4: Salmagundi and cheesecake

The August menu for our Cooking Up History group had a summer theme, even though the weather didn’t quite live up to it! Here are the recipes we tried out in the Archives kitchen. Why not have a go at them at home? You can also see how we got on in Kim’s special report

SALMAGUNDI

A recipe for a salmagundi or “salamon gondy”, an 18th century salad with chopped poultry, fish, eggs and onions.

Salamon Gondy

Take ye white part of a turkey or pullit. Skin it & mince it small. Ye peel of half a lemon, & 2 roots of sallery & an apple, & half an onion, 2 anchoves, half a spoonfull of capors, some herring & red beet root, 2 hard eggs, some pickled cucumbers all shred small, together. Mix it wth oyl & viniger & mustard. Put a saucer in ye middle of yr dish & let all yr things be shred severly & put ym in rows & springhle yr liquor over ym. Put some mushrooms among ym. Dont shread yr capors.

Here’s our version:

Our Cooking Up History Team’s ‘salamon gondy’!

• 1 cooked turkey breast, skin removed
• ½ a lemon
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 apple
• ½ an onion
• 6-7 small anchovies in oil
• ½ tbsp capers
• 1 or 2 herring fillets in oil
• 1 small cooked beetroot
• 2 hard-boiled eggs
• 8 gherkins
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 4 mushrooms

1. Take the turkey breast, and chop into very small pieces.
2. Remove the rind from the lemon and chop finely
3. Dice the apple and beetroot into small cubes (about 1cm each)
4. Thinly slice the onion, herring, anchovies, gherkins.
5. Cut the eggs into segments.
6. Mix the oil, vinegar and mustard to make a dressing.
7. Place a saucer in the middle of your dish. Place the chopped and sliced eggs, vegetables and fish in rows around the dish.
8. Put your chopped turkey breast on the saucer at the centre of the dish.
9. Lightly pour the dressing over the salad
10. Slice the mushrooms and scatter over the dish with the capers.

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LEMON CHEESECAKE

18th century recipe for “excelent” lemon cheesecakes

To Make Excelent Lemon Cheese Cakes

Take half a pd of almonds. Pound them with rose water, but not too much, half a pd of loaf sugar. Boyle the yallow peel of a large lemon pared prity thick & pounded very well, 8 eggs, 4 whites well beat, 3 qrs of a pd of butter melted prity cool, 2 spoon fulls of rose or orange flower water. Mix all well together & bake them.

If you’d like to give this a go, here’s our adapted recipe:

Lemon cheesecakes, fresh out of the oven!

• 150g ground almonds
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 small lemon
• 2 egg whites
• 3 whole eggs
• 220g butter
• 1½ tbsp orange flower water

1. Take strips of peel from the lemon and boil for a couple of minutes. Drain and allow the peel to cool.
2. Melt the butter on a low heat, then allow to cool.
3. Mix the almonds with the sugar and rosewater.
4. Chop the cooled lemon peel very fine and add to the almonds.
5. Beat the egg whites until they are light, fluffy and form soft peaks.
6. Beat the 3 whole eggs and melted butter into the almond mixture, and add a good squeeze of lemon.
7. Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites, keeping as much air in the mixture as possible.
8. Spoon the mixture into sandwich cake tins or large ramekins.
9. Bake in the oven at 180ºC until cooked through and golden brown.

We’d love to hear how you get on with making up the recipes. Drop us an email at archives@westminster.gov.uk or leave a comment on the blog!