A reader contacted me looking for a caramelized broiled tomato recipe. They knew it had a connection to a country club. They also recalled that the club had had a history of discriminatory policies.
I checked my database. Fourteen recipes for broiled tomatoes. Among them: Mrs. Charles Gibson‘s recipe, Mrs. Spencer Watkins‘, BGE, The Baltimore Sun recipe contest… and then a recipe in “Wine and Dine with the Lake Roland Garden Club,” for “Broiled Tomatoes A La Elkridge.”
There it is.
The Elkridge Club was founded in 1878 as a fox-hunting club. Purebred hounds of elite lineage were shipped over from the UK. One history book about the Elkridge Club details the family trees of these distinguished hounds. Clearly, the 40 or so founding members envisioned themselves as Maryland nobility, and for all intents and purposes, they were.
The club moved to the area that would become Roland Park in 1888. According to the history on their website, “Elkridge leased 54 acres at $800 per year on Charles Street Avenue from the estate of Governor Augustus Bradford, and moved into the new clubhouse which was to be its permanent home. This acreage extended north from the entrance gate to the line between the present 5th and 6th holes. Governor Bradford had purchased 125 acres at the site for $12,000 in 1854, and had built a large house on the hill just west of the first green.”
Activities gradually expanded to include golfing, tennis, baseball, and trap shooting.
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