Food History

The elegance of the moustache cup made me think of India in the late nineteenth century. This means – naturally – that you get some Christmas recipes from there. We are still in a stormy zone, so I’m going to keep the introduction and explanations down to a minimum. These recipes come from The Indian Cookery Book, Calcutta.

Christmas Plum Pudding (Indian Way)

This pudding may be made a few days before it is required for the table.

Take of cleaned and picked raisins one pound and a half, currants half a pound, finely-grated bread-crumbs three-quarters of a pound, finely-sliced mixed peel half a pound, finely-minced suet three-quarters of a pound, and sugar three-quarters of a pound. Mix all these well together with half a teaspoonful of finely-powdered mixed spices, say cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace; then moisten the mixture with half a pound of butter free of water, twelve eggs well beaten, and a wineglassful of brandy, stirring it well the whole time, that the ingredients may be thoroughly mixed.

Butter a large piece of cloth or napkin; dredge it well with flour; put the mixture into it, and tie it down tightly; after boiling it steadily for seven hours take it out of the boiler and hang it up immediately, until the day it is intended to be eaten, when it should be boiled again for fully two hours, care being taken that the water is boiling before the pudding is put into it. Then turn it out of the towel, and serve up with brandy sauce.

A Two-pound or One-seer Plum Cake

This is the favourite cake for Christmas, weddings, birthdays, and christenings in India, and consists of the following ingredients:–

Butter, perfectly free of water 4 lb or 2 seers
Good clean sugar 2 ” or 1 ”
Raisins, cleaned, stoned, and dried 2 ” or 1 ”
Currants, cleaned, stoned, picked, and dried 2 ” or 1 ”
Jordon almonds, blanched and sliced very fine 2 ” or 1 ”
Preserved ginger -+ -+
” citron | All cut into small |
” orange-peel +- pieces and well +- 2 ” or 1 ”
” lemon-peel | dried, mixed |
” pumpkin -+ -+
Cinnamon, finely pounded and sifted 1 Tablespoonful
Nutmegs, finely grated 1/2 ”
Dried orange-peel, finely pounded and sifted 1/2 ”
English caraway-seeds, cleaned and picked 2 ”
Mace, finely pounded and sifted 1/2 ”
Finely-sifted flour 1 1/2 lb or 3/4 seer
Soojee 1/2 lb or 1/4 seer
Eggs, new or fresh laid 40
Brandy of the best quality 1 claret-glass

An experienced man ought to be engaged to mix the ingredients, which, if properly done, will take fully one hour.

Have two large glazed earthen preserving-pans; put the sugar into one, and bruise it well down, breaking all the lumps; add to it three pounds and three-quarters of butter; then throw in one by one all the yolks of the forty eggs, and throw the whites into the other preserving-pan, mixing the sugar, butter, and the yolks the whole while briskly and without ceasing. While one man is mixing these ingredients another ought to be actively employed in beating up the whites of the eggs unceasingly for nearly an hour.

After the butter has been well mixed with the sugar and eggs, dredge in all the finely-pounded spices and the caraway-seeds; after a while dredge in the flour and soojee in small quantities at a time (this must be well mixed); the currants, raisins, and preserves, with the almonds, are next to be added. By this time the man will have been engaged in mixing the ingredients fully three-quarters of an hour.

After the raisins, &c., have been thoroughly mixed, pour in the brandy very gradually, and in small quantities at a time, and last of all add the well-beaten whites of the forty eggs: the stirring now must be very brisk to effect a perfect mixture of the whites of the eggs right through; fill quickly into the moulds, and bake without a moment’s delay in a brisk baker’s oven.

N.B.–The moulds ought to be lined with paper and well buttered.

Mincemeat

Ingredients:–Three large lemons, three large apples, one pound of stoned raisins, one pound of currants, one pound of suet, two pounds of moist sugar, one pound of sliced candied orange-peel, one ounce of sliced candied citron, the same quantity of lemon-peel, one teacupful of brandy, and two tablespoonfuls of orange marmalade.

Grate the rinds of the lemons, squeeze out the juice, strain it, and boil the remainder of the lemons until tender enough to pulp or chop very finely; then add to this pulp the apples, which should be baked, and their skins and cores removed; put in the remaining ingredients one by one, and as they are added mix everything thoroughly together. Put the mincemeat into a stone jar with a closely-fitting lid, and in a fortnight it will be ready for use. This should be made the first or second week in December.

Another Way

Take seven pounds of currants well picked and cleaned; of finely shopped suet beef, the lean of sirloin of beef minced raw, and citron, lemon, and orange peel cut small, each half a pound; two pounds of fine moist sugar, an ounce of mixed spice, and the rinds of four lemons and four oranges; mix well, and put in a deep pan. Mix a bottle
of brandy and white wine and the juice of the four lemons and oranges; pour half over, and press down tight with the hand; then add the other half and cover closely. It may be made one year, to use the next.