HISTORIC FORT YORK
RECIPE FROM THE MESS ESTABLISHMENT
OFFICERS' BRICK BARRACKS


ASPARAGUS FORCED IN FRENCH ROLLS.

ORIGINAL RECEIPT

Henderson, William Augustus. The Housekeeper's Instructor; Or, Universal Family Cook. “Corrected, revised and considerably improved by Jacob Christopher Schnebbelie”, (London: printed for Thomas Kelly, 17th edition, 1811), page 111.

John Farley, The London Art of Cookery, (London: John Barker, 9th edition, 1800), pages 183-184.

“Cut a piece out of the crust of the tops of three French rolls, and take out all the crumb; but be careful that the crust fits again in the places from whence they were taken. Fry the rolls brown in fresh butter: then take a pint of cream, the yolks of six eggs beat fine, and a little salt and nutmeg. Stir them well together over a slow fire till it begins to be thick. Have ready an hundred of small grass boiled, and save tops enough to stick the rolls with. Cut the rest of the tops small, put them into the cream, and fill the rolls with them. Before you fry the rolls, make holes thick in the top crusts to stick the grass in, which will make it look as if it was growing. This makes a very handsome side dish at a second course.”
______________________________________________________________________________

HISTORIC BACKGROUND

The identical receipt (recipe) for Asparagus forced in French rolls appears in at least 6 English cookery books of the late 18th century that all copied from each another as various new editions were published. Originally, it seems to have come from Le Nouveau Cuisinier royal et bourgeois by Massialot, 1732. By the mid Victorian era, the asparagus mixture was served with, rather then in, dinner rolls.

Asparagus has been widely known in Britain and France probably since the 16th century, although the Ancient Romans enjoyed it too. It was naturalized into Canada soon after European settlement began. “An [sic] hundred of small grass”: 100 stalks was a quantity often suggested in receipts for “sparrow-grass”, the common term for asparagus. By the mid 19th century, “grass” was considered a vulgar term.

To the 18th century British, French rolls were firm white loaves of about half a pound enriched with eggs and/or milk and/or butter. French bread had acquired an excellent reputation in the early decades of the 18th century. By the end of the century, in cookery books and manuscript collections that bothered to include recipes for bread, French rolls and breads were fairly common. Such rolls generally had a very hard crust, made by baking in a very hot oven. “Forced” was another word for “stuffed”, from farcir, “to stuff” in French.
All 3 stuffed rolls would have been grouped on a single platter for serving as a handsome side dish at a second course. Typically, dinner was 2, sometimes 3, courses in the French style, with several dishes per course all placed on the table at once in a formalized pattern. Vegetables were generally featured in the second course. The nicely browned rolls on a platter look like clumps of brown earth sprouting with asparagus! Such culinary presentations were part of the sly fun in Georgian dining.

William Henderson was for “Many Years eminent in theCulinary Profession”. At the time of revising Henderson’s well-known book, Jacob Christopher Schnebbelie had been the principal cook at Melun’s Hotel in Bath and Martelli’s [Restaurant] at The Albany, a well-known men’s club in London. The publisher was pleased to reintroduce the improved and updated work, explicitly addressed to housewives, proclaiming “this very ample collection .... contain[s] everything yet invented for the gratification of the appetite”. John Farley was the principle cook at the popular middle class London Tavern.


OUR MODERN EQUIVALENT

The Massiolot recipe suggested dipping the rolls in milk before frying them to a nice brown. No author suggested a method for putting holes in the lids of the rolls, but a square screwdriver works well. You can also use the tip of a sharp knife.

Boil: asparagus in bundles until just tender

Slice: tips of asparagus off, about 5 cm (2") long; set tips aside

Chop: remaining stalks into 5 mm (1/4") pieces; set aside

“Cut: a [thin] piece out of the crust of the tops of three French rolls”

“Take out: all the crumb” with your fingertips, leaving rolls hollow inside a 1 cm (1/2") thick wall; use crumb for another purpose

“Make: holes thick in the top crusts to stick the grass in”, taking care to avoid cracking crusts

Fry: hollowed rolls and lids until nicely browned in butter in a skillet

Stick: asparagus tips through holes in crust lids; any leftover tips can be chopped up too

Whisk: yolks to a pale yellow cream

Blend: cream, salt and nutmeg into whisked yolks

Cook: gently until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly

Stir in: chopped asparagus to reheat

Fill: rolls with asparagus mixture

Place: lids onto rolls

Serve: on large platter with a serrated knife for slicing

Yield: 6-9 servings

April 1997

(HOME)

Published with the permission of Heritage Toronto. Jessup Food & Heritage acknowledges the excellent research and experimentation performed in the historic kitchens of Heritage Toronto at Fort York, Spadina House, MacKenzie House and Colborne Lodge under the leadership of Fiona Lucas, Senior Domestic Interpreter. Our thanks go to Fiona and her expert staff in allowing us to share with you their work.

Jessup Food & Heritage, Limited
P.O. Box 446, 356 East Street
Prescott, Ontario K0E 1T0
telephone: 1-800-882-6704
fax: 613-536-0456

This page was last updated: Sunday, December 01, 2002