Edwardian Vegetarian Menu For October

By Lucy Crichton - October 26, 2020

Photograph by Lucy Crichton.

Vegetarian meal ideas are useful for any time of year.

That’s why you’ll often find meat-free options in our Cookery pages!

And as I found out on a recent Archives visit, they’ve been important to the “Friend” for a long time.

This vegetarian menu first appeared in our October 5, 1908 issue. It was written by a contributor named Ella Schanke.

Pare and cut up two pounds of potatoes, and put them in a saucepan with two ounces of butter.
Add the white part of one leek, and one stick of celery also cut up.
Let them cook for about ten minutes, but do not allow them to take colour.
Add one pint of milk, and one quart of water, and boil for about three-quarters of an hour, or until the mixture is soft enough to rub through a fine sieve.
Boil it again, adding more milk if necessary. Sprinkle in two ounces of sago, and let it simmer until it is transparent.
Season with pepper and salt, add one-fourth pint of cream, which must not boil, and serve with fried bread croutons.

Soak one pound of lentils overnight. Put them in a stewpan with sufficient water to cover them, and stew gently till tender.
Boil one beetroot without peeling or cutting it. Peel it when slightly cold, and cut it in small pieces; chop one large onion and fry it.
Mix the ingredients, adding one tablespoonful of chopped parsley, one teaspoonful of powdered thyme, one ounce of butter, a good seasoning of ketchup, pepper and salt, and two well-beaten eggs.
Set the mixture aside until quite cool. Mould into shapes the size of a cutlet, brush with beaten egg, dip in fine breadcrumbs, and fry in boiling oil.

Wash and pare some potatoes of uniform size, and as they are done throw them into cold water.
Drain them, put them into a steamer, and place this over a saucepan of boiling water.
Cover closely, and steam the potatoes from thirty to forty minutes according to size.

Mix together six ounces of crumbled brown bread, two ounces of butter, two ounces of sugar, two ounces each of sultana and Valencia raisins. Add a seasoning of nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.
Beat two eggs thoroughly, and stir them into the mixture.
Add milk until all the ingredients are thoroughly moistened, then cover and let stand for half an hour, or longer to allow the bread to soak.
Have ready a well-greased mould or basin, beat the mixture.
Add a little more milk, if necessary, pour into the mould and steam for three and a half hours.

This is a more wholesome and elegant preparation than simply stewed apples. It takes a little more time, but the result will amply repay the trouble.

Quarter the apples, pare and core them, and cut them into slices, throwing them into cold water to preserve the colour.
Have ready a clear syrup made by boiling together loaf sugar and water. The quantity of sugar must depend on the acidity of the fruit, and enough must be used to make the syrup clear and bright.
Throw the apples into the boiling syrup, simmer gently till they are cooked but not broken.
Lift the pieces into a glass dish, boil the syrup for a minute or two longer, let it cool, and pour it over. Serve with cream.

Line seven or eight patty pans with puff paste, cover with pieces of buttered paper, fill with rice, and bake for ten minutes in a brisk oven.
Mix well together one tablespoonful of thick cream, the yolk of one egg, and one ounce of grated parmesan cheese.
Season highly with pepper, cayenne, and salt.
Whisk the white of the egg to a stiff froth, and stir it lightly in the mixture.
Remove the rice and paper from the patty cases, fill them with the preparation, replace in the oven, and bake for about fifteen minutes.

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