Book of Days Tales

The Loves of Mars and Venus, a ballet by John Weaver, arguably the first modern ballet, (i.e. the first dance work to tell a story through dance, gesture and music alone), had its first performance  at London’s Drury Lane Theatre on this date in 1717. There was nothing new about ballet, as such. Ballets had always been part of operas and plays and helped narrate the dramas. The Loves of Mars and Venus was a standalone danced drama, with all the action conveyed in dance and mime alone.

Here’s some tarts from the 18^th century English Cookbook of Unknown Ladies:

A Spinach Tart.

Take 6 eggs, yolks & whites. Beat them well with a pint of sweet cream, a quarter of a pound of crumbs of bread, a good handful of spinach cut small, half a quarter of currants, half a quarter of almonds pounded with a little rose water, half a nutmeg, half a pound of white sugar. Half a pound of drawn butter, 3 spoonfuls of brandy. Mix all well together. Lay paste thin at the bottom & sides of the dish & cross bar at top. 3 quarters of an hour bakes it.

Tort De Moy

Pound a quarter of a pound of almonds with sack, and beat the white part of a young pullet that is very tender & half boiled. Skin it and pound it very small. 4 biscuits grated, some pounded cinnamon, half a pint of sack, 6 spoonfuls of rose water, some pounded mace, half a nutmeg, some sugar to your taste, sliced citron & candied lemon peel. Then beat 4 eggs, two whites and mix it with half a pint of cream. When you have beaten your eggs and cream well together, put your other ingredients to it and mix them well together and put them in a skillet over the fire and keep continually stirring one way till it is as thick as a tansy. Your fire must be slow. Then have a dish with puff pastry at the bottom and sides, and when it is pretty cool, put half of [the mixture] in your dish and then a layer of whole marrow and the juice of a lemon over it. Then put the other half in, then cross bar it with pastry top and bake it in a very slow oven. 3 quarters of an hour bakes it. You can leave out the marrow if you like.