[Sca-cooks] Funeral foods ...

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Apr 6, 2006, at 1:54 PM, Judith L. Smith Adams wrote:

> Sandra Kisner <sjk3 at cornell.edu> wrote:  > >Well, the first thing  
> that comes to mind is Hamlet's little joke
>>> about Gertrude and Claudius' wedding being so soon after the  
>>> death of
>>> Hamlet the Elder that they could recycle the leftover pies from the
>>> funeral for the wedding feast...
>>>
>>> Adamantius
>>
>
> Just for clarification, the quote actually goes:
> "Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats
> Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables."
>
> I wasn't under the impression that specifically meant pies.
>
> Sandra
>   So, scholars and cooks, what do we know about what Shakespeare  
> meant - or didn't - by "baked meats"??
>
>   Curiously,
>   Judith

Based on the number of late-period and post-period recipes which  
refer to meats baked in an oven (as opposed to roasted over or next  
to a fire), these do tend to be pies, even when the recipe doesn't  
specifically use the word "pie" or refer to pastry. But in general,  
more often than not, a baked meat (as in the generic term bakemeats,  
or recipes instructing the cook to bake a capon or a haunch of  
venison) does tend to refer to some sort of pie. Often it's a long,  
moist cooking method akin to slow braising in a sealed pot. In fact,  
perfect for venison and wild turkeys ;-).

Some meats are baked in pots without pastry, but I'd think these are,  
for the most part, exceptions to a more-or-less understood rule.  
(They'll sometimes say something like, "in a pot without a coffin,"  
or some such.)

Adamantius


"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04