MORE RECIPES FROM LOUISBOURG, NS Canada

Housewives and housekeeps used the same basic methods you and I use today: baking, frying, roasting and cooking in liquids; namely boiling, simmering and stewing. With the exception that they used very heavy cast-iron cookware, long handled fry pans and the spit with its jack for turning meat, fish and poultry.
In the house we are building I'm seriously considering having one of these:

Kitchen Fireplace Spitjack

I'd never have a cold house again!! Especially in Winter.

1700s Roasting Jack

Heavy cast-iron dutch oven

Clean/Season with oil, a cast iron pan

Long handled frying pan

Most of the French who settled Louisbourg came from the Coastal regions of Normandy, Brittany, southwest Atlantic coast and communities near Bordeaux. Bretons and Normans tended towards rich, creamy sauces and cooking with cider and calvados. While those from the west coast cooked with wine. Adaptions were made when certain foods were no longer available or were more expensive than in their native country. A replacement for wild boar in France, caribou became the option in the 1700s Cape Breton. 

A basic recipe and starter for Stocks and Sauces was Roux, what we know today as a thickener.

Roux
Combine equal portions of Flour and Butter! That's it!!

2 Tbsp Flour
2 Tbsp Butter
Mix flour into melting butter and cook over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to allow it to 'brown' before adding another liquid.

Use to thicken liquids like stock, wine, milk and sauces. 

Reducing Method
Allows the meat, fish or vegetables juices to simmer uncovered until the amount of liquid has reduced. This intensifies taste and provides more body to the sauce. 

I made and used the roux with the Chicken en civet I made and it thickened wonderfully without the 'floury' taste you can sometimes get. 

Try this the next time you are making a sauce and see how it works for you.

Catspaw

A CANADIAN RECIPE FROM 1738 ~ INTERESTED?

On a lark we went to a Flea Market-Auction this past Sunday, just to take a look at what they had. I found a couple of antique items, gold glass dishes and candle holders, that my mother has; they made me miss her terribly since she is in BC and we are on PEI. Then I perchanced on a very special little cookbook with recipes from the 1700's, out of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, Canada. In a few blogs I'd like to share with you the recipes I am trying.

Fortification of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

FYI: Louisbourg was a very busy little seaport and trading center that was first colonized by the french when they came to Canada. From the 14th to the 17th centuries food in France was cooked with plenty of spices and oil but little or no sugar because it was just too expensive. Near the end of the 1700's chefs started introducing lighter styles of preparation where they used a lot less meat with delicate sauces, marinades and sweet dishes to compensate.

Main Street, Louisbourg

By the 1740's new cooking methods like braising, extracting the juices and essences proved to be the beginning of the second period of French cuisine that continued throughout most of the 18th century or the 1700's. After the French Revolution the third period, the world-renowned Haute cuisine began.

Town Square, Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

Although residents kept hens, local supplies of eggs proved insufficient. In 1752, 1504 dozen eggs arrived aboard ship from New England. Eggs weren't eaten at breakfast, rather they were prepared as a course or main dish at noon or at the dinner hour. Egg prices always rose in winter so the 18th century housekeeps worked hard to make the summer supplies last into the cold season, if they could. Eggs were stored in cellars if they weren't too humid or in straw, hay or sawdust-lined casks for the colder months.

"egg white mixed with quicklime, a bit of cement, some pitch and crushed/powered egg shell gives a strong mastic compound to repair broken porcelain."


Quote from Menon, La cuisiniere bourgeoise: 
"On the dish in which you are serving, spread butter to the thickness of a knife blade, on this put pieces of bread cut very thin and also thin slices of gruyere cheese, then 8 or 10 eggs; season with a little salt, nutmeg, pepper; cook in a low oven."

***Remembering that 'low oven' meant more or less away from the hottest part of an open fireplace!***

Here is the Recipe for Eggs a la bourgeoise that I just made for lunch:
1 tbsp Butter
5-6 thin slices Bread, crusts removed
6 thin slices Gruyere Cheese
8-10 Eggs
Pinch of Nutmeg
Salt & Pepper to taste
Butter a pie plate and  

place layer of bread, rolled flat with rolling pin, in the plate. I used multi-grain...

Top with thin layer of cheese; I used mozz & cheddar mixed and shredded it, about one cup...
  
before breaking 5 eggs over the cheese.
  

Nutmeg, salt and pepper

Here is a close up of the way it will look after all ingredients are added...

see the cheese underneath the eggs?

 Cook in a pre-heated 300 F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, longer for firmer eggs; I did 40 minutes and it came out like this:

eggs were firm; food was simple, tasty and very easy to make

Not a huge fan of eggs myself, I really enjoyed this dish, although it 'looked' dubious at first, it tasted wonderful. Clean up was a snap, only one dish was used.

Try this yourself and comment on how it went, I'd love to hear how you liked it.
 
Enjoy an egg dish that was popular 200 years ago!
Bon a...

 Catspaw