# 18th Century Recipes, and the use of nutmeg. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18th-century-recipes-and-the-use-of-nutmeg/848274 "2020-02-21T02:22:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18th-century-recipes-and-the-use-of-nutmeg/848274/21 "2020-02-23T05:47:39Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Plus if you use enough, it gets you high. And quite sick in the process, as a couple of my friends discovered. Not a pleasant high from all accounts. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18th-century-recipes-and-the-use-of-nutmeg/848274/22 "2020-02-23T12:07:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > …For me, it’s also indispensable in a bechamel… Oh yeah. Along with black pepper, which I usually skip, it’s a key ingredient in bechamel-based chicken croquettes. So good. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18th-century-recipes-and-the-use-of-nutmeg/848274/23 "2020-02-25T19:45:02Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > Oh yeah. Along with black pepper, which I usually skip, it’s a key ingredient in bechamel-based chicken croquettes. So good. Hm, I use white pepper ground in Bechamel, along with nutmeg and a tiny tiny dash of capsicum [though a good Hungarian half-sharp paprika is good also] I admit, I love watching Townsend’s youtube feed - he is just _so_ happy to be sharing foodways. Did you see the 1799ish Thanksgiving series from about 3 or 4 years back? The one with his daughter helping out? We have actually done a similar Thanksgiving - we did the turkey in the oven, but the dressing [2 sorts, one the modern one, one the bread crumb one he used] the cranberry sauce and cranberry pie [loved the sauce, pie was OK but nothing to write home about] and some other odds and ends, we all agreed it was fun [but we are all historical recreationists as well =)] I am pretty sure I still have pictures of the pumpkin and cranberry pies, not sure about anything else. I had to order the Atora brand suet from a British company, I didn’t feel like sourcing and prepping my own, and it is a good product. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18th-century-recipes-and-the-use-of-nutmeg/848274/24 "2020-02-25T21:28:59Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > I do enjoy the flavor of it. I wonder why it’s never used as the main spice in anything - Nutmeg Snaps, maybe? Stroganoff ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18th-century-recipes-and-the-use-of-nutmeg/848274/25 "2020-02-26T18:25:30Z")
Nutmeg was a status symbol that was starting to be affordable to the average person. The colonials were just as susceptible to food fads as we are, nutmeg was a fad then like weird salts are a fad now. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18th-century-recipes-and-the-use-of-nutmeg/848274/26 "2020-02-27T05:18:42Z")
The favorite cocktail in mid-18th century America was “bumbo,”\* made of rum, water, sugar, lemon juice, and nutmeg. George Washington conducted his first campaign for the Virginia House of Burgesses by inviting everyone in town to his house, where he served them all free bumbo. Hey, it worked. \*What a goofy-sounding name. At least it tastes good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18th-century-recipes-and-the-use-of-nutmeg/848274.md?page=1)