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recipe
July/August 2009
Salmon Salad
From the cook
Dutch version
of this recipe
 A
delicious recipe almalgamated from two nineteenth century cookbooks written by
'kitchen maids'.
In eighteenth century England the housewife or her housekeeper ruled
the cookbooks, in The Netherlands it was the keukenmeid (litt. kitchen
maid), which is not quite the same as the housekeeper but I will use
that in the translations of the book titles. The first cookbook of this kind
appeared in 1746, De volmaakte Hollandsche Keuken-Meid
(The perfect Housekeeper from Holland). In the second half of the
eighteenth century followed De schrandere Stichtse Keuken-Meid (The
clever housekeeper from the Sticht, 1754), De volmaakte Geldersche
Keuken-Meyd (The perfect Housekeeper of Guelders, 1756),
De nieuwe, welervarene Utrechtse Keuken-Meid (The new,
well-experienced Housekeeper of Utrecht, 1769), and De nieuwe wel
ervarene Nederlandsche Keuken-Meyd (The new well experienced Dutch
Housekeeper, 1776). In the nineteenth century the housekeepers lose their
anonimity, and they become economical (Aaltje de volmaakte en zuinige
keukenmeid, [Aaltje the perfect and economical housekeeper],
1803) and even cheap (Betje de goedkoope keukenmeid, [Betje the
cheap housekeeper] 1850). They provide simple recipes for ordinary people
(although Betje's broiled oysters, lobster butter, truffle sauce and ragoût with
morilles hardly count as 'simple fare')
In my article on
Herb soup with potato dumplings
I already mentioned the problems with using nineteenth century cookbooks, with
all their revized, extended and improved editions. Both
Aaltje and
Betje have appeared as facsimile reprints some thirty years ago, and these
are the editions I have used for the recipe on this page. However, again things
weren't as straightforward as they seemed to be.
Aaltje
 Aaltje's
cookbook has quite a printing history. The first edition, Aaltje, de
volmaakte en zuinige keukenmeid, (Aaltje
the perfect and economical housekeeper) appeared in
1803. The author declares in her introduction ('voorrede') that she has had
the supervision
over several kitchens for forty years. She wants to share her expertise in this
cookbook, that was printed at her own cost. Other cookbooks, so she says, use
all kinds of expensive ingredients, more apt for rich and lofty people, but her
recipes will be suitable for the economical middle class. The second edition in
1804 was already rewritten. In two letters that will accompany each edition
until the 16th in 1878, the work-over is explained: a (fictive?) former
colleague of Aaltje, the cook N.N. with whom she has consumed many a bottle of
wine ("ménich fleschjen wyn"), has also written a cookbook. On his suggestion
they combine their manuscripts, resulting in this new, improved Aaltje.
From the
Gesprek tusschen den Kok Jan de X*** en Aaltje de Keukenmeid (Conversation
between the Cook Jan the X*** and Aaltje the kitchen maid) in the fifth edition
in1828 it appears that Aaltje is still working. By that time she must have a career of
65 years as kitchen maid. In the same year an unauthorized version appears,
Het echte Aaltje de volmaakte en zuinige keukenmeid (The real Aaltje
etc.). According to the letter from her 'godchild and beneficiary' from 1839, Aaltje
passed away in the spring of that year. Until 1878
Aaltje will see a total of sixteen editions, and three editions of the Echte
Aaltje. Every edition claims to be augmented and improved, chapters are
added on which wine to serve, on baking bread and making ice cream. But the last
two editions, the seventeenth and eighteenth, are in fact a completely different cookbook,
with a new subtitle: Aaltje, Nieuw Nederlandsch Kookboek (Aaltje,
New Dutch Cookbook). It is written by ms Odilia Corver, manageress of the
Temporary Cooking school in Amsterdam. The original Aaltje was written
for experienced cooks, Corver's recipes explain meticulously the ins and outs of
the art of cooking to inexperienced girls, using the newest insights and
technologies. She states that roasting on a grill or spit are completely
obsolete. ((editie
p.95) You can clearly see the difference in
style between the old and new Aaltje in the recipes below. The facsimile edition of Aaltje from 1977
is from the 17th edition, the adaptation by Corver.
Betje
The second cookbook, Betje de
goedkoope keukenmeid, has been printed thirteen times between 1850 and
1927. The eleventh edition (1908) was rewritten by F.S. Oldeman, and the twelfth
and thirteenth editions appeared under the name Oldeman, titled
Het goedkoope keukenboek (The cheap kitchen book). I always
thought that the facsimile edition of Betje (Van Goor, 1975) was from
the first edition in 1850 (as stated on the title page of that edition), but
according to the Bibliotheca Gastronomica
(the source of most of the information on the editions of Aaltje and
Betje on this page) the facsimile is from the sixth edition from 1877.
There simply is no known copy of the 1850 edition.
Thanks to the kind cooperation of the
Kenniscentum van het
Nederlands Bakkerijmuseum (The Dutch Bakery Museum) in Hattem, I have taken
a look at the second edition of Betje. There are some differences with
the sixth edition: the type is different, some recipes and chapters have changed
position, some sixty recipes are added and a few have disappeared. The recipe
for salmon salad for example has been moved from chapter IV (Fish) to chapter 8
(salads), but the text has remained unchanged (except for modernized spelling).
By the way, Betje also has a recipe for chicken salad (2nd edition
p.42, 6th edition -facsimile-edition- p.47) with exact the same ingredients,
except for the salmon, which has been changed into "de overblijfselen van twee
of drie gebraden kippen" ("the leftovers of two or three fried chickens").
The history of Mayonnaise
 Mayonnaise
is a recent addition to the stock of sauces. When and where the first mayonnaise
was prepared is subject to discussion. The theory that is most populair on the
web is the following: the cook of the duke of Richelieu has created this sauce
after the French victory on the British army at Port Mahon on Menorca, in 1756
(see picture on the right). For want of cream the cook used olive oil to thicken
a sauce with egg yolks, and he called this creation mahonnaise. But the
term mayonnaise
(however written) does not appear before early nineteen century. In 1804 there
is mention of 'mayonnaise de poulet'
in the description of the menu of a Parisian restaurant in the
Erinnerungen aus Paris by A. von Kotzebue, and in 1806 the first recipes
for mayonnaise appear, in Le cuisinier imperial by A. Viard. One of
these recipes is 'Saumon à la Mayonnaise': "Quand votre dalle de saumon
est cuite, vous pouvez la servir entière ou en morceaux ... vous les masquerez
avec une mayonnaise froide ..." (Cited from
Dictionnaire de l'Art Culinaire Français (edition)). According to Tom Stobbart (edition),
mayonnaise probably originates south of the Pyrenees, a kind of alioli.
The first Dutch mention of mayonnaise in a cookbook dates from 1851 (De
ervaren Kok [The experienced cook] by J.G. van Langerak), a 'white sauce or
magnonnaise'. But five years earlier, in 1846, the sauce is already described,
although not under the name mayonnaise, by Henriëtte Stam in De Fijne keuken of De
Kok voor Lekkerbekken (The fine kitchen or The cook for epicures).
See Johannes van Dam (edition). In Aaltje
the first mention of Mayonnaise is in the 17th edition of 1891, the revized
version by Corver. Betje has no mention of the sauce at all (at
least not in the editions up to 1877, the sixth edition).
Many people nowadays shun home-made mayonnaise. Partly out of laziness, partly
because of the phobia about raw egg yolks. I often use raw egg yolks, and have
never had salmonella-poisoning because of it. I did get it once some twenty five
years ago, after eating in a restaurant.
The first ready-made mayonnaise was
sold in New York at the beginning of the twentieth century, brand Hellman.
Salmon and your conscience
Maybe it's different where you live, but in The Netherlands of today salmon is
rarely seen in our rivers. Efforts are made to bring the salmon back through
cleaner water and enhancement of its natural habitat, but there is a long way to go
yet. What to choose? Eat bred salmon that is bad for the environment, or eat
wild salmon which is threatened by extinction? Or maybe refrain from eating
salmon altogether? This
document of the WWF
may be of help.
Seasonal
salmon
 In
the past salmon was seasonal food, as were all fish. But Aaltje and Betje
have different views on what that season was. In the older editions of Aaltje,
salmon was typically served during March. In Corver's version, salmon is eaten
from April to July, and winterzalm (winter
salmon) from September to May (which in fact means that salmon could be
eaten the whole year round). Betje (1877) mentions a different season.
According to the introductory remarks in the chapter on fish, salmon is eaten from May to
September. Centuries before, Gerard Vorsselman's Nyeuwen Coock
Boeck (New Cookbook) from 1560 (edition) had yet another season: "Den salm is inden
april ende mey, ende een wijle daerna tsinen alder besten, ende blijft salm tot
na sint Jacobs dach; daer na heetmen hem laset tot op sinte Andries
dach ende is ten besten tusschen sinte Michiels (29 september)
ende sinte Martens dach (11 november)" ("Salmon is at its best in April and
May and a while after that, and will remain 'salmon' till after Saint Jacob's
Day (July 25); then it is called 'laset' until Saint Andrew's Day (November 30)
and is best between Saint Michael (September 29) and Saint Martin (November 11)" VI.2,
edition p.140,
Vorsselman's source is the Late Medieval text Wie man fish und vögel fahen soll
from 1493
(edition), which was translated into Dutch in the beginning of the sixteenth
century).
Zalm.
Deze visch gebruikt men zelden heel, meestal in mooten. Men kookt haar
in gezouten water, liefst zonder kruiderij of alleen met peper.
Men laat den vischketel open en schuimt voortdurend. Men kookt ze 15 à 20
minuten en laat ze nog even in den bouillon staan, altijd open: dan
neemt men ze eruit en zet ze op de vischplaat een 10 à 15 minuten in de
open lucht. (Pas op de katten!). Nu heeft de moot al haar kleur behouden
en komt temidden van salade of peterselie prachtig rood op tafel.
Naarmate de mooten dikker of dunner zijn, behoeft men meer of minder
tijd. Men dient ze warm met een kapper- of ansjovissaus of mayonnaise,
en koud als lunchgerecht met een mayonnaise. |
Salmon. (Uit Aaltje 1891, pp
196-197)
This fish is seldom used whole, often in slices. It is cooked in
salted water, preferably without spices, or just with pepper.
One leaves the fish kettle open and skims continuously. Boil them 15 to
20 minutes, and leave them in the stock for a while, always without the
lid; then take them out and put them on the fish plate in the open air
for 10 to 15 minutes. (Beware of the cats!). Now, the slice has kept all
its colour and will appear beautifully red amidst the salad or parsley on
the table. According to the greater or lesser thickness of the slices,
one needs more or less time. They are served with a caper or anchovy
sauce or mayonnaise, and cold for lunch with a mayonnaise. |
Mayonnaise.
Deze maakt men vooruit, want ze vereischt zorg. Kluts twee geheele
eieren met 5 gr. zout en 10 gr. suiker. Zet 1/8 liter kruidenazijn of
azijn en 1/4 liter slaolie klaar. Roer de eieren tot een stijve massa,
doe er langzaam, al roerend, eerst een lepel azijn bij (anders schift
het licht) en dan een lepel olie, zoo om en om; telkens roert men het
weer dik, eer men er het volgende bijgiet. Doe er 3 gr. peper bij en het
sap van 1/2 citroen. Is ze te stijf, leng ze dan voorzichtig aan met
azijn of zeer goede gekookte melk. Men kan er een geraspte ui en
Cayennepeper bijdoen. |
Mayonnaise. (Uit
Aaltje 1891, p 313)
This is made in advance, because of the care it needs. Beat two whole
eggs with 5 gr. salt and 10 gr. sugar. Place 1/8 liter herb vinegar and
1/4 liter vegetable oil near at hand. Beat the eggs to a stiff mass, add
slowly, whilst stirring, first a spoon vinegar (else it will easily
curdle), and then a spoonful of oil, alternately; each time beat it
thick again, before pouring the next spoonful. Add 3 gr. pepper and the
juice of 1/2 lemon. If it's too thick, carefuly add some vinegar or well
boiled milk. One can add a grated onion and cayenne pepper. |
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To compare
Corver's version with the older editions of Aaltje the recipes
for boiled salmon from the first edition (1803) and the sixteenth
edition (1878, the last before Corver's revision): |
1803: Zalm. Om deeze smaaklyke visch te
kooken, zoo snyd dezelve aan mooten; kookt ze in water, en doet 'er een
weinig zout bij. Men eet de Zalm met pieterceliesaus en jonge wortelen;
ook met gehakte raauwe pietercelie, boom-oly en wyn: -- eenigen eeten
dezelve ook wel enkeld met azyn en peper.
1878: Zalm. 1. Gekookt. Om dezen
smakelijken visch te koken, snijdt men hem aan mooten, kookt hem in
water en doet er een weinig zout bij. Men eet den zalm met
pieterseliesaus en jonge wortelen; ook met gehakte rauwe pieterselie,
boomolie en azijn; eenigen eten hem ook wel enkel met azijn en peper. |
1803: Salmon.
To boil this tasty fish, so cut it in slices; cook them in water, and
add a little salt. One eats salmon with parsley sauce and young carrots;
also with chopped raw parsley, olive oil and wine: -- some eat this also
with just vinegar and pepper.
1878: Salmon. 1. Boiled. To boil this tasty fish, one cuts him in
slices, boil him in water and add a little salt. One eats salmon with
parsley sauce and young carrots; also with chopped raw parsley, olive
oil and vinegar; some eat this also with just vinegar and pepper. |
Zalm.
snijdt men in mooten en kookt dien met water en zout. |
Salmon. (Uit Betje 1877,
p 56)
Is cut in slices, and cook it with water and salt. |
Zalmsalade.
Als de zalm gekookt is, legt men de mooten in eene saus van olie,
azijn, zout, peper en fijne eieren. Maak daarna een saus van vier lepels
wijnazijn, twee lepels consommé, tien lepels slaolie, zout, peper,
gehakte dragon,en pimpernel. Leg de mooten daarin en schik ze op den
schotel, doe de saus erover en leg kropsalade in vier deelen gesneden en
op ieder deel een kwart ei met kappers, augurken en ansjovis. |
Zalmsalade. (Uit Betje
1877, pp 89-90)
When the salmon is cooked, place the slices in a sauce of oil,
vinegar, salt, pepper and fine eggs. Then make a sauce of four spoons
wine vinegar, two spoons consommé, ten spoons vegetable oil, salt,
pepper, chopped tarragon, and burnet. Put the slices in it and arrange
them on a dish, pour the sauce over it and arrange quartered butterhead
lettuce, on every quarter a quartered egg with capers, pickled gherkins
and anchovy. |
Modern adaption of the recipet:
Printout version
For this adaptation I have combined the recipes of
Aaltje en
Betje: the salmon slices are boiled and served with a mayonnaise according
to Aaltje from 1891, but the garnish and herbs in the mayonnaise are
from Betje, which
changes the mayonnaise into a kind of ravigotte sauce.
Aaltje's mayonniase is more acid than modern mayonnaise. In Betje from 1877
there is no mention of mayonnaise at all (see above, the history of Mayonnaise)
For four persons as a first course or lunch dish.
List of ingredients:
2 slices of salmon of 200 gram (1/2 pound) a piece
1 head of butterhead lettuce
Garnish:
2 hard-boiled eggs
4 pickled gherkins (sweetsour)
1 Tbsp. capers
4 anchovy fillets
Mayonnaise:
2 raw eggs or 2 egg yolks
4 Tbsp. tarragon vinegar
salt and white pepper to taste
½ tsp. sugar
½ Tbsp. tarragon
½ Tbsp. burnet (if you can get it)
1½ to 2 deciliter (5 to 7 fl.oz) vegetable oil, or half vegetable oil, half olive oil
Preparation:
Bring water with salt to the boil,
lower the heat and put in the slices of salmon. Poach them for ten to fifteen
minutes. Take them out of the water, and let them cool. Aaltje has right, beware
of cats!
Prepare the mayonnaise. If you use a blender, take whole eggs, if you make it by
hand, use egg yolks. Temper eggs or egg yolks, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar.
Pour ithe oil in a thin drizzle, keep beating the eggs. When the mayonnaise
has thickened enough, it is ready. Finish with adding chopped tarragon and
burnet, and taste the sauce. The amount of oil you'll need varies according to
the size of the eggs and how thick you want your mayonnaise to be. A warning:
when there is thunder in the air, don't even THINK of making your own
mayonnaise. It will curdle. Use a pot. (See also
here)
Garnish: clean and wash the lettuce, halve the boiled eggs, cut the gherkins,
drain the capers and pat the anchovy dry after soaking for ten minutes in water
or milk to remove excess salt.
To serve:
Use a decorative dish or plate. Cover with lettuce, scoop some mayonnaise on
it, then arrange the salmon slices on top. Cover the salmon with the rest of the
mayonnaise. Place the prepared garnish in an attractive manner.
Serve with simple toasted white sandwich bread and butter.
Cookbook writers Henriëtte Davidis and Maria Haezebroek (both second half of
the nineteenth century)
only serve oil, vinegar and parsley to cold poached salmon cuts. In this, they
agree with the
Volmaakte Hollandsche Keuken-Meid (The perfect Dutch housekeeper), who
already
gives this combination in 1746 in the recipe for 'Zalm, hoe men die kooken en stooven zal voor de Vasten' (p.132,
'Salmon, how to cook and broil for Lent').
Both Aaltje and
Betje also combine salmon with caper sauce.
Betje's recipe (p.66) resembles a sauce Hollandaise, with 6 eggs, 1 tablespoon
flour, salt and vinegar, brought to the boil whilst stirring, and finsished with
a lump butter and the capers.
Ingredients
All descriptions of ingredients
Anchovy - A small fish,
Engraulis ecrasicolus, that lives in the
Mediteranean and other waters. Where I live (The Netherlands, incase you hadn't
noticed yet), we seldom eat fresh anchovy. Our anchovy comes salted in glass
pots or canned in oil. Use salted anchovy rather than in oil, the flesh is
firmer, they taste better, and if you need but a few fillets, you'll never get
the can closed again. But if you use salted anchovy, take care to steep them in
water or milk for ten minutes, else they'll be too salty.
Burnet - A perennial (Sanguisorba minor) with
decorative leaves and sweet little flowers. Indigenous to Europe. The young
green is used in salads and cooling drinks.
Capers - These are the pickled unripe flowerbuds of
the Capparis spinosa L. The shrub is indigenous to the regions around the
Mediterranean, and its flowerbuds were already eaten in Antiquity. They are
never eaten raw.
Tarragon -
Be careful if
you ever decide to grow your own tarragon.First of all, often Russian tarragon
(Artemisia dracunculus var.inodora) is sold as kitchen herb (at least in The
Netherlands), while the term inodora indicates that this
plant hardly has any flavour. So be sure to find real French tarragon. Second
warning: if your tarragon is happy, it will start to grow rank, sprouting up
everywhere. So choose the spot where you want to plant your tarragon carefully.
Dried tarragon has hardly any flavour. If you do not have tarragon in your
garden, use frozen tarragon, or ask your green grocer.
Winter salmon - A
three or four year old salmon with a minimal length of one meter (about three
feet), caught in the rivers between October and May (Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal,
under lemma 'winter').
Bibliography
The editions below are in my
possession. Links refer to available editions.
All books mentioned on this site
Aaltje, nieuw Nederlandsch Kookboek,
17th completely revized edition of Aaltje de volmaakte en
zuinige keukenmeid by O.A. Corver, 1891. Facsimile Van Goor Zonen, Den
Haag, 1978.
Betje de Goedkope Keukenmeid,
G.B. van Goor Zonen. Facsimile of the sixth edition from
1877 Van Goor Zonen, Den Haag, 1975.
Johannes van Dam, Dedikkevandam, Nijgh Van
Ditmar, 2005.
Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food.
Manfred Höfler, Dictionnaire de l'Art Culinaire Français. Edisud, 1996.
Richard C. Hoffmann, Fishers'Craft &
Lettered Art. Tracts on Fishing from the end of the Middle Ages. University
of Toronto Press, 1997.
Tom Stobbart, The cook's encyclopedia. Ingredients
and Processes. Grub Street, London, 1980 (reprint 1998).
De Volmaakte Hollandse Keuken-Meid. Steeve van Esveld, Amsterdam, 1746.
Facsimile of the 1761 edition by A.W. Sijthoff, Leiden, 1965.
Gheeraert
Vorselman, Eenen nyeuwen coock boeck. Editie E.
Cockx-Indestege, Eenen nyeuwen coock boeck. Kookboek samengesteld door
Gheeraert Vorselman en gedrukt te Antwerpen in 1560. Wiesbaden, 1971.
Joop Witteveen en Bart Cuperus,
Bibliotheca Gastronomica. Eten en drinken in Nederland en België
1474-1960. Amsterdam, 1998. (2 dln)
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