Here's a page from my favourite 17th century cookbook (alas, in the British Library's possession, not mine). I was rather pleased yesterday with my cheesecakes in the Italian fashion, having drastically cut down the quantities. (For '6lbs of good fresh cheese curd of a morning milk' read one tub of Tesco's cheapest cottage cheese; if I make them again I'll use ricotta.)
Cheesecakes were quite the thing in 17th century England. Hurrying to meet a friend last night I came across a tiramisù shop. ('Have you seen the new tira-mi-shoe shop?' I babbled to my baffled friend.) It seemed to be doing a thriving business though I only had time to peep in the window. Now that cupcakes are old hat - and macarons are for tourists - and éclair shops never quite seemed to catch on ... is the tira-mi-shoe shop the latest thing? Something puritanical deep inside me is appalled. # First World Gaps in the Market.
There I was thinking cheesecake was a thing from the 1970s! I first tasted it in the late 1980s. 17th century - I am truly astonished.
ReplyDeleteAs for a Tiramusu shop; I'm baffled. I was baffled by shops selling cupcakes (They're fairy cakes and they don't need half a ton of buttercream on them!)
I'm afraid a lot of things about the modern world baffle me.
Cheesecake goes back a long way, Veronica - much older than 17th century. You're thinking of American cheesecake and that was big in the 70s ... remember those packet mixes with the sachet of fruity gunk for the topping?
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering how long the tiramisú shosp will last? But it did seem quite busy. I do agree about the fairy cakes. It's the girliness that irritates me more than the buttercream!
That's my favourite kind, Sue; my granny used to buy it as a treat and it seemed very sophisticated in the 60s when there weren't any delicatessens where we lived! The one I've just made is more like a Yorkshire curd tart.
ReplyDeleteWe can still get curd tarts here, I like them a lot.
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