The 1958 “Historical Cookbook of the American Negro” proves that a cookbook can be an object of delight without being full of glossy photos of food. The recipes in the book, interspersed with history and reproduced ephemera, take on new significance, offered as tributes to historical figures or events. The cookbook’s editor, civil rights activist…
It’s almost hard to believe that the Sun published “My Favorite Recipe” in the same decade as Virginia Roeder’s “Fun with Sea Food.” As much as I respect Roeder and her recipes, Helen Henry’s 1960s “My Favorite Recipe” column in the Sunday Sun was a welcome departure from Maryland’s long-unchanging recipe oeuvre. Educator and librarian…
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…
Legend has it that Clara May Downey discovered the site of the Olney Inn when she got a flat tire near the 1875 Montgomery County farmhouse. It was the mid-1920s and Downey was considering following many women into the business of operating a tearoom. Instead of a dainty tearoom catered towards women, Downey’s restaurant (it…
During the holiday season, apple toddy was most often mentioned alongside eggnog.