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Vermicelli with Milk
Boil 1 quart of milk, and drop lightly into it 6 ounces of vermicelli which has been blanched in boiling water to free it from all impurities. Simmer gently, and stir frequently to keep it from getting into lumps. When tender sweeten it and send it to table. Time to boil the vermicelli, fifteen to twenty-five minutes, according to quality.
A milk-simmered pasta pudding of the sort that once sat between soup and dessert. It is simple, but milk and starch together will scorch and clump if left alone.
- Stir, and use a heavy panThis is the hinge. Vermicelli releases starch into the milk, which then sticks and catches on the bottom long before the pasta is tender. Use a heavy-bottomed pan over low heat and stir every minute or two, scraping the base.
- The blanching stepDry goods of the period were often sold loose by weight, and a plunge into boiling water rinsed off dust and loose flour. With packaged pasta the step is unnecessary, though a brief 1-minute blanch does wash off surface starch and gives a less gluey result.
- TimingFifteen to twenty-five minutes is longer than modern vermicelli needs; the recipe itself puts the range down to 'quality.' Modern thin vermicelli in simmering milk should be tender in roughly 8-12 minutes; taste rather than time it.
- Quantities1 quart is 4 cups of milk; 6 ounces of vermicelli is about 1 1/2 cups of broken strands. That ratio gives a loose, spoonable pudding that thickens further as it cools.
- SweeteningNo amount is given. Start with 3 to 4 tablespoons of sugar for the full quantity, added at the end so it does not encourage scorching. A little salt in the milk sharpens the flavor more than extra sugar does.
- Yield and servingServes four as a light dish. It is best warm; if held, it sets firm and wants a splash of hot milk stirred through to loosen it. Nutmeg, cinnamon and lemon zest were common flavourings in milk puddings of the period.
For much of the nineteenth century vermicelli was treated less as pasta than as a starch for thickening soups and making milk puddings, alongside sago and tapioca. The instruction to blanch it "to free it from all impurities" is a reminder that dry goods were commonly sold loose by weight from open barrels and boxes, and that cooks were routinely warned to rinse or pick over anything bought that way.