What's Christmas Like In The 18th Century? And Corriander Cookies From 1796
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
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It’s nutmeg isn’t it
😂
No way. 😬👍
i bet my house on it!
edit: i am now living in fear that a group 18th century men will come and take my house brick by brick, wood bark shingle by wood bark shingle.
I made it and it made me bust a nutmeg.
It
It
It
Lol literally my first words seeing this
You would love Scandinavian Christmas porridge John!
It's made from cooking rice in milk, and is usually served sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon on top, with a little "eye" of butter in the center.
It used to be a status symbol for the upper classes to be able to serve this rice porridge during holidays, because rice was imported and considered a luxury good. In the 1800's it became common for working class people to serve a holiday meal centered around rice porridge.
Norwegians like to drop a skinned almond in the pot at the end of cooking. Whoever ends up getting the almond wins a prize. Usually a marzipan pig.
So interesting that this used to be an upper-class symbol. Back in the 60s & early 70s, my mother made this for our large family because it was cheap. This and cornmeal mush.
I never would have considered Christmas porridge to be a thing, but that doesn't sound half bad.
Aye. Needs to be mentioned that unlike today when it can be dinner on another day, it has been had as a brunch before a late Jól dinner.
Interesting. In Ireland a traditional dessert is ‘pudding rice’ cooked in milk with a little sugar.
This sound remarkably like Greek "Rizogalo", which translates to ricemilk! It is, as you said, rice boiled in milk with sugar, and it is served chilled with cinnamon on top!
Coriander makes a lot of sense if they are making these 6 months ahead of time. Coriander/cilantro goes to seed in the heat of the summer, so they would have very fresh coriander seeds to make these cookeys.
Coriander is also one of the few spices they can grow themselves in America.
I never knew that coriander and cilantro were actually from the same plant. I learned something new today, thanks. 💜
Does Coriander taste the same to non-cilantro compatible humans, 5 to 14% of all humans are non-compatible to Cilantro, to us Cilantro tastes anywhere from pure soap to rotten meat.
How interesting!
@@tattoolimbo the seed tastes like dish soap, too.
I think you are quite correct about the availability of coriander seed both in the colonies and generally in North America. Living in Maine, I've tried to grow ginger in a pot (outdoors in summer, inside in fall, winter and spring), from roots from the health food store, with indifferent success, but cilantro/coriander LOVES it here! Other traditional spices are completely impossible absent an actual heated greenhouse.
John you’ve done so many interpretations of Amelia Simmons cookbook .have you ever thought of writing and a accompanying cookbook with all the portions and how to prepare the recipes. you’ve already done almost the whole book it would be quite easy for you to rewrite it so that all of us could understand it so that we could cook all these fine dishes that you have showed us over the years. I guess it’s just food for thought another fine show thank you so much and merry Christmas to you and your staff
Yes, I'm thinking about it.
@@townsends Go ahead, pls. And write me down on the pre-order list now.
@@townsends I'll take half a dozen for gifts!
@@12gramtalon8 Yessss.
@@townsends I'm in for a copy, I've been watching for years
This time of year is the hardest for me. But this channel is keeping me on an even keel. Thanks for all you do Jon.
Thank you for the very kind comment!
Yes, it really helped me too even though it's just a 15 minute break from all the stuff. All the best Benjamin, and you too Jon if you read this (and the rest of the Townsends team).
Peace be with you, Benjamin
You're gonna make it.
Keep on going brother, there is hope in Christ
If it's not nutmeg we will be so bewildered...
lol yep!
My thoughts exactly
bother Nauru
Is this an inside joke or something?
It doesn't surprise me that Christmas was so different around that period, my history is a bit sketchy but it wasn't until the mid to late Victorian era that we see Christmas like today I think.
Christmas as we think of it today was largely a German import, brought to England by the German Queen Victoria. It also would arrive in the Americas with German immigration from roughly 1830-1850. Trees, wreaths of evergreen, a lot of the carols, all German.
As for how Christmas was celebrated in earlier periods, it's worth mentioning that the Puritans who dominated early New England were the same denomination who would ban Christmas celebrations in the late 1600's back in England.
most of what I've read so far yeah, it seems that the 19th century abouts is when the family gift giving sorta holiday originates
@@thexalon actually it was her German husband Albert
@@WolfingtonStanley I was just thinking- Victoria was definitely British!
@@Marlaina Yes, but she had a German mother:)
That "6 months old" thing reminds me of my wife making pfeffernusse from an old recipe passed down from the North Dakota German side of her family. When made properly, they are baked rock hard and aged for at least a month, preferably two or three. They stay pretty hard, and are typically eaten by dunking into tea or glühwein.
Hey! That sounds like peppernuts, which are a Mennonite Christmas tradition in my family. I actually own a cookbook full of just peppernut recipes. We usually start eating them once they've cooled, but they stay in a jar on the counter for weeks until they're all eaten. Btw the cookbook is called "Peppernuts plain and fancy" for anyone interested. It's still in print, so it's not hard to find.
@@stickychocolate8155 "Pfeffernusse" is the German word for "peppernuts"; so they're essentially the same thing.
I might have to look for that book.
I grew up with pfeffernusse, and I remember being surprised when I was old enough to find out that the main spice was actually black pepper, instead of ginger or cloves or something, but they're so delicious, fresh or aged!
@@stickychocolate8155 I'm the wife in question - am a descendant of the German colonies in Russia, and our towns were right next to Mennonite towns so we have a lot of the same recipes. Have you ever run into the Canadian cookbook "Food that Really Schmecks"? The author lived with an Old Order family and collected a lot of their recipes. My father LOVED that book because it was the food he grew up eating.
@@Kaotiquaso interesting, our peppernut recipe the main flavour is anise! I've come across many different versions, but my family's is my favourite!!
I didn't intend to watch the whole thing, but I couldn't stop. Jon's enthusiasm is infectious. I'm going to come back to this video. Thanks, Jon.
Glad you liked it!
As Jon said, I repeat- there is NO NUTMEG in the recipe!
Poor Jon couldn’t seem to get past that 😆
I'm still trying to get over it.
If there's no nutmeg, then what is this all about?
Between the Dutch and the colonists, it seems that St.Nicholas Day (Dec 6th) and Epiphany/12th Night (Jan 5th) were more celebrated. It's all a good reason to eat cookies!! Thank you for the history, the recipe, and the Townsend's joy. ⭐😊
Merry Christmas to all the Townsends crew and family. I hope you had a nice pot of tea with those cookies!
Love it. In the southwest we have a local cookie that uses a similar spice. Its flavor is pretty unexpected but it quickly becomes a favorite. I enjoy your videos.
I made Nankati ,an Indian(asian)butter cookie for Christmas and people ate it up,even men who were not sweets fans.It had a little cardamom and a pistachio sliver on top.
Interesting! I thought coriander was such a strange spice choice, but that it’s something that survives to the day is pretty cool. Is there a name for the cookie you’re talking about?
What is the cookie ?
@@mrtips2175 It's called "Another Christmas Cookie." You could also call it "Amelia Simmons' Christmas Cookie."
@@poetdrowned It's called "Another Christmas Cookie." You could also call it "Amelia Simmons' Christmas Cookie."
John seemed especially jolly this episode! He must be in the Christmas spirit 😉
I've learned so much about 18th century cooking from you guys, Love the passion and dedication
Merry Christmas to all the wonderful Townsend's family!
Pearl ash also gives a unique flavour that usually explains why there is a lot of spice to cover that flavour. A lot of old Danish cookie recipes call for pearl ash.
We also use *salt of hartshorn* (hjortetakssalt) which is ammonium bicarbonate. But you should only use it in small, flat (ish) cookies like pebbernødder and klejner. Don't use it in something like muffins, because there will be traces of ammonia left in the cake.
@@lakrids-pibe oh god the thought of a cat piss flavored muffin is nauseating
What did pearl ash do
What is pearl ash?
@@debbiecurtis4021 pearl ash is material that has been burned until it becomes a fine white poweder
It's worth remembering that we get the very word cookie from Dutch, koekje, meaning "little cake". Since only the Dutch celebrated Christmas in a way we'd recognize, maybe Dutch treats were especially associated with the season.
Merry Christmas and thanks for another year of great videos.
I love coriander seed and don't get to use it often enough. Putting it in a cookie sounds like a good idea to try.
I like adding coriander to my sausage seasoning. It works really well in milder sausages and really pops if you hot-smoke them with something like hickory.
I always add coriander to my ginger snaps recipe. I'm like you, it's one of my favorite spices so I put it in almost everything.
its one of the major flavors in Cola
A lot of Christmas spice mix tend to have ground coriander seeds in them. It's a very subtle flavour which can get over powered by the stronger spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, mace and cloves. Some mixed sweet spice mixes have ground fennel seeds as well but you don't taste them but they enhance the other spices.
Newfoundlander here.
I have a memory of being in my grandmother's house around Christmas in a small harbour. A group of Mummers from the community came into the old salt-ox house and got into mischief. I was probably 5 or 7 years old (mid 1980s) at the time. One of them pretended to attempt to throw me out the porch door. Of course my family all knew who the mummers were, even dressed up in disguise, so no one was scared lol
I also remember mom's and Nans homemade cherry cake and date squares, dishes of hard Purity candies, and Purity Syrup mixed in water.
There was a man who lived down the road who would dress as Santa and went door to do on Christmas eve, carrying a bag of apples and oranges. My brother and I were so excited!
What memories I have of Christmas 🎄 My parents, particularly my mom, worked hard to give us a wonderful Christmas, even though we were pretty poor. My mom would scrimp and save to give the toy we wanted from Santa. She worked at the fish plant all day, come home and take care of us and clean the house on Christmas eve. Then we'd wake mom and dad at 6 am haha!
I miss the old cookie and desert videos with Ivy. My kids always loved it when she was a guest on the channel. Hate how YT punishes you by demonetizing them.
I just want to express my admiration for the production team at Townsends. You have truly set the bar for production values on RUclips. The writing, photography, presentation, editing -heck, every element is so well crafted. This is what keeps me coming back to your channel over and over.
Merry Kringle to all the Townsends folk! by sheer dumb luck and coincidence, i accidentally made a cookie very similar to this this year. i was supposed to use cardamom, but in my haste i grabbed coriander by mistake. the resulting cookies are not as good as the cardamom ones i ended up making later, but they are very tasty in their own right. can't imagine letting either one sit for 6 months before eating them, though, haha.
Merry Christmas, Jon and the folks at Townsends! I love how happy Jon seems in this episode! Have an egg nog (with plenty of nutmeg!) for me!
Merry Christmas sir. I've learned an awful lot about past cooking from your videos over the years. Watching the kids grow. Even taken up past cooking with many receipts and even cast iron kettles. I've even built a use the same day portable oven. You guys do amazing work. Looking forward to many more years of cooking videos.
If it's nutmeg, it's not a secret on this channel.
I had a neighbor that would talk about mustard seed cookies. I always thought it sounded so strange. But she said when she was a little girl, she was in her eighties and this was in the 1970’s. She said as a very rare treat her mom would make them. The kids would gather up the mustard seeds to save for the next year planting and they would talk their mother into making the cookies. The kids took turns grinding the seeds in a mortar and pestle and would add that to honey and let it sit covered up in the sun and then they would grind corn very fine add that to the honey and then mix in a couple of eggs , a little butter or lard and some wheat or barley flour. Seeing these with coriander makes me want to try both recipes.
Thanks for sharing her memories! They sound good 👍
@@applegal3058 yeah she was a character. She had 12 siblings and had 14 kids of her own. She had great stories to tell.
Wow! Never heard of that! Can't imagine it. Thanks for sharing such an unusual memory!
Merry Christmas Jon, and all the Townsend crew. Blessings 🕊
Allowing the cookies to sit for months on end reminds me of Springerle. Springerle use Hartshorn for the leavening agent and anise for the flavor.
Merry Christmas, and thank you for another wonderful year of videos!
So many people today believe that only the most modern things are important. I don't agree. I LOVE HISTORY!
Merry Christmas! Thanks for putting the ingredients on-screen; that will prove most helpful.
I seem to recall hearing somewhere that many of the English Christmas traditions were stamped out under Oliver Cromwell's reign, so perhaps the lack of seasonal festivity could be traced, at least in part, to English America's Puritan roots.
Exactly. People here could be jailed if they celebrated Christmas until the 1800s.
The secret spice can’t be nutmeg, because that’s too obvious.😊 Merry Christmas!🎄
I love coriander! I think I need to make those. Some thoughts... I've read that Pear Ash is very bitter. I wonder if letting them age and soften up changes the taste as well. You probably don't want to age your modern cookies, even if you had the patience. Not starting out hard and dense, they will probably get stale rather than age well. The English Puritans outlawed Christmas barely a hundred years before this time so there was very little tradition to build on. Most what we think of as "Christmas" is a mid to late Victorian invention.
true. though i wonder if the 'dutch' referred to as the main celebrants are actual dutch people (that is, holland/Netherlands). because my understanding is that a lot of German immigrants were called "dutch" because when asked where they were from, they'd reply "deutschland" or something of the sort, due to language barriers. which many english speaking americans misunderstood for "dutch land". German culture has a lot of christmas celebration stuff, many of which we use today in america.
So, for us Swedes, Christmas is still called Jul (pagan, as in Yule) and celebrations go back to sometime before the vikings.
Julgröt (Christmas rice porridge with cinnamon and sugar) is arguably one of the oldest food traditions (medieval) along with the julöl (ale) and other kinds of beverages (pre viking).
The julgröt was not only eaten by the family but also the house/farm brounie (hus-/gårds-tomten) would HAVE to have his share or he would make your milk sour or even kill your cows or any other misfortune you could think of. Also the animals, both domestic and wild would be given extra food for Christmas.
Nowadays, some might still leave out a bowl of porridge for tomten, but now "Tomten" is the name we use for Santa Claus (as well as the traditional house guardian).
Before Santa Claus, we had the Julbock (Christmas billy goat) - an old pagan symbol that was vilified by the church as anti-pagan propaganda and turned into the symbol of the devil. But we still use straw or fir branch julbockar, tied with red ribbon, as decoration around advent and Christmas.
I want some Julgröt!
@@townsends Should be pretty easy to find a recipe online and I bet it hasn't changed too much since medieval times either. 😁
And for the full experience, one whole (peeled) almond is mixed in with the pot and whoever gets it will get married in the comming year. This tradition is newer though (19th century).
@@JustSaralius This is done in Finland too
During the Middle Ages, Christmas was basically a huge party that lasted for 12 days. It was really the Protestants and especially the Puritans who were so common in the colonies that made Christmas so lame!
It was Aldo larget influenced by the Norse Yule
I grew up in Catholic community and my memories are 8 days of special novenas with special foods
They knew it as a "compromise holiday" created by the Roman Catholic Church to help facilitate the conversion of Pagans by replacing their Yule festival. Most reformist Christians of the time refused to acknowledge it because they knew it was not biblical in origin. A few communities believed it was a mortal sin to take part. Some still do.
SORRY WE LIKE IT PROPER X CALVIN
@@OldSaltyBear That’s a level of religious fanaticism that’s wild still exists today. Religions are constantly in dialogue and flow, there’s nothing wrong with continuing to have a solstice celebration even if the meaning has changed for some people over time!
The other consideration was that they could grow, dry, and grind their own coriander- unlike cloves or nutmeg…
Merry Christmas to everyone at Townsends and this great community I consider family!
I really liked the solo guitar music with the video. Very soothing and simple to go with the mesmerizing video of the mixing of the ingredients.
You too a wonderful christmas and thank you for this delight of a video! 🎄🍪
Made with love
Your "chemical leavening" reminded me of a bit of trivia from my college chemistry days. "Sodium bicarbonate" isn't sodium bicarbonate at all; it's actually sodium hydrogen carbonate. "Bi" means two of something, and baking soda's formula is NaHCO3. "Bicarbonate" was misnamed in 1814 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston, but the name has stuck to this day.
Merry Christmas to the Townsend's Crew - May you have a great 2023
Going back to Christmas traditions, if I remember correctly, I think it was in one of Washington Irving’s writings (The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.) about Christmas festivities while traveling abroad in England in 1820 that helped make Christmas become a more festive holiday back in America. [With that being said, John could read these particular anecdotes from Irving’s book for next year’s Christmas, please?]
For those interested, the "old calendar" thing John refers to in this video occurred between 1750 and 1752, and had 2 effects:
1) England switched from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar, losing approximately 11 days (September 3 to 13th of 1752 were omitted, with September 2 followed by the 14th)
and 2) the beginning of the year was changed from March 25th to January 1st, starting January 1st 1751. So, for example, Charles I was executed February 9th, so in England his execution was recorded as part of 1648, while under the New Calendar it would be part of 1649.
I liked how he glosses over it, as if it was of little historical significance.
I watched something about that, either on PBS or here on youtube. Each country/territory changed over at different times, but countries like England were among the last because they did not like anything Papal.
I love that you are so intellectually honest in your research
I’ve been binging on your cooking episodes - I’m fascinated by this subject as you present it . Also, I’m thinking about how important this history is and I’m glad there are folks like you keeping it from being lost to time altogether. ❤
Thank you for the very kind comment!
Thank you so much! My people are from upstate NY. My grandmother mentions some Dutch families in our family tree. It’s nice to think they might have helped bring Christmas to America. This was so interesting to hear about Christmas in early America.
That comment about Christmas parties and visiting in Thomas Turner's journal is extremely relatable to me, also an introvert and I feel the same way he did about the season being over and no longer having to visit.
Your channel is sincerely one of my favorite things on the internet. Thank you.
As usual another great video! I love these and as I cook a roast beef and gather Christmas pudding ingredients, it’s a wonderful connection to the past. Much appreciated! Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday to you and the good folks of Townsends!
Merry Christmas to you and yours and all involved with this wonderful channel. Thanks for all the great content throughout the years
Merry Christmas to the whole crew at Townsend’s! Thank you for all the the beautiful videos.
Your optimism is contagious:) Really appreciate the video!
I read the "can you guess the secret spice?" caption and chuckled to myself
AND IT WASN'T NUTMEG?!?!?!
I love coriander! I'm going to try these. Merry Christmas!
John, I (and others, I'm sure) are very blessed to have you in our lives. Your videos bring me unparalleled comfort. Thank you truly, and enjoy your holidays, please.
Edit: how silly of me, please pass this along to the rest of the Townsend team! You are all great.
Christmas porridge! That is a Swedish thing; I don't know much about it, not being Swedish, but it brought back memories of Astrid Lindgren's books. So it's very interesting to hear it is an old tradition. :-)
It's a very old tradition in Sweden (pre-Christian, even) and is still being practiced today. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you, Ivy, and the whole family and company!
I love how much Jon loves cookies :)
Merry Christmas townsends
Merry Christmas Townsends! Interesting cookie!
At 3/4 inch on a dough like that is the reason it takes 6 months to soften lol!
Sounds very like the ginger cakes you made from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Those New York Dutch housewives were as prodigious as cooks as many Dutchmen were as painters.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thanks for all the hard work. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I love this channel so much, I discovered it at the tail end of this year and I'm going to be making these cookies on Christmas eve. Thanks for making a great channel with great recipes. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Merry Christmas John and company!
Rosemary shortbread cookies are actually really good too, a German friend I know makes these!
Delicious!!! The flavor seems somehow minty in shortbread!
Happy Christmas Holiday everyone.
Merry Christmas, Jon and your family, and the wonderful team at Townsend’s
I love all the research you do. I always learn so much! Happy holidays!
Beautiful music! Great content! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all at Townsends!
Absolutely surprising and delicious recipe! Thank you, my friends and family loved it!
I usually make sweet breads and hot chocolate for Christmas. I am in California and my mom has Mexican heritage. My husband would always expect me to make cookies for Christmas, which would throw me off a bit. After a few years I realized it is a tradition he got from his mom and the East Coast. He is not Dutch but his grandparents immigrated to Massachusetts and were Christian. It is all coming together now.
Christmas porridge is still definitely a thing in Sweden and most of Scandinavia.
It is nowadays made from boiling round rice in milk, often served with cinnamon, milk and sugar.
In older times (pre 1800s) it was usually made with rye or barley and was served with cream, eggs and butter, the same style of porridge was often common in weddings or celebrations in the 1500-1700s.
I made these last year based on an older video's recipe. They are surprisingly good for being so simple!
They look great. Thank you for the post.
Whilst I have been in court on Christmas Eve, but never Christmas Day! Love Jon’s joy and enthusiasm for Christmas cookies and traditions which I share. No nutmeg?!!!
Oh this was fantastic, thank you! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you and your family, mine love it as well. It is very interesting to hear about how Christmas was in earlier America, as I would have expected something closer to modern day. Thanks for all the great videos this year!
Since all my cilantro bolts, I’m going to plant some and harvest the seeds to save for next Christmas. I already have enough to do for this Christmas… Merry Christmas to all! 🎄🎅
Merry Christmas Jon and all the Townsends team! 🎄
Merry Christmas to all of you. You all warm my heart.
Merry Christmas to you and everyone there at Townsends!
I would guess 'kitchen pepper' because it is a blend I would enjoy in a butter and sugar cookie.
Such a great show. Really puts things into perspective.
I made these cookies for Christmas this year, using freshly ground coriander, and they're going to be a permanent part of my cookie repertoire. They're an especially great cookie for a humid environment--it's the only cookie recipe I made this year where I wasn't fighting against the humidity through the whole process.
Merry Christmas from a full blood Dutch cookie baker!
You look better with the beard bro, really adds to the whole look.
Christmas Porridge is still a tradition in Sweden (and other Nordic countries I assume) during this time. It's a rice porridge served with milk, cinnamon and sugar.
Merry Christmas everyone!!
Lots of love from Australia
❤❤❤❤
Really enjoyed this!
Wonderful content as always.. Merry Christmas to you all!
Once again, another entertaining and informative video. To answer the question in the video heading, my initial guess was pine needles. I probably was thinking of the beer brewed with it. That and the Christmas part, too. I love using ground coriander. I often use it with other spices to create rubs.
Oh we still us the "pearl ash (Pottasche)" in german christmas cookies.
I just wanted to say that I've been following this channel for going on 7 years now, and have made many recipes from it, some multiple times. I just finished making these cookies, and just exclaimed out loud how good they are when I had a sneaky bite straight out of the oven. Really something else, so simple so as to let the coriander shine through in all of its complexity.
I'm baking another batch now that has some more spices added, hopefully those turn out as good as this first, basic batch.
That candle with the loose papers hanging out of the book is making me anxious lmao
Thank you, Merry Christmas. God Bless and stay safe.
I just made these following your recipe and they are delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe! I'll be sharing them with family for Christmas.
Thank you for what you do.