The Decadent Cookbook (23 page)

MINCED
PORK,
CHICKEN,
PHEASANT,
RABBIT
OR
PEACOCK;

GROUND
PEPPER

CUMIN,
AND
RUE

FISH
STOCK

PEPPERCORNS

PINE
NUTS

1
SOW’S
WOMB

2
SMALL
LEEKS

ANISEED
OR
DILL

Mix the meat, ground pepper, cumin and rue, and grind very thoroughly. Then pound in a mortar until very fine. Add peppercorns and pine-nuts. Wash the sow’s womb very carefully and fill with the stuffing. Cook in olive oil, water and stock, with leeks and aniseed or dill.

6
LB
FRANKFURTERS

3
LB
MUSHROOMS
SLICED

6
CLOVES
GARLIC

1
LB
BUTTER

6
TABLESPOONS
CHOPPED
PARSLEY

PEPPER

3
TEASPOONS
SALT

RATHER
A
LOT
OF
CALVADOS
OR
BRANDY
FOR
BURNING

Quarter the frankfurters longitudinally and fry them gently in butter for 5 minutes. Add crushed garlic, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 5 minutes, then add parsley. Climb into asbestos apron, pour on a generous amount of calvados and set the whole thing flaming magnificently before your astonished guests. Serves 20.

1
LB
OF
PORK
FAT
AND
LEAN,
WITHOUT
SKIN
OR
GRISTLE

1
LB
OF
LEAN
VEAL

1
LB
OF
BEEF
SUET

½
LB
OF
BREADCRUMBS

THE
RIND
OF
HALF
A
LEMON

SOME
NUTMEG

6
SAGE
LEAVES

1
TEASPOONFUL
OF
PEPPER

2
TEASPOONSFUL
OF
SALT

A
HALF
TEASPOONFUL
OF
SAVORY

HALF
TEASPOONFUL
OF
MARJORAM

Chop the pork, veal and suet finely together, add the breadcrumbs, lemon peel (which should be well minced) and a grating of nutmeg. Wash and chop the sage leaves very finely. Add these with the remaining ingredients to the sausage-meat and when thoroughly mixed either put the meat into skins, or when wanted for table, form it into little cakes, which should be floured and fried.

A Swiss product, and very handy for snacks to go with curacao cocktails. Next time you’re in Switzerland, buy some! Blue sausages make a less boring present than gold bars full of chocolate, and they don’t burst out of their wrappings every hour to squawk ‘Cuckoo!’

Why is the blue sausage made in Switzerland? Because the Council of State in Geneva decided in 1903 that all sausages made with horsemeat should be dyed blue.

A recipe from Holland. The name is one of those deep Dutch mysteries which you only begin to fathom after your third glass of genever gin.

2
LB
COOKING
APPLES

2
LB
EATING
APPLES

4
LB
4
OZ
POTATOES

SALT

CLOVES

12
OZ
BLOOD
SAUSAGE*,
THICKLY
CUT

BUTTER

Peel and chop the cooking apples then boil them in shallow water for 20 minutes. Add potatoes and eating apples. Continue cooking until all are soft (about half an hour). Add salt and a few cloves, and mash the lot. Keep the mash warm while you fry the blood sausage in butter. Stir the butter and melted fat from the frying into the mash, lay the sausage decoratively on top, and serve.

*for blood sausage recipes see below and ‘Blood, the Vital Ingredient’

The Black Pudding is a gift to Decadent cuisine. This version is consumed by the Tarporley Hunt Club at their annual dinner, held at the Swan Hotel, Tarporley, Cheshire, in the first week of November. The Club, founded in 1762 and limited to 40 members, keeps its own wine-cellar, china and 18th century mahogany chairs carved with foxes’ masks. The Club historian describes the scene:
‘The Hunt Room, with its fine portraits and magnificent chandelier, forms a unique setting for the dinners, at which the members wear scarlet coats with green collars, green breeches and green silk stockings. Naturally enough, “Foxhunting” is the principal toast of the evening and, after the speeches, the tables are reset for supper. At about midnight [4 a.m. according to less official sources], devilled bones and black puddings are always served, washed down with mulled ale.’

Several useful tips for Decadent diners here - the silk stockings, the furniture, the timing, ‘dinner’ followed by ‘supper’ - not forgetting the whole pretext for the night’s revelry - “Foxhunting” - which can be relied on to cause offence right across the social spectrum. ‘Devilled bones’ are a nice touch too - they were a well-known rouser of flagging thirsts among 18th century voluptuaries. Instructions for making these follow the Black Pudding recipe below.

14
LB
GROATS
(I.E.
HULLED
GRAINS
OF
CEREALS)

7
LB
LEAF
OR
BACK
FAT
IN
HALF
INCH
CUBES

4
LB
FINE
OATMEAL

2
LB
RUSK

2
LB
ONIONS

1
GALLON
(4.8
LITRES
)
PIG’S
BLOOD

1
OZ
MANCU

2
OZ
BERGICE
(DRY
ANTISEPTIC)

WIDE
HOG
CASINGS

12
OZ
SALT

6
OZ
WHITE
PEPPER

4
OZ
GROUND
CORIANDER

3
OZ
GROUND
PIMENTO

2
OZ
CARAWAY
SEED

Put the groats into a bag and tie. Boil until swollen and thoroughly cooked. Pour into a tub, add seasonings, bergice, rusk and onions and mix well. Add the fat then the blood and oatmeal. Fill the casings, allowing about four pieces of fat to each pudding. Tie up tightly and boil gently for 20 minutes. For a rich black colour, add 1 oz of
mancu
to the ingredients.