FOOD IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY TIDEWATER VIRGINIA

https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/26153/LD5655.V856_1982.S772.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

FOOD IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY TIDEWATER VIRGINIA:
A METHOD FOR STUDYING HISTORICAL CUISINES
by
Maryellen Spencer
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
Human Nutrition and Foods
My sincere thanks to Spence over at the Minuteman Forum for this link.


If you have trouble loading this link, keep trying. I had to go away & leave it for a while, when I tried later it loaded just fine. This is a PDF, so you can download a copy if you wish.

Keith.

FOOD. 18th century recipes.

Wild Foods. Nettle Pudding.

My sincere thanks to Grizz for sharing this recipe with me.

Ancient Nettle Pudding

Recipe courtesy of Ancient Craft and Celtnet Recipes

According to Celtnet Recipes, “when most food was boiled in a large pot, adding dumplings or ‘puddings’ to stocks (was) a good way of putting starch in the diet. These large dumplings are flavoured with wild herbs and nettles.”[9]

Ingredients

1 bunch of sorrel

1 bunch of watercress

1 bunch of dandelion leaves

2 bunches of young nettle leaves

Some chives

1 cup of barley flour

1 teaspoon of salt

Instructions

Chop the herbs finely and mix in the barley flour and salt.

Add enough water to bind it together and place in the center of a linen or muslin cloth.

Tie the cloth securely and add to a pot of simmering venison or wild boar (a pork joint will do just as well). Make sure the string is long enough to pull the pudding from the pot.

Cook the pudding until the meat is done (at least two hours).

Leave the pudding to cool slightly, remove the muslin, then cut the pudding into thick slices with a knife.

Serve the pudding with chunks of barley bread.

*The pudding can be served along side the meat with which it was cooked, or it can be served as its own stand-alone dish.

[1] Pappas, S. (2012, September 28). Ancient Burial Shroud Made of Surprising Material, Scientists Find. Retrieved January 2, 2015.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Vance, K. (n.d.). History of Stinging Nettle. Retrieved January 2, 2015.

[4] Nettles – discover its healing, medicinal qualities. (n.d.). Retrieved January 2, 2015, from http://www.nettlesforhealth.com/#!nettle-uses/c18ah

[5] Vance, K.

[6] What Else The Romans Did For Us. (n.d.). Retrieved January 2, 2015.

http://therapy.epnet.com/nat/GetContent.asp?chunkiid=21815

[7] Vance. K.

[8] Macrae, F. (n.d.). Traditional English cooking: Nettle pudding and other ancient recipes. Retrieved January 2, 2015.

[9] Boiled Nettle Pudding a classic reconstructed Ancient Recipe. (n.d.). Retrieved January 7, 2015, from http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/ancient/fetch-recipe.php?rid=ancient-boiled-nettle-pudding

https://antiquitynow.org/2015/01/07/bon-appetit-wednesday-ancient-nettle-pudding-britains-oldest-recipe/ 

http://neclhg.freeforums.net/thread/620/travels-john-heckewelder-frontier-america?page=1&scrollTo=1872

For Your Medical Kit. A Natural Antibiotic & More.

www.myspicer.com/history-turmeric/

Hannah Glasse’s 1747 cookbook, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. 

http://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/turmeric-history/

Archaeologists Are Recreating Recipes from 17th-Century Ships

http://mentalfloss.com/article/503719/archaeologists-are-recreating-recipes-17th-century-ships

Portable soup in tinned iron containers.

Portable soup, of the best Sorts, made separately from Beef, Veal, Mutton, and Chicken, is sold at 4s. a Dozen in Tin Boxes, which is about equal to 8s. a Pound, excepting the Chicken. Also an inferior Sort made into square Cakes from Beef, is sold by Weight at 5s. a Pound, very handy for Sauces as well as Soups. . . . This Commodity has been made, ever since the late Rebellion, by Mrs. Bennet (whose Name was then Du Bois) and it was at that Time, and ever since, greatly valued by Gentlemen in the Army (DA 11 Sept. 1762:Portable Soup.

https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/Jones1993.pdf

Archaeologists in Denmark have uncovered two large wine barrels from the 17th century that were turned into public conveniences and their contents have been rather revealing.

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2018/07/17thc-wine-barrels-turned-loos-reveal-theirsecrets/

Townsend's Blog. Foods at Sea.

http://www.townsends.us/blog/18th-century-sailors-food-ships-provisions/

More on 18th Century Foods.

https://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/ahoy-pass-the-cabbage-preserved-foods-in-the-age-of-exploration

SEA PROVISIONS FOR COMMON SAILORS AND PIRATES, PART 1

More information Here: https://csphistorical.com/2016/01/24/salt-pork-ships-biscuit-and-burgoo-sea-provisions-for-common-sailors-and-pirates-part-1/

Preserving Eggs.

SALT PORK, SHIP’S BISCUIT, AND BURGOO: SEA PROVISIONS FOR COMMON SAILORS AND PIRATES, PART 1

A painting of a typical East Indiaman from the 17th century by Isaac Sailmaker, c.1685.

https://csphistorical.com/2016/01/24/salt-pork-ships-biscuit-and-burgoo-sea-provisions-for-common-sailors-and-pirates-part-1/?blogsub=spammed#subscribe-blog

Period Quote On Trail Foods.

The Portable Provisions I would furnish our Foresters withal are Glue-Broth and rockahomini : one contains the Essence of Bread, the other of Meat. The best way of making Glue-Broth is after the following method:

Take a Leg of Beef, Veal, Venison, or any other Young Meat, because Old Meat will not so easily Jelly. Pare off all the fat, in which there is no Nutriment, and of the Lean make a very strong Broth, after the usual Manner, by boiling the meat to Rags till all the Goodness be out. After Skimming off what fat remains, pour the Broth into a wide Stew-Pan, well tinn'd, & let it simmer over a gentle, even Fire, till it come to a thick

Jelly. Then take it off and set it over Boiling Water, which is an Evener Heat, and not so apt to bum the Broth to the Vessel. Over that let it evaporate, stirring it very often till it be reduc'd, when cold, into a Solid Substance like Glue. Then cut it into small Pieces, laying them Single in the Cold, that they may dry the Sooner. When the Pieces are perfectly dry, put them into a Cannister, and they will be good, if kept Dry, a whole East India Voyage.

This Glue is so Strong, that two or three Drams, dissolv'd in boiling Water with a little Salt, will make half a pint of good Broth, & if you shou'd be faint with fasting or Fatigue, let a small piece of this Glue melt in your Mouth, and you will find yourself surprisingly refreshed. One Pound of this cookery wou'd keep a man in good heart above a Month, and is not only Nourishing, but likewise very wholesome. Particularly

it is good against Fluxes, which Woodsmen are very liable to,

by lying too near the moist ground, and guzzling too much cold Water. But as it will be only us'd now and then, in times of Scarcity, when Game is wanting, two Pounds of it will be enough for a Journey of Six Months. But this Broth will be still more heartening if you thicken every mess with half a Spoonful of Rockahominy, which is nothing but Indian Corn

parched without burning, and reduced to Powder. The Fire drives out all the Watery Parts of the Corn, leaving the Strength of it behind, and this being very dry, becomes much lighter for carriage and less liable to be Spoilt by the Moist Air.

Thus half a Dozen Pounds of this Sprightful Bread will sustain a Man for as many Months, provided he husband it well, and always Spare it when he meets with Venison, which, as I said before, may be very Safely eaten without any Bread at all.

WILLIAM BYRD'S DIVIDING LINE HISTORIES

Mid 18th century.

More on Food Packaging.

A Firkin.

http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/james-d-julia/catalogue-id-srjame10004/lot-0f75d439-6d36-4cf0-9495-a43000b5b031;

In the 18th century bottles, jars & cloth bags were popular items for containing a variety of foods, spices & drinks. Bottles in particular have been found at many historical sites, & it is known that they were reused for containing a variety of liquids. 
It seems that commercial sales of foods stuffs was in bulk form, suggesting that the retail purchaser would supply their own containers for the amount they wished to purchase, but also money was offered by some businesses for bottles, suggesting that some retailers offered these bottles to customers.

Some of the author's items for repackaging food & drink products.

Below is a record of commercial 18th century food & drink containers. This information is from a PDF, the link to which I have supplied. This PDF contains much more information, including containers from the 19th century, & images of original containers.

Food & Drink Packaging.

Olive oil sold in flasks and jars is an example of this product/package link.

mustard in quarter-pound bottles, pickles in quart bottles, olive oil by the jar or chest.

Kegs were used for dried goods such as split peas, barley, crackers, oatmeal, raisins, and rice; for butter, lard, or paint oils; for pickled meats and other pickles; sometimes for alcohol and sometimes for other packaging:

Hogs Lard in small kegs from 20 to 28 lbs. each (QG 26 May 1785:Richard Dalton).

Barley in 50 and 25 lb cags (New-York Mercury [NYM] 26 Jan. 1761:John Alexander and Company).

Best Nantz Brandy in 8 and 4 Gallon Kegs (NYM 3 Aug. 1761 :Dirck Brinckerhoff).

Choice French Brandy in Kegs of 5 and 6 Gallons, at five Shillings Halifax per Gallon (QG 20 Dec. 1770:John Lees). Linseed oyl in 10 gallon cags (NYM 12 Jan. 1761:Isaac Man).

 7 Kegs Mustard in 1-4 lb. bottles (Montreal Herald [MH] 22 Jan. 1820:Macnider, Aird, & Whyte).

Chocolate by the Box or Dozen (NYM 1 June 1761:John Morton). A few boxes fresh Durham flour mustard, (NSG&WC 30 June 1789:s. Hart).

 lb. bottles A very fresh, excellent Kind of Poland Starch and Hair Powder in Boxes of Cwt. each in Pound papers (NSG&WC 24 May 1785:David Fergusson).

fine Genoa Vermacelli, at 1s. a Pound, or 14s. a Box, containing seventeen Pounds (DA 14 Dec. 1739:Joseph Carbon).

Lemmons by the Box, Hundred or Dozen (Boston Gazette & Country Journal [BG&CJ] 14 March 1774:Joseph Hall).

bohea tea by the box, dozen or single pound (NYM 23 June 1755:Matheus Sleght).

Bags held dry products such as bottle corks, biscuit, flour, coffee, and sometimes ginger, pepper, snuff, and cocoa nuts.

Cheshire Cheese by the Basket or Single Cheese (NSG&WC 14 June 1785:Edward Oxnard).

Gloucester Cheese by the Basket or smaller quantity (NSG&WC 23 Feb. 1779:Andrew Thomson).

bohea and congo teas, pound, half and quarter pound tin cannisters (NYM 4 Oct. 1762:Richard Curson).

He has likewise a parcel of fine green tea, in pound canisters, at 14s. a canister (NYM 29 Dec. 1766:Edward Agar).

Portable soup, of the best Sorts, made separately from Beef, Veal, Mutton, and Chicken, is sold at 4s. a Dozen in Tin Boxes, which is about equal to 8s. a Pound, excepting the Chicken. Also an inferior Sort made into square Cakes from Beef, is sold by Weight at 5s. a Pound, very handy for Sauces as well as Soups. . . . This Commodity has been made, ever since the late Rebellion, by Mrs. Bennet (whose Name was then Du Bois) and it was at that Time, and ever since, greatly valued by Gentlemen in the Army (DA 11 Sept. 1762:Portable Soup.

Naples soap, at 5s a pot, Containing eight ounces (DA 31 Jan. 1740:Joseph Carbn). A Fine parcel of New Honey, of this year’s collecting in glazed Pots, leather’d on the Top, and in Pots from 15 lb. to 35 lb. and to be sold as follows: Single Pots at Fourpence Halfpenny per Pound, and at Forty Shillings per Hundred; and some Allowance to those who take a larger Quantity (DA 17 Sept. 1762:To be Sold at the Windmill . . . ). Potted Venison in small Pots at Six-pence per Pot (DA 29 July 1760:To be Sold, Fine true Grass fed Venison . . . ).

Lately landed a curious Parcel of Bloom Sun Raisins, much finer than any in the Jars, in small Boxes about 12 Ib. each, to be sold by the Importer . . . at 7s. a Pound. No less Quantity than a Box (DA 4 Jan. 1762: Lately landed.

Twenty Jars of very fine Lucca Oil, each Jar containing about thirty Gallons, one Jar in each lot (DA 21 NOV. 1739:To be soid by Auction.

 Fine Lucca Sallad Oil, neat as imported, in whole Jars, Half-jars, and Quarter-Jars (DA 23 May 1740:To be Sold . . . ).

http://www.sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/Jones1993.pdf

The Country Housewife by Richard Bradley and Lady´s Director London 1728

The Country Housewife by Richard Bradley and Lady´s Director London 1728.

http://www.staff.uni-giessen.de/gloning/at/bradley-1728.pdf

18th century Sailor’s food – Ships Provisions. A Link.

http://savoringthepast.net/2013/03/22/18th-century-sailors-food-ships-provisions/

Australian Colonial Era Foods. A Link.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/05/29/2584502.htm

Savoring The Past: Grocer Advertisement from Boston 1732

http://savoringthepast.net/2012/09/27/grocer-advertisement-from-boston-1732/

Australian Timbers for fire & meat smoking.

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A LARGER PICTURE.

Pickling Onions in 18th Century England, & Know Your Onions.

Know Your Onions: https://britishfoodhistory.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/know-your-onions/

More Information At: http://savoringthepast.net/2015/08/01/pickling-onions-in-18th-century-england/