Our viands

OUR VIANDS By the same Author. ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES. BY A. W. BUCKLAND. i vol. Crown 8vo. 6s. ' Her object has been so to popularise her subjects as to induce her readers to pursue the study for themselves, and if a pleasing literary style, and an admirable faculty of clear and lucid descrip- tion are the essentials of success in that object, she may be assured that she will achieve it.' — Athenceum. OUR VIANDS WHENCE THEY COME AND HOW THEY ARE COOKED WITH A BUNDLE OF OLD RECIPES FROM COOKERY BOOKS OF THE LAST CENTURY BY ANNE WALBANK BUCKLAND MEMBER OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE. AUTHOR OF 'ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES.' 'THE WORLD BEYOND THE ESTERELLES,' ETC. Tell me "what thou eatest and I will tell thee who thou art. ' OLD PROVERB. ' Viands of various kinds allure the taste Of choicest sort and savour; rich repast' — POPE. LONDON WARD & DOWNEY 12 YORK STREET COVENT GARDEN W.C 1893 CONTENTS PART I HAP. PAGE Introduction, ..... 7 I. — Bread, ...... 19 II. — Maize and Millet, . . ,34 III. — Various Bread-stuffs, . 44 IV.— Cakes and Puddings, . . . 52 PART II V.— Christmas Fare— The Roast Beef of Old England and the Boar's Head, . 69 VI.— Sundry Meats, ..... 79 VII.— Game and Poultry, ..... 94 VIII.— Eggs, ...... 108 IX.— Dairy Produce, . . . . .119 X.— Fish, .... .130 XI. — Unappreciated Trifles, . . . .144 XII. — Condiments, . . . . .157 vi CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE XIII.— Nuts and Apples, .... 171 XIV.— Grapes, Figs, and Oranges, ... 183 XV.— Stone fruits and Berries, . . . 193 XVI.— On the Borderland 'twixt Fruit and Vegetable, . 206 XVII.— Roots, . . . . . .215 XVIII.— Pulse and Cabbage, . . . 228 XIX. — Salads and Seasonings, .... 240 Recipes Old and New, .... 249 Index, ... .... 297 INTRODUCTION THE art of cookery is no new thing, yet the tastes of mankind are so diverse, that the proverb, 'One man's meat is another man's poison,' becomes a truism. There still exist savages who prefer raw meat to cooked, as did the Fuegians who were lately exhibited in London, but even they had acquired a taste for hard boiled eggs, which they devoured with great relish. There may also be found in the heart of savage Africa, in Australia, and in some of the South Sea Islands, tribes who prefer human flesh to any other, but these all like their meat, whatever it may be, cooked ; and following the custom of the most ancient of men, will sit round a fire broiling their bones, cutting off bits by degrees just scorched, and repeat- ing the process till nothing but the bare bone remains. But even then the feast is not ended, for all the bones are broken, and the marrow, which is highly esteemed, is sucked out as a concluding bonne bouche. In this mode of cooking and eating, the modern savage closely follows the ancient cave-dwellers, amongst whom marrow seems to have been always esteemed a prime delicacy. This we know, because many of the bones found in the kitchen middens of these early people are partly charred, and 8 OUR VIANDS