I dreamt Riptide had accepted Exoticism, except they’d changed their name and used a completely different story of mine. One I wrote when I was about thirteen (if I could remember which, I’d dig it out again). Also, I was on a train that stopped at a wet and grey seaside town, and there was some kind of mystery. Then I dreamt I missed my dentist appointment and he was very angry.

Mostly, though, I was disappointed that I only dreamt about the Riptide acceptance, and that it’s going to be some weeks yet before I can even think about hearing back from them.

Anyway, this week I’ve got two recipes for Egg Pie from Court Cookery. It’s a nice example of how period cookey books group recipes. Sometimes you’ll get several near-identical versions of the same recipe, sometimes you’ll get some completely different recipes under the same name. This is an example of the latter.

First, a basic Shortcrust Pastry Recipe

This isn’t period accurate. Shortcrust is really quite recent. Medieval pies were made with a liquid lard dough that wasn’t usually eaten; in fact, you often reused them. Georgian and later liked to use puff pastry, but I can’t make that! So, it’s a nice solid, edible, and quite delicious shortcrust instead. Leftovers can be used to make cheese straws!

Ingredients

100g plain white flour
50g butter
(or any variation, as long as you have twice as much flour as fat)
Cold water

Equipment

Sieve
Bowl
Knife

Instructions

Sieve your flour into the bowl

Cut your butter into small pieces

Get your fingers in there and rub the flour and butter into the consistency of breadcrumbs. Try lifting it high above the bowl and letting it fall as you rub; this gets more air into the pastry.

Add the cold water gradually, using a knife to bind the mixture together.

Use your fingers to roll the pastry into a ball. When you’re done, you can roll it around the bowl without leaving any crumbs or smears stuck to the side.

Stick it in the fridge to cool which you make the pie contents.

An Egg Pie

Ingredients

5 eggs
250g of bone marrow or beef suet (failing both, you can probably get away with finely minced beef, but I’ve not tried it)
Mace, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Sugar, Salt, Lemon peel, Citron to season
More Citron and Biscuit Crumbs to top
Your Pastry
Milk

Equipment

Saucepan
Pie Dish
Bowl
Spoon
Fork
Pastry Brush

Instructions

I’ve quartered the original ingredients here, so instead of hard boiling 20 eggs, you only have to hard boil 5.

Allow to cool (or stick into a bowl of cold water) and peel the shells off. Mash with a fork. Add the marrow or suet.

Season with your many spices. From the lemon and citron, just use the zest.

Roll out your pastry Cut a circle a little too big for the base of the pie and line your pie dish. Prick some holes in the bottom and put into the oven.

Cook on a low heat until the base is crisp and beginning to turn golden (about ten minutes). If you see bubbles forming, poke them with your fork. It should shrink as it cooks (which is why you want it too big to start with)

Take out of the oven and add your filling. Roll our a top for the pie. Use the brush to spread milk around the edge of the pie crust before laying the top on. Press down on the edges with the fork to bind the top to the base. Cover it with milk, and prick or cut it to let the steam out.

Cook on a medium heat until golden. About half an hour, I find.

An Egg Pie another Way

Ingredients

5 egg yolks
1/2 pint Custard (I already did pastry, so you can work our custard for yourself!)
Mace, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Sugar, Salt, Lemon, Citron to season
Your Pastry (less than the previous pie)
Milk

Equipment

Saucepan
Pie Dish
Bowl
Spoon
Fork
Pastry Brush

Instructions

I’ve quartered the original ingredients here, so instead of hard boiling 20 eggs, you only have to hard boil 5.

Allow to cool (or stick into a bowl of cold water) and peel the shells off. Cut open and remove the yolks.

Mash or grate the yolks. Season with your many spices. From the lemon and citron, just use the zest.

Empty the water from the saucepan you used to boil them, and bung everything into the pan, along with the custard.

While this is cooking, roll out your pastry. Cut a circle a little too big for the base of the pie and line your pie dish. Prick some holes in the bottom and put into the oven.

Cook on a low heat until the base is crisp and beginning to turn golden (about ten minutes). If you see bubbles forming, poke them with your fork. It should shrink as it cooks (which is why you want it too big to start with)

Take out of the oven and add your filling. Bake in the oven for about thrity minutes, until it’s golden brown and firm.

Take out, and sprinkle with citron zest, and add biscuit crumbs.

Court cookery: or, The compleat English cook
By Robert Smith
Edition: 2
Published 1725
Original from Oxford University
Digitized May 1, 2007

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BTW, if you’re in the UK, watch the Budget Report on BBC iPlayer. 27:03 minutes in. There was a competition…