Shakespeare's Kitchen

Shakespeare's Kitchen

Some pigeons, Davy, a couple of
short-legged hens, a joint of mutton, and any pretty
little tiny kickshaws, tell William cook.
KING HENRY IV, PART II, 5.1
 
Kickshaws, the Elizabethan misspelling of the French quelque chose, “a little something,” refers to dishes we now categorize as appetizers or hors d’oeuvres.
 
The 1615 cookbook The English Huswife, by Gervase Markham, begins, “Now the compound Fricases, are those which consist of manie things such as Tansies, Fritters, Pancakes, and anie Quelquechose whatsoever, being things of great request and estimation in France, Spaine, and Italy, and the most curious Nations.”
 
Taking recipes from The English Huswife and from other cookbooks, this chapter offers a sampling of kickshaws from throughout Renaissance Europe.
 
Beef Purses
 
SERVES 8
 
I picked and cut most of their festival purses; and had not the old man
come in with whoo-bub against his daughter and
the king’s son and scared my choughs from the chaff,
I had not left a purse alive in the whole army.
THE WINTER’S TALE, 4.4
 
IN SHAKESPEARE’S DAY, meat turnovers like these were called “purses” because they looked like the small change holders people wore attached to their belts. The expression “cut purse” referred to a thief who cut the cord to steal the purse, an all too common occurrence in those days before policed streets.
 
The savory filling of tangy candied ginger and sweet dried fruit make these purses worth stealing! Enjoy them with a glass of cold ale before heading off to see your favorite production of Shakespeare or while watching one of the many great movies inspired by his work.
 
8 ounces ground round or ground sirloin
¼ teaspoon ground rosemary
⅓ cup currants
6 pitted dates, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped candied ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly milled black pepper
½ recipe of Renaissance Dough
1 large egg, beaten
 
1.    Place the beef, rosemary, currants, dates, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight. Remove the meat mixture from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking.”
 
2.    Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll out the Renaissance Dough ⅛ inch thick on a floured work surface. Using a 3-inch round ring cutter, cut out 24 dough circles. Place 1½ tablespoons of the meat mixture on each circle, fold in half, and pinch the edges to seal. Brush the purses with the egg and place on a well-greased nonstick baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
 
ORIGINAL RECIPE:
To make pursses or Cremitaries
Take a little mary, small raysons, and Dates, let the stones bee taken away, these being beaten together in a Morter, season it with Ginger, Sinemon, and Sugar, then put it in a fine paste, and bake them or fry them, so done in the serving of them cast blaunch powder upon them.
THE GOOD HUSWIFES JEWELL, 1587
 
 
Individual Meat Pies with Cointreau Marmalade
 
SERVES 8
 
ELIZABETHAN STREET VENDORS sold little minced pies like these, as well as oyster pies, apples, and nuts, to theatergoers. The audience ate during the entire play and tossed cores, shells, and scraps onto the theater floor.
 
These tiny meat pies delicately flavored with orange liqueur are just as perfect now as then, for picnics or pre-theater nibbling.
 
8 ounces ground lamb, beef, or veal
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground mace
3 pitted dried plums, finely chopped
½ cup currants
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
½ recipe of Renaissance Dough
¼ cup Cointreau
½ cup thick-cut orange marmalade
 
1.    Combine the meat, pepper, salt, nutmeg, mace, dried plums, currants, and orange juice in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight. Remove the meat mixture from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking.
2.    Preheat the oven to 450°F. Roll out the Renaissance Dough 1⁄16 inch thick on a floured work surface. Cut twenty-four 3-inch circles from the dough. Press the dough circles into mini-muffin pans. Loosely fill each muffin cup with the meat mixture (about 1 tablespoon per pie) and bake for 15 minutes.”
3.    Bring the Cointreau to a boil in a small saucepan, stir in the marmalade, and cook until the marmalade is warm.
4.    Spoon some of the marmalade mixture on top of each mince pie and serve.
Italian travel writers visiting England during this period noted disapprovingly that not only did the English eat inside theaters, but they also ate while strolling in the streets, a practice frowned upon in Italy.
But, not all visitors were critical. One German traveler wrote of the English, “They are more polite in Eating than the French, devouring less Bread, but more Meat, which they roast in Perfection.” He also noted that when an Englishman saw a particularly attractive, well-groomed foreigner, he would say, “It is a Pity he is not an Englishman.”
 
 
And I’ll be sworn ’tis true: travelers ne’er did lie,
Though fools at home condemn ’em.
THE TEMPEST, 3.3
 
Salmon with Violets
 
SERVES 4
 
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows …
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, 2.1
 
THE BEAUTIFUL COLORS, the presentation, and the wonderful light flavors of this dish typify the sophistication of Elizabethan cuisine. Many types of edible flowers were used in cooking, both for their visual appeal and for their taste. Flowers were not set out onto the table in vases, but rather the dinner platters and the food itself were considered the decoration and were enhanced with flowers. Cookbooks of the time even list instructions on salads “for shewe only” with details on creating large elaborate “flowers” made of various cut vegetables and herbs.
 
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
1 large Vidalia onion, sliced paper-thin
1 salmon fillet, cut into 4 strips (about 12 ounces)
¾ cup edible violets
 
ORIGINAL RECIPE:
An other [Sallets for fish days]
Salmon cut long waies with slices of onyons upon it layd and upon that to cast Violets, Oyle and Vineger.
THE GOOD HUSWIFES JEWELL, 1587