Making Weird Old Food

Guess what this is? It’s an apple-omelette thing called an “apple tansey,” the recipe for which originally appeared in The Compleat Housewife: Or, Accomplished Gentelwoman’s Companion of 1742, and it’s one of the many things that Colonial Virginians apparently ate. (Related: Remember Wendy McClure’s salt pork and weird butter?) The Shiksa in the Kitchen recreates the apple tansey on her blog with some modern touches, and describes it as “light and fluffy” but “not quite sweet enough to be considered dessert,” and that it “likely would have been served as a side dish at a Colonial dinner or supper.” Ah!

Speaking of dinner and supper, head over to that same site for a rundown of what the average Colonial Virginian ate in the morning, the middle of the day, and at the end of the day. It will astonish you! No, it won’t, but it’s interesting in a quiet way.

[Via]