Last weekend I was lucky enough to get to attend another workshop with Clarissa F. Dillon at the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation. It is part of a series, one being hosted in each of the seasons to get an around the year taste of Colonial cooking. There was a great group of people there, we made a pork and apple pie, stewed pears , a boiled cabbage pudding, cauliflower, and a "Regalia of Cucumbers" with a side of pickled
gherkins. Everything was delicious, especially Clarissa's pickled gherkins.
One of the fun things about these workshops is that they have a more experimental archaeology focus and not so much of a 1st person cooking experience focus as many people who attend these workshops are already established hearth cooks and are more interested in trying archaic or little known cooking and preserving techniques.
Clarissa is currently working on one such experiment and I am very interested in seeing the results. She has eggs in slacked lime and plans to remove and try one egg every month for 2 years to see if the staying capacity of eggs in 18th century preservation receipts was an exaggeration. We also got to try picked gherkins and claret which are typically hard to come by.
Some of the recipes:
The food was delicious and everyone had a great time swapping hearth cooking and colonial stories. Can't wait for the next one.
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Clarissa Dillon |
Clarissa is currently working on one such experiment and I am very interested in seeing the results. She has eggs in slacked lime and plans to remove and try one egg every month for 2 years to see if the staying capacity of eggs in 18th century preservation receipts was an exaggeration. We also got to try picked gherkins and claret which are typically hard to come by.
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The busy kitchen. |
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Making the pie crust. |
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The pie filled with layers of pork and apples. |
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Sue chopping quite a bit of suet. |
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Cabbage for the pudding. |
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Before the boiling cloth. |
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Draining the pudding. |
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All tied up. |
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Into the pot. |
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The completed Cheshire Pork Pie. |
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The Stewed Pears. |
Some of the recipes:
The food was delicious and everyone had a great time swapping hearth cooking and colonial stories. Can't wait for the next one.
Beautiful photos, Stephanie. This post made me hungry. I was curious, did Clarissa make the claret, or where was it found? I've always wanted to try it.
ReplyDeleteShe didn't make it. She was very specific that she always uses it in recipes that call for it but that it isn't considered claret unless you get it from Bordeaux.
DeleteThanks! I don't know anything about wines so I guess it makes a difference? :)
DeleteOh! So lovely!!!! I love making meat pies and stewed pears. Your photos are perfection. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Elisabeth! I recall you were quite the pie professional. :)
ReplyDeleteWow---what a great opportunity and a fine posting to document it all. Love the pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks!! It really was a great opportunity.
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