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Boiling the Pudding The Cornish Christmas Table
Cornish Mead: The old method of making mead, or metheglin, in West Cornwall was to put four pounds of honey to one gallon of water; boil it one hour, skim it well, then add one ounce of hops to every gallon, and boil it half-an-hour longer, and let it stand till next day. Put it into your cask or bottles. To every gallon add a gill of brandy; stop it lightly till the fermentation is over; then stop it very loose. Keep it one year before you tap. More recently the old ladies who were noted for making good mead (or sweet-drink as they call it), boiled the combs from which the honey had been drained until all the honey that remained was extracted. They then strained it, and added as much more honey as made the drink strong enough to float an egg. To every gallon they added one ounce of cloves; the same of allspice; half-an-ounce of coriander; the same weight of caraway-seed. Sometimes cinnamon and mace were used instead of the seeds. Others, who preferred the flavour and perfume of aromatic plants, boiled in the water, before they added the honey, the tops of sweet-briar, flowers of thyme, rosemary, sweet marjoram, or any other sweet herbs they liked; then finished as above. All, or any, of the flavouring ingredients William Bottrell
Truro Market: Our meat market on Saturday last did not present so fine an appearance, as it is usual on Christmas occasions. The general character of the beef, though good, being far from what is usually dominated prime. The poultry market was however, well supplied, the Geese especially being numerous and fine; but in consequence of the smallness of the room, the heat occasioned by the dense crowd was so great that the fat on some of them was literally melting and the inconvenience to both buyers and sellers was almost insufferable. West Briton Newspaper Dec. 28th 1837
In some parts of the country it is customary for each household to make a batch of currant cakes on Christmas-eve. These cakes are made in the ordinary manner, coloured with saffron, as is the custom in these parts. On this occasion the peculiarity of the cakes is, that a small portion of the dough in the centre of each top is pulled up and made into a form which resembles a very small cake on the top of a large one, and this centre-piece is usually called "the Christmas". Each person in the house has his or her especial cake, and every person ought to take a small piece of every other person's cake. Similar cakes are also bestowed on the hangers-on of the establishment, such as laundresses, seamstresses, charwomen, &c.; and even some people who are in the receipt of weekly charity call, as a matter of course, for their Christmas cakes. The cakes must not be cut until Christmas-day, it being probably "unlucky to eat them sooner" The materials to make these and nearly all the cakes at this season were at one time given by the grocers to their principal customers. - Geo. C. Boase, Notes and Queries, 5th series, Dec. 21st, 1878.
Turkeys: On Monday about 300 Turkeys were brought to the Redruth Railway Station. Each bird was weighed and ticketed at the Market Place which attracted a great crowd . The birds were in fine condition. West Briton Newspaper Dec. 24th 1877.
At the plentiful supper always provided on this night,* egg-hot, or eggy-hot, was the principal drink. It was made with eggs, hot beer, sugar, and rum, and was poured from one jug into another until it became quite white and covered with froth. A sweet giblet pie was one of the standing dishes at a Christmas dinner - a kind of mince-pie, into which the giblets of a goose, boiled and finely chopped, were put instead of beef. Cornwall is noted for its pies, that are eaten on all occasions; some of them are curious mixtures, such as squab-pie, which is made with layers of well-seasoned fat mutton and apples, with onions and raisins. Mackerel pie: the ingredients of this are mackerel and parsley stewed in milk, then covered with a paste and baked. When brought to table a hole is cut in the paste, and a basin of clotted cream thrown in. Muggetty pie, made from sheep's entrails (muggets), parsley, and cream. There is a local saying that "The devil is afraid to come into Cornwall for fear of being baked in a pie." Miss M. A. Courtney
For sALE: About 900 frails of Figs just landed from Lisbon and are in excellent order Francis S. Symonds (Merchant) Falmouth. Advert in the West Briton Newspaper Dec 21st 1810.
A very general meal for poor people in some parts of the county on Christmas-eve was pilchards and unpeeled potatoes boiled together in one "crock". Miss M. A. Courtney
Cornwall Lunatic Asylum: The patients of the CLA were regaled on Christmas Day with an abundance of roast Geese and Pork, Plum Pudding Etc. West Briton Newspaper 1876.
All Christmas cakes must be eaten by the night of Twelfth-tide, as it is unlucky to have any left, and all decorations must be taken down on the next day, because for every forgotten leaf of evergreen a ghost will be seen in the house in the coarse of the ensuing year. The latter superstition does not prevail, however, in all parts of Cornwall, as in some districts a small branch is kept to scare away evil spirits. Miss M. A. Courtney
Fowey: Seasonable Benevolence - The poor residing in the parishes adjacent to Menabilly received on Christmas Eve, the usual supply of beef and bread for their Christmas dinners. Every poor person received one shilling each. West Briton Newspaper Dec. 27th 1877.
The inmates of the workhouse, 192 in number had their usual treat of roast beef and plum pudding for dinner on Christmas day; also currant cake and sugar and tea for supper. Those inmates who liked had beer with their dinner (children excepted), those who did not care for beer had either tea or cocoa; this is a new feature, henceforth those who did not care for beer had nothing. West Briton Newspaper Dec. 28th 1876.
On Christmas Eve the mayor of Liskeard (Mr W Polkinghorne) gave a tea in the town hall to 200 poor people in the town. The volunteer band was present and rendered festive music. Cornish Times December 1883
HONEY
COMBED GINGERBREAD Put four ounces of fresh butter into a jar, near the fire, with half a pound of treacle, and half a pound of moist sugar. Mix half a pond of flour with one teaspoonful of ground ginger, the finely chopped ring and juice of half a lemon, and one teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon. When the butter is melted, mix it with the treacle &c., into the flour, and beat all together for some minutes. Spread the mixture thinly upon baking tins and bake in a moderate oven. Watch it particularly as soon as the ginger-bread is done enough, take it out, cut it into squares and curl each square round the finger.
Keep closely covered in a tin box. This
ginger-bread will keep for three to four weeks, but is best when
newly made. Should it lose its crispness, it should be put into the
oven for two or three minutes being used. Time 10 minutes to bake. Probable cost 10d for this quantity. St Ives Weekly Summary & Vistors List. 27th December 1890
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