18th & 19th Century warming autumnal recipes from the National Library of Ireland collections to recreate at home

The recipes are from the NLI’s collection of historic cookbooks and handwritten recipe manuscripts preserved by the NLI and analysed and transcribed by NLI archivists Nora Thornton and Joanne Carroll. Their passion for uncovering and interpreting historical recipes shines a light on the food traditions and social customs of the day. Back then recipes were typically shared by the ladies of the house on social visits, with their cooks tasked with recording or working out the recipes in finer detail.  

From a Parsnip Pudding that can be made sweet or savoury, to a hearty Turnip Soup calling for a dozen turnips, and a richly spiced Gingerbread Loaf flavoured with lemon brandy and candied orange, the NLI’s collections reveals the rich array of food and drink served at this time of year.  

The recipes, some more than 200 years old and preserved exactly as they were written down by the house cooks of the day, are all part of the NLI’s extensive collection of cookery books and recipe manuscripts which includes about a hundred manuscript recipe books and hundreds of printed cookery books.  

Offering a window into the daily life, flavours, and traditions of past generations, this autumn the National Library of Ireland invites the public to rediscover the recipes and recreate them at home, connecting to Ireland’s centuries old culinary heritage.  

For those who want to discover even more recipes in the NLI’s collections, the NLI is open, free of charge, to all who wish to consult the collections, online or in-person.  

Recipes:   

Parsnip Pudding. From NLI MS 42,009 Compiled by Anna Irvine of Rosebank. 

Recipe transcription: 

Boil two good parsnips, squeeze out the water, mash them add the yolks of two eggs, a slice of a penny loaf steeped in a spoonful of cream, a little seasoning.  [Make it either sweet or savoury according to taste.]  Beat all together, line your dish with paste and bake in a moderate oven- many other ingredients can be put in, such as hare or tongue. 

To make short Paste. From NLI MS 42,009 Compiled by Anna Irvine of Rosebank. 

½ Pound flour- 2 oz sugar 2 oz butter Buttermilk  

1 egg- moisten with cream? 

(Notes by NLI archivists Nora Thornton: As there were no instructions, I made the pastry as I usually would. I rubbed the butter into the flour until it resembled breadcrumbs. I left out the sugar as I wanted to make a savoury Parsnip Pudding I mixed in the beaten egg and rolled out the pastry to line the dish before filling the cases with the parsnip filling. I chose not to add any hare or tongue.) 

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Parsnip pye [pie], From NLI MS 51,643 

Recipe book is written in different hands. Late 18th to early 19th century. 

Recipe transcription: 

Take ye best Parsnips you can get, & boyle them very tender, then pill them & cut them into long slices, & season them with sugar & cinnamon, then put them into ye pye, lay good store of butter at ye bottom, then lay more butter on ye top, marrow, some mace, dates, yolks of eggs hard whole, then close up ye pye & bake it, & before it comes to be served up, cut it open, & put to it a caudle made of verjuice or Rennish wine, & 2 or 3 eggs beaten & a little butter & sugar, then set it in ye oven again for a little while, & put on ye lid again & serve it up with sugar scraped upon it. 

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Turnip Soup (which calls for 12 turnips!) from NLI MS 9929 

MS 9929 is compiled of two recipe books, c. 1775-1850 and c. 1800-1875. 

Recipe transcription: 

Take twelve large turnips two heads of cabbage, cut the cabbage and slice the turnips small with four onions, fry the turnips and onions in butter; and put them down with the with the cabbage, some whole pepper and allspice, a large handful of rice, a bunch of sweet herbs and parsley to stew in eight quarts of water, close covered over a slow fire, ‘till it comes down to three quarts add a little vermicelli stewed in other water, the water being poured from above? and strain your soup over it give it a boil- season it with a little salt. 

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Gingerbread Loaf from NLI MS 42,009 Compiled by Anna Irvine of Rosebank. 

1 pint of treacle is equal to 2lbs 

2 lbs of flour- 1lb sugar – 1lb butter 

1 teacupful of ground ginger and 

1 pint of treacle.  

The sugar, butter, ginger and treacle to be boiled till melted then let it cool and add to it the flour also the yokes and whites of six eggs well beaten and a teaspoonful of pearl ash dissolved in a teacup full of water. Lemon brandy citron sweet almonds candied oranges are great improvements. As it rises very much when put into the hot oven it should be put into three tins. 

(Notes by NLI archivist Nora Thornton: Amendments to the original recipe: I substituted ‘pearl ash’ with bread soda, which is a much safer alternative.) 

ENDS