copy the recipe given by Hannah Glasse word for word (for example John Farley in 1783). Richard Brigg's recipe is interesting as it seems not to have been copied from Hannah Glasse. Finally recipes for these types of syringed fritters disappear from English cookbooks at the end of the 18th century, although they occasionally turn up in cooks "Dictionaries" or other similar large recipe collections, for example in Richard Dolby's "The Cook's Dictionary and Housekeeper's Directory" (1833).

Clearly the later recipes owe a great deal to the "The Whole Duty of a Woman" (especially the Glasse version), but is this an original recipe and if so, what is the source material used? In looking for the origin of these english recipes, it is important to define what is important about the recipe. Clearly they are fritters, but there are thousands of different types of fritters, independently derived in multiple cultures. A more precise definition of these fritters is that they are made from a hot water pastry (flour is added to a hot liquid), specifically a form of Choux pastry and that they are formed by squirting out of a syringe. A syringe is a very specific tool, so it is relatively easy to look for references to it in cooking texts. A good place to look is in the books index, glossary of culinary terms or in the Batterie de Cuisine and ideed in Menon's "La Cuisiniere bourgeoise" there is the following description of a syringe as used as a culinary item.

"SERINGUE. Est un ustensile d'office dans lequel on seringue la pâte des massepains pour la friser, ou lui donner une autre figure : on s'en sert aussi à la cuisine pour les beignets de pâte."

This indicates that in French kitchens of the period, syringes were used to pipe marzipan and fritters (beignets). If we look at Menon's recipes for beignets (not syringed) we see one recipe in particular that is very interesting:

"Beignets soufflés, ou pets & petits choux

Mettrez dans une casserole gros comme un oeuf de beurre, deux citron verds rapes, de la eau de fleurs d’orange une pleine cuillere a café...."

An even closer match to the English recipe is found in François Marin's "Les Dons de Comus":

"Beignets seringues

Mettez dans une casserole une chopine d'eau, de la farine, & gros comme un oeuf de beurre. Formez en une pate royale bien ferme. Mettez le dans le mortier avec du citron rapé, un peu de fleur d'orange, amandes pilées, ou quelques biscuits d'amandes ameres. Mettez-v des oeufs a mesure que vous pilez, mettez-en jusqu'a ce qu'elle soit au soit de pouvoir la mettre dans la seringue. Alors vous l'emplirez & pousserez vos beignets dans la friture. Il saut qu'au bout de la seringue il y ait une petite plaque de fer qui bouche les trous, qu'ils soient dessines en las d'amour ou autre chissre. Vous les faites frire de cote & d'autre & les servez avec du sucre en poudre"

As you can see these recipes starts off almost exactly as the English recipes for "Syringe Fritters", an "egg of butter", "green citron rind" and "orange flower" (not "crisped orange flowers"). Unfortunately Menon's work, although hugely influencial in French and English cookery wasn't published until 1746 and Marin's in 1750, nearly a decade after the "The Whole Duty of a Woman" recipe. Clearly we are looking for a recipe which is the source of both the early english and french recipes. Although the English published a great deal more cookbooks then the French in the 17th century, late in this century several hugely influencial French works were produced. One of the most influencial French cookbook authors of this period was François Massialot. In 1702 "The Court and Country Cook" was published in English, this is a translation of the third edition of "Le Cuisinier royal et bourgeois" and the second edition of "Nouvelle Instruction pour les Confitures. les Liqueurs, et les Fruits". Unfortunately, I don't have access to the english translation, but in "Le Cuisinier royal et bourgeois", the following recipe appears.

"Beignets a l’eau por entremets

Prenez une casserole, & y mettez de l’eau, avec gros comme une noix de beurre, & un peu de sel, avec de l’ecorce de citron vert & confit, hache bien menu. Faites bouillir cela sur ub sournean;  y ayant mis deux bonnes poignees de farine, tournez-le a force de bras jusqu’a ce que cela se detrache de la casserole. Alors vous le tirerez en arriere; & y metteant deau jaunes d’oeufs vous les melerez bien ensemble, continuant d’y mettre d’eux oeufs a deux oeufs jusqu’a dix ou douze, que votre pate soit delicate. Il saut ensuite fariner sur son tour, tremper la maon dans la farine, & tirer votre pate par morceaux sur le tour. Quand elle aura reose, il saut la rouler & couper par petits morceaux, empechant qu’ils ne s’attachent l’un a l’autre: & quand on sera prêt a server, vous les frirez dans du bon saindoux; & les ayant tirez , vous jetterez du sucre dessus & de l’eau de fleur dórange, % vous servirez promtement por Hor-d’oeuvres. ON en peut aussi garner des Tourtes de crème. Les Beignets au Bouillon se sont de meme: au lieu d’eau, vous servez de bouillion."

So here I think is the explanation for the confusing "some green Lemon-Peel rasp'd, preserved Lemon Peel" that we see in "The Whole Duty of a Woman", this is simply a poor translation of "de l’ecorce de citron vert & confit". Basically the French recipe is talking about the preserved/candied rind of citron (Citrus medica), not a green lemon (Citrus limon). It is a very odd confusion to have made in light of the fact that preserved citron peel was a very common ingredient in English and French cookery of this period. Another thing to note is that there is no mention of a syringe in this french recipe. The recipe is a close, but not an exact match. An explanation of this is that this type of pasty can be used in a number of different ways and that in many recipes the option to syringe the batter is is left up to the user. Another angle is that there is another recipe that is a more exact match for the "The Whole Duty of a Woman" recipe and indeed, this is what turns out to be the case.

Quite by chance when researching these recipes I read in the excellent introductory material written by Jennifer Stead and Priscilla Bain to the Prospect Books facsimile edition of Hannah Glasse's "The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy", that while Glasse sourced a great deal of material from "The Whole Duty of a Woman", the author(s) of this work copied their recipes wordfor word from several other earlier books. The most copied source for these books was Vincent La Chapelle's "The Modern Cook". While working in London, La Chapelle published his text first in three English volumes in 1733 and then in four French volumes in 1735 as "Le Cuisiner Moderne", it was from the english text that the "Whole Duty of a Woman" recipe is a direct copy. The French text for this recipe is also very interesting.

"Entremis des Bignets Seringuez

Mettez dans une casserole environ une chopine d'eau, gros comme la moitié d'un œuf de bon beurre, de l'écorces de citron verds râpé, de l'écorces de citron confit, de la fleurs-d'orange pralinée;mettez-là dessus un fourneau,& quand elle bouillira, mettez-y, de,la farine,en remuant sanscesse avec une cuillere de bois , en continuant d'y mettre de la farine, jusqu'à ce que vôtre pâte devienne ferme, & qu'elle quitte la casserole, ensuite,mettez-la dans un mortier, avec un peu d'amandes pilées,ou de biscuit d'amande amère ; & vous y mettrez deuy œufs à la fois, blancs & jaunes, & bien pillés; vous continuerez à y mettre des œufs, jufqu'ài ce que vous voyez que vôtre pâte ne foit pas trop claire, & que vous puissiez la manier, pour la mettre, dans la Seringue: observez cependant qu'elle soit fermer car si elle étoit trop délicate, vos Bignets ne pourroient pas se soûtenir ; remplissez-en vôtre Seringue, & mettez du sain-doux dans une casserole sur le feu, & vôtre friture étant chaude, poussez-y vôtre Bignêt, qu'il sorte fort fin, & lassé comme un las d'amour, sans confusion: étant frit d'un côté, vous le tournerez de l'autre côté: étant frit d'une belle couleur, tirez-le, & le poudrez de fucre, & le servez chaudement pour Entremêts... "

It can be seen by comparing this recipe with the earlier beignets recipe from Massialot, that La Chapelle has not so much as copied Massialot as reinterpreted and expanded his recipes. In fact this process of reinterpretation and expansion of Massialot's work characterises many of La Chapelle's recipes. In Massialot's recipe for Beignets a l’eau por entremets, "l’ecorce de citron vert; confit, hache bien menu" which in La Chapelle's Entremis des Bignets Seringuez becomes "l'écorces de citron verds râpé, de l'écorces de citron confit". In other words Massialot's "candied green citron rind, chopped small" becomes La Chapelles "The rasped rind of a green lemon and candied lemon peel" and eventually Hannah Glasse's "some lemon-peel, green if you can get it, rasped preserved lemon-peel"

So we have a French recipe which though a process of poor translation and reinterpretation has been transformed into a new English recipe. I previously mentioned that I often don't serve my re-created historic recipes to other people, but in this case I am happy to say that these recipes produce delicious results. Which is very odd considering the manner in which these recipes were derived. This is my "reinterpretation and expansion of the recipe.

English Syringed Fritters

Ingredients:

Oil to fry
600 ml water
50 gm butter
275 gm flour (the more gluten the tougher the fritter)
25 gm of almond meal
4 medium eggs
1 tspn orange flower water, zest of one lemon.
2 crushed sponge fingers or 5 crushed amaretti (optional)

Method:

Place water and butter in a saucepan, bring to boil and when butter is melted, add flour. Stir until a smooth dough is produced. Off the heat add lemon zest and orange flour water, almond meal and sponge fingers. Incorporate eggs one at a time. Place in piping bag (using a 1 - 1.5 cm star nozzle). Heat oil in deep frying pan until 160.C. Pipe in fritters, do not over crowd pan. Cook until fritters are golden brown and bubbling as subsided (about 5-10 minutes). Place fritters on absorbant paper, sprinkle with sugar.

These produce a fritter which while superficially resembling a Spanish or Mexican "Churro" are much lighter in texture. This is due to the use of a egg enriched Choux pastry type dough for the English recipe, compared to the plainer hot water dough used for Churros.

Does the resemblance to Churros go beyond the superficial? As I have previously mentioned these type of piped hot water dough fritters where known from many European countries from the 16th century onwards, but it seems that only in Spain and former colonies was the dish retained. In terms of the history of Churros, there are two popular theories.

1). "Churros" are named after a Spanish breed of sheep with the same name, or specifically the horns of these sheep. Spanish shepherds made Churros as a type of primative "bread".

2). They are derived from "Moorish" cuisine.

There is no doubt that many Spanish and world dishes owe their origin to the Moors of the Iberian peninsula. However in many modern theories of the origin of modern Spanish dishes, all too often it is attributed to "The Moors" with out any further need for proof. This isn't good enough. I have looked though what Medieval Arabic recipes sources I have access to and while I can find recipes for piped fritters, I have yet to find a recipe for piped hot water dough. I would not completely discount the possibility of Moorish origins, but without proof I counldn't say any more.

There is also an issue of continuity. If modern recipe has ancient origins then we would expect some continuity in the production of the recipe. The first references in Spanish I can find to Churros are actually from the later half of the 19th century. In Spanish dictionaries from this period, "Churro/Churros" is given as the name of a breed of sheep only, no mention of the pastry. Potentially this is because fritters were not a popular item of polite conversation at the time, in fact one popualr saying from the period is:

"No diga nadie d nadie bunolero".- Let no man call another a fritter-maker.

Fritter making was a lowly occupation it seems. Another possability is that "Churro" is a regional or class specific name for a widely distributed product. From one dialect dictionary (1908) of the Aragona region we have the following definition.

Churro/Chorro = golpe de agua. || Pasta de harina y huevos

A Churro or Chorro is either a "spurt of water" or a specfic name for a type of pastry (unfortunately no more information is given about the form of this pastry). The modern name for the "Churro" fritter being derived from the Spanish for "spurt/squirt" ("Chorro") fits very well with the nature of these fritters and I believe that at this point this is the best explanation for the origin of the name.

There are older forms of these fritters from the  Iberian peninsula, in at least two 18th century cookbooks from this region, recipes for "Syringed Fritters" occur. A recipe for "Fruta de siringa/ciringa" (Syringed Fritters) appears in the 1758 edition of the Portuguese cookbook "Arte de Cozinha" by Domingos Rodrigues and the 1763 edition of the Spanish "Arte de Cocina" (first published in 1611 by Francisco Martinez Montiño, head chef to King Felipe IV of Spain) contains a recipe for "Otros bunuelos de viento" this recipe is describes the production of a choux type pastry fritters doughnuts and finishes with the phrase "Esta masa sirve ...., y para fruta de geringa" ("This dough is used for syringed fritters"). This latter book was hugely popular in Spain and it's colonies, being printed well into the 19th century. In later texts "Fruta de geringa" becomes "buñuelos de jeringa". In this form it appears in both Spanish and Mexican cookbooks of the 19th century.

Is it possible that the modern "Churro" is simply a re-naming of the old Spanish "buñuelos de jeringa"? What is the relationship between the Spanish "Fruta de geringa" and the French "Bignets Seringuez", are the 18th century Spanish and Portuguese recipes derived from the earlier French works, are the Spanish/Mexican Churros actually French in origin? Without access to earlier editions of the Spanish text I can't answer these questions, but hopefully somebody may be able to. What ever their origin, syringed fritters are delicious.

p.s. Since writing this I have thought about AlyxL's original comment in regards to the identification of "citron vert" etc. I really don't like being wrong, but I dislike the idea of disseminating incorrect information even more. As my French language skills are poor I contacted French food writer and expert Sophie Bisssaud on this identification problem. This is what she has to say:

"Concerning citron: at no period in history would a French cookbook writer have used the term "citron" instead of "cédrat". The primitive spelling seems to be cedrac (which reminds me of the hebrew etrog), later in the 18th c. cedra is quite common. So when you read in a 17th c. French recipe book the word citron, that really means lemon, not citron....

..The words l'écorce de citron verd & confit can be grammatically misleading for a non-French speaker. I think there may be an ellipsis here, which was quite common in writing at that time. It could actually mean "de l'écorce de citron verd et de l'écorce de citron confit", meaning that both grated fresh (green) lemon peel and preserved lemon peel were used. Only a guess, for that is not clear. However if we are dealing with only one ingredient here, it is most probably lime - or unripe lemon peel, which I doubt - and not citron. The mystery remains as whether it could mean candied green (i.e. unripe) lemon peel or candied lime peel. Now, since I have never heard of the use of preserving unripe lemon peel in sugar, and I am pretty sure that preserved lime peel was known, I do tend to think that the "green lemon" in question could perhaps be lime."

Thank you very much Alyx and Sophie and helping to identify the citrus fruit in question. Not something that I could have done on my own.

Scones, schoonbrot, soda and America

Somebody recently asked me "What is the first thing you remember cooking?". I have thought about this for a few days now and I would have to say that it is making scones with my grandmother. My Grandma Pickles lives in an isolated farming area in Southern Australia, where like most farms in the region the main income is derived from cropping (wheat and barley) and farming sheep. Grandma may have made scones on an irregular basis, but always when the sheep were being sheared and it is likely that this is when she helped me make my first batch.

When moving sheep from the pasture to the shearing shed (which may be many miles distant) even thirty odd years ago in my childhood it was usual practice employ a truck, but as my grandfather was somewhat idiosyncratic these sheep were moved the old fashioned way - on their own feet with sheepdogs for encourangement and with human helpers following by foot or riding in a horse drawn gig. Obviously this took quite a long time and required supplies, this would usually be tomato, jam or cheese sandwiches, tea from a thermos or made in a Billy and large batch of my Grandmother's scones with butter (never cream which would not survive the heat) and jam.

My Grandma made fantastic scones, white on the sides, golden on the top, light in texture and not so sweet as to make the addition of huge spoonfuls of jam cloying. So my first memory of cooking is being given my own bowl of flour to make a batch of scones, during the shearing season. I can't remember what these tasted  like, but I can remember being annoyed that my grandmother's scones were much taller then mine, three inches at least I am sure. I now realise that although the ingredient list is simple in making scones truely great scones is a great skill and my fumbling five year old fingers were simply not up to the task. I'm not sure what recipe my grandmother used, if she used one at all but it would have used a similar ingredient list to this modern recipe.

2 cups of self raising flour, 50 gms butter, salt, 3/4 cup of milk

Until I lived in Scotland I had no idea that there was any other type other then the white, light and wheat flour type. In Edinburgh I was exposed to plain scones, fruit scones, treacle scones, brown (whole wheat) scones, cream scones, cheese scones and potato scones. I imagine that for many people this comes as no surprise as Scotland is the original home of the scone after all, with the word "scone" throught to be derived from the Dutch "Schoonbrot" ("fine bread"). However, all of these scone types were basic variations on the theme I was use to - with the exception of the potato scones. These were flat, more like a pancake then a "scone", triangular in shape (this shape is known as a "farl") and most often served as part of a savour fry-up then with jam in my experience. At the time I thought I knew a bit a about food and I was pretty sure that these potato scones were not really scones at all. As so often happens I was competely wrong.

While most people know of scones as a product that is baked in the oven and raised with chemical agent, however, the use of chemical agents is a relatively recent innovation. Originally scones were baked on a griddle, not in an oven, and were likely to be made from barley, not wheat flour. The nature of these flat barley scones is alluded to in Robert Burns' poem "Scotch Drink":

.....John Barleycorn,
Thou king o' grain.

On thee aft Scotland chows her cood,
In souple scones, the wale o' food!
Or tumblin' in the boiling flood
Wi' kail and beef;
But when thou pours thy strong heart's blood,
There thou shines chief.

Many of Burns' fellow countrymen appreciated the soft, "souple" (supple) nature of these scones, which no doubt contrasted to the drier and firmer texture of their usual oatcake. Apart from these barley scones there were a large range of other griddle baked products produced in Scotland which were called scones, none of which resemble the modern scone. The "Full Scottish Breakfast" fry-up potato scone seems to be the last of this old fashioned type of scone. The problem with this type of scone is that they are very difficult to make, a great deal and skill and practice is required to produce a product that is not tough and leathery - especially when using oat or barley meal. The introduction of chemical rasing agents changed all of this. Within a generation the art of scone making was transformed. Even five year olds like me could produce a scone that wasn't completely inedible, if not three inches high.

Interestingly it is proberly the Americans that should be thanked for this revolution in British cooking. With their vast acres of woodlands they were producing potash on an industrial scale early in the 18th century for the glass and soap making industries. Pearlash, a more highly purified and concentrated potassium carbonate derivative of potash was found by colonial American cooks to be able lighten dough without the addion of egg or yeast. It's use in baked products was first published in 1796 in Amelia Simmons' "American Cookery". As Europeans were less then keen on developing a dependence for American potassium carbonate, by the late 18th century methods had been developed for the local production of sodium carbonate. This crystaline substance was commonly refered to as "Soda" (and today as "Washing Soda") was also used in the manufactor of soap and glass and was soon found it's use in baking. By the 1840's the use of sodium bicarbonate (modern "baking soda") in baking was becoming common. Essentially these carbonate chemicals produce carbon dioxide gas bubbles when reacting with an acid. In baking this can be achieved by the addition of acidic sour milk, buttermilk, naturally fermented dough or acid chemicals like tataric acid.

A very early English recipe shows a transition from in the use of these chemical raising agents, although recipe has "potash" in the title, it actually uses the much more refined products tartaric acid and soda (likely to be sodium carbonate, but possibly potassium carbonate).

The New London Cook by Duncan MacDonald (1808).

American Potash Cakes

Mix a pound of flour, and a quarter of a pound of butter; dissolve and stir a quarter of a pound of sugar in half a pint of milk; and make a solution of about a tea-spoonful of salt of tartar, crystal of soda, or any purified potash, in half a tea-cupful of cold