4 ms·

To make Lemmon Cakes (1670)

87 points by benbreen 12y ago

freshyill 12y ago
I'm glad this site exists. A few years ago at Christmas, I made a fig/plum pudding from an 1890s-era recipe book from Project Gutenberg. It was a huge pain to downsize and convert all the measurements and to find appropriate substitutions for some ingredients.
- maxerickson 12y ago
  Are many of the units listed in this file? https://github.com/fogus/minderbinder/blob/master/notes/definitions.units https://github.com/fogus/minderbinder/blob/master/notes/defi... (I found out how much information had been collected in GNU Units by way of https://futureboy.us/frinkdata/units.txt https://futureboy.us/frinkdata/units.txt )
simonsarris 12y ago
I love this blog. The 18th century mac and cheese from this blog[1] has caused me to change my default mac and cheese recipe, substituting eggs for heavy cream, since I always have eggs but hate to be bothered to buy heavy cream (and then forget about it for weeks if I don't use it). Other times I'll make bechamel (flour/butter/milk) and add eggs at the end anyway. I still dress the mac up more than the ancient recipe (cayenne powder, nutmeg, cumin are usually a minimum), but switching in or just adding eggs never occurred to me and is surprisingly delightful. [1] http://rarecooking.com/2014/06/30/maccarony-cheese/ http://rarecooking.com/2014/06/30/maccarony-cheese/
- benbreen 12y ago
  Adding nutmeg to taste to savory foods is actually very early modern of you, as it happens! It was the last of the medieval spices to retain a prominent place in 18th century cuisine (besides pepper of course). For instance it shows up over one hundred times in "The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy" (1784): https://books.google.com/books?id=dYIEAAAAYAAJ&dq=nutmeg&q=nutmeg#v=snippet&q=nutmeg&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=dYIEAAAAYAAJ&dq=nutmeg&q=n...
- radicalbyte 12y ago
  You use heavy cream in macaroni cheese? Is that an American thing? I've only ever known it as a mixture of egg/cheese/milk/breadcrumb. Maybe it's a British thing, we have a lot of traditions which date from the war - cornflour custard, eggy mac cheese, margarine, boiling hot tea...
  - simonsarris 12y ago
    I'm not really sure what the normal american way is. At this point I've made mac+cheese in every way possible. (ie for a while I was trying milk instead of water when cooking the pasta, and attended the pot as it cooked on a slow simmer. It works OK) Since you're British I recommend you try making "Mac+Cheese tikka masala", basically use your favorite recipe for chicken tikka masala but swap out the chicken and no rice, and the sauce will call for (among other things) heavy cream! It is a crowd pleaser for sure.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 12y ago
      The normal American makes crappy mac-n-cheese from a box :-) However, I've never heard of eggs in it. Sounds interesting, in a pasta carbonara sort of way. Is it a baked recipe, or "sauce & noodles" deal? I typically make a roux, add a sharp/extra sharp cheddar to it to make a very tangy cheese sauce, then stir in the cooked macaroni, and a touch of paprika and cayenne and sprinkle breadcrumbs on top. Sometimes I will add feta or a little blue cheese if I have any on hand. My Midwestern wife adds Velveeta since she likes the extra creaminess and it's how her mom made it. Either way is fine with me.
      - ksherlock 12y ago
        Ronald Reagan mac and cheese uses an egg [0]. I haven't tried it, but molecular gastronomists (or are they modernists?) use sodium citrate to keep real cheese creamy when it's heated [1]. 0. http://lincolnslunch.blogspot.com/2012/02/ronald-reagan-macaroni-and-cheese.html http://lincolnslunch.blogspot.com/2012/02/ronald-reagan-maca... 1. http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-smooth-macaroni-and-cheese/ http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-smooth-macaroni-an...
- AlyssaRowan 12y ago
  That's odd, they substituted the (Double) Gloucester and Cheshire cheeses - are they not possible to obtain in the US? Looks like a tasty recipe. We might try that (although a member of the Household is lactose-intolerant, so I'd better get the lactase capsules ready if we do). I've always added eggs. Also a bit of Worcester sauce, which is worth trying almost anywhere you get cheese or need a savoury flavour (providing no-one's vegetarian/etc).
  - moron4hire 12y ago
    I have a cheese shop that I go to on a fairly regular basis, and for the life of me I can't remember seeing any cheeses that were not made in the US. Our FDA has a thing for destroying people's lives over raw milk (seriously, they go into full stormtrooper mode, kicking down doors, shoving guns into people's faces), which probably prevents most cheeses from around the world passing customs.
    - dsr_ 12y ago
      The FDA isn't that big a deal. I routinely see cheeses from France, Germany, Italy, Finland and probably Canada, as well as the domestic producers: New York and Wisconsin are big. Boston-area people: go to Russo's, in Watertown. I have seen Double Gloucester there, and several other English cheeses (my kids have a thing for Wensleydale; blame Wallace and Gromit). I don't think I've ever seen Cheshire, but I've never been looking for it.
      - stevekemp 12y ago
        > Finnish I wish I could get Leipäjuusto here in the UK.
      - fapjacks 12y ago
        The FDA is a huge deal if they don't like you or something you have (or are getting shipped into the country). You don't know jackbooted fascists until you've caught the attention of the FDA. Serious as a heart attack.
ighost 12y ago
One of these links is not like the others...
pekk 12y ago
Published recipes are arguably an old form of programs :)
- alanh 12y ago
  indeed, the first definition of "algorithm" i ever heard was that it was essentially a recipe.
  - thret 12y ago
    I first heard that in the book 'Hackers' by David Bischoff.
padobson 12y ago
Now I'll be ready for my date with Sansa Stark!

87 points by benbreen 12y ago

I'm glad this site exists. A few years ago at Christmas, I made a fig/plum pudding from an 1890s-era recipe book from Project Gutenberg. It was a huge pain to downsize and convert all the measurements and to find appropriate substitutions for some ingredients.

maxerickson 12y ago
Are many of the units listed in this file? https://github.com/fogus/minderbinder/blob/master/notes/definitions.units https://github.com/fogus/minderbinder/blob/master/notes/defi... (I found out how much information had been collected in GNU Units by way of https://futureboy.us/frinkdata/units.txt https://futureboy.us/frinkdata/units.txt )

simonsarris 12y ago

I love this blog. The 18th century mac and cheese from this blog[1] has caused me to change my default mac and cheese recipe, substituting eggs for heavy cream, since I always have eggs but hate to be bothered to buy heavy cream (and then forget about it for weeks if I don't use it). Other times I'll make bechamel (flour/butter/milk) and add eggs at the end anyway. I still dress the mac up more than the ancient recipe (cayenne powder, nutmeg, cumin are usually a minimum), but switching in or just adding eggs never occurred to me and is surprisingly delightful. [1] http://rarecooking.com/2014/06/30/maccarony-cheese/ http://rarecooking.com/2014/06/30/maccarony-cheese/

benbreen 12y ago
Adding nutmeg to taste to savory foods is actually very early modern of you, as it happens! It was the last of the medieval spices to retain a prominent place in 18th century cuisine (besides pepper of course). For instance it shows up over one hundred times in "The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy" (1784): https://books.google.com/books?id=dYIEAAAAYAAJ&dq=nutmeg&q=nutmeg#v=snippet&q=nutmeg&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=dYIEAAAAYAAJ&dq=nutmeg&q=n...
radicalbyte 12y ago
You use heavy cream in macaroni cheese? Is that an American thing? I've only ever known it as a mixture of egg/cheese/milk/breadcrumb. Maybe it's a British thing, we have a lot of traditions which date from the war - cornflour custard, eggy mac cheese, margarine, boiling hot tea...
- simonsarris 12y ago
  I'm not really sure what the normal american way is. At this point I've made mac+cheese in every way possible. (ie for a while I was trying milk instead of water when cooking the pasta, and attended the pot as it cooked on a slow simmer. It works OK) Since you're British I recommend you try making "Mac+Cheese tikka masala", basically use your favorite recipe for chicken tikka masala but swap out the chicken and no rice, and the sauce will call for (among other things) heavy cream! It is a crowd pleaser for sure.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 12y ago
    The normal American makes crappy mac-n-cheese from a box :-) However, I've never heard of eggs in it. Sounds interesting, in a pasta carbonara sort of way. Is it a baked recipe, or "sauce & noodles" deal? I typically make a roux, add a sharp/extra sharp cheddar to it to make a very tangy cheese sauce, then stir in the cooked macaroni, and a touch of paprika and cayenne and sprinkle breadcrumbs on top. Sometimes I will add feta or a little blue cheese if I have any on hand. My Midwestern wife adds Velveeta since she likes the extra creaminess and it's how her mom made it. Either way is fine with me.
    - ksherlock 12y ago
      Ronald Reagan mac and cheese uses an egg [0]. I haven't tried it, but molecular gastronomists (or are they modernists?) use sodium citrate to keep real cheese creamy when it's heated [1]. 0. http://lincolnslunch.blogspot.com/2012/02/ronald-reagan-macaroni-and-cheese.html http://lincolnslunch.blogspot.com/2012/02/ronald-reagan-maca... 1. http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-smooth-macaroni-and-cheese/ http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-smooth-macaroni-an...
AlyssaRowan 12y ago
That's odd, they substituted the (Double) Gloucester and Cheshire cheeses - are they not possible to obtain in the US? Looks like a tasty recipe. We might try that (although a member of the Household is lactose-intolerant, so I'd better get the lactase capsules ready if we do). I've always added eggs. Also a bit of Worcester sauce, which is worth trying almost anywhere you get cheese or need a savoury flavour (providing no-one's vegetarian/etc).
- moron4hire 12y ago
  I have a cheese shop that I go to on a fairly regular basis, and for the life of me I can't remember seeing any cheeses that were not made in the US. Our FDA has a thing for destroying people's lives over raw milk (seriously, they go into full stormtrooper mode, kicking down doors, shoving guns into people's faces), which probably prevents most cheeses from around the world passing customs.
  - dsr_ 12y ago
    The FDA isn't that big a deal. I routinely see cheeses from France, Germany, Italy, Finland and probably Canada, as well as the domestic producers: New York and Wisconsin are big. Boston-area people: go to Russo's, in Watertown. I have seen Double Gloucester there, and several other English cheeses (my kids have a thing for Wensleydale; blame Wallace and Gromit). I don't think I've ever seen Cheshire, but I've never been looking for it.
    - stevekemp 12y ago
      > Finnish I wish I could get Leipäjuusto here in the UK.
    - fapjacks 12y ago
      The FDA is a huge deal if they don't like you or something you have (or are getting shipped into the country). You don't know jackbooted fascists until you've caught the attention of the FDA. Serious as a heart attack.

ighost 12y ago

One of these links is not like the others...

pekk 12y ago

Published recipes are arguably an old form of programs :)

alanh 12y ago
indeed, the first definition of "algorithm" i ever heard was that it was essentially a recipe.
- thret 12y ago
  I first heard that in the book 'Hackers' by David Bischoff.

padobson 12y ago

Now I'll be ready for my date with Sansa Stark!