Here’s a recipe for a lovely little 17th century treat.
To Make Peascods in Lent
Take figs, Raisons, and a few Dates, and beate them
very fine, and season it with Cloves, Mace, Cinamon
and Ginger, and for your paste seeth faire water and oyle
in a dish uppon coales, put therein saffron and salt and
a little flower, fashion them then like peasecods, and
when ye will serve them, frye them in Oyle in a frying
panne, but let the Oyle bee verie hotte, and the fire soft
for burning of them, and when yee make them for fleshe
dayes, take a fillet of veale and mince it fine, and put the
yolkes of two or three rawe egges to it, and season it
with pepper, salt, cloves, mace, honie, suger, cinamon,
ginger, small raisons, or great minced, and for your paste
butter, the yolke of an egge, and season them, and fry
them in butter as yee did the other in oyle.
Thomas Dawson, The Good Huswifes Jewell, 1596
Redaction for flesh days version:
Pastry
Flour, butter, 1 egg and salt
Filling
Minced veal (we use chicken); season with salt, pepper, cloves, mace (or nutmeg), honey, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, raisins, butter and one egg yolk.
Make into little pies, shaping them like peasecods, and fry them in yet more butter or bake them in a 375 oven until they’re golden brown. If you bake them, brush them with another egg yolk, beaten, to give them a richer golden color.
More recipes from the Embroidered Jacket Revel to follow.
KMWall
Colonial Foodways Culinarian