SMITHS'
FOOD
AND DRINK PAGE
( Everything you
wanted to know but
were too full to ask ! )
CHRISTMAS FOOD AND DRINK
Trivia, menus,
recipes etc. from the past, the present, from here and from
there.
CHRISTMAS
PAST: If thinking about your Christmas
shopping lists is already giving you headaches, spare a thought for
those ( Rich ! ) Victorians whose Christmas dinners may have looked
something like this 'Judges Dinner' for 12 :
**************************
JUDGES'
DINNER
FIRST COURSE
Game Soup; Carrot Soup;
Codfish au gratin: Soles a la Creme.
ENTREES: Curried rabbit; Pigs' feet with truffles.
Pigeon Pie; Larks and potatoes;
SECOND COURSE: Boiled Turkey with celery Sauce; Roast Goose;
Pork cutlets and stuffed tomatoes; Tongue.
THIRD COURSE; Partridges; Roast hare; Mince Pies; Orange Jelly;
Lemon Cream; Apple Tart; Plum Pudding.
DESSERTS; Quince Ice; Tea Ice; Pear Water ice;
stuffed dates; Bon bons; Nuts and cheeses.
**************************
Codfish au gratin: Soles a la Creme.
ENTREES: Curried rabbit; Pigs' feet with truffles.
Pigeon Pie; Larks and potatoes;
SECOND COURSE: Boiled Turkey with celery Sauce; Roast Goose;
Pork cutlets and stuffed tomatoes; Tongue.
THIRD COURSE; Partridges; Roast hare; Mince Pies; Orange Jelly;
Lemon Cream; Apple Tart; Plum Pudding.
DESSERTS; Quince Ice; Tea Ice; Pear Water ice;
stuffed dates; Bon bons; Nuts and cheeses.
**************************
Or how about the menu
for this Country House Christmas Dinner found in Godey's Lady's
Book in December 1890 :
*******
RAW OYSTERS
BOUILLON
FRIED SMELTS WITH SAUCE TARTARE
pOTATOES A LA MAITRE D'HOTEL
SWEETBREAD PATES AND PEAS
ROAST TURKEY WITH CRANBERRY SAUCE
ROMAN PUNCH
QUAIL WITH TRUFFLES AND RICE CROQUETTES
PARISIAN SALAD
CRACKERS AND CHEESE
NESSELRODE PUDDING
FANCY CAKES
FRUIT
COFFEE
*******
RAW OYSTERS
BOUILLON
FRIED SMELTS WITH SAUCE TARTARE
pOTATOES A LA MAITRE D'HOTEL
SWEETBREAD PATES AND PEAS
ROAST TURKEY WITH CRANBERRY SAUCE
ROMAN PUNCH
QUAIL WITH TRUFFLES AND RICE CROQUETTES
PARISIAN SALAD
CRACKERS AND CHEESE
NESSELRODE PUDDING
FANCY CAKES
FRUIT
COFFEE
*******
But
then, Rich Victorians also had plenty of servants to prepare the
dinner, serve it AND to wash up afterwards didn't they ? .......
and to save you looking them up...........Nesselrode pudding is made with chestnut puree and named after a Count Nesselrode..... smelts are any one of many species of small trout-like fish........and Parisian Salad, as far as we can see, can have anything you like
in it - the more the better - but most recipes we've seen have olives, mushrooms, cheese, ham, avocados, hard boiled eggs etc. etc.
.......AND OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CAKES TOO
( Click on the name of the cake if you want to be taken to a web site with the recipe for it )
ITALY
Panettone,
Italy's traditional Christmas cake is actually a bread that originated
in Milan. Legends abound as to how it came to be - most of them
variations of the story of a poor baker's lad named Toni, who invented
a new bread ( Pan de Toni - Tony's bread ! ) to impress a young
woman, the daughter of a Milanese baker.
BUON
NATALE !!!!
PORTUGAL In Portugal, children ask for gifts and place their shoes by the fireplace hoping also for a piece of Bolo Rei - a round
cake coated with sugar icing, crushed nuts and candied fruits. BOAS FESTAS !!!!
SPAIN Although Turrón is available all year round, it's a special Christmas treat in Spain. This nougat-like sweet, usually made with honey and almonds, can also be made with peanuts, hazelnuts - and nowadays, chocolate. FELICES NAVIDADES !!!!
" in the friendliest manner this house we salute
and to save you looking them up...........Nesselrode pudding is made with chestnut puree and named after a Count Nesselrode..... smelts are any one of many species of small trout-like fish........and Parisian Salad, as far as we can see, can have anything you like
in it - the more the better - but most recipes we've seen have olives, mushrooms, cheese, ham, avocados, hard boiled eggs etc. etc.
***************************
did you know that
christmas pudding was originally a meat pudding ?
In the 14th century,
Christmas Pudding was a porridge-like dish known as ' frumenty '
.
It was usually made with beef or mutton cooked with spices, dried
fruits and wines. It was more like a soup and eaten as a fasting dish
to prepare for the excesses of the Christmas celebrations. By the
end of the sixteenth century frumenty was changing to a plum pudding
thickened with breadcrumbs and eggs - and flavoured with beers and
spirits. By the middle of the seventeenth century, it had become the
traditional Christmas dessert but in 1664 was banned by the
puritans (
along with lots of other traditions that the people REALLY enjoyed ! )
but
in 1714 King George enjoyed a Plum Pudding that was served to him and he re- established it as part of the Christmas meal. By
Victorian times, Plum Pudding, Figgy Pudding or, simply, Christmas Pudding had developed into the dish that we still enjoy today.
in 1714 King George enjoyed a Plum Pudding that was served to him and he re- established it as part of the Christmas meal. By
Victorian times, Plum Pudding, Figgy Pudding or, simply, Christmas Pudding had developed into the dish that we still enjoy today.
.......AND OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CAKES TOO
( Click on the name of the cake if you want to be taken to a web site with the recipe for it )
AUSTRIA In Vienna
the traditional Christmas Eve Dinner would finish with Topfenpalatschinken -sweet cheese
crepes
baked in a creamy custard and served with apricot caramel sauce. FRÖHE WEIHNACHTEN !!!!
BELGIUM Speculoos, spiced biscuits made with cinnamon, ginger and cloves, are used in Belgium both as tree decorations and as a tasty snack for the children. VROLIJKE KERSTMIS !!!!
FRANCE In Paris in the nineteenth Century, chefs created the Buche de Noel - or Christmas Log. The best are filled with chestnut cream and coated in homemade marzipan. JOYEUX NOEL !!!!
GERMANY Stollen, fruit laden and aromatic was first made in 14th century Dresden. Shaped to look like a child in swaddling clothes it goes perfectly with strong black coffee to end the Christmas Eve revelry. FRÖHLICHE WEINACHTEN !!!
GREECE Jan 1st, St Basil's day ( the Greek Santa Claus ) is celebrated with Vasilopeta a sponge cake with a silver coin baked in it. The first slice is set aside for St Basil and the second slice for Christ. The following slices are given to members of the family in descending order of age. On Christmas day a version called Christopsomo is made KALA CHRISTOUGENA !!!!
HOLLAND Dutch Oliebollen ( oil balls ! ), despite their name, are delicious ! These tiny raisin pastries, which are deep fried then sprinkled with sugar are a Christmas favourite in the Netherlands. ZALIG KERSTFEEST !!!!
baked in a creamy custard and served with apricot caramel sauce. FRÖHE WEIHNACHTEN !!!!
BELGIUM Speculoos, spiced biscuits made with cinnamon, ginger and cloves, are used in Belgium both as tree decorations and as a tasty snack for the children. VROLIJKE KERSTMIS !!!!
FRANCE In Paris in the nineteenth Century, chefs created the Buche de Noel - or Christmas Log. The best are filled with chestnut cream and coated in homemade marzipan. JOYEUX NOEL !!!!
GERMANY Stollen, fruit laden and aromatic was first made in 14th century Dresden. Shaped to look like a child in swaddling clothes it goes perfectly with strong black coffee to end the Christmas Eve revelry. FRÖHLICHE WEINACHTEN !!!
GREECE Jan 1st, St Basil's day ( the Greek Santa Claus ) is celebrated with Vasilopeta a sponge cake with a silver coin baked in it. The first slice is set aside for St Basil and the second slice for Christ. The following slices are given to members of the family in descending order of age. On Christmas day a version called Christopsomo is made KALA CHRISTOUGENA !!!!
HOLLAND Dutch Oliebollen ( oil balls ! ), despite their name, are delicious ! These tiny raisin pastries, which are deep fried then sprinkled with sugar are a Christmas favourite in the Netherlands. ZALIG KERSTFEEST !!!!
PORTUGAL In Portugal, children ask for gifts and place their shoes by the fireplace hoping also for a piece of Bolo Rei - a round
cake coated with sugar icing, crushed nuts and candied fruits. BOAS FESTAS !!!!
SPAIN Although Turrón is available all year round, it's a special Christmas treat in Spain. This nougat-like sweet, usually made with honey and almonds, can also be made with peanuts, hazelnuts - and nowadays, chocolate. FELICES NAVIDADES !!!!
****************************
AND NOW - THE WASSAIL CUP !!!
REMEMBER
THE TOAST .. " WAS HAIL ! ".. AND THE REPLY.. " DRINK HAIL ! "Wassailing though usually
thought of as being something akin to carol singing, is actually a set of customs going
back more than 500 years in which groups of villagers wished health to
the crops and animals of their neighbours as well as to the people of
the village themselves. The most common form of wassailing
recorded concerned fruit trees, in particular, apple trees and a true
Wassail Cup, the drink carried round by the wassailers, contains apples
cooked till they are fluffy and bursting from their skins.
Traditionally, the Wassailers walked round the orchards, blessing the
trees and asking for good crops and around the farm animals, blessing
them and asking for the herds to continue. They then knocked on
the door of the house, were admitted by the youngest woman in the
householdand then drank the health of all those in the house
with the Wassail Cup they had
brought with them in the wassail bowl
( usually wooden ). The drink was a liquor made with ale, spirits, sugar, eggs and spices....and full of roasted apples bursting in the steaming cup. It was often the custom to float a piece of bread on top - hence, our expression " to propose a toast "
A RECIPE FOR A 17TH CENTURY WASSAIL " ROYAL LAMBS' WOOL "
" Boil: 3 pints of ale; - beat six eggs, the whites and the yolks together; set both to the fire in a pewter pot; add roasted apples, sugar, beaten nutmegs, cloves and ginger; and, being well brewed, drink it while hot " from the Royal Household of 1633
AND A MODERN WASSAIL TO TRY
( usually wooden ). The drink was a liquor made with ale, spirits, sugar, eggs and spices....and full of roasted apples bursting in the steaming cup. It was often the custom to float a piece of bread on top - hence, our expression " to propose a toast "
A RECIPE FOR A 17TH CENTURY WASSAIL " ROYAL LAMBS' WOOL "
" Boil: 3 pints of ale; - beat six eggs, the whites and the yolks together; set both to the fire in a pewter pot; add roasted apples, sugar, beaten nutmegs, cloves and ginger; and, being well brewed, drink it while hot " from the Royal Household of 1633
AND A MODERN WASSAIL TO TRY
1 gallon apple cider ( add about
4oz sugar if it's very dry
)
12 small apples peeled and cored
1/8 teaspoon ground
nutmeg
16 fl oz whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon ground
cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground
ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Slowly heat 3/4 of the cider till
warm but not boiling. Put remaining cider in another pan with the
apples, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger and bring it to the boil.
Simmer vigorously until the apples lose their shape and become ' frothy
'. Combine the two liquids and pour into a heatproof bowl. Whip the
cream with the salt and brown sugar until it peaks and spoon it onto
the wassail........... or add some cream to each drink as it's served.
Drink Hot. You can substitute dry white wine, light
ale or stout for the cider if you wish.
" in the friendliest manner this house we salute
That it is an old custom we need not
dispute
O ask not the reason from hence it did
spring
For we very
well know 'tis an ancient old thing "
( from a cornish wassail )