Cooking In A Castle

My friend, Anne, recently sent me home with French cookbook entitled Cooking In A Castle by William Kaufman.  It's a tough job, traveling around France, visiting castles and eating their food, but someone has to do it.  (Why isn't it me?)

The book is chocked full of pictures of castles, but nary a morsel of food.  Still, it offers up some interesting recipes.  It seems that in France, as in much or the world, owning a castle is not cracked up to what it used to be.  One must keep up the building and grounds without loyal subjects who face the guillotine if they do not obey.  So many of these later day chateau owners have become defacto hoteliers to keep the lights on.

The book, published in 1965, offers up a Red Devil Cake.  This version of a Red Velvet Cake is usually found in books about the American South, not the South of France, but there it is in all its glory, illustrating that the history of our popular red cake is not as unique or as Southern as we think. 

Today's recipe is from the Cahteau de Cheronnac.  Its major claim to fame is that at one time (when this book was written) it was owned by Lily Fayol, chanteuse extraordinaire.

As summer is creeping up on us, I am always on the lookout for tomato recipes.  This recipe for a Tomato Pie has my mind spinning with all the different ways I can make (improve) it.

Tomato Pie

Pastry for one pie crust
6 large, firm tomatoes, sliced
1/3 to 1/2 cup butter
Salt, pepper, curry powder


Cut a 14 inch circle of aluminium foil; place on baking sheet and flour lightly.  Roll out pastry into a 14-inch circle; flute edges if desired.  Bake in a 425 F. oven for 10 minutes; remove.  Sprinkle tomato slices lightly with salt, pepper and curry powder.  Dredge in flour.  Melt butter in a large skillet.  Fry quickly on both sides until brown and crisp.  Place tomato slices on top of the pastry side by side. Bake in 350 F. oven 12 to 15 minutes.

This looks like a definite summer staple.

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The Gardner and the Cook

This is a wonderful relic of the Victorian past. Lucy Yates tells us the story of her gardener and cook. "The Gardener" is one Charles Mann nicknamed by Yates "Charlemagne.” “The Cook” is a French woman named Charlotte. Yates gives us a tour of her life in the rarefied England at the turn of the last century. Recently Persephone Books reprinted another of Yates’ books, The Country Housewife's Book, but even they have little information on Yates.

Her words must speak for themselves. Here is her introduction to the tomato.

"The Latin name of the tomato is Solarium lycopersicum, the edible wolf's peach, or, popularly speaking, love apple. Another solanum, of which we also eat the fruit, is the aubergine, called in India the hrinjal.

It took some time for us English people to learn to like the tomato and to appreciate it thoroughly, but now we know that no garden can be considered properly productive unless it rears a few plants, and any one who has a greenhouse or frame at once settles to grow tomatoes therein."

And what to do with those tomatoes?

Tomato Rolls. — The skins and cores are removed from six to eight tomatoes, and these are pulped down. With them are put a few spoonfuls of minced ham, onion, a little seasoning, the crumb of a stale roll dipped in milk, a few drops of tarragon vinegar, and the yolk of an egg to bind the
mixture together. It is then shaped into rolls, dipped in egg, rolled in crumbs and cheese mixed, and fried in fat until crisp and brown. The dish is garnished with fried parsley.

This book was written in 1912. Two years later, the first World War would begin. It is rather sad to read this lovely little book knowing what is ahead for Charlemagne, Charlotte and Lucy.

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The National Trust Book of the Country Kitchen Store Cupboard

The National Trust Book of the Country Kitchen Store Cupboard by Sara Paston-Williams has a title almost as long as the book itself. Sara Paston-Williams is one of those cookery writers with a profound sense of history and the historical place that food plays in that history. She has worked for the National Trust, managing restaurants and writing about much of the traditional fare that would have graced the tables of many a stately home.

As you know, I love larders, pantries, and store cupboards, so this book speaks to me. There is a section on fruit cheeses. A fruit cheese is a type of curd. As a child, one of my favorite cakes was a Lemon Cheese Cake. Yankee's (especially the New York kind) don't understand Lemon Cheese Cake, an airy white cake filled with a pungent, jaw-aching lemon "cheese." I remember making one and my roommate saying, "That's not cheesecake!" We have always tried to forgive the ignorance of those less fortunate individuals who never resided in the South.

I make a wonderful Tomato/Orange Marmalade/ChowChow confiture, so I was intrigued with this jam.

Tomato and Orange Jam

2lb (900g) red tomatoes
Grated rind and juice of two oranges
Juice of 2 lemons
2lb (900g) sugar

Choose firm tomatoes. Wash and skin the and cut into quarters. Put in a pan and add grated rind and juice of the oranges. Cover a the pan and cook gently for about 10-15 minutes or until tomatoes are very tender. Add lemon juice, and stir in warmed sugar, heating gently until the sugar has completely dissolved. then, increase the heat and bring to a boil. Boil rapidly for 10-15 minutes, until setting point is reached, stirring occasionally. Allow jam to cool for about 5 minuets before pouring into jars. Cover and store. This jam is very good spread thickly on wholemeal or granary bread or scones.

Seems to me, it might be great right out of the jar.

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Lois Burpee's Gardener's Companion and Cookbook

It is cold, the garden is in winter disrepair and I am already looking forward to getting seed catalogues for next year.


Since I didn’t have any seed catalogues, I turned to a “seed catalogue” cookbook. Burpee’s is a leading purveyor of seeds in America. Lois Burpee met her husband at a flower show. She got a job with the Burpee Company and after a year was doing research for David Burpee. After a time, he proposed and Lois became Mrs. Burpee.

Many years later, after growing a plethora of vegetable varieties, she wrote a cookbook, Lois Burpee's Gardener's Companion and Cookbook. The recipes are straight forward, using a wide variety of vegetables. This book was written in the early 1980’s so the variety of currently available heirloom and antique varieties of plants are not represented. It would actually be fun to see this cookbook revised with the many addition to the Burpee’s catalogue in the last 25 years.

The favorite vegetable for growing is the tomato. Here is a great idea for the abundant tomato.

Tomato Pudding

4 slices white bread, toasted and cut into small cubes
4 cups thick tomato juice or purée
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons raisins, pressed down
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Salt (if tomato juice or purée is not salted)
1 tablespoon butter

Put half the toast cubes in the bottom of a buttered baking dish. Heat together all the together ingredients except the butter and pour over the toast cubes. Place the remaining toast cubes on top and press down a little. Dot with butter and bake at 325 F for 30 minutes or until heated through.

I am going to make a big dish of Tomato Pudding and patiently wait by my mailbox.

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