A 1948 article in the journal “Economic Botany” referred to the coconut palm as “Mankind’s Greatest Provider in the Tropics.” The article discussed the uses not only of coconut flesh but of the oil and fiber and sap. “The palm provides almost every want except clothing,” concluded author Oscar K Moore. This was far from…
If one wishes to emulate the classic flavor of terrapin, there are a few options. Perhaps the most famous(?) involves boiling a calves head. A 1900 article in the Baltimore Sun claimed that “Muskrats when served by the Eastern Shore cook as ‘mock terrapin’ will challenge the epicure to distinguish it from the real Chesapeake…
The 725 recipes in “Maryland’s Way” were gathered from a variety of manuscripts and old cookbooks as well as from personal recipe collections of friends and colleagues of Mrs. Frances Kelly and Mrs. Hope Andrews (which is why they are concentrated in Anne Arundel County). Many of the recipes were adapted and adjusted by Alice…
This recipe for “Moonshines” is fairly mysterious. Outside of the Hammond-Harwood House cookbook, I couldn’t find an origin for it. What is most mysterious of all is why anyone would make their own crackers. Even the recipe in Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen (1873) entitled “Crackers for Tea or Lunch” goes like this: See that?…
A lot of the names alongside the recipes in “Maryland’s Way” are associated with the Navy. This makes sense since the Hammond-Harwood house is in Annapolis, but it is interesting to see the different families that came to this region because of the Naval Academy and ultimately became lifelong Marylanders. Frank Jack Fletcher was an…