I love old cookbooks. They're a glimpse into the past and offer a fascinating look at how American culture and tastes have changed through the years. For example, Jello is kiddie food now, but gelatin-based dishes once were considered haute cuisine and were served at the fanciest dinner parties, as various old cookbooks will attest. This is because only the wealthy could serve gelatinized food; you had to be able to pay a servant to stir a vat of boiling calves' hooves all day to render out the gelatin. Once powdered gelatin became available to the unwashed masses, thanks to Mr. Knox, it suddenly became declasse. I often wonder what future historians are going to think about our food habits and mores when they read the cookbooks of today. We're at a very strange time in our food culture. Fewer and fewer people actually cook for themselves and their families, but we have an entire TV network devoted to food and celebrity chefs. It's as if cooking has become a spectator sport instead of a family activity.
Anyway, I bring up the subject of old cookbooks because a co-worker just gave me one that he found while doing some renovations on his house. It's called "A Selection of Dishes and the Chef's Reminder: A High Class Culinary Textbook" by Charles Fellows. It was published by the Hotel Monthly Press in Chicago in 1900 and went through several editions over the next 44 years. I have a copy of the final, 1944, edition. It's a pocket-sized reference book for chefs and cooks in hotel kitchens. The recipes are extremely short, usually just a couple of sentences, because the author expects that the reader will already have the skills and knowledge to cook just about anything. Here's one example:
"Escalloped Artichokes--Boiled artichokes, trimmed like oysters, put into scallop shells, covered with Cream sauce containing a dash of anchovy essence, sprinkled with breadcrumbs and melted butter, browned in the oven."
No measurements, no proportions: he just assumes that you'll know how to trim artichokes and how to make cream sauce, and what a scallop shell is. There are probably 100 recipes for sauces in this book (and you know how I love sauces) plus another 80 egg recipes. The variety is truly astonishing, and I'm definitely going to experiment with a few of these bare-bones recipes and see how I fare. However, my favorite part of the book are the complete menus for actual dinners that were held in swanky hotels in the 19th century. Below is the menu for a wedding breakfast (it reads more like a heavy supper to me) that was served for the Guggenheim-Spiegelberg wedding at the Hotel Majestic in New York City on April 19, 1897. There were 25 guests. I've italicized all the liquor names and have duplicated the spelling in the book exactly:
Strawberries
Little Neck Clams
Chablis Superieur
Celery
Radishes
Olives
Salted Almonds
Gherkins
Anchovy Appetizer
Russian Eggs
Essence of Chicken in Cups [if you have any clue what "essence of chicken" is, please let me know because I'm dying of curiosity]
Old Olorosa
Brook Trout with Sauce Hollandaise
Johannisberger Claus
Cucumber Salad
New Parisian Potatoes
Spring Lamb Chops a la Beulah
Grand Vin
Chateau Pontet Canet
New Peas French Style
Veuve Cliquot
Broiled Squabs on Toast
G. H. Mumm's
Compote of Mixed Fruits
Perrier Jouet
Asparagus with Butter Sauce
Otard Dupuy's
Fancy Forms of Ice Cream
Grande Fine Champagne
Liqueurs Assorted
Petits Fours
Biscuit Mousseline
Pieces Montees
Fruit
Dessert
Mocha
I'm amazed that anyone survived that heroic meal. They'd have to roll me out in a wheelbarrow. I'd also have a monster hangover from all that booze. If I find any more little gems in this book, I'll definitely post them. Until next time, buen provecho!
Anyway, I bring up the subject of old cookbooks because a co-worker just gave me one that he found while doing some renovations on his house. It's called "A Selection of Dishes and the Chef's Reminder: A High Class Culinary Textbook" by Charles Fellows. It was published by the Hotel Monthly Press in Chicago in 1900 and went through several editions over the next 44 years. I have a copy of the final, 1944, edition. It's a pocket-sized reference book for chefs and cooks in hotel kitchens. The recipes are extremely short, usually just a couple of sentences, because the author expects that the reader will already have the skills and knowledge to cook just about anything. Here's one example:
"Escalloped Artichokes--Boiled artichokes, trimmed like oysters, put into scallop shells, covered with Cream sauce containing a dash of anchovy essence, sprinkled with breadcrumbs and melted butter, browned in the oven."
No measurements, no proportions: he just assumes that you'll know how to trim artichokes and how to make cream sauce, and what a scallop shell is. There are probably 100 recipes for sauces in this book (and you know how I love sauces) plus another 80 egg recipes. The variety is truly astonishing, and I'm definitely going to experiment with a few of these bare-bones recipes and see how I fare. However, my favorite part of the book are the complete menus for actual dinners that were held in swanky hotels in the 19th century. Below is the menu for a wedding breakfast (it reads more like a heavy supper to me) that was served for the Guggenheim-Spiegelberg wedding at the Hotel Majestic in New York City on April 19, 1897. There were 25 guests. I've italicized all the liquor names and have duplicated the spelling in the book exactly:
Strawberries
Little Neck Clams
Chablis Superieur
Celery
Radishes
Olives
Salted Almonds
Gherkins
Anchovy Appetizer
Russian Eggs
Essence of Chicken in Cups [if you have any clue what "essence of chicken" is, please let me know because I'm dying of curiosity]
Old Olorosa
Brook Trout with Sauce Hollandaise
Johannisberger Claus
Cucumber Salad
New Parisian Potatoes
Spring Lamb Chops a la Beulah
Grand Vin
Chateau Pontet Canet
New Peas French Style
Veuve Cliquot
Broiled Squabs on Toast
G. H. Mumm's
Compote of Mixed Fruits
Perrier Jouet
Asparagus with Butter Sauce
Otard Dupuy's
Fancy Forms of Ice Cream
Grande Fine Champagne
Liqueurs Assorted
Petits Fours
Biscuit Mousseline
Pieces Montees
Fruit
Dessert
Mocha
I'm amazed that anyone survived that heroic meal. They'd have to roll me out in a wheelbarrow. I'd also have a monster hangover from all that booze. If I find any more little gems in this book, I'll definitely post them. Until next time, buen provecho!
Comments