The Slow Foods Ark of Taste is a list of thousands of food products, collected with the intent of promoting and preserving them before they die out. The list includes heirloom fruits and vegetables, rare livestock breeds, and prepared specialty foods like cheeses. Items are nominated to the list using criteria factoring in uniqueness, sustainability, and quality. The Slow Food USA website declares that “these foods are prized by those who eat them for their special taste.” No commercial or trademarked products are selected.
But what about foods that just… aren’t that special? What about all of the commercial products that have come and gone, perhaps dying out justly and unlamented? Obsessed as I am with the detritus of popular culture, I can’t help but wonder about extinct ingredients that no one publicly mourned.
Coralline ad, “The Practical Cook Book,” 1888
New Jersey-based Purity Cross offered a wide variety of unique canned specialties in the 1920s: Welsh Rarebit, Lobster a la Newburg, Plum Pudding…
The Pin Money Pickle Company was started by a Richmond woman in 1868 and became a ubiquitous product served by restaurants and caterers. The pickle company died out in the 1950s and 60s amid a sea of competition.
Mrs. B. C. Howard included a recipe in her 1873 “Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen” cookbook for a pudding made from a new product produced by the “American Fruit Preserving Company” of Baltimore, Granulated Sweet Potato. Mrs. Howard promised that the product would be in stores “by the 1st of October.” Perhaps it was. It’s not in stores any longer.
Similarly, the 1888 “Practical Cook Book” by Mrs. J.H. Giese of Baltimore, includes 20+ recipes for an item called “Coralline.”
The product is given its own section in the cookbook, and is introduced as though readers will know what it is:
“Handy Receipt! No Cooking! Place desired amount of Coralline dry in a China or Porcelain vessel add sufficient milk or water to cover, and let stand until the Coralline absorbs the liquid. Use custard, cream, sweetened milk, or any flavored dressing desired. Splendid for pic-nics, quick desserts, and a most delightful dish for summer evening teas.“
The variety of uses makes things even more confusing: Stir the product into beaten eggs to make “Coralline Omelets.” Mix Coralline into bread dough and waffle batter. Use it to make puddings for dessert. Add it to soups and stewed oysters.
Coralline factory location, Bromley’s Atlas, 1896
A full-page advertisement later in the book reveals that Coralline was not a common pantry staple. “Give it a trial,” the ad proposed, “Ask your grocer for it.” The patent date is listed as May 4th, 1886. “An entirely new and reliable article of food, made from Southern White Corn. For purity, healthfulness and convenience, it stands unrivaled.”
An 1887 ad in the Baltimore Sun was even more over-the-top, asserting that Coralline was “recommended by leading physicians for adults and children,” and that the product was “superior to all other food.” Pretty superlative for a product that no one has heard of.
Researching Coralline turns up mostly Baltimore-based ads, plus a factory fire in 1887. There was also a lawsuit. When a former business associate began selling a similar product, named “Barlyne,” the Maryland Hominy & Coralline Company successfully sued. The resulting document gives some insight into the nature of the Coralline product – as well as the seemingly accidental way it was invented.
The documents describe Coralline as a “product from Indian corn, consisting of separate grains, in a stringy or coralline form,” “elongated curled granules,” produced by “cooking the product in a moistened condition to a point at which it still retains the granular form, then passing the same, in its moist condition, through a grinding-mill, and finally drying it substantially as described.”
Mrs. J. H. Giese solicited advertisements from many other Baltimore businesses in addition to Coralline. Ads appear throughout “The Practical Cook Book” promoting upholstering, coal, groceries, shirts, plumbers, stables, pianos, and specialty purveyors of items like yeast, lard, and beef tongues. “The Practical Cook Book” was so marketing-forward that it was subtitled “… where to buy almost everything pertaining to house-keeping from well established firms.” An index of advertisers appeared in the back of the book.
Based on the Library of Congress information about Mrs. Giese’s book, I believe her identity to be Catherine Giese, wife of James Henry Giese. Catherine (who sometimes went by ‘Kate’) was born in 1830 in Pennsylvania to Margaret and James Huling. Her father was a business associate of J. Henry Giese, who married Catherine in 1852. Mr. Giese was a merchant dealing in cement, plaster, and grains. His business is advertised on the inside back cover of the “Practical Cook Book”.
Catherine’s grandfather Michael Ross was the founder of Williamsport, PA. Catherine and J. Henry had at least four children. Their eldest son Louis became a merchant who also has an ad in the cookbook. Their daughter Florence, born in 1864, was a music teacher who studied at the Peabody Conservatory. Her opinions on music and her students’ performances merited frequent mentions in the Baltimore Sun up through the 1940s.
Other than that I don’t have much information. The Giese family lived in various locations around the city – most notably 2118 St. Paul Street, where they lived in 1905 when J. Henry died.
Unsurprisingly, some of the recipes in The Practical Cook Book are taken from other familiar cookbooks. A recipe for “Tongue Toast” is swiped from “Mrs. Charles Gibson’s Maryland and Virginia Cook Book.” Incidentally, an advertisement for a grocer specializing in tongue appeared in the “Practical Cook Book”. Could it be that Mrs. Giese went looking for recipes to match the advertisements? It is very likely.
Buchanan’s Wharf was destroyed in the 1904 fire. Library of Congress photo
Rumford Chemical Works has a full-paged ad for their baking powder, then known as “Yeast Powder.” Like Coralline, Rumford claimed that their product was recommended by “eminent Physicians,” and that it was “nutritious and strength-giving.” Even today, Rumford boasts that their baking powder is a “source of calcium in your diet.” That’s great news if you’re in the habit of eating entire cakes in one sitting.
The Maryland Hominy & Coralline Company did not have Rumford’s longevity. The company dissolved in 1896. A notice in the Baltimore Sun said that the manufacturing of Coralline was abandoned in 1894, when “it had ceased to be profitable.” With the factory fire taken into consideration, the most superior food in the world only existed for about five years!
Based on the product described in the lawsuit, I substituted instant grits. The resulting muffins had a nice texture, and they were actually surprisingly moist. In fact, they were so moist that the extra muffins molded within a few days. Like Coralline, their time was numbered, and they were not worth saving.
Recipe:
“One pint sifted Flour, two heaping teaspoonfuls of yeast [baking] powder, and a little salt. Thoroughly mix together; then add one pint of Coralline, two eggs, one tablespoonful of butter, and enough sweet milk to make a thick batter. Bake immediately.”
Recipe from The Practical Cook Book, Mrs. J. H. Giese, 1888
