I don’t know about you, but deeply regret the
disappearance of the detailed, informative, decorative and enticing title pages
of previous times. I blame progress in the production and insertion of images for
this text loss. I have given you transcriptions of title pages of a number of
books in the past, although sadly, I have not been able to reproduce them in
all their font- and style-glory. Our source today is another lovely example. It
is from a seventeenth century book on the salt and fishing industries of
Britain and other places, and was written by one John Collins, and published in
1682.
SALT
AND
FISHERY,
A discourse thereof
Insisting
on the following HEADS:
1. The several ways of making Salt in England, and
foreign parts.
2. The Character and Qualities good and bad, of these several sorts of Salt, English refin'd asserted to be
much better than any Foreign.
3.
The Catching and Curing, or Salting of the most eminent or
staple sorts of Fish, for long or
short keeping.
4. The salting of Flesh.
5. The cookery of Fish and Flesh.
6. Extraordinary
experiments in preserving Butter, Flesh,
Fish, Fowl, Fruit, and Roots,
fresh and sweet for long keeping.
7. The case and
sufferings of the Saltworkers.
8. Proposals for their
relief, and for the advancement of the Fishery, the Woollen, Tin, and divers
other Manufactures.
Although the main topics are salt and fish, the
discourse, as noted in the title page, covers many other things. I have chosen
a couple of random ideas for your delectation today.
Of Salt upon Sand,
Embodyed by the Sun.
Where the Sun shines
hot, and the Tides vary but little, ‘tis easie to have Salt enough, as they
have in many places of the Streights.
With Salt of the like
kind made near Smyrna, Beef at
Midsummer hath been extremely well preserved in manner following.
The Ox hath been killed
one day, and cut out into pieces and salted the next, the Salt hath been beat
very small, and the Beef being well rubbed therewith, it was footed or pressed
into a Cask, with sprinklings of Salt between each Lay, in which condition it
was permitted to stand 48 hours, for close packing made the Blood to arise
above the Meat which was powred [poured] off, then a Brine was made of
fresh-water, and Salt as strong as might be sufficient to cause the Salt to
Dissolve (which it will not, if too little water be put in,) then the Meat was
washed in this Brine, and well salted again as before, and then the cask filled
up with the Brine aforesaid. This was imparted by Mr. Richard Norris, and
ancient experienced Master or Mate, who now teacheth Navigation and
Mathematicks in Crutched-Fryers and
saith he hath often seen it so done, and none of the Meat stunk.
There is a selection of recipes in the book,
including ones for such things as pease pottage, tripes, and a-la-mode beef.
The author does not claim them as his own, but says:
I am beholding to Mr.
John Bull for the following Receipts, it being well known that he served an
apprenticeship to a Cook, and hath been eminent for his Skill therein, which he
hath put into Practice for about 30 years together.
I give you from the book an alarming
and cruel method for cooking fresh cod - without for one minute suggesting that
you use this method today. It does indicate however that on the whole, in spite
of current controversies and outrages and the need for further progress in this
regard, we have come some way in the ethical handling of our food in the last
few hundred years.
To Stew Carps.
Take two living Carps,
prick them in the Tail with a great Pin, rub the Scales off with a handful of
Salt as clean as may be, lay them in a deep Pan, and put to them a quart of
Claret which makes them Bleed and kills them; open their Bellies and take out
their Roes, then put them into a Kettle with their Roes in the middle, into
which put a quart of Oysters, two Anchovies, a bunch of sweet Herbs, Stew them
over a gentle Fire for about an hour, in which time they will be almost enough,
and then put in a quarter of a pound of fresh Butter, take out a little of
their Sawce, into which put three yolks of Eggs beat up together, then putting all together in a Dish stir it about and serve it up.
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