Northern Hospitality: Cooking by the Book in New England

Chapter Eleven: Pies—Fowl, Fish

chapter eleven • Pies—Fowl,฀Fish 282 Fowl฀Pies ฀ From the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries in both England and New England, pies were built around domestic fowl and game birds, most notably chickens, geese, ducks, and pigeons but also turkeys, partridges, peacocks (although these were abandoned in the seventeenth century as too tough), and quail. More exotic fare such as swans and bustards were particularly fashionable in the 1690s but fell out of favor thereafter. Diners were as apt to encounter fowls baked into pies as they were to meet them roasted or fricasseed. The reasons for the fowl pie’s immense popularity may be difficult for modern cooks pies—fowl, fish • 283 to understand, as food preservation methods have changed dramatically since the pie’s heyday. But before the advent of modern technology, pies served the flesh of birds particularly well. Enclosing tender fowl in a pie shell helped to retain moisture and promoted the blending of seasonings, wine, and butter in the gravy or caudle. Of course the shell itself, whether a rich short crust or an edible standing coffin designed for longer-term preservation, could be part of the attraction of the dish. Fowl pies were considered by many to be well worth the effort of constructing them. Their charms are still apparent in the following recipes. 1. a turkey pye Bone the Turkey, season it with savoury Spice, and lay it in the Pye with two Capons, or two Wild-Ducks cut in pieces to fill up the Corners; lay on Butter, and close the Pye. —Smith, Compleat Housewife (1730), p. 13 Although Wilson says that turkeys were favored as bakemeats and ended up in Elizabethan pies, we found few examples of the turkey pie in later English or New England cookbooks. More’s the pity. But like the goose that preceded it as the centerpiece of the festive English table, the turkey was large and juicy, thus favored for roasting. At the time the Plymouth Pilgrims were dining on wild turkey in 1621, domestic turkeys had long been sold in the markets of the old country. Smith’s recipe, by the way, defies the 1541 order of Archbishop Cranmer, who counted turkeys among the “greater fowls” (crane and swan were the others) that ought not be combined with other birds in a single dish. Cranmer hoped his edict would check clergy gluttony. 2. a duck-pye Make a Puff paste Crust, take a Couple of Ducks, scald them, and make them very clean, cut off the Feet, the Pinions, the Neck and Head, all clean picked and scalded, with the Gizard, Liver and Hearts; pick out all the Fat of the Inside, lay a Crust all over the Dish, season the Ducks with Pepper and Salt, inside and out, lay them in your Dish, and the Gibblets at each End seasoned; put in as much Water as will almost fill the Pye, lay on the Crust, and bake it, but not too much. —Glasse, Art of Cookery (1747), p. 72 284 • part 2. recipes and commentaries In the 1830s, Richard Dolby adapted this pie, and Lee transmitted the adaptation to New England. Dolby/Lee reversed Glasse’s caution about overbaking the pie, recommending instead to “let it be well baked.” Pinions may mean either the whole wing or the segment of the wing farthest from the body. 3. a giblet pie Save the blood of the Geese, and have ready, before the Blood cools, two or three Spoonsfull of Groats pounded, or, for want thereof, of Oat-meal, boiled in a pint of sweet cream. Work the Blood and that well together. Season the Giblets, over Night with Pepper and Salt. In the morning get a Quart of sweet Cream, and add to it the Blood, one pound of good fresh Butter, a little Mutton Suet, a few Shallots shred, some grated Nutmeg, the Yolks of six Eggs and three of the Whites only, and a little Parsley cut small. Mix all together with the Blood and the Cream. Fill the Skins of the Necks with this Pudding. What is left pour into your Dish upon the Giblets. Then cover the Pie with a quarter of a pound of fresh Butter. Cover it with Paste and bake it. Before you serve it up, put in some warm or hot Gravy. —Gardiner, Family Receipts (ca. 1770), pp. 52–53 Gardiner’s giblet pie recipe...