Maccaroni Pudding - Tastes from the Lost Victorian City
In conjunction with our 'Lost Victorian City' exhibition, we've dug into the archives to recover some of the tastes of Victorian London. Some might be familiar, others less so, but we'll have fun along the way!
The following recipe comes from an 1889 publication called "Instruction in Cookery" published by the School Board for London.
We first tried making barley water and now we've tried our hand at macaroni pudding. Yes that's right - maccaroni, not rice pudding and macaroni is spelt with a double 'c' too! See what we thought and why not try the recipe yourself and let us know how it went on social media by using, #LostVictorianCityRecipes.
Maccaroni Pudding recipe, 1889
Ingredients:
- 1/4lb of Maccaroni
- 2 ozs. Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 pt. of Milk
- A little grated Nutmeg
Method: -
Break the maccaroni into small pieces; place in a saucepan of boiling water; boil uncovered 20 minutes; pour off the water; add the milk; simmer very slowly about 15 minutes, or till the maccaroni is tender. Draw the pan to the side of the fire to cool a little. Beat the egg and sugar together, stir it into the maccaroni, pour it into a greased pie-dish, grate a little nutmeg over the top. Bake 1/2 hour. Time, 1 1/2 hour.
Our experience...
It was very easy to get hold of the ingredients, in fact I had everything in the store cupboard already. It was easy to make although these days boiling pasta for a total of 35 minutes feels wrong!
The recipe is essentially a rice pudding made with pasta instead of rice and I think it came out well, but with a rather pale skin which I am guessing is the fault of my modern fan oven.
Verdict
It tasted nice but was very sweet, and the slippery texture of the pasta was not as pleasing as the rice alternative.
"I chose this recipe in memory of my grandmother whose Mrs Beeton I have inherited and who annotated only one recipe in the whole book – Maccaroni Pudding, although a different variation from the SBL version."
A personal reflection
Your turn -
If you've tried this out for yourself, let us know what you think by using, #LostVictorianCityRecipe on social media.
Look out for some more favourites in the coming months and we'd love to see your creations and more importantly know what they tasted like! We've digitised the whole book for you to explore!