Stuart England: To make the best ſort of Muſtard

Tags

food, historical food, History, stuart

Ahh the long S, bane of history students and a fixture of stuart era writing.

The Stuart period refers to the period of rule between James Ist and and the accession of George I of the House of Hanover. The execution of King Charles I by Parliament brought a temporary end to the rule of the Stuarts, when England became a Republic under Oliver Cromwell. The Stuarts were restored to the throne under Charles II in 1660.

The Stuart era was the time of: the Gunpowder Plot, civil and foreign wars, a regicide, a republic, the great plague, the Great Fire of London and the Glorious Revolution. This was the era of Shakespeare, Wren, Galileo, Newton and Pepys, to name but a few. The era saw the settlement of the Americas, trade with the Spice Islands, the birth of steam engines, microscopes, coffee houses and newspapers. The beginning of the industrial revolution and the dawn of the modern era.

In addition to the beginnings of modern industry the stuart era also saw the beginnings of more modern food. The addition of new ingredients from the americas, the invention of new cooking technologies like the standing stove, and changing beliefs about health and food from new medical discoveries began to change the culinary landscape.

This collar of pork is a good example of the changing tastes of the stuart era, while using more traditional medieval cooking methods it showcases the french influence of “Le Goute Natural” or “Natural taste” leaving the pork essentially untouched by spices or additional flavors, instead all the flavoring being provided by the accompanying sauce.

This is a traditional Stuart recipe for a classic dish of a breast of pork that’s bound, boiled until tender and then brined in beer, water and salt over night before draining, slicing and serving.

Recipe

Stuart Pork

To make a Collar of Brawn of a Breast of Pork (from Hannah Woolley’s Queen-like Closet 1670) 19. To make a Collar of Brawn of a Brea of Pork. Take a large Breaſt of Pork, and bone it, then roul it up, and tie it hard with a Tape, then boil it [in] water and Salt till it be very tender, then make Souce drink for it with ſmall Beer, Water and Salt, and keep it in it: Serve it to the Table with a Roſemary Branch in the middle of it, and eat it with Mustard.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:
1 large breast of pork, boned
600ml light beer (about 3.5% ABV)
400ml water salt, to taste

Clean and trim the breast of pork then roll it tightly and secure with string along its length. Bring a pan of salted water to a boil, add the breast of pork and cook for about 70 minutes, or until tender. In the meantime, heat the beer, water and 100g salt in a pan until the salt has dissolved. When the pork has cooked set it in a deep-sided dish and pour over the ale mixture. Set a plate or a weight on top to keep the pork submerged, cover with clingfilm then set in the refirgerator to soak over night. When ready to serve, remove the pork from the brine and wash with plenty of cold running water. Slice and serve cold accompanied by a good mustard.

To make the best sort of mustard
This is a traditional Stuart recipe for a classic condiment of mustard powder blended to a paste with vinegar and seasoned with black pepper, shallot and sugar.

To make the best sort of Mustard (from Hannah Woolley’s Queen-like Closet 1670) 290. To make the best ſort of Muſtard. Dry your Seed very well, then beat it by little and little at a time in a Mortar, and ſift it, then put the Powder into a Gally-pot, and wet it with Vinegar very well, then put in a whole Onion, pilled but not cut, a little Pepper beaten, a little Salt, and a lump of ſtone Sugar.

Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
50g ground mustard
white wine vinegar to moisten (about 60ml)
1 shallot, peeled
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 lump of raw, crystallized, cane sugar

Sift the mustard powder into a bowl. Slowly work in the vinegar until you have a stiff but stirable paste (think somewhat thicker than double cream). Turn this into a jar and work in the black pepper and salt. Submerge the shallot and sugar in the mustard powder, seal the jar with a lid and set aside to mature for 1 week before use.

Actually Making the Food

The Breast of pork is not a very common cut anymore, thankfully the butcher at the local co-op was quite willing to do a little digging for us and we found something close.

Most everything else is easy enough to find but unfortunately Kaylee was confused as to what a shallot was, so we used a peeled green onion. This didn’t seem to hurt the mustard’s taste too much, but YMMV, so maybe er on the side of using the correct type.

Grinding by hand seems cool at first but it takes TIME and muscle power. Seriously we took turns grinding for about an hour and a half and only got the seeds cracked. If you want a more smooth paste we recommend getting a pre-ground mustard or using a coffee grinder to grind the seeds, we ended up with very grainy mustard with hand grinding.

Also, be careful with the vinegar when making the mustard! The first time we poured in the vinegar, we though we used a bit too much. So we poured off a bit, then once it sat for a bit the grains absorbed all of the vinegar leaving it a lump.

Tieing up the pork wasn’t super easy as neither of us had done it before but I’m sure if you’ve had some practice with it you could end up with something much neater.  We also found out our pan was just a little too shallow to submerge it completely. Thankfully we figured out a historically accurate solution (see photo)

Eating it

Just like cold ham. Mustard was very nice with it, not too spicy and complemented the salty slightly yeasty taste of the pork nicely. It may be my modern sensibilities that find eating cold roast a bit ..weird… but I though it did taste a little better reheated.

I probably would make the mustard again, but not the pork. It was quite the bit of work for basically luncheon meat.

Links and referances

Recipes From Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/stuart/

A Revolution in Taste: The Rise of French Cuisine, 1650-1800 – Susan Pinkard

Ancient Grains: Mesopotamia

Ancient Grains: Mesopotamia

Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization in the West, Mesopotamia is defined more geographically then culturally, being actually made up of a diverse collection peoples and kingdoms; Sumer and the Akkadian, as well as the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. The indigenous Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC.

Comprising the eastern part of the “fertile crescent’ agriculture arrived in Mesopotamia about 5000 B.C. With the development of irrigation, the food supply in Mesopotamia was quite rich. Most of the Mesopotamian diet was made up of flood plain farmed of crops such as barley, onions, grapes, turnips, and apples. Mesopotamians were also some of the first people to make beer. Beer was the drink of choice for most people with the average person consuming up to 5L per day.

Date palms were also a very important food source to the Mesopotamians. These palms grew in the south by the river marshes and supplied fibers, fodder, wood, and rich food. Dates were the main source of sugar in Mesopotamia and were added to a great many dishes and drinks.

Meat was eaten rarely and reserved for the rich and feast days, fish was a much more common source of protein. Dairy products such as cheese and butter were eaten but fresh milk was rarely drunk by adults as preservation in the heat made it unfeasible.

To give you an idea of the contents of a large feast:

“In 879 B.C.E., the Assyrian king Assurnasirapli II boasts, on an inscription on a stele (Grayson, pp. 28893), of having given a gigantic banquet, on the occasion of the inauguration of his new palace, for no fewer than 69,574 guests, from workers to dignitaries, local and foreign. The supplies for this banquet give an idea of the requirements of the Assyrian gourmet, leaving aside the question of the historical precision of the round numbers: 1,000 oxen, 1,000 calves, 14,000 sheep, 1,000 lambs, 500 deers, 500 gazelles, 1,000 large birds, 500 geese, 500 cranes, 1,000 mesukku-birds, 1,000 qaribu-birds, 10,000 pigeons, 10,000 turtle doves, 10,000 smaller birds, 10,000 fish, 10,000 akbiru (a small rodent), 10,000 eggs, 10,000 containers of beer, 10,000 goatskins of wine, 10,000 jars of a hot condiment, 1,000 boxes of fresh vegetables, and large quantities of honey, pistachios, roasted grain, pomegranates, dates, cheeses, olives, and all kinds of spices. These are the highlights of a list thirty-six lines long on the stele.” 1

Most “recipes” from cuneiform tablets are like the laundry list above, giving rough quantities and ingredients but very little instructions as to HOW. The recipe used for Peter’s dish was cobbled together from a series of soup “recipes” given in the book “The Oldest Cuisine In The World” by Jean Bottero.

RECIPE for STEWED BEEF

coming soon

Finding Ingredients?
Most of the ingredients were fairly easy to find save one, Hop Free Beer. Beer was a major component of Mesopotamian Cooking and Feasting and I couldn’t find a single recipe where it didn’t come up. We ended up tracking down one that had mostly period appropriate ingredients (except for Cocoa). I also ended up adding Pine Nuts without looking into them, while they weren’t entirely appropriate for the period or the area they would have been available and were tasty. Other than that all of the ingredients used I was able to find in your standard grocery store.
Was the Recipe Clear?
Not remotely, I had to interpret a recipe from multiple sources as there weren’t any actual historical “recipes” to be found. On top of that the recipes I did find called for incredibly massive amounts of ingredients as well as long periods of time, neither of which would have been practical for the modern cook.

Were the Cooking Methods Easy to Replicate?
Mesopotamian Cooking was quite simple on the whole so not a lot of strange or specialized ingredients were required, though I did make use of their modern equivalents. I boiled the broth in a modern wok and utilized a slow cooker to make the meat itself. I also purchased the bread outright rather than making it, to duplicate the consumption style of the food if not the methods themselves. I also tried to add some “blood” to the broth by squeezing the roast but most modern meats are fairly well drained, so this didn’t really come across well.
Did you make any mistakes? Do anything different next time?
I probably should have used a flat bottomed pan to make the broth and a large stock pot to boil the roast, it would make it more accurate if nothing else. I’d also want to try adding some blood to the broth just to see how a more authentic flavor would taste.

How did it look when you were done?
Fairly simple actually, there weren’t any instructions on how to present the food really so I just ended up with meat on a plate. However it did look and smell quite appetizing.

How did it taste?
The Roast Meat and Yoghurt/Date/Honey desert were very tasty. The Dates added into the Meat Broth were a last minute addition but overall essential to the delicious flavour of the dish. I added Naan Bread to the dish to represent unleavened bread that would have been consumed in the period. While not entirely accurate it’s the best we could do on short notice and it tasted delicious when fried in butter and eaten with the sauce from the roast. Similarly we also used the remaining broth in the slow cooker as a sauce and it tasted exceptionally good on the bread. The meat had a slightly “fruity” flavor thanks to the dates and was quite savory and flavorful. I also made some “small beer” using the Hop Free Beer mixed with some Water as Beer was the staple beverage of Mesopotamia due to the large grain supply, it would have been “watered” down or brewed weaker than the modern stuff as it was utilized for every day consumption rather than recreational use as it is now a-days. However despite watering it down the Hop-Free Beer was very, very bitter and very very strong tasting, especially prior to watering it down. The best way to describe the flavor is sort of a burnt, malty taste, somewhat akin to German Dunkelweisens but even stronger. The Yoghurt/Date/Honey desert was excellent, not too sweet and very flavourful with the dates and greek style yoghurt adding a lot to the flavor.
Would you make it again?
Absolutely, though I might cheat and use much more modern methods. I probably wouldn’t drink the beer much under normal circumstances due to its strong flavor and even in cooking it made the broth very bitter.
Other Comments
I’m very glad the Mesopotamians had a pretty good understanding of flavour so I was able to use taste staples like Onions and Salt and as I was attempting to make a “feast” dish rather than a peasant or poormans dish I could use as much of the rarer or more valuable ingredients (like salt) to my hearts content.

Sources
1. http://www.enotes.com/mesopotamia-ancient-reference/mesopotamia-ancient
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005446/text_version/English/mesopotamia.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/ancient-mesopotamia
http://www.silkroadgourmet.com/cookoff-challenge-1-ancient-mesopotamia-
The Oldest Cuisine In The World by Jean Bottero

Ancient Mayan : Corn with a corn sauce

Ancient Maya cuisine was varied and extensive. Many different types of food were consumed, including fish, wild and domesticated animals, and wild and domesticated plants. The main diet of the Mayan was made up of several key domesticated plants, the most important of which was maize, but which also included beans, squash and peppers.
One important “cash crop” for the Mayans was the cacao plant. They ground the cacao beans up and boiled them with water to create a coffee like drink, this was then flavored with chili peppers, cornmeal, and/or honey to create a drink called xocolatl (which is Nahuatl) which was primarily ceremonial though was drunk by the wealthy on feast days as well.

Hunting supplied the Maya with their main source of meat, though several animals, such as dog and turkey, may have been domesticated. A large variety of wild animals were eaten by the Mayan including deer, manatee, armadillo, tapir, peccary, monkey, other types of fowl, turtle, and iguana. In addition to animals a great variety of insects made their way into the Mayan diet. (one recipe found was for roasted wasp larvae)

One of the most difficult things in sorting through the recipes was figuring out what was authentic ‘new world’ food, and what had been brought over by the Spanish (or later colonizers!). As there were no recipes or anything but general descriptions of food in ancient Mayan texts, most of the information on their eating habits come from either archeological evidence such as rubbish pits and food jar residue, or from early Spanish descriptions (a very biased source). Most actual recipes that you can find discussed are simply traditional foods of the Yucatán Peninsula, many of which have added “old world” imports what wouldn’t have been available to the Mayan before the 16th century.

When choosing recipes we used those described as “Traditional Mayan” and removed ingredients which were “old world” in origin. Onions and cilantro, generally ubiquitous in Mexican food are actually from the old world, and had to be removed. Garlic was definitely available, and we decided that pineapples, originally from Brazil, were probably ok, since there was the possibility of trading. However, we found out (after they had already been added) that the cherries were not correct, despite being described in the recipe as “native to Mexico”. Always fact check things you find on the internet kids, even if it seems legit.

Recipies

Guest Cook: Kaylee Anderson of Palaeoaplysina

We used multiple recipes, making several dishes to represent the spread of different food eaten. The recipes followed included two types of “peasant” corn puddings (everyday food), turkey and vegetarian tamales, tomato salsa, fruit compote and chocolate to drink. (feast foods)

Savoury Corn Pudding

masa harina
black beans
red jalapeno pepper
lime juice

Tomato salsa

8-10 tomatoes, chopped
2 habanero chiles, chopped (seeds removed, from a jar)
Juice from 2 sour oranges  (mixture of orange and lime juice)
Salt, to taste

Turkey tamales

Turkey cooked in stock with lemons, salt, cinnamon and chile powder
4 cups turkey broth
6 2/3 cups masa harina
1/3 cup solid turkey fat
6 2/3 cup shredded cooked turkey
1 teaspoon achiote substitute (Mix 2 tablespoons vinegar, 3 tablespoons paprika, 1 1/2 teaspoons dry oregano leaves, 3 cloves garlic (pressed), and 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.)
Salt, to taste
1 cup tomato, chopped
Habanero chile, to taste, minced

Boil the broth with 1/2 teaspoon achiote, a dash of salt, and a little bit of the masa harina for thickening. This broth will moisten the tamales.
For the tamale dough, mix the masa with the turkey fat, salt, and achiote. Put some of this corn dough on top of a corn husk and flatten out. Mound on top of the dough a scant 1/3-cup of turkey, and bathe the meat with a spoonful of broth. Alternate layers of onion, tomato, chile, and epazote, and bathe with a bit more broth. Using the edges of the corn husk to help you, wrap the dough around the filling and seal it. Tie the corn husk into a tight packet, using thin strips of husks for string on either end. Repeat until you have the desired number of tamales.
Wrapped in tinfoil, baked in a baking dish filled with a small amount of water for 1 hour.
For vegetarian version, leave out turkey and replace with black beans and black eyed peas.
Served with the salsa, chopped avocado and limes.

Sweet Corn Pudding

honey
vanilla bean
masa harina

Fruit compote

1 1/2 cups honey
3 1/2 cups water
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 ripe medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and diced
1 fresh papaya
1/2 pound fresh cherries

In a 3-quart saucepan, combine the honey and water. Place pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Stir until the honey is dissolved, making a thin syrup. Place the vanilla bean in the syrup and reduce heat to low. Add the papaya and cherries to the simmering syrup and poach for 15 minutes, stirring gently from time to time. Add the pineapple and continue to poach for another 5 minutes. Turn off heat, and allow the fruit to cool in the syrup.
Remove the vanilla bean, rinse, dry and store. Serve the compote chilled, or at room temperature.

Drinking Chocolate

raw cocoa bean nibs
water

boil beans in water, strain to remove. Add flavouring of choice (chile powder etc.)

Interview

Finding Ingredients, how was it?/ Did you have to make any substitutions?

The second most difficult thing was obtaining accurate ingredients, or somewhat similar facsimiles thereof. A very small hispanic population in the city makes finding any mexican ingredients exceptionally difficult and most of the time substitutions had to be made to get as close as possible to the correct flavouring since most of the chilies, powders and spices weren’t available. We couldn’t find “bitter limes”, “achiote paste”- despite visiting 3 different supermarkets, or even fresh habanero chilies.
In order to make the substitute achiote paste, we used paprika, vinegar, oregano, cumin and garlic- of which only garlic would even have been an available food

Was the recipe clear?

Not really. The corn pudding “recipe” was just a description of the fact that was a common dish. We tried to just decide based on what foods we knew may have been available and put together something edible. Most recipes we did have that were detailed were based on the modern version of the meal and often included ‘old world’ foods such as onions, cilantro, cherries etc. We had to do a fair bit of modifying to try and be as authentic as possible.

Were the cooking methods easy to replicate?

No. The traditional cooking methods were very difficult to replicate. Even the more modern versions of preparing the recipes were very difficult without specialized equipment or a fair amount of experience.
We modified all the recipes with modern technology- we used stoves and ovens instead over the fire and tinfoil instead corn husks. We bought most of our food somewhat preprocessed, for example we bought premilled corn flour rather than soaking and grinding our own.

Did you make any mistakes? Would you do anything different next time?

We accidentally added cherries to our fruit dessert. We also had several spices that were from India, China or the Mediterranean we used as substitutes because we couldn’t obtain the actual spices.
Probably next time we wouldn’t serve all those dishes together. It was very filling with a lot of corn. The Mayans actually had a fairly varied diet, and although it was logistically impossible for us to obtain most of the meats they would have eaten (e.g. axolotl salamanders, wasp larvae or even the wild birds or fish) having a non-corn dish such as a stew would have been a nicer variation.
The tamales were a bit difficult. The first batch we cooked we used less water in the pan and the corn shells were a bit crispy and firm. Our second batch had more water and the shells were a lot softer and more chewy. Interestingly, the group was divided over way would be the preferred method. Some people liked the crispier version, some people preferred the softer version. So, I’m not sure if that was a mistake.

How’d it look when you were done?

Tamale, Salsa and Chocolate drink –

Things looked relatively tasty. The peppers and tomatoes added a nice colour and the corn flour cooked up a really pretty golden colour.

The big question! How did it taste?

Each food and the reactions of the 5 testers is below;

1. Savory Corn Pudding
General: 2 votes liked it, 2 were indifferent, 1 didn’t like it
“tastes like how gruel in a prison would be like”
“I like it better with salt. it tastes a little bit like dorito chips”
“better with pumpkin seeds…”
“very plain. It’s so bland”
“would be good as a dip with chips.” “What so you could have more corn with your corn?”

2. Chocolate drink
General: 4 didn’t really like it, 1 thought it was sort-of ok. Better with chili powder
“It’s like chocolate that tastes alcoholic”
“It tastes like red wine vinegar and chocolate”

cooked nibs are not bad.
“would make a pretty good brownie”
“that’s edible…”

3. Tamales with tomato salsa
General: 3 really liked it, 1 ok, 1 didn’t really like it. 4 liked the salsa, 1 thought it was ok.
“I would eat this again! I would like the recipe”
“The salsa is delicious. Nice and limey”
“Auuugghhh…habenaro! It burns!”
“Beans and corn. This is basically working man’s food.” “Yeah, and you know what it’s going to be working? Your lower intestine.”

4. Sweet Corn pudding
General: 3 thought it was ok, 2 found it bland
“So this is the…sweet version of the corn mush?”
“It’s better than the savory, but…why?”

5. Fruit
General:
“The fruit is really good. But you know, it’s fruit”

Would you make it again?

The tamales were good, and we would eat them again, but making them was a lot of work. Unless it was a special occasion, we probably wouldn’t take the time. Although, it would be a really good use of leftover meat. The corn pudding was actually pretty palatable, but maybe not something any of us would make again unless you updated it with modern foods, like adding milk or spices. It was pretty bland. The fruit was really nice and pretty easy to make

Any extra comments?

Overall opinion that the food was very filling. Probably not a set of recipes that one should use all together though. Overall we spent about $100 to buy all the supplies. We fed 5 people and there was a fair amount of leftovers (and we probably ate more than anyone would for a regular meal). Overall the menu was pretty good value for the money

“So my favourite was…the margarita!”. “And that’s not even Mayan” “But look, the tequila has an Mayan sounding name, it’s probably legit.”
“Are you…eating a whole lime raw?”
“So that was a heck of a lot of carbs. I guess tomorrow we’ll all be good for running a marathon”

References

1. http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/mayan/mayarecipes.html

2.http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/food/index.html

3.http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmaya.html#maya

4.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_diet_and_subsistence

WWII Britain : Rationing

WWII Britain was an island under siege. Pre-war a great deal of Britain’s food was imported from various parts around the globe. Spices from China and India, wheat and meat from Canada and America , fruits and nuts from Africa and a multitude of other imports made up the majority of the culinary landscape. War with Germany changed this, shipping was disrupted in a big way and a great deal of ships which once served as merchant ships were converted or conscripted for the war effort. A great deal of what could be imported was sent to the army, leaving civilians hard up. In order to avoid price gouging, hording, and even starvation the British government began and system of rationing cards and nutritional propaganda, hoping to keep the population “fighting fit”  during the austerity. Emphasis was put on things that could be produced at home, vegetables, cheese and the all important potato.

The average standard rations during World War II are as follows. Quantities are per week unless otherwise stated.

Food rations

Item	Maximum level	Minimum level	Rations (April 1945)
Bacon and Ham	8 oz (227 g)	4 oz (113 g)	4 oz (113 g)
Sugar	16 oz (454 g)	8 oz (227 g)	8 oz (227 g)
Loose Tea	4 oz (113 g)	2 oz (57 g)	2 oz (57 g)
Meat	1 s. 2d.	1s	1s. 2d.
Cheese	8 oz (227 g)	1 oz (28 g)	2 oz (57 g)Vegetarians were allowed an extra 3 oz (85 g) cheese[13]
Preserves	1 lb (0.45 kg) per month 2 lb (0.91 kg) marmalade	8 oz (227 g) per month	2 lb (0.91 kg) marmalade or 1 lb (0.45 kg) preserve or 1 lb (0.45 kg) sugar
Butter	8 oz (227 g)	2 oz (57 g)	2 oz (57 g)
Margarine	12 oz (340 g)	4 oz (113 g)	4 oz (113 g)
Lard	3 oz (85 g)	2 oz (57 g)	2 oz (57 g)
Sweets	16 oz (454 g) per month	8 oz (227 g) per month	12 oz (340 g) per month

Most recipes of this period are very low in fat and sugar and very high in bread and vegetable content. Those that do include meat are designed to “stretch” the ration, so tend to have a lot of filler in the way of potatoes or cabbage. They also are designed to be cooked with the absolute minimum of heat, as fuel was also strictly rationed.

The Recipe chosen for this time period is from “Victory Cookbook” by Marguerite Patten OBE.

Guest Chef: This was done by the History Tastes Researcher Chelsea with help from Alison Mercer of Sweet Threads Dude

Mince Slices

8oz Mince – Cooked (ground meat)
4oz Cooked mashed Potatoes
4OZ Stale Breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
Fat (optional)

Mix pince, potatoes, and breadcrumbs together in a bowl, roll out into log 1/4 inch thick and cut into slices. Fry with fat or grill 5-7 min. Serve with leek sauce and vegetables.

Leek Sauce

1/2 Pint Milk (or milk and water)
Half a leek chopped
Salt and Pepper
1oz flour
Herbs

Simmer some of the milk and the leek for 15-20 min. Blend rest of cold milk with flour and stir into pan. Cook for additional min or two.

Interview

Finding Ingredients, how was it?

Pretty easy, everything was available from out local supermarket. We had to use a toaster to get “stale” breadcrumbs and just used brown bread to try and replicate the “victory loaf” style of 1940s fortified bread.

Everything except the bread –

Did you have to make any substitutions?

No but we added cheese, for the taste factor and the fact there was several similar recipes that included it.

Was the recipe clear?

Other than the measurements (conversion tables were our friend) and the lack of temperatures it was just like a modern recipe. 

– Pre cooking. –

Were the cooking methods easy to replicate?

Yeah, everything was very simple and done on the stove.

Frying up the patties –

Did You make any mistakes? Do anything different next time?

We made the leek sauce a bit too thick I think, would make it thinner. Plus it was a bit bland, I would have added more salt and pepper.

Leek sauce bubbling away –

How’d it look when you were done?

A bit..boring? Very functional not a lot of colour or anything. Basically like hamburgers in white sauce.

Doesn’t really look like much…. –

The big question! How did it taste?

Pretty good actually, the patties were very pleasant if a little dry (sauce helped). They tasted a bit like a all dressed mashed potato. The sauce as I said above was a bit bland, much improved after additional salt and pepper.  I think I’d really like them with a brown gravy instead of a white sauce.

Would you make them again?

Yeah. They were easy to make and tasted pretty good. Plus they were CHEEP! Like 20$ for everything and we used 1/8th of what we bought.

Anything extra comments?
These were FILLING. Seriously we had two each and were very full afterwards. Plate them up one at a time and then go for seconds, don’t assume like we did that they are small so won’t be enough food.

References:

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwtwo/earlyyears_01.shtml

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationing_in_the_United_Kingdom

3. Eating for Victory : Healthy Home Front Cooking on War Rations. Reproductions of Official Second World War Instruction Leaflets.

4. Victory Cookbook by Marguerite Patten OBE.

In The Begining…

Welcome to This is what History Tastes Like.

The purpose of this blog is to meld two great disciplines, Cooking and history! Most of the history of food blogs/websites only focus on one particular area, which while cool, is not enough! Here we do it all. From East to west and from clay tablets to disco shoes if someone who’s now dead ate it at one point, it can end up on here.

The format is simple :

I call forth one of my volunteers to pick a historical period. I do some research and dig up some recipes, they pick one to cook and give me a little review of how it went. Then I write a post including the chosen recipe, review and some fun facts about the time period.  A little bit of learning and a whole lot of strange foods!

The volunteers can chose what format they give their review in, this means that this blog will (hopefully) run the whole spectrum from podcast to vlogs to written articals. Heck if they want to sing a song about it they can!

If you’d like to volunteer to be a guest vict…. I mean chef, please sent an email to historytastes at gmail.com or leave a comment below!