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Tomato Soy

A historical recipe from The Virginia Housewife, by Mary Randolph (1860).

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A historical recipe

The Virginia Housewife; Or, Methodical Cook, by Mary Randolph (1860). Project Gutenberg eBook #12519.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards. Its words name: food kept without cooking or cold storage. Check current food-safety guidance before following this.

United States

Known as an American recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

  • Storage. The keeping times and places here are from before refrigeration. Follow current storage guidance.

Ingredients 6 ingredients

  1. a bushel of full ripe tomatos
  2. a pint of salt
  3. one ounce of cloves
  4. a pound of allspice
  5. a pound of whole black pepper
  6. three onions

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
  • Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.

Method

  1. Take a bushel of full ripe tomatos, cut them in slices without skinning--sprinkle the bottom of a large tub with salt, strew in the tomatos, and over each layer of about two inches thick, sprinkle half a pint of salt, and three onions sliced without taking off the skins.
  2. When the bushel of tomatos is thus prepared, let them remain for three days, then put them into a large iron pot, in which they must boil from early in the morning till night, constantly stirring to prevent their sticking and mashing them.
  3. The next morning, pass the mixture through a sieve, pressing it to obtain all the liquor you can;
  4. and add to it one ounce of cloves, quarter of a pound of allspice, quarter of a pound of whole black pepper, and a small wine glass of Cayenne;
  5. let it boil slowly and constantly during the whole of the day--in the evening, put it into a suitable vessel to cool;
  6. and the day after, bottle and cork it well: place it in a cool situation during warm weather, and it will keep for many years, provided it has been boiled very slowly and sufficiently in the preparation.
  7. Should it ferment it must be boiled a second time.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Saucepan
  • Chef's knife
  • Cutting board
  • Wooden spoon
  • Sieve
Source Public domain in the USA
Credit

From The Virginia Housewife, by Mary Randolph (1860). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #12519 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12519). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.