Just for fun: my Jas. Townsend and Sons wishlist

I’m a big fan of Jas. Townsend and Sons, in particular their historical cooking blog and their 18th cooking videos on YouTube. Although they are post-medieval, a lot of the tools they sell work well for medieval and renaissance cooking. Mostly for my own amusement, here’s my current wishlist of items I covet from their catalog: Part 1: things I really need / might actually buy in the foreseeable future:

• Birch twig whisk — does what it says on the label
• Linen towel (for boiled puddings!)
• Hardwood masher which they specifically note can be used as a pie dolly! I was poking around their website and wondered if they had a pie dolly, then I discovered this, and my little heart went all a-squee.
• Redware pie pan. It’s for pie! How do I not already own this???

Part 2: things I like, but which would be definite “splurges”

• American Heritage Chocolate. It’s not medieval at all, but I would love to play around with some colonial chocolate recipes.
• Redware chocolate pot. Okay, apparently in spite of my claims to the contrary I actually do like chocolate. Again, this one is post-medieval, but I have a deep affection for real hot chocolate made with milk and cocoa (or maybe grated American Heritage Chocolate!), especially when I make it with fresh almond milk and a little cinnamon and some real vanilla bean and okay now I’m drooling.
• Redware milk pan. I think this would be wonderful for mixing things, especially with the pouring lip.
• All of the 18th Century Cooking DVDs. YouTube is great but I love these enough that I want to watch them on my actual TV.

Part 3: things that I could only own if I won the lottery:

• Tin kitchen / reflector oven — think of the roasts!!!!
• Copper porridge pot. It’s so beautiful… ::cries::
• Oak wash tub. I desperately want this, but that’s a lot of pennies to save when I don’t know if I could realistically schlep it to events.
• 2 gallon oak keg. I have a wee barrel, but a larger one would be awesome. (If I could find room to pack it.)

Hmm… all right, I think the whisk and the masher might be about to be ordered. Anyone have other favorite historical cooking equipment purveyors to share?

Edit: They now offer free shipping in the contiguous US on orders over $30, so I totes just bought myself a whisk and a masher/pie dolly. Maybe I’ll post an “unboxing” video when they arrive! (Ha ha, not really.)

Author: eulalia

I'm a foodie, medievalist, crafter, and gardener living in beautiful Portland, Oregon. View all posts by eulalia