In 1916, Still Pond Methodist Church on the Eastern Shore produced a church cookbook entitled “The Eastern Shore Cookbook of Maryland Recipes.” You can see that once again a community cookbook made sure to put the state’s culinary fame front and center.
And why not? Certainly the cuisine that was drawing tourists to Maryland’s luxurious hotel restaurants had bubbled up over time from humble regional kitchens.
So how did a “California” salad make its way into a book of Eastern Shore recipes? The recipe was contributed by Benjamin S. Haywood, a Methodist Reverend who visited the church at least once in his extensive travels.
Los Angeles Times, 1901
Born in Indiana in 1866, Haywood was living in Riverside, California by 1901. He traveled on missions to Puerto Rico and Mexico. According to a 1901 profile in the Los Angeles times, he used a novel approach to raise funds to hire a teacher for a school in Orizaba, Mexico. He contacted friends in the United States and encouraged them to quit smoking and to divert their savings to the school fund. A teacher was hired, and presumably Haywood’s friends gained some longevity.
I was drawn to this recipe because I love citrus salads in winter. Not only are many citrus fruits in-season at this time of year, but the vitamin C they contain gives me the illusion of enhanced immunity to whatever cold is going around at any given moment. Many of the greens and herbs that go well in these salads are also C-rich. I was unable to find a Bermuda onion, but red onion with navel orange and the tangy cooked dressing is a better match than you might think. A slice of avocado on top would be a nice addition.
This salad recipe got me thinking about ways that food culture was disseminated in an age before newspaper or internet recipes. Traveling clergy like Haywood could leave a lasting influence on the food shared among parishioners. With the publication of a cookbook, ideas could be spread further throughout the community and perhaps beyond – into the hands of readers who were looking for a taste of Maryland fare.
Recipe:
Oranges, Bermuda onions. Slice oranges and onions, placing one slice of onion between two of the oranges, in a sandwich form. Put this on lettuce leaves. Over all pour a cooked dressing.
Dressing:
Yolks of four eggs, beat very light, four tablespoons of sugar, one and one-half tablespoons of flour, one teaspoon of salt, one-half teaspoon of mustard, three-quarters cup of vinegar, one-quarter cup of water. Cook in a double boiler until thick and add one tablespoon of butter when taken from the fire. Mix with cream when used.
Recipes from “The Eastern Shore Cook Book of Maryland Recipes”, both contributed by B. S. Haywood
