Simple Starter: Lobster (or Crab) Canapes

One thing about Mrs Beeton's recipes is that the ones most appealing to a modern palate use only a few, readily available ingredients.  If you have ready access to a lobster, that is, in the case of her simple canapé recipe.  Or, you could use a crab, particularly if you are able to catch one in your crab pot.  Otherwise, I'd recommend using a can of crabmeat.  No-one will know the difference. 

Mrs Beeton evidently expected her devotees to buy a ready cooked lobster tail, as her recipe does not mention cooking it.  The canapés can be made ahead of time and are really a no fuss, no frills recipe, except for the mandatory garnish.  I've reproduced the exact text of Mrs Beeton's instructions, but for today's busy cook, I'd recommend using a sliced baguette for the croutons, in the interests of economy and even less fuss.

Lobster Canapes. - INGREDIENTS for dish for 4 persons - 12 small croutons fried in butter, a little lobster butter, the tail of a small lobster, oil, capers, pepper and vinegar. AVERAGE COST, 10d.

Fry the croutons and when cold spread them with the butter.  Cut small slices of the lobster and soak in oil and vinegar for a few minutes.  Lay a slice on each crouton and give a seasoning of pepper and cayenne, put 2 or 3 capers on the top and serve on a flat dish, on a stamped paper, garnished with parsley and watercress.

SEASONABLE AT ANY TIME

Mrs Beeton's recipe for lobster butter appears earlier in her recipe book, under the heading "Butter," along with Anchovy Butter, Fairy Butter, Malted Butter and Montpelier Butter:

Lobster Butter. - INGREDIENTS - Lobster coral, fresh butter, salt and cayenne.

Rub down in a mortar the coral and add to it the butter, blending well together till a deep red colour is obtained; add cayenne and salt to taste, put it into pots and tie over closely.
 
SEASONABLE AT ANY TIME

Whether one would want to use 'lobster coral' in this way, rather than simply scoffing what is for most people a luxury ingredient, is of course up to the individual.  It would however make a very tasty butter, which could then be put to use in other recipes.  Particularly Mrs Beeton's, as they feature butter as an ingredient more often than not.

The canapés made by me with a crab went down a treat; I'll certainly be using Mrs Beeton's recipe again and thank her for making it so simple out of ingredients that were mainly in my kitchen pantry.  I just need a supply of watercress...

Stuffed Trout: According to Mrs Beeton

This is a rich and lavish dish, one that produces 'oohs' and 'ahs' when served to guests on an appropriately garnished serving platter.  The late Victorians and Edwardians were obsessed with presentation; decorating and garnishing plates 'sent to table' was de rigeur and no respectable cook would have thought not to do this with vigour.  Mrs Beeton's baked trout is stuffed lavishly with mushrooms, truffles, breadcrumbs and parsley, but it will be rich enough without the truffles - these are simply an over-the-top Victorian 'extra' which believe me, you will not miss if left out.

Mrs Beeton coated her trout in breadcrumbs after it had been baked.  She then fried it in butter before sending it to table with a tomato sauce.  All in the name of extravagance, flavour and variety.  Omission of the sauce and breadcrumbs however did not dull the effect of barramundi (this being Australia) cooked by me in a manner based on the recipe found in her weighty and comprehensive Family Cookery & Housekeeping (1900 edition) which is as follows:

Trout, Stuffed. Fried - INGREDIENTS for dish for 4 persons - A fine trout, a little breadcrumb and butter, 2 oz. of truffles, 6 button mushrooms, 1 teaspoonful of minced thyme, parsley and chervil for the Court bouillon, a quart of water, a pint of white wine vinegar, 1 large carrot, onion and parsnip, a small heart of celery, a little thyme, parsley, chervil and salt, 2 bay leaves, 2 oz. of butter  AVERAGE COST 3s 6d

Reduce ingredients for the Court bouillon quickly over a strong fire; the vegetables being sliced up, drain, cool and preserve for cooking fish, replacing the liquid consumed each time by some good white wine.  Stuff the trout with a forcemeat made of the breadcrumbs, truffles, mushrooms, butter and herbs.  The fish having been washed and dried, tie up the head and simmer in the Court bouillon for 1/4 hour.  Take it out, dip it in egg and breadcrumbs, fry and serve up with a tomato sauce.
TIME 1/2 HOUR
SEASONABLE from May to September

Being a time poor 21st century woman, I chose not to make a Court bouillon in which to poach the rather large barramundi bought from my local fish market in the absence of trout.  I didn't have a pot large enough to put it in, in any event.  So it was stuffed with Mrs Beeton's recommended forcemeat (minus truffles) and placed on a tray in the oven for about 20 minutes.  Being extremely lazy, I also omitted coating it with egg and breadcrumbs and frying it and as I did not have a readymade tomato sauce to hand, simply sent it to table on a platter garnished with parsley and thyme sprigs.                                                                    

When I was a dance student, I was always told to make a strong 'finish', a definite statement at the end of a routine which meant arriving at a stance with a flourish. Victorian and Edwardian cookery is the same.  A dish itself can be quite simple in its ingredients and method, but its appearance is everything.  'Garnish' was the catchcry of the day and fresh herbs used in this way were plentiful on main courses placed on Victorian and Edwardian dining tables.  Plain cuisine was dressed up, as were the diners of the period.

I'm pleased to report the barramundi cooked by the Downstairs Cook's granddaughter was a success, moist and tender and above all, easy to prepare using what is my favourite method of cooking - the oven, because you can just set and forget.  Just don't forget to garnish!

Photography: Christian Hodge

Steamed and Batter Puddings: Seasonable at Any Time

When you feel a need for comfort, look no further than a soft and flavoursome steamed pudding.  Mrs Beeton calls them "batter puddings" and provides a recipe for a baked version as well which includes instructions for decorating the finished pudding with "damsons, plums, red currants, gooseberries or apples."  Otherwise, her recipes are spare in detail.  Presumably, one learnt the necessary techniques from observing the more experienced cook.

I have inherited a 1970s pudding basin lid, pictured below in its red anodised glory.  This marvellous contraption clips onto an enamel basin which then needs to fit into a saucepan of boiling water in order to cook.

Mrs Beeton advised those cooking in the nineteenth century to "tie it down very tightly" which is what my mother used to do before a neighbour bequeathed the said 1970s pudding lid. What is tied down after the pudding basin is greased with butter, is a double round of greased foil or greaseproof paper large enough to tie with string over the top and rim of the pudding basin, with 2.5 cm (1") pleat in the middle.  Mrs Beeton doesn't say this, but unless you are making a pudding with jam or syrup as a topping, the bottom of the bowl should be lined with a round of greased greaseproof paper.

 

Marmalade puddings appear to have been popular around 1900.  Mrs Beeton provides a recipe for one large enough for 6 persons where "half a pot" of marmalade is put "all over the top" as soon as the pudding is turned out of the basin.  "It is advisable to warm the marmalade to make it liquid," she says, but the same effect can be achieved by placing some marmalade in the bottom of the pudding basin before steaming.

 

If using fresh fruit as a topping, peel and chop the fruit and place it in the bottom of the pudding basin before pouring in the batter.  According to the redoubtable Mrs B, the finished product "must be sent quickly to table and covered plentifully with sifted sugar."

 

Rather than the "deep, deep pleasure" afforded by contemporary cook Nigella Lawson's rather decadent desserts, the steamed pudding provides a warm and comforting feeling with its light, spongy texture and sweet topping, just like a mother's comforting hug.

 

Batter Pudding, Boiled. - INGREDIENTS for good-sized pudding. - 3 eggs, 1 oz. (28g) of butter, 1 pint (570 ml) of milk, 3 tablespoonfuls of flour, a little salt.

 

Put the flour into a basin, and add sufficient milk to moisten it; carefully rub down all the lumps with a spoon, then pour in the remainder of the milk, and stir in the butter, which should be previously melted; keep beating the mixture, add the eggs and pinch of salt, and, when the batter is quite smooth, put it into a well-buttered basin, tie it down very tightly, and put it into boiling water; move the basin about for a few minutes after it is put into the water, to prevent the flour settling in any part and boil for 1 and a 1/4 hour.  This pudding may also be boiled in a floured cloth that has been wetted in hot water; it will take a few minutes less than when boiled in a basin.  Send batter puddings very quickly to table, and serve with a sweet sauce, wine sauce, stewed fruit, or jam of any kind, when the latter is used, a little of it may be placed round the dish in small quantities, as a garnish.

 

Cook's Tips:

• Fill basin no more than two thirds with pudding mixture, to allow for expansion.
• It's also a good idea to tie a string handle across the top of the basin to make it easy to lift the hot pudding from the steamer.
• Cover saucepan tightly and check water level from time to time, adding more water if necessary.
• At the end of the cooking time, lift out the pudding basin, remove cover and stand on a cake rack for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge and unmoulding pudding onto a serving platter.

  

Mrs B's baked and steamed batter pudding recipes can be found on page 38 of the 1900 edition of her Family Cookery & Housekeeping Book

 

 

 

 





The Downstairs Cook

There had always been mystery surrounding my maternal grandmother. Born in London, she had arrived in Sydney in 1910 and worked as a governess before marrying a stockman and settling on a cattle property near Warialda in northern New South Wales, or so the family legend held.  She died in 1955, before I was born, so I never knew her - only of her reputation as a rather formidable, matriarchal woman who eventually left her husband and moved to the nearby town of Inverell so their two children could attend school.  Always puzzled by her ownership of a 1900 edition of Mrs Beeton's Household Management (now passed to me) as it was not clear why a governess would need to refer to such a publication, this mystery was finally cleared after I searched the online 1901 UK census records and found "Edith Irwin" aged 19, living in a residence in Streatham, London where she was listed as "Cook, domestic."

My interest piqued, I searched the 1891 census records, but to no avail.  There was no record of her at all.  My mother then gave me the clue, shortly before she died, that unlocked Edith's origins; she was an orphan "who lived with an aunt."  No "aunt" was located by me, but when I typed the word "orphanage" into the search engine, presto! There she was - a resident of the St.Pancras Foundling Hospital, along with many other girls aged from eight to 14.

I had found her, but I needed to know more - what was life like for a young orphan girl in late Victorian London?  When and how did she arrived at the Foundling Hospital?  And were there any records relating to her parents - whose names she knew, as they appeared on her marriage certificate.  The items I inherited from her - an exquisite crystal perfume bottle with an elaborate silver cap, a silver dressing table set with a glorious design of cherubic angels had always fascinated me; she was clearly a woman who loved beauty and who could afford to buy such things, despite her humble station.  The fact she had been born into a situation where she sat on the bottom rung of society, yet managed to acquire items of beauty, apparent self-sufficiency and self-reliance only made me more curious and determined to discover more about her and the eras in which she lived - the late Victorian and the Edwardian, the end of which coincided with her embarking upon the ship which would bring her to her new home, and new era of her own, in Australia.

My hunger led me to commence a fabulous journey of discovery into the period of my grandmother's life which coincided with the elegant and glittering fin de siecle.  Guided also by Mrs Beeton and her household bible full of recipes, this is the story of a culinary journey as well, informed by annotations made by my grandmother herself in that definitive tome.  Please read on to discover a collection of the best tried and tested recipes from Mrs Beeton and other cooks of the time....