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THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., DF,',CF‘MBER, 22 1929. Christmas Dinners in the Old Dominion Game Hunting During the Christmas Holidays in Old Virginia and the Hunt Dinners, Prepared With Amazing Skill by Colonial Housewives, Were High Spots in the Days 'of the Cavaliers—Here Are Some of the Famous Recipes Culled From the Old Family Cook Books—A Delightful Commentary of the Time. BY NANCY FOREMAN MUNCE. NE of the traditional pictures which one associates with old “merrie Eng- land” is that of the hunt. We read over and over again of the famous stag and boar hunts, and- almost in- variably associated with the early English Christmas is the picture of the boar’s head be- irig brought in on the great silver salver as part of the Christmas festivities. - Falconing, stag hunting, fox hunting and grouse hunting, all have played conspicuous parts in: English coun- try. life, and even, today affairs of state and business are laid aside while the English gen- tleman adjourns to the moors for his annual “shoot” in the “season.” To the English mind the traditional hunt did not mean just the mere capture and slaughter of game, but always at- tendant with the hunt were the festivities of the parties, great dinners and balls, at which epicurean dishes of game were served, so that . the season of the hunt in reality marked one of the high spots in the English social year. When - the . English pioneers came to this country, zame was their meat supply, and we read in the recounting of their experiences the important part that the large supply of available game played in’the establishment of the early Colonies. Howe, one of the first historians of Virginia, wrote, “The morasses were alive with water fowl, the forests were nimble with game, the woods rustled with covies of quails and wild turkeys, while they sung with the merry notes of the singing birds. It was ‘the best poor man'’s country in the world,’ ” so in reality the meat supply was not as difficult to obtain as the growing of grain for cereals, and the providi: of the other necessities of life. As the ColBny grew there came to Virginia the Cavaliers, English gentlemen, who brought with them the traditions of the English hunt, and faced with the Colonial necessity of a meat sup- - ply, drew on the apparently limitless supply of game for both necessity and pleasure. Bear, deer, quall, pheasant and pigeons were every- where in the high land; in the tidewaters wild duck and wild geese and terrapin abounded, and from these great natural resources there were drawn into the everyday life of Colonial Virginia the famous game dishes which are today but traditions. ¢ ‘The fame of certain hunting grounds is im- mortal—~the bear and deer of the Dismal Swamp, and the deer runs of Piedmont; the canvas- backs, Mallard and red heads of Back Bay, the Chicahominy ond the Potomac; and the dia- mond-back terrapin of the Eastern Shore, all have been immortalized in tradition and story; but as time has gone on and Virginia changed from Colony to State, and the population grew, the game has gone, until today only by the grace of conservation laws is there any game left of what was once an apparently unlimited supply, and indeed some of it has gone beyond recall. ‘The wild pigeon is no more, and our deer and bear population is rapidly going the same way. In this day when our meat supply comes prac- tically entirely from domestio-animals, it is per- fectly natural that the greatest delicacies of today should be drawn from these sources, but in the generationg gone, when the meat supply was game, the epicures of that day evolved those traditional dishes which are savery mem- ories to a fortunate few, and practically un- known to a vast majority. Today, to the aver- age man, game is a rare treat, and yet some of the most famous dishes of Colonial times were evolved by the epicures of that day from ter- rapin, canvasback, partridges and deer; many of these famous dishes being those which orig- inated in England, modified or supplemented by garnitures or side dishes peculiar to the New ‘World. CHR!BTI(AS has always been a great holiday time in Virginia, and while the evenings were given to sumptuous dinners, balls and parties, it was but natural that the men should give the early mornings and middays over to hunting and other sports. The Christmas hunts were always the outstanding ones of the year, - with dogs well broken from the earlier season’s handling, markmanship raised to the highest pitch through the seasons experience, and neighbor vying with neighbor and friend with friend for the lion’s share of the hunt bag. And then the hunt dinners that followed, where each lady put before her guests the booty from her Nimrod's bag, developed by her amasing skill into the piece de resistance of the Lucullan feast, were high spots in the Colonial life. If there is any truth in the epigram, “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you -what you are,” then those famous treasure troves of- domestic economy, the family recipe books, which have come down from generation to gen- eration, are the most delightful and poignant commentaries on the life in Colonial Virginia, for it is from these that one obtains the picture of the preparation of the dishes which made those dinners so famous. From here and there among these old recipe books, I have taken some of the famous game plates to pass on to you, for though you may never be fortunate enough to have fuifilled the first essential of the true huntsman’s game plate, and that is, that it be from your own bag, you may appreciate and enjoy the visualization of some of these famous old dishes. B!AR meat apparently was never considered a great delicacy, and was usually cooked as one handles pork, but venison or deer meat was always considered the most delectable of all of the game animals. Of special recipes for preparing venison there seems to be an un- limited number, but I will only give you one or two which I know are most savory and en- . Joyable. TO ROAST A HAUNCH OF VENISON, “Venison is finest in Autumn or early Win- ter, and keeps longer than any other fresh meat, no other care being necessary for keep- ing it from three to four weeks than to hang it up in a cool, dry place. “The haunch is the handsomest joint to set before a large company. A fine one weighs from 20 to 25 pounds, and when cooked in a stove requires as much as five hours for its thorougn roasung. To keep in the juices and protect the fat cover the joint with a greased paper first, and over that lay a paste made of flour and water. Baste frequently with lard and butter, and remove the envelope when_ready to serve. i el - “To dress the haunch for the table, fold double two sheets of letter paper, cut, crimp and turn them over, so as to form a broad ruffie around the hock end, and send it to the table on a large flat dish, ungarnished, but with the accompaniment of a glass of jelly.” p A DEVILED VENISON. b “Cut thick slices from rare-roasted venisom, make slanting incision and fill them with mixed mustard and salad oil. ' Brush the slices with melted butter and dredge them with flour, Broil over clear coals 'till a good brown and serve with buitter.” . One of the peculiar garnishments that always seemed to be served with game was the green walnut pickle, its savory twang being a fitting complement to the delicate “gamey” flavor, and - while game may be scarce, green walnuts still are plentiful, and dne will find this recipe a de«" lightful garniture for some of our modern meat dishes. WALNUT PICKLE. “The walnuts (black) should be gathered in May when they are tender enough to pass a needle through. Pour boiling water and salt over them every other day for nine days, leaving them in the salt and water. At the end of that time remove them from the brine and expose them to the air on dishes, turning them occae~ sionally; put them in a jar alternately with laye ers of black pepper and cloves, ground, and & little garlic, mustard seed and ground horse< radish; cover with cold vinegar.” It is probable that there is no more desirable dish in the world than what many chefs would choose to call “terrapin 'a la Maryland.” If some of our forebears could see the travesties that are often perpetrated on the unknowing