1 text only
Directions
Select firm, well-ripened crab-apples. Wash. Do not pare or remove
stems. Remove blossom ends. Prick skins to prevent fruit bursting.
Cook slowly, until tender, in a pickling sirup as for pickled
peaches. The Household Searchlight
Servings: 6 servings
Pickled Crab-Apples Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Crab; Fish; Fruit; Seafood
The History of Recipes
It is quite possible to trace the history of written cooking instructions far back into history, in truth as far back into history as pharonic Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. In practice though, in the main part, these early cook books were just primitive hieroglyphic recipes for preparing food.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are some clay tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who drank it feel `blissful`. As we move into Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a few documents which described recipes enjoyed by wealthy roman citizens. He describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into appetizers, entrees and afters, something we still use today. This early Roman chef tells us how the Romans used many different herbs and spices, including a few you will know for example basil, fennel and parsley. Moving on, we find a couple of interesting cookery books which were published in the fourteenth century ; one book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary entitled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, these two books have no connection with the spicy food that is familiar to us all today, but instead recipes for the types of meals on the tables of the upper classes of that time. Later, in the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought back many new foods and herbs from Arab countries, including spices like parsley and basil. The introduction of these new tastes led to an outbreak in manuscripts on cookery, many of which are kept safe in private collections. During the following few centuries, the powerful and wealthy tried to serve the most extravagent meals, and as a consequence, the best chefs and their recipe collections were greatly in demand. Notwithstanding that, it was during the 1800s that cooking and recipe collections became popular. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated their lives to collating, verifying, and writing down recipes of the day. By the advent of the 1900s, cook books were increasing in popularity mostly as a result of more people being able to read, people having increased free time and being a little richer. Like it or not, the introduction of TV gave us celebrity chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting everybody to search through thousands of recipes like those on our web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Pickled Crab Apples recipe.
