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Alida

Audio of "Receipt For a Winter Salad"

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Stewed Duck and Peas

I give thee all my kitchen lore,
Though poor the offering be;
I'll tell thee how 'tis cooked, before
You come to dine with me.
Then stew'd with butter well,
And streaky bacon, which reveals
A most delicious smell.


When duck and bacon, in a mass,
You in a stewpan lay,
A spoon around the vessel pass,
And gently stir away;
A tablespoonful of four bring,
A quart of water plain,
Then in it twenty onions fling,
And gently stir again.

A bunch of parsley, and a leaf
Of ever verdant bay,
Two cloves, -- I make my language brief, --
Then add your peas you may;
And let it simmer till it sings
In a delicious strain,
Then take your duck, nor let the strings
For trussing it remain.
The parsley fail not to remove,
Also the leaf of bay;
Dish up your duck, -- the sauce improve
In the accustom'd way,
With pepper, salt and other things
I need not here explain;
And if the dish contentment brings,
You'll dine with me again.



From Poetical Cook-Book by M.J.M. (Maria J. Moss), Philadelphia: Caxton Free Press, 1864.

A Curry from London "Punch"

Three pounds of veal my darling girl prepares
And chops it nicely into little squares.
Five onions next prepared the little minx,
The biggest are the best her Samviel thinks,
And Epping butter nearly half a pound
And stews them in a pan until they're browned.
What next my dexterous little girl will do?
She pops the meat into the savory stew
With curry powder tablespoonfuls three
And milk a pint, the richest that may be.
And when the dish has stewed for half an hour
A lemon's ready juice she'll o'er it pour.
Then, bless her - then she gives the luscious pot
A very gentle boil, and serve it quite hot.


(1810) From "What Salem Dames Cooked", compiled and published by the Board of Managers of the School, 1933, Salem, MA (p. 17)

Bread

Put your flour into
A good deep mug,
Which will bear a weight
And many a tug.

To six pounds of flour
Three spoonfuls of barm*,
Mixed with some water
That must be luke-warm.

Put this in the midst
Of the mug of flour,
Which stir gently in
And leave for an hour.

Then pour on the whole
More clean warm water,
Two spoonfuls of salt,
Knead up like mortar.

Again all must stand
Not far from the fire,
Till it has risen
As you could desire.

When that is all done
You out the dough take,
And shape into loaves,
Which soon you can bake.

“Bread” (#23), Cookery Rhymes. The Nineteenth Century. Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey. Original from The British Library. The original citation is from Cookery Rhymes, Simple Remedies, and Useful Hints, Intended for Girls’ Day Schools by Miss Potter, 7th ed. London: Jarrold and Sons, 1862.

Noun 1.barm - a commercial leavening agent containing yeast cells; used to raise the dough in making bread and for fermenting beer or whiskey
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Soup Stew

Half a pound of beef cut in small bits,
(Or mutton or pork, if you please,)
Slice in six potatoes, four turnips,
And throw in a pint of dry peas.

Put these in seven pints of water,
And onions or leeks don’t omit;
Four hours and a half gently boil,
With some oatmeal to make it thick.

When you have mixed the oatmeal in,
And added some salt and pepper;
Boil again, stirring all the time,
And you’ll find no soup can be better.

N. B. – This is excellent soup
Without any meat,
If you’ll put in herbs
Which are called sweet.

“Stew Soup” (#4), Cookery Rhymes. The Nineteenth Century. Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey. Original from The British Library. The original citation is from Cookery Rhymes, Simple Remedies, and Useful Hints, Intended for Girls’ Day Schools by Miss Potter, 7th ed. London: Jarrold and Sons, 1862.

Trifle by Anthony Burgess

Of shining silvery crystal be your bowl,
Big as a priest's paunch or a drunkard's soul.
Take spongecakes then to fill it, very dry,
Divide them lengthwise, lengthwise let them lie,
Inner face upwards. Smear these faces then
With raspberry jam, then jam them shut again_,
Dispose them in the bowl. Take Jerez wine
Or Mavrodaphne; liberally incline
The bottle 'till, like rain on earth sun-baked,
The liquor has not drenched but merely slaked
That spongy thirst. With milk and eggs well-beaten
Seethe up a custard, thick; with honey sweeten_,
Then on your drunken spongecakes swiftly pour
Till they are sunk beneath a golden floor.
Cool until set. Whip cream and spread it deep.
Strew dragees in a silver swoop or sweep.
Cool, and keep cool. A two-hour wait must stifle
Your lust to eat this nothing, this mere TRIFLE.

Printed in Verona, Italy, 1977, by Plain Wrapper Press.(180 copies Retrieved from Darmouth College Library.