Pannadon?

[Mission]

All right, this one has me stumped. From John Woodall's book the surgions mate, we have this quote, a prescription for what to feed a patient following an operation:

"...a comfortable Caudle [caudle is a syrupy gruel containing spices and wine or ale] for the first [day], if you see him weak; and afterwards Broths and Pannadons..." (Woodall, p. 175)

Anyone have any idea what 'Pannadons' are?

You should be aware that Woodall's book contains some of the most horrific spelling I have yet seen in a GAoP-era book, so the spelling of the actual word could be quite different.

[Capt. Trueblood]

Mission,

From what I was able to find, a panadon (with one 'n') is a Catalan (Southern Spain) dish like a turnover, typically filled with spinach.

[Mission]

Thank you!

I must say, that sounds pretty elaborate for ship's food. Having spinach on board for more than a few weeks would seem unlikely. (Woodall was writing to young ship's surgeons.)

[jendobyns]

Hmmm, all my books are piled up in a spare room while we paint, so I'll see if anyone I know in another forum can sort this out. Pannadons sounds like an anglicized version of something else, that's for sure.

Hopefully Grymm will jump in here with an answer, he has a great wealth of understanding with these things.

[Mission]

That might be. Woodall was in charge of the surgeons for the East India Company so it could very well be the Anglicization of food local to India, the Orient or other East Indies routes.

[Grymm]

He prob'ly means panada/panado, which can be just a bread gruel

Shhhh Jen, you'll blow my genial bumbling eejit cover =o)

To Make Panada

You must take a quart of water in a nice clean sauce-pan, a blade of mace, a large piece of crumb of bread; let it boil two minutes; then take out the bread, and bruise it in a bason very fine. Mix as much water as will make it thick as you will have;the rest pour away, and sweeten it to your palate. Put in a piece of butter as big as a walnut; do not put in any wine, it spoils it: you may grate in a little nutmeg. This is hearty and good diet for sick people.

but there are sweet versions that add some or all of madeira, canary(wine not small yellow birds), sack and cream, currants, cinnamon or savoury where boil the bread with onion and peppercorns, and add cream yaddayaddayadda.

Bob May, Hannah Glasse, Raffald and several others have versions.

[jendobyns]

Thanks, Grymm, I was about to post the one from Glasse Perry on Savory Fare sent me. My copy is buried in the pile o'stuff in the spare room while we paint.

[Grymm]

I went for the Glasse, which for 'authodaleks*' is a wee bit late coz I already had it typed up, bit lazy of me I know but variations on a theme, "You say ponado, I say panada etc" go back into the 16thC, possibly earlier, it shares lots of ingredients and process with muddyevil dishes like paynfoundew

Luigi Cornaro (1464-1566), a Venetian nob', wrote in his book 'How to Live 100 Years, or Discourses on the Sober Life'

O,how advantageous it is to an old man to eat but little; therefore I take but just enough to keep body and soul together, and the things I eat are as follows: bread, panado, eggs (the yolk), and soups.

Not all are bread based

The Cooks Guide: Or, Rare Receipts for Cookery, 1654

To make Penado.

Take oatmeal clean picked, steep it in water all night, then strain the water clean from it, and boyle that water in a pipkin, with a blade of mace and some currans; when it is well boyled put in the yolks of two or three eggs beaten with sack, a little salt and as much sugar as you shall think fit, then stir it over a soft fire that it curd not till you think it be enough.

Back to GAoP period bready slop, Varenne has a couple in 'The French Cook' in the chapter called Meat Juices and Stocks suitable for serving to the Sick.

Panada

Get bouillon and fine breadcrumbs, and boil them well together.Towards the end, put in egg yolks, very little salt and lemon juice

and a more meaty based one

Another Panada

Get well choppd up capon or partridge meat, beat it well in a mortar, then moisten with bouillon-that is bouillon from the cooking pot- and a little breadcrumbs and salt. When it has simmered, mix in a few egg yolks to thicken it, and lemon Juice

Bob May's version in The Accomplished Cook is more curranty(Dried Greek grapes not members of the Ribo family)

Panado's

Boil fair water in a skillet, put to it grated bread or cakes, good store of currans, mace, whole(?) cinnamon: being almost boil'd and indifferent thick, put in some sack or white wine, sugar, some strained yolks of eggs. Otherways with slic'd bread, water, currans, and mace, and being well boil'd, put in some sugar, white wine, and butter.

Sounds like a naff version of me Grannies bread pudding which was, and still is when I cook it, a thick, ribsticker of a dish,a slice is ideal with a big mug of tea.

Soak 1/2lb of old bread in milk for half hour or so, squeeze to mush then remix with milk made up to halfpint, 3oz sugar 2oz each of currants and raisins 2oz melted butter 1egg and some nutmeg or mace. Pour into a greased tin and bake at 150°c or about 300°f until a knife comes out clean, 'tween 45mins to an hour+ 'pending on oven.

Edited April 17, 2012 by Grymm

[Grymm]

*Authodalek

THAT IS WRONG! NOT PERIOD CORRECT! EXTERMINATE!

Edited April 17, 2012 by Grymm

[Mission]

Actually, gruel makes far more sense in the context of the original quote. Gruels, broths and caudles were very popular as post-operative food in surgical journals from this time. I also had a feeling it contained bread, although I don't know why. Probably because of the name.