I love history, especially food history. I am always fascinated by foods that were once cultivated, prepped and cooked and I enjoy learning about old world cooking techniques. It is interesting to me how our ancestors ate and I find old recipes enthralling! That is part of why I share that here with you — it’s simply a love interest of mine and I love sharing what I learn!! Earlier this year I attended a cook-along put on by the 41st Regiment of Foot who are a military living history group who devote their time to reenacting battles during the early 1800’s as well as sharing about the food rations and meals, including recipes, of the Canadian army of that time period. It was quite interesting to learn about their rations and some of the food they’d have eaten, like the minc’d collops I am sharing with you today.
The 41st Regiment of Foot was a line regiment of the British Army. They were deployed to Canada, mainly Upper Canada and Lower Canada, from 1799 to 1815, and particularly during the War of 1812. They were extremely active throughout the conflict that ensued and received more battle honors than any other British Regiment during the War of 1812. Now that we know a bit of who the 41st Regiment of Foot was, let’s talk about food!
They were allotted bread and meat along with flour, vegetables, pease (legumes like split peas that were cooked until thickened with pork, onion, salt and spices), rice, salt, pepper and vinegar as well as beer. Often they had to cook for themselves, but sometimes a hot meal was sold to them from local people or innkeepers. One of the dishes they prepared for themselves was minc’d collops because they had meat to use, as well as flour, water and spices to prepare the hard dumplins. Minc’d Collops was made in the 1700’s and essentially means “chopped meat.” This was their version of ground meat and the meat would have been chopped fine and then seasonings, stock and condiments added to create a gravy. Then this meat and gravy would be served with these, rather large, hard dumplins.
I found a recipe from Modern Cookery, by Eliza Acton (1860, originally published in 1847) for minc’d collops:
So, we are basically making a ground meat with gravy to eat with hard dumplings which is like a tougher homemade noodle, shaped into a round ball. It was really quite delicious and a recipe my family enjoyed. It is similar to my gramma’s hamburger gravy she used to make which we enjoyed on mashed potatoes.
Let’s get started!
First off, add ground beef to pan with onion, salt and pepper. Cook until no longer pink. You can also use a different cut of meat and mince finely.
Add ground ginger or nutmeg. These spices were popular in the 1700’s and widely used with meat. Cook until slightly browned.
Add flour and stir well. Cook for a couple minutes to cook out the flour so it does not have that floury taste. This will help to thicken the sauce up a bit.
Add lemon juice, beef stock or broth and worcestershire or soy sauce. You can also add the walnut pickle or mushroom catsup now as well. I did not add walnut pickle or mushroom catsup although I hear it adds wonderful flavor to the minc’d collops.
Here is what the minc’d collops should look like. It is essentially meat with a gravy type sauce that is served with the hard dumplings. I also added a bit of dill weed as well as chives which added to the flavor of the minc’d collops and made it quite lovely actually.
We had the minc’d collops with hard dumplings which we made smaller instead of large as they once were made. Each soldier would receive some minc’d collops along with one or two large hard dumplings and that would be their meal ration. You can find the recipe for the hard dumplings here: http://www.ourcityhomestead.com/homemade-old-fashioned-hard-dumplings/
We also decided to have some vegetables with the minc’d collops so we cooked up some peas which went great with the meat & gravy and the hard dumplings which is similar to a chewy pasta. It was actually delicious and definitely a meal I would make again, although I would add various vegetables to the minc’d collops like chopped carrot and perhaps corn or broccoli. Besides adding peas, we had the meal as close as it would have once been prepared! You can also enjoy the minc’d collops with mashed or roasted potatoes — it would be simply delicious!
Minc’d Collops
1lb ground beef
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp salt
fresh cracked pepper
1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp nutmeg or ginger
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup beef stock or beef broth
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce (or HP sauce, mushroom catsup or walnut pickle)
Prepare hard dumplings. As the dumplings cook, prepare the minc’d collops. Place ground beef in a skillet or cast iron pan. Add onion and seasonings. Cook until beef is no longer pink. Sprinkle with flour and stir. Add worcestershire sauce or soy sauce (or any of the other sauces listed – the mushroom catsup and walnut pickle is authentic to the time period of 1700-1800’s). Add beef stock and stir well. Cook until bubbly and slightly thickened. You can also add mushrooms and capers if you like.
Serve with hard dumplins. Find how to make them here: http://www.ourcityhomestead.com/homemade-old-fashioned-hard-dumplings/
Traditionally, the minc’d collops would have been served with the hard dumplings, and that would be it, but we decided to add some vegetables. We added peas, but you can easily add any of your favorite vegetables to the minc’d collops or even on the side or serve with a salad.
I decided to research what exactly was mushroom catsup and walnut pickle. Although I have looked at old recipe books, I did not pay much attention to the condiments that would have been added to meals such as the minc’d collops or served with a roasted meat. It enhanced the flavor and sometimes masked the odor of the meat being old or slightly spoiled since they did not have refrigeration. In the 1800’s, they often sold questionable meat products in their markets. These types of condiments are similar to HP Sauce that many add to steak or gravy-type sauces like stews.
Mushroom Catsup — used to impart flavor and a browning color without any bitterness. Usually burnt sugar was used to deepen the color of a sauce or soup, but it left a bitterness. Mushroom catsup helped leave a rich color while enhancing the flavor of the dish being prepared. It was made from mushrooms, anchovies, shallots, salt and an array of spices like allspice, mace, black peppercorns, ginger and cayenne.
I may have to try making this interesting sauce one day! From Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery (1860, originally published in 1847), here is her recipe for Mushroom Catsup:
Walnut Pickle — is also known as walnut catsup which is walnuts that have been pickled and used as a condiment. It is made with walnuts, vinegar, garlic, shallot, anchovies, salt, and an array of spices like cloves, mace, nutmeg and black peppercorns which were popular spices of the day. From Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery (1860, originally published in 1847), here is her recipe for Walnut Catsup (walnut pickle):
I enjoy learning about old recipes and times of old… a little of what Our City Homestead is all about.
Share with us if you have made Minc’d Collops, Hard Dumplins, Mushroom Catsup or Walnut Pickle! We enjoy hearing what you are creating in your kitchen!
