Yesterday’s post on ‘Caviare to the
Vulgar’ got me thinking about other vulgar acts in the kitchen. I give you a few
opinions from cookery books of the past, and leave you to decide whether the
authors intend their usage of ‘vulgar’ to mean ‘of or about the ‘ordinary,
common, uneducated, or ignorant’, or about ‘lacking in refinement or good
taste.’ Or perhaps, in some eyes, the two are synonymous?
Steaks: The next best steaks are those cut from the
middle of a Rump, that has been killed at least four days in moderate weather –
much longer in cold weahter, - when they can be cut about six inches long, four
inches wide, and half an inch thick: do
not beat them, which vulgar
trick breaks the cells in which the Gravy of the meat is contained, and it
becomes dry and tasteless.
Cook’s Oracle,
(1836) by William Kitchiner.
To fry bacon
in a frying pan is the most wasteful way it can be dressed, and is now
considered to be both vulgar
and discreditable.
Gentility and economy combined, being cookery confectionary and pickling,
to which are added the best methods of preserving fruits and the art of sugar
boiling (1850) by
George Read
[On
the garnishing of trifles] … garnish with a few light sprigs of flowers of
fine colours, or a few bits of very clear currant-jelly stuck into snow-white
whip, or a sprinkling of Harlequin-comfits. This last we consider vulgar, but
it is still in frequent use.
The Cook and Housewife's Manual (1847), by Christian Isobel Johnstone
[On
the closing of pies] Fill, cover, wet the edges, and close them neatly.
There is no occasion to pinch them, it is vulgar;
smooth and ornament them well; put them into a quick oven.
As raised pies are difficult for the
beginner, small ones ought to be first attempted, and made larger as knowledge
is attained. Never make them of pieces of paste: the method is slovenly, and
the pies are vulgar.
As our recipe for the day, I think we need a simple, elegant dish after all that
vulgarity, don’t we?
Delicious Pudding.
The farina of
potatoes, or potato starch, is said to make an elegant pudding. The following are the ingredients: To one quart of
boiled milk, add, gradually, as in making mush, a quarter of a pound of potato
flour, well pulverized, a quarter of a pound of sugar, and a little butter;
when cold add three eggs, and bake half an hour. When well prepared, and
properly cooked, it is delicious eating.
American Farmer
(1825)
Quotation for the Day.
N.B If your Butcher sends Steaks which are not
Tender, we do not insist that you should
object to let him be Beaten.
Cook’s Oracle,
(1836) by William Kitchiner.
If cooking bacon in a frying pan is vulgar, pray tell how are we to cook it?
ReplyDeleteSandra
I think the genteel way was to grill (broil) it :)
ReplyDeleteI admit that when it comes to cooking bacon, I am vulgar. And you?
I am so offaly pleased to be vulgar :)
ReplyDeleteAugghh! I grew up eating vulgar bacon! I must have been reformed and refined somewhere along the way because I oven fry it now but only because it avoids the mess caused by pan frying.
ReplyDeleteThe potato pudding looks good. Thanks for posting.
I think there are a lot of us vulgar bacon cooks out there. oven-cooking sounds like a good idea.
ReplyDeleteHarlequin comfits: I have a hunch that this was about the time comfits based around seeds lost the seed and became just brightly coloured sugar and starch balls like modern Hundreds and Thousands.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe it was a product like modern Dutch vruchtenhagel, which is coloured and fruit-flavoured sugar sprinkles.
Comfits based round seeds are still in use in the Netherlands, where they are called muisjes, because they look like mouse droppings. Love the Dutch sense of humour.
Hello Dale, i think you may be right about the seedless comfits. I love the idea of " mouse droppings" - thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDelete