Thursday, October 30, 2014

Mary Randolph


                Four million people visit Arlington National Cemetery each year.  They visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Kennedy Memorial and the Curtis Mansion on the hill.  Few, however, venture past these famous sites and on to some of the other graves that are throughout the cemetery.  One of these graves is that of Mary Randolph, an amazing woman of her time.  Mrs. Randolph was one of the most innovative, revolutionary and influential women of 18th and 19th century America.  With her social position and region of influence, she gained a reputation for the best hostess in Virginia.  She used this experience to author a cookbook that was known for nearly a half century to contain the only way to entertain and dine.  Today, you can still find her cookbook in several places but few know the story behind the name of the woman on the cover.


                Mary Randolph was born at Ampthill Plantation (the current site of the Spruance DuPont complex in Chester, Virginia) on the 9th of August 1762, to one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Virginia.  Growing up in Goochland County as the eldest daughter of Thomas Mann Randolph and Anne Cary Randolph meant a comfortable life and education for the young Randolph and her 12 other siblings.  She was tutored by Peter Jefferson (father of the 3th president Thomas Jefferson) of whom she was related by blood and marriage.  She was also a cousin of the mother of George Washington.  She received a rich home education which extended to how to run a household and cook elaborate meals for parties at a plantation.  

                In December of 1780, she married her cousin, David Meade Randolph, and moved to a 750 acre family plantation near Bermuda Hundred known as Presquile.  Bermuda Hundred was the port of entry for Virginia, meaning everything going to Richmond, Petersburg or elsewhere went there first and was then transferred to smaller vessels to make their way to their final destination.  So Mary Randolph was placed in the center of Virginia’s colonial economy.  This gave her an incredible position over other plantation wives.  It was here that she gained a reputation for being a “lively hostess” and having an ability of setting an “exquisite table”.  During this time, she gave birth to four children.  The plantation was plagued by horrible smells that came from the huge swamp near the plantation.  So the family moved to Richmond in 1798 to their new home christened Moldavia which is a combination of both her husband and her names.  Once in Richmond, her reputation grew even further.  Her home even became the center for the Federalist Party of Virginia.

                The couple fell on economic hardship but Mary Randolph was determined to see her family through it.  She decided to open a boarding house, which was a form of social suicide for an upper class woman in the 19th century.  So in March 1808, the following advertisement appeared in the Richmond Virginia Gazette, “Mrs. RANDOLPH Has established a Boarding House in Cary Street, for the accommodation of Ladies and Gentlemen. She has comfortable chambers, and a stable well supplied for a few Horses."  By 1819, the couple’s boarding house failed to bring in a profit so they, along with one of their sons, moved to Washington D.C.  It is here that she compiles all of her culinary knowledge into the cookbook known as “The Virginia Housewife” and it is published in 1824.

                Her story, I’m afraid, ends tragically.  Her youngest son was a sailor in the U.S. navy and fell off a mast one night causing extensive injuries.  It is said that her devoted care of her crippled son hastened her death which occurred on the 23 of January, 1828, a mere 4 years after her cookbook was published.  She was buried at her cousin’s estate in D.C. at the time known as Arlington House.  The site is now known as Arlington National Cemetery.  She is the first person to be recorded as buried there.

                It is her epitaph, which I think best describes her…  “A victim to a maternal love and duty”.  She was born into the social elite and was called upon to fight for a better life for her children.  A firm understanding and education of food and its importance guided her on her way.  Mary Randolph is a role model to all with her determination and courage.  

Thursday, October 16, 2014

A Modern Look at Colonial Brewing



Imagine that you are one of the 103 men and boys that came to colonize the New World.  You are surrounded by plants, animals, and people that are foreign to you.  One thing looks familiar to you though, and that is the water.  As a European, the water scares you, rightfully so, as millions in Europe have died of water related diseases.  So what do you drink if you don’t drink the water?  The answer, some will be glad to know, was beer. 

            Beer history goes back to Mesopotamia where the first beer is believed to have been brewed.  The first brews consisted of only grain, water, and yeast.  These beers gained popularity, since not only did they quench thirst, but also provided some nutrition.   This beverage traveled to every country surrounding Mesopotamia.  With the rise of the Roman Empire, the beverage traveled even farther through Northern Europe (Germany, Bolivia, and Belgium).  It was here in Northern Europe that the final ingredient, hops, was added to the original three ingredient beverage. This is a popular ingredient know because it is what counterbalances the sweetness of the beer.   The 17th Century brings about an appetite for hopped beer in Europe that has continued to this day.  It is this appetite for beer that travels with settlers to America.

            In America, alcohol became the common everyday drink. It was consumed by all people including children, from the time they got up to when they went to bed at night.  This led to a whopping total consumption of 35 gallons of beer per capita in 1790.  Today we consider all alcohol to be the same.   Back then, however, they made a huge distinction between fermented beverages and distilled spirits.  It was taught, for instance that fermented beverages were health giving and increased wisdom.  Distilled beverages, however, were thought to lead to swearing, obscenity and anarchy.
 


The following table shows the methods of both 18th century brewers and modern brewers. 
 

 
What has to be done
18th Century
Modern
The first step in brewing is to heat your water to above 150°F.  150°F is the optimal temperature for extracting sugar from the grains but with heat loss from the transfer and also from adding the water to cool grains.  The temperature of the water before adding to the grains is known as strike temperature.  
In the 18th Century Home:
They would have used the large copper pot that was also used for laundry.  In the 18th century strike temperatures are higher because of the wood tubs used to hold the mash.  These tubs do not hold heat in very well. So in an attempt to keep the temperature as close as possible to 150°, the water in that time period was heated to 180°F.  Along with a method called capping which meant a thin layer of malt was sprinkled along the top of the mash, kept the temperature at 150°F pretty efficiently.   
 

At the 18th Century Commercial Brewery:
They would have used huge copper pots mounted into a brick fixture.
 

Modern Home Brewers:
If you are brewing at home, you can simply use a stainless steel pot on your home cooktop.

 
Modern Commercial Brewers:
Today commercial brewers use tankless water heaters. 
 
Todays strike temperatures are a little bit lower due to better insulation.  Todays strike temperatures are around 168 and 173.
The hot water is then mixed with the malted grain to create what is known as mash.  The mash has to sit at 150°F, or as close to it as possible, for an hour. 
Both the 18th century commercial and home brewers had no real way of controlling the temperature.  However, the wood tubs they used, kept the mash close to the optimal temperature for the hour it needs to steep.
 
 
 
 
The Modern Home Brewer:
Today you mix the water and grains in a cooler. This insulates the mash at 150°F or close to it.

 
The Modern Commercial Brewer: Modern brewers have steam jacketed mash tuns to store the mash at an exact 150°F for an hour.

The next step is to strain the wort from the grains. 
In the 18th Century Home:
They would have used a metal or horsehair sieve to strain the grains from the wort.
 

 

 
 
The 18th Century Commercial Brewer:  The commercial brewer would have used a screen or mesh like device over the spout that transferred the wort to the boiler.
The Modern Home Brewer:
The home brewer today has numerous screens and sieves from which to choose.  Also, some home brewers steep the grains in muslin bags.
 

 
The Modern Commercial Brewer:
The commercial brewer uses a screen over the pipe that drains the wort to the second boiler. 
The wort is now boiled again to concentrate the sugar content of the wort.  The hops are also added at this point.
 
 
The wort is now strained for the final time.
 
 
At this point in the brewing, you want to cool down the wort.  The goal, at least today, is to cool it down as quickly as possible so no bacteria get into it.
The 18th century housewife would not have an elaborate system for cooling her wort so she would have to make due with letting it cool naturally, while stirring it occasionally.
 
 
The Commercial Brewer had big lead lined pools called cool ships.  The wort would be poured into these pools and cooled within 20 to 30 minutes.
 
 
 
The Home Brewer and Commercial Brewers both have multiple options for cooling the wort down.  One form is what is known as an immersion chiller.  This is a copper pipe in a spiral.  This is lowered into the warm wort.  Cold water is run through these pipes which cools the wort off quickly.  There are two other possible cooling systems, the plate chiller or the counter flow chiller.

 
The final step is turning the wort into beer.  This is achieved by adding yeast to the wort. 
In the 18th century this would have been done in some form of wooden tub or barrel.  A way for the gas to escape is crucial or the barrel could explode.
Today home brewers have glass, metal or plastic fermenters. 

 
Commercial brewers have huge stainless steel fermenters that can hold thousands of gallons at a time.  
 
It is important to know that in the 18th century this process is done 3 times using the same grain, producing a weaker beer each time.  Today the grains are used once along with a quick wash to get all of the sugars off.  
  The pictures for the chart where taken during the Colonial Williamsburg program "The Art and Mysteries of Brewing".  For more information about this program please visit www.history.org. The other two pictures of a commercial brewery operation at Lacock Abbey in England came from http://dpnow.com/forum2/showthread.php?t=15079
 


 

   

 

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Boiled Puddings


Pumpkin Pie and Sausage are about as far apart in a culinary sense as the earth from the sun.  However, there is one unifying fact historically that draws them closer together.  That fact is that both Sausage and Pumpkin Pie were once considered puddings.  Today if I were to say pudding, what would you think of?  You might think of your grandmother’s banana pudding or the thick, rich pudding in a cup in your lunchbox.  However in the 18th century, pudding could have been one of four possible dishes.  It could have been a baked pudding, much like the previously mentioned pumpkin pie.  You also had a sausage like pudding called ‘pudding in skin’ made from grain, meat, sugar and spices.  Then there was a dripping pudding which was a batter like mixture put under roasting meat to cook along with the lovely juices dripping from that meat.  Finally a boiled pudding which is a mixture of ingredients tied in a cloth and boiled.  I will devote future blogs for both dripping and baked puddings, but today I will be shedding a little light on the very traditional English boiled pudding.   

The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy
Hannah Glasse
1774
 

Boiled puddings and ‘puddings in skin’ have a close history.  Being the oldest form, puddings in skin have their origin in sausage.  People in Medieval England created meat-like sausages with grain in them to ‘stretch’ the meat amount so it would feed more people.  The French word for these puddings or sausages is Boudin, and Boudin is the word most etymologists believe is the word pudding comes from. (The Boudin sausage can still be found today in France.  It is also found in the area around and including the state of Louisiana).  These puddings were very popular.  However the intestines or skins they were cooked in were difficult to work with.  That combined with the amount of cleaning involved with these intestines and how hard it was to fill them made the cloth a much easier version of pudding for everyone to enjoy.  By the 17th century, boiling in a cloth was the more popular way of cooking a pudding.
Hannah Glasse
The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy 
Almond Pudding

Hannah Glasse
The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy
Pear Pudding  

                Though the change in method from intestines to cloth was due to ease of use, boiling in a cloth has its problems as well.  When you boil in a cloth, there is a strong possibility of watering down your pudding. However if you follow some simple steps, you can avoid this problem and have a very enjoyable pudding to boast about.  First you want a thick, tightly woven cloth.  This prevents a great majority of the water from getting through.  The rest of the water is kept out by applying a thick layer of butter to the cloth and another layer of flour.  This melts together and the gluten in the flour creates a waterproof barrier.  These barriers are no good unless you seal them up properly.  So to seal it, you want to pull everything up together and twist it.  (Leaving a little room is good, but not so much that it floats in the water.)  Once you have twisted it, tie it as tight as you possibly can, leaving a little extra twine or fabric to attach to a spoon to keep the pudding from touching the bottom of the pot.  In the 18th century, most recipes told you how long to boil it, but you can know that it is done when you tap the pudding and it thumps.
The Steps of Pudding Making
This particular pudding is a pear pudding.  If it is a lose pudding you can put the cloth in a bowl to create the bulb shape.
You can get excellent pudding cloths at Dobyns and Martin

                Everyone in the 18th century could have afforded a pudding, but what made your pudding a rich man or a poor man version was the ingredients that were in them.  For a poor man’s pudding, you could simply use flour, water and some salt.  The more ingredients you add, the more refined and upper class your pudding would become.  The rich could afford heavily spiced puddings with candied and dried fruits.  In the 19th century, it became popular to make these in October and November.  They were soaked in Brandy and lit on fire at the Christmas Table.  This is practice is still used in England today. 
 
 
The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy
Hannah Glasse
1774
These are the recipes for the shown puddings above.

                It’s a shame that boiled puddings are no longer popular in America.  Wouldn’t it be fun to surprise your holiday guests by serving ‘figgy pudding’ at the dinner table after caroling about it next to the fire?   Next time you are struggling for a new culinary twist at the table with your Christmas ham, why not try a boiled pudding?  With its rich, sweet flavor, it is sure to be the next big thing.  At the very least, it will be a great conversation piece and what a great nod to the traditions of holidays past!!