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Timbales of Spinach
Remove stalks and any stale leaves adhering, from two quarts fresh spinach, thoroughly wash in several changes of water, drain, then plunge in two quarts of boiling water with teaspoon salt and boil ten minutes; drain on a sieve, and with a skimmer press out water. Then finely chop, place in a saucepan with half teaspoon salt, half teaspoon sugar, two saltspoons white pepper, a saltspoon grated nutmeg and three egg yolks, place pan on fire and stir with wooden spoon while heating five minutes. Remove, lightly butter six individual pudding moulds, then fill with the spinach, lay moulds in a sautoire, cover with a sheet of buttered paper, set in oven ten minutes, remove, unmould and use as required.
A classic vegetable timbale: seasoned spinach bound with yolks and set in small moulds. Two details in the original need adjusting — the blanching time and the missing water bath.
- SaltspoonA saltspoon is a quarter teaspoon. So the seasoning works out to about half a teaspoon white pepper and a quarter teaspoon grated nutmeg for the whole batch.
- Two quarts of spinachMeasured as loose leaves, that is somewhere under a pound of untrimmed spinach. It cooks down to roughly a cup to a cup and a half chopped, about enough to fill six small moulds.
- Ten minutes is far too longBlanch trimmed spinach 1 to 2 minutes in the salted water, just until it collapses and turns bright. Ten minutes gives you olive-drab spinach with little flavour left.
- Squeeze it dryAfter draining, press hard in a sieve or twist in a towel. Residual water is the reason timbales weep and refuse to unmould cleanly, and the yolks are the only binder here.
- The five minutes on the fireThis is a gentle thickening, not a scramble. Keep the heat low and stir constantly; the mixture should just hold together on the spoon. If it curdles, the yolks will not set smoothly in the mould.
- Sautoire and buttered paperA sautoire is a shallow straight-sided pan. Any roasting pan or baking dish that holds the moulds works, and a round of parchment replaces the buttered paper.
- Add the water bathThe original omits it, but timbales bound with yolk need one. Pour hot water into the pan to come halfway up the moulds and bake at 350F. Direct oven heat on small metal moulds sets the outside into rubber before the centre firms.
- Timing and donenessTen minutes is optimistic for a water bath; expect 20 to 25 minutes for 3 to 4 oz moulds. They are done when the centre is just set and a knife inserted comes out clean. Let them stand 5 minutes before turning out.
- YieldSix moulds. The closing 'use as required' points to a garnish or side course rather than a dish on its own.
Timbales take their name from the French timbale, a metal drum-shaped cup, and by the late nineteenth century the word was applied to preparations moulded in one: purées of vegetables, fish or game bound with egg and turned out for the plate. They suited professional service of the period, since moulds could be filled ahead and unmoulded to order, giving each plate a neat shaped garnish rather than a spoonful of loose vegetable. Spinach was a common filling, and the classical repertoire already paired it with nutmeg — a combination usually traced to the older European habit of seasoning green vegetables and dairy dishes with sweet spice. The instruction to "use as required" suggests a kitchen component rather than a household dish: the cook was expected to know what it was going beside.