Abraham Hayward, Aristology and Dutch Sauce

Athenaeum Club, London

Abraham Hayward was a remarkable fellow.  A famous lawyer, debater (against the likes of John Stuart Mill), editor of the Law Magazine, influential member of London’s exclusive Athenaeum Club, and essayist.

 He was the translator of a laudable version of Goethe’s Faust (a consummate scholar, he met with Goethe’s widow in Germany to polish his second version) and said to be “one of the 2 best read men in all England” (the other being Thomas McCauley).  He was also a life-long bachelor with "no sympathy for modern ideas” who said at the end of his days “I have outlived everybody I could look up to” (you can read more about him in The Life and Times of Abraham Hayward).

 

Abraham Hayward (1801-1884)

His 1884 NYT obit said “He was not merely a diner-out, although no man dined out more frequently than he did: he was never called a wit, although he said innumerable clever things; he was a leader of no school, and exponent of no phase of thought but he unquestionably was consulted by politicians of the first rank… he was the last of the really brilliant and influential pamphleteers, so was he the last of the raconteurs.”  His cardinal rules were  “Never explain. Never tell about the place or persons. Always pre-suppose a cultivated audience, and do not insult them by letting them think you fancy you know more than they do.  Those who miss the point of your story from ignorance are the inferior ones who do not matter.  The best people will understand.” This is the keynote to the doctrine of “cutting it short” and Hayward was a master of this technique by all accounts.

So much more than a ‘diner-out’ –– Abraham Hayward was a renowned gourmet and much admired as a dinner guest and host till the end of his long life.  Hayward’s The Art of Dining was first published in 1852,  fleshing out articles he had written in 1835-6 for the Quarterly Review.

At his death, his friend Edmund Yates said “ I remember his telling me that, though known as a gourmet – and the “Art of Dining” is still the pleasantest book of gastronomy extant –– he lived very plainly and drank nothing but good claret, and that, though always at work, his income earned by his pen never had exceeded £200 a year (NYT Feb 25, 1884)

First Page of Hayward's Book 

These articles in turn were inspired by the work of one Thomas Walker (1784-1836).  Walker was a police magistrate at Lambeth Court as well as a staunchly opinionated gourmet who hailed from Manchester — where simple dinners were held in higher esteem than the reigning fashion of the day’s over-coursed, over-stuffed, over-sauced fare. This was the heyday of the Regency after all — a time when too much was never enough and a dozen dishes at a meal were considered normal.  Hayward much prized Taylor’s work and agreed with his principles.

A proponent of a disciplined, unaffected way of dining, Taylor wrote of it (and many other topics) in a small periodical called The Original that he published every Wednesday at 12pm (he was nothing if not precise) the last year of his life (for a total of 29 issues). 

His food essays were collected into a small book called Aristology  in 1881, edited by Felix Summerly (pseudomnym of Sir Henry Cole, who published the first Christmas card),  although there were other collections as early as 1837. Aristology remained popular for 100 years, even getting a new illustrated edition in the 1960’s. The essays are remarkably eccentric and cover topics from A— the absurdity of ill-conceived, inconvenient serving dish placement to W — the intelligent practice of serving woodcocks before more substantial dishes (“Delicacies are scarcely ever brought till they are quite superfluous, which is unsatisfactory if they are not eaten, and pernicious if they are.”) with stops at such things as a discussion of the optimum temperature for dining and a fine rant about the screeching horror of barbarically excessive ornament in between.  Thanks to the wonders of Google Books you can sample both of these books easily online.  I think you will find them both intense and vivid slices of London life around the Temple in the early years of the 19^th century. 

Leigh Hunt (friend of Byron, Keats and Shelley) was quoted on the frontispiece of Hayward's book:  “ It is well known that to constitute a perfect entrée there must be observed a certain coherence and harmony among the dishes – so that fish may not interfere with fowl, or stew take the place of roast.  How should we be shocked to see a syllabub responsive to sirloin – a cod’s head yoked to a mince pie—or a frican [from fricandeau, a spiced braised piece of veal or beef] lean shouldering a plate of cherries?  In like manner there must be a sort of adaptation or homogeneousness among the guests assembled — so that the old may not be confounded with the young – the high with the homely — the rough with the refined.”

Walker’s Aristology begins:

“According to the lexicons, the Greek for dinner is Ariston, and therefore, for the convenience of the terms, and without entering into any inquiry, critical or antiquarian, I call the art of dining Aristology, and those who study it, Aristologists.  The maxim, that practice makes perfect, does not apply to our daily habits: for, so far as they are concerned, we are ordinarily content with the standard of mediocrity, or something rather below…. Anybody can dine, but very few know how to dine, so as to ensure the greatest quantity of health and enjoyment… and as to enjoyment, I shudder when I think how often I have been doomed to only a solemn mockery of it; how often I have sat in durance stately, to go through the ceremony of dinner, the essence of which is to be without ceremony, and how often in this land of liberty I have felt myself a slave!”

Lynton Lamb engravings for Aristology

We just don’t speak like that anymore – not even close.  The sophisticate Hayward was certainly inspired by Taylor’s lawyerly prose.  Most of the observations are solid and insightful –– best to limit the number of guests, have small, intimate dining rooms with good fireplaces and to have neither plate, table or room overly decorated.  He reflected; “As our senses were made for our enjoyment, and as the vast variety of good things in the world were designed for the same end, it seems a sort of impiety not to put them to their best uses, provided it does not cause us to neglect higher considerations.  The different products of the different seasons, and of different parts of the earth, afford endless proofs of bounty, which it is as unreasonable to reject, as it is to abuse.”  Both men’s opinions about food are really ahead of their time… MFK Fisher, Elizabeth David or Alice Waters would agree with much of the menu direction -- especially a love of simple good fruit as the fitting end to a fine meal -- not huge confectionary creations to spoil the stomach.

Hayward only included a handful of precious recipes at the end of his book and his Dutch Sauce was one of the honored few. It made such an impression on me that the post grew around it.  As you probably figured out, it is related to Hollandaise… but it’s an ethereally delicate version using cream instead of butter and elderflower vinegar instead of lemon.  The result is so very fine.  Since it was used in tandem with a lobster sauce on salmon in Hayward’s Spring menu, I decided to put it together with poached egg and asparagus with smoked salmon… the result was perfect — a voluptuaries dream that tastes as sexy as it looks.

Since most of us do not have a bottle of elderflower vinegar* hanging around, I used St. Germain   liqueur with vinegar with great success… you can even buy small bottles of it in most liquor stores and need very little for the dish.  It’s important to use a fine smoked salmon sliced parchment thin and not the saltier and earthier lox… it would overpower the dish.   I think the sauce exemplifies the elegance of these fine gourmets (although they would want the sauce on the side and not slathered on the dish–– I loved the luxury of the pour).  Oh, and use good English Muffins  … I made mine for this using my favorite recipe for them (using mashed potatoes as they were originally made) and used great cream from Milk Thistle Farm and my favorite eggs from Grazin Angus Acres.

 Dutch Sauce with Poached Eggs, Smoked Salmon and asparagus, Serves 2-4

Ingredients

2 egg yolks

½ c heavy cream

*2 T plus 2 t elderflower vinegar or 1 T + 1 t. St Germain Liqueur and1 T + 1 t. white wine vinegar

1/8 t mace

s + p to taste

2 toasted English muffins

4 eggs, poached to your liking

4 pieces smoked salmon

8 spears of asparagus cut in half

Whisk the yolks and 1T of St Germain and 1T of vinegar together and warm over a low flame.  Slowly whisk in the cream and continue whisking till the sauce thickens.  Remove from heat.  Add salt and pepper and mace and taste.  If you like the sweet/sour mix add both teaspoons of remaining liquid.  If not, add more of whichever you would like.

Lay ½ a muffin on the plate, top with smoked salmon and poached egg and pour Dutch Sauce over all.  Add the asparagus and serve

* When elderflowers come into season, you can put them into a  bottle with vinegar, wine or vodka and let them steep a few days if you would like to  have your own, but St.Germain’s infusion is spectacular if sweet!
*Since I first made this, I have discovered elderflower tea in the health food store.  It is only made with elderflowers.   Steep a bag of tea in a cup of white wine vinegar and the result will make you very pleased.  It is delicious.

I am so grateful to food historian Carolin Young for introducing me to Walker and Aristology in her book Apples of Gold, Settings of Silver and to my wonderful reader David Julian at the blog Cooking with Julian for telling me of her book... a wonderful cycle of passionate people sharing their passions.

Thanks to Gollum for hosting Foodie Friday!!