Merry Christmas and God Bless

No, these guys aren’t coming to dinner, however, one of their duck friends won’t be so lucky.  Having just returned from a trip to Pennsylvania visiting relatives and antique shopping, I chose not to take the time to kill, pluck, and roast a bird, but to make a simple Colonial era meal much as any woman might have made 200 years ago.  Any good cook knows simple basic ingredients can be as rich as king’s fare if well prepared.

Roasted poultry wasn’t always practical for common folk so I deliberately chose something else.  For settlers new to their homestead firewood might have been in short supply.  The bird might not have been hefty enough to feed all in attendance requiring the housewife to stretch it by various means.  Perhaps, as in our case, there are only the two who will partake of the meal and for practicality it is kept to appropriate proportions.  Last, but not least, also as in our case, attending mass Christmas morning requires advance preparation today and might preclude lengthy cooking processes such as roasting the fatted turkey or goose tomorrow.

Our meal will be made from items on-hand without a trip to the mercantile to stock up, yet I think Mr. Brady will find himself as happy as can be with what will be set before him.  Feel free to visit again in a couple of days and see what our fare shall be.  Until then, Blissful Meals, and may God bless you.  – Victoria Brady, thehistoricfoodie.

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Orange: Which Came First – the Fruit or the Color?

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oranges

Which came first, the fruit or the color orange? The answer depends on whether we are tracing the English word or the Sanskrit or Old French versions which predate the English translation by several centuries. The fruit was known early, but described generally as being “yellow-red” or “red-yellow” in color.

The village of Orange in France was founded about 36 or 35 BC. It was named Arausio initially and the Principality of Orange was apparently named for that place and not for the color. The color was adopted by the House of Orange-Nassau after the sixteenth century, and the color began to be associated with Protestantism due to the afore-mentioned House of Orange siding with the Protestants in the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) and the Dutch Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648).

The word was absorbed into Middle English from the Old French and Anglo-Norman orenge during the 13th century and was used for the fruit. It was roughly another three centuries before the word came to mean the color of the fruit. The color may have come from the word naranja, (Sanskrit) or naranj (Persian).

Let’s look quickly at the development of the word orange. Nathan Bailey defined it [1675] simply as the fruit grown in an orangery, but orenges [sic] were said to be little “balls of an orange color”. As late as 1869 Noah Webster’s etymological dictionary defined orange as fruit and orangery as a place where oranges were grown. He made no mention of it as a color. In 1887, Chambers defined it as a fruit and a color composed of red and yellow. Finally, in 1900 Walter Skeat said the word derived from narenge, “but with the initial n lost (in Italian), and then arenge became orenge by a popular etymology from gold. Naranja – an orange – Ital. arancio, an orange – Pers. Naranj, narinj, narang, an orange. “ – “A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language.”.

The Orangemen or Orange Order is a Protestant fraternal society founded in Belfast in 1795/6 and named for William of Orange (Protestant) who defeated the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

This was a very brief look at a broad topic, but those interested in more on the early history and etymology of the word can continue where I’ve left off. Let’s look at a few early mentions of the word in English.

Christopher Columbus reportedly brought oranges to the New World in 1493 and by the mid-16th century Spanish explorers, probably Ponce de Leon, had orange trees planted around St. Augustine, FL.

Jose de Acosta, 1590, wrote a page on the orange groves in the Indies.

George Sandys documented oranges growing while touring France and Italy in 1610.

Noah Biggs discussed the merits of oranges in 1651, London.

William Hughes said, “There are in America, in most of the Caribbee-Islands, many orange trees naturally growing in the woods and deserts, where are as yet no inhabitants nigh them; as upon Hispaniola and Cuba; but especially upon Jamaica, where are the most that ever I saw at a place called Orange-Bay, where they grow so plentifully, that they are the only trees of that place…”. [1672]

Richard Ligon found orange trees as well as lemons in Barbados, 1673.

The French Gardener, 1690, listed Bigarrades, China, Spanish, Genoa, Portugal, and Province oranges.

In The Present State of Europe, oranges and orange trees in flower were set before King James and his wife, 1698.

Richard Bradley documented the presence of oranges, lemons, etc. in English kitchens in 1727.

John Bartram and William Stork quoted a letter written from St. Augustine in 1765 saying oranges grew well in East Florida.

Thomas Ashe described groves of oranges in Louisiana and noted they, “thrive to the highest perfection”. – “Travels in America”. 1808.

Both sweet and sour oranges were growing around Charleston, SC by the early part of 1800. – Guthrie, William. “A New Geographical, Historical and Commercial Grammar.” Vol. II. 1815. Philadelphia.

Oranges from Florida were sold in the markets in Philadelphia by 1825/26 as noted by Karl Bernard. “Travels to North America During the Years 1825 and 1826”.

Oranges were left in Christmas stockings because they were expensive, having to be transported long distances to most households. Receiving apples, oranges, and nuts was a tradition that carried over into my own childhood. My uncle bought a case of each every year.

Eighteenth century cookery writers had various ways and means by which oranges were used. Below are a few simple early recipes.

ZEST OF CHINA ORANGES. Pare off the outside rind of the oranges very thin, and only strew it with fine powder-sugar as much as their own moisture will take, and dry them in a hot stove.

ORANGE CAKES. Take out the inside, picking out the seeds and skins; boil the rind till tender, changing the water; dry and chop it, put it to the inside; to one pound of this, one pound of sugar; boil it candy high, first well wetted; take it off the fire, stir in the orange, scald it: when almost cold drop it on plates. Dry the cakes in a stove. – Charlotte Mason. 1777.

TO PRESERVE ORANGE-FLOWERS. Pick the flowers, and little oranges and stalks and put them in your glasses, but one in a glass just fit for them, and boil the syrup till it is almost a jelly, then fill up your glasses; when they are cold, paper them up and keep them in a dry place. – Charles Carter. 1761.

ORANGE SHRUB. Take two gallons of soft Jamaica rum, one quart of fresh lime juice, eight pounds of refined loaf sugar, consolidate them together, then add twenty-four sweet oranges, and twenty-six lemons cut up fine; in about two weeks it will be ready for use. This will make very delightful Punch.

ORANGE COMPOTE. Is made without boiling the oranges; they are only to be peeled, cut in slices, the core taken out; add some syrup or sugar in powder, and the juice of an orange. William Jarrin. 1829.

ORANGE AND LEMON WHIPT CREAM. Rub or rasp on a piece of sugar the peel of two fine Seville oranges; scrape off the sugar as it imbibes the essence, mash it very fine, and add it to your cream. Lemon cream is made in the same manner.

Various authors gave recipes for orange marmalade, orange jelly, orange wine, orange brandy, orange shrub, etc. See a previous post regarding the early growth of oranges around New Orleans and Mobile.
Blissful Meals, yall. – THF.

Tom and Jerry

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Tom and Jerry

We enjoy shopping in antique stores and enjoy the search for special pieces. Periodically we will take notice of an item that we may not have paid any particular attention to before, but once we do then we seem to see the item everywhere we shop. Tom and Jerry punch bowls and cups are one of those items.

The drink has nothing to do with the cartoon characters some of us grew up watching. It is doubtful the drink was created by bartender Jerry Thomas who wrote “How to Mix Drinks” in 1862 despite several articles and online accounts crediting him with the drink’s origins. Although he made them often and the drink became associated with him, references to Tom and Jerry predate Jerry Thomas’s book by four decades.

The phrase dates from 1821 when “Life in London; Or, The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn Esq. and his Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom” was released, written by Pierce Egan and dedicated to George IV. It seems to have been made and served since the release of the book. In fact, some claim Egan introduced the drink, which is a form of eggnog, and called it a Tom and Jerry to draw attention to his book and subsequent play with characters by the same name. The play was titled “Tom and Jerry, Or Life in London” and it also premiered in 1821.

Damon Runyon (1880-1946) mentioned the drink in “Dancing Dan’s Christmas” published in 1932. “This hot Tom and Jerry is an old time drink that was once used by one and all in this country to celebrate Christmas…But anybody will tell you that there is nothing that brings out the true holiday spirit like hot Tom and Jerry, and I hear that since Tom and Jerry goes out of style in the United States, the holiday spirit is never quite the same.”

Various slang dictionaries define “Tom-and-Jerry Days” as the period of the Regency (1810-20) when George IV was king, and a Tom and Jerry shop was a low drinking establishment. – Henley, William Ernest. Slang and its Analogues Past and Present. 1904.

One hasn’t far to look to find references indicating that the term was not something well-bred people aspired to. The great increase of crime was attributed to a large degree to the beer-shops which were, “significantly termed by the lower classes ‘Tom and Jerry shops’”. Nineteenth century books reference Tom and Jerry Clubs, Tom and Jerry amusements, Tom and Jerry sprees, and there’s the ultimate phrase, “spend their evenings in riotous debauchery, drinking, gambling, and raising Tom and Jerry”. – Bather, Edward. “Thoughts on the Demand for Separation of Church and State”. 1834. London. & Dow, Jr. “Short Patent Sermons”. 1841. NY.

In later decades a Tom and Jerry became associated with Christmas and cold weather, defined by some as the period extending from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Jerry Thomas’s version of Tom and Jerry instructed the maker to put into a punchbowl
“5 lbs. sugar; 12 eggs; ½ small glass of Jamaica rum; 1 ½ teaspoonful of ground cinnamon; ½ same of cloves; ½ same of allspice.
Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and the yolks until they are as thin as water, then mix together and add the spice and rum, thicken with sugar until the mixture attains the consistence of a light batter.
To deal out Tom and Jerry to customers:
Take a small bar glass, and to one table-spoonful of the above mixture, add one wine-glass of brandy, and fill the glass with boiling water, grate a little nutmeg on top.
Adepts at the bar, in serving Tom and Jerry, sometimes adopt a mixture of ½ brandy, ¼ Jamaica rum, and ¼ Santa Cruz rum, instead of brandy plain. This compound is usually mixed and kept in a bottle, and a wine-glassful is used to each tumbler of Tom and Jerry. N.B.—A teaspoonful of cream of tartar, or about as much carbonate of soda as you can get on a dime, will prevent the sugar from settling to the bottom of the mixture. This drink is sometimes called Copenhagen, and sometimes ‘Jerry Thomas’”. [- from Jerry Thomas’s book on mixed drinks, 1862]

TOM AND JERRY MIXTURE. Take the whites of any quantity of eggs and beat to a stiff froth. Add one heaping tablespoonful of fine sugar for each egg. Beat the yolks of the eggs separately; mix together, adding a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, and beat to a stiff batter. Stir frequently so as to prevent the sugar from settling in the bottom of Tom and Jerry bowl.

HOW TO SERVE TOM AND JERRY. Put two tablespoonfuls of the above mixture into a Tom and Jerry mug; add half a jigger brandy and half a jigger rum, fill with boiling hot water or hot milk; mix well with a spoon, grate nutmeg on top and serve.

TOM AND JERRY COLD. Serve same as above, using cold water or milk in place of hot. – Kappeler, George J. Modern American Drinks. 1900. Akron, Ohio.

A frozen Tom & Jerry was promoted by the Boston Cooking School Cookbook in 1920:

2 c. milk, 3/4 c. sugar, yolks 6 eggs, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 2 1/2 c. cream, 2 Tablespoons rum, 1 Tablespoon brandy
Make a custard of the first 4 ingredients; strain, cook, add cream, and freeze to a mush. Add rum and brandy and finish the freezing. [Note this recipe did not make use of the egg whites.]

Option: Some recipes said to add a stick of butter and/or mix with hot milk instead of hot water.

Traditional Christmas Fare©

 

If you’ve ever wondered how they got the logs onto the massive fireplaces in times past, this illustration is probably a pretty accurate representation.  As we ponder on dragging in that huge yule log on Christmas Eve, we’ll have another look at Christmas customs the past including traditional foods. 

“First acknowledging the Sacredness of the Holy Time of Christmas, I proceed to set forth the Rejoicings which are generally made at that great Festival.

You must understand, good People, that the manner of celebrating this great Course of Holydays is vastly different now to what it was in former Days:  There was once upon a time Hospitality in the Land; an English Gentleman at the opening of the great Day, had all his Tenants and Neighbours enter’d his Hall by Day-break, the Strong-Beer was broach’d, and the Black-Jacks went plentifully about with Toast, Sugar, Nutmeg, and good Cheshire Cheese; the Rooms were embower’d with Holly, Ivy, Cypress, Bays, Laurel, and Missleto, and a bouncing Christmas Log in the Chimney glowing like the Cheeks of a Country Milk-maid; then was the Pewter as bright as Clarinda, and every bit of brass as polished as the most refined Gentleman; the Servants were then running here and there, with merry Hearts and jolly Countenances, every one was busy welcoming of Guests, and look’d as smug as new-lick’d Puppies; the Lasses were as blithe and buxom as the Maids in good Queen Bess’s Days, when they eat Sir-Loins of Roast Beef for Breakfast; Peg would scuttle about to make a Toast for John, while Tom run harum scarum to draw a Jug of Ale for Margery:  Gaffer Spriggins was bid thrice welcome by the ‘Squire, and Gooddy Goose did not fail of a smacking Buss from his Worship, while his Son and Heir did the Honours of the House; In a word, the Spirit of Generosity ran thro’ the whole House.

In these Times all the Spits were sparkling, the Hackin must be boil’d by Day-break, or else two young Men took the Maiden by the Arms, and run her round the Market-place, ‘till she was ashamed of her Laziness.  And what was worse than this, she must not play with the young Fellows that Day, but stand Neuter, like a Girl doing penance in a Winding-sheet at a Church-door…the Tables were all spread from the first to the last, the Sir-Loyns of Beef, the Minc’d-Pies, the Plumb-Porridge, the Capons, Turkeys, Geese, and Plumb-Puddings, were all brought upon the board; and all those who had sharp Stomachs and sharp Knives eat heartily and were welcome, which gave rise to the Proverb, Merry in the Hall, when Beards wag all.

There were then Turnspits employed, who by the time Dinner was over, would look as black and as greasy as a Welch Porridge-pot, but the Jacks have since turned them all out of Doors.  The Geese which used to be fatted for the honest Neighbours, have been of late sent to London, and the Quills made into Pens to convey away the Landlord’s Estate; the Sheep are drove away to raise Money to answer the Loss of a Game at Dice or Cards, and their Skins made into Parchment for Deeds and Indentures; nay even the poor innocent Bee, who was used to pay its Tribute to the Lord once a Year at least in good Metheglin, for the Entertainment of the Guests and its Wax converted into beneficial Plaisters for sick Neighbours, is now used for the sealing of Deeds to his Disadvantage…

Then let all your Folks live briskly, and at such a Time of Rejoicing enjoy the Benefit of good Beef and Pudding, let the Strong Beer be unlocked, and let the Piper play, O’er the Hills, and far away.” 

May we all be truly thankful for the joys in our lives and the love of Christ and may we strive to carry the merriment and good cheer of Christmas in our hearts all the year round.  Thehistoricfoodie©

Source: 

– Christmas Entertainments.  Originally published in 1740.  London.   ©

O You merry, merry Souls,
Christmas is a coming,
We shall have flowing Bowls,
Dancing, piping, drumming.

Delicate Minced Pies,
To feast every Virgin,
Capon and Goose likewise,
Brawn and a Dish of Sturgeon.

Then for your Christmas Box.
Sweet Plumb Cakes and Money,
Delicate Holland Smocks,
Kisses sweet as Honey.

Hey for the Christmas Ball,
Where we shall be jolly,
Jigging short and tall,
Kate, Dick, Ralph, and Molly.

Then to the Hop we’ll go,
Where we’ll jig and caper,
Maidens all-a-row,
Will shall pay the Scraper.

Hodge shall dance with Prue,
Keeping Time with Kisses
We’ll have a jovial Crew,
Of sweet smirking Misses.

– from:  Christmas Entertainments.  Originally published in 1740.  London.

Notes:  flowing bowls refers to a punch bowl.  Capon is a rooster that was castrated as a chick so as to render his flesh tender and flavorful.  Brawn is boar’s flesh.

Roasted Capon, Start to Finish

Capon has graced serving tables for centuries although few people today know what it is or how to prepare it.  In short, it is a rooster that was castrated as a chick to render the flesh tender and flavorful and then fattened for the table.  The Greeks and Romans engaged in the practice, as did the Chinese before them. 

 

Available at a market near you, and ready to pop in the oven.

At the turn of the 20^th century, a report noted capons were universally known and appreciated in France, and other parts of Europe.  In the U.S. they have been commonly consumed since the Europeans settled here, and were becoming more profitable for market by then.  They were sold in the markets of Maryland by 1640, at roughly the same price as in England. 

The process of caponization was achieved by, “Insert[ing] the fore finger [through a small incision], and near the middle of the body, at the distance of about three quarters of an inch from the incision, near the spine, will be found the testicles, which may very easily be removed by the thumb and finger; sew up the orifice and daub a little tar over it to keep off the flies.”  Though considered a minor procedure it probably wasn’t a job for the squeamish and so by the late 19^th and early 20^th century the process had been considerably refined as evidenced from the following advertisement.

ROAST CAPON.  If you don’t know Capon you don’t know Chicken!  Nothing equals roast capon-always sweet, tender, rich, delicious.  June and July hatched cockerels should be caponized now for your Christmas, Winter, and Easter dinner parties.  Any surplus brings fancy prices at that season.  Do not think of attempting the operation with old style, clumsy, hand-in-the-way, peek-a-boo types of tools, that are difficult to use and uncertain in results…

Dear Sir:  Caponizing is a pleasure with your tools.  From remover to tearing hook they are A-1 requiring only a small incision.  I caponized a Leghorn cockerel weighing only 8 ounces, and he is growing fine.  Haven’t lost a bird.  Previously used a widely advertised set, lost many and had lots of slips.  I’ll not mention names but they might be called “stung.”  Your instruction book is what it should be and not an advertisement.  You do not claim “a child can do it,” yet such is the case.  My daughter, six and a half years old, can caponize and explain the operation to others, using correct names and terms.  – Mrs. Joseph Neft, Earman, Fla, June 20, 1921.  Published in American Poultry Journal.  Aug. 1921.

Capon was often served with rice or peas.  It was made into pasties, pilau, pie, soup, pudding, or croquettes, and it was soused, fricasseed, poached, hashed, boiled, larded, and roasted. 

Richard Dolby included a receipt for capon served with chestnuts and oysters, verbatim as found in John Nott’s book dated 1723. 

“Boil twelve large chestnuts till they are soft, then peel them and put them into claret wine warmed with the same number of oysters parboiled; spit the capon, and put these into the inside of the capon, and stop them in with butter, roast it before a quick fire, baste it with fresh butter, and when it begins to drip, preserve the gravy; then take half a pint of claret, put into it fifteen or twenty large chestnuts boiled, and the same number of oysters, a piece of butter and some whole pepper; stew all these together till half has stewed away; when your capon is roasted, put the gravy which you have saved into the sauce, bread the capon, place it on a dish, pour the sauce all over, and serve.”

John Nott published a receipt in 1723 in which he instructed the cook to place the fingers between the skin and flesh to loosen it, then put in between the flesh and skin a mixture of grated bacon, 2 eggs, mushroom or truffle, a little parsley, basil, and cives [chives], shred fine, salt and pepper.  The cook was then to sew up the end and roast it on a spit.  The ragoo to be served with it included sweet breads, livers, mushrooms, truffles, morels, artichoke bottoms, asparagus-tops in their season, a little gravy thickened with a cullis of veal and ham. 

A cullis is a mixture used to thicken ragouts and soups, and to give them an agreeable taste.  A capon cullis was made in this manner:

Take a roasted capon, pound it very well in a mortar, put it in a stew pan, and toss up some crusts of bread in melted bacon [fat]; and when they are very brown, put to them some mushroomes, cives,  parsley, and basil, all shred very small; mix all these with your pounded capon, and make an end of dressing them over the stove; put in strong broth, and strain it.

It is only the meat you put into a cullis that gives it the name and taste; if it be for pheasants or partridges, make use of pheasants or partridges, instead of capon; do the like for woodcocks or pigeons, ducks, teal, quails, rabbits, &c. and whatsoever meat you use must be more than half roasted before you pound it to put in a cullis.

Nott’s Roast Capon with Lemon still retained the flair of medieval cuisine in that it used sweet herbs, dates and currants, mace, nutmeg, sugar, almonds, and verjuice with butter and preserved lemon. 

Several 18^th century cookery books instruct in preparing a capon after the French way – braising in white wine.  “Take a quart of white-wine, season the capon with salt, cloves, and whole pepper, a few shallots; then put the capon in an earthen pan; you must take care it has not room to shake; up it must be covered close, and done on a slow charcoal fire.”

This Christmas a fat, perfectly seasoned, golden brown capon will take the place of last year’s roast goose on our holiday table as I set it with foods common to the era when my ancestor served as Sewer [server] at the royal tables in London.  See previous posts.  Blissful Meals & Merry Christmas!

 – The Cook’s Dictionary.  1830.  The Household Encyclopedia.  1858.  Montague, Laetitia.  The Housewife:  Being a most Useful Assistant in all Domestic Concerns. 1785.  Bozeman, John.  The History of Maryland, 1633 to 1660.  1837.  Baltimore.  Glasse, Hannah.  The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.  1785.  London.

A Christmas Tree for a Historic Foodie

I’ve had lots of themes for my Christmas trees over the past, but I have to say I think this year’s tree is more “Us” than any I’ve ever had.  Over the years I’ve been an avid collector of cookware and utensils from various time periods and one of the things I’ve collected is vintage kitchen utensils with red painted wooden handles.  I love them in that form meets function.  There’s a tool for most any job in my collection, many of which are known only to collectors anymore, and the wooden handles and shiny red paint on the handles give them character you’ll never find in metal and plastic.

I also have two forks and two spoons my uncle brought home from WWII on which Martin attached nice red and green ribbons and those are proudly hanging on our tree as well.  There’s an assortment of spoons, forks, graters, strainers, melon-ballers, knives, corkscrews, sharpeners, can openers, mashers, spatulas, etc., all lending their particular unique design to a tree that is uniquely “Us”. 

We came up with the idea recently of using them to decorate our tree and we’ve been really pleased with the way it turned out.  Merry Christmas yall.  I hope you enjoy your tree as much as we do this one.