Foods in Season: June 1861

Let's see what Beeton's Book of Household Management tells us is in season in June.

Fish- Carp, crayfish, herring, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, pike, prawns, salmon, soles, tench, trout, turbot.

Meat- Beef, lamb, mutton, veal, buck venison.

Poultry- Chickens, ducklings, fowls, green geese, leverets, plovers, pullets, rabbits.

Vegetables- Artichokes, asparagus, beans, cabbages, carrots, cucumbers, lettuces, pease, potatoes, radishes, small salads, sea-kale, spinach, -various herbs.

Fruit- Apricots, cherries, currants, gooseberries, melons, nectarines, peaches, pears, pineapples, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries.

We start with more changes in the fish category (two new, five removed since last month). Instead of a separate game category, venison is added to the otherwise unchanged meat list. Pigeons are out of the poultry category, replaced by plovers, turkey pullets, and wheatears. There are new additions in the vegetable realm with artichokes, radishes and spinach replacing cauliflower and cresses;  I'm confused by the cresses disappearing, since multiple varieties are flourishing in my garden just now (the curly cress has been doing well since mid-May while the nasturtium or Indian cress is just starting to reach useful size). There's even more expansion in the fruit category, losing only apples while apricots and currants come into more general use and peaches, pears, pineapple, and raspberry are all starting.

Revisiting Tea Cakes (1855)

Needed something sweet for Steilacoom, so I decided to revisit the tea cake receipt from Cookery, Rational, Practical and Economical (1855). This time I tried increasing the spices to 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp allspice, the combination of which made for more flavorful cakes. I like that this recipe is already on a small scale (8 flour, 5.5 oz sugar, 4 oz butter, 1 egg; makes 2 pans of cookies), though I had forgotten just how dry the dough is. It takes a lot of hand kneading to get all the dry ingredients worked in, and ends up making a rather grainy dough as a result. The cakes were a bit dense (as usual for this kind of biscuit/cake/cookie), but are perfectly serviceable for serving with tea.

Small tea cakes flavored with cinnamon and allspice.

Being pressed for time, I tried just shaping these cakes with my hands (roll into small balls and flatten rather than rolling out a sheet and cutting them). It worked tolerably well, and made 3 dozen ~1.5" diameter cakes. I do think the texture could be improved by letting the dough chill overnight and then rolling them out, which is what I will plan to try next time.

Original: Seaside Outfit, c.1864-1867

Cotton seaside ensemble, c.1864-7, in LACMA.

 

Something summery this month! I selected this sacque-and-petticoat outfit partly for the seasonal theme, and partly because it breaks all the 'rules' (read: general trends) of reproducing 1860s dresses. It's a two-piece outfit; the bodice (sacque) does not closely fit the figure; and the fabric is a solid cotton (no printed design in sight). And it's covered in embroidery! But there are reasons for all of these departures from the norm, which is that this is a very specific kind of outfit, made of a very specific kind of fabric, worn by very specific people for very specific purposes.

In short: this is a rich person's casual summer recreation outfit, intended for outdoor daywear in a "watering place" (read: seaside resort full of other rich people relaxing and having fun outside). The loose fit of the sacque makes the whole thing look relaxed and informal, while the unprinted white cotton should both look and feel cool in the summer heat. And that isn't just any kind plain cotton: it's a cotton pique, which as far as I can recall is only used for summer wear (and is one of the few solid-colored cotton materials to feature in women's dresses of the period). And the white won't be fading or crocking; not that this need be a concern, because the person commissioning hyper-specific garments for hitting the beach on vacation is not someone trying to eke out a meager clothes budget, and can readily replace this outfit when it starts getting dingy or dated. Note also the long train on this skirt: it's meant to be worn over the fashionable elliptical hoops of the later 1860s, despite the ostensibly 'relaxed' show made by the sacque.