Giles Rose’s 1682 Recipe for ‘A Melon Tart in Slices’
“First slice out your Melon in very thin slices, and place them very handsomly in a Paty-pan sheeted with fine Paste, season this with Sugar, Cinamon, and a little Salt, and cover it with long slices of Pafte cut very narrow, or with a plain cover, which you please, indore it, and when it is baked put Sugar and Orange-flower water over it, and so serve it away.”
Giles Rose, A Perfect School of Instructions for Officers of the Mouth (1682)
This year m’colleague Cath, with a smidge of help from yours truly now and again, has been growing ‘Emir’ melons in the Vinery glasshouse at work. Very successfully growing, I should add, as the following photo can attest:
It’s a little difficult to tell the scale of that melon, one of half a dozen or so successfully but it’s a bit of a beast: probably around 30cm nose to tail, and at least 2Kg in weight, or so I reckon.
The day after that pic was taken, a smaller fruit detached itself from the vine1This is Cath’s story, and as I have absolutely no reason to doubt my colleague, I’m perfectly happy to take her at her word. and the decision was taken to assess it in the gardeners’ room, quality control being an essential part of the whole growing process.
Yeah, we sliced it up – it was perfectly ripe, not even a hint of going over – and we scoffed it, and it was utterly delicious.
Now, slicing and scoffing is, of course, the de rigeur method of eating melon. Some folks like to season it a little, with powdered ginger, or even black pepper. But I suspect the majority of people stick with au naturel, and why ever not?
Having said that, if you are feeling experimental, you might like to consider giving your melons a seventeenth century twist, via Giles Rose’s recipe for melon tart.
Unpacked, it goes something like this: cut your melon into thin slices and arrange them neatly – perhaps tarte tatin style? – in a “Paty-pan”, which I think would be a small pasty or pie dish, lined with good quality pastry. Add cinnamon, sugar and a sprinkle of salt. Although it’s worth bearing in mind that seventeenth century melons probably wouldn’t have been Cover the melon with slices, or ribbons, of pastry, or a single sheet of pastry of you prefer.
The next instruction – “indore it” – was puzzling, as most online sources only recognise the word “indore” as the name of a city and/or region in India, but a bit of judicious searching through the rest of A Perfect School of Instructions for Officers of the Mouth – and can we just pause a moment to admire the title of the volume in question – revealed Mr. Rose’s meaning: “indore” is the term he consistently uses for egg-washing or glazing a pie or tart, or even baked meats (see p.480).
Finally, once your tart, or pie, is baked2No instructions, but presumably if you don’t know how to bake a pie properly then in Giles Rose’s opinion you shouldn’t be anywhere near a kitchen., slosh on a mix of orange water and sugar, and serve it forth. Or away.
There you have it, a baked melon tart, or pie, you choose. Does it sound delicious enough to tempt you to cook your melons? Or do you think you’ll be sticking to the time honoured slice-and-scoff method? Do let me know, via the comments.
