Thistle Salad Days©

The title of this post came from “Blackwood’s Magazine” Feb. 1895.  “…the French public was browsing the thistles of the Vicomte d’Arlincourt, or of ‘Lord R’Hoone’ (otherwise Honoré de Balzac himself in his thistle-salad days)…”.  Yes, gentle reader, salads are made from peeled thistle stalks and they can be cooked as well.

This caught my eye as I’ve been slowly compiling an encyclopedia of the history of salads (cooked, raw, and everything in between) over the past few years and because there are thistles growing in our field.  To eradicate them, or to eat them, that is the question.

One needn’t worry about identifying a species of thistle before consuming it as all are said to be edible.  Although it may be too hot for them to flourish, I’ve purchased seed to add cardoon to my perennial garden and cardoon is simply a cultivated thistle grown for its celery-like stems rather than its flower head.  The plant is usually covered with hay to render the stems white and tender, and they are eaten just as wild thistles are in the references below.  Depending on what is available, either will work in the same manner and cardoon can be found in cans or jars in specialty food stores for those who prefer to skip the thorns and go straight to the dining room.

Historians date the cultivation of cardoon to the days of Pliny and some think modern artichokes then evolved from cardoon about the 15^th century.

One might assume the eating of thistle stalks was learned from Native Americans, but given the accounts of them being eaten in England, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and other countries from at least the Middle Ages, proves the thistle is one of those basic resources that evolved simultaneously throughout much of the world.  “Nothing to eat, starving and weak; we followed the example of the squaw, in eating the inner portion of large thistle-stalks”.  – “Travels in the Far Northwest, 1839-1846”.

English cooks and 19^th century cookbook writers point out that applying fresh lemon juice to the peeled stalks will prevent them from turning dark.  Acidulated water, the term often used, is water with lemon juice into which the pieces can be placed for this purpose.

“Both the milk thistle and the blessed thistle were used by our ancestors, the former as a vegetable and the latter as a tonic, and Evelyn, in his ‘Acetaria’ [1699], says that to a salad of thistle leaves ‘the late Morocco Ambassador and his retinue were very partial.’  The leaves of the milk thistle shorn of their prickles were not only an ordinary ingredient in a salad, but they were also boiled’, and Tryon says of them, ‘they are very wholesome and exceed all other greens in taste’.  They were added to pottages, baked in pies, like artichoke bottoms, and fried.  Culpepper advises one to ‘cut off the prickles, unless you have a mind to choke yourself’, but in olden days both the scales and the roots were eaten.  The young stalks, peeled, were eaten both fresh and boiled.”  Rohde, Eleanor.  “A Garden of Herbs”.  1922.

In 1828, John Loudon included thistle-stalks in a list of culinary vegetables from the open garden.  Were these the common thistle, or were they the more refined garden cardoon?  “An Encyclopaedia of Gardening”.

John Young was definitely eating wild thistles when he wrote in his memoirs in 1847, “For several months we had no bread, Beef, milk, pig-weeds, segoes [sego lilies], and thistles formed our diet.  I was the herd boy, and while out watching the stock, I used to eat thistle stalks until my stomach would be as full as a cow’s”.  – Young, John R.  “Memoirs of John R. Young, Utah Pioneer”.  1847.

“Good Housekeeping”, Oct. 1891, contained an article called Cajun Housekeeping”, in which the author said, “Tender thistle stalks she cooks as one would asparagus, and they are just as good-then no adverse fate ever cuts short the thistle crop”.  I suppose if my asparagus bed fails to thrive, I may depend upon its wild substitute to supply us with this favorite.

MILK THISTLE STALKS.  The young stalks about May being peeled and soaked in water to extract the bitterness, boiled or raw are a very wholesome sallet eaten with oyl, salt and pepper.  Boil them in water with a little salt till they are very soft and so let them dry to drain.  They are eaten with fresh butter melted not too thin and this a delicate and wholesome dish.  Other stalks of the same kind may be so treated as the Bur being tender and disarmed of its prickles.  – Evelyn, John.  “Acetaria”.  1699.

CARDOON SALAD.  1885.  Jules Harder removed the leaves from the stalks, cooked them, and then peeled them.  “Then cut them in scallops an inch long and drain them on a napkin.  Put them in a salad bowl and season them with salt and pepper.  Then chop two cloves of garlic very fine and put them in a frying pan with a little sweet oil.  Fry them [garlic] lightly (not letting them get brown), and add immediately some bell peppers chopped fine, and some vinegar.  Then let them boil up for two minutes and pour the dressing over the Cardoons, mixing them well together, and then serve.”  – “The Physiology of Taste”.

CARDOON SALAD.  Jeanette Norton.  “Mrs. Norton’s Cookbook”.  1917.

The salad made of cardoons is rather unusual.  These French thistles should be drained from the can and allowed to marinate for half hour in French dressing to which a little onion juice has been added.  Drain, add good mayonnaise, and lay on white lettuce leaves garnished with the sweet pickled cucumber rings that come in bottles for the purpose.  Toasted whole wheat crackers with melted cheese on them go nicely with this salad.  This will serve four people.

A Quick Discourse on Elderberries©

Elderberries have been planted around farms and harvested for home use and for taking to market since the 18^th century and probably much earlier.  They are found wild throughout much of the country and have been used for generations to make various things, wine and cordial perhaps being the most common.  Having planted elderberries recently and expecting a harvest in a couple of years I took a quick look at other ways to use them.  Elderberry bushes reproduce easily so I hope as time goes by I get larger and larger harvests.

For those who want an alcoholic beverage but are hesitant to try their hand at wine making, I suggest starting with a cordial which is a very simple process.

While some 19^th century cookbook authors were prejudiced against elderberries in favor of more refined fruits, others like Thomas De Voe preached their benefits.  “These small, black berries are pleasant-tasted when ripe, and are brought to our markets to be used for various purposes.  They make the Elder-paste, for the sick, which is considered excellent, Elderberry wine, a wholesome and agreeable beverage, sometimes used for making pies, etc., and when gathered while in flower make the Elder Flower Tea, etc.  The bark makes an excellent ointment; in fact, the whole plant is much used in medicine.  The berries are in season in the months of August and September.”  1867.

“The elderberry is one of the least known and appreciated of the berry family.  In fact it is usually neglected for many less palatable and far less dietetic fruits…

Elderberries when properly prepared are very palatable and delicious, either in pies, jelly, as a spiced conserve or a household wine…If housewives will try any one of the following tried and tested recipes I think they will begin to appreciate this friend of the hedges…”.  “Table Talk.”  1903.

A quick way to pick the small berries from the stem clusters is to place a half inch wire mesh over a large pan or bucket and gently pass the clusters back and forth along the wire.  The berries will fall through the mesh into the container.

ELDERBERRY PIE.

Line a pie dish with paste, upon which sprinkle a scant tablespoonful of flour; to this add a half cupful of sugar and a half teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, rubbing all together evenly.  Upon this pour the berries, a pint more or less according to the size of your pie dish; pour over another half cupful of sugar, dot generously with butter, adding last one large tablespoonful of good vinegar.  Apply top crust quickly and bake.  “Table Talk”.  Vol. 18.  1903.

ELDERBERRY JELLY.

Take equal parts of elderberries and wild grapes, and cook to extract juice, strain, and sugar in proportion of one pound to each pint of liquid, and cook as other jelly…

Elderberries are also combined with gooseberries, crab-apples, and green grapes, equal parts of either, making a piquant table sauce, while pies made from them might please the individual who does not care for the flavor of the single fruit.

For winter use elderberries may be preserved in either of the above combinations and treated as other fruit, or canned plain without sugar for use in pies only.  When making pies from the plain canned fruit, it is wise to cook the berries with the same proportion of sugar, flour, etc., as given for fresh berries, filling the pie paste when cold.  This insures a jelly-like consistency of the finished product without those unpalatable doughy lumps too often seen…”  – “Table Talk”.  Vol. 18.  1903.

ELDERBERRY SHORTCAKE.

Make the cake or biscuit dough rich and flaky, proportioning it with cream, egg and soda the same as for a strawberry shortcake…When baked, divide the upper from the lower crust and place upon each a layer of ripe stewed elderberries.  It is known that elderberries have a somewhat rank taste when eaten from the bush.  Pick them, look them over and wash them; next, put them in a granite or porcelain stew dish, add a very little hot water and cook them a few minutes or until stewed.  Have as little juice as possible.  Add a half teacupful of thick sweet cream to enough of the stewed berries for two layers.  When the berries and cream are placed upon the cake, sprinkle over each layer plenty of granulated sugar, and the shortcake is then ready to be eaten.  Do not add the cream to the berries until it is about time to have the cake brought to the table.  Cream and sugar added to the berries destroy the disagreeable elderberry flavor and makes them rich and palatable.  – “Table Talk”.  1903.

ELDERBERRY CONSERVE.

9 lb. elderberries, 3 lb. sugar, 1 pt. vinegar; cook until thick and seal.  – “The Warren Cook Book”.  1920.

ELDERBERRY PIE.

Dilute Elderberry Conserve with water; add corn starch to thicken and put dots of butter on top (a little vinegar may be added if desired”.  Very delicious.  “The Warren Cook Book”.

DRIED ELDER FRUIT.

This fruit is very easily dried by spreading in pans under the stove or in the oven, and will make as good pies as though fresh, if they are soaked a few minutes in hot water before using.  Some of our neighbors dry them by the bushel, for winter use”.  – “The Ohio Cultivator”.  Vol. 9.  1853.

ELDERBERRY DUMPLINGS.

Make the crust as usual and put in the berries as you would other fruit [like apple dumpling].  Boil them fast till the crust is done, then take them up and eat with a dip of white sugar and sour cream, and you will confess they are delicious.  [Fruit dumplings can be baked as well].

Elderberries were made into a sauce similar to cranberry sauce.  The Iowa State Horticultural Society recommended combining elderberries and rhubarb for a sauce [1910].  An article in “Everyday Housekeeping” said, “twenty years ago many families, by no means poor, during every year consumed gallons of this unsavory sauce, made by boiling elderberries in sorghum molasses.  Jelly, too, made from elderberries and flavored with lemon, was accounted a delicacy.”  1900.

EDLERBERRY SOY.  [Anchovies are used to flavor various sauces and once cooked and strained, there are no fishy pieces remaining in the product.  The flavor blends with the other ingredients, and if made well, leaves no fishy taste.   Modern tastes usually dictate using far less than older recipes call for.  I suggest 1 small can, chopped, for this or the next recipe.]

One quart of elderberries; one quart of vinegar; a quarter of a pound of anchovies; a blade of mace; a little ginger, salt, and whole peppers.  Pour a quart of boiling vinegar over a quart of elderberries, picked from the stalks and set it in a cool oven all night; then strain the liquor from the berries, and boil it up with the mace, ginger, salt, whole peppers, and the anchovies, until they are dissolved.  When cold, put it into bottles after it has been strained, and cork it down.  Some prefer the spice put into the bottles; but either way it is a good and not expensive soy.  This was appreciated as a sauce for fish.  – “Warne’s Model Cookery”.  1879.

ELDERBERRY CATSUP.  [Note this recipe is similar to the one called soy.]

1 quart of elderberries; 1 quart of vinegar; 6 anchovies, soaked and pulled to pieces; half a teaspoonful mace; a pinch of ginger; 2 tablespoonfuls white sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoonful whole peppers.  Scald the vinegar and pour over the berries, which must be picked from the stalks and put into a large stone jar.  Cover with…glass, and set in the hot sun two days.  Strain off the liquor, and boil up with the other ingredients, stirring often, one hour, keeping covered unless while stirring.  Let it cool; strain and bottle.  This is used for flavoring brown gravies, soups, and ragouts, and stirred into browned butter, makes a good piquant sauce for broiled or baked fish.

FRUIT SAUCE.

Melt a small lump of butter, stir in half as much flour, or a quarter as much of corn-starch, arrowroot, or soaked tapioca, a pinch of salt, if the butter is not salted, a glass of acid wine or lemon juice, or a tablespoonful of vinegar; sugar to taste; any fruit juice you have, as raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, elderberry, or jam will do; thin to the right consistence; bring it to the boil and serve.  Raspberry, and other fruit vinegars make excellent sauces”.  [There is no right and wrong with this recipe – it is thickened as much or as little as the cook desires, and made as sweet or not as is wanted].  “How to Cook”.  1872.

ELDERBERRY PUDDING.

1 cup sugar, 1 cup sweet milk, 2 teaspoons baking powder, butter size of an egg, enough flour to make stiffer than cake dough.  Put in baking dish, then mix the following:  1 ½ cups elderberries (any fruit may be used) 1 cup sugar, 2 cups boiling water, small piece of butter.  Pour this over batter in pudding dish and place in oven.  Bake ¾ hour.  [This could be called cobbler].

ELDER-FLOWER PANCAKES AND JUNKET.  “Fruit Recipes”.

The finest flowers of the elder blossoms, stripped, may be whipped lightly into pancakes or muffins just before baking, a half-cupful to each “batch” of ordinary quantity.  This gives both lightness and flavor.  A plain junket should have added one-fourth part flowers to quantity of cream or milk used.  [Ripe berries may be added to muffins or cakes as one would raisins.]

ELDERBERRY SYRUP TO FLAVOR DRINKS.

Use strained elderberry juice and sugar in a ratio of 1 to 1 (half and half).  Flavor as desired with lemon juice, or cinnamon stick.  Bring to a boil and then simmer five minutes.  This may be canned for keeping, or small quantities may be kept in the refrigerator.  To serve, mix syrup to taste in cold club soda or lemon-lime soda and serve over ice.

Note:  While the images may look like poke, elderberry grows on a bush much different in appearance.  Know what you’re picking before consuming any wild plant.  I leave you with my favorite parting, Blissful Meals Yall©.  Enjoy your wild and garden bounty.  – Vickie Brady, The Historic Foodie.

GROWING and Using YOUR OWN BAY LEAVES©

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bay leaf

One of the first things I planted when we purchased our little farm was a bay tree.  It was a tiny little thing, but given time and love I don’t see having to purchase bay leaves again and fresh ones are always more flavorful than the dried ones.  Either way, always discard the bay leaf before serving the dish.

An added bonus with growing your own is having enough to use in potpourri or sachets.  Since I am more involved in cooking than in scenting and my tree isn’t large enough to pluck enough leaves for making sachets yet, let’s take a quick look at the use culinary uses of bay leaves in times past.

Clermont gave a list of sweet herbs for cooking in 1812 which will serve today’s cook equally as well. “What go under the denomination of sweet herbs in cookery, are parsley, chibbol [chives], garlick, rocambole [an allium similar to hardneck garlic], shallots, winter savory, fennel, thyme, laurel, or bay-leaf, and sweet basil. Under the name Ravigotte, or relishing herbs are, tarragon, chervil, burnet, garden cresses, civet, and green mustard; there are other sweet herbs, which are not called ravigotte, although they are often used together, as mint, borage, water-cress, rosemary, marigold, marjoram, &c.”

The ways in which the leaves were used was consistent through 18^th and early 19^th century cookbooks.  John Perkins instructed in 1808 using bay leaves in pickling and making mushroom ketchup, and cooking a pig, pigeons, fish, beef, eels, poultry, and mutton.

In 1837, Beauvilliers’ “A Complete System of French Domestic Cookery” used the term “bay leaf” 52 times, using it for cooking mushrooms, pickled veal, put into bouquet garni (little bundles of parsley, green onions or scallions, thyme, basil, and bay leaf used for seasoning), soup, sauces including bechemel, brines for marinating and pickling, fish, meat, and various other made dishes.

One of the less common uses was in custard found in Lady Charlotte Campbell Bury’s cookery book (1844).  “One quart of cream, twelve eggs, the whites of four, the rind of one lemon, boiled in the cream, with a small quantity of nutmeg and a bay-leaf, bitter and sweet almonds one ounce each, a little ratafia and orange-flower water; sweeten to your taste.  The cream must be quite cold before the eggs are added.  When mixed, it must just be made to boil, and then fill your cups.”  Ratafia in this instance most likely refers to a liqueur flavored with almonds or kernels from peaches, apricots, or cherries.  It also can mean an almond flavored cookie or macaroon.

John Nott.  “The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary”.  1737.  Hare Pye.  Break the bones of the Hare, lard it well, and season it with salt, pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and a bay leaf; lay slices of bacon at the bottom of your pye, put in the hare and lay slices of bacon over it, and lid it up; when it is bak’d pour in melted Butter, and stop the hole of the pye, and set it to cool.

Note:  Today most people prefer to cook the meat and debone it before baking it in the pie.  Larding refers to inserting small slivers of fat into the meat to keep it from drying out as it cooks.

Clermont utilized fish in making soup and sauces. 1844. “Take what kind of fish you think proper…cut in slices, and put them into your stew-pan, with a little butter, sliced onions…parsley, thyme, bay-leaf, basil, a clove of garlick [sic], carrots, and parsneps [sic]; soak it until it forms a slight glaze on the bottom; add to it the former broth and boil on a slow fire for about an hour; sift [strain] it clear.  It will serve for soups and sauces”.

I especially love cooking instructions when they come from sources other than cookbooks.  This is just such a one.  Pickling the fish in spices and vinegar preserved it without refrigeration.   “When more fish is caught than can be made use of, or kept without being ‘spiled’ [spoiled], cut it into slices about an inch thick.  (Every mess should lay in supplies of whole pepper, dried bay’s leaf, and all-spice, or pimento…)!  Wipe the fish dry, and lay it in a large jar [or crock], as follows:  after having pounded all-spice, black pepper, and salt, and mixed it well together, and rubbed the fish well with the mixture, lay the slices in regular tiers; and between every tier a bay-leaf, and so on, ‘chock up’ to the top, pressing the whole pretty well, or ‘handsomely,’ and then pour the vinegar down by the side, not the middle of the jar, until the jar is quite full.  Cover it over with brown paper, if to be had, if not, a bit of old canvass; tie it close, hand it over to the cook for a quiet corner in the oven, and when done, lay it by to cool;–and there’s a supply that will keep till all’s blue again.”  – “Jack Tench:  or, The Midshipman Turned Idler”.  1841.

Beuf [beef] a la Vinegrette.  Charlotte Mason.  “The Lady’s Assistant”.  1777.

Cut a slice of beef from the round three inches thick, with very little fat; stew it in water and a glass of white wine, seasoned with salt, pepper, cloves, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a bay-leaf; let it boil till the liquor is almost consumed, and when it is cold serve it up; what liquor remains, strain it off and mix it with a little vinegar.

Those who may want to add bay to their herb garden should be able to find seedlings at a nursery or they can be started from cuttings.  They are also called sweet bay and bay laurel.  They are evergreen and flower in the spring.  They may be grown in full sun or partial shade and one might let the weather govern the location for planting.  Partial shade might be better where the norm is extremely hot summers.  The size of the mature tree can be controlled by planting it in a container or through pruning.  It is hardy to 23 degrees, but can withstand a little colder if planted in a sheltered location.

As always, I wish you Blissful Meals, especially as we approach Christmas with all its splendor.  God Bless and merry Christmas one and all.  ©The Historic Foodie

[Spelling is unchanged from the original sources.]

Marrow Fat

Marrow from bones has been consumed since antiquity and has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence in recent years, the difference from olden times being that the butcher now usually slices the bones in half ridding us of the task of cracking them open.

Eating marrow rose to such heights in the 17^th and 18^th centuries that silver marrow spoons or scoops were sold with which to eat it.

In addition to eating the cooked marrow on toast, the bones and marrow were utilized in soup stock to add consistence though they really add little to nothing to the flavor.  Numerous 19^th century cookery books point out that the bones can be prepared and after the marrow has been removed and consumed at the table, the bones are still fit to put into the soup pot afterward.

“The[buffalo] marrow-bones are also highly esteemed, especially when roasted, and are often used as a substitute for butter, as the marrow-bones of all animals are filled with a short, buttery fat.”  – De Voe.

An article from the 1990’s claimed frontiersmen referred to prepared marrow as prairie butter.  That author gave no source or documentation for the name prairie butter used in that context, yet other modern writers picked up the name and subsequently used the term in their own writing, still without any documentation.   A more accurate term is marrow-fat.

This writer made a diligent search and could find no period source with which to document the name prairie butter although numerous sources do mention eating the marrow and instructing how to prepare it.  There is no doubt it was commonly eaten but the name prairie butter is questionable.  This author does encourage anyone who can document the term to do so.

In 1880, William Shepherd’s method of making “prairie butter” was to add flour and water to grease remaining in the pan after meat was fried and basically making gravy.   There was no marrow in his dish.  Other accounts of prairie butter had nothing at all to do with marrow and were simply butter from milk that had been churned on the prairie.

Marrow was commonly taken from beef, sheep, and oxen, but Lewis and Clark noted supping and breakfasting on elk marrow bones at least twice and outdoorsmen wrote that they ate marrow bones from buffalo.  Richard Dodge claimed, however, that the marrow in the forelegs of buffalo was so pithy that when greenhorns roasted the bones they cracked them open to find nothing inside.

Indians knew how to roast the bones from the buffalo’s hind legs to get at the tasty marrow inside.  “The bones of the hind legs are thrown upon the glowing coals, or hidden under the hot embers, then cracked between two stones, and the rich, delicious marrow sucked in quantities sufficient to ruin a white stomach forever.”

“Marrow-fat is collected by the Indians from the buffalo bones which they break to pieces, yielding a prodigious quantity of marrow, which is boiled out and put into buffalo bladders which have been distended; and after it cools, becomes quite hard like tallow, and has the appearance and very nearly the flavor, of the richest yellow butter.  At a feast, chunks of this marrow-fat are cut off and placed in a tray or bowl, with the pemmican, and eaten together; which we civilized folks in these regions consider a very good substitute for (and indeed we generally so denominate it) ‘bread and butter’.  In this dish laid a spoon made of the buffalo’s horn, which was black as jet, and beautifully polished…”.  – Catlin.

Marrow could be heated, clarified, and stored away in small jars or crocks for future use in cooking.  It was used as a substitute for butter during the months when fresh butter was difficult to obtain.  Toasts were fried in marrow until golden brown or dipped in the marrow and baked in a quick oven.

MARROW BONES.  Mrs. Rundell’s Practical Cookery Book.  1898.  London.  If the Marrow Bones are very long they must be sawn in half.  Cover the end of each bone with a stiff paste of flour and water, using plenty of flour.  This paste is to prevent the Marrow from escaping from the bone whilst being cooked.  Tie a cloth over each bone, and put the bones in a roomy saucepan filled with boiling salted water.  Let the Marrow Bones boil for three hours.  Take them out of the saucepan, remove the cloth, and all the paste, and pin a clean napkin round each bone or half bone.  Send the Marrow Bones up on a hot dish, and send up dry toast in a toast rack.  See that a proper Marrow Spoon is provided to help the Marrow.  The Marrow Bones should be served upright.

MARROW-BONES.  Mrs. Beeton’s Dictionary of Every-day Cookery.  A note at the end of instructions for boiling the bones reads, “Marrow-bones may be baked after preparing them as in the preceding recipe; they should be laid in a deep dish, and baked for 2 hours.”

MARROW DUMPLINGS TO SERVE WITH ROAST MEAT, IN SOUP, WITH SALAD, &C.  Same.

1 oz. of beef marrow, 1 oz. of butter, 2 eggs, 2 penny rolls, 1 teaspoonful of minced onion, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, salt and grated nutmeg to taste.  Beat the marrow and butter together to a cream; well whisk the eggs, and add these to the other ingredients.  When they are well stirred, put in the rolls, which should previously be well soaked in boiling milk, strained, and beaten up with a fork.  Add the remaining ingredients, omitting the minced onion where the flavor is very much disliked, and form the mixture into small round dumplings.  Drop these into boiling broth, and let them simmer for about 20 minutes or ½ hour.  They may be served in soup, with roast meat, or with salad, as in Germany, where they are more frequently sent to table than in this country.  They are very good.

DEVILLED MARROW-BONES.  “The International Cook B ook”.  Filippini, Alexander.  1914. Procure six fresh beef marrow-bones of about three and a half inches long, arrange upright on a block and split in two with a cleaver (or have your butcher split them for you), leaving all the marrow on half of each bone only.  Lay the six with marrow in a tin, marrow side up, divide a teaspoon salt evenly and carefully spread a devilled butter…over marrow, dredge two tablespoons of fresh bread crumbs evenly over the six bones and set in oven for twenty-two minutes.  Remove, dress on a dish with a napkin and serve with twelve very thin slices freshly prepared toast separately.

DEVILLED BUTTER. (For the previous receipt).  Same source.  Half an ounce good butter, two saltspoons ground English mustard, one teaspoon good white wine vinegar, one teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, one saltspoon salt, half a saltspoon cayenne pepper and one egg yolk.  Place all these articles in a bowl, thoroughly mix well together with a spoon and use as required.

CLARIFIED MARROW FOR KEEPING.  “Modern Cookery, for Private Families”.  Acton, Eliza.  1868.  Take the marrow from the bones while it is as fresh as possible; cut it small, put it into a very clean jar, and melt it with a gentle heat, either in a pan of water placed over the fire, or at the mouth of a cool oven; strain it through a muslin, let it settle for a minute or two, and pour it, clear of sediment, into small jars.  Tie skins, or double folds of thick paper, over them as soon as the marrow is cold and store it in a cool place.  It will remain good for months.”

MARROW PASTIES [pies].  “The Household Encyclopedia”.  1859.  Shred some apples with some marrow, add a little sugar to them, make them up in puff paste, and fry the pasties in clarified butter.  When fried strew some sugar over them and serve.”

SAVOURY BALLS [to serve with soup].  Smith, Eliza.  “The Complete Housewife”.  Take the flesh of fowl, beef suet and marrow, the same quantity; six or eight oysters, lean bacon, sweet-herbs and savoury spices; pound it, and make it into little balls.

WHITE POT.  “Domestic Economy”.  1827.  Slice some nice bread, lay it in the bottom of a dish, and cover it over with marrow; season a quart of cream or new milk with nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, and sugar; boil and strain it; beat six yolks, and put them to the cream, and pour it over the bread.  Bake in a moderate oven, and sift sugar over it, or rasped almonds, citron, orange-peel and sugar.

“Journals of Lewis and Clark”.

“Colburn’s New Monthly Magazine”.  March 1843.

Dodge, Richard.  “Our Wild Indians”.  1882.

De Voe, Thomas Farrington.  “The Market Assistant”.  1867.

Catlin, George.  “Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the North American Indians”.  1841 and 1857.

In Search of the Shakebag Fowl

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Shakebag

Malays Fowls by Jean Bungartz for ‘Geflügel-Album’, 1885

In studying chickens one cannot merely search for the modern name of the chicken to know what early sorts were like as names sometimes came about after a group of fowl were improved upon enough to merit some distinction.  I invite you to join me as I travel down the path in search of an intriguing bird known as the Shakebag fowl.

Numerous sources from 1800-1810 state that the fowl got its name from being held in a bag while the owner cried that he would take any comers who wished to pit their cocks against his in a cock-fight.  The chicken was kept in a bag, out of sight, so the competitors could not judge the size and disposition of the bird they’d be pitted against.  At the start of the match the bag would be turned upside down and the bird “shaken” out thus they came to be called Shakebag fowl.  As one would imagine, Moubray classed the Shakebag as a game chicken and their breeder was described in 1853 as being an enthusiastic cock-fighter.  – Dixon, Edmund Saul & Kerr, J. J.  “A Treatise on the History and Management of Ornamental and Domestic Poultry”.  Philadelphia.  1853.

They are often discussed when observing the Dorking which most agreed descended from crosses with the Shakebags.  Dickson said, “It is very probable that this large breed is a cross between the Malay, or shack-back [shake-bag,] and the game variety.”  Another writer put forth the same hypothesis in the “Scottish Quarterly Journal of Agriculture”, vol. VI, p. 381.  Dickson’s wording seems to indicate that the Malay and the Shakebag were one and the same.  – “The Cultivator”.  Vol. 6.  Feb. 1849.

Bennett tells us he has no doubt.  The Shakebag fowl possessed too many points of affinity with the Malay for him to doubt the association.  The plumage of the cock was described as extremely brilliant and gaudy.  In 1850 he claimed the first presence of these fowls he had knowledge of in the U.S. were imported by Mr. John L. Tucker of Tremont House in Boston.  He did not give a date for the importation.  At the time of that writing Mr. James S. Parker of Samoset House, Plymouth supposedly had Shakebags among his fowl but pronounced them exceedingly rare in this country, this being the only importation Bennett was aware of.

English writers disputed Bennett’s claim regarding Misters Tucker and Parker saying instead that Moubray had declared the breed already extinct “for some years” in 1816 – some 34 years before Bennett’s statement of seeing them in the U.S in 1850.  They thought the fowl that Tucker and Parker possessed were average dunghill fowl.  – “The New England Farmer”.  Vol. 2.  June 8, 1850.

“The average weight [of the Shakebag] is from eight to fourteen pounds.  The hens are good layers, and the eggs have every mark of the East Indian origin of the race, being dark-colored and large yolked.  The cocks are remarkable for their prowess”.  – Bennett, John C.  “The Poultry Book”.

Richardson said, “A good many years ago, there used to be a variety of fowl much in request in England, called the ‘Shakebag’, or the ‘Duke of Leeds’ fowl’, his grace, of that name, about sixty or seventy years ago having been a great amateur breeder of them.  These fowl were as large as the Malays, but differed from them in the superior whiteness and tenderness of their flesh, as also in their very superior fighting abilities”.  Calculating back from 1847 he was saying the duke was breeding the Shackbags between 1772 and 1787.  Note the use of the words “used to be” strengthening the claim they were already extinct by 1847.  – Richardson, H. D.  “Domestic Fowl:  Their Natural History…”.  Dublin.  1847.

The “New England Farmer”, June 8, 1850, noted that the Shakebag had been extinct for a good many years, but if speculation on its crosses is accurate, some of its traits live on in fowl by other names.  Not all breeders agreed with the Malay being used in the cross.  Some authors felt the Shakebags were crossed with the Java rather than Malay.  – Tucker, I.  “The Pictorial Cultivator”.  Aug. 1850.

Moubray wrote in 1816, “The only one I ever possessed was a red one, in 1784, weighing about ten pounds, which was provided for me, at the price of one guinea, by Goff, the dealer, who then lived upon Holborn Hill, in London, and who, at the end of two years, received him back at half a guinea, having allowed me, in the interim, three shillings and sixpence each for such thoroughbred cock chickens as I chose to send him”.  The Duke of Leeds, or Shakebag, fowl was already said to be rare prompting its cross with the Malays and other breeds.  The Malay cross retained the size of the bird, but the flesh deteriorated in color and delicacy of flavor.  – “Moubray’s Treatise on Domestic and Ornamental Poultry”.  London.  1854.

To understand the crossing, it may be helpful to know the same source included under the name Malay fowl known as the Jersey Blue, the Bucks County, and “Boobies”.

Since the only illustration found of the Shakebag was questioned as to its accuracy when published in the mid-19^th century, this writer proposes no physical description of the shape or coloring of the birds other than to imagine the color to have been similar to some sort of modern game bird and based upon period descriptions to note they were bigger than an average game chicken.  Perhaps someone else has found a better description and will comment on it.  Blissful Meals yall – Victoria Brady (The Historic Foodie).  Please do not circulate articles from the Historic Foodie blog, in all or in part, without permission and without quoting the source. ©

 

American Dominiques as I Know Them©

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Dominique chickens

Dominiques were brought to America early on and though they once faced extinction have recovered.  They will be my next acquisition for the poultry yard we call home.  The following is an exact account of the lovely chickens published in 1920.

“In color they resemble the Barred Plymouth Rock.  In size they are not so large, they have a longer tail, and a rose comb.  Dominiques are one of the oldest varieties and a pure American breed.  They are very hardy; chicks grow rapidly and mature early.  The pullets often begin laying when five to six months old.  The hens not being clumsy and heavy, make excellent setters and splendid mothers.  They seldom break an egg while setting.

American Dominiques are excellent layers of eggs.  The color of the shells is from a light to a dark brown, and the eggs are of good size.  The birds make splendid table fowls, many claiming them superior to all others.  They have a fine yellow skin, dress well, and are plump at all ages.  The birds are active, and are very gay, stylish and fine in appearance.

They are well adapted for confinement in yards, or if left to roam at will they are good foragers.  On account of their old-fashioned ‘dominecker’ color, they are adapted for city, country or village poultry keepers; the soot, smoke or dirt will not mar their appearance; their homespun clothes are always clean and attractive.

For general utility they have few, if any superiors.  In weight they are large enough for most people not as heavy as the Plymouth Rock and heavier than the Leghorns.  Having a rose comb and being a rugged and hardy fowl the American Dominiques are a splendid fowl for our northern climate.

Many people want a rose combed bird; they also want an intermediate one in size—something between the Leghorn and the Rock—one as active and prolific a layer as the Leghorn, yet carrying some of the meat properties of the Plymouth Rock.  To these people I would recommend the old Dominiques which have been my favorites for years.  As chicks they feather more quickly than the Rock, mature more quickly and are more active.

The present day Barred Rock is the result of crossing a Dominique male on Black Cochin hens.  The barring of the Dominique is not the same straight across the feather barring found in the Rock, nor does it show the same black and white contrasts between the light and dark bar.  The Standard calls for irregular barring and the color should be of a bluish tone.  On full blooded birds, the last bar at the tip of the feather is shaped like a new moon.

Double mating is not required as the Standard calls for a male one or two shades lighter than the female.  The Standard under color is slate.

The Standard weights are cock, 7 lbs.; cockerel, 6 lbs.; hen, 5 lbs.; pullet, 4 lbs.  The Dominique has red earlobes and lays brown shelled eggs like the Rock, but has much more plumage—more like the Leghorn.  W. F. Gernetzky.”  – “American Poultry Journal”.  July 1920.  Please do not republish without permission and inclusion of credit. ©

A History of Tame Rabbits

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rabbit recipes, raising rabbits, tame rabbits

Early writers claimed the Romans found rabbits in Spain about 200 BC and may have been the first to keep rabbits, putting them in large walled pens and letting them breed freely. They supposedly introduced rabbits to Britain when they invaded in AD 43. By the 5th century, Catholic monks in France were raising rabbits for meat. On days when Catholics were not allowed to eat meat they could eat fish, but it wasn’t always available so, in the absence of fish, Pope Gregory I officially proclaimed laurice (unborn and newborn rabbit) to be classed as fish so it could be eaten on those days. Oddly enough, the oldest sources on cookery and rearing livestock often include rabbits in the category of poultry.

Tame rabbits in Britain date from roughly the 12th century and through the Middle Ages the practice spread into other parts of Europe. The Ghent Giant (later called the Flemish Giant) was a distinct breed by the 16th century.

Should one consider rabbits in their historical context, it would be natural to wonder what a tame rabbit looked like in the early to mid-1700’s. “Those tame rabbits vary in colour, as all other domestic animals; black, white, and grey are, however, the only which this sport of nature seems limited to. I call grey that mixture of sallow, black, and ash-colour, which forms the usual colour of rabbits and hares. Black rabbits are the most rare; but there are many quite white, many quite grey, and many of a mixed colour. All wild rabbits are grey, and, among the tame, it is also the prevailing colour; for in most litters there are frequently grey rabbits, and even in greatest number, though the sire and dam are both white, or both black, or one black and the other white.”

Such is the case with mine. They are a cross of a New Zealand Black and a New Zealand White and all are a lovely shade of “grey”, though the parents have produced all white, all black, or black and white mixed.

Various books indicate tame rabbits should be ready to butcher at 12 weeks old provided they’ve received adequate and regular food up to that point, feeding them longer resulted in the cost of the meat per pound exceeding the value of the animal.

Disease was avoided “in great measure” by keeping the cages clean and not allowing the bedding, usually hay, to become soiled and sodden in urine. Mesh on the bottom of the hutch allowed the waste to drop through into trays that could be removed and cleaned. Doing so prevented the ammonia from the urine irritating the rabbits’ eyes, and droppings soiling their fur.

In-breeding generation after generation often resulted in poor quality offspring and was to be avoided; by replacing breeding does every three to four years. The breeding season lasted from February through October or into November. Giving birth was called kindling. Just before a doe was ready to kindle she prepared a nest and lined it with fur she pulled out of her own coat.

The same writer claimed that once the young were two or three weeks old the doe should be allowed access with the buck again on two consecutive days so that no time was lost in bringing on a second litter. When the young were one month of age they were taken away from the mother and housed in their own compartment. If timed right, that gave the doe time to prepare for the birth of the next litter. Ames told his readers a rabbit could breed eleven times per year producing six to eight rabbits in each litter. “Thus at the end of four years a pair of Rabbits would produce nearly a million and a half”.

Writers noted does were capable of rearing young by the time they reached five to six months of age and that the gestation period for rabbits was thirty to thirty one days. Does were to be put with bucks only for mating to prevent fighting and injury.

Feeding costs were controlled by growing produce on a small scale to feed them and the rabbit manure so nourished the soil that a small space yielded a maximum amount of vegetables. A writer in the late Victorian era advised that a pound of hay per week was sufficient for a doe with a couple of tablespoons of oats or barley and a little green food or a root such as a parsnip, carrot, Jerusalem artichoke, potato, or turnip. This was increased somewhat after having a litter and he advised adding a little skim milk with the dry food.

He thought food like cabbage leaves that contained a great deal of moisture caused diarrhea in rabbits and advised air-drying it somewhat before offering it. Recommended dry food included hay, clover-hay, oats, barley, bran, peas and beans. He also approved of chicory in the rabbits’ diet. Ames told his readers feed could include fresh clover, corn leaves, apples, beets, and lettuce.

Methods of cooking rabbit varied, some authors indicating any recipe for chicken worked equally well with rabbit. The earliest recipes refer to rabbit as coney so don’t limit yourself to too narrow a search. The meat was simmered and served with onion sauce, made into pies, curried, or roasted. Tame rabbits were larger than wild ones and their flesh considered delicate and nutritive, “very little inferior to chicken…”.

The illustrious Hannah Glasse included in her The Art of Cookery how to roast them, how to sauce them, fricassee them, how to make Rabbit Surprise, and how to dress rabbits in casserole. Her FRICASSEE of RABBIT recipe instructed the cook to simmer the rabbits with sweet herbs and an onion until tender then remove the rabbit to a platter. To the pan juices was to be added a little butter rolled in flour to thicken the sauce and a half pint of cream and the yolk of an egg beaten well, some fresh or pickled mushrooms, and lastly the juice of half a lemon. It was necessary to stir well after adding the lemon juice so that the mixture didn’t curdle and remove it from the heat. When served, the fricassee was garnished with sliced lemon. Another version contained mace, nutmeg, and a glass of white wine.

Mrs. Frazer and Susanna MacIver’s SMOTHERED RABBIT:
Truss them as you do a roasted hare; put them into as much boiling water as will cover them; peel a good many onions, and boil them in water whole; take some of the liquor the rabbits are boiled in, and put in a good piece of butter knead in flour; then put in the onions amongst it, keeping them breaking until the sauce be pretty thick; dish the rabbits, and pour the sauce over them all, except the heads. The same sauce serves for boiled geese or ducks.

RABBITS EN CASSEROLE. (1823)
Cut your rabbits into quarters…then shake some flour over them, and fry them in lard or butter. Then put them into an earthen pipkin, with a quart of good broth, a glass of white wine, a little pepper and salt, a bunch of sweet-herbs, and a small piece of butter rolled in flour. Cover them close, and let them stew half an hour; then dish them up and pour the sauce over them. Garnish with Seville oranges cut into thin slices and notched.

John Perkins’ RABBITS PULLED. (Pulled referred to taking meat off the bone)
Half boil your rabbits, with an onion, a little whole pepper, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a piece of lemon-peel; pull the flesh into flakes, put to it a little of the liquor, a piece of butter mixed with flour, pepper, salt, nutmeg, chopped parsley, and the liver boiled and bruised; boil this up, shaking it round.

Good luck to anyone with an interest in raising rabbits and as for eating them, I wish for you Blissful Meals. – The Historic Foodie

Bib:
“Bees, Rabbits, & Pigeons”. Ward, Lock & Co. London. 1882.
Ames, D. F. “Cottage Comforts”. New York. 1838.
Perkins, John. “Every Woman Her Own Housekeeper”. 1796. London.
“The Universal Magazine”. Vol. 46. April 1770.
“Cassell’s Household Guide”. 1869.
“An Encyclopaedia of Domestic Economy”. 1845.
Farley, John. “The London Art of Cookery and Housekeeper’s Complete Assistant”. 1785.
Henderson, William Augustus, Schnebbelie, Jacob Christopher. “The Housekeeper’s Instructor”. 1823. London.
Radcliffe, M. “A Modern System of Domestic Cookery”. 1823.
“The Complete Farmer, Or a General Dictionary of Husbandry. 1793.
“The Complete Farmer”. 1767, 1777, and 1810.
Hale, Thomas. “A Compleat Body of Husbandry”. 1758.
Huish, Robert. “The Female’s Friend”. 1837.
McIver, Susanna. “Cookery and Pastry”. 1789. London.
Frazer, Mrs. “The Practice of Cookery, Pastry, Pickling, Preserving, etc.” 1795.
Glasse, Hannah. “The Art of Cookery”. 1788 and 1791. London.

Pemmican: It Wasn’t Just for Native Americans

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Pemmican

I love the idea of any food that is billed as coming from the wilds of North America.  Pemmican was just such a survival food.  “The word is from Cree pĭmĭkân, manufactured grease”, or one who makes grease.  “The word is cognate with Abnaki pĕmĭkân.   It was made from whatever meat was the most abundant in a particular region.  In the northernmost areas reindeer was used, in milder climates buffalo was usually specified as being prevalent although deer and other animals were used.

The process was pretty much the same regardless of the type of meat used. After removing fat and gristle the meat was sliced, hung to dry, perhaps smoked as it dried, and then pounded to a powder.  The meat powder was mixed with fat, many accounts specify the fat came from marrow in the bones of the animal, and dried fruit was sometimes incorporated.  Once well mixed the mass was packed into skin bags and the bags sewn shut.  It kept several years as long as it was stored away from excess moisture.  Natives also stored it away in woven baskets.

An account published in 1860 stated that the pemmican was packed tightly into tin canisters leaving a little space at the top, and allowed to cool after which the tin was filled to the brim with hot melted lard.  A lid was then soldered onto the canister sealing in the pemmican.  – The Household Monthly.  March 1860.

Any berries that were available were probably added to sweeten the pemmican, but a few of the fruits I was able to document as an ingredient included June Berry (also called pemmican berry because it was frequently used in that manner), choke cherry, Saskatoon, Service berries, cranberries, Manzanita, blueberries, Juniper berries, currants, etc.

“Sweet pemmican is a superior kind of pemmican in which the fat used is obtained from marrow by boiling broken bones in water.  Fish pemmican is a pemmican made by the Indians of the remote regions of the N. W. by pounding dried fish and mixing the product with sturgeon oil.  The Eskimo of Alaska make a pemmican by mixing chewed deer meat with deer suet and seal-oil.”

Pemmican was made into soup by hunters, trappers, arctic explorers, etc. called Robbiboe, or by the Canadian French rababou.  To make it the pemmican was mixed with a little flour and water and boiled.

Sir Alexander Mackenzie can be consulted for an idea of the weight of the packs of pemmican.  For a journey from Montreal south on the St. Lawrence River he noted the party carried four bags and a half of pemmican, weighing from eighty-five to ninety pounds each in addition to other supplies.  – Mackenzie, Alexander, Sir.  Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Laurence Through the Continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in the Years 1789 and 1793.  1814.  New York.

Robert Huish wrote of a party that carried along an amazing sixty bags each weighing ninety pounds.  Gould tells us that, “one bison cow in good condition furnished dried meat and fat enough to make a bag of pemmican weighing ninety pounds”.  Given that, it becomes clear how much less the meat weighed after processing having removed the bones, skin, etc. and through evaporation in the drying process.

– A Narrative of the Voyages and Travels of Captain Beechey:  To the Pacific and Behring’s Straits and The Travels of Capt. Back, R. N. to the Great Fish River and Arctic Seas.  1836.  London.  Gould, Augustus Addison.  The Naturalist’s Library:  Containing Scientific and Popular Descriptions of Natural History.  1833.  Massachusetts.

Hamilton reckoned one pound of pemmican was equal to five pounds of meat.  – Hamilton, William.  My Sixty Years on the Plains.  1905.  NY.

The following recipe came from Frances Owens’s book, Mrs. Owens’ Cook Book, 1903.  “Pemmican is made of the lean portions of venison, buffalo, etc.  The Indian method is to remove the fat from the lean, dry the lean in the sun; then make a bag of the skin of the animal, and put the lean pieces in loosely.  To this must be added the fat of the animal, rendered into tallow, and poured in quite hot.  This will cause the spaces to be filled.  When cold, put away for future use.  In civilized life, a jar can be used in place of the bag.  Pemmican may be cooked same as sausage, or eaten as dried beef.  It is invaluable in long land explorations, and is of great use in sea voyages.”

For those who prefer more of an actual recipe than a method summary, Mrs. Saray Tyson Rorer offered one, although it varied in method.  ¼ pound of lean beef put twice through a meat chopper, ¼ pound of marrow from the leg or shin bone of an ox.

Chop the marrow with a silver knife and remove the fibre.  Mix the beef and marrow thoroughly, a half saltspoonful of salt and stand at once in a cold place.  – Mrs. Rorer’s Diet for the Sick.  1914.

Blissful meals, yall.  – thehistoricfoodie.wordpress.com©

See:  Hodge, Frederick Webb.  Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico.  Washington Government Printing Office.  1912.

ROASTIT BUBBLY JOCK©

Tags

18th century Scottish food, bubbly-jock, roasted bubbly-jock

For those who haven’t studied historic foods, a bubbly-jock is a turkey – that traditional bird of the holiday table. To be precise, it is a turkey-cock, and it has been found on Scottish tables since the 17th century, and probably before. A meal served in the presence of King James I while on his way to Scotland included roast turkey in 1617. In the Calendar of State Papers as related to Scotland and Mary Queen of Scotts, is found mention of “turkey cockis”.

References are found in early Scottish publications to a person acting as a bubbly-jock. Such is to ridicule someone whose behavior resembles the strutting and noisy displays of a male turkey. For those who have seen a male turkey drop his wings, fan out his tail, ruffle his feathers, and make his drumming sound, the reference will be abundantly clear.

The term bubbly-jock dates from at least as early as the 1700’s. Earlier references from the Scottish Historical Review talk about a “twrkie” [1671] or “turkie cock” [1688], therefore, Outlander fans may wisely choose to serve a, “roastit bubbly-jock” for Christmas dinner this year.

For an idea what was served with the roastit bubbly-jock we look to Susanna MacIver [1789]. She operated a cooking school from her home in Edinburgh during the 18th century. Her “Cookery and Pastry” as taught and practiced by Mrs. MacIver was first published in 1773. She claimed to have frequently made every dish in the book. Not much else is known about her except Florence White said in “Good Things in England” that her father was an impoverished Highland laird. She sold the book from her home for use by the middle and upper classes. The Bills of Fare were added after the first edition at the request of her students and were mere suggestions of what one might find in a dinner served in courses.

In one Bill of Fare she suggested boiled pork, roast turkey, greens, soup, and pease pudding. For a more elaborate dinner with roast turkey she advised potatoes, pickles, and stewed celery along with jugged hare, saddle of mutton, and a variety of tarts and puddings.

Vegetables she included in her Bills of Fare with other meats, and which many a maid or housewife may have served up with turkey as well, included kidney beans, broccoli, spinach, peas, carrots, salad, cauliflower, mushrooms, stewed lettuce and peas, asparagus, artichokes, and sorrel with poached eggs. In her list of garden fare she listed additionally coleworts, sprouts, cardoons, parsnips, turnips, endive, leeks, cresses, mustard, onions, beets, salsify, scorzonera, Jerusalem artichokes, purslane, radishes, cucumbers, cabbages, skirrets, “all sorts of small salad”, and a long list of pot herbs.

Before one might enjoy, “a bubbly-jock garnished with links of sausages”, the cook might boldly ask, “have ye killed the auld bubbly-jock, as ye threatened this morning?” Once the bird has been dispatched and cleaned it would have been prepared as follows or it was often boiled, especially if the turkey was older and tougher than might be desired.

Mary Eaton instructed her readers to stuff the turkey with sausage meat unless sausages were to be served separately in a dish in which case it could be stuffed with bread stuffing. “As this makes a large addition to the size of the fowl, observe that the heat of the fire is constantly to that part for the breast is often not done enough. A little strip of paper should be put on the bone, to prevent its being scorched while the other parts are roasting. Baste it well…serve with gravy in the dish and plenty of bread sauce in a sauce tureen. Add a few crumbs and a beaten egg to the stuffing of sausage meat.”

TO ROAST TURKEY POU[L]TS. Mary Smith. “The Complete House-keeper”. 1772. Newcastle.
Take young turkeys, rather larger than a half-grown fowl, scald and draw them clean, skewer them with their heads down to their sides, spit them, and lay them down to a clear fire for twenty minutes; baste them well with butter, and dust them with flour, let them be plump, and of a nice brown, lay them in a dish, with some brown gravy under them, and serve them up hot for a second course, with some bread sauce in a boat.

For the BREAD SAUCE.
Put the crumbs of a halfpenny roll into a sauce-pan with some water and some peppercorns, one onion cut in slices, two ounces of butter, let it boil ‘till the bread is soft, beat it up, and add three spoonfuls of thick cream to make it white, let it just simmer, pour it in a boat, and serve it up. This is a proper sauce for roast turkey, pheasant, or partridge.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, & may God Bless.
– TheHistoricFoodie is a copyrighted site.©

See:
Galt, John. “The Last of the Laird”. 1826. Edinburgh.
“Tait’s Edinburgh Matazine. Oct. 1834.
Whittle, Peter. “A Topographical, Statistical, & Historical Account of the Borough of Preston”. 1821. Preston.
Eaton, Mary. “The Cook and Housekeeper’s Complete and Universal Dictionary”. 1822. Bungay.
MacIver, Susannah. “Cookery and Pastry”. 1789. London.

Driving Hogs

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driving hogs

The idea for today’s post came from the book, “Cracker Culture: Celtic Ways in the Old South”, by Grady McWhiney. In the chapter on herding, he discusses driving free-range hogs to market saying, “Throughout the antebellum period Southerners drove enormous herds of livestock over long distances to market. Thousands of swine went east, north, and south each year along established routes.” He went on to share numbers showing more hogs were herded between 1866 and 1880 than cattle.

In 1820, Winchester, Virginia passed an act to the effect that citizens within the town could not keep hogs and let them go at will because doing so tended to spoil the water for human consumption. The act, however, did not limit a non-resident from driving his hogs through the town in order to get them to market, to butcher them, or to drive them from one plantation to another. – March 1st, 1761.

Just what was it like herding hogs? “The hog is one of the most difficult and unsatisfactory animals to drive and particularly so if an effort is made to force the animal or animals in question. On the other hand, hogs are very easy animals to lead if they are trained to it, and the best way to train them is to get them in the habit of following a man with some feed, which feed they get after they have followed him a certain distance.” This is an excellent example of how a thing was not hard to accomplish when one knew how, but in later years when the knowledge was lost tended to seem very difficult.

How many head could be driven at a time? For the answer to that we look at an account from an old retired farmer in Missouri. He noted seeing 2,000 hogs pass through Columbia on the way to St. Louis. They were divided into, “lots of convenient size. The drovers had long whips which they cracked as they went along”. Cracking the whips was accepted, but striking the hogs with the whip was not as it bruised the meat.

The gentleman claimed that ten miles per day was about the most that could be covered and except for the man in charge the drovers walked along with the herd. The man on horseback was responsible for riding ahead to procure corn to feed the hogs when stopped for the night.

Indeed, farmers often profited from the sale of corn to the hog drovers along established routes. Some farmers planted large fields of corn for this purpose and rode several miles out to meet with the drovers to negotiate the price of said corn. “It is said that the soil of Teay’s valley [W. VA] was worn out by continued cultivation of corn to supply the demand of hog traffic”.

“It was generally the depth of winter during the hog-driving season”, and the drovers found lodgings at a tavern or a farmhouse, most having a room set aside for the use of such persons. When the rivers were frozen hard enough the hogs were marched across at other times they were ferried across.

“The present generation is little aware of the long distances which hogs used to travel during the thirties and forties of last century [1830-40]”, up to the use of the railroads. The railroads eliminated the need to drive large herds but did not bring about an instant end to hog driving because small farmers who could not afford to ship by rail had no choice but to continue to drive their hogs to market.

The books of a Kentucky man were examined and quoted in a book published in 1838 showing the number of animals that had passed his door headed South in 1835. There were 4,716 horses, 1,951 mules, 2,485 beeves, 2,887 shoats, 1,320 sheep, and 69,187 hogs.

As one would expect, the extreme heat and humidity of July and August was noted to make the process more difficult and sometimes the condition of hogs that had been herded some distance at that time of year suffered.

A Cincinnati paper contained an article on pork coming in for slaughter saying that farmers sometimes banded together, each having his own hogs intermingled in the numbers being driven to market, while others chose to sell their hogs to drovers who resold them upon reaching Cincinnati. The greatest danger in combining animals in this way was the spread of disease from sick animals.

Who was doing the driving? In short, just about anybody. Numerous sources depict boys and men of various stations taking the job of driving hogs in order to make wages. Horace Greely noted women doing hard work around farms including driving hogs to and from market. Even the military got into the act of driving hogs as evidenced by a letter from G. W. Randolph, Secretary of War, to General Marshall asking if his cavalry could be employed in driving hogs out of eastern Kentucky [Nov. 12, 1862).

With the introduction of refrigeration, driving hogs to a major market was no longer necessary as they could be processed in smaller numbers wherever needed. While Hollywood isn’t likely to depict a hog drive in a movie, I think we’ll all agree it was big business, as much so as herding cows. ©

SOURCES:
Guilford, William Sumner. “California Hog Book”. 1915. San Francisco.
“Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society”. 1870. Springfield.
Henning, William Waller. “The Statutes at Large”. 1820. Richmond.
Missouri Dept. of Agriculture. “Bulletin”. Vol. 20. Nov. 1920.
U.S. War Dept. “The War of the Rebellion”.
“The Cultivator”. May 1843. Albany, NY.
West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey”. “Fayette County”. Vol. 2. 1919.
“The Wool Grower and Magazine of Agriculture and Horticulture”. August 1851.