- The Gourmet Pirate: his recipes for Syllabub.
- The Gourmet Pirate, The Accomplisht Cook, and Triumphs and Trophies in Cookery.
A twenty year old Kenelme was ahead of his time when he embarked
for “the grand tour” of Europe. This had not yet become required as the finishing
touch of an education for a wealthy young man. He spent much of his time in
Florence where he studied art and popular medicine.
On his way back to England he joined the household of Prince
Charles who was returning home from having failed to negotiate a marriage to Maria
Anna, the daughter of Philip III of Spain. King James I, known for an eye that
wandered to buff young men in his Court, was attracted to Digbie at first. Digbie is repeatedly described in
letters as “handsome” and “gigantic”. (I am not aware that history has given an
exact height.) He was knighted and appointed Gentleman of the Bedchamber to
Prince Charles.
But Digbie did not get along well with the Court favorite,
Buckingham. Quite possibly, his open Catholic practice disqualified him for any
major office or lands in the King’s gift.
Still, he had a living of ₤3000, a knighthood, a vast amount
of energy and an ingratiating way. By 1627 he was in possession of three ships
of war in search of merchant ships to capture in the Mediterranean. This, he
claimed, he was doing as an agent of the English Crown though he had no official
mandate. Actually, he was a private “admiral” engaged in piracy for profit. The
fact became a minor international embarrassment for his country, as well as a
source of amusement and pride, and he was given a position as Commissioner of
the Navy in charge of the Deptford Shipyard as much by way of retiring as rewarding
him.
At the outbreak of the English Civil War, Digbie was a
dedicated Royalist. At some point he had become a member of the household of
Queen Henrietta, and, upon the execution of her husband, accompanied her into
exile, in Paris, as her Chancellor.
Still, somehow he proved able to return to England in the
midst of the conflict without being arrested. His network of contacts was
extensive. Eventually, he was also drafted to serve the Lord Protector Cromwell
in negotiations over various sensitive points between the parties.
Like so many intellectuals of the 16th and 17th
centuries, Kenelme Digbie was half mountebank. He was so persistent in his
efforts, however, that he did manage to
pass along to posterity some genuine hints towards future discoveries and advances in
the manufacture of glass bottles.
Sir Kenelme’s collection of recipes was published by a
servant, under the title The closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelm
Digby, some four years after his death. The few that can be approximately dated
came to him between the Restoration of the Monarchy, in 1660, and his death in 1665.
It seems all but certain, however, that most were gathered during his more
active social phase, before the Civil War. It is occasionally claimed that he
was often in charge of preparing the feasts over which Queen Henrietta presided
but I have not yet been able to find any source for the claim.
The following recipes for syllabub are taken from the Closet.
Mixing with a "birchen rod" and drinking the beverage from custom porcelain “syllabub
cups” were absolutely essential aspects in better circles in which the participants
took their syllabub seriously.
A SYLLABUB
My Lady Middlesex makes Syllabubs for little Glasses with
spouts, thus. Take 3 pints of sweet Cream, one of quick white wine (or
Rhenish), and a good wine glassful (better the ¼ of a pint) of Sack: mingle
with them about three quarters of a pound of fine Sugar in Powder. Beat all
these together with a whisk, till all appeareth converted into froth. Then pour
it into your little Syllabub glasses, and let them stand all night. The next day
the Curd will be thick and firm above, and the drink clear under it. I conceive
it may do well, to put into each glass (when you pour the liquor into it) a
sprig of Rosemary a little bruised, or a little Limon-peel, or some such thing
to quicken the taste; or use Amber-sugar, or spirit of Cinnamon, or of Lignum-Cassias;
or Nutmegs, or Mace, or Cloves, a very little.
TO MAKE A WHIP SYLLABUB
Take the whites of two Eggs, and a pint of Cream, six
spoonfuls of Sack, as much Sugar as will sweeten it; then take a Birchen rod
and whip it; as it riseth with froth, skim it, and put it into the Syllabub pot;
so continue it with whipping and skimming, till your Syllabub pot be full.
TO MAKE A PLAIN SYLLABUB
Take a pint of Verjuyce in a bowl; milk the Cow to the
Verjuyce; take off the Curd; and take sweet-cream and beat them together with a
little Sack and Sugar; put it into your Syllabub pot; then strew Sugar on it,
and so send it to the Table.
A SYLLABUB
Take a reasonable quantity (as about half a Porrenger full)
of the Syrup, that hath served in the making of dryed plums; and into a large
Syllabub-pot milk or squirt, or let fall from high a sufficient quantity of
Milk or Cream. This Syrup is very quick of the fruit, and very weak of Sugar; and
therefore makes the Syllabub exceeding well tasted. You may also use the Syrup
used in the like manner in the drying of Cherries.
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