September 2015 - OLD LINE PLATE

Interview: Joyce White

September 30, 2015January 13, 2019

Joyce White kitchen demo, Hampton Mansion

In a way, White Potato Pie led me into the world of uniquely Maryland food, and so it is fitting that it also led me to the website of one Joyce White, culinary historian.

As the foremost expert in Maryland food (in this author’s humble estimation), Joyce White’s expertise spans far beyond that into American and European historic foodways. She has recently curated a Maryland exhibit at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (oh no, someone called Maryland the South! Here come the angry letters from all sides). I recently had the privilege of attending one of her engaging demonstrations, and I would recommend that food history enthusiasts follow her website for updates on similar opportunities. She has appeared at countless museums and libraries such as the Maryland Historical Society, Riversdale House, Sandy Spring, and the Charles County library, plus senior centers, genealogical societies and similar venues all over the DC/Maryland region. Although she has not authored any print publications currently, she may be writing a book on late 18th – early 19th century baking in America, highlighting British origins of the recipes.

A little bit about yourself and the path that led you to be a food historian:

I started out with food history as an intern at the Geneva Historical Society in New York State during college. I was forced to dress as an 1840s kitchen maid for a program for local 4th graders, I had to make a cake with them in the hearth. I never had done any historical cooking before, nor had I ever even built a fire. It was a good way to immerse myself in open hearth cooking as I had to do this several times per week over the course of the spring semester.

What type of perspective do you think that your work has given you into Maryland/American/World history?
I have learned so much and am continually learning every day. What I enjoy is being able to make connections between time periods (change over time),
regionalism (how the local economy, natural landscape, and rate of immigration and industrialization) affects the food choices that are made. I try to focus less on the origins of foods and more on what makes them persist within a culture. How do recipes adapt over time? Do recipes fall out of fashion and why? How are old world food traditions incorporated in a new world setting and time?

Do you have particular favorite “culinary eras” or geographic regions?
I seem to spend lots of time on eastern US foods from the late 18th – late 19th century. It is a time in Maryland that is still very British in foundations but also a time when a definite American angle becomes obvious in the food choices made. For example, hominy corn (a very American crop associated with lower classes originally from settlement through the 18th century) eventually becomes popular with all classes in Maryland (hominy croquettes found on a high class menu for Baltimore’s Hotel Rennert by the late 19th c.).

Have you noticed any increase/decrease in public interest in culinary history and if so do you have theories as to why?
People seem to be very interested in my programs. Of course, I try to provide topic options that are appealing such as Chocolate, Tea, Maryland, and Dessert.
It also doesn’t hurt that I offer samples at the end of all of my programs! I am actually at a point where I have to decline invitations to speak because there just aren’t enough days in the week and hours in the day for me to do it all.

Are there any other historians, writers, chefs, whose work you admire or who have influenced you?
Ivan Day, British Food Historian
Peter Brears, British Food Historian
Susan Plaisted, Pennsylvania Food Historian
Leni Sorenson, Monticello
Michael Twitty, Kosher Soul
Elizabeth David, cookbook author
The Two Fat Ladies (mainly for their very British take on things and humor)
And many more …

You contributed to an exhibit on Maryland food at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum – can you tell us anything about that for those of us who haven’t seen it?
I wish I could – I haven’t seen it yet! The exhibit was just installed this past spring. I did the research but was not involved in the actual exhibit design and
installation. There is a bit of anxiety in this type of collaboration because I cannot be sure those on-site will interpret my research correctly. A trip to New Orleans is on the list and I will hopefully get there sooner rather than later.

Do you still do any active research/learning and if so, what type of subjects are you exploring?
Always. I am constantly researching and revising all of my current programs and always thinking of new program topics. I am looking at creating programs based on the foods of Jane Austen, the foods of the Edwardian period for a Downton Abbey program, and the foods of Shakespeare.

What comes to mind when you think about Maryland food traditions specifically? Anything particularly unique or notable?

Recipe fossils, meaning something that was popular at one time but not so much any more:

White Potato Pie (look at my blog for that one);
Baltimore Fish Peppers: a type of very spicy African serrano pepper that was picked unripened and dried. It was made into a powder used to spice fish dishes (the light color of the unripe pepper did not discolor the fish dishes). Very popular in the late 19th century, not anymore though.

Beer – Baltimore was flooded with breweries in the 19th century. There were 40 breweries by the end of the century!

Muskrat – An Eastern Shore tradition popularized during the Great Depression of the 1930s

Pennsylvania Dutch Influences:

Smearcase Cheesecake
Scrapple
Pot Pie
Fastnacht donuts for Shrove Tuesday
Markets
And many others …

German influence: Sauerkraut with turkey for Thanksgiving and pork for New Year’s Day

What, if anything, do you feel is left for culinary historians to learn at this juncture? Are there any particular resources that haven’t been tapped to their fullest potential?
There is always more to learn. I would love to spend several days exploring local and national archives looking for hand written recipe manuscripts and journals dating as far back as possible. You can get a fantastic insight into the preferences of our ancestors by looking at their personal recipe books. You can
see which recipes are more popular than others (grease stains, notations in the corner, etc), and you can really see what types of crops were popular on a
seasonal basis. If only there were more hours in each day!

Joyce White’s Nutmeg Grater

Any ways in which your work has affected your home/personal cooking habits?
My family is less than enthusiastic about most of the historic cooking I do. I get made fun of a lot. My husband calls me Martha Washington Stewart! However, they are happy for me to try new things as long as I have a back-up in case they don’t like my experiments. I live with some very picky eaters!

Visit “A Taste of History with Joyce White”

Tomato Catsup

September 23, 2015January 13, 2019

What does one do if they have too many tomatoes and no plans for an afternoon? Must be time to make a condiment.

Catsup, Ketchup… most people think tomatoes when they think of ketchup. In truth, the Tomato is a newcomer to the ketchup game, with previous recipes involving anything from walnuts to mushrooms to cucumbers.

I had hoped to make one of those sooner or later but the tomatoes became a pressing need before I got the chance.

With the assistance of a preserving-experienced friend, we worked from various recipes – primarily Mrs. B.C. Howard’s. Since I’ve already written all about her, we’ll have to focus on the ketchup for a bit.

The original aforementioned catsups derive from Chinese fish sauce variants dating to the early 1700s. Mushroom catsup in particular is called for in many of my old recipes as part of meat flavoring or as a component in sauces. Apparently tomato catsup hit the scene about a century after those sauces.

By the time of the 1881 publication of this recipe, tomato catsup had even been available in bottled form for over forty years. However, it seemed to experience a surge in popularity in the early 1900s – so much so that public health concerns were raised.

Books about ketchup report a number of companies bottling the condiment in Maryland. One brand, Fort Cumberland Catsup bottled in Cumberland, Maryland raised the ire of the FDA in 1914 for peddling “a filthy, putrid, and decomposed vegetable substance to wit decomposed catsup.” The catsup was destroyed by the US Marshall.

Over time the ketchup market has come to be dominated by consistency, ushered along by fears of benzoate and the new era of food purity.

A 2004 article for the New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell explores the aftermath of this consistency. Even today as “artisinal” versions of foods from Triscuits to mustard have become ubiquitous in our kitchens, ketchup remains on the fringe of the zeitgeist.

Our ketchup-making neither affirmed nor refuted the supremacy of the thick, sweet ketchup made by Heinz and their imitators. What we made was a 19th century seasoned, somewhat thinner product with a LOT of vinegar-y zip. I think I would have preferred cider vinegar instead of white, but the vinegar bite is not a weakness. This ketchup will combine nicely with some fruit for a bar-b-que sauce, and makes a good alternative for hot dog lovers who are not too fond of ketchup. After letting it mellow for a week or two we tested it on hot dogs and it was described as a “mustard-like ketchup.”

Mrs. Howard calls for tomato ‘catsup’ in “Bouilli,” “Beef-Steak with Tomato Catsup,” “Brown Sauce” and “Liver” so this may not be the last you see of this ketchup.

Recipe:

1 peck tomatoes
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons salt
1 pint vinegar
½ tablespoon cloves
½ tablespoon allspice
2 cinnamon sticks
1 bunch thyme & parsley
2 garlic cloves

Take
a peck of tomatoes and squeeze through a thin piece of muslin so that no
seeds get through. Add a dessert spoonful of cayenne pepper, two
table spoonfuls of salt, one pint of vinegar, half a tablespoonful of
cloves and allspice mixed, two sticks of cinnamon about three inches in
length a bundle of thyme and parsley tied together and two cloves of
garlic chopped as fine as possible. Simmer for four hours, steadily and slowly.
After filling the bottles with catsup, put two inches deep of sweet oil
in each bottle. Rosin the bottles the more effectually to exclude the
air. [Modern cooks follow canning procedures]

Recipe from Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen By Mrs. B. C. Howard

Blanching tomatoes for easy peeling

I love canning outside and enjoying the weather

Steaming Crabs

September 18, 2015January 13, 2019

Crab season is finally in full swing for those of us who cling to the ‘late-summer through Thanksgiving is crab season’ principle. In my opinion, September is a great time to enjoy crabs because the weather is usually amazing, the last of the corn and watermelon are demanding to be eaten, and the frenzy of summer fun times is finally over.

This is the time when you can really kick back and appreciate the crab.

Warning: this post is FULL of my opinions.

First off, let me address southern naysayers who declare that steamed crabs have no flavor. Well, the flavor of a crab comes from the crab, not from all the spice. If I want to enjoy a bunch of spices (and I often do) I will get some cheap shrimp, rice, etc. When I shell out (ha) for crabs I want to taste the succulent crab meat.

Furthermore, I do not like to dip crab in butter for this same reason. Or vinegar! God, I’m getting worked up now… steamed even.

Not many people steam their own crabs anymore. You can get great crabs all steamed up for you at no extra cost, saving the kitchen space demanded by a gigantic pot, keeping your fingers intact, and avoiding the horrors of killing a live animal before your eyes.

Aside from the experience and the excitement of your meal possibly giving you the attack you rightly deserve, the main difference in home-steamed crabs is going to be the seasonings.

I’m not as Old Bay-crazed as advertising directed at me seems to believe – I like J.O., Obrycki’s, all the other crab seasonings… J.O. is the one used by crab houses for the most part. So it is interesting to actually steam some crabs with Old Bay and taste the difference.

Beer versus vinegar: I don’t want to impart any sour taste so I stick with *flat* beer. Vinegar is more popular in places with a history of temperance such as Smith Island.

Live crabs: Don’t submerge them in water but do keep them cool and wet. A wet cardboard box works well. They are prone to escape so watch out, keep the box folded closed. And mind your fingers.

Corn: I like grilled corn but steamed corn is pretty good too, especially when it’s in season and freshly picked.

A
dozen crabs and six ears of corn is a lot for two people but you can scrape
off the extra corn and pick the extra crab meat and put it into your
morning omelet or tomorrow’s soup.

Recipe:

1 dozen live male crabs
1 flat beer
½ cup crab seasoning

Put a can of flat beer and some water in the bottom of a steamer pot, to just below the rack. Put in your live crabs and then season them (that is the part that feels cruel somehow). Turn on the heat and steam for just under a half hour. Crabs will be red and hot.

Interview: Andrew Moore (Pawpaw: In Search of America’s Forgotten Fruit )

September 14, 2015January 14, 2019

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting the Ohio Pawpaw Festival. I’ve been known to travel far and wide for festivals celebrating foods that are relevant to Maryland.

Some festivals are better than others and I have to say that the Ohio Pawpaw Festival is probably the best of the bunch (pun intended) I’ve attended so far. Paw-paws were EVERYWHERE, from the beer to the food to the artwork. I had some paw-paw pizza, paw-paw curry puff, paw-paw ice cream, a few of those paw-paw beers and I watched a paw-paw tasting and information session.

I also got the chance to shake the hand of this interviewee and finally get a copy of his book in hand. I became aware of this book because of the Michael Twitty introduction and I knew instantly that this would provide some good information to go along with my (forthcoming) paw-paw cream pie recipe.

The most satisfying part in all this is that the book has turned out to be entertaining. One reviewer compares Moore to such writers as Mark Kurlansky and I have to agree that this is a book that I will be recommending to friends. It is an engaging read beyond my own obsessive interest in these things. So without further ado here are a few words with the author:

Tell us about
yourself, writing background, etc.

I am the former development news editor of Pop City, a
weekly e-magazine in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and my stories have appeared in
the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Daily Yonder, The Biscayne Times, and the
Lakeland Ledger.

What is it about
paw-paws that made you feel that a book was necessary?

To many of us enthusiasts the pawpaw is endlessly
interesting—it’s the only member of the vast Annonacea family not confined to the tropics; it’s the
largest edible fruit native to the United States; and it tastes great, like a
banana-mango mix, with a custard-like texture. And yet despite these
exceptional traits the pawpaw is largely unknown. When I first learned about
the pawpaw I wondered how did this unusual fruit come to be, and why is it that
so few of us know that it even exists?
Then I began to wonder, does it have a future as a commercial crop, on
farms and in backyards? I continued to ask questions, and traveled to meet
pawpaw growers in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Maryland, and once it became
clear I had caught the pawpaw bug I was already well-along the path to writing
this book.

Did you find any
interesting historical facts about the way these fruit might have been used by
people, and what kinds of people ate them and how?

Various Native American groups ate fresh pawpaws and likely
cooked or dried them too. The inner bark of pawpaw trees was also used as fiber
for a number of purposes, including the stringing of fish. Over the centuries,
the new Americans—Europeans and Africans, among others—also ate pawpaws, and
the tradition of late summer pawpaw pickin’ has endured in some locales, but
especially in the southern Appalachian Mountains, including Western Maryland
and West Virginia. There are even places named for the fruit—including Paw Paw,
West Virginia, and Paw Paw Cove, in Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

In 1916, a contest was held by the Journal of Heredity to find the best pawpaws in America. Fruit was
mailed to the journal’s office from 26 states, and included over 230 entries.
And among the top seven fruits was a selection from Maryland.

Beginning around 1990, Neal Peterson conducted his pawpaw
breeding experiments in Maryland, in cooperation with the University of
Maryland.

Today, the largest commercial orchard currently in
production, is located near Westminster, Maryland. The farm mail-orders pawpaws
all across the country.

How did you end up
connecting with Michael Twitty for the introduction?

I met Michael Twitty a number of years ago when he spoke in
Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University. If you’ve had the privilege of
listening to a presentation by Micheal, you already know he’s a talented,
dynamic speaker. And if that wasn’t enough, Michael was familiar with pawpaws
and shared his knowledge of how the fruit contributed to the diets of African
Americans, before and after the Civil War, and the tree’s other uses—including baiting
nocturnal mammals such as opossums and raccoons.

What were some of
your best resources in researching the history portion of the book?

There were so many great resources, but I’ll choose two to
highlight: Daniel F. Austin’s Florida
Ethnobotany, for early American history; and the library of the Northern
Nut Growers Association, for its wonderful archive of writings by experimental
fruit growers of the past century. Pawpaw has attracted curious characters for
a long time, and I’m thankful these horticulturalists took the time to record
their thoughts and observations, and that the NNGA has remained a repository
for that information.

Have you tried the
different types of paw-paws? Do you have a preference and/or can you describe
the differences?

All pawpaws, regardless of cultivars (or cultivated
varieties) are of the same species, Asimina
triloba. When plant people find exceptionally good pawpaws—“good” often
being a subjective term, but usually with respect to taste, size, or yield—they
sometimes name the tree and propagate it via grafting. There are a number of
pawpaw cultivars available through various nurseries. In the early 2000s, Neal
Peterson, one of the pawpaw’s longtime champions, released six named varieties
after several decades of analysis and observation. These Peterson Pawpaws are
all named for American rivers with Native American names—Shenandoah,
Susquehanna, Potomac, Allegheny, and so on—as a tribute to the fruit’s earliest
eaters and horticulturalists.

Do you have any
information to share on their nutritional benefits?

Pawpaws are thought to be highly nutritious, offering high
amounts of potassium, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, and
niacin, among other vitamins and minerals. However much nutritional research is
yet to be done.

Do you have a
favorite recipe or way to eat them?

My favorite way to eat a pawpaw is fresh from the tree, and
my favorite prepared dish is without a doubt ice cream.

I collected some
paw paw pulp and froze it one year and I found that parts of it were bitter. My
theory is that the bitterness came from the part close to the peel, any idea?
You can help me improve my pie!

Your theory is correct. There is some bitterness near the
skin, with the skin itself being extremely bitter. The other source might be
the pawpaw itself—some wild fruits are bitter, while others are as sweet and
luscious as any fruit you might find in the grocery store.

Pawpaw: In Search of America’s Forgotten Fruit at Chelsea Green Publishing

Old Wye Mill Spoon Bread

September 11, 2015January 13, 2019

Recently, en route to Chincoteague, we made a stop at the “Old Wye Mill” in Wye Mills. We arrived just as this historic mill was winding into production, producing the week’s run of corn meal, grits or flour.

This mill has been “nearly
continuously grinding grain since 1682,″ and nearly a century after that produced flour
that fed George Washington’s army during the
Revolutionary War.

The mill changed hands many times amidst all the turmoil and growth in the region, grinding wheat, rye,
corn, oats, barley and buckwheat. Damage from hurricanes threatened the structure in the 1950s. By this time, the mill’s historical significance was recognized and the mill has since been supported and/or operated by government, community, Chesapeake College, the Maryland Historical Trust, finally passing into the hands of the Friends of Wye Mill who operate it now.

According to the miller, they have supplied corn meal to various nearby restaurants including the historic Robert Morris Inn. Although they also sell wheat flour, buckwheat flour, and grits, the corn meal is the most irresistible to take home. To really enjoy the taste and texture of this milled corn meal, I opted to make a spoon bread as a dinner side.

Wye Grist Mill exterior

The gears of the mill just starting up in the morning

Images from Wye Grist Mill

Recipe:

1 Cup water-ground cornmeal
2 Cups cold water
2 tb butter
1 Teaspoon scant salt
1 Cup half & half
3 eggs

Put corn meal and water over low heat and stir until quite stiff. Melt butter into hot meal then add salt and milk or cream. Beat eggs until very light. When batter is slightly cooled, beat in the eggs. Bake in a well greased baking dish in 350° oven for 45 minutes or until firm.

Recipe adapted from “Maryland’s Way”