• Spiced / Pickled Oysters

    “Mr. W. B. Burke of this city has the reputation of preparing the very best spiced oysters which leave our market, and if all are like the can which he left with us on Tuesday, his reputation is well deserved. They are truly a delightful article… He will forward them according to order to any…

  • Chilli Sauce

    There’s a lot of tempting 19th century options for tomato preservation. In addition to catsup, tomatoes were preserved spiced, in piccalilli, chow-chow, or stewed and strained into “soyer.” Tomatoes have one of the highest concentrations of naturally-occurring MSG, and these sauces and pickles all provided ways to add some umami to meals throughout the winter….

  • Brandied Peaches

    “Now is the dyspeptic’s time to live well. If a great sufferer let him eat only fruit for breakfast, and peaches with their jackets on. The peach-skin has some quality that is highly useful, in acrid dyspepsia especially… We underrate the nutriment conveyed in fruit… This country is the Paradise for all such sufferers. Nothing…

  • Tomato Catsup

    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…

  • Currant Jelly

    When I saw all the bountiful berry offerings from Reid’s Orchard at the Waverly Farmers Market, I had to take action. Nearly all of my Maryland cookbooks contain recipes for currant jelly. It was popular with meats, especially game such as venison. It is also a frequent ingredient in more complicated sauces containing onions and…