Lady Arundel's Manchet
| Type | Sweet bread |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | England |
| Region or state | Sussex |
Lady Arundel's Manchet is a traditional version of a manchet, a traditional English yeast bread from Sussex.
The recipe for Lady Arundel's Manchet was first published in 1653 according to Elizabeth David.[1] It was a luxurious bread eaten by the medieval aristocracy and remained popular into the Restoration period. A recipe appears in A True Gentlewoman's Delight (1653) printed for the Countess of Kent.[2]
Lady Arundel's Manchets crossed the Atlantic to Virginia with the early colonists according to Katherine E Harbury.[3]
Florence White also references Lady Arundel's Manchet's in her 1932 English Cookery book Good Things in England,[4] publishing a description of a 1676 recipe and updating it for a contemporary readership.
Manchets were often used as part of other dishes. For example, a recipe for a baked pudding that incorporates manchet is included in "Things Not Generally Known, Familiarly Explained," citing The Queene's Royal Cookbook of 1713. This is a rich pudding that includes double cream, the addition of beef suet and added aromatics such as nutmeg, cinnamon and rose water.[5]
Lady Arundel's Manchets are rarely made today. Manchets generally ceased to appear in English cookery books after 1800. The closest similar yeast bread is probably a Bath bun or a Sally Lunn bun.
In series 3 of UK television series The Great British Bake-off a participant from Sussex made Lady Arundel's manchets serving them with an inner layer of cream and jam.[6]
References
- ^ English Bread and Yeast Cookery Paperback: 624 pages Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; Language English ISBN 0-14-046791-2 ISBN 978-0140467918
- ^ "SCA COOKING". midrealm.org.
- ^ Katherine E Harbury: Colonial Virginia's Cooking Dynasty (2004) Univ of South Carolina Press p. 98 ISBN 1-57003-513-X
- ^ Florence White: Good Things in England published by English Folk Cookery Association 1932 Jonathan Cape 1968
- ^ John Timbs, W. Kent and Co, Robson: Things Not Generally Known, Familiarly Explained (1859) Publishers Kent & Co page 42
- ^ http://victorias-cake-boutique.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/great-british-bake-off-episode-7.html
