To Make Paste For The Hands

This recipe comes from a late 17th-century English household manuscript, a time when personal hygiene and hand care were both practical and fashionable concerns. Instead of shop-bought creams, well-off households crafted their own cosmetics and toiletries using kitchen ingredients. Such pastes for the hands were prized for their emollient qualities, as grinding nuts and mixing them with eggs, sugar, and spirits created a nourishing balm. These recipes also reflect the medical theories of their day, which prized almonds for 'softening' properties, and often blurred the line between cookery and medicinal care.

Originally, this paste would have been made with a marble mortar and pestle, prized for its smooth grinding ability. Hands, wooden spoons, and a small pan or pipkin set over a gentle fire would be used for mixing and heating. The final product was kept in 'gelly pots'—small, covered jars or pots—stored in a cool larder or cupboard, since refrigeration was not available. Modern cooks can use a food processor, double boiler, and airtight glass jar.