Lady Logie's Recipes
Try some authentic Georgian recipes for yourself
Margaret Scott, Lady Logie (1710 - 1781) carefully preserved a bundle of recipes amongst her papers. They were wrapped up in an advert for George Kerr, Tinsmith in Fountain Close, Edinburgh and labeled as "receipts worth while to keep". Some are written in her own hand, others were taken from letters sent by friends. Printed recipe books were not common and women carefully collected and preserved them.
Lady Logie was from the powerful Scott family who owned many of the estates in the vicinity of Montrose. She lived on Newmanswall estate and also had a town house in Montrose High Street. She lived as a widow for over 30 years. All of her children predeceased her.
Most of the recipes were in her own handwriting. As savoury recipes were very well used and there was little need to write them down, her recipes are mainly fancy recipes for special occasions.
If anyone tries out these recipes please let us know how you get on!
Receipt to Kitt Salmond
Her recipe for kitted salmon was a dinner party dish. It is of special interest since Lady Logie’s relatives, the Lairds of Logie, Commieston, Rossie and Brotherton, owned most of the salmon fishings in the area and were major exporters.
"Boile your salmond with a strong pickle of salt as usual, and after it is boiled take it from the pickle, lett it stand till cold, scume all the fat from mixe and boile it with Jamaica pepper and a little black pepper and a few Bay leaves, when it is cold, take half of this pickle and half vinegar and putt over your salmond, I have not one exact weight for the epicerie that is just as you would have it keeps long"
Kitted salmon was a pickling process which was part salt and part vinegar. In the 1790’s kitted salmon was rapidly replaced by iced salmon.
Yellow Fool Milk
Desert’s used cream freely as it was readily available from the family’s farms. There are many recipes for syrups, fools and creams.
"Take 6 yolks of Eggs, beat in a Mutchkin of sweet Cream, mix it in a Pan; set it on the Fire with some sugar, stire it till at the boiling, pour it on your loam Plates, put sugar & Cinnamon on the top & serve it up."
To finish off this Georgian meal why not try Lady Logie’s recipe for Orange Wine.
Receipt for Orange Wine
"Take 50 Bitter Oranges, pair off the outter ryrds, squize them, and put the juice into a bowl, take out all the seeds, and put them up in a Bag, take 13 Pints of Good Water, and 12 pounds of fine sugar, put sugar and water into a Clean Kettle with the whites of 8 Eggs, Boyl the sugar and water 3 Quarters of an hour on a Clear fire, and Scum it well, then put the above seeds and ryrds, into a clean stand, pour on them the boiling syrop, and when it becomes as cold as Wort fit for Barm, put to it a mutchkin good new Barm, which must be first mixed with four or five spoonfulls of the Syrop of Lemons, both being beat together before it be put to the Liquor"
Let it be slightly covered and work 48 hours, then turn all in a barrel with rynds and seeds, with the Liquor, and with the juice of 50 oranges, which must be till then preserved, with a little sugar, with 4 pints good hard sack, Rhinish wine or Lisbon wine, let it stand 10 or 12 Days, after that draw it off in clean bottles, put a little bit of sugar in every bottle, let the corks be a little slack for 2 days, then drive them hard: NB, It will be fit to drink in a Month"
If anyone tries out these recipes please let us know how you get on
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