How many of us have an old recipe book on the bookcase. It’s
probably in a worse for wear condition with the cover falling off and bits of
paper sticking out from every angle. It can give you an insight into the lives
of your ancestors.
By looking at the recipes it can give you an insight into
what foods your ancestors could afford to make and also what they liked to eat.
It could also give you an insight into their kitchen as the more complicated
the recipe the more kitchen equipment they may have needed so this may indicate
they were from a wealthier background. These books can also span the
generations as they are passed down from mother to daughter (or father to son). There are at least
5 different handwriting's in one of my family recipe book.
My Grandmas recipe book |
I’m lucky as I have access to my Grandma’s recipe book and
my great Grandma’s.
So let’s look at the recipes inside.
Well in the main meals section we find a recipe for a meat
mould which is sausage meat and corn beef mixed with a tomato and an egg all
mixed together. Then it is steamed for 45 mins. Then there’s a Christmas pate
which involves leftover turkey and lots of butter. There is also a terrine made
with bacon, veal, port, liver and chicken liver, gross, I’ll just eat the bacon
thanks.
The books also packed with recipes for chutneys, soups and
pickles. Then it’s my favourite the cake and puddings section - boiled fruit
cake my absolute favourite. This section does give a big clue about family
life. There are lots of low sugar and diabetic recipes. This indicates someone
suffered from diabetes and they did. It also shows how times have changed.
There are recipes for jams and curds. I know some people still make them but
many do just go to the shops and buy them.
Recipe books can also show regional foods. Now this would be
seriously confusing in Grandmas recipe book. She was born and raised in
Northamptonshire. He mum was from Cambridgeshire and her grandma was from
Lincolnshire. Add into that her dad was from Nottinghamshire and the fact that
she and grandpa travelled all over the country before settling in Yorkshire.
Your family recipe book may offer better clues as to where their origins lie.
One example of regional foods in grandma’s recipe book is for Yorkshire parkin.
For those who don’t know it’s a spiced cake made with oats, treacle and ginger.
Here’s the recipe, try it’s gorgeous.
Grandma’s Yorkshire parkin recipe |
If you consider my great Grandma’s recipe book then this too
will have a hodge podge of regional recipes. She was born in Sunderland but
raised in London. Her mother was from Sunderland but her dad was Scottish.
You may also find some really bizarre recipes. I took to the
internet to see what other recipes I could find from peoples recipe books.
How’s this for a delicious recipe, stewed sparrows anyone.
This 18th century recipe calls for boiling the sparrows in ale and
water. Put 3 egg yolks, verjuice (made from unripe grapes, crab-apples or other
sour fruit) cinnamon and ginger and stir. Add the sparrows to the sauce. I
think I’ll give that one a miss.
One which maybe you can try next Christmas, picked turkey
anyone.
If you try this recipe let me know how bad it is. Picked
meat sound disgusting, but I suppose it preserved the meat so it would keep
longer and could be used when fresh food stocks were low. It could have kept
the entire family going when there was nothing else available.
If you have an old recipe book in the family why not play
make a recipe. Just open the book and if you like the ingredients in the recipe
on that page, and if you can still get them, make it and see what it’s like. If
your ancestors took the time to write it down then maybe it was a family
favourite. Who knows maybe it will become a future family favourite to another
generation of the family.