The Pleasures of the Table: An Account of Gastronomy from Ancient Days to Present Times. With a History of Its Literature, Schools, and Most Distinguished Artists; Together With Some Special Recipes, and Views Concerning the Aesthetics of Dinners and Dinner-givingEllwanger, George H. (George Herman)
History
The Pleasures of the Table: An Account of Gastronomy from Ancient Days to Present Times. With a History of Its Literature, Schools, and Most Distinguished Artists; Together With Some Special Recipes, and Views Concerning the Aesthetics of Dinners and Dinner-giving
Ellwanger, George H. (George Herman)
Gastronomy
That excellent dish civet of hare was termed Harys in Cyueye, saffron,
ale, and vinegar being then utilised in its preparation. _Pain perdu_
figured as Payn pur-dew, and may have been as useful then as now
for a simple dessert where a saving of time and material entered
into consideration, the olden recipe being not unlike that of modern
times. Oysters are presented as Oystres in cevey, Oystres in grauey
bastard, and Oystres in bruette. There are also Fylettys en Galentyne,
Lange Wortys de chare, Blamanger of Fysshe, Ruschewys of Marw,
Pety permantes, Chawettys a-forsed, Flathonys, and similar curious
compounds. Meat- and fish-pies were known by the French appellation
"crustade," the favourite English pork-pie being apparently unfamiliar
to very olden writers, or else so disguised as to be unrecognisable.
Boar-pies were known, however, in Elizabeth's era, when they were
esteemed a great dainty. A consignment of these, it is related, was
sent by Sir Robert Sydney, while governor of Flushing in The Hague, to
his wife as a bait to propitiate the ministers to grant him a leave of
absence. The pies were duly presented by Lady Sydney to Lord Essex
and my Lord Treasurer, and proved so excellent that the next time the
petition of Sir Robert was presented to her Majesty the secretary knelt
down, beseeching her to hear him in behalf of her homesick ambassador,
and to license his return for six weeks. It is probable that the
queen herself did not share in the presents, inasmuch as she remained
obdurate to the pleadings of the ministers and the ladies of the court.
Under the rule of Elizabeth, fish formed an important article of diet,
statute laws being established for their consumption, with heavy
penalties to the offender--a measure adopted for the better maintenance
of shipping interests and the lesser consumption of flesh food.
Besides the usual Lenten obligations to Neptune, Friday and Saturday
of each week were additionally set apart for fish days, an alimentary
compulsion which soon became extremely distasteful.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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