"I forgot the Nutmeg when I was putting the spices in..." _somewhere far away John Townsend wakes up in a cold sweat_ Wife: "What is it, honey? Bad dream?" John: _distant gaze_ "I sense a disturbance."
Imagine a multiverse where Thanos snaps all nutmeg out of existence. John Townsend proceeds to wield Mjolnir and Cap's shield.... Thanos: "What do you have now Mr. Townsend." JT: "DEEZ NUTS...MEG"
Everyone keeps saying how different this episode is, but I don't think so. It's a lovely episode and I see how similar Ryan and John are in presenting. Very personal, friendly and warm, and detailed. Fits in well with the channel.
Personally, what I like best about Ryan is that he is so committed to the historical recreation that he wears those tiny lenses. I would go mad if I had to wear those, but in the 18th century, when each lens was the finest glass ground by a fingertip rolling on a emery, making a big lens that covered the whole face of your eye-socket would have been extraordinarily expensive. That and he is clearly a competent cook, which the world always benefits from having more of.
@ShadowAngel Not really. He is a big man for sure, but being fat does not change the shape of your skull or your eyes. Those are small glasses, plain and simple.
Ryan has a great presence. If he's included in any of these episodes, I always give it them a little more credit. You can tell by his joy in this work that he really understands the process and pursuit of period piece foods. Always great to see him.
The positive affirmations about how mistakes can be corrected while prepping was great. I have found most people reluctant to try antiquated recipes because of the fear of failure. This video is a lighthearted and very supportive way to encourage more people to try “old things”. Excellent job!
I really liked Ryan’s presentation. Both he and Jon are such kind-hearted folks. Fantastic presentation Ryan and look forward to more of your presence on the channel. Also, I was laughing at some of your inflections and how you are rolling your hands as you described the dishes. Just a great job, sir!
@@MikehMike01 There's a lot more educational value in a video that makes history living and interesting than there is in a lesson that just makes you memorise dates and places.
as someone who doesn't eat meat, but loves this channel, I appreciate this recipe and that you made the non-meat meatballs with butter (vegetarian) and cooked it first (uncontaminated). You guys are great!
@@chickenman1801 Which would have made no sense, historically. If you're making a meatball because you have no meat, you're not going to have the meat ones to fry it in first.
@@chickenman1801 Yes, but you didn't say "you should fry them in meat fat". You said "you should fry the meat ones first". That's not going to be relevant to when they were making meatless ones.
@@mahna_mahna it's relevant when we are talking about this video where the comment I am replying too is about the order these meatballs have been fried in.
Dude don't get me wrong I love John but man Ryan is really informative and entertaining!!!... John is kind of like listening to a storyteller whereas Ryan is more like listening to a scientist
I'd say John is like listening to your dad or grandpa, very informative and calming. I'd say Ryan is like listening to an older sibling or cousin, entertaining with some good side knowledge.
It's always a pleasure seeing Ryan cooking, he is such a passionate guy and you can really see how much he likes preparing a meal and thinking about the history behind it
I really appreciate you doing this series. I'm a college student living in dorms in a big city. I don't have an outdoor oven, the stores around here don't sell things like suet. Butcher shops are hard to find anyways, the ingredients I use will have to be something I can find at Walmart or Target or the university's convenience store cause that's all we got. But the recipes on this channel look so cool, I've always wanted to do them. So I really appreciate you making 18th century cooking more accessible for everyone.
even if the whole recipe isn't strictly vegetarian i always get so excited seeing these meatless/meat substitute recipes in my notifications. i love watching you guys cook just about anything but these make me extra happy
Ryan is just as wholesome as John, love seeing him get solo episodes. Very kind soul, and very good at describing every detail of the food and comparing it to modern day tastes and recipes.
I have not been a fan for hushpuppies as they are typically so dry; however, there were a couple of times I had the pleasure of tasting a really delicious hushpuppy. Now, Ryan, you have blessed me with an opportunity to make delicious hushpuppies! Thank you! I truly enjoy these episodes.
Hush puppies was my first thought once he started making the meatless one. As for the nutmeg size, makes it more of a true bite size than what we are used to!
@@heysuz701 Agreed, the giant meatballs of today are off-putting to me. If I have to take 2+ bites to eat it, I may as well have meatloaf or another meat dish. This size seems perfect to me!
A comment on meatball sizes: Swedish meatballs are often oversized in America. While we don't typically make them as small as a nutmeg (tiny!) we don'y make them the size of golf balls either! They're maybe an inch in diameter, tops.
Same for me here in Australia. Even the Ikea Swedish meatballs are nowhere as big as in the US. For me, about 250g (1/2lb) of mince (ground beef) makes enough walnut size meatballs for 2. I find most single portion sizes in the US are enough for 2 people...good way to save money when eating out though.
They are all as warm and genuine in person as they appear on screen. I once got to go to a Jim's Red Pants concert at Jas. Townsend & son with my family (before they reconfigured the store). They treated us all as family.
The vegetarian “forcemeat” balls were often used to garnish roasted poultry as it’s not easy to stuff a spit-roasted bird. Think of it as stuffing cooked outside the bird.
I wish people were less inclined to make gigantic meatballs. the whole point of meatballs is the lovely browned outside, so the smaller you make them, the more outside you get.. and less dry, crumbly insides.
What a great video! Ryan you have real presence and I love that you encourage viewers to experiment and make the recipes. This was really enjoyable, ten thumbs up would watch Ryan again and again and again.
the intent with meatballs was to spread out the meat usage the same is true for lasagne. if you look at old recipes of lasagne the meat content will be cut in half if not more. if you only had enough meat for 4 people but you needed to feed 8 this is how they dealt with it.
Many years ago in Trinidad, our group made a stop at the roadside. There was a nutmeg tree with ripe fruits on it. The fruits were the size of a peach with a vertical split. Inside each was a nutmeg in the shell with the reddish thick webbing of mace on it. Some of us took advantage of this and harvested fresh nutmegs off the tree. For some years afterwards, I used nutmeg of a known age and source. How many people can say that?
Thank you for bringing us recipes that we can cook in our own kitchen and it would still taste like it would have so long ago. It's like eating history. Blessings
Interesting that the method uses suet with a consistency like room-temperature butter. In the UK, suet is readily available in supermarkets and is usually sold unrefridgerated in a box filled with small pellets of suet rather than being sold in a lump like butter or lard. Whenever I've seen anyone use suet fresh from the carcass of an animal or bought fresh from the butcher, it is kept cold, grated, washed in cold water to remove any blood or other unwanted things, then stirred through a mixture in that form. Used in both those ways, it acts like cold, grated butter stirred through pastry - it keeps its shape when mixed in at room temperature but melts when cooked, leaving air pockets and increasing the lightness of a dough and improving its texture. Any thoughts on how fresh suet would have been used in a recipe like this in the 18th century? My instinct is that the intention was to lighten and lubricate the forcemeat balls and I wonder if grated suet was the recipe's intention with just the egg used as a binder.
Looks great! I’d want to try this! It’s like different seasoning of the meatballs we are used to. The meatless one made me immediately think of Italian meatless meatballs. It’s same seasoning but no meat in it. A tip I learned from a chef is to put the onion, garlic parsley salt and pepper in a blender with a bit of tomato sauce or in a food processor, to mix with the other ingredients.
I truly do try some of the recipes from this channel. As a lifetime vegetarian, I am especially happy about today's episode because of the meatless meatballs! Definitely gonna try this soon. I make my own bread so the crumb for me will be very different and not as fine as the one used here. Will be interesting and I'm looking forward to it. Now I've just gotta go grocery shopping. (It's September; I haven't been to the grocery since mid-July. Oh my.)
@@lyra2112 Good idea. I actually like them not to be too fine, though, because I think that bigger crumbs give a nice texture to various types of meatless patties that I've made.
@@wannabe4668 Thank you for your assessment. I cannot eat meat due to a medical issue. It is not easy always being vegetarian but it keeps me alive and I am grateful for recipes that don't contain something that I am unable to digest.
Well done, Ryan! I really enjoyed this episode. The comparison/contrast approach kind of reminds me of the earlier Tale of Two Cakes. Always a pleasure watching you cook.
Great Job Ryan and the 18the Century crew,❤️, We love seeing Ryan tossed into the mix, breaks up the same ol,same ol... ✌️👍🤟 P.S. Dont forget we have an on-site Blacksmith that performs outstanding first class work and needs to be let out of the shed once in a while!!! ✌️👍
I absolutely love the standalone cooking episode with Ryan. He does a great job at bringing a modern Spin With his speech but still Remaining old world. It's a great way to diversify the channel
Oh wow this was fantastic! Thank you for sharing this! I'm glad you're getting time to shine too, Ryan! I'd be up for more cooking episodes with you for sure!
One of the reason I really like Townsends, because they just keep help justifying the recipe, allow ppl to enjoy the food even in the not-so-good time. No meat? U got this! etc
At first I was like " Where's John".... But wow!! I thoroughly enjoyed Ryan's presentation and commitment to authenticity yet ease in the kitchen. I will definitely be checking out his pantry episodes. I hope to see more of this collaboration in the future. Great episode, it's just what I needed this morning...except now I want meatballs for breakfast. 🥰
I need to make the meatless meatballs for my vegetarian partner. I bet they would be even better with a little mushroom sauce. I wonder what would go with them to round out the meal.
There was a salmon cooked with mushrooms in champagne that they did a video on. I bet the meatless meatballs would be amazing with that sauce served over them for a special meal… I made the salmon and it was crazy good. The sauce was amazing.
Perhaps for the nutmeg, they meant a fresh non dried nutmeg with the mace and all that still on it. If you think about it that way it would be about the size of a normal meatball.
This is the first time I've seen you cook some on the channel. You, sir are excellent. I'm going to join T+ just so I can watch more of your cooking. You and Jon are so calming and interesting to watch. Can't get enough!
Its really interesting to realise the availability of ingredients in other countries. Watching this channel, I've heard little things like lamb and suet are hard to get a hold of in the US, but lamb here in Australia is as common as any other meat all over the country and suet is in all supermarket chains. I just always assumed that since the US was an Anglo-Saxon colonised country like Australia, that we would have had access to the same food native to the UK, especially since we share the same dietary habits such as our world leading meat consumption.
Been binge-watching these videos while being sick (just a bad chest cold, thankfully!) because these are absolutely fascinating! Unfortunately, because of my being sick & how soothing the music is, I keep fighting off the urge to nap! LOL! Absolutely LOVE this channel... Keep up the great work!
The vegetarian one i'd wager is fairly close to a chickpealess falafel ball. The meat one, I mean given the age of the recipe a shortage of meat is inherent. My grandparents grew up middle class and only ate meat 3 times a week. 150 years earlier meat would have been much scarcer.
@@rosemcguinn5301 Even during the Great Depression era it wasn’t regularly consumed by many people. The host of another great channel on here, Great Depression Cooking, had said before how rare it was for them to have it. I’m guessing the regular consumption of meat was another thing born from the economic prosperity following World War Two.
@@terminallumbago6465 That was certainly true for most of my family. My dad shared with us that he'd had bread and milk for supper many times during the depression, as they were very poor at that time and there was little else to eat
My grandma told me that when she was little, the only meat she got was chicken feet. Only the men who worked in the fields got a regular piece of chicken.
I am actually really intrigued by having someone else host the show and if it helps to make content more consistently or allows you focus more on each recipe then you have my support and I'm interested to see what you do next.
My best friend is vegan and I love cooking challenges so I like to make "meat and potatoes" type foods vegan and then tell her if it's good. I made a vegan meat pie once that was just amazing believe it or not 😂 I'm going to try the meatless meatballs with margarine and "Just Egg" which is a vegan, liquid egg substitute. I bet it's going to be a winner ☺
@@broonage I feel like there's probably a lot of "accidentally vegan/vegetarian" recipes from this era, because like the no-meat meatballs someone might not have meat available...on the other hand, yeah, I doubt there are many "intentionally vegan" ideas
I recommend white bean pate: you did it by cooking white beans with herbs, salt and pepper, frying some onions and apple on oil, throwing it into a blender with paprika and bake until skin forms on the top. Really delicious, i prefer it over meat pate.
Thanksgiving in the US today and last night we're talking with my extended family about cooking and the work it would have been without our modern tools and what is available in stores. We ended up showing a few Townsend cooking videos for the extended family and everyone loved them! They hadn't heard about the channel. They're now fans.
Awesome job Ryan! This looked really nice, imagine someone on the frontier or anywhere else in the world, trying to make the best out of their stale bread. Linked it to my friend and I'm looking forward to try a townsend recipe this weekend, made the forced meatballs few years ago, and thinking about some other dish this time. What would you suggest. Something achievable please :D
* excited vegetarian enters * I'd love to try these with some lentils and mushrooms!! Historical recipes are tricky for vegetarians but very appreciated! P.S. YIKES never forget the nutmeg!! xD
Meatless Meatballs?! I was intrigued! Perfect for a Catholic foodie who abstains from flesh meat every Friday of the year!!! Thank you Ryan, Townsends & Co.
The only Hush Puppies I know of are the shoe brand, which is named after the food. It's just the kind of thing we don't really have here in Australia. Thank you that meatless recipe, so I can now try to cook them myself and get an idea of what hush puppies, the food, are all about.
Hush puppies are corn meal based instead of bread crumbs. And deep fried in oil, usually oil that also fries fish so you get a hint of seafood. Those are the main differences. I love hush puppies.
My nan used to make what she called "breadballs". After making something, like chicken cutlets, there was always left over Italian breadcrumbs and egg. So, she'd pour the eggs into the breadcrumbs, roll them into balls, and fried them, rather than let the breadcrumbs and eggs go to waste. She also squashed them a bit, to make them fry easier. My mom and I liked them so much, we would make breadballs on purpose, not just because we had leftover breadcrumbs and egg. We would also add different seasonings to add to the flavor. When I eventually stopped eating meat, they became something I make even more often now.
I wonder if the meatless option was intended for people who were fasting. I know it's much less common of a practice among Protestants than Catholics, but people did do it for assorted personal religious purposes, as well as for health reasons.
As coming from a Lutheran background, I remember my grandmother fasting for Easter when i was a kid, so definitely agree with you on the meatless option for fasting.
Great show. I really enjoy seeing you in these episodes. I do cooking (Sous-chef) for a reenacting Civil War group in Alabama. We call our group, "The Useless Mess." I always like seeing you and Jon Townsends' shows to get ideas for our cooking impressions. Thank you all.
The meatless balls remind me on a meal we used to have in the monastery. I can see a lot of everyday history preserved in monastic life. Since we often fasted from meat, we had a lot of vegetarian meals, one of which was stuffing balls. We used to bake them rather than fry them, with big chunks of roasted onions in the pan to add amazing flavour to the oil. They were small, like these ones, too. So crunchy on the outside and soft inside and so flavourful. It's kind of exciting to see that this is a historical thing and not just something Mother Gregory whipped up one Friday when we had nothing else - although that happened pretty often, too!
The nutmeg size reference has me convinced this recipe was actually written by a Townsend family ancestor.
Shouldn't that be Townſend?
@@cpiantes yes it ſould
Why do the s' look like that in those older scripts? The obviously have the types for 'normal' s, since they use those if a word ends in s.
@Steve Dave thank you for that. Always wondered about that. Looks like f to me
@@Aalienik aq
"I forgot the Nutmeg when I was putting the spices in..."
_somewhere far away John Townsend wakes up in a cold sweat_
Wife: "What is it, honey? Bad dream?"
John: _distant gaze_ "I sense a disturbance."
_...later..._
_John, bursting into the set:_
- The *spice* must FLOW!
Ryan had to make sure to put in the nutmeg before things went any further.
It’s like a million nutmegs crying out at once.
Imagine a multiverse where Thanos snaps all nutmeg out of existence.
John Townsend proceeds to wield Mjolnir and Cap's shield....
Thanos: "What do you have now Mr. Townsend."
JT: "DEEZ NUTS...MEG"
This comment thread gives me life.
(Also I'm laughing my fool head off. 🤣🤣😂😂)
Ryan: "I forgot the Nutmeg"
John: *I've never seen this man before in my life*
Everyone keeps saying how different this episode is, but I don't think so. It's a lovely episode and I see how similar Ryan and John are in presenting. Very personal, friendly and warm, and detailed. Fits in well with the channel.
Ryan really seems to be hitting his stride. Nice job.
Came for the learning, stayed (6+yrs later) for the charisma (read: honesty)
Great guys and gals, all around.
I second that! I'd say that both are approachable and friendly, knowledgeable and interested enough to keep viewers interested.
A little stiff in front of the camera but the only way to solve that is to do this more often to get more comfortable
Different doesn’t mean bad. Ryan brings his own flavour and that’s a beautiful thing.
"Roll into balls the thickness of a nutmeg"
Jon Townsend bursts through the wall
18th century music intensifies
Can't escape runescape even on a townsend video. Keep being you gnome man! lol
Next they gotta try making raisins into grapes
Oh, yeah!
- Nutmeg Man
Orff - Carmina Burana: O Fortuna plays
Instead of being dressed as the Kool-Aid Man Jon shows up dressed as the Switchel-Man of Succor, pocket grater in hand
Personally, what I like best about Ryan is that he is so committed to the historical recreation that he wears those tiny lenses. I would go mad if I had to wear those, but in the 18th century, when each lens was the finest glass ground by a fingertip rolling on a emery, making a big lens that covered the whole face of your eye-socket would have been extraordinarily expensive. That and he is clearly a competent cook, which the world always benefits from having more of.
Oh man, yeah, I always go for the biggest possible glasses - those tiny ones would be even worse than just going without... That is *dedication* !
Peter Griffin
Tiny glasses when you're shortsighted...made that mistake once...never again. It's awful, to have such a small field of clear vision.
@ShadowAngel Not really. He is a big man for sure, but being fat does not change the shape of your skull or your eyes. Those are small glasses, plain and simple.
I cant stand not having my peripheral vision as is, I couldn't imagine having that small of a pair of glasses
Always glad to see Ryan, even more when he gets a whole episode to himself.
Ryan has a great presence. If he's included in any of these episodes, I always give it them a little more credit. You can tell by his joy in this work that he really understands the process and pursuit of period piece foods. Always great to see him.
The positive affirmations about how mistakes can be corrected while prepping was great.
I have found most people reluctant to try antiquated recipes because of the fear of failure.
This video is a lighthearted and very supportive way to encourage more people to try “old things”.
Excellent job!
No mistakes, just happy accidents
This is one reason I love watching Chef John's channel. He keeps his mistakes in, and tenderly mocks them.
It's like that with any recipe, really. Sometimes the mistakes taste better than the actual recipe!
I really liked Ryan’s presentation. Both he and Jon are such kind-hearted folks. Fantastic presentation Ryan and look forward to more of your presence on the channel. Also, I was laughing at some of your inflections and how you are rolling your hands as you described the dishes. Just a great job, sir!
History teachers need to show Townsends videos in class
I think that after every episode
I've learned more from Townsends than I did in history class, food is a universal language
My favorite part of history was always how people lived their lives. Food is a huge part of this
very little educational value here but ok
@@MikehMike01 There's a lot more educational value in a video that makes history living and interesting than there is in a lesson that just makes you memorise dates and places.
Ryan seems like the nicest guy in the world.
as someone who doesn't eat meat, but loves this channel, I appreciate this recipe and that you made the non-meat meatballs with butter (vegetarian) and cooked it first (uncontaminated). You guys are great!
Should have fried the meat ones first for the flavour
@@chickenman1801 Which would have made no sense, historically. If you're making a meatball because you have no meat, you're not going to have the meat ones to fry it in first.
@@mahna_mahna you might have fat to fry em in
@@chickenman1801 Yes, but you didn't say "you should fry them in meat fat". You said "you should fry the meat ones first". That's not going to be relevant to when they were making meatless ones.
@@mahna_mahna it's relevant when we are talking about this video where the comment I am replying too is about the order these meatballs have been fried in.
Dude don't get me wrong I love John but man Ryan is really informative and entertaining!!!... John is kind of like listening to a storyteller whereas Ryan is more like listening to a scientist
I agree and I love them both
Exactly my thoughts. I dont mind the Ryan only episode, change is good.
I'd say John is like listening to your dad or grandpa, very informative and calming. I'd say Ryan is like listening to an older sibling or cousin, entertaining with some good side knowledge.
It's always a pleasure seeing Ryan cooking, he is such a passionate guy and you can really see how much he likes preparing a meal and thinking about the history behind it
I saw the townsends ad in one of the latest editions of the backwoodsman, I sure was surprised to see john standing there in my magazine.
I really appreciate you doing this series. I'm a college student living in dorms in a big city. I don't have an outdoor oven, the stores around here don't sell things like suet. Butcher shops are hard to find anyways, the ingredients I use will have to be something I can find at Walmart or Target or the university's convenience store cause that's all we got. But the recipes on this channel look so cool, I've always wanted to do them. So I really appreciate you making 18th century cooking more accessible for everyone.
Ryan is an excellent host. John is magnificent but I'd have no problem with seeing Ryan host more videos as well 😊
Ryan was great.
i love the little "... and aromas" that you threw onto the end of "flavours". gotta be internally consistent! love the content keep it up
even if the whole recipe isn't strictly vegetarian i always get so excited seeing these meatless/meat substitute recipes in my notifications. i love watching you guys cook just about anything but these make me extra happy
Me too! I’m like wow veggie 18th century dish - and then there’s lard or something haha. But easily can remove those, so it’s still so awesome
Ryan is just as wholesome as John, love seeing him get solo episodes. Very kind soul, and very good at describing every detail of the food and comparing it to modern day tastes and recipes.
I have not been a fan for hushpuppies as they are typically so dry; however, there were a couple of times I had the pleasure of tasting a really delicious hushpuppy. Now, Ryan, you have blessed me with an opportunity to make delicious hushpuppies! Thank you! I truly enjoy these episodes.
Most hushpuppies you get have been cooked, then frozen, then cooked again. A hushpuppy done from scratch fresh is yummy.
Hush puppies was my first thought once he started making the meatless one. As for the nutmeg size, makes it more of a true bite size than what we are used to!
@@heysuz701 Agreed, the giant meatballs of today are off-putting to me. If I have to take 2+ bites to eat it, I may as well have meatloaf or another meat dish. This size seems perfect to me!
I love this guy. He needs to star in lots of videos.
A comment on meatball sizes: Swedish meatballs are often oversized in America. While we don't typically make them as small as a nutmeg (tiny!) we don'y make them the size of golf balls either! They're maybe an inch in diameter, tops.
@asdrubale bisanzio When Italian/Sicilian immigrants came to America, they had access to more meat so the old dishes sort of have more to em.
@@KingZealotTactics yea I'm sure that's the same story for all of the stupid portion sizes in the states 🤣
@@scrappydoo7887 You are just mad that everything in Murica is bigger. ; )
@asdrubale bisanzio Why not a combination of the two? that sounds good to me lol.
Same for me here in Australia. Even the Ikea Swedish meatballs are nowhere as big as in the US. For me, about 250g (1/2lb) of mince (ground beef) makes enough walnut size meatballs for 2. I find most single portion sizes in the US are enough for 2 people...good way to save money when eating out though.
Love Ryan's presentation style as I only just discovered this channel, I didn't know Ryan wasn't a regular presenter.
I want to hang out with the Townsends crew. Everyone seems so cool
They are all as warm and genuine in person as they appear on screen. I once got to go to a Jim's Red Pants concert at Jas. Townsend & son with my family (before they reconfigured the store). They treated us all as family.
@@mrknoch that is amazing, I would love to do that!
Yes! I'd love to work there over the summer holidays. You know just chooping wood or onions in period garb and hanging out with the crew 🥰
If they had a restaurant with an 18th century tasting menu, I would plan a vacation around it.
The meatless meatball looks like a colonial falafel. Looks pretty good.
i agree. i was thinking make it with ground lentils or chickpeas instead of or in addition to bread crumbs to get some protein. yum 🙂
The vegetarian “forcemeat” balls were often used to garnish roasted poultry as it’s not easy to stuff a spit-roasted bird. Think of it as stuffing cooked outside the bird.
You're doing a great job Ryan! Definitely better than any pineapple could do. Keep it up!
The meatless version seems almost like little stuffing balls.
I was thinking they were like hushpuppies or fritters, before Ryan mentioned they reminded him of hushpuppies only better.
They were often used to garnish spit-roasted poultry, as an easier option than trying to put the stuffing in the bird.
Looks good Ryan! I gasped a bit too, when it said make them as big as a nutmeg. I thought "That seems awefully small."
I wish people were less inclined to make gigantic meatballs. the whole point of meatballs is the lovely browned outside, so the smaller you make them, the more outside you get.. and less dry, crumbly insides.
What a great video! Ryan you have real presence and I love that you encourage viewers to experiment and make the recipes. This was really enjoyable, ten thumbs up would watch Ryan again and again and again.
You could almost make a scotch egg the way mixture looked
"I forgot the Nutmeg!" *John Townsend noises intensify*
I honestly expected John to show up right after that LOL
I'm loving the Ryan spotlight episodes, and awesome to see some 18th century meat alternatives!
the intent with meatballs was to spread out the meat usage the same is true for lasagne. if you look at old recipes of lasagne the meat content will be cut in half if not more. if you only had enough meat for 4 people but you needed to feed 8 this is how they dealt with it.
Again, the people at Townsends making learning fun. And Ryan is a born presenter.
Many years ago in Trinidad, our group made a stop at the roadside. There was a nutmeg tree with ripe fruits on it. The fruits were the size of a peach with a vertical split. Inside each was a nutmeg in the shell with the reddish thick webbing of mace on it. Some of us took advantage of this and harvested fresh nutmegs off the tree. For some years afterwards, I used nutmeg of a known age and source. How many people can say that?
Thank you for bringing us recipes that we can cook in our own kitchen and it would still taste like it would have so long ago. It's like eating history. Blessings
What a great episode! Ryan did a great job here, I really appreciated it!
Interesting that the method uses suet with a consistency like room-temperature butter. In the UK, suet is readily available in supermarkets and is usually sold unrefridgerated in a box filled with small pellets of suet rather than being sold in a lump like butter or lard. Whenever I've seen anyone use suet fresh from the carcass of an animal or bought fresh from the butcher, it is kept cold, grated, washed in cold water to remove any blood or other unwanted things, then stirred through a mixture in that form. Used in both those ways, it acts like cold, grated butter stirred through pastry - it keeps its shape when mixed in at room temperature but melts when cooked, leaving air pockets and increasing the lightness of a dough and improving its texture.
Any thoughts on how fresh suet would have been used in a recipe like this in the 18th century? My instinct is that the intention was to lighten and lubricate the forcemeat balls and I wonder if grated suet was the recipe's intention with just the egg used as a binder.
Looks great! I’d want to try this! It’s like different seasoning of the meatballs we are used to.
The meatless one made me immediately think of Italian meatless meatballs. It’s same seasoning but no meat in it. A tip I learned from a chef is to put the onion, garlic parsley salt and pepper in a blender with a bit of tomato sauce or in a food processor, to mix with the other ingredients.
Ryan really do be vibin'
very laid-back, very comfy
I truly do try some of the recipes from this channel. As a lifetime vegetarian, I am especially happy about today's episode because of the meatless meatballs! Definitely gonna try this soon. I make my own bread so the crumb for me will be very different and not as fine as the one used here. Will be interesting and I'm looking forward to it. Now I've just gotta go grocery shopping. (It's September; I haven't been to the grocery since mid-July. Oh my.)
You can push your crumbs through a mesh sieve a few times to get them finer.
@@lyra2112 Good idea. I actually like them not to be too fine, though, because I think that bigger crumbs give a nice texture to various types of meatless patties that I've made.
Lifetime vegetarian? How sad
@@wannabe4668 Thank you for your assessment. I cannot eat meat due to a medical issue. It is not easy always being vegetarian but it keeps me alive and I am grateful for recipes that don't contain something that I am unable to digest.
Enjoyed watching you cook for us, Ryan. I'm gonna try the meatless meatballs.
Hell yes more Ryan food history!!!
It's great to see that Ryan has just as warm and inviting of a presence on camera as John.
Well done, Ryan! I really enjoyed this episode. The comparison/contrast approach kind of reminds me of the earlier Tale of Two Cakes. Always a pleasure watching you cook.
This channel is so great, because of the positive presentations, interesting and informative topics, and great hosts. Cheers, Rose!
@@dwaynewladyka577 I agree completely! Seeya at the Tavern, Dwayne!
Nice to see Ryan steppin up to the table. Love the way he presents these recipes. Townsends has an awesome team.
Great Job Ryan and the 18the Century crew,❤️, We love seeing Ryan tossed into the mix, breaks up the same ol,same ol... ✌️👍🤟
P.S. Dont forget we have an on-site Blacksmith that performs outstanding first class work and needs to be let out of the shed once in a while!!! ✌️👍
Ryan is so cute. He looks like a kid. Great job, and sounds pretty good
Ryan you are doing a great job!
Yes, he is . I love the way he presents.
I absolutely love the standalone cooking episode with Ryan. He does a great job at bringing a modern Spin With his speech but still Remaining old world. It's a great way to diversify the channel
Oh wow this was fantastic! Thank you for sharing this! I'm glad you're getting time to shine too, Ryan! I'd be up for more cooking episodes with you for sure!
Great work Ryan! Love the cooking episodes!
Ryan is a good presenter, would definitely watch him do more episodes!
One of the reason I really like Townsends, because they just keep help justifying the recipe, allow ppl to enjoy the food even in the not-so-good time. No meat? U got this! etc
At first I was like " Where's John".... But wow!!
I thoroughly enjoyed Ryan's presentation and commitment to authenticity yet ease in the kitchen. I will definitely be checking out his pantry episodes. I hope to see more of this collaboration in the future.
Great episode, it's just what I needed this morning...except now I want meatballs for breakfast. 🥰
this is exactly what i need! i have a lot of breadcrumbs i need to use soon, so the meatless meatballs are going to be perfect!
Ryan your such a decent fella, and excellent cook 🍳
Thoroughly enjoy this guy. I love when he is in the videos, please have him on more often! Love from center Ohio!
I love all your content but it’s always a treat to get a Ryan episode!
Very good documentary of cooking. Your is so good for all historical events.
I need to make the meatless meatballs for my vegetarian partner. I bet they would be even better with a little mushroom sauce. I wonder what would go with them to round out the meal.
A salad and some risotto or Couscous pilaf would round it out nicely..(unless you are going for a period specific meal. 🤷♀️)
Ooh, mushroom sauce, nice. If it were me I'd serve it with a little bit of parmesan.
Maybe look into the mushroom ketchup recipe on here if you haven't already.
There was a salmon cooked with mushrooms in champagne that they did a video on. I bet the meatless meatballs would be amazing with that sauce served over them for a special meal… I made the salmon and it was crazy good. The sauce was amazing.
Another relaxed and comfy cooking class.
Great job Ryan!
Awesome presentation, great seeing Ryan doing it. Love what you guys are doing.
Perhaps for the nutmeg, they meant a fresh non dried nutmeg with the mace and all that still on it. If you think about it that way it would be about the size of a normal meatball.
Love your videos guys makes me feel a little more connected to the past! Thanks alot, john.
Great job, Ryan! Looking forward to more of your videos. Will be trying both recipes this weekend. Love this channel!
This is the first time I've seen you cook some on the channel. You, sir are excellent. I'm going to join T+ just so I can watch more of your cooking. You and Jon are so calming and interesting to watch. Can't get enough!
Love to see Ryan on here, I didn’t know about his show! I will be subscribing to plus now
You do a great job ryan. Awesome video.
Its really interesting to realise the availability of ingredients in other countries. Watching this channel, I've heard little things like lamb and suet are hard to get a hold of in the US, but lamb here in Australia is as common as any other meat all over the country and suet is in all supermarket chains. I just always assumed that since the US was an Anglo-Saxon colonised country like Australia, that we would have had access to the same food native to the UK, especially since we share the same dietary habits such as our world leading meat consumption.
Been binge-watching these videos while being sick (just a bad chest cold, thankfully!) because these are absolutely fascinating! Unfortunately, because of my being sick & how soothing the music is, I keep fighting off the urge to nap! LOL!
Absolutely LOVE this channel... Keep up the great work!
The vegetarian one i'd wager is fairly close to a chickpealess falafel ball. The meat one, I mean given the age of the recipe a shortage of meat is inherent. My grandparents grew up middle class and only ate meat 3 times a week. 150 years earlier meat would have been much scarcer.
Good point. Meat was not a constant on the dinner table during the 18th c
@@rosemcguinn5301 Even during the Great Depression era it wasn’t regularly consumed by many people. The host of another great channel on here, Great Depression Cooking, had said before how rare it was for them to have it. I’m guessing the regular consumption of meat was another thing born from the economic prosperity following World War Two.
@@terminallumbago6465 That was certainly true for most of my family. My dad shared with us that he'd had bread and milk for supper many times during the depression, as they were very poor at that time and there was little else to eat
My grandma told me that when she was little, the only meat she got was chicken feet. Only the men who worked in the fields got a regular piece of chicken.
I was thinking the whole time, I bet it tastes like a really good hushpuppy. Then you said it.
I am actually really intrigued by having someone else host the show and if it helps to make content more consistently or allows you focus more on each recipe then you have my support and I'm interested to see what you do next.
Great job, Ryan, loved this episode.
Cool video, I'd like to see more meatless historical recipes
My best friend is vegan and I love cooking challenges so I like to make "meat and potatoes" type foods vegan and then tell her if it's good. I made a vegan meat pie once that was just amazing believe it or not 😂 I'm going to try the meatless meatballs with margarine and "Just Egg" which is a vegan, liquid egg substitute. I bet it's going to be a winner ☺
I'd love to see more vegan recipes here (I know that back in the 18th century, well... Vegetarian recipes for sure... But vegan!?).
@@broonage I feel like there's probably a lot of "accidentally vegan/vegetarian" recipes from this era, because like the no-meat meatballs someone might not have meat available...on the other hand, yeah, I doubt there are many "intentionally vegan" ideas
I recommend white bean pate: you did it by cooking white beans with herbs, salt and pepper, frying some onions and apple on oil, throwing it into a blender with paprika and bake until skin forms on the top. Really delicious, i prefer it over meat pate.
I ‘ve always enjoyed Ryan on this channel. Very glad seeing him do this vid. Love all the lovely content here!
I’d love to see Ryan! He and John both seem to have very gentle souls and I love watching episodes that Ryan takes over!
I like Ryan a lot. We sure need more videos of him cooking too!
My dad recommended this channel and he was spot on with my odd interest. I will be subbing for life.
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@@SilvaDreams omg thank you!
Great video Ryan! I love how the video includes the bit where you remember to include the nutmeg.
Thanksgiving in the US today and last night we're talking with my extended family about cooking and the work it would have been without our modern tools and what is available in stores. We ended up showing a few Townsend cooking videos for the extended family and everyone loved them! They hadn't heard about the channel. They're now fans.
Awesome job Ryan! This looked really nice, imagine someone on the frontier or anywhere else in the world, trying to make the best out of their stale bread.
Linked it to my friend and I'm looking forward to try a townsend recipe this weekend, made the forced meatballs few years ago, and thinking about some other dish this time. What would you suggest. Something achievable please :D
* excited vegetarian enters *
I'd love to try these with some lentils and mushrooms!! Historical recipes are tricky for vegetarians but very appreciated!
P.S. YIKES never forget the nutmeg!! xD
Thanks for sharing with us Ryan, looks and sounds good!! Keep up the good work and videos, Fred. 🙏🏻🙏🏻👍👍👏🏻👏🏻👋👋
Meatless Meatballs?! I was intrigued! Perfect for a Catholic foodie who abstains from flesh meat every Friday of the year!!! Thank you Ryan, Townsends & Co.
I actually really love tiny meat balls like that. They're bite sized!
The only Hush Puppies I know of are the shoe brand, which is named after the food. It's just the kind of thing we don't really have here in Australia. Thank you that meatless recipe, so I can now try to cook them myself and get an idea of what hush puppies, the food, are all about.
Hush puppies are corn meal based instead of bread crumbs. And deep fried in oil, usually oil that also fries fish so you get a hint of seafood.
Those are the main differences. I love hush puppies.
I love the passion you guys have for your work. Thank you for sharing.
My nan used to make what she called "breadballs". After making something, like chicken cutlets, there was always left over Italian breadcrumbs and egg. So, she'd pour the eggs into the breadcrumbs, roll them into balls, and fried them, rather than let the breadcrumbs and eggs go to waste. She also squashed them a bit, to make them fry easier. My mom and I liked them so much, we would make breadballs on purpose, not just because we had leftover breadcrumbs and egg. We would also add different seasonings to add to the flavor. When I eventually stopped eating meat, they became something I make even more often now.
Omg my grandma and mum do this too! It's my favourite part of the meal!
My first thought when you read the recipe was "Hush Puppies." Buttered bread crumbs fried in butter...how could that not be good?! : D
I wonder if the meatless option was intended for people who were fasting. I know it's much less common of a practice among Protestants than Catholics, but people did do it for assorted personal religious purposes, as well as for health reasons.
As coming from a Lutheran background, I remember my grandmother fasting for Easter when i was a kid, so definitely agree with you on the meatless option for fasting.
Great stuff! Always love catching these episodes!
I love this choice of recipe to share with us. You showed us how easy it is for us to try these old recipes at home. Love it!
Thank you Ryan. Intriguing that it's "better than a hushpuppy." I'm going to try it!
Everybody loves a meatball. Cross-cultural thing, that and pancakes.
Great show. I really enjoy seeing you in these episodes. I do cooking (Sous-chef) for a reenacting Civil War group in Alabama. We call our group, "The Useless Mess." I always like seeing you and Jon Townsends' shows to get ideas for our cooking impressions. Thank you all.
The meatless balls remind me on a meal we used to have in the monastery. I can see a lot of everyday history preserved in monastic life. Since we often fasted from meat, we had a lot of vegetarian meals, one of which was stuffing balls. We used to bake them rather than fry them, with big chunks of roasted onions in the pan to add amazing flavour to the oil. They were small, like these ones, too. So crunchy on the outside and soft inside and so flavourful. It's kind of exciting to see that this is a historical thing and not just something Mother Gregory whipped up one Friday when we had nothing else - although that happened pretty often, too!