Excellent historic food blog: Food History Jottings

[mme_hardy]

The (sadly) typical historical food blog runs something like "Here's a picture and transcription of an authentic recipe.  Now here's my version, which substitutes baking powder for hartshorn, cinnamon for grains of paradise, and halves the sugar to suit modern tastes!"

Ivan Day is not that blogger.  He uses period techniques, ingredients, and tools to reproduce the historical recipes as accurately is possible.  One of his specialties is perfect reproductions of the elaborate set pieces of sugar, dough, and jelly that were part of upper-class European cuisine from the medieval period forward.

• Muscadine (elderflower, not the American grape) ice
• A history of English swan-eating, with asides on how swan bills were marked and magnetic butter swans
  
• Molded cucumber ice creams
• Christmas drinks, including the very tasty-looking "bishop"
  
• A selection of spectacular formed dishes
  

Enjoy!  I have ordered his Cooking in Europe:1650-1850 and am eagerly anticipating it.

Edit: DO take the time to watch the video of a flummery in motion.

Comments

[nineweaving]

I am happily reminded of Sylvia Townsend Warner's recollections of stately desserts, circa 1900. There was an elaborate pyramid of red and green gooseberries, spiralling to a peak, which the footman bore in with his breath held, "so as not to topple the erection."

Nine

[mme_hardy]

Heee!

Flummery actually sounds very good; I didn't realize it was almond-based.