Cheese for Supper.

July 22 ...

July 22 is said to be the anniversary of the day in 1376 that the Pied Piper led the children out of the German town of Hamelin. Undoubtedly a mythical date for a mythical event, but part of all our heritage thanks to Robert Browning’s poem.

“Rats! They fought the dogs and killed the cats, And bit the babies in the cradles, And ate the cheeses out of the vats.”

The ‘anniversary’, real or not, made me think (as every story does) about food. Not rats, I will save the ratty food story for another day, but cheese. I feel that this blog has been sadly lacking in cheese stories and recipes. The Welsh Rabbit series (here and here) has been sadly neglected, and very few were able to shed any light on Potato Cheese.

I give you two cheese dishes, both now merely faint ancestral dreams, having suffered death by nutritional correctness. Battered deep fried cheese. For supper. Cheese Patties (with Cream). For supper. From a time when people were not frightened of food. From Domestic Economy for Rich and Poor, by a Lady (1827).

Cheese Fritters for Supper.
Prepare the cheese with pounded curd, bread-crums, raw eggs, rasped ham, &c. ; roll it in balls, dip them into a stiffish batter, and fry, keeping them separate. They
may be rolled in a little oyster truffle, morel, or anchovy powder : rasped ham or bacon may be put into the batter. They are good without either.

Cheese Patties for Supper.
Beat up some yolks, mustard, cheese, wine, or cream and butter ; fill some baked patties, and put them in the oven ; serve them very hot, after the company is seated.

Expect the series to be continued, at intervals, at whim. And do send your own ideas or requessts.

Quotation for the Day ...

… Cheeses, built up like bricks, formed walls and two cauldrons of oil, bigger than dyerÿs vats, were used for frying pastries, which were lifted out with two sturdy shovels and then plunged into another cauldron of honey standing nearby." One of the items described at the wedding feast of a farmer named Camacho. From Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)