It is not something on which one can make a living, but tonight, slogging through the egg research, I had a moment of purest research-based incandescent happiness, the kind where your immediate surroundings fall away from you because you're enraptured by what you see on the page in front of you. Call me a sap, call me a nerd, call me a sentimental fool, but I am delighted by this beautiful piece of writing, found in The Virginia House-wife by Mary Randolph, originally published in 1824, now published in facsimile by the University of South Carolina Press, with historical notes and commentaries by the grand and brilliant Karen Hess. (This is another book that really deserves a post of its own, which gives me an idea...) Although it is no longer necessary to rinse salt from butter or to stone raisins, the advice here still holds true; if you follow Mrs. Randolph's directions, your cakes will be the better for them. If you happened to read today's lead article in the Dining In/Dining Out section of the New York Times, and you asked yourself, "Is there really no middle ground between Rachael Ray and haute cuisine/celebrity chefs/foam-and-sous-vide nerds/elite foodies?", get yourself a copy of The Virginia House-wife, and know the answer: There is a middle ground. It's called home cooking, and while not all of it is adaptable from generation to generation, century to century, a formidable amount of it is. It is embedded in our history -- it *is* our history -- and it would be a shame to lose it.
Without further ado...
OBSERVATIONS ON PUDDINGS AND CAKES.
The salt should always be washed from butter, when it is to be used in any thing that has sugar for an ingredient, and also from that which is melted to grease any kind of mould for baking, otherwise, there will be a disagreeable salt taste on the outer side of the article baked. Raisins should be stoned and cut in two, and have some flour sifted over them, stir them gently in the flour, and take them out free from lumps; the small quantity that adheres to them will prevent their sticking together, or falling in a mass to the bottom. Eggs must be fresh, or they will not beat well; it is better to separate the yelks from the whites always, though it is a more troublesome process, but for some things it is essential to do so; when they are to be mixed with milk, let it cool after boiling, or the eggs will poach, and only set it on the fire a few minutes to take off the raw taste of the eggs, stirring it all the time. Currants require washing in many waters to cleanse them; they must be picked and well dried, or they will stick together. Almonds should be put in hot water till the skins will slip off, which is called blanching; they must always be pounded with rose or orange flower water, to prevent their oiling. When cream is used, put it in just before the mixture is ready; much beating will decompose it. Before a pudding or cake is begun, every ingredient necessary for it must be ready; when the process is retarded by neglecting to have them prepared, the article is injured. The oven must be in a proper state, and the paste in the dishes or moulds ready for such things as require it. Promptitude is necessary in all our actions, but never moreso than when engaged in making cakes and puddings. When only one or two eggs are to be used, cooks generally think it needless to beat them; it is an error; eggs injure every thing unless they are made light before they are used. Cloths for boiling puddings should be made of German sheeting; an article less thick will admit the water and injure the pudding.