Robert S. Cox, head of Special Collections & University Archives at the UMass Amherst Libraries, happens to know a lot about food as well as first editions. He’s the author of two books on the topic: New England Pie: History Under a Crust and A History of Chowder: Four Centuries of a New England Meal. This recipe he gave us may be more historical artifact than how-to, but we love the glimpse it gives into the early days of cookery in this country.
Here’s what he told us about it:
“This may not be the ‘best’ mince pie recipe, a real, old-fashioned New England favorite, but it’s the one that stands out to me as the most frightening–or let’s just say it has a certain je ne sais quoi.
It’s from the first cookbook published in America by an American. In Hartford in 1796, Amelia Simmons, a self-described “American orphan,” published a slender cookbook called American Cookery. It went through several editions, many pirated, and was popular for a couple of decades or more.
This recipe is a particular favorite of mine because this is the kind of pie that John Adams and folks of his era so prized during the holidays. It uses calves’ feet, while others preferred tongue or other meat, and lots of fat.
Crusts had become a big thing in the few years before Simmons published her book, evolving from pretty tough and more or less inedible covers into something resembling modern flaky crust. Simmons offers something like nine crust recipes, each numbered, and you mix and match the crust to the pie. Feel free to use your favorite crust recipe if you’re intrepid enough to give this dish a try!”
Ingredients
4 lbs. neet’s feet* 1 qt. wine
1 lb. beef suet 1 oz. cinnamon
4 lb. raw apple 2 lb. stoned raisins
1 oz. mace Salt, sugar to taste
To make:
Scald neet’s feet (grass fed are best), and clean well. Put them into a large vessel of cold water. Then, boil the feet till tender, and remove the bones. When cold, chop fine. To every four pounds minced meat, add one pound of beef suet, and four pound apple raw, and a little salt, chop all together very fine, add one quart of wine, two pound of stoned raisins, one ounce of cinnamon, one ounce mace, and sweeten to your taste; make use of paste No. 3–bake three quarters of an hour.
Weeks after, when you are ready to use them, carefully raise the top crust of the pie. With a round-edged spoon, collect the meat into a basin. Warm them with additional wine and spices to the taste of your circle. While the crust is also warmed like a hoe cake, put carefully together and serve up. You can have hot pies through the winter, and enriched singly to your company.(Recipe edited slightly for readability.)
*an old word for beef, cattle