Ann Grieves was already known for her cooking by the time her recipe appeared in “Private Collection: A Culinary Treasure,” published by the Women’s Committee of the Walter’s Art Gallery.
The beautiful hardbound cookbook generated some press, and has enjoyed a relatively decent amount of longevity on Maryland bookshelves, if not Maryland kitchens. With an introduction by James Beard, and over fifty illustrations from the Walters’ collections (including eight color plates), the fundraising cookbook has become a cherished item for many, even with used copies available inexpensively.
“A small group from the Women’s Committee poured over more than a thousand recipes before deciding on a collection which they believe reflects the lifestyle of Marylanders,” write Martha H. Schoeps in the Baltimore Sun in 1973.
Nearly ten years later, in 1981, the Sun quoted Harborplace bookseller Arlene Gillis saying that “Private Collection,” was a bestseller at her store “Books for Cooks,” along with the 1963 Hammond-Harwood House fundraiser “Maryland’s Way.”
A few months before “Private Collection” was published, in July of 1973, the Sun ran a feature on a group called the “Clean Plate Club.”
“Club tours countries via food,” read the headline of the article which explained how Ann Grieves invited near-strangers to form a gourmet club that had enjoyed informal dinners of food from Mexico, India, France, Italy and Japan.
The group planned to spend the following year creating dishes from regions of America. I wonder if they ever did. Author Dee Hardie shared a sample menu and several recipes, along with the reassuring fact that “no weight has been gained” by the club’s members.
Ann’s husband James R. Grieves was an architect, whose firm, in 1980, renovated the building in Mt. Vernon that is now Baltimore School for the Arts.
James and Ann both made it into the news again in 1987, he for his firm’s work on the National Aquarium and Ann for teaching cooking classes. From her “kitchen overlooking Lake Roland,” Anne’s recipes consisted of only five ingredients, plus seasoning. The quick and simple approach to cooking resonated with home cooks in the early 80s. The series sold out.
Grieves described learning to cook in the late 1960s when her husband took a two-year job in Ocean City. “It was very desolate there in the off season and I got very domestic,” she said. She cooked through the entirety of both volumes of Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” before returning to Baltimore and studying under local cook Janet Wurtzburger.
Ann’s mother was from Baltimore but Ann herself was born in Montreal, and spent time in New York, summers in Nantucket, and attended some cooking courses in Venice and Paris.
The Grieves’ life seems rather glamorous from these newspaper stories. In 1991 the Sun profiled their apartment in Guilford which featured a “panoramic 15th-floor view of downtown Baltimore and the harbor.” At the time, Ann was still teaching cooking, and the apartment’s kitchen, which article author Charlyne Varkonyi called “any cook’s dream,” was described in great detail with its “high tech Eurostyle”. The luxury kitchen featured a wall oven, stainless steel, a built-in microwave/convection oven, Sub Zero refrigerator, and granite countertops. Even the rug was custom ordered, hand-painted “with bright fruits and vegetables” and which “seem[ed] more suitable for framing than for walking on.”
Ann was last called upon to share opinions on food in the Sun in 1995. Her “Take Five” cooking schools were still in operation in Baltimore and Nantucket, and she spoke with writer Karol V. Menzie about the rising trend of kitchen shortcuts like salad-in-a-bag, frozen vegetables and semi-prepared meals.
James was last mentioned in 2012 in a profile of a historic home he’d renovated in Guilford.
Chicken in cucumber sauce is indeed a recipe with five main ingredients, and a fairly easy one. I chose it because it sounded unusual and I enjoyed over egg noodles.
One wonders what Ann Grieves would make of the rise of meal kits that allow home cooks to save time while continuing to provide the finishing touches. Convenience has certainly changed since salad-in-a-bag was a novel shortcut.
“Private Collection” may not have turned out to be the stand-out icon that “Maryland’s Way” now is, but amongst its art-filled pages there are a good number of recipes worth trying, and stories to be told.
Recipe:
- 1 Cup sour cream
- 1 peeled and diced cucumber
- 1 3-lb, cut up chicken
- .5 Cup bacon fat
- 1 medium, minced onion
- terragon
Pour the sour cream over the cucumber and set it aside while you make the other preparations. Brown the chicken pieces in bacon fat, then add the minced onion, salt, pepper and tarragon to the pan and cook until the onion is golden. Stir in the cucumber and sour cream, cover the pan, and simmer it all gently for about 40 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Serve with finely chopped parsley strewn on the top.
Recipe from Private Collections: a Culinary Treasure, 1973, Women’s Committee of the Walter’s Art Gallery
