Monday, May 27, 2013

HUGH fish smoker - 1779

This incredible kiln to smoke red herring is pictured in a French book published in 1779.  The fish were strung through sticks which were then passed up to be hung.  After being dried in the smoke, the fish were taken down, pulled off the sticks and put in barrels. While there are a couple women helping in the first image, all the workers in Figure 2 - even those climbing in their long dresses - are women. Click on the images for larger views.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Barding and Larding

How to bard, how to lard?  Images of larded and barded meat with instructions appeared in Miss Corson's Practical American Cookery in 1886...

Monday, May 13, 2013

Incorporators for Salad Dressing


Odd bottle #2.  Once the dressing for the salad was made, it was put in a bottle or poured down the side of the 'salad dish', to be mixed only when ready to eat, according to William Kitchiner.  He specified “an Ingredient Bottle, - These are sold at the Glass Shops, under the name of Incorporators,— we recommend the sauce to be mixed in these, and the Company can then take it, or leave it, as they like.”  [The Cook's Oracle by William Kitchiner.  London: 1822]

Monday, May 6, 2013

Codd Bottles

Marbles inside soda bottles??  This ingeneous replacement for the cork used the soda water's own pressure to keep the marble secured against a rubber ring just under the lip.  To release the seal, a special opener (see below) or finger pushed the marble ball away from the ring.