Saliere ou Poivriere

Just in from France on the Spring canoes …

Item 30 [Planche II, Diderot, attelier de fayancerie.] Une saliere ou poivriere à l'usage des tables, faite pour contenir l'un & l'autre. A salt box or pepper plate used at table, made to contain both.

Asperges confites. Pickled Asparagus

Hors d'œuvre were such a popular appetizer in the 18thC that special faïence plates were created for their service. Here you see an interpretation of the plate[*] from Diderot's Encyclopaedie, 1762-1777.

Pickled asparaguses. Take smallest; cut the white; & cut them in several pieces. Have coarsely crushed salt & cloves; make a layer in a well glazed pot. Make various layers of asparaguses, & the same seasoning, until the pot is full; pour good vinegar above: cover your pot well; & to draw them, when you need some, serve with a silver spoon, & never touch there [the pickle brine] with the hand, for fear of making the brine spoil; what happens inevitably without this attention.

*****Asperges confites. Prenez les plus petites; coupez le blanc; & coupez-les ensuite en plusieurs morceaux. Ayez du sel & du girofle grossiérement concassé; faites-en une couche dans un pot bien vernissé. Faites divers lits d'asperges, & du même assaisonnement, jusqu'à ce que le pot soit plein; versez dessus de bon vinaigre: tenez votre pot bien fermé; & pour les tirer, quand vous en aurez besoin, servez-vous d'une cuiller d'argent, & n'y touchez jamais avec la main, de peur de faire fermenter le mêlange & de le gâter; ce qui arriveroit immanquablément sans cette attention.

Dictionnaire Portatif de Cuisine, d'Office, et de Distillation. Chez Vincent, Paris 1767, p. 55-56.

[*]55. A dish of hors-d'oeuvre for use at tables, furnished internally with roots or other artificial similar things, among which one serves some natural items.

*** 55. Un plat de hors - d'oeuvre à l'usage des tables, garni intérieurement de racines ou autres choses semblables artificielles, parmi lesquelles on en mêle de naturelles.

How to Cook Asparagus

Ladyfingers - Biscuits Cuiller

Since the turn of the 18th Century, spoon biscuits, savoy biskets or Italian savoiardi, known to us as Ladyfingers, have been used with fruits, for dipping in drinks, and to "garnish certain pies."

These pies were known as "charlottes" by 1796. The typical Charlotte pan can be seen in Diderot's Cyclopaedie, 1767.

The court & country cook, faithfully translated out of French into English by J. K. A. J. Churchill, London, 1702, p. 66.