Prospect Books, The Traditions of British Cookery, Trifle

	Trifle
	Helen Saberi and Alan Davidson 136 pages; 187 x 135mm; illustrations?		The English Kitchen is a series published by Prospect Books to explore and explain the course of English cookery over the last 300 years. Some of the series delves into historic cookery books to find the origins of particular dishes, other titles concentrate on modern favourites and the ways in which they have been interpreted today and in the recent past. Trifle is the first in the series and comes from the pens of Helen Saberi, author of Afghan Food and Cookery and Alan Davidson, author of The Oxford Companion to Food and other classics of the kitchen, particularly relating to fish. Trifles have been a perennial of English summer lunches, tennis parties, and schoolboy dreams. The authors trace their origins to the earliest recipe for trifle of 1596 and its gradual transformation from a mere cooked cream to the many layered custardy extravagance that we know today. The stages on its journey, described with the lightest of touch, are illustrated by recipes extracted from classic English cookery books. The authors thereafter range far and wide in search of the perfect trifle, from Zuppa Inglese to American aphrodisiac trifle to a fruit and tapioca trifle from Laos. As may be imagined from these authors, the material presented is scholarly, yet trips the light fantastic in a way that should appeal the all those curious about the development of our national cuisine.
	ISBN 1903018 099 Paperback £8.99
	TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements 5 Fast Track Guide 6 Introduction 11 Using the Recipes 13 Trifle Architecture 14 Chapter One - The Early Years 15-18 Thomas Dawson + Jos Cooper + Hannah Woolley + John Evelyn + Robert May + Mrs Mary Eales Chapter Two - British Trifles 1750 to 1800 19-28 First appearance of Trifle as we know it + Hannah Glasse; Floating Island, Trifle of 1751 + Mrs Powell + Sister Nanny + The Lady's Companion (2 recipes) + Hannah Glasse, A grand trifle + Mrs Cleland + Martha Bradley + Elizabeth Raffald + Sarah Mason + Mrs Maciver + Mrs Frazer Chapter Three - Trifles in Nineteenth Century Britain 29-38 Mrs Rundell; An excellent trifle, Indian Trifle, Chantilly Cake, or Cake Trifle + Family Receipt Book, A Grand Trifle + Meg Dods, An Elegant Trifle + Eliza Acton, An Excellent Trifle and Very Superior Whipped Syllabubs + A Steeped Cake + Cre-Fyyd, Gooseberry Trifle + Theodore Francis Garrett, Queen of Trifles + Mrs Roundell, Trifle (Family Recipe) Chapter Four - British Trifles in the First Half of the Twentieth Century 39-48 Mrs de Salis, Trifle â la Old Century + May Byron; Countess Trifle, Pear Trifle, Lemon Trifle + Violet Farebrother, An Easter Trifle + "Angostura" Trifle + Mrs Leyel and Olga Hartley, the writer's Special Trifle + Apple Snow Trifle + More Favourite Puddings of Rural England, Ratafia Trifle + Irene Veal with a trifle recipe from Reginald Foort + Mrs Kirk, Trifle Chapter Five - British Trifles from 1950 Onwards 49-64 Views of Elizabeth David + Marguerite Patten; Trifle, Jelly Trifle + Helen Cox, English Trifle + Marian McNeill, Scots Trifle + Comments by Myrtle Allen + Monica Sheridan, Visitors' Trifle + Jane Grigson, Banana Trifle + Summer Syllabub Trifle + Trifle Belle Hélne + Caramelised Orange Trifle + PPC Celebration Trifle Chapter Six - Trifle in the New Worlds 65-78 Mary Randolph's Trifle (USA) + Mrs Hill's Trifle and Gipsy Squire (USA) + Marion Harland's Peach Trifle (USA) + 200 Years of Charleston Cooking, Trifle (USA) + Ida Lupino as a trifle maker (USA) + Quotation from M.F.K. Fisher (USA) + Ladies of Toronto's Fig Trifle with Almond Custard (Canada) + Lemon Trifle (Australia) + Tango Trifle (Australia) + Trini Tropical Trifle (Trinidad) + Ante de Yemas ('Mexican Trifle') + Viceroy's Dessert (Mexico) + Sopa Inglesa (Argentina) Chapter Seven - Trifles Elsewhere 79-94 Jules Gouffé's Mousse â L'Anglaise (France) + Plettenpudding (Germany) + Hindb¾rskum med Frugtliker (Raspberry Foam - Denmark) + Tilsl¿rte Bondepiker (Veiled Maidens - Norway) + Ommutriffli (Grandmother's Trifle -ÊIceland) + Any—storta (Mother-in-Law's Torte - Hungary) + Dr Riddell's Trifle (Anglo-Indian) + Snow Eggs forTrifles + Egg-Snow Trifle + The Gulf and the Horn of Africa + Eritrean Trifle + South African Trifles + Hildagonda J. Duckitt's trifle (and pencil) Chapter Eight - Trifling Relations 95-104 Whim-Wham - Hannah Glasse + Whim-wham - Mrs Dalgairns + Tipsy Cake, or Brandy Trifle (Eliza Acton) + Hedgehog Tipsy Cake (Florence White) + Tipsy Cake Pudding (Lucy Jones) + Tipsy Pudding (Wyvern) + Wassail Bowl (Meg Dods) + Swiss Cream, or Trifle (Eliza Acton) + The Dean's Cream (Florence White) + White Grape and Ginger Syllabub Chapter Nine - Italy: Zuppa Inglese and Tiramisu 105-110 Zuppa Inglese + A Sicilian Zuppa Inglese + Tirami S Chapter Ten - Oddities 111-117 Cold Savoury Trifle (Theodore Francis Garrett) + Beef Trifle (The 'Pudding Lady') + Kabul Quince and Yoghurt Trifle + Vientiane Coconut Jelly Trifle + London Trifle + Soufflé (Maltese Trifle) + Aphrodisiac Trifle Glossary of Trifling Terms 118-126 Bibliography 127-131 Measures: Tables of Equivalence 132-133
	CHAPTER TEN ODDITIES There can be no doubt about savoury trifles being oddities. So we start this chapter with two of them. We met Theodore Francis Garrett and his monumental Encyclopaedia of Practical Cookery (c. 1895) on page 36, and reproduced his Queen of Trifles, a regal dessert. Here we offer one of his two savoury trifles. Cold Savoury Trifle Cut a slice about 1 in thick off a stale loaf, trim it to a square shape, removing all the crust, and make a hollow in the centre. Put a large piece of lard in a frying-pan, and when it boils, put in the bread, and fry it a pale golden brown. Then put it on a sieve to drain. Roughly chop the flesh of a lobster; prepare a nice fresh salad, and place it in a dish. Fill the hollow of the croustade with the lobster, put it in the centre of the salad, and pour over a nicely-flavoured mayonnaise sauce. Ornament the dish prettily with various shapes cut out of whites of hard-boiled eggs, carrots, and beetroot, and serve. If a cold savoury trifle is odd, a hot savoury trifle must be counted odder still. The following recipe for such a surprising item comes from The "Pudding Lady's" Recipe Book by Florence Petty (1917). Beef Trifle. 1 lb cold meat, chopped finely; 1 tablespoon horseradish, grated; 3 oz breadcrumbs; 1/2 onion, chopped; 2 oz margarine; 1 egg; pepper and salt to taste Mix well together. Place in small cups, greased. Bake in moderate oven 20 minutes. Turn out and serve on a hot dish with gravy round. The name of Afghanistan's capital city would not normally conjure up thoughts or visions of trifles, nor would the city of Vientiane in Laos. However, trifles can be conjured up in any part of the world by those who have an inventive spirit and are prepared to apply the English concept of a trifle to ingredients from elsewhere. Firstly, Helen writes: this recipe has been inspired by my Afghan husband, who asked me to devise a trifle recipe with an eastern flavour, and to name it after the city in which he was born and brought up. The second reason for including this recipe is that the results are really good. An alternative to the yoghurt topping could be an Afghan firni, a sort of custard made with milk and cornflour flavoured with rosewater and cardamon. There is a recipe for this in my book Noshe Djan - Afghan Food and Cookery. Kabul Quince and Yoghurt Trifle 2 medium quinces 110 g sugar juice of 1/2 lemon pinch of ground cardamom 18-24 amaretti biscuits 500 g Greek strained yoghurt 1/4 tsp saffron 1 tbs rose water 110 g caster sugar 1/2 tsp ground cardamom toasted flaked almonds slivered or ground pistachio crystallized rose petals (optional) Peel, core and slice the quinces thinly. Put into a pan and add water, which should well cover the quinces. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid, turn down the heat and simmer until they are just soft. (You may have to add more water if it reduces too much.) Remove the quinces with a slotted spoon from the pan and set to one side. Now add the sugar to the water in which the quinces were cooked and stir to dissolve. Add the lemon juice. Bring to the boil and cook for a couple of minutes until syrupy. Remove from the heat, add the cardamom and return the quinces to the pan. Leave to cool in the syrup. Place the amaretti biscuits in the bottom of a glass bowl and cover with the quinces. Add just enough of the syrup to lightly soak the amaretti. Now make the yoghurt cream. Dissolve the saffron in the rosewater and beat into the yoghurt. Mix in the sugar, more or less according to taste, and add the cardamom. Mix well. Spread the yoghurt cream evenly over the quinces and decorated with the almonds and pistachios and rose petals, according to your fancy. Vientiane Coconut Jelly Trifle Alan's recipe is inspired directly by his experience of living in Laos and exploring the Traditional Dishes of Laos (the title of an extraordinary book on the subject by Phia Sing) including several desserts which have evolved there on the basis of the coconut, most versatile of foodstuffs. It is accompanied by one of only a large number of potential variations. Marry the English trifle to an Asian cuisine and you will be astonished by the number of progeny which this coupling produces. The ingredients include first and second extractions of coconut milk. To produce these you would need one large or two smaller fresh ripe coconuts and a knowledge of the technique. It is easier for most people to use desiccated coconut, following the instructions on the packet to produce the right amount. In the recipe which follows, since the versatile coconut can also be used to produce coconut custard, you could substitute this for the tapioca. This would be made with, for example, 4 eggs (lightly beaten), half a cup of sugar and a cup of thick coconut milk. Set over a low heat and stir frequently until you have a custard consistency. Stage One - The Jelly 2 heaped tsp agar agar (in powdered form) 170 ml thick coconut milk (first extraction) 670 ml thin coconut milk (second extraction) salt, to taste 70 g brown sugar 70 g white sugar 2 eggs, lightly beaten Add the agar agar to the thick coconut milk in a cooking pot, stir and bring to the boil. Add salt and both kinds of sugar and leave to simmer for nearly ten minutes. Then add the thin coconut milk to the mixture. Have your trifle dish, which should be heat-proof, ready. Pour the beaten eggs into the bottom of it. Bring the coconut mixture back to the boil, then pour it quickly over the beaten eggs and leave to set. (The result, which has settled into a jelly of two layers, the upper one brown and the lower one much paler, can be served by itself as the Lao dessert called Vun, but we are going on to add further layers.) Stage Two - Fruit and Tapioca My idea here need not be spelled out in detail, because choice of fruits, quantity of tapioca etc. are all flexible. However, I would suggest making at least two cups of tapioca pudding (I would use 'Minute' tapioca, and follow the directions on the packet) and then setting it aside to cool. Meanwhile you could thinly slice a banana or two, sprinkle with lime juice, and lay over the vun. Then add a layer of the now cool tapioca, and top with thin pieces of peeled mango, either simple strips or (fancier) crescent shapes, making a decorative pattern. Very thin slices of pineapple would be an alternative topping. Next we come to something which is not a trifle but by a piece of unparalleled impertinence bears the name. This is followed by something which is a trifle but does not bear the name. Ann Semple writes: 'Peg Bracken was a woman who made a career in the 1960s of doing as little in and about the house as possible. Her first book, The I Hate To Cook Book, was published in 1960 and was, as I recall, a runaway success. It was quickly followed by several other volumes, all delightful to read and often to emulate: The I Hate to Housekeep Book, (1962); I Try to Behave Myself; The I Hate to Cook Almanack (A Book of Days); and Appendix to The I Hate to Cook Book among others. Of the volumes listed, I now possess every one, including the Appendix in whichI found Peg Bracken's take on trifle.' Her recipe follows: London Trifle *[Note breath-taking simplicity here]* 1 cup yogurt 1 cup marmalade Mix them up. Then taste. Maybe you'll want more yogurt. Or marmalade. Spoon it into sherbet glasses, grate some orange rind on top, and chill it a bit. [Note by Alan: In testing this concoction I decided to simplify it further by omitting the sherbet glasses, the grated orange rind and the whole tedious business of chilling. Just leave it all in the bowl (and save on the washing up).] Anne and Helen Caruana Galizia are co-authors of an admirable book on The Food & Cookery of Malta, which bears many a mark of scholarship as well as practical experience in Maltese kitchens. However, the name of this recipe in their book, which as they point out bears no resemblance to classic French hot or cold soufflŽs, defeated their scholarly enquiries. It seems that no-one has an explanation. But, plainly, we have here a trifle. Maltese Trifle Soufflé 375 ml home-made egg custard (some of it may be chocolate flavoured) 6 large slices of sponge cake 2-3 tbs apricot or strawberry jam 125 ml brandy, sherry or rum 300 g rikotta 3 tbs caster sugar 50 g dark chocolate, chopped 50 g candied peel To finish 2 egg whites 50 g caster sugar bitter chocolate, chopped almonds, roasted, chopped Use a large glass bowl. Pour in a layer of custard. Slice the sponge cake and spread with jam. Arrange a layer over the custard. Sprinkle with brandy, sherry or rum. Beat the lumps out of the rikotta and mix with the caster sugar, chocolate and candied peel. Lay a layer of this on the sponge cake. Repeat the process, continuing until all the ingredients have been used up. Finish with a layer of custard. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Whisk in the caster sugar. Spoon over the trifle, decorating with more chopped chocolate and some chopped roasted almonds. Clearly the meringue topping must have evolved in the absence of cream. Since there are still some people in the world who cling to the belief that there are such things as aphrodisiac foods, and since these people might be disappointed if they found that there was nothing relevant to their pet subject in the present book, we conclude it with an item which, sort of, caters to this requirement. We had been intrigued by a recipe for 'White Chocolate Strawberry Trifle' in Inter Courses: an aphrodisiac cookbook by Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge (1997) and decided to create our own version. It is a really good trifle. But, no more aphrodisiac quality can be detected in it than in the hundreds and thousands of other foods and dishes which have been hopefully put forward to play the role of the crock of gold at the rainbow's end. The recipe is for 2 people. Aphrodisiac Trifle 25 g caster sugar / 1 egg yolk 50 g mascarpone cheese 50 ml whipping cream 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 6-8 medium-sized strawberries 50 ml black coffee, flavoured with 1/2 tbs brandy 4 boudoir biscuits 25 g grated white chocolate crystallised rose petals Biscuits Roses de Reims (optional) Beat well the sugar and egg yolk together. Add the mascarpone and beat until smooth. Whisk the whipping cream until stiff, then blend it and the vanilla into the mascarpone mixture and chill. Slice the strawberries, reserving two whole for decoration. Break the boudoir biscuits into 4 pieces. Dip the pieces in the coffee and distribute them evenly into two individual sundae glasses. Over each, add in turn layers of chocolate, sliced strawberry and mascarpone mixture. Top each with a whole strawberry and decorate with the rose petals. Serve with the lovely pink Biscuits Roses de Reims, if desired.

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