Maryland cooking (like that of many places that were/are dining destinations), has two sides to it. Front and center we have the legacy represented by the hotels and caterers – the terrapin, the deviled crab, the fine wines from around the world straight from the Port of Baltimore. On the back end are the legions…
I must admit I was pretty surprised to learn that Beef Stroganoff is actually Russian. I first met the creamy, comforting dish through our old pal Hamburger Helper. In community cookbooks, I’ve come across many recipes, most of which list a series of canned ingredients. I would’ve assumed Beef Stroganoff was some classic American ‘corporate…
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…