Mrs. Beeton's Corks with Wooden Tops

Instead of sealing a corked bottle with melted resin or wax, the corks with wooden tops were easier to remove and able to reuse.
There is a newly listed talk this Thursday on "Malinda Russell, the author of the First African American Cookbook" 1866. Also, spaces have been added for the Mrs. Raffold (Before Mrs. Beeton) talk on Wednesday.

Corks with Wooden Tops. These are the best corks to use when it is indispensable that the air should not be admitted to the ingredients contained in bottles which are in constant use. The top, which, as will be seen by the accompanying little cut, is larger than the cork, is made of wood; and, besides effectually covering the whole top of the bottle, can be easily removed and again used, as no corkscrew is necessary to pull it out.
Beeton, Isabella. The Book of Household Management. London: 1863

Corks in Beeton's recipe "To Bottle Fresh Fruit" -
Have ready some perfectly dry glass bottles, and some nice new soft corks or bungs; burn a match in each bottle, to exhaust the air, and quickly place the fruit in to be preserved; gently cork the bottles, and put them into a very cool oven, where let them remain until the fruit has shrunk away a fourth part. Then take the bottles out; do not open them, but immediately beat the corks in tight, cut off the tops, and cover them with melted resin [or wax – second recipe].
Beeton, Isabella. The Book of Household Management. London: 1863

Cork videos (Ted talk, Cork Forests of Spain, more) Cork Forest Conservation Alliance TAPES HERE

Bottling and Corking American Agriculturist for the Farm, Garden, and Household. August 1870. Blog post. HERE


Apr 27 Thu 12 In the Kitchen with Malinda Russell, Author of the First African American Cookbook. A Domestic Cook Book: Containing A Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen by Mrs. Malinda Russell, An Experienced Cook 1866. Pamela Cooley. Recipes: Muffins, raspberry tea cake and allspice cake. Kitchen Lab online. Birgitte Kampmann. parallel to the Oxford Food Symposium. ZOOM Meeting ID: 814 3501 8336 Passcode: 749624

Malinda Russell free PDF of her 1866 cookbook and the project HERE

Apr 26 Wed 2-3:30 The Extraordinary Life of Elizabeth Raffald. More spaces added - it had filled quickly. “The Experienced English Housekeeper. Published in 1769, it ran to over twenty editions and brought her fame and fortune. But then disaster; her fortune lost, spent by her alcoholic husband. Bankrupted twice, she spent her final years in a pokey coffeehouse in a seedy part of town.” Neil Buttery author Before Mrs. Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper. HERE. The Life and Legacy of Elizabeth Raffald, Leeds Symposium TAPE HERE



THIS WEEK'S TALKS deleted

CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE

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