Spring is here. It is what we have been eagerly awaiting all winter. Why am I not more inspired to cook?
The garden is full of promise, but not full of food. The cellar has a few mushy vegetables that have been sitting around for half a year. We rely on those, and what we have been industrious enough to preserve by way of dehydrating, pickling, salting, brining and smothering with sugar and booze.
Not being particularly inspired by the food at hand, I have found inspiration in other sources. I strayed away from the well worn pages of Amelia Simmons, and found some delightful variation in The Virginia Housewife, The American Frugal Housewife, and the Van Rensselaer family receipts.
Under a suggestion from Lydia Child, I added brandy to my shrewsbury cakes. I brined some pork, with instruction from Hannah Glasse. I am inspired to try the Van Rensselare "Amlet", an omelet with sweet spices.
Foodways is in a constant flux. The way that we as modern Americans eat, cook, purchase and produce our food is always changing. Likewise, the way that we look at historical foodways is always changing. What we eat changes from season to season, and from year to year as certain dishes and food movements come and go in fashion. Figuring out the foodways of a decade two hundred and twenty years past sometimes seems like too complex a task, so I focus on the simplicity and regularity of cooking. Looking into and experimenting with these other cook books is helping to put Amelia Simmons in a context of time and place. They also share many receipts, providing some creative variations to old favorites.
The garden is full of promise, but not full of food. The cellar has a few mushy vegetables that have been sitting around for half a year. We rely on those, and what we have been industrious enough to preserve by way of dehydrating, pickling, salting, brining and smothering with sugar and booze.
Not being particularly inspired by the food at hand, I have found inspiration in other sources. I strayed away from the well worn pages of Amelia Simmons, and found some delightful variation in The Virginia Housewife, The American Frugal Housewife, and the Van Rensselaer family receipts.
Under a suggestion from Lydia Child, I added brandy to my shrewsbury cakes. I brined some pork, with instruction from Hannah Glasse. I am inspired to try the Van Rensselare "Amlet", an omelet with sweet spices.
Foodways is in a constant flux. The way that we as modern Americans eat, cook, purchase and produce our food is always changing. Likewise, the way that we look at historical foodways is always changing. What we eat changes from season to season, and from year to year as certain dishes and food movements come and go in fashion. Figuring out the foodways of a decade two hundred and twenty years past sometimes seems like too complex a task, so I focus on the simplicity and regularity of cooking. Looking into and experimenting with these other cook books is helping to put Amelia Simmons in a context of time and place. They also share many receipts, providing some creative variations to old favorites.
I am curious to hear what you have found to be enduring foods throughout history? What has not changed with the food fashions?
ReplyDeleteBread and beer! Even then, there was prohibition, and their are so many variations.
ReplyDeleteThere are many examples of historic foods which have clung on in the modern world as identifiers of regional and ethnic cultural groups. For example, brined meat, which before refrigeration was quite universal, is now something that Americans love to eat on St. Patrick's day. Johhny Cakes, once a popular breakfast food throughout New England, has taken root and prevailed as a particularly Rhode Island dish. There are countless examples.
I am planning something particularly timeless and multicultural for todays culinary adventure. I will take the leftover meat form an old roast and put it in a pot with whatever else I can find in the kitchen. Maybe not fashionable-- more like the most comfortable pair of jeans you own. Just utilitarian enough to prevail.
A delightful response to read! Thank you! Yes, I was thinking of bread and beer, and perhaps cheese and butter? And it seems like some form/variation of apple pie seems quite enduring to me.
ReplyDeleteAre you still blogging?
ReplyDeleteI don't have a hearth to cook in anymore, but that is not really a good enough excuse...
ReplyDelete