The Hirshon 19th Century Imperial British “Devilled Bones” aka Spicy Chicken Wings

My most worthy and beloved of Citizens – TREMBLE before the almighty power that ALONE is manifest in the Hetman of History, the Autarch of Authenticity, the Sultan of Spice – YOUR TFD! – as I sally forth once more unto the Breach to find culinary GLORY with you in the annals of history! For today, I have chosen to revivify and restore to its shining pinion as a North Star in the gastronomic firmament nothing less than 19th Century British “Devilled Bones” – aka spicy chicken wings! These delicious wings deserve your most prompt attention for both their salivary resplendence and toothsome nature!

The history of “Devilling” dates back centuries, and I cannot hope to match the erudition and scholarship of this excerpted treatise on the subject from edmundstanding.wordpress.com:

The idea of ‘devilling’ food first became popular in the early 19th century, and is particularly associated with the culinary trends of Britain. Early references can be found, for example, in Esther Copley’s The Cook’s Complete Guide (London, 1810). Copley offers a ‘compound piquante sauce’ which, she writes, ‘is appropriate to devils of all orders’.

The sauce in question is made using brown gravy, butter, walnut catsup (ketchup), lemon juice, made mustard, essence of anchovies, minced shalot, cayenne pepper, and grated lemon rind. Copley also includes ‘devils’ in a selection of ‘the more stimulating dishes’ to be served at supper, as well as providing instructions for a spiced pickle vinegar:

Bruise in a mortar three or four ounces of long pepper, black pepper, white pepper, allspice, ginger, cloves, mace, garlic, mustard, horseradish, shalots, and capsicums: put them into a stone jar with a quart of the strongest vinegar. We read that ‘onions, capsicums, radish pods, and similar articles, being themselves of a hot nature, require no addition of spices; but some people choose to add ginger, pepper, or mustard seeds, or all of them’.

While English cookery is often derided as ‘bland’ today, in the 19th century, the wealthy had a great appetite for hot and spicy flavours (for the less well-off, a ‘mess’ of ‘bacon and greens’ was the usual fare).

The English writer William Kitchiner’s book The Cook’s Oracle was first published in 1817, and went on to appear in numerous editions, gaining immense popularity in both Britain and the United States. In the 1822 edition (the earliest I was able to source online), we find an entry titled simply ‘Devil’:

The Gizzard and Rump, or Legs, &c. of a dressed Turkey, Capon, or Goose, or Mutton or Veal Kidney, scored,—Peppered,—Salted,—and Broiled, sent up for a relish,—being made very hot, has obtained the name of a “Devil.” Kitchiner goes on to cite various sauces used with ‘devils’, containing ingredients such as catsup, essence of anchovy, cayenne pepper, and curry powder.

The Scottish author Mrs Dalgairns includes a recipe for a ‘devil’ in her book The Practice of Cookery (1830), which reads as follows: Score the leg of a roasted turkey, goose, or fowl; pepper and salt it well, broil it, and pour over it the following sauce made quite hot: Three table-spoonfuls of gravy, one of melted butter, and one of lemon juice; a large wine-glass of port wine; of mustard, Chili vinegar, Harvey sauce, and mushroom catsup, a tea-spoonful each; a little cayenne and black pepper. The devil may be served without a sauce, and be more highly seasoned.

In 1832, The Cook’s Own Book, by the American cookery writer NKM Lee (‘A Boston Housekeeper’), was published in Boston by Munroe and Francis, as well as being simultaneously published in New York and Philadelphia. In Lee’s book, we find two ‘devil’ recipes, but neither are original, nor of American origin. The first is the Dalgairns recipe, with the addition of a cold jelly. The second is taken from William Kitchiner. Neither of these authors are credited.

Lee also includes a recipe for Chicken, Cold Fried, again taken (without attribution) from Dalgairns, who in turn clearly based her recipe on the 1789 English recipe for Cold Chicken fried found in Charlotte Mason’s The Ladies’ Assistant for Regulating and Supplying the Table. Sarah Rutledge’s The Carolina Housewife (1847) includes a similar version of the same recipe, most likely sourced from Lee’s book. American cookery writing of the period, then, was still significantly influenced by British culinary fashions.

I suspect the rise in the popularity of ‘devilled’ (or ‘deviled’) foods in 19th century America is the result of this phenomenon, and it is hard to find any evidence of an American origin for the ‘devilling’ of foods.

Isabella Beeton’s hugely popular Book of Household Management was published in London in 1861. The book would go through numerous editions, published both in Britain and the United States. In Beeton’s book, we read the following, regarding roast turkey: The breast is the only part which is looked on as fine in a turkey, the legs being very seldom cut off and eaten at table: they are usually removed to the kitchen, where they are taken off, as here marked, to appear only in a form which seems to have a special attraction at a bachelor’s supper-table,–we mean devilled: served in this way, they are especially liked and relished.

In 1868, Warne’s Model Cookery and Housekeeping Book: A New Edition (‘compiled and edited by Mary Jewry’), was published in London by Frederick Warne and Company, and simultaneously in New York by Scribner, Welford, and Co. The book, states the introduction, ‘has been prepared with a view especially to the requirements of the middle classes of English society’. Recipes include devilled salmon, devilled oysters, devilled biscuits, devilled chicken, and devilled eggs.

The recipe for devilled eggs reads: Boil four eggs; lay them in fresh water until they are cold. Cut them in halves; flatten the ends a little to make them stand upright. Take out the yolks and mix them with the anchovy, Cayenne, and salt. Replace the mixture in the eggs, and place them in a round dish, with small salad round; either mustard or cress, or lettuces chopped very fine.

Turning to Southern sources, we find in Marion Cabell Tyree’s Housekeeping in Old Virginia (Louisville, Kentucky, 1878) recipes titled ‘Devilled Crabs’ and ‘To Devil Hard Crabs’. No recipe for devilled eggs appears. The devilled crabs recipe employs ‘cracker dust or bread crumbs, mustard, red and black pepper, salt, and butter’, while the recipe for devilled hard crabs uses a combination of eggs, bread crumbs, butter, and pepper, which hardly qualifies as a ‘devil’ in the traditional understanding.

The Gulf City Cook Book (Mobile, Alabama, 1878) likewise offers no recipe for devilled eggs, but does include one for ‘deviled ham’: Slice some ham very thin; sprinkle with cayenne and black pepper; broil until well down [sic]; place in a dish, and pour over it the following sauce, quite hot: Three table-spoonfuls of butter, one of vinegar, one of mustard, and one of Worcestershire sauce.

1881 saw the publication of Abby Fisher’s much-celebrated What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking. Again, no devilled egg recipe appears, but devilling is mentioned in Fisher’s recipe for ‘Venison–Broiled’: Pepper and salt before putting it on the gridiron, but remove it every two or three minutes from the iron and baste with butter. When you want deviled venison, use a little mustard mixed with wine (claret). Should you like your venison tart or a little acid, baste with currant jelly.

While this is both an African American and Southern source, the ‘devil’ component is markedly mild in nature. The English Nottinghamshire Guardian newspaper (August 13, 1886) featured an article titled ‘Chats with Housekeepers’, written by Phyllis Browne, author of A Year’s Cookery (Cassell), and The Girl’s Own Cookery Book (Religious Tract Society). Browne offers her readers recipes for dishes including tomato sandwiches, devilled meat, and devilled eggs. Of tomato sandwiches, Browne writes:

Tomato Sandwiches are most appetising trifles for breakfast. They are best made of rolls cut into thin rounds about a quarter of an inch thick, with a slice of raw tomato between two layers. The tomato should be well peppered and salted. The red of the tomato, contrasting with the whiteness of the roll, presents a most tempting contrast. Of the same nature are Salad Sandwiches, made of any sort of salad, chopped small, and put between two pieces of roll and butter. No one who has tasted these simple preparations could believe how tempting they are.

Devilled meat is defined as consisting of thick slices of beef or mutton, rubbed with a mixture of mustard, oil, vinegar, Harvey sauce, and cayenne pepper. Harvey sauce was an anchovy-based sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce.

Mary Harris Fraser’s Kentucky Receipt Book was likewise published in 1903. Fraser offers a variety of ‘devilled’ recipes: three for ‘deviled crabs’ (butter, pepper, and salt; highly seasoned’ with salt and cayenne pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice; butter, vinegar, mustard, cayenne pepper, and salt), one for ‘deviled lobster’ (cayenne pepper and salt), and another for ‘deviled oysters’ (dry mustard and pepper). There are stuffed peppers made with ‘deviled ham’, and ‘deviled almonds‘, which are fried in butter, before a mixture of minced capers, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, and salt is added. Of ‘deviled venison’, we read:

Cut thick slices from rare roasted venison, make slanting incisions and fill with mixed mustard and salad oil. Brush slices with melted butter and dredge with flour. Broil and serve with melted butter.

A ‘deviled turkey’ recipe instructs: Place the wings and legs of cold turkey on a greased girdiron and brown slowly on both sides. When done place on a hot dish and pour over it a sauce made of one dessertspoon each of vinegar, mustard, pepper sauce and currant jelly. Season with pepper and salt.

The Delta Cook Book was published in Greenville, Mississippi, in 1917. The book includes a recipe for ‘deviled ham sandwiches’, provided by Mrs Edmund Taylor: Use 2-3 lean boiled ham to 1-3 of fat, and pass twice through meat chopper till perfectly smooth. Make this into a paste by mixing with melted butter and yellow custard pickel [sic] [mustard pickle] juice. Put in a Mason jar and keep in cool place. Spread between thin slices of light bread for school lunches.

Now – as the to the history of 19th century devilled bones (in the 19th century, “bones” referred to any bone with minimal meat – that includes chicken wings!): the fantastic podcast “Tasting History” first informed Me about these savory treats several months ago (and I strongly recommend it to all regular members of TFD Nation!). Watch the video below for some exceptional history concerning the history of hot wings – starting with devilled bones and progressing through to modern history with buffalo wings and mambo sauce!

Deviled Bones – The History of Hot Wings

Now, My recipe for this 19th century classic is indeed derived from Alexis Soyer and his original version – uplifted by Me to achieve palatal resplendence whilst honoring both the history of this dish and updating it slightly for modern palatal sensibilities and ingredients. First off, I prefer to use an herbed salt for more flavor complexity in My version of the devilled bones seminal recipe – I always default to Jane’s Krazy Salt, which is easily purchased from here.

For the devilling sauce, you’ll need a strong mustard that is also mercifully available from Amazon, and I offer you a choice of two variants: these include (for purists) prepared English mustard, or – if you’re VERY bold – this nasty little variant with roots in Eastern Europe called “Mother-in-Law’s Tongue” mustard that is easily the strongest I’ve ever sampled! Go with your gut and palate on this one!

I’ve also added a few smoky touches by adding in chipotle pepper to the classic recipe as well as classic English herbs, as well as the mandatory “mushroom ketchup” – an ancestor of Worcestershire sauce that is needed in this recipe – you can buy it from here. Trust Me, it will become a staple in your pantry! I’ve also added in a few Asian touches to bring this recipe more in line with modern taste sensibilities and to add even more umami savor – that includes adding in a touch of fish sauce (this is My only recommendation), Tabasco and soy sauce (my preferred go-to brand is made in Kentucky, buy it here).

I also add in the eccentric but delicious addition of Madras curry powder in a nod to imperial British tastes imported from India at the time (buy it here). An equally respectful nod back to the more-distant past of the British Middle Ages is made by using Balinese long pepper instead of ordinary black pepper in the devil sauce. Long pepper was far more valuable in the Middle Ages and I prefer its resinous peppery taste profile in this recipe – buy it from here.

This is by no means whatsoever a difficult recipe, My Citizens – and know that it is My salutatory gift to all of TFD Nation! This is the means to both impress your next guests with your palatal erudition whilst simultaneously wowing them with a true flavor bomb that is a blast from a collective past that deserves to be fully revisited!

Battle on – the Generalissimo

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