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| ingredients for Caviche. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. |
So,
I'm still working on Challenge #1 for the Historical Food Fortnightly: I'm
having trouble finding a piece of literature that mentions a specific dish that
I have a period recipe for! There's a lot of general mentions of meals, without
saying what dishes or foods make up the meal, or only mentioning foods that
don't really require a recipe, like fruit or a glass of wine, or foods that are
made exactly the same way today as they were in the period (like tea and
coffee). I've decided on Calf's Foot Jelly, mentioned in one of the
earliest novels, in 1807. I think I ruined it, though, so I'll have to
come back to the recipe and post about it later! In the meantime...
The
Challenge: Soups
& Sauces
The
Recipe: "Caviche"
from the recently printed excerpts from Recipes from the White Hart Inn by
William Verral, originally published in 1759. The original recipe
reads:
Caviche
Take
three Cloves, 7 scruples of Coriander-seeds bruised ginger powder'd and
Saffron, of each half a Scruple, three Cloves of Garlick, infuse them in a pint
of good white-wine vinegar, and place the bottle in a gentle heat, or in water
to warm gradually. It is to be used, as Catchup, in small quantity
as a sauce for cold-meats.
The
Date/Year and Region: 18th
century England.
How
Did You Make It: First,
I had to convert the apothecary's measurements to kitchen measurements, since I
don't have a set of scales! That was difficult because I was working with
such small amounts, plus trying to convert from weight to volume measurements.
I ended up making as close an estimate as I could; according to the
conversion table I found, 1 scruple is about equal to 1/4 teaspoon, or 1 large
pinch.
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| cooking the Caviche. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach |
Caviche [modern redaction]
3
cloves
1 ¾
tsp. coriander seeds
1/8
tsp. saffron
1/8
tsp. ginger
3
garlic cloves
1
pint white wine vinegar
Grind
all the spices to a powder. Combine all ingredients in a jar, set in a saucepan
of simmering water. Allow to simmer gently for at least 10 minutes, or until
the vinegar is strongly flavored and colored with the spices. [I discovered
that I only had 1/3 cup of white wine vinegar
and had to cut the recipe by 1/6th! I used 1 clove, ¼ teaspoon coriander,
1 small pinch each of saffron and ginger, and 1 smashed garlic clove.]
Time
to Complete: a
few days of research, but only about 15 minutes to make.
Total
Cost: The
saffron was about $2 for the package at the Asian market, and I had all the
other things in my pantry and kitchen. The ground coriander was about $6
if I remember correctly, but there was about 2 Tablespoons in the
package.
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| finished Caviche. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach |
How
Successful Was It?: it
smelled very garlicky and vinegar-y as it was simmering, with only a slight
earthy spiciness. It tastes good, with a mild garlic and savory spice
flavor, which I suspect will get stronger over time, since I left the garlic
and spices in the bottles. It tastes good with vegetables, and it would
taste good sprinkled on eggs or fish, I think. I would call it a success,
although if I make this again, I'd use fresher spices and grind them, or even
toast them first like they do with their spices in India, to intensify the
flavor.
How
Accurate Is It?: my
measurements, I know, weren't exact, since I didn't have a set of apothecary's
scales to weigh all the ingredients. I don't know how much my finished
product differs from what was originally intended, and I suspect that I have
more garlic and less spices in my version than the original would have had.
I would say my version is about 85% accurate.
I do
wonder, however, if this recipe is an early example of the Spanish dish
ceviche, since the name is spelled so similarly. If I were to put this on
raw fish as a marinade, I suspect that the vinegar would cook the fish in the
same way that the fruit acids work in real ceviche. Now to find better
corks to close my bottles of Caviche ...
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