Historic Cookery

As mentioned previously, the definition of “tin oven” in the glossary
of Prospect Books’ facsimile of The Art of Cookery, made [sic] Plain
and Easy, by Hannah Glasse (1747), refers to the book’s page 91.
All the receipts on that page, which is one in a group of about 10,
are for fish. These pages, together with 32 others that contain
receipts for everything from soups to puddings to vegetables,
comprise the chapter entitled “For a Fast-Dinner, a Number of
good Dishes, which you may make use of for a Table at any
other Time.” In other words, all are dishes for those assorted
and numerous fast (meatless) days (such as Lent). Naturally,
as author Glasse points out, they could certainly be prepared
for any meal at any time.

Now, at first, I wondered, how is fish cooked in a tin reflector
oven? Do you spit it? However, fish tend to be rather thin, so
won’t it fall apart too easily? Or maybe
you simply tie it to the spit? Sounds
do-able, but seems a bit risky. I then
decided to return to the source, to
look closely at the specific receipt
(“Salmon in Cases”) referred to in
the glossary’s definition of “tin oven.”
A-Ha! I soon discovered that it doesn’t
involve cooking a whole fish! It merely
calls for pieces of fish to be wrapped in paper (“in cases”),
then placed on a tin plate and cooked in “a Tin Oven before
the Fire.”

OK. But, wait a minute. How do you cook a plate of anything,
let alone fish, in a reflector oven? Balance it on the spit? Seems
unlikely (and unwieldy!). Set in on the oven’s floor? That’d work,
I suppose, but won’t it be too low, in relation to the fire? OR,
perhaps a tin oven with a shelf would work? The type that’s
also set before the fire and is used for baking? The thing is,
the definition (mentioned above) didn’t include those. Does
that mean they didn’t exist in the mid-18th century? Or were
they just not widely used? It does seem, however, that if one
type of tin oven was available, then other kinds would’ve
been, as well.

Of course, the best way to find answers
to these questions was to conduct a few
experiments. Shortly thereafter, I did
just that, while cooking at the hearth
of The Israel Crane House. I made up
six (6) little “cases” of salmon, and
cooked half in the tin reflector oven
and half in the “baking” tin oven.

Now, unfortunately, I didn’t have any tin
plates, so I “cheated” and used a small store-bought toaster
oven aluminum baking sheet. I then put this “plate” of fish
on the bottom or floor of the reflector and on the upper shelf
of the other. I must say, it was quite exciting, and I eagerly
awaited the results!

Before I share my pictures of the entire process, I want to add
that the Crane House’s tin reflector oven is in good condition,
and is nice ‘n shiny. However, the shelved-tin oven is the exact
opposite; in fact, it’s downright grungy. I used it anyway, and,
bottom line, both worked really well. The only difference was
that the batch cooked in the shelved-oven took a bit longer.
I imagine, if it were as clean ‘n shiny as the other, the cooking
times would’ve been identical (or nearly so).

Here, now, my photos. Hannah Glasse’s receipt “Salmon
in Cases,” from her book The Art of Cookery, follows.

_______________

The salmon; I chose these steaks largely because I figured
they’d be easier to cut into uniformly-sized pieces. The store
had fillets, as well, but they were much larger, overall, and
the thickness of each was rather uneven. Of course, in the
end, it didn’t really matter, because I had to cut it up in small
pieces in order to ferret out a few elusive bones:

The salmon was cut up into pieces:

Several all-white paper bags became the “cases,” and each
sheet was generously buttered:

Salt, pepper, and nutmeg were mixed with the salmon, which
was then divided amongst the three papers:

The papers, with their salmon, were folded into neat little packets:

My “reasonable facsimile” of a tin plate (?!):

Just before everything was ready to be set before the fire,
melted butter was poured, and bread crumbs sprinkled,
over all the packets:

The Crane House’s tin reflector oven:

The “plate,” with its packets, was set on the floor of the reflector oven:

All was set before the fire:

Notice how the fire reflected off the back of the oven; when
I saw that, I knew for certain the fish would cook beautifully,
even though it was “way down” on the oven’s floor:

Lookin’ good!

Mmmmm…salmon, cooked to perfection:

__________

Following the exact same process with the second batch:

The baking style tin oven:

All set ‘n ready to cook:

Another successful round of “Salmon in Cases”:

As you see, fish can be cooked, and cooked well, in different
types of tin ovens. Both of my little experiments was a huge
success! And the final results were mighty delicious. HUZZAH!

_______________

Here is the receipt from The Art of Cookery, made [sic] Plain
and Easy, by Hannah Glasse (London, 1747):

Salmon in Cases.
Cut your Salmon into little Pieces,
such as will lay rolled in half Sheets
of Paper; season it with Pepper, Salt
and Nutmeg, butter the Inside of the
Paper well, fold the Paper so as nothing
can come out, then lay them on a Tin
Plate to be baked, pour a little melted
Butter over the Papers, and then
Crumbs of Bread all over them. Don’t
let your Oven be too hot, for fear of
burning the Paper; a Tin Oven before
the Fire does best. When you think
they are enough, serve them up; just
as they are, there will be Sauce enough
in the Papers.