18th Century Open Hearth Cooking
RECIPES FROM THE PAST
Below-to give you an idea of the kind of roasting techniques that were once popular-are some recipes taken from the 1805 edition of Hannah Glasse's
Art of Cookery (which was easily the most popular cookbook in 18th-century America).
RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN ROASTING
In the first place, take great care that the spit be very clean; and be sure to clean it with nothing but sand and water. Wash it clean, and wipe it dry with a cloth; for oil, brick-dust, and such things, will spoil your meat.
TO ROAST A PIGEON
Take some parsley shred fine, a piece of butter as big as a walnut, a little pepper and salt; tie the neck end tight; tie a string round the legs and rump, and fasten the other end to the top of the chimney-piece. Baste them with butter, and when they are [done] enough [elsewhere, she specifies 20 minutes] lay them in the dish, and they will swim with gravy [the natural roasting juices].
A TURKEY
A middling turkey will take an hour; a very large one, an hour and a quarter; a small one three quarters of an hour. You must paper the breast till it is near done enough, then take the paper off and froth it up. Your fire must be very good.
I've found that cooking-type parchment paper is best for this recipe, although ordinary typing paper will do in a pinch. A thin piece of pork flare fat tied on will also do. Foil, however, gives the meat a steamy" taste.
You'll notice that Ms. Glasse places great stress on having a brisk fire and recommends rather short cooking times. (Most of the old writers, in fact, suggest a mere 45 minutes to roast a large chicken or capon.) This is a far cry from the methods advocated by the present breed of home economists, who have us "roasting" our turkeys for hours on end at 300°F.
Of course, meats used to be cooked much rarer than they are now. Amelia Simmons-in her 1796 book,
American Cookery (the first cookbook written by an American)—says firmly with regard to the roasting of beef that "rare done is the healthiest and [is] the taste of this age". Indeed it was, for Ms. Glasse wrote that a 10-pound piece of beef would be roasted in an hour and a half "at a good fire" (longer, in ''frosty weather").
Rare, medium rare, or well done, roast meats aren't what they used to be. Not unless you're a practitioner of the old and very traditional (though almost lost) art of openhearth cookery!
