Culinary Inventions from the 17th Century The 17th century saw the start of some major changes in food, diet and cooking methods. These changes were assisted with a large number of foreigners and ingredients from around the ever expanding world coming over to England. Some of the spices that were now be added to meals in the households of the English gentry were Allspice ( Jamaica Pepper ) from the West Indies, Cochineal from Mexico, Sago from Malaya and Sugar in vast quantise from English colonies such as Barbados. During this period the change of what one would drink was significant. People were turning away from Ale and now trying China Tcha ( Tea ) and Coffa (Coffee) from Turkey and Arabia. When Ice Cream began to be made in England, people constructed straw-thatched ice-houses or snow-pits, dug deep into the ground and became possible to keep ice stocks from the winter all year round. When people fancied an Ice Cream they would bring blocks of Ice into the kitchen, break it into small lumps and pack it around a small metal pan which contained sweetened cream, perhaps flavoured with orange flower water, leaving it for a couple of hours they could then add an interesting delicacy to the banqueting table. Cooking methods also changed with new inventions coming into the kitchen. A French Physicist, Denys Papin created the “Pressure-Cooker” or “Digester”, he discovered that foodstuffs could be efficiently cooked in a totally sealed vessel, thus saving considerable time and fuel. In 1682 he invited members of the Royal Society to supper at which “all was dressed, both fish and flesh, in digesters, by which the hardest bones were made soft as cheese, without water or other liquor, and with less than eight ounces of coals, producing an incredible quantity of gravy, but nothing exceeded the pigeons, which tasted just as if baked in a pie, all being stewed in their own juice, without any addition of water save what swam about the digester” Another great invention was the “Roasting Jack”, a clockwork weight driven device used for turning the spit whilst roasting on an open fire. Before this invention the roasting was a laborious task, a kitchen would employ the services of youth who would turn the spit for hours, not only was this a long drawn out process but it was also an uncomfortable one as the boy would be literally roasted on his front but his back would be chilled by the cold draughts. In some kitchens however dogs were used to run in a wheel which would turn the spit but after the invention of the “Roasting Jack” both boy and dog could be put to other uses within the household. Isn’t it amazing that the origins of some of the recipes, flavours, equipment that we use in our own homes today can be traced back to the 17th century. History just ROCKS
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 11:23:18 +0000