A Desperate Dan of a Giblet Pie

A search on our catalogue for 'pie' suggested two young men were corresponding with recipes in the early nineteenth century. Intriguing. On closer inspection, the friends were busy arranging meeting up at the Golden Lion in Wrexham, and at some point someone else had needed a scrap of paper to copy out a couple of recipes. Our catalogue has been amended!

Clean two pair of giblets well, and put all but the livers into a saucepan, 

with two quarts of water, twenty corns of whole pepper, three blades of 

mace, a bundle of sweet-herbs, and a large onion; cover them close, 

and let them stew very gently till they are tender. Have a good 

crust ready, cover your dish, lay at the bottom a fine rump 

stake, seasoned with pepper and salt, put in your giblets, with 

the livers, and strain the liquor they were stewed in; then 

season it with salt, and pour it into your pie; put on the lid, 

and bake it a hour and a half.

A quick google to understand the 'pair of giblets' a little better, and the origin of the recipe is revealed. The recipe is almost identical to Hannah Glasse's published in 1747 in her groundbreaking 'The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy'.

Thank you to James, our work experience student last week, for an excellent piece of transcription work.