Dundurn National Historic Site
610 York Blvd L8R 3H1 Hamilton, ON, Canada

What’s in a name? Part 3 Brown Betty, the Dessert It is often difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of recipes or food names and many words or recipes take on different meanings within a new context.... The use of Brown Betty as a racially-coded food name is apparent in North American references such as The Yale Literary Magazine in 1864. It recommended that rowing teams sacrifice tea, coffee, pies and brown Betty from their diet, which is likely the spiced brandy and ale, wassail-type cocktail in Oxford Night Caps (see previous post). The spelling in this American reference has Betty capitalized and brown in lower-case, suggesting that brown describes Betty’s physical appearance or skin colour. A decade later, in the 1873 cookbook Common Sense in the Household (New York), Brown Betty is an apple dessert. An identical recipe in the Original Picayune Creole Cookbook from New Orleans in 1901 called it Mulatto’s Pudding (Mulatto is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed white and black ancestry). In The Canadian Home Cookbook (1877) the same recipe is called Apple and Bread Crumb Pudding. There is a long history of using food names as racial slurs. Language could take on colonial prejudices where brown refers to skin colour. But research also shows how Brown Betty describes the colour of the dark clay of a teapot, or the recipes’ ingredients and techniques like brown sugar or the browning of the breadcrumbs. Language from a culinary perspective challenges us to consider all the historical influences. A Brown Betty teapot, cocktail, dessert and nursery rhyme character indicates the prominent use of the expression and allows for its eventual race-based use. Regardless, Brown Betty has earned its rightful place as a tasty apple dessert. The November recipe for the #DundurnRecipeChallenge is from the World War I era: Brown Betty, an apple dessert featuring breadcrumbs, butter, sugar and spice. Have a look at our post from a week ago to find the recipe and try making Brown Betty yourself.

What’s in a name? Part 2 Brown Betty, the Cocktail Brown Betty, an apple dessert featuring breadcrumbs, butter, sugar and spice, is our November recipe for the #DundurnRecipeChallenge. Look back at our post from a week ago for the recipe to make and eat Brown Betty yourself. ... Brown Betty is also the name of an alcoholic beverage. The earliest mention of a Brown Betty drink recipe that we could find is in the 1827 book Oxford Night Caps, which featured recipes for drinks served at Oxford University. Similar to a wassail bowl, this cocktail is a combination of brown sugar, water, lemon, cloves, cinnamon, brandy and ale. The finishing touch is to add a couple of slices of toasted bread with nutmeg and cinnamon grated on top. Brown Betty could be served iced in the summer and warm in the winter. At the beginning of the recipe, the author of Oxford Night Caps sheds some light on the possible identity of Betty: it is said to have derived its name from the fair sex...who invariably recommended the mixture so named as a never failing panacea (a cure all). This traditional nursery rhyme could have also played a part in naming Brown Betty the cocktail: Little brown Betty lived at the Golden Can, Where she brew’d good ale for gentlemen; And gentlemen came every day, Till little brown Betty she hopt away. The name Brown Betty could also refer to Brown Betty Teapots (have a look at yesterday’s post) or Brown Betty the apple dessert (more on that tomorrow). Pictured: The Smoking Room at Dundurn Castle

Our annual First Day of Christmas open house was cancelled due to COVID-19, but we still plan to celebrate the holidays with you! You and your family are invited to join costumed historical interpreters on Facebook Live on Saturday, November 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon for a virtual visit to the home of Sir Allan MacNab and his family. The main rooms of the Castle will be decorated by the Garden Club of Hamilton with cedar boughs, ribbons, and dried flowers. Viewer questions will be answered, and Victorian holiday traditions shared, and an historic cook will demonstrate a delightful seasonal recipe that you can also make at home!

What’s in a name? Part 1 Brown Betty, the Teapot The name Brown Betty could refer to a few items in the culinary world: Apple Brown Betty dessert, Brown Betty teapots, and Brown Betty the cocktail. The November recipe for the #DundurnRecipeChallenge is a Brown Betty dessert recipe from the First World War era, so have a look at our post from last week for the recipe to try making it in your kitchen. ... Originating in England in the mid-18th Century, the British Brown Betty teapot design was based on redware Yixing teapots fabricated in China, mostly for Europeans, who typically wanted to brew more tea at once. Brown Betties were first fabricated in Stoke-on-Trent because of the red clay that was found in the area, which was able to retain heat for longer than other clays. The round body was ideal for gently unfurling tea leaves, resulting in a flavourful tea, and the brown Rockingham glaze allowed the teapots to retain their beauty over time without being stained. As for the teapot name, Brown very likely came from the red clay and brown glaze typical of this tea pot, but the reason why this tea pot is called Betty is unknown. One suggestion is that it referred to the popularity of the name Elizabeth or Betty at the time, meaning that it would also be a common name for a servant who would be serving tea. In the picture: this Brown Betty teapot from the staff kitchen in the offices of Dundurn Castle.

The horrors of war remembered. Grapeshot. A type of cannon charge consisting of 9 mini-cannon balls that were held in clusters of 3 and then combined into 3 tiers. These tiers were then wrapped up together causing them to resemble a cluster of grapes. The grapeshot dispersed upon discharge, similar to a shotgun shell. This ammunition was specifically used for short range fighting to target soldiers in a mass. ... #WarOf1812 #Remembrance

Join us for another edition of the Castle Fare Cooking Series, where Julia describes the fascinating cookbook The Cook and Housewife’s Manual. This Scottish cookbook was written in 1826 by Mrs. Margaret Dods, which was the pen name of Christian Isobel Johnstone. Mrs. Margaret Dods was a minor fictional character culled from a Sir Walter Scott story and The Cook and Housewife’s Manual is a combination of recipes and fiction featuring characters from the works of Sir Walt...er Scott and Susan Ferrier. October’s recipes for the Dundurn Recipe Challenge, Garlic Sauce and Spanish Garlic Sauce, are found in this very cookbook. Scroll back to posts from earlier in the month to find the recipes and another video where we demonstrate making Garlic Sauce. If you try out one of the garlic sauce recipes before the end of October, be sure to share your pictures of it with the hashtag #DundurnRecipeChallenge. We’d love to see how it turned out! If you’re intrigued by this unique cookbook, you can read a scanned first edition copy of The Cook and Housewife’s Manual from The University of Leeds Library on the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/b21505366 (The Garlic Sauce and Spanish Garlic Sauce recipes are on pages 167-8) See more

In the garden we are seeing more evidence of death and decay as frosts creep closer and closer. From this decay new life will grow. The annual plants from this growing season will feed the soil for growth next year. Our perennial borders will rest over the coming months to reawaken with new leaves in the spring. The circle of life repeats itself every year. The Dundurn Kitchen Garden may be closed for the season, but we are already planning next year. If you happen to wander ...past and see an open gate, you are welcome to come in and say hello. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you in the spring. #DundurnGarden #SpookySeason

Take a good look: what do you see? It’s not just a fall-themed wreath, this is a human hair wreath. Hair art and hair jewelry became incredibly popular throughout the Victorian era due to the rise of sentimentality and mourning practices. Photos and paintings were too expensive for most so a lock of hair became a common and portable memento of a loved one. Not all hair art was made with the hair of a deceased person. In fact, it was more often the hair of living family member...s that would be twisted and arranged into ornate shapes and patterns. Hair art was a domestic craft much like needlework and rarely signed by the artist. In the case of this wreath from the Dundurn collection, the artist is unknown, as are the owners of the hair, but we can assume this was hair collected from an entire family and woven together to create a sort of family tree. Notice all the hair colours and the ornate details like the bird and wheat! This wreath required so much hard work and talent. #Victoriana #SpookyStuff See more

The horrors of war remembered. Dirk. Ornate hand weapon carried by an officer of the Royal British Navy. These discreet daggers often had a ceremonial nature, but most importantly, they were used in close combat. The thin, sharp blade caused deadly effects as it was used to slash, stab or thrust.... #WarOf1812 #Remembrance

In the most recent episode of our Castle Fare Cooking Series, Julia demonstrates making the two variations of one of the Garlic Sauce recipes selected for Dundurn Castle’s Dundurn Recipe Challenge in October. It is a very simple sauce using butter or oil and garlic or garlic-flavoured vinegar that will be ready to serve with vegetables or meat in a matter of minutes! Spanish Garlic Sauce is the other October recipe for Dundurn’s challenge and it is a more complex recipe. ...Try making the simple Garlic Sauce demonstrated in this video, or the Spanish Garlic Sauce, or try both challenge recipes if you’re feeling ambitious. Share your Garlic Sauce pictures on social media before the end of October with the hashtag #DundurnRecipeChallenge. Have a look at our post from Oct 13th for the Garlic Sauce and Spanish Garlic Sauce recipes. Extra-large garlic bulbs for planting are still available for sale in the Castle Gift Shop, open Tuesday to Sunday, 12:00 - 4:00 PM. #HamOntMuseums #Garlic

The horrors of war remembered. Bayonet. One of the most common weapons used during the War of 1812, it was used in one of two ways during battle - affixed to the muzzle of a flintlock musket, or in some rare occurrences, as a knife in hand to hand combat. Soldiers were trained to aim for the major organs within the soft abdominal cavity of the body to inflict deadly internal damage.... #WarOf1812 #Remembrance

It’s garlic planting time! Scroll through some planting tips with Andrea. Step 1: Prepare the Plot. Garlic prefers a full sun location, and soil enriched with lots of compost or manure. Step 2: Separate the Cloves. Split the bulb into separate cloves, leaving the papery skin intact. If you have trouble, run your fingernail between the cloves to help break them apart. ... Step 3: Plant! Place the largest cloves with the pointy side up, plant them 15-20 cm apart and about 5 cm deep. Step 4: Cover and Water. Cover the cloves and water well, then add a generous layer of mulch. Wait for the sprouts to emerge in late fall or early spring. Good luck with your garlic growing! Extra-large bulbs are still available for sale in the Castle Gift Shop, open Tuesday to Sunday, 12:00 - 4:00 PM. #DundurnGarden #Garlic

October is LGBT History Month in Canada! While many of the words we use to describe the full spectrum of genders and sexualities didn’t exist in the 19th century, there are still incredible stories to tell about people from that time. Doctor James Barry was born in Cork, Ireland in the late 1700s and had a career around the world as a military surgeon. In South Africa he successfully performed one of the first recorded Caesarean sections where both the mother and child survi...ved, and met Sophia MacNab’s future father-in-law at a dinner party in Cape Town. He served as a military surgeon for the British colonizers during the Great Jamaican Slave Revolt of 1831-1832 and dealt with a cholera epidemic in Malta in 1850. He was a vegetarian, alcohol abstainer, fought a duel, and even had a small feud with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War. He served in Canada as Inspector General of Hospitals from 1857 to 1859, oversaw barracks and hospitals in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, and Kingston, and reformed health-care standards in the military. With his political connections and reputation we can even wonder if he would have met Sir Allan MacNab! In addition to his accomplishments as a health care reformer, Doctor James Barry is a famous and controversial historical figure as well as a transgender man. Upon his death in 1865, an unsanctioned inspection of his body alleged that he was female and had given birth. The Victorians were intrigued by this scandal, and scholars today are still writing about Barry as both an LGBTQ+ historical figure and a fascinating person. The terms we use to describe identity did not exist in his lifetime, and so we cannot be sure about how he self-identified. What we do know is that Barry lived his life as a gentleman, doctor, and officer, and we want to recognize his accomplishments for LGBT History Month. For more information, check out this article on Barry https://bit.ly/3nWRv91 #LGBTHistoryMonth #VictorianGenderAndSexuality Image is of Doctor James Barry and John Joseph Danson, c. 1862. (Wellcome Library, London/Wellcome Images)

How does Hamilton’s Castle fit into World Food Day? When COVID-19 impacted Hamilton, Dundurn Castle’s Historic Kitchen Garden pivoted from providing a pristine Victorian garden experience to something a little more like a farm. Even with our closures and redeployed workers, so far this year we have been able to grow 3,642 lbs. of produce (534 lbs. alone in this photo of last week’s Thanksgiving donation) to donate to the Neighbour to Neighbour Centre’s food bank. Globally, o...ver 2 billion people do not have regular access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food. In Hamilton, Food Share recorded 23,000 visits to food banks in 2019 (40% of the people relying on that food are children). Dundurn’s Kitchen Garden cannot solve hunger in our community, but we are so proud to have devoted the entirety of our 2020 garden to growing fresh food for the 1,200 families Neighbour to Neighbour Centre supports each month. #DundurnGarden #WorldFoodDay

Get out your breath mints! October’s recipes for the Dundurn Recipe Challenge are a simple Garlic Sauce and a more complex Spanish Garlic Sauce. Try one or both recipes and enjoy your sauce on vegetables or meat. You will find the recipes in the images and transcribed at the end of this post. The British didn’t typically do much cooking with garlic during this era, but we found these recipes in the 1826 The Cook and Housewife’s Manual by Mrs. Margaret Dods (written by Christi...an Isobel Johnstone). How does the Dundurn Recipe Challenge work? Anyone who accepts the challenge has until the end of the month to make the recipe, post a picture and tell everyone what their experience was like. To share your challenge results, make a public post anywhere on Facebook with the #DundurnRecipeChallenge hashtag. On Instagram, add #DundurnRecipeChallenge to a picture on your public profile (Instagram stories do not show up in a hashtag search). A new historic recipe is unveiled on the second Tuesday of each month. Garlic Sauce. Make this with a spoonful of garlic vinegar stirred into a half pint of melted butter; or chop and pound in a mortar two cloves of garlic with a bit of butter, or a very little oil, and rubbing the paste through a sieve simmer it in the butter. Spanish Garlic Sauce. Slice a pound of gravy beef and a quarter pound of ham into thin bits, and lay them in a small stew-pan, with four cloves of garlic and a carrot sliced, and a bit of butter; brown these over a very slow fire, turning them to draw out their juices. When browned put in a quart of clear broth, a faggot of herbs, a little butter rolled in brown flour, four bruised cloves, and a little Cayenne. Let this simmer for a long time; skim off the fat, and strain the gravy, which should be reduced to nearly a pint.

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for our visitors who returned after the months of closure in the spring. Seeing you all again has been a joy during a difficult year. If you have not visited us just yet, we appreciate you just as much. Your support here online has kept us going! It may be a cliche to ask over and over, but it seems to matter more in 2020: what are you thankful for this year? #DundurnCastle #Thanksgiving2020

We talk a lot about Sophia MacNab on our tours, mostly due to her childhood diary, which acts as one of our best resources for stories about the Castle and its inhabitants. But as a girl in the 1850s, Sophia had limited rights and freedoms. At this point in Canada’s history, women were not considered persons by law so they could not vote, and they could not buy property. While this slowly began to change in the early 20th century, many women (such as Indigenous women and wo...men of Asian descent) were intentionally left out of changes to legislation until decades later. Sophia had many privileges that sheltered her from some of the worst injustices to women during the 1800s. Sophia had an excellent education, which is often what holds girls back even today. Sophia was not forced to marry young or for her family’s financial benefit, she was able to marry whom and when she pleased. And of course, Sophia was a white woman from an influential family and was incredibly wealthy for most of her life. Today is International Day of the Girl, a day to recognize girls’ rights and their unique challenges. International Day of the Girl 2020 focuses on #MyVoiceOurEqualFuture, because everyone benefits when girls have the chance to excel. #InternationalDayOfTheGirl #WomensHistoryMonth