Gaspee
Days Colonial Drinks and Recipes |
The following concoctions
were discovered in the old files of the Gaspee Days
Committee, and were apparently used by some Pawtuxet
Village restaurants during Gaspee Days c1966-1972.
Some selections were found in old hand-written cookbooks
that had been families for over 200 years.
We would like you to consider this information as
'shareware'. If you really like a particular recipe,
let us know by donating to the Gaspee Days Committee
to help fund our community events.
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BEVERAGES
Cocktails have been
traced back to before the Revolution. And since many of
those Rhode Island Colonists that burnt the Gaspee in 1772 were
involved in rum and gin distilling and smuggling, we can
assume they were also very familiar with some of the
following drinks. The usual drinks were punches, cobblers,
toddies, slings, bounces, juleps, snagarees, and flip The
common ingredients were gin, brandy, Medford (dark) rum,
port wine (sack), bourbon, rye, and bitters. Cobblers are
of American origin and are great favorites in all warm
climates. Hot drinks included hot buttered rum, Tom &
Jerry, hot brandy sling with nutmeg, and the Mulls
including mulled cider, and hot applejack.
BLACKSTRAP
As per Webster's
Unabridged Dictionary - A mixture of spirituous liquors
usually consisting of rum and molasses. Among sailors
Blackstrap was (maybe still is) considered any common
wine of the Mediterranean.
CHAMPAGNE COBBLER
1. 1/3 glass crushed ice
2. ½ teaspoon powdered sugar
3. 1 piece orange peel
4. To the ice add the sugar and orange peel,
5. Fill with dry champagne
6. Decorate with fruit.
7. Serve with straw.
COLONIAL HOT CIDER PUNCH, AKA
"WASSAIL'
- 1 Gallon heated apple cider
- 1/2 ounce brandy flavoring
- 1/2 ounce rum flavoring OR (even better) 1/2 quart
light rum
- 3 sticks cinnamon
- 3 to 6 whole oranges
- small bag of whole cloves
- Simmer mixture with 3 sticks whole cinnamon to
melt--DO NOT COOK.
- Allow to cool, pour into punch bowl.
- Separately stick whole cloves around entire surface
of 3 to 6 whole oranges.
- Place oranges into baking pan with 1/2 inch of
water, and bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
- Place oranges into punch bowl
- Serves 40
- Serve with pound cake, nut cake, or cheese and
crackers.
FISH HOUSE PUNCH:
- Completely dissolve 3/4 pound of sugar in a little
water, in punch bowl
- Add a bottle of lemon juice.
- Add 2 bottles Jamaican rum,
- 1 bottle cognac,
- 2 bottles of water
- 1 Wine glassful of peach cordial.
- Put a big cake of ice in the punch bowl.
- Let Punch stand about 2 hours, stirring
occasionally.
- In winter, when ice melts more slowly, more water
may be used; in summer less. The melting of the
ice dilutes the mixture sufficiently
- Makes about 60 4-ounce glasses
Click here for Modern
Recipe for Fish House Punch
FLIP
- 3 eggs
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- 1 jigger rum
- 1 jigger brandy
- 1 red-hot flip iron or poker heated in fireplace
- tall, all-pewter mug
- 12-16 ounces of beer
- In a quart mug break three eggs
- Add three teaspoons sugar and stir well
- Add in the jigger of rum and the jigger of brandy,
beating meanwhile.
- Fill remaining volume of mug with beer
- Insert red-hot iron until it hisses and foams.
- The drink will become only warm.
GINGER BEER
- two ounces of powdered ginger root (or more if it is
not very strong),
- half an ounce of cream of tartar,
- two large lemons, sliced,
- two pounds of broken loaf sugar
- two gallons of soft boiling water.
- Put all ingredients into a kettle and simmer them
over a slow fire for half an hour.
- Remove from heat.
- When the liquor is nearly cold, stir into it a large
tablespoonful of the best yeast.
- After it has fermented, which will be in about 24
hours, bottle for use.
GRAPE WINE
- 2 quarts boiling water
- 2 pounds brown sugar
- 2 quarts grape juice
- 2 cups raisins
- 1 yeast cake
- Boil water in stone crock
- Dissolve brown sugar in boiling water
- Add grape juice and raisins
- Allow mixture to to cool
- Separately, dissolve yeast in a little warm water.
- When mixture is lukewarm; add in dissolved yeast
- Let stand for 10 days, stirring once each day.
- Strain out raisins from mixture
- Mash these raisins into a pulp and let dry
- Add raisin pulp back into mixture
- Let stand for 3 more days
- Strain mixture into bottle, and cork
GROG
Any mixture of spirits and
water, especially rum and water. The term comes
from the nickname of 'Old Grog' for Admiral E. Vernon
(1684-1757) of the Royal Navy who, in bad weather,
habitually wore grogram (a coarse silk and mohair
fabric) and who introduced the idea of serving diluted
spirits to English sailors. Thus it invaded
colonial customs and was known variously as Grog,
Grogshop, Groggy, and Groggery (which was a that time
also a term for low-class drinking places.)
MIMBO
A simple and rather
awesome drink consisting of straight dark rum diluted
with loaf sugar
MINT JULEP:
- Use a silver (or pewter?) mug--very important in
order to obtain condition of proper frosting
- Add ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- Add enough water to make a paste
- Grind fresh mint leaves into paste.
- Fill mug up to the top with finely scraped ice.
- Add bourbon whiskey pouring it through the ice
- Stir with spoon until mug is frosted.
- Top with sprigs of fresh mint.
SNOWSTORM:
- Mint Julep topped with a dash of brandy.
HAILSTONE:
- Mint Julep topped with a more generous dash of
brandy
OLD IRONSIDES RUM AND SODA
- Into a large bar glass put the juice of 1 lemon
- Add 2 dashes orange bitters
- Add 1 wine glassful of dark rum
- Add 3 large ice cubes
- Fill up with plain soda water
- Mix and remove ice
- Serve with straw
OLD SALEM SMASH:
- Into a large bar glass put 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons water.
- 4 sprigs fresh mint rubbed to bring out the flavor,
- ½ glass shaved ice and 1 wine glassful dark rum
- Mix well
PLANTERS' PUNCH:
- ½ bottle (12 ounces) fresh lime or lemon juice
- 1 bottle sugar syrup (or 1¼ pounds of sugar)
- 1 ½ bottles rum
- 3 lbs ice and water
- Mix all ingredients well.
- Decorate with fresh sliced fruit as desired.
- Makes about 30 4-ounce glasses.
SHERRY COBBLER: "Refreshing as an
east wind is a Sherry Cobbler."
- Half fill a tall glass with cracked ice
- Add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar
- Add 1 sherry glass of sherry.
- Stir with a spoon until glass is frosted
- Decorate with choice of sliced fruit: orange,
lemons, pineapple, cherries, etc.
- Serve with straw
SNAGAREE
Made of red wine or fruit
juice (take your pick) and soda water.
SPICED CIDER PUNCH
- 1 gallon apple cider
- 4 2-inch sticks of cinnamon
- 1 tablespoonful whole cloves
- 1 tablespoonful allspice
- 3 lemons
- 3 oranges
- Place cider and spices in large pot, heat
slowly, stirring often
- Strain and chill
- Add sliced fruit to float on top
- Serves 25
SPICED TEA
- 4 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- Sugar syrup (equal parts sugar and water boiled
together until syrup forms)
- 1 tsp whole allspice
- 6 tsp
tea
- 1 small piece cinnamon
- 6 cups boiling
water
- Mint sprigs
- 6 tbs orange juice
- Pour boiling water over the allspice, cloves. and
cinnamon. Cover and let boil 3 minutes.
- Add tea, and let steep about 3 minutes. Strain.
- Cool and add orange and lemon juice.
- Sweeten to taste with sugar syrup.
- Serve in tall glasses with cracked ice.
- Garnish with a sprig of mint.
WHITE SPRUCE BEER
- 3 pounds loaf sugar
- 5 gallons water
- 1 yeast cake
- A small piece of lemon peel
- Essence of spruce (If unable to get essence of
spruce, twigs may be boiled down and strained.)
- Mix all together, when fermented then preserve in
closed bottles.
- Alternatively, Molasses or brown sugar can be used
and the lemon peel left out.
STONE-FENCE
Sweet cider and apple-jack
or brandy
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SOUPS
& STEWS
NEW ENGLAND HADDOCK CHOWDER
- ¼ pound salt pork, cubed
- 4 cups diced raw potato
- 3 pounds fresh skinned haddock bones in.
- 3 onions, sliced
- 2 cups whole milk, scalded
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon salt and
- ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Fry the salt pork out in the pot in which the
chowder is to be made.
- Remove fried pork
- Put into the pot the onions, potatoes and half the
salt.
- Cover with hot water and cook until potatoes are
tender, but not broken.
- Cut the fish into three pieces, and in a separate
dish, simmer it in boiling water to which the
remaining ½ tsp. salt has been added (So that the fish
won't break)
- Then put: fish and strained fish stock (for flavor)
into heated chowder dish. Add milk,.
- Butter, and pepper. Season.
- This serves five.
COLONY CORN CHOWDER
- 6 large soda crackers or
biscuits
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ lb salt pork
- 1 good large onion, sliced
- 4 large potatoes, pared, sliced
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups of corn cut whole from the cob
- 1 ¼ tsps salt
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- Soak crackers or biscuits in sweet milk.
- Cut salt pork into cubes and brown over medium fire
- Add onion and cook until soft.
- Add potatoes and water, then cook until potatoes are
soft but not all broken
- Stir in the cracker-milk mixture, corn, salt, and
paprika
- Heat all through
- Serve piping hot
- Serves 8 people
POTATO STEW
- Pare and slice one quart of potatoes;
- Put on two slices of salt pork; fry nice and brown,
- Add one onion chopped fine,
- And one tablespoon flour; stir well to prevent
burning.
- Add one quart boiling water and potatoes
- Boil until soft then add one cup rich milk and
one-half dozen large (may be stale) soda
crackers.
- One large spoonful butter may be added.
MULLIGAN STEW (Very old
recipe)
- 1/2 cup each of diced onions, carrots, celery, and
turnip;
- 4 potatoes quartered;
- Add to 1/8 lb salt pork,
- 2 pounds venison, lamb or beef cut in small pieces
and cooked 1 hour in 1 pint of water 1 teaspoon salt
and ¼ tsp. Pepper
- Cook all together for one hour
- Dumplings to taste may be added last 12 minutes.
ENGLISH STEW (Made
with beef instead of the mutton in Irish Stew)
- 2 pounds top round
beef
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 2 tsps. salt
- 1/8 tsps. pepper
- 2 carrots, diced,
- 4 potatoes, pared, sliced
- 3 slices yellow turnip
- 4 tbs. flour.
- Wipe the beef and cut into small pieces.
- Roll the pieces of beef in flour and sear in the
fat.
- Place meat in pot with onion, salt and pepper.
- Cover with about 2 quarts cold water and simmer
until the meat is tender.
- Add carrots, potatoes and turnip,
- Wet flour with cold water to form a paste,
- Add to stew and let simmer until slightly thickened.
- At this point, care is needed so that the stew does
not burn.
- Bring to the boiling point and serve. Flour paste
need not be used.
- At last minute instead of paste drop thoroughly
washed beet, celery, or collard greens on unthickened
mixture to add color and vitamins
PLYMOUTH SUCCOTASH
- 1 quart large white Navy beans
- 6 quarts hulled corn (Smutty white)
- 6-8 pounds of corned beef (2nd cut rattle
rand).
- 1 pd. Salt Pork both fat and lean.
- 4-6 pds. chicken cleaned and trussed.
- 1 large turnip
- 8-10 medium sized potatoes
- salt and pepper to season.
- Soak beans overnight
- In the morning simmer until soft, and mash to a
pulp.
- Place pork and corned beef in cold water to cover,
gradually bring to a slow boil: continue until tender,
about 3 hours
- Boil the chicken in another kettle about 1 and 1/2
hours, or until tender.
- Place the mashed beans and hulled corn in a kettle
with some fat and liquor from the cooked meats.
- Simmer to the consistency of a thick soup. The beans
should absorb the liquor but not become too dry.
- Remove the meats to a warm platter to be served with
succotash.
- Mix the corned beef and chicken liquors and in this
cook the turnip and potatoes cut in small pieces.
- Now add the hulled corn and beans to the cooked
vegetables and juices as for a stew, and simmer a few
minutes to blend the flavors.
- Serve the succotash in bowls and pass the meats to
be added or to be eaten on the side as desired.
RED FLANNEL HASH
- 2 cups cold cooked, meat
- 2 1/2 cups potatoes (cooked)
- 3/4 cup turnip (cooked)
- 3/4 cup cooked carrots
- 1 cup cooked
cabbage
- 1 cup cooked beets 1/2 cup raw onions warmed in 2
tbs butter
- 1/4 tsp pepper,
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 teaspoons garlic vinegar
- Dice vegetables and combine all ingredients in a
black oven frying pan;
- pour over all the 1/4 cup of water.
- Cover and let cook slowly
- Stir occasionally until thoroughly heated and
flavors are blended.
- Serve hot
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HEARTY ENTREES
CHICKEN
ROLY-POLY (A very old recipe)
- One quart of flour
- two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar mixed with the
flour
- one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in
- a teacupful of milk
- a teaspoonful of salt;
- (do not use shortening of any kind)
- Roll out the mixture half an inch thick,
- lay minced chicken, veal, or mutton onto rolled
batter.
- The meat must be seasoned with pepper and always
salt and be free from gristle.
- Roll the crust over and over and put it on a
buttered plate and place in a steamer for half an
hour.
- Serve with gravy over each slice.
HAUNCH OF VENISON ROASTED
- 12 pounds roast
- Salt, pepper and flour dredge
- 4 cups flour
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon currant jelly.
- Wipe meat carefully with wet cloth and cover with a
large sheet of buttered paper.
- Make a thick paste of flour and water, roll our 3/4
inch thick and lay over the fat side of the haunch.
- Cover with three or four sheets of white paper and
tie Securely with cord
- Put in dripping pan and roast and do not .forget to
baste often to prevent paper and string from burning.
- A twelve pound haunch will take 3 hours to roast.
- Half an hour before it is done remove from the oven
cut strings, take off paste, and paper;
- Dredge with flour, salt, and pepper
- return to oven and roast to fine brown color
- Serve with a brown sauce to which a tbs. currant
jelly is added
ROAST VENISON--Alternate
Recipe
- 6 to 8 pounds roast of
venison
- 6 strips bacon
- 1 large onion
- 2 cups tomato soup
- flour, salt, pepper
- Wipe venison with vinegar-soaked cloth. Never use
water as this t-ends to toughen meat fibers. Vinegar
picks up hairs and clotted blood more readily.
- Dredge with flour that has been salted and peppered.
- Lard by laying strips of bacon across fastened with
toothpicks. Throw rings of onion over each toothpick,
3 to a strip of bacon
- Start in a brisk oven at 500 degrees for 15 minutes.
Reduce heat to 300 and roast 20 minutes to the pound.
45 minutes before serving pour tomato soup over entire
roast
- Cover and put back in oven. This will
make a most delicious sauce or gravy. Time in oven
varies according to age of deer.
YANKEE CODFISH IN GRAVY
- Break salt fish into pieces, cover with cold water
and bring slowly to simmering point, but don't boil.
- Drain, and repeat 2 more times using cold water and
bringing to simmering point until fish is tender
enough to suit you.
- Boiled fish is tough so be careful.
- Place fish on large platter and pour gravy over it.
- Serve piping hot with hot baked potatoes and
buttered or pickled beets
To make rich white sauce —
- Blend 2 tbs. butter with 2 tbs. flour
- Add 1 cup sweet milk and cook until thick, stirring
all the time
- Stir in a slightly beaten egg (or boiled sliced
eggs) and seasoning to taste..
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BREADS and DESSERTS
FLUMMERY
This is actually a
blanc-mange pudding with a sea moss base. Sea moss
has always been valued for its curative and vitamin
powers. Earlier variation was called PAP when
using oatmeal in place of sea moss, but not as
palatable.
- 1 quart milk
- 3 tbs sugar
- 1 tbs sea moss farina
- 1 tsp, vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Put milk in double boiler and sprinkle sea moss into
it, stirring well all the time
- Heat slowly & stir often
- When it boils up and looks white, add sugar, salt
and flavoring.
- Strain and turn into mold which has been dipped in
cold water.
- Takes 3 hours to harden.
- Serve topped with cream and sugar, or fresh fruit.
HASTY PUDDING -
(Actually a corn meal mush)
Original recipe text:
Put two quarts of water into a
clean dinner pot or saucepan, cover it and let it become
boiling hot over the fire; then add a tablespoonful of
salt, take off the light scum from the top, have secured
to use some sweet fresh yellow or white corn meal.
Take a handful of the meal with the left hand, and a
pudding stick in the right, then with the stick stir the
water around and by degrees let fall the meal; when one
handful is exhausted, refill it; continue to stir and
add meal until it is as thick as you can stir easily, or
until the stick: will stand in it; stir it awhile
longer; let the fire be gentle; when it is sufficiently
cooked, which will be in half on hour, it will bubble or
puff. up; turn it into a deep basin. This is good eaten
cold or hot, with milk or with butter and syrup or
sugar, or with meat and gravy, the same as potatoes or
rice. Hasty Pudding was often served for Sunday night
suppers with stripped salt codfish on the side.
Fried Hasty Pudding is made the same
way and then chilled in bread tins until of slicing
consistency, dipped by slice in flour and fried in lard
or butter until well browned on both sides. Serve hot
topped with butter and syrup, honey, or fresh fruit jam.
Modern Recipe: Refer to side panel of
corn meal box
INDIAN TAPIOCA PUDDING
- 1/4 cup pearl tapioca soaked overnight in 1 cup of
milk and then added to 3 cups of milk and entire
mixture scalded.
- Blend 4 tbs corn meal
- 1/2 cup light molasses
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (or white)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Add to the hot milk and cook until it begins to
thicken
- Place into a well-greased baking dish (use butter
for greasing)
- Bake l hour in slow oven of 325 degrees
- then stir in 1 cup top milk or thin cream
- reduce temp to about 275, continue baking for 2 more
hours
- We still serve this with hard sauce, not ice cream
MOLASSES DOUGHNUTS
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup sour
milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. Soda
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups flour or just enough to handle easily
- Fry in hot fat (380). Turn once.
- Makes about 2 dozen donuts.
1776 MOLASSES DUMPLINGS
- 2 cups.
flour
- 2 tsp
fat
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsps. cream tartar
- 1 tsp. soda
- 3/4 cup milk.
- Mix-dumplings and roll to one inch thickness. Cut
with small cutter.
- Drop 2 or 3 at a time in hot fat.
- Have ready another kettle of boiling molasses, as
soon as fried, drop into boiling molasses
- Remove and drain.
MUSTER GINGERBREAD
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tsp. Soda
- 1/2 cup shortening (chicken fat preferred)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg beaten
- l tsp. Ginger
- 1 cup molasses
- 1 tsp. Cinnamon
- 3 cups sifted pastry flour
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- Heat oven with control set for moderate oven ~ 350
degrees.
- Butter and flour two pans 10x7 or 8" square if
thicker loaf is desired.
- Mix and sift flour, soda, salt and spices.
- Cream shortening and sugar
- add molasses and beaten egg.
- Stir in dry ingredients.
- Slowly add boiling water.
- Turn into prepared pans.
- Bake until it comes away from the sides of the pan,
requires about 25-30 minutes.
- It should be slightly and evenly rounded over the
top, never cracked open.
PROVIDENCE CAKE
- 1 cup
butter
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups
sugar
- ½ pint milk
- 3 cups
flour
- 1 pint raisins
- ½ tsp each nutmeg, cloves, saleratus
- Heat oven to 325-350 degrees.
- Butter loaf pan, probably 8"x4"x4".
- Sift flour, salt, and spices along with soda, cream
butter and sugar until fluffy.
- Add in beaten eggs and beat well.
- Add flour, to which raisins have been added-just a
little at a time, beating well after each addition.
- When all the flour has been added, beat the entire
batter until smooth and velvety.
- Turn into prepared pan and bake 60 to 75
minutes
SQUASH MUFFINS
- 2½ cups sifted
flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon
salt
- 1 cup sweet milk
- 1½ teasp. baking
powder
- 1 cup squash
- 1 teaspoon cream of
tartar
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- ½ cup sugar
- Heat oven to 400 degrees
- Line 1-2 muffin pans. .
- Sift flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking powder.
- Add soda to milk.
- Mix squash, butter and sugar.
- Add in milk soda mix.
- Mix well.
- Add flour all at once and stir just until dampened.
- Turn into pans and bake 20 minutes.
- Best served with fresh Jam
SWAMP YANKEE APPLESAUCE CAKE
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. Cloves
- 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 tsp soda, dissolved in warm water
- 1 cup cooked applesauce
- 1-3/4 cups sifted flour.
- Heat oven with control set at 350 degrees for
moderate oven.
- Butter loaf pan - a bread pan is good.
- Cream sugar and shortening.
- Add salt, cloves, nutmeg and raisins.
- Add soda that has been dissolved in warm water, and
stir in the applesauce.
- Beat until well mixed.
- Then add floor
- Bake in loaf pan 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
- Cover with white frosting as desired
- Is also good just pan plain with a glass of cold
milk.
SYLLABUB (Soft custard
pudding)
Syllabub is also classified as a rich eggnog type of drink
to which brandy may be added, and often served with tea
cakes
- 4 egg
yolks
+
- 2 cups milk
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup
sugar
- 1 pint whipped cream
- Brandy or wine
- Mix half sugar with flour
- Bring milk to boil and add sugar and flour.
- Cook in double boiler 10 minutes.
- Beat egg yolks, add in other half sugar, and finally
add this to milk mixture, stirring slowly.
- Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from fire and add vanilla.
- Let mixture cool.
- When serving fill a tumbler half full of this
custard
- Add a thin layer of brandy or wine on top of
custard
- Finish filling with the chilled whipped cream.
- Often served with tea cakes on festive occasions
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