Deborah Peterson's Pantry
327 Sumneytown Pike
Harleysville, PA 19438
215-256-4615


 

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Updated 11/17/09.
All text and images copyright Deborah Peterson 2002-9.

Website design and maintenance:
K L Martz

Each Pantry item comes packaged in a manner reproducing 18th century packaging using contemporary images and extant examples, whether packaged in paper packets, cloth bags, or glass or earthenware containers.


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The Colorants, Gums, Flavorings, Thickeners and Leavenings

Food Colorants


Cochineal
1 oz, $15.00

A small, dried, female insect harvested from the cactus (coccus cacti). Used as a red dye for fabrics, as a food colorant, and in medicines.


Tincture of Saffron
2 oz in a glass jar, $10.00

Made for Deborah Peterson's Pantry by Clarissa F. Dillon; gives a lovely yellow color to foodstuffs. Tincture offered in a clear glass jar.


Saunders / Red Sandalwood
Chips (shown on left)
1 oz, $7.75

Used primarily in cosmetics and medicines, but also in foodstuffs; imported from India.


Saunders / Red Sandalwood
Powder'd (shown on right)
1 oz, $10.75

Used primarily in cosmetics and medicines, but also in foodstuffs; imported from Inida.


Flavorings


Frankincense Tears
1 oz, $6.00

An aromatic resin scraped from the Boswellia sacra tree found in Mediterranean countries. It is used to add fragrance to food.


Myrrh (Gum)
1 oz, $6
.00


Verjuice

Currently out of stock

"A liquor obtained from grapes or apples, unfit for wine or cyder; or from sweet ones, whilst yet acid and unripe. Its chief use is in sauces, ragouts, &c..." (Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 1771)


Orange-flower Water

5 oz bottle, $9.00

Flavoring agent made by distilling orange blossoms.


Rose-water

5 oz bottle, $7.00

Flavoring agent made by distilling damask rose petals.



Dyestuffs, Non-Food

NOT FOR USE IN FOOD


Fustic Shavings

1 oz, $6.75


For the first time in over 25 years, true fustic is available again! It gives a lovely range of yellows in dyeing fibers. Not for use with food.

"The berry of a West Indian tree of the myrtle family.  To most English speaking people the tree is calledpimento and the berries allspice." John Nott
Indigo Dye, Lump
1 oz, $9.00

A dye used on fiberstuffs and not for use with food. Also available ground for your convenience.

"The berry of a West Indian tree of the myrtle family.  To most English speaking people the tree is calledpimento and the berries allspice." John Nott
Indigo Dye, Lump
2 oz, $17.00

A dye used on fiberstuffs and not for use with food. Also available ground for your convenience.

"The berry of a West Indian tree of the myrtle family.  To most English speaking people the tree is calledpimento and the berries allspice." John Nott
Indigo Dye, Powder'd
2 oz, $20.00

A dye used on fiberstuffs and not for use with food. Also available ground for your convenience.


Cream of Tartar
1 oz, $2.75

Scraped from inside wine casks;
often used as a mordant in dyeing.


Gums and Thickeners


Gum Arabic Tears
1 oz, $4.75

A common ingredient during the 17th and 18th centuries, gum arabic dries hard but is water-soluble and had long been used in making confectionary.


Gum Arabic, Powder'd
(Powder'd not shown)
1 oz, $6.25


A common ingredient during the 17th and 18th centuries, gum arabic dries hard but is water-soluble and had long been used in making confectionary.


Image to come


Gum Dragant/Gum Dragon/Tragacanth Tears

1 oz, $6
.25

A gum resin that swells in water and is used as a thickening agent; used in some sweetmeats.

Hartshorn, Sliced
1 oz, $20.00

Deer antler, sliced; used as a jellying-agent in cooking and medicines; useful in flummery.

ISINGLASS

 

NOTE: The isinglass available from brew supply shops is not pure: it is adulterated and so is not useful in period receipts.

 

Isinglass
1/4 oz, $5.75

Isinglass is a very pure form of gelatin obtained from the air bladder of sturgeon. It replaced hartshorn as a thickener for jellies. It was used in making jellies and puddings.

Isinglass
1 oz, $12.00

Isinglass is a very pure form of gelatin obtained from the air bladder of sturgeon. It replaced hartshorn as a thickener for jellies. It was used in making jellies and puddings.


Image to come

Orris Root, Rough Cut
1 oz, $3.75


Image to come

Orris Root, Powder'd
1 oz, $4.75


Sago, Pearl (shown on left)
6 oz bag, $5.00

Sago is the powdered or granulated form of starch obtained from the trunk-pith of the sago palm.


Sago, Powder'd (shown on right)
6 oz bag, $6.00

Sago is the powdered or granulated form of starch obtained from the trunk-pith of the sago palm.


Leavenings

Pearlash
1 oz, $3.50

Pearlash replaced yeast and beaten egg whites as one of the first chemical leavenings in sweet baking, particularly in ginger breads. Prior to its use in foodstuffs, it was used in medicines, dyeing, and laundry.
Saleratus
1 oz, $4.00

NOT an 18th-century item; early form of baking soda, its use is appropriate from 1837-1905.
 
Saleratus
4 oz, $14.00

NOT an 18th-century item; early form of baking soda, its use is appropriate from 1837-1905.