RECIPES FROM THE PAST : CHRISTMAS FARE.
King George 1st Christmas Pudding.
This pudding was eaten by him on the 25th of December 1714, his first
Christmas in England.
1 ½ lbs Finely shredded suet,
1lb Eggs weighed in their shells.
1lb of each : Dried plums- stoned &halved;
Mixed peel cut
in strips;
Small raisins;
Sultanas;
Currants;
Sifted flour;
Sugar;
& brown bread crumbs, fresh.
1tsp. Mixed Spice,
2tsp. Salt.
1Nutmeg grated.
Approximately ½ a pint of new Milk,
Juice of 1 Lemon,
A very large wine glass of Brandy.
Method:
Mix the dry ingredients, moisten with eggs beaten to a froth. Add: Milk,
lemon juice & Brandy.
Stand for at least twelve hours in a cool place, then turn into buttered
moulds or basins. Boil for eight hours- Then for two hours before serving.
This quantity makes three puddings of about 3lbs each.
Xmas Puddings from, The Art Of Cookery, London 1774.
½ lb Flour
¾ lb Fine breadcrumbs,
1lb Beef Suet finely chopped,
1lb Each of: Raisins- seeded & chopped;
Sultanas;
Currants.
1lb of brown sugar,
½ lb of chopped walnuts,
½ lb chopped candied lemon peel,
2tspns of cinnamon,
2tspns of nutmeg,
8 eggs,
1pt of brandy.
Method:
Put fruit and peel and spices into a bowl and cover with ½ the
Brandy and leave overnight. Mix suet, breadcrumbs, flour and sugar
together and gradually add to fruit.
Add beaten eggs & more Brandy if required. Place in a basin or
basins. Cover with a cloth and boil continuously for eight hours. Do Not
Let The Water Cover The Basin.
Lillian Christmas Pudding.
This is a well used and reliable family recipe which is at least 150
years old.
7oz flour,
3 large eggs or 4 small,
14ozs beef suet,
Juice of half a lemon,
½ lb brown sugar,
grated rind of same.
14 ozs currants,
Good pinch of salt.
10ozs stoned raisins- cut,
½ tsp. baking powder,
8ozs mixed peel,
¼ tsp. of each: Cinnamon;
10 ozs sultanas,
ground nutmeg;
4 ozs finely grated carrot,
mixed spice. 7ozs fresh breadcrumbs,
1 ½ ozs ground almonds, or ½ tsp. essence..
Between 5 & 8 ozs of stout to mix.
Method:
Sift flour with salt, baking powder & spices into a very large
mixing bowl. Rub bread crumbs through a wire sieve. Scrape, wash and dry
carrots then finely grate them. Turn into the basin containing the fruit
and suet. Stir crumbs and sugar into flour mixture. Add suet and fruit
and mix well. Stir in washed and grated lemon rind. Cover with a cloth
and leave to stand overnight.
Next day stir in stout and lemon juice and mix well.
Beat the eggs well and stir them in. If mixture seems a little dry
add extra stout or eggs.
Fill buttered basins to within an inch of the top. Cover with buttered
paper and tie securely. Then tie up with pudding cloths.
Boil continuously for 7 hours. Store in a dry cupboard and steam on
Christmas Day for 2 hours.
Makes 2 large puddings.
Nanna Tunnicliff'sChristmas pudding.
This pudding is not as rich as many older recipes it dates from war
time England.
6oz bread crumbs,
2oz. self raising flour,
4oz. Raisins- seedless,
4oz. Valencia’s - stoned or if unavailable double the quantity of raisins.
4oz currants,
4oz suet,
4os sugar,
1oz mixed peel,
a little grated nutmeg,
1 small grated carrot,
a little grated lemon rind,
pinch of salt,
1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder,
2 eggs, a little milk to moisten mixture,
1 ½ tablespoons of rum.
Method:
Mix all ingredients together well, add the milk until the mixture is
not too stiff. Turn into a greased pudding basin, cover and boil
for about 5 hours.
These recipes have been re- typed to make them more legible, however all the original terminology and punctuation was maintained.
MEAT PUDDINGS
233. Puddings.- Although the same word with the same meaning exists
in all European languages, yet it may properly be said to be peculiarly
English, as pudding has become quite a national dish. The various
counties of England have each a particular way of making them, and
it is almost impossible to give any method hitherto untried.
The first most important point is never to use any meat that
is tainted, for in pudding, above all other dishes, it is least possible
to disguise the confined process which the ingredients undergo; the gradual
heating of the meat, which alone would accelerate decomposition, will cause
the smallest piece of tainted meat to contaminate all the rest. Be
particular that the suet and fat are not rancid, ever remembering the grand
principle, that everything which gratifies the palate nourishes.
Tainted meat, you will justly say, is bad in whatever way it
may be cooked; true, but take a joint which, in the middle of summer,
from some trifling cause, has some small part a little tainted, and which
is often sold cheap to those who cannot afford to purchase better, this,
by the worst part being cut away, rubbed with a piece of charcoal, if for
roasting, or a piece of charcoal put into the water, if for boiling, at
once renders it sweet; but our great national dish cannot be subjected
to this process. Although the tastes of all people differ; some may
like the haut gout of high venison or the wild fowl, and possibly
might like the same in pudding, yet it is our duty here to point out those
things which are nourishing, and likewise those that are not; therefore,
I here send you some receipts which will please everybody’s taste,
everybody’s palate, and, I hope, everybody’s pocket.
319. Pudding Paste.- 1st Class Paste. Put on a slab, table,
board, or basin, one pound of beef or mutton suet, chopped rather fine-
the first is preferable- form a well with your hand in the center of the
flour, add the suet, a teaspoonful of salt, half of pepper; moisten all
with water, working the flour in by degrees, till it forms a stiff paste;
work it well for two minutes, throw a little flour on the slab, with the
paste on it; let it remain five minutes, then roll it out to any thickness
you like. This will be referred to very often, therefore pay particular
attention to it, and give it an important place in the book. For
savory pudding, I sometimes vary the flavor, by adding a little chopped
parsley, or a little onion, or thyme, or mushrooms in it.
2nd Class paste. Proceed the same way , putting only six
ounces of suet.
3rd Class Paste. The same, with four ounces.
4th Class Paste. The same, with four ounces of dripping.
Lamb, veal, and pork fat may be used; but as they do not chop so floury,
the paste is heavier.
234. Beef Pudding.- Take one pound of steak, cut it lengthways in three pieces, and then slantways at each inch, instead of in lumps; but should you buy cuttings of meat from the butchers, then remove all the sinew and over fat, and cut the large pieces slantways, put them in a dish, and sprinkle over with a teaspoonful of salt, a half ditto of pepper, and a teaspoonful of flour, the same of chopped onions; mix well together, make six or eight ounces of paste No. 319, roll it to the thickness of a quarter of an inch, or a little more, put pudding- cloth in a basin, sprinkle some flour over it, lay in your paste, and then the meat, together with a few pieces of fat; when full put in three wineglasses of water; turn the paste over the meat, so as not to form a lump, but well closed; then tie the cloth, not too close on the paste, or it will not be light; boil it fast in four quarts of water for one hour; take it out, let it stand a few minutes to cool the cloth, cut the string, turn back the cloth, place a dish on top, and turn it over on it, remove the cloth and serve.
235.- If you choose to add a kidney it may add to the richness of the
gravy, also a few oysters, or even a mushroom.
The crust should always be cut with a knife.
If you carefully follow the above instructions you will have
a pudding quite perfect, the paste as light and as white as snow, and the
meat tender, with a thick gravy.
236.- Observation. You will perhaps be surprised that I recommend it
to be boiled fast instead of simmering. I do so, because the meat,
being enclosed in the paste, and sometimes in a basin, is alone subject
to the action of simmering in its own gravy. These puddings lose
a less amount of nourishment in cooking than any other kind. In a
large pudding a few sliced potatoes is not bad.
This may truly be considered as much a national dish as roast beef
and plum pudding, and being so, it is surprising that it is so often made
badly, and indigestible: the pieces of meat and fat often cut two inches
square, instead of smaller pieces; the pudding, sometimes left half out
of the water, the crust becomes hard and black, and the meat very dry.
251. Rabbit Pudding.- A rabbit cut into about sixteen or eighteen pieces, and a quarter of a pound of bacon, sliced; season in proportion to size, as before, and if for a numerous family, add ten potatoes and four onions, sliced, and half a pint of water; boil for two hours, or according to size, Boiled rice may be added instead of potatoes. Well intermix the meat with the vegetables or rice.
252. Chicken Pudding.- Cut one into eight pieces, half a pound of bacon, cut into slices; season with one teaspoonful of salt, half of pepper, two of chopped parsley, a little thyme, and one captain’s biscuit, well broken; fill the pudding with the meat, add half a pint of milk, boil for one hour and a half; serve with melted butter over, and chopped parsley on top.
253. Pigeon Pudding.- Pluck, draw, and stuff two pigeons with
the stuffing No. 456; then cut some large thin slices of beef, and some
of the bacon; season well; roll the pigeons in the meat and bacon, lay
them in the pudding; boil four eggs hard, cut them into quarters, and fill
the cavities with them; mix a teaspoonful of flour with half a pint of
milk, or water, close up, and boil for one hour and a half, and serve.
The same in Brown Gravy.- Add a tablespoonful of coloring, a little
more salt and pepper.
Young wood- pigeons may be done in the same way, but will take half
an hour longer doing.
255. Young Rook pudding.- If these young inhabitants of the woods
and forests are eatable in pies, I do not see why we should not give them,
after their wild career, a soft bed of repose in a pudding crust.
Open them by the back, then draw them, divide them into two, and then into
quarters; extract the big bones, leaving the flesh only; beat each piece
flat, and season with salt, pepper and a little grated ginger; make a stuffing
with the liver, No 457. Lay on the crust a slice of bacon, then the
birds, then a slice of steak; season with any aromatic herbs, or chopped
onions, leeks or mushrooms; add a gill of ale, or wine, gravy or water;
boil one hour and a half, and serve.
Pigeons may be done in the same way.
456. Veal Stuffing.- Chop half a pound of suet, put it in a basin with three quarters of a pound of bread crumbs, a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of pepper, a little thyme, or lemon peel chopped, three whole eggs, mix well, and use where directed. A pound of bread crumbs and one more egg may be used: it will make it cut firmer.
457. Liver Stuffing.- To the above quantity of stuffing, chop
fine four ounces of the liver of either calf, pig, sheep, or lamb, poultry,
or game; mix well and use, adding a little more seasoning.
These stuffings are varied by the mixture of a little cooked ham, anchovies,
olives, capers, pickles, or even red herring. In fact, a variety
of ways, according to fancy, for any dish you please.
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