Posted by Carolyn on August 05, 1997 at 07:35:20:
In reply to That's the one posted by Margie on August 05, 1997 at 01:45:28
] ] Is the poem the one that ends
] ] "This pudding's without rhyme or reason" ?
] Caroline,
] Yes! That's the one. Thank you so much for your information on currants. I am convinced you are right. It's really fun to learn that currant derives from raisin of Corinth. My husband will enjoy it, too. He delights in information of that sort. I will pass your posting on to him, and encourage him in his experiments. I will either post the results, or ask him to do so himself. I've appended his copy of the "receipt" or "reciept"(?!). We were unsure of one word and made our best guess -- unfortunately I don't remember, now, which the questionable word was.
] Margie
] A Reciept for a Pudding
] If the vicar you treat,
] you must give him to eat,
] a pudding to hit his affection;
] And to make his repast,
] by the canon of taste,
] be the present receipt your direction.
] First take two pounds of bread,
] be the crumb only weighed,
] for crust the good housewife refuses,
] The proportion you'll guess
] may be made more or less
] to the size that each family chuses.
] Then its sweetness to make
] some currants you take
] and sugar of each half a pound
] Be not butter forgot
] and the quantity sought
] must the same with your currants be found.
] Cloves and mace you will want,
] with rose water I grant,
] and more savory things if well chosen;
] then to bind each ingredient
] you'll find it expedient
] of eggs to put in half a dozen.
] Some milk don't refuse it,
] but boiled ere you use it,
] a proper hint this for its maker;
] and the whole when compleat;
] in a pan clean and neat,
] with care recommend to the baker.
] In praise of this pudding,
] I vouch it a good one,
] or should you suspect a fond word;
] to every guest,
] perhaps it is best,
] two puddings should smoke on the board.
] Two puddings! - yet - no,
] for it one will do.
] The other comes in out of season;
] And these lines but obey,
] nor can anyone say,
] that this pudding's without rhyme or reason.
]
] ...from Martha Lloyd's recipe book; she was
] Jane Austen's sister-in-law (2nd wife of
] brother Captain Francis William Austen)
Another source for the recipe is in The Jane Austen Cookbook by Maggie Black (food historian) and Deirdre LeFaye (Austen scholar/biographer), Chicago Review Press, 1995, (page 62). isbn#1-55652-242-8.
It includes a general outline into domestic life of JA, mention of food in JA novels/letters, and a short bio on Martha Lloyd
The recipes are taken from Martha Lloyds recipe book and are given both in their original form and in modern recipe format (with traditional & metric measures).
Do you want to see the modern equivalent or would your husband prefer to experiment?
PS--There is also a recipe for spruce beer, but the authors found it impossible to find the essence of spruce, and recommend you try the ginger beer instead.
PPS--They also include a possible menu for dinner at Pemberley. Should I post it?
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