The Art and Mystery of Food

Historical Sources of Early Scottish Haggis

A few years ago I wrote about an early manuscript source for Scottish haggis, making the point that this early 18th century Scottish recipe looked much the same as English recipes from the 16-17th century. Further research over the years has turned up very few other early Scottish haggis recipes. While we have references to the haggis in Scotland as early as the first half of the 16th century (about 100 years after the first mention in English sources), the first recipe published in Scotland was at the end of the 18th century. This was several centuries after the first published English haggis recipe. This has resulted in some difficulty for some modern Scots, the Haggis is a national treasure, a modern Scottish icon, so how can it be shared with England?

One point that is rarely made though is that by the time Scotlands first cookery book was published in the first half of the 18th century, many dozens of cookery books had been published in England. Simply due to the huge amount of cookery material produced in England from the 16th century onward, this will obviously have a large impact on the development of cookery in Scotland. Specifically, the haggis was a relatively common recipe in English cookery texts. Historical inventories of books from private households in Scotland list many English cookery books. Looking through the texts 18th century Scottish cookery books, it is actually rather hard to see much evidence of a purely Scottish cookery tradition. Least you should think that these books are not actually representative of the food cooked and eaten in Scotland, it is worth knowing that these cookery books were written by Scottish cookery teachers. They were not only producing cookery texts, they were teaching Scottish women how to cook, an by and large these women were being taught how to cook dishes that were common to England and Scotland.

This is reflected many of the Scottish cookery manscripts of the 18th century: 

The National Library of Scotland, Manuscript Ms.10281, Dumfries (1722-1764) 

 'A Large Collection of Choice Recipes for Cookrie, Pastrie. Milks, Sauces, Candying, Confectionating, and Preserving of Fruits. Flowers, etc'

.................................................

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That such Receipts as marked (E) are taken from an English Manuscript, wherefore Whatever Weights or Measures are mentioned  in any of these Receipts, must be understood to be of the weights and measures of England: And those marked (*) are such as are taught by one of the best Paistrie Mistrises in Edinburgh to her Schollars - Mrs Johnston"

So not only were Scottish cooks using printed English sources they were obtaining recipes from English manuscripts also. Interestingly, this 18th century Scottish cookery manuscript has a very rare mention of a recipe for a haggis:

The National Library of Scotland, Manuscript Ms.10281, Dumfries (1722) 

"A Haggish Pudding

Take a fat Haggish, parboil it very well, take out the Kernals, shred small, temper it it with a handful or two of grate Manchote; then take 3 or 4 eggs well beaten, Rosewater, sugar, cloves, Nutmegs, cinnamon & Mace, Currans & Marrow good store, temper them all together, with a quantity of Cream, being first moderately Seasoned with salt."

 

The lovely thing about this specific recipe is the original source can be traced. Although the recipe is not marked as coming from either an English manscript or Scottish cookery teacher, the recipe is near identical to a recipe published in England:

 

The Ladies Cabinet Opened (1639) Printed by M.P. for Richard Meighen, London.

"To make a Haggesse Pudding

Take a fat Haggesse; purboyle it well, take out the Kernels, shred it small, and temper it with a handfull or two of grated Manchet, then take three or foure Egges wel beaten, Rosewater and Sugar, Cloves, Nutmegs, Sinnamon, Mace, very finely beaten, Currants and Marrow good store, temper them altogether, with a fit quantity of Creame, being first moderately seasoned with Salt."

 

The Ladies Cabinet Enlarged and Opened by M.B. (1654), London.

"To make a Haggesse Pudding

Take a fat Haggesse; perboil it wel, take out the Kernels, shred it smal, and temper it with a handful or two of grated Manchet, then take three or four Eggs wel beaten, Rosewater and Sugar, Cloves, Nutmegs, Cinnamon, Mace, very finely beaten, Currans and Marrow good store, temper them all together, with a fit quantity of Cream, being first moderately seasoned with Salt."

 

Comparing the three copies of the recipe, it seems most likely that the 1654 recipe is the source of Scottish recipe, but even so these is a very large gap between 1654 and the date of the Scottish manuscript recipe collection. Was the Scottish recipe copied directly from the cookery book, or was it passed from person to person until it was written down in this Scottish collection? Irrespective of this, it worth noting just how much Scottish cookery in the 18th century was influenced by English sources, even for the iconic Haggis.  I don't think that this takes anything away from the modern Scottishness of the Haggis. Haggis isn't an English dish anymore, but it is very much part of modern Scottish culture. The Scots should be rightly proud that they still have a dish with such a long history of production and consumption. The vast majority of dishes have a relatively recent origin, to be able to trace the history of this dish that is now eaten on a daily basis, back to the 15th century is very very rare. Does it matter if most of the history was a shared history or do we have to re-brand our own history as well to feel comfortable in our own skins?

 

Finally I would like to thank the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland for permission to reproduce these recipes.

The Evolution of the Yorkshire Pudding

Recently a consortium bid (including industrial manufacturers - Roberts, the Real Yorkshire Pudding Company, and Aunt Bessie's) failed to gain EU Protected Geographical Status (PGS) for the Yorkshire Pudding on the basis that it was "too generic" to be deemed regional.  In theory, PGS aims to protect the integrity of heritage foods while at the same time being a way to raise the profile of regional products and skills. This allows the consumer to distinguish "authentic" from a ubiquitous food products without all the bother of having to find anything out about the food in question. Although, one has to wonder how much profile raising a company that produces millions of Yorkshire puddings a week actually need. On the other hand, the decision to award a PGS or not to a particular product can have very large and expensive consequences, even for large food companies. There is now a rush in the UK to gain PGS for a whole range of food stuffs. This has been accompanied by a number articles published using terms like "heritage", "tradional", regional and even the occasional "terroir", which unfortunately have failed to show any understanding of what Protected Designation of Origin (PDO); Protected Geographical Indication (PGI); and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) actually mean. According to the European Commission:

 

PDO- covers agricultural products and foodstuffs which are produced, processed and prepared in a given geographical area using recognised know-how.

PGI- covers agricultural products and foodstuffs closely linked to the geographical area. At least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation takes place in the area.

TSG- highlights traditional character, either in the composition or means of production

Amazingly, not mention of  "Nostagia food", "Comfort food" or "Emotional eating", which are clearly just as important marketing terms for the businesses involved, as gaining a PGS label for these products.  It will be interesting to see if the PGS labels will be perceived as maintaining its integrity in the future. One wonders how many times it will be reported that X product will "have the same status as champagne or Parma ham.", before people start to question the statement?

 

Central to the failed Yorshire Pudding bid was the claim that the term "Yorkshire Pudding" was first described by the 18th century cookery book author Hannah Glasse and that this pudding differed from other similar dishes which all suggests it is originally from Yorkshire. The recipe in question is as follows:

The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse (1747)

"A Yorkshire Pudding.

Take a Quart of Milk, four Eggs, and a little Salt, make it up into a thick Batter with flour, like a Pancake Batter. You must have a good Piece of Meat at the fire, take a Stew-pan and put some Dripping in, set it on the Fire, when it boils, pour in your Pudding, let it bake on the Fire till you think it is high enough, then turn a plate upside-down in the Dripping-pan, that the Dripping may not be blacked; set your Stew-pan on it under your Meat, and let the Dripping drop on the Pudding, and the Heat of the Fire come to it, to make it of a fine brown. When your Meat is done and set to Table, drain all the Fat from your Pudding, and set it on the Fire again to dry a little; then slide it as dry as you can into a Dish, melt some butter, and pour into a Cup, and set in the Middle of the Pudding. It is an exceeding good pudding, the Gravy of the Meat eats well with it."

By 1755 the Glasse had sold the copyright of "The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy" due to bankruptcy and the text is outwith her control. While it was prehaps most popular and influencial English cookery book of the 18th century, most editions were not in fact the work of Hannah Glasse. If Glasse knew of a regional Yorkshire connection with the pudding, within a few years of  publishing the recipe, that direct link was lost. A later version of the recipe:

The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse (1784)

"A Yorkshire Pudding.

TAKE a quart of milk, and five eggs, beat them up well together, and mix them with flour till it is of a good pancake batter, and very smooth; put in a little salt, some grated nutmeg and ginger; butter a dripping or frying pan, and put it under a piece of beef, mutton, or a loin of veal, that is roasting, and then put in your batter, and when the top-side is brown, cut it in square pieces, and turn it, and then let the under-side be brown; then put it in a hot dish as clean of fat as you can, and send it to table hot."

These recipes were extensively copied in other cookery books in the 18th and into the 19th century. By the early 19th century Yorkshire Puddings were being made in many locations throughout the UK. In fact there are early 19th century references to Yorshire Pudding being cooked in Anglo-Indian households.  If it was ever a regional dish, it became widely produced throughout the country within a generation of its publication by Glasse. So is there any case for the Yorkshire Pudding being a regional dish historically?

One thing that is worth mentioning the technique used to make the 18th century Yorkshire Pudding is different to how Yorkshire Puddings are made now. Domestic technology has changed a great deat since the 18th century, Yorkshire Puddings are no longer cooked in front of a fire using radiant heat, even in Yorkshire. This is a major change from the original recipe. The second point, that has often been made, is that although Hannah Glasse may be the first person to publish a recipe using the term "Yorkshire Pudding", the pudding was published in an earlier work under a different name.

 The Whole Duty of a Woman (1737)

"Dripping Pudding

Make a good Batter as for Pancakes, put it in a hot Toss-pan over the Fire with a Bit of Butter to fry the Bottom a little, then put the Pan and Batter under a Shoulder of Mutton instead of a Dripping-pan, keeping frequent1y shaking it by the Handle and it will be light and savoury, - and fit to take up when your Mutton is enough; then turn it in a Dish, and serve it hot."

In fact, as discussed by Jennifer Stead in the introduction to Prospect Books facsimilie edition of the first edition of Glasse's "The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy", "The Whole Duty of a Woman" was the source of many of Glasses recipes.  Given that Glasse re-published so many recipes without a change to the original name, why did she use the term "Yorkshire Pudding" and why is her recipe so much more detailed? Given the specific changes made to the recipe it does seem that she had some personal experience, did she also know of a specific Yorkshire regional connection?

It is unlikely that we will ever have an answer to this question. While it is the case that Glasse lived in northern England for the early part of her life, this was Northumberland, not Yorkshire. It is possible that Glasse encountered this pudding in Yorkshire, but it is equally the case that the name of the pudding could be her own creation. Regionally named dishes tend to be quite rare in early English cookery texts. Glasse gives recipes for "Yorkshire Pudding" and "Welsh Rabbit", fine, but she also gives recipes for "English Rabbit" and "Scotch Rabbit". It does seem more likely that Glasse created some of these names, rather then finding a specific regional recipe for "cheese on toast" in each corner of the kingdom so why not coin "Yorkshire Pudding" too?

 

However it is worth while asking if these types of puddings had any obvious regional distribution early in their recorded history. In terms of ingedients and cooking techniques that define this pudding we have: 

1) Composition: a batter

2) Techniques: upper surface cooked in front of a fire by radiant heat, lower surface cooked on top of the fire by direct heat. Positioned underneath a  roating meat joint to catch the juices.

Given how simple it is in composition, it will come as no surprise that historically batter is a common base for a wide range of food stuffs in the British kitchen. Batter was boiled in a cloth to produce puddings, used to produce various fritter or made into pancakes. It is this latter batter that is essentially the basis of the Yorkshire Pudding. Many early historical recipes produce products that are very similar to the Yorkshire Pudding:

The Wellcome Library Western Manuscripts; MS. 3009, pg. 178

(1654-1685)

"To make a Pan Pudding

Take 2 or 3 spoonfulls of malt flower, put itt into some milk and soe much salt, pepper, cloves, and mace as will season it, then strew in some wheaten flower, stiring it together till it be About the Thickness of batter, soe you may poure it out of a ladle or spoon, then butter an Earthern pan, round About the sides, and bottom, then poure in your pudding, and bake it with brown bread, but you may draw it out, before your bread. After it halth stood in the Oven something aboue an houre."

 

The Wellcome Library Western Manuscripts; MS.4054, pg. 127

(1690-1710)

"A Fraze or Pan-Pudding

Beate 6 or 7 eggs & putt to them a pinte of creame & thicken it with flower, not all together so thick as pan-cakes batter season it with salt & a little pepper, fry it with butter; when one side is enough, turne it with a plate, and fry the other, you may putt in Corrints & shread suet with rose-water, nutmeg & sugar for seasoning."

A collection of above three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick, and Surgery by several hands (1717)

"A very good Tansie.

TAKE a pint of Milk, and a pint of Cream, about a pint of Juice of Spinnage, which must be well dried, after washing, before you stamp it; strain it and pour it in; beat fifteen Eggs with a little Salt, leave out eight. Whites, strain them into the other things, put in near a pint of grated Bread or Bisket, grate in a whole large Nutmeg, and as much Sugar as will make it very sweet, thicken it over the Fire as thick as a Hasty-Pudding; put it into a butter'd Dish, and a cool Oven: Half an Hour bakes it"

So the use of a batter to produce a baked pudding is not specific to the Yorkshire Pudding. These recipes are not cooked under a roasting joint of meat by radiant heat, but then again neither are modern Yorkshire Puddings. MS. 3009's "Pan Pudding" will be a dish similar to a modern Yorkshire Pudding, and for that matter it is similar to many European recipes such as Le Far, Flan du Perigord, Clafoutis and Flognarde. But, none of these batter puddings, historic or extant, are cooked underneath a roasting joint. In fact this seems to be a relatively uncommon technique over all, although William Ellis writes in 1744 that for potatoes  "a very common Way [is] to boil them first, then peel them and lay them in the Dripping-pan under roasting Meat". It is the uncommon nature of technique that may indicate where these types of recipes originated. The majority of  examples of recipes using the technique of cooking a pudding by radiant heat in front of a fire originate in the northern part of the UK. Very north.

The technique of cooking a pudding using the radiant heat of a fire is found in several recipe manuscript collections from Scotland:

 

The National Library of Scotland, Manuscript Acc. 12242, pg. 10

Mrs Janet Maule hir Book of Receipts, (1701)

"A Baken pudding before a fire

Take a Chopin of sweat milk or creame and boile it with a little sweat butter, taike six eggs and three whyts beat them wel with a spoonful of cold cream and when the milk is preffic cold, put in the milk eggs sweattened with sugar then thicken it with a little grated wheat bread and seasoned it with a little nutmeg and sinamon then mix al wel togither and butter the dish ye mind to bake it in before ye putt in the mixture, then put the dish after the mixture is in on top of a pot ful of boiling water before a fire and serve it up with forsed sauces for ye may taike the same ingredients for a quaking pudding.

A Baken pudding in a Frying-pan

Take a Chopin of milk and twelfe eggs wel beatt and mix them togither then with flour thicken it and shred Sewat and season with shugar and sinamone beatt, butter the sydes and bottome of the frying-pan before ye putt in the mixture then sit it before a fire and when it is hardened sett it on a fire stil shifting it til it be baken then serve it up with a sauce of beat butter, Ginger and sugar.

 

The National Library of Scotland, Manuscript Ms.10281, pg 172

Dumfries (1722) 

"A Baken pudding in a frying-pan

Take a Chopin of sweet milk & 12 eggs well beat, & mix them together; then thicken it with flower &  shred Sewat, season it with Sugar & beat Cinnamon; butter the sides & bottom of ye Frying-pan before you put in ye Mixture; then set it before a Fire, & when it is hardened set it on a Fire, still shifting it till it be baken. Then serve it up with a sauce of beat Butter, Sugar & Ginger."

Another

Take a Mutchkine of sweet milk, 8 eggs & some grated bread, mix all together, & when well beat thicken them with flower; put in a little Ginger, Flower & Salt; butter the Frying-pan about the sides & Bottom; put all in and set before the Fire till well hardened; shift it sometimes and when well baken butter or sugar it."

The " Baken pudding in a frying-pan" recipes are the same near identical in both manuscripts. While there does not appear to be a direct relationship between Ms.10281and the  earlier Manuscript Acc. 12242, the majority of recipes from the  former work are repeated in the latter. This suggests that there is an earlier (17th century) source for these "Baken" puddings. While, it is not stated that these puddings are baked under roasting joints of meat, this is mentioned as an alternative cooking technique in several mid to late 18th century Scottish cookery books and one cookery book from the very north of England.

 A New and Easy Method of Cookery by Elizabeth Cleland (1755)

"To make a Plain Tansy. 

TAKE a fine stale Penny Loaf, and cut the Crumb in thin Shaves; put it in a Bowl, then boil a Mutchkin of Cream, and when boiled, pour it over the Bread, then cover the Bowl with a Plate, and let it ly a Quarter of an Hour ; then mix it with eight Eggs well beaten, two Gills of the Juice of Spinage, two Spoonfuls of the Juice of Tansy, and sweeten it with Sugar, Nutmeg, and a little Brandy ; rub your Pan with Butter, and put it in it; then keep it stirring on the Fire till it is pretty thick; then put it in a buttered Dish ,you may either bake it, or do it in the Dripping-Pan under roasted Meat."

 

The Lady's, housewife's, and cookmaid's Assistant by E. Taylor (1769), published at Berwick on Tweed.

"A Pudding to bake under meat.

A Quart of milk, six eggs, a little salt, make it into a batter with flour, as thick as for pancakes; put some dripping or butter into a stewpan or frying-pan, boil it upon the fire, pour in the batter, and hold it upon the fire two or three minutes to harden the bottom, then set it under the meat before the fire. Give it a heat upon the fire several times, shifting it in the pan when it is stiff enough to bear it. Make the pudding of such a size as to be baked enough when the meat is ready. Slide it upon a dish, and send it to table, with melted butter"

 

Cookery and Pastry by Susanna MacIver (1789)

"To make a Tansy Cake.

Beat fix eggs with four or five spoonfuls of flour; mix with them a mutchkin of sweet cream or new milk; sweeten it to your taste ; season it with some nutmeg and a little salt; put in as much of the juice of tansy as bitter it to your taste, and make it green with the juice of spinage; mix some oiled butter in it, and cast them all well together; you may fire it in a frying-pan on the top of the fire, but take care not to burn it. You may fire it below meat that is roasting, or in an oven; but be sure to butter the plate very well that it goes in. In case it is fired below meat, pour off all the fat from it before you send it to the table; strew sugar over it.

 A common Potatoe Pudding to be fired below roasted meat.

 Boil and skin as many potatoes as will fill the dish; beat them, and mix in some sweet milk; put them on the fire with a good piece of butter; season them properly with salt and spices. Some choose an onion shred small, and put in it. Put it in the dish and fire it below the meat, until it is of a fine brown on the top cast three eggs well, and mix in with the potatoes before you put them in the dish; it makes it rise, and eat -light; pour off all the fat that drops from the meat, before you send it to the table : it eats very well with roasted beef or mutton.

 A Bread Pudding to be Fired below meat.

Take a chopin of milk, and slice down as much of the. heart of a fine loaf as make it very thick; put it on the fire and boil it. If you see it too thin of ,bread, put in a little more; let it boil until it is pretty thick, stirring it from the bottom of the pan to keep it from burning; put in a handful of suet; if you have none, put in a piece of fresh butter; take it off the fire and sweeten it to your taste; season it with what spices you choose ; beat six eggs, and let the pudding be a little cold before you put them in; mix all well together, and put it into a dish, and fire it below the meat; turn the dish often, to make it of an equal brown; pour off all the fat before you send it to the table"

These recipes are also found in 19th century Scottish cookery books, although the domination of the Yorkshire pudding was becoming firmly established.

The new practice of cookery, pastry, baking, and preserving by Mrs Hudson and Donat (1804)

Lancashire Pancake Pudding.

"Two eggs, three spoonfuls of fine flour and a little salt, beat these together, and add to them near an English pint of water; take of the drippings of roasting mutton one or two spoonfuls, and put them into the frying pan, set it over the fire, when hot, pour in the above mixture, then set the pan over a chaffing dish of red hot coals, and set it before the fire; bake it as^quick as you can about ten or fifteen minutes : It must not be turned."

The Cook and Housewife's Manual by Meg Dods (Christian Isobel Johnstone; published in Edinburgh, 1826)

 

"Yorkshire Pudding to bake under a Roast. — Mix four ounces of flour very smoothly with a pint and a half of milk, four beat eggs, and a little salt, and also ginger, if liked. Butter a shallow tin pan; pour the batter into it, and place it below the roast. When settling, stir up the batter; and when browned on the upper side, turn over the pudding,* first drawing a knife round the edges to loosen it. Brown the other side. It should be about an inch thick when done. This is the favourite English accompaniment to a sirloin of beef, or a loin of veal or mutton; finely-minced parsley, eschalot, onion, and also suet well-beat, may be added."

Interestingly, while these published recipes post-date "The Whole Duty of a Woman" and "The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy", they are sufficently different to these recipes to suggest that either they are up-dated versions of earlier recipes. It seems incredible that the technique for cooking batter type puddings would be confined to a particular region. Compared to English texts, Scottish cookery texts either in published or in manscript form are much less common. The relative over representation of original recipes for batter puddings 'baked in before the fire" in far north of the UK does suggests that this is there historic heartland. However, while these puddings were relatively common in 18th century Scottish sources, by the early 19th century only Yorkshire and Potato pudding were found in Scottish texts, and by the end of the 19th century, only the Yorkshire pudding remained in Scotland. So it seems that the Yorkshire Pudding wasn't created in Yorkshire, it was created in British cookery books.

 

Finally I would like to thank the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland for permission to reproduce these manuscript recipes.

The Fishy Tale of Bœuf à la Bourguignonne

 

 
Above: "Pièce de Bœuf  a la Bourguignonne",

If ever there was a European dish that deserved the label "Classic", then Bœuf à la Bourguignonne (also Bœuf à la Bourguignon, Beef Bourguignonne/Bourguignon or Beef Burgundy) would have to be high on the list. It has appeared around the world at family meals, dinner parties and resturants for many decades and currently a Google search for the term results in over one million hits. Indeed, in the English speaking world the term "Beef Burgundy" has become synonymous with "beef stewed with red wine", even if it is simply filling for a pie. In France pre-cut cubes of stewing beef are labeled for sale simply as "Bourguignon". Which is all rather amazing for a stew.

While "Beef Burgundy" may have become synonymous with beef stewed in red wine, this an over simplification.  Classically the garnish for the dish was as, if not more, important to the definition of the dish, then the use of red wine. Other similar beef stews use red wine, but classically a garnish "à la Bourguignonne" implies the use of small onions, mushrooms and lardons, although these elements are increasingly being dropped from modern interperatations of the dish. The association of the dish with the French region of Burgundy (Bourgogne) brings to mind the the areas gastronomic riches. Famous for high quality beef, poultry, mustard, cheese and wine, Burgundy has been called the "gastronomic heart" of France. Labelling a beef stew "à la Bourguignonne" implies that the dish will possess a level of elegance and richness beyond that of other beef stews. But there is a dirty little secret lying at the heart of this dish, for all of its association with Burgundy, it is not thought to be a proper regional specialty. Increasingly in discussions on the nature of food, a lack of regionality implies a lack of authenticity and this can be perceived as a big negative.

 So what is the origin of this dish? The most common histrory for the dish given is that it was a peasant dish that was raised to a higher level by professional chefs.  Auguste Escoffier is often quoted as the indvidual that modernized the recipe at the begining of the 20th century. The recipe in  Escoffier's "Le Guide Culinaire" (1903) was quickly followed by dozens of similar recipes published by various authors in the next decade. The number of "new" recipes continues to rise. As it happens, Escoffier's recipe is actually for "Pièce de Bœuf  a la Bourguignonne", that is a single large piece of beef, rather then lots of small cubes of beef. However, the following American recipe indicates that the modernization of the  recipe did not orginate with Escoffier.

"The Post-Graduate Cookery Book" (1903) by Adolphe Meyer

 

Terrine De Boeuf A La Bourguignonne - Beef In Terrin, Burgundy Style

 Cut 5 or 6 pounds of rump of beef in pieces about 2 inches square, also cut 1/2. pound of lean salt pork in small squares and parboil them.

Heat some lard or beef suet in a pan; season the beef, and put in the pan to brown lightly with the salt pork, add 4 large carrots and 4 large onions; cut in quarters; also add a faggot of herbs and 1 clove of garlic. When well browned, drain the fat and sprinkle 2 or 3 spoonfuls of flour over the meat; stir well and let cook for a few minutes; then moisten with I quart of claret and enough beef stock to have the stew well covered. Put a lid on the pan, and cook the stew in a moderate oven for about 3 hours.

When the meat is done, remove it piece by piece into a clean pan, reduce the sauce to good consistency, and strain it over the meat. Next add 3 dozen small glazed onions and the same amount of small heads of mushrooms (which, if fresh, should first be sauted in butter); give one boil to the stew, and serve it in a well-heated tureen."

Meyer was born in the Alsace, but became chef of the Union Club in New York. As both Meyer's and Escoffier's recipes were published independently in the same year, this implies that there are earlier origin for the modern recipe. While there are several recipes published before 1903, the most likely source of Escoffier and Meyer's recipe is the brilliant "Dictionnaire Universel de Cuisine Pratique" (1894) by Joseph Favre. Favre's masterful work anticipates Escoffier and is often refered to by Escoffier. Both chefs worked at "La Maison Chevet", a hugely important caterer at the Palais Royale in Paris. Favre mentions that Chevet supplied food not only to Paris high society, but also catered to high society all over Europe. Could it be that "Bœuf à la Bourguignonne", rather then being a cheffy refinement of Burgundian peasant cookery, is actually in origin Parisian catering to high society?

Favre's recipe gives a clue to this origin.

 "Bœuf  braise à la bourguignonne

Couper le boeuf en morceaux, le mettre dans un sautoir avec du beurre; et lorsqu'il est bien roussi, le degraisser, poudrer de farine et ajouter, selon la quantite de boeuf , une ou deux gousses d'ail, autant d'echalote, le tout hache. Mouiller avec du bon vin rouge et un tiers de boullion. Ajouter un bouquet garni, saler, poivrer a point et laisser cuire jusqu'a parfaite tendrete.

D'autre part, faire glacer des petis oignons avec petis lardons, les poudrer de sucre pour les faire dorer, les ajouter au boeuf lorsqu'il est aux trois quarts cuit, et au moment de servir des champignons sautes, ou cuites selon la regle.

Retirer le bouquet garni et dresser dans un plat creux chaud."

Favre's recipe is essentially the same as most modern recipes, to date I have not found an earlier recipe, so at this point it is indeed likely that the modern dish originates with Favre, and possibly high class Parsian catering. A clue to the latter point is in Favre's description of the recipe as "Cuis[ine] de restaurant", in other words restaurant level food. Seperately Favre describes "Garniture a la bourguignonne" as being composed as glazed small onions, lardons, small meatballs and sauted mushrooms, moisted with red wine. Drop the meatballs and we have the what is still now the modern garnish for the dish. Interestingly the orgins of this garnish "a la bourguignonne" are much older then Bœuf à la Bourguignonne itself.

It was during a period of modernisation and codification of of French haute cuisine in the late 18th and early 19th century that references to a Burgundian style ragout (garnish and sauce) began to appear. However, this was never paired with beef. This is  Careme's typical recipe for both a Burgundian style red wine sauce and ragout for fish from early part of the 19th century

SAUCE A LA BOURGUIGNOTTE

 Apres avoir habille une moyenne anguille, vous la coupez par troncons et la mettez dans une casserole a ragout ave deux oignons, deux maniveaux eminces, deux gousses d’ail, deux echalottes, un bouquet assaisonne, une pincee de poivre en poudre, une demi-bouteille de vin de Volney; faites mijoter et reduire un peu sur un feu doux; ensuite vous passez cette essence avec pression a l’etamine; puis vous y joignez deux grandes cuillerees a ragout d’espagnole travaillee, et deux maniveaux tournes et leurs fonds. Faites reduire a grand feu et selon la regle; puis vour y versez de nouveau un verre de volney. Lousque la sauce est reduite a point, vous la deposez dans une casserole a bain-marie. Au moment de service, vous y joignez beurre d’ecrevisses, une trentaine de queues d’ecrevisses, et le meme nombre de petits champignons bien blancs. Servez.

Cette sauce est des plus savoureuses, et convient pour le poisson de riviere cuit au court-bouillon et a l’eau de sel.

 J’ai servi cette sauce pour la premiere fois a la princesse de B***.

 RAGOUT EN MATELOTTE A LA BOURGUIGNOTTE

 A l’egard de ce ragout, vous procedez sa preparation ainsi qu’il est demontre ci-dessus; seulement vous employez la sauce maigre matelote indiquee a la bourguignotte; pius vous ajoutez a la garniture de l’entrée quelques groupes de queues d’ecrevisses, six croutons pares en Coeur passes au beurre et glaces, et quatre belles ecrevisses prepares pour garniture; servez le reste de sauce dans une sauciere avec quelques champignons, onions et queues d’ecrevisses.

 

Recipes for "Bourguignotte" (Burgundian) style fish are in most French cookery books of the early 19th century, and often in English language cookery books of the period. Parallel to this was the the increase in Matelote dished in English language cookery books. This is a Scottish example.

"The cook and housewife's Manual (1828) by Meg Dods

Sauce d la Matelote for Fish.—To a large pint of brown roux heated, or of Espagnole, put six onions sliced and fried with a few mushrooms, or a little mushroom-catsup, a glass of red wine, and a little of the liquor in which the fish was boiled. Give it a seasoning of parsley, chives, or bay-leaf, salt, pepper, allspice, and a clove. Skink it up, (using a large spoon) to make it blend well. Put veal-gravy to it if wanted more rich, or a good piece of butter. Strain it, and if wanted exceedingly rich, add small quenelles, (forcemeat-balls,) proper for a fish-dish, glazed onions and mushrooms, a little essence of anchovy and a squeeze of lemon. Serve over stewed carp or trout.

Obs.—This sauce is exceedingly admired by some gourmands, indeed preferred to all other ways of serving fish"

Fish stews known as "Matelotte" ("Sailor style") were common enough all over France, but the Burgundian style indicated the use of red rather then white wine. Denis Diderot's 18th century Encyclopédie indicates defines a Matelotte as a strong ragout, flavoured with salt, pepper, onions, mushrooms & wine and commonly made in the inns located along the rivers. So why "Burgundian? Almost certainly because of the use of red wine. We may see the pairing of red wine and beef in cookery as "natural", but odd as it may sound the use of red wine in French cookery prior to the 19th century was rather limited. The Burgundians seem to have been unusual in their use of red wine in cookery, enough so that a sauce described as "Burgundian" came to mean "with red wine". A 19th century description of these sauces (for fish) in "Mémoires de lʹAcadémie des sciences, arts et belles-lettres de Dijon"

"This mode of preparation, always used, is known in Burgundy, under the name of "môrette", pronounced "meurette", which is a picturesque expression whose name indicates the dark color of sauce".

Meurette was seen as an interchangeble name for a red wine based Matelotte, which was extremely popular at the begining of the 19th century:

"Mais la manière la plus générale, et certainement la meilleure de la manger, est celle qui est connue sous le nom de matelotte ou de meurette"

It is by the name "Meurette" that these red wine sauces are still known in Burgundy.  So it would seem that this Burgundian regional way of preparing fish made its way into Parisian cookbooks by during the period of the late 18th to early 19th century.  Rather then use the regional name of "Meurette", the authors of thee books used the general term for fish stew with wine ("Matelotte") and described it as Burgundian due to the use of red wine. "Oeufs en Meurette" (Eggs in a red wine sauce) is considered to be another classic dish of Burgundian cookery, yet again in the 19th century, recipes for "Oeufs en Mattelote" are far more common in cookery texts, then "Oeufs en Meurette".

This Burgundian sauce and garnish combination also was used for a very few non-fish items, such as woodcock or hare.

The red wine Matelote also began to be combined with beef.  Not as "Bœuf à la Bourguignonne", but as perhaps what was the poor cousin of this dish, "Bœuf bouilli en Matelote". Due to the large quantities of beef stock/broth used in the early 19th century haute cuisne for sauces, soups and braises, there was always a large amount of boiled beef in excess. By and large these were considered not to be very nourishing as the "goodness" had been extracted into the bouillion. But a way to use up all this beef was found. Generally these chunks of sodden beef were sliced thinly, and warmed through in a range of sauces. One such combination was boiled beef combined with the now vary familar Burgundian style Matelotte sauce. At the end of the 19th century Favre refers to these Boulli Matelotte as "Cuis[ine] de cabaret". In other words, unlike "Cuisine de restaurant", this was a recipe that was only worthy of a venue where the food was not a major focus of the diners attention. There was no reference to Burgundy, as this wasn't a dish worthy of the name.

"Bœuf bouilli en matelote à la Bourgeoise.

Épluchez des petits ognons, que vous mettrez dans une poêle - avec un peu de beurre ; faites-les roussir avec un feu qui ne soit pas trop ardent; quand ils le seront, mettez plein une cuillère à bouche de farine; sautez-la avec vos ognons; mettez un verre de vin rouge, un demi-verre de bouillon, quelques champignons (si vous en avez), du sel, du poivre, une feuille de laurier, un peu de thym; achevez de cuire votre ragoût; quand il le sera, vous le verserez sur les tranches de bouilli que voifs aurez mises sur le plat; faites-le mijoter une demi-heure pour que le bouilli se pénètre de la sauce."

So it would seem that by the end of the 18th century the use of red wine as a basis sauce for fish was recognised as being typically "Burgundian", both in Burgundy itself and also amoungst the new wave of professional chefs working in Paris. These chefs worked in the recently developed restaurant trade, but also as private caterers. In this environment a "Burgundian" sauce and garnish were codified. The haute cuisine method of making a Matelotte required the production of a seperate sauce which was combined with the other elements of the dish.  This "sauce matelote a la bourguignotte" eventually began to mean not only an individual dish, but "Matelotte" became a culinary technique, an ingredient cooked in a wine sauce. This was a way for the professional chef to produce a vast arrange of different dishes by combining a few basic recipes. In Parallel to the development of the Matelotte as a culinary technique, the Burgundian style sauce and ragout became codified. So from the local Burgundian manner of cooking fish, haute cuisine developed a Burgundian style sauce and ragout (later a garnish) and "Matelotte" style of cookery.

Some 19th century examples of the development of Burgundy style dishes from English cookery books.

"CARP, A LA BOURGUIGNOTTE. Stew the carp whole in red wine, when done, drain and place it on an oval dish; sauce it with a rich Bourguignotte sauce (No. 28), garnish with soft roes and cray-fish, and send to table.

SALMIS OF WOODCOCKS, A LA BOURGUIGNOTTE. Roast the woodcocks, cut them up, and prepare the croutons as in the foregoing case; make an essence with the trimmings, and add this to a Bourguignotte ragout (No. 195). Warm the salmis with a little of the sauce, dish it up, garnish with the ragout and sauce, place the croutons round the base, and serve."

 

The older "Burgundian style ragout" for fish ( at its basic level glazed onions and mushrooms, moistened with red wine sauce) became a  "Burgundian style garnish", red wine was no longer a vital element, as the use of the garnish implied the use of a red wine sauce. This garnish at its most simple was glazed onions and mushrooms, but could include other elements like meatballs, crayfish tails or truffles. Eventually, these were combined with non-fish ingredients, such as game. Red wine sauce was used to perk up left over boiled beef. At the very end of the 19th century rather then dressing for left over boiled beef, good quality beef was braised in the red wine sauce and dressed with the garnish just before service. The shift from leftovers to original dish, is a subtle, but important change. This late 19th century dish is in essence the old Burgundian style haute cuisine fish Matelotte of the early 19th century, but now the fish had been replaced by beef.

So where does this leave "regionality"? Well from this it seem that there has been a long recognised use of red wine in Burgundian cookery. What is less clear is if beef was typically ever cooked in this manner in the region. To date there is no documentation of this prior to the development of recipe in Paris. Certainly early regional cookbooks like Alfred Contour's "Cuisinier Bourguignon" gives no such recipe. But lack of documentation is in the end, simply that. Potentially the developent of the recipe in Paris was due to parallel developments in Burgundy. Dijon was a well recognised gastronomic centre during this period for instance. More to the point, what ever the convoluted origin of Bœuf à la Bourguignonne, having spent time in Burgundy I would have to say that this dish now seems to be recognised as a local dish. It is difficult to argue that a dish is not authentically regional, when it has a local cultural identity. I would argue that rather then spending time on defining a dish as "regional" due to historical continuity of development, it is better to consider its importance in defining cultural identity. Nothing is local for ever after all.

Effectively one reason why many people suggest that Bœuf à la Bourguignonne is not a regional dish is because we have a decent amount of documentation on the development of the dish. But is this relevant? How many "regional" dishes are considered local/native/ours simply due to lack of documentation? Or if there is documentation, does that help at all? Recently the the origins of the iconically Scottish Haggis were shown to be common to both England and Scotland. This caused much outrage amoungst the easily angered in Scotland. Currently in Italy food as cultural identity is being heavly politicised. When it comes to food and cultural identity, opinions seem to range from the charmingly naïve to savagely racist. Which is one reason why I love living in the UK. The cuisine in the UK is dynamic, respectful of its past, but open to new ideas and most importantly, the British, on balance, are not so paranoid about their own cultural identity that they fall into all the usual depressing cliches. After all, from some perspectives, a well defined "regional cuisne" looks a lot like cultural inertia.