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This month an immortal classical, fish and chips, but following the original recipes of the 18th century! And then a treat for the 4th of July: the original American Independence Cake, created in 1796 to celebrate the first 20 years from the Declaration of Independence!

In 1776 Haydn was in Eisenstadt and was writing Symphony No 61, Sonatas Op. 14 and his Opera Dido.

In June 1776 Mozart was in Salzburg and was writing Venite Populi K260/248a, Divertimento K247/K248 and in July 1776 his masterpiece Haffner Serenade K250/248b and other marches, divertimentos etc. (K249, K251, K253, K254 etc.).

Enjoy these original Mozartian recipes!

The English modern version of these recipes is an exclusive property of MozartCircle.
1776
The perfect recipe for your 18th century party! 1. Fish and Chips (1790)
&
2. Independence Cake (1796)
The original recipes (1790 & 1796)
DIFFICULTY:
Easy.
Even an aristocrat may be capable by himself!
1. FISH AND CHIPS (1790)

INGREDIENTS:
    A. CHIPS
potatoes (750gr.)
flour
salt
parsley
    B. FISH
cod (6 fillets without fishbone)
butter (200gr.)
1 egg yolk
salt
pepper (crushed)
basil (dried and grinded)
nutmeg
bread (dried and grated)
bread (200gr. soft part softened in milk)
     for the Stuffing Chenef
chicken (breast 200gr.)
butter (150gr. softened)
2 eggs
bread (200gr. soft part softened in milk)
salt
pepper (crushed)
nutmeg


METHOD:
   A. CHIPS
1. Cut the potatoes into thin slices.

2. Put the slices into bowl with fresh water. Keep them there for a few hours.

3. Remove the potatoes slices from the water. Dry them with a towel and accurately.

4. Put them in a bowl with the flour.

5. When they are well covered in flour, fry them until a beautiful golden colour.

6. At the end, fry also some parsley to be added to the main dish of Chips.

    B. FISH
1. Prepare the Stuffing Chenef.

2. Put in a blender the breast of chicken with the butter, the 2 eggs, the bread softened in milk and then dried, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Work with the blender until you get a smooth cream of chicken, but not too runny.

3. Now rapidly prepare the egg and butter sauce. In a pan melt the butter and add 1 egg yolk with salt, pepper, nutmeg and basil. Whip the sauce rapidly and do not let it cook.

4. Put the 6 fillets of cod in an oven casserole. Pour the egg and butter sauce on them. Now lay some Stuffing Chenef on the fillets of cod and pour other egg and butter sauce on them. Now cover the fillets with the grated dried bread.

5. Place in the oven for 15 min. or less until golden-brown.


POMI DI TERRA FRITTI (1790)
Mondate i pomi di terra crudi dalla loro pellicola, tagliateli in fettine sottili, mettetele nell’acqua fresca. Nel momento di servire scolatele, infarinatele, fatele friggere di bel colore, e servitele con petrosemolo fritto.

MERLUZZI PANATI ALLA SEN-CLÚ (1790)
Tagliate la testa, e la coda a tre Merluzzi mezzani, tagliategli anche le spine sul dorso, e sul ventre, apriteli da quest’ultima parte, levandogli la spina senza dividerli del tutto, riempiteli con un poco di farsa di magro di Chenef, e dategli la loro primiera forma. Squagliate un grosso pezzo di butirro, stemperateci un rosso d'uovo crudo, condite con sale, pepe schiacciato, noce moscata, un poco di basilico in polvere, avvolgete con questa Salsa i Merluzzi, spolverizzateli leggermente di mollica di pane grattata, aggiustateli per lungo sopra il piatto, che dovete servire, colla schiena, al di sopra; fateli cuocere al forno di bel colore, e serviteli con una Salsa chiara, e sugo di limone, o di pomidoro, di grasso, o di magro.
2. INDEPENDENCE CAKE (1796)

INGREDIENTS:
flour (1 kg.)
sugar (750gr.)
butter (500gr. softened, unsalted)
5 eggs
wine (0.12 l.)
brandy (0.12 l.)
nutmeg (3gr.)
cinnamon (9.5gr.)
cloves (9.5gr.)
mace (9.5gr.)
citron (100gr. grated rind)
currants (250gr.)
raisins (250gr.)
yeast (0.12 l.)

__________________
TIPS:

Since this cake belongs to the Kougelhopf class, you can use also the same techniques and be sure you are using a special flour for cakes to keep the cake very soft.

a. for currants and raisins, use two different types of raisins with different characteristics;
b. for the wine & brandy, use instead an already fortified wine (a dessert wine) like sherry or port (0.24 l.), both should be the white type: especially the first one was very popular in 18th century;
c. If you want in any case to add some more brandy to the dessert wine, when mixing brandy and wine, it is very important to taste the mixture in order to reach the type of flavour you wish, before adding it to the eggs, the flour and the sugar;
d. the original 1796 quantities are really rich (9 kg. flour etc.), so this version is a 9 times reduced one, thus preserving at the same time the grandeur of this cake. For a standard modern cake for 6, you can further reduce the quantities by dividing again by 2 or by 3 (raisins 250gr. = raisins 80gr., etc.). 
__________________

METHOD:
1. Put currants and raisins in a bowl with a mixture of water and brandy (or rum).

2. Finely grind nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and mace. Grate the rind of the citron.

3. Whip a bit the 5 eggs with the mixture of wine and brandy.

4. In a bowl add the softened butter with the sugar. Whip the mixture then add the flour and the yeast and then the whipped eggs in order to keep the dough moist. Stir the dough with a spoon, add the currants and raisins (firstly remove the mixture of water and brandy or rum), the grated rind of the citron and all the other spices.

5. Pour the dough in a cake mould and place in the oven for 1h to 75min or more, until it is ready: a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out slightly moist but not wet.

6. When baked, prepare a classical white sugar icing and dress the cake this way and add further decorations of sugar and gold leaf of your choice. The original 1796 decoration was a crown of boxwood (probably of sugar) with leaves and other decorations in gold leaf on the top of the cake.
INDEPENDENCE CAKE (1796)
Twenty pound flour, 15 pound sugar, 10 pound butter, 4 dozen eggs, one quart wine, 1 quart brandy, 1 ounce nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, mace, of each 3 ounces, 2 pound citron, currants and raisins 5 pound each, 1 quart yeast; when baked, frost with loaf sugar; dress with box and gold leaf.