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As a cookbook collector for many years, I have a personal endearment to a lady by the name of Esther Bradford Aresty. Now, here was a woman who moved to a small town in Iowa, enjoyed a suburban life and valued good food. She had a prominent career and, she was also a collector of rare books on etiquette and the culinary arts. Spanning five centuries, her books fill the Esther Bradford Aresty Collection on the Culinary Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.
Today at Months of Edible Celebrations, I introduced her to blog visitors in celebration of the day of her birth March 26, 1908. Here's a taste:
It wouldn't be fair for me to attempt to digress The Delectable Past - The Joys of the Table - From Rome to the Renaissance, From Queen Elizabeth I to Mrs. Beeton, The Menus, The Manners - and the Most Delectable Recipes of the Past, Masterfully Re-created for Cooking and Enjoying Today, by Esther B. Aresty, (1964) when it is so eloquently served within the pages of the book itself.
Here, for perusing and cooking, are the lost joys of the table garnered by Esther Aresty from her collection of rare old cookbooks. Here is a 16th century version of Italian Green Sauce, and the original Pie That the Birds May Flie Out Of. Here is the banquet menu for a Renaissance Pope, and a Victorian clergyman's poetic Potato Salad. An Elizabethan cook sets down a recipe for a Tart to Provoke Courage Either in Man or Woman, while a housewife lists her dowry including "45 payer of sheets and one gray horse." We discover from the great La Varenne, chef in the time of Louis XIV how noblemen dined when they went to war; we learn why we owe French sauces to a Bavarian baron (Ed note: Count Rumford) from Massachusetts, and so says the 17th century Roti-Cochon that "Venison pate is too good for disobedient children."
Just as difficult, is selecting a recipe. I did a quick pop around the internet to see if I could find any recipes from the book. Although, I did find a few sites with "adapted" recipes, from her book, I was a bit disappointed not to find any verbatim. Perhaps, I didn't dig deep enough. I'm usually delighted when I don't find a recipe online. It affords me the opportunity to make a contribution but, in this case, it's a shame. What I'm trying to say, is find the book, buy it and enjoy it. You won't be disappointed. I promise:) I've chosen the Mustard Soup recipe to share because I am slightly crazed by mustard. I like it A LOT! Before I leave the recipe, let me give you a taste of Esther's introduction to the soup.
While Richard Plantagenet's cooks were smiting and hewing their way through royal menus, a move gently phrased cookery manuscript had been prepared in the kingdom across the Channel. Le Viander was compiled by Guillaume Tirel (Tailevent) about 1375 for the cooks of Charles V, also a monarch with a taste for the better things. A "viander" is a meat cook, and the manuscript had a special section on roasts which included along with mutton, kid and venison pigeons roasted with their heads intact...Among the potages (soups-stews), one recipe employed mustard as a seasoning for the broth. Using Taillevent's ingredients, a delicious soup emerges that may be served hot or cold. Either way, its lovely green color is as refreshing as its taste.
Mustard Soup
2 tbs. butter
3 tbs. prepared yellow mustard
2 tbs. flour
2-1/2 cups thoroughly skimmed chicken stock, heated
1-1/4 c. rich milk, heated
1/2 tsp. salt, dash white pepper
1/2 tsp. onion juice
2 egg yolks
2 to 3 tbs. sweet cream
Melt the butter, stir in the flour and blend smoothly. Add the hot chicken stock and milk, and whisk until smooth. Add salt, pepper and onion juice. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Combine egg yolks and cream and add to the soup, custard style that is, temper first with a few spoonfuls of the warm broth. Last, add the mustard. If served cold, garnish with a dab of whipped cream. If hot, garnish with pancake shreds or green peas.
I couldn't resist including this scanned recipe for Stuffed Mushrooms. The previous page has the introduction which goes like this:
La Verenne used mushrooms in many recipes,
