Venyson Y-Bake, or Venison Pie, is a Medieval meat pie, often called a Bakemeat or Bake Metis, usually consisting of beef, pork, venison, or fowl, or a mixture of those meats. The meat was either broiled or boiled, then either used in small bite-sized chunks, or else reduced to a paste (i-ground) by mashing or [...]
Mollag is a Manx word, and for those of you who don’t know, Manx is the language spoken on the Isle of Man, an island situated between Cumbria/Scotland and Northern Ireland in the Irish Sea. Mollag is the name given to a round fishing float, or larger round buoy from a boat or fishing net [...]
This Roast Wild Boar recipe comes from 1669 from Sir Kenelm Digby. This recipe is highly recommended for any winter evening meal, but because wild boar is becoming increasingly popular around Christmas it is far easier to source this meat at this time of the year, and being a rare heritage meat it makes for [...]
Mulligatawny soup, or Malecotony Soup, was a very fashionable Victorian soup originating in Southern India and it derives it’s name from the Tamil milagutannir, meaning pepper-water. A basic ‘peppered water’ was flavoured with various other ingredients, then the soup would be served with side bowls of cooked rice, lime wedges, grated coconut, snippets of fried [...]
Pork, Egg And Ham Pie, although this recipe is a 20th Century one we have several other recipes for pies dating from all periods in history on this site … just do a quick search for ‘pie’! This pie is great if served cold, sliced and with a little salad and cold potatoes. The earliest [...]
Beef Wellington’s history is a bit of a mystery, with far too many theories, (and all of them lacking evidence) to put this dish any earlier than the 20th Century. The Duke of Wellington was said to be uninterested in the pleasures of the table, but despite any hard proof, culinary mythology has it that [...]
A Christmas Standing Pie is called this because these pies are always made with a hand-raised ‘standing crust’ and were popular at Christmas. This particular version is made with lamb and comes from Cumbria. The standing crust is shaped while the pastry is still warm, which makes it pliable enough to mould into a raised [...]
Hackin is the fore-runner to the Christmas Pudding. Some reports say that the Victorian Plum or Christmas Pudding is descended from a soup, a plumb pottage, but more probably it is descended from this, far more pudding like recipe … an Hackin. This dish is like a sweetened haggis, boiled, then sliced and fried in [...]
This Chocolate Brownie recipe, like our Hot Chocolate Puddings recipe, is the real thing; they are definitely not your average Chocolate Brownie. If you ever felt you and your friends or family really deserved a treat or reward, or it is a very special occasion, then this is what you should make. Buy bars of [...]
From at least Medieval times salt was mixed with saltpetre, and other ingredients such as sugar, honey, pepper or juniper berries, to carry out the processes of preserving pork. Dry Cured Hams are the hind leg of a pig that have been salted, then air-dried to ‘cure’. This is done using a curing compound, (consisting [...]
When you hear that jam can be made in 20 minutes, any jam, in twenty-minutes, you might well be skeptical … by saying it even I feel like a snake-oil salesman trying to convince you that rubbing on this lotion will miraculously make you live longer. But its true, any fruit, any jam, in 20 [...]
Sticky Toffee Pudding is a great tasting recipe, and certainly a modern British ‘classic’, (alongside Jam Roly-Poly and Spotted Dick puddings) capturing for many the childhood memories of growing up in the 20th Century. Some say Sticky Toffee Pudding was developed in the Lake District in the 1960′s while others claim it is from an [...]
Scones are a great treat at tea time, (once served at 4 pm sharp) and quintessentially British. While the English have taken credit for their popularity, this is a dish which all regions of Britain enjoy, and have a history with. The simple scone is thought to have originated from Scottish Quick Breads, (baked on [...]
These Victorian, regional Cherry Turnovers are a speciality of Buckinghamshire in southern England, where wonderful, local Cherries are grown in many private and commercial cherry orchards. They have a light pastry top and bottom, and ripe, tangy-juicy cherries in the center. Cherries have a very short growing season if you are after picking your own; [...]
Blackberry Jam is a real treat on toast in the mornings. It has a unique, and easily recognisable flavour amongst jams, with its sweet-sharp dance on the tongue and deep berry taste. To help the jam set, (adding in extra pectin) the recipe uses one brambley apple and a small amount of fresh apple juice [...]
Many people’s favourite jam is strawberry, and with good reason, this fruit lends itself to jam making, and is wonderfully delicious when eaten on a fresh piece of buttered Manchet Bread. Collecting the fruit is a great summer time family day out and the return on the labour by having your own home-made jam to [...]
