Etymologicon party guests eat humble pie

Posted on 2011/11/14 , tagged as

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Book launch parties usually involve the consumption of a predictable diet of canapes and litres of wines. Mark Forsyth, left, for the launch of The Etymologicon recently, tried to do something a bit different – and served guests with genuine Humble Pie.

Here’s what Mark says about that particular dish in The Etymologicon:

‘Humble pie is made using the umbles or innards of a deer. Here’s a recipe from Nathan Bailey’s Dictionarium Domesticum of 1736:’

‘Boil the umbles of a deer until they are very tender, set them by till they are cold, and chop them as small as meat for minc’d pyes, and shred to them as much beef suet, six large apples and half a pound of currants, as much sugar; seasoning with salt, pepper, cloves and nutmegs, according to your palate; mix all well together, and when you put them into the paste, pour in half a pint of sack, the juice of one orange and two lemons, then close the pie, bake it, and serve it hot to table.’

‘Of course, the umbles are the worst parts of the deer. After a hard day’s stag-hunting a rich man will dine on venison. Only his servants beneath the stairs would have to make do with umble (and therefore humble) pie.’

Surprisingly, you might think, the party was a huge success and publishing blog Bookbrunch covered it here. You can read more about Mark’s book here.