More preservation tactics of Mrs. B.C. Howard née Jane Gilmor, this time in the form of chutney.
Mrs. Howard has a number of Indian recipes in her cookbook, including three “East India Receipt”s for chutneys and pickled lemons.
She also includes a curry, a recipe for “Binderloo”, and “Indian Pilau.” From my modern vantage point they instill a kind of trust in her tastes and experience, although for the time they’re not entirely atypical.
The Bristish ‘Thacker, Spink & Company’ published a book on Indian Cookery the year before “Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen” came out. A sophisticated lady like Mrs. Howard may have come across these Indian-via-Britain recipes through friends, family or servants.
Gooseberries were unfamiliar to me before this undertaking. Some say that this “old world” fruit are so-named because they are served with goose. Wikipedia suggests that the name may just be an “etymological corruption.”
Also: “Gooseberry bush” was 19th-century slang for pubic hair, and from this comes the saying that babies are “Born under a gooseberry bush.”
I got these berries from Reid’s Orchard and turned to my beloved Punjab Grocery for some ginger, garlic, and tamarind.
There were no fresh tamarinds that day so I used paste – preserved tamarinds are possibly appropriate here, as I do not believe tamarinds to be cultivated in Maryland.
The package informed me that these tamarinds had been seeded but that was LIES and my food mill is lucky to be alive.
The results are fantastically tangy and beg to accompany meats. I wonder if they would go well with binderloo?
Recipe:
- 2 Lb gooseberries
- 1 Lb tamarind
- .5 Lb sugar
- .25 Lb raisins
- .25 Lb ginger
- .125 Lb garlic
- .125 Lb mustard seed
Four pounds ripe gooseberries two pounds of tamarinds one pound of sugar half abound of raisins half a pound of ginger quarter of a pound of garlic quarter of a pound mustard seed Boil the gooseberries in a quart of vinegar with the sugar Grind the other ingredients with another bottle of vinegar and quarter of a pound of salt Mix with the fruit and boil for twenty minutes Let it cool then bottle for use.
Recipe halved from “Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen” By Mrs. B. C. Howard
Soaking the weekend’s worth of garlic for easy peeling.
This is staged – this is actually not an ideal way to use this attachment.
Sick.
