The recipe book is part of the Blenkinsopp-Coulson (William) Archive. William Lisle Blenkinsopp Coulson (1841-1911) was a prominent figure in Newcastle upon Tyne, establishing the Newcastle Dog and Cat shelter at Spital Tongues.

The recipe was recorded by Jane Blenkinsopp Coulson, who lived in the Jesmond area at the time she compiled the recipe book.

Geraldine Hunwick, Senior Archivist, Special Collections & Archives, Philip Robinson Library, explained: “Jane’s family, the Blenkinsopp family, had held the ancient manor of Blenkinsopp in Northumberland from the 13th century. Jane was the sole heiress to the manor and in 1727 she married William Coulson of Jesmond. As far as we know, they then went on to reside in Jesmond, as by 1832 Blenkinsopp Castle was in complete disuse.”

Minced Pies Recipe from Jane Coulson’s Recipe Book, 1733

Held in Newcastle University Library Special Collections. Item reference number: WBC/3

To make Minced Pyes

• Take a Neats Tongue and boil it till the skin come off, and to every pound of meat put to one pound and a half of Suet
• Shred your tongue small and skin your Suet and shred it small then mix them together and shred them again very small then season them with a little Salt, Pepper, good Store of Cinnamon and Nutmeg, a little Cloves and Mace
• To every pound of Meat put to it one pound and a half of Currants, then put in half a pound of Lemon Peel, Orange and Citron cut grossly
• Sweeten it with Sugar lastly put a little Cinnamon on Water, a little Sack and a little Rose water, Shred some Pippins in among them and a little Verjuyce

Notes on unusual words in the recipe, taken from the Oxford English Dictionary

Neat: archaic regional term for a bovine animal; an ox or bullock; a cow or heifer.

Grossly: coarsely (Now obsolete).

Sack: general name for a class of white wines formerly imported from Spain and the

Canaries. (Now obsolete).

Verjuice: The acid juice of green or unripe grapes, crab-apples, or other sour fruit, expressed and formed into a liquor; formerly much used in cooking.

Background to the recipe book

The recipe book is part of the Blenkinsopp-Coulson (William) Archive.

William Lisle Blenkinsopp Coulson (1841-1911) was a prominent figure in Newcastle upon Tyne, establishing the Newcastle Dog and Cat shelter at Spital Tongues.

The archive is his family archive, and as well as William’s own papers it also contains items which were passed down the family, including this recipe book compiled by one of his ancestors Jane Coulson, dated 1733.

The book contains culinary and medicinal recipes. The title page reads: "Choice and Experienced Receipts of Cookery, Preserves, Conserves, Pickles, etc. together with a Collection of Valuable Receipts for Physick collected from Mr John Spearman of Hetton and other able and Eminent Physicians".