Featured Oddest little silver (plate probably) decanter label

Why would you have a label engraved Reading?

From the font and style, I think it's 19th C. No hallmarks or owt. Small too.

 

Do you think it's purpose could have been something like this?

Debora

 

Oh, I like that idea. I could do with that!

 

The ONLY thing I can think of - fancy style bar bottle identification, not sure if the chain would fit around a bottle of booze?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Company

 

Some king of liqueur or sauce popular in a bygone era no doubt. V&A have one or two, also if you search bottle ticket "reading" you'll find a bunch more.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O94458/bottle-ticket-sauce-renou-timothy/

 

Honestly, the things people are able to find. Well done! That is so interesting. Reading sauce? Reading liquor?

Debora

 

A sauce! From the internet:

"A sharp sauce flavoured with spices and herbs.
The sauce was developed and sold by James and Charles Cocks, local fishmongers, in Reading from the early 19th century."

Debora

 

Pronounced REDDING BTW

 

Like the railroad.(LOL) I wonder if the Reading had Reading sauce on its dining cars. Probably not, but it might have been fun.

 

Lord, you lot are good! I'd thought it might be Reading pronounced as in the city, but I'd no idea about the sauce. A fair bit older than I'd thought, I think, too. It sounds as though it was a type of Worcester sauce:

http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/readingsauce.htm

What's fascinating is that I surmise the origins may go back to the Roman occupation of Britain. Garum.

I bought it out of sheer curiousity for a whole fifty pence. I am rather pleased, it's a serious piece of history.

 

I just bought leg of lamb for Christmas dinner; I'm wondering if Reading sauce would taste good on it. Most of the ingredients look like they'd work, but I'm unsure of the walnut pickle. It sounds odd at best.

 

Roast lamb only needs mint sauce, fresh leaves, vinegar, sugar, chop chop chop - Voila!

 

Anyone researching these things should always refer to them as "Bottle Tickets" even though some are used on decanters etc. Just a FYI.

 

New term for me. (And I like new terms.)

Debora

 

My mother's trick for mint sauce was to freeze the stuff after picking it from the garden. No washing. You then take it out and literally crumble it, add the vinegar. No chopping! I quite like redcurrant jelly with it. And our wonderful local Afghan restaurant makes a hot chopped herb sauce, which is sublime with sheeps.

Ruth, stick whole peeled garlic cloves under the lamb skin. And spikes of fresh rosemary.

 

Planning on the garlic, but I'll have to forage for mint and rosemary spikes. They had roast beef on the bone on sale too; it's in the oven.

 

Sorry you are not near by, I cut back my rosemary bush Thursday because we were getting snow Friday. I have tons even after giving a lot away!

 

We Welsh like it as I described

 

We are learning all the time. That label is a first for me as well.

 

I'm part Cornish. Close enough! I got fresh rosemary, but there wasn't a clove of fresh garlic to be had. Had to settle for the jarred stuff. It'll do, and it saves chopping.