Occasionally someone will ask about weird foods I’ve tried in the name of history. Beef stuffed with oysters or anchovy may seem weird to some people. Perhaps peanut-pickle sandwich filling is a curiosity from another time.
Honestly, I tend to believe that the food we have access to now is weirder than anything found in history. For centuries, we more or less had a finite number of ingredients to combine in different ways, and then, suddenly: the wonders of chemistry.
My aunt gave me a late 1970′s community cookbook from Calvert County. The book features a stock cover I’ve seen on other cookbooks, with a cutesey illustration of a child and the title “Butter ‘n Love Recipes.” The cover and name are a little odd to me so it’s all the more confusing that this was not just a one off but a popular offering by the publishing company.
The Calvert County Mental Health Association gave their version of this book the subtitle “Mind Over Batter.” The cookbook committee’s stated purpose was to raise money for improved treatment and prevention of mental illness, awareness about the social stigma, and the general promotion of mental health.
I was surprised to find a page dedicated to Southern Maryland Stuffed Ham in a 1970′s cookbook, much less one from Calvert County. Also included are some other heritage recipes like a Michigan pasty, and Finnish Pannukakku.
Cole Slaw or Cold Slaw? I think I’ve personally always called it coleslaw, but I’m not even sure. And we are talking about a food that I love.
Cole/d slaw, it turns out, is one of those words that has been adapted to its meaning ala “scrapple” or “gingerbread”. In Dutch ‘koolsla’ means cabbage salad.
But this is American food we’re talking about and we don’t let linguistics quell our appetites.
In turn, “cold slaw” christened its less-famous cousin “hot slaw.”
I’ve got a handful of hot slaw recipes containing anything from sour cream to bacon fat. “Queen of the Kitchen” Mary Lloyd Tyson simply instructs the reader to heat up some cold slaw. Peasant of the Kitchen Old Line Plate is going to go ahead and tell you not to do that.
If you’ve enjoyed any “kil’t kale” or greens wilted with dressing you will understand why. Something about subduing those cruciferous vegetables with a splash of grease and acid brings out a wonderful sweetness.
I used a recipe from an 1897 church cookbook from Montgomery County, “The Up To Date Cook Book of tested recipes.” The book benefited St. John’s Church, and many of the recipes presumably came from its congregation. Also included are some recipes from a contemporary church cookbook from Kenton Ohio, entitled “The Kenton Cook Book.”
The Hot Slaw recipe comes directly from Mrs. Spencer Watkins, one of the compilers of “The Up-To-Date Cook Book.”
When I found this Montgomery county cookbook I was excited to see a different side of Maryland. So many Maryland cookbook authors of the 1800s (excepting Elizabeth Ellicott Lea, who also resided in Montgomery County) tend to be so Southern seeming and have plantation upbringings and Confederate leanings to show for it. “The Up-To-Date Cook Book” might be different. It has a page of Cuban recipes!
Mrs. Spencer Watkins, I soon learned, was from the Potomac area of Maryland, where she was born Maria Brooke in 1844.
Aside from the “The Up-To-Date Cook Book”, the other account of Mrs. Watkins’ past proved to me that she was not so unlike those other Confederate cookbook authors after all.
“She had been reared in Southern society, and believed in slavery as a divine institution. She was fully convinced that all this fuss and war, this loss and suffering, and this excitement, was due to the wild imaginings, perverse distractions, and evil intent of Northern Yankees. She, like most young ladies in the South, not only believed all this and many more awful things about the Yankees and their cause, but she believed in asserting herself and in defending her opinions and her sacred rights.” –
“
The First Maine heavy artillery”, 1862-1865 by Horace Shaw
According to this account, Maria Brooke, whose father’s Potomac plantation “had suffered severe loss by his slaves taking sudden leave,” was a fearless, dashing horseback rider, and skilled with a rifle. She rebuffed some (Pennsylvania) “Dutch” troops with her sassy attitude before a regiment from Maine arrived. She befriended these men, first enjoying their music and horses, then attending Sunday service with the regiment, and befriending their wives.
The First Maine Band in front of the Brooke residence. Maria was a lover of music and befriended the soldiers. (The First Maine heavy artillery, 1862-1865)
Young Maria Brooke’s allegiances changed. The story concludes:
“Rollicking romp on foot or horseback among her young companions, delightful entertainer of friends, supercilious scorner of whomsoever she disliked, tender-hearted nurse to the sick, motherly woman to the helpless and needy, and spiteful tormentor to the shiftless; attracting suitors, yet spurning softness and repelling audacity in any. She is a loyal Unionist now. She married Mr. Spencer Watkins, and at this writing is still living in Washington. Like the rest of us, time has been speeding her along.”
Maria Brooke became Mrs. Spencer Watkins around 1860. He passed away in 1904. They had at least four children, two of which survived to adulthood. She died in 1907, but not before contributing nearly forty recipes to “The Up-To-Date Cookbook.”
Recipe:
1 small head of cabbage
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons cream
1 Tablespoon sugar
.5 Teaspoon mustard powder
Pinch cayenne pepper
minced onion
parsley
2 Tablespoons vinegar
Whisk together eggs, cream, butter, sugar, mustard, pepper and onion over low heat or in double boiler. Slowly whisk in vinegar. Cook until thickened and add parsley. Stir in chopped cabbage, cooking just until heated (do not let the eggs cook). Serve immediately.
This unusual casserole is one of the less notable recipes from Mrs. J. Millard Tawes’ “Favorite Maryland Recipes.” I love her little book for easy weeknight dinners but this recipe may have confirmed my suspicion that her book contains a lot of filler between the classics.
It’s fitting then for me to post it today because it is essentially filler on my own site. I have some great interviews and research-heavy posts coming up but it’s just not happening this week.
I thought I might write some fun facts about American Cheese but you can just head on over to Wikipedia for that.
In conclusion, try this recipe if you looooove black walnuts and have a lot to spare, but don’t try to swap this one out for the Thanksgiving mainstay or your family will disown you.
Recipe:
4 Tablespoons butter
6 Tablespoon flour
1 bay leaf
2 Cups chicken stock
3 Cups cooked string beans
.25 Lb American cheese
.25 Cup chopped black walnuts
If using fresh green beans, trim, halve and blanch or steam them until cooked but crisp. Brown butter in sauce pan over low heat with bay leaf. Add flour and stir until blended. Gradually add stock. Cook until smooth and thickened. Fold in cheese and stir until melted. Arrange beans in casserole dish. Pour the sauce over the beans and top with walnuts. Bake for 20 minutes at 350°
Recipe adapted from “My Favorite Maryland Recipes”
“The root cellar, when properly made, will always be found one of the best paying out-buildings upon the farm.” – The Baltimore Sun, 1861
It was unpleasantly cold this past week. The warmth of family members crammed into small spaces cooking and eating comforting meals is a quickly fading memory. It’s been replaced by drafts, piles of blankets, and cold lunches at work.
Luckily I had some White Haymans down in the fridge. I bought them around Thanksgiving and never got around to using them. They’ve been patiently standing by as a rotating cast of collards, lettuce and beans have come and gone from the crisper. Sweet potatoes, even haphazardly stored as mine were, will hold up a pretty long time. As discussed here before, that makes them pretty important.
If you need something a little more long-term, you can join the ranks of people who use a root-cellar. According to the New York Times, at least as of 2008, this 40,000-year-old storage method is/was making a comeback.
Most 19th century cook-books make at least some mention of cellar use. “Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen” and “Queen of the Kitchen” do not offer explicit cellar guidelines, but do make many references to storing various preserved items, and wines, in the root cellar.
Unsurprisingly, the thrifty and practical Elizabeth Ellicott Lea has the most to offer on this front.
“Beets, parsnips, carrots and salsify should be dug up before the frost
is severe; those wanted for use in the winter should be put in barrels,
and covered with sand; what you do not want till spring should be buried
in the garden, with sods on the top. Celery may be dug in November, and
set in a large box covered with sand, in the cellar, with the roots
down; it will keep till the frost is out of the ground. Or it may be
left in the ground all winter, and dug as you want it for use.” – Domestic Cookery, Elizabeth Ellicott Lea
She also offers up advice for storing eggs in grease or lime water. During the summer she recommends using the root cellar for meat and other items that might spoil in the heat.
Roulette Farm, Root Cellar, Sharpsburg, Washington County. loc.gov
There is some science to the storage. According to the New York times, apples can’t be stored near carrots because the gas they give off will make the carrots bitter.
Lea laid out a lot of rules for the spring cleaning of cellars – emptying out unused vegetables, sprinkling lime over the floors, washing and draining storage barrels.
She also offers cautionary tales of people being killed by rat poison that was used too close to stored food.
“The eastern halves of America and Canada contain thousands of old root cellars, and the small Newfoundland town of Elliston actually claims the title of “Root Cellar Capital of the World,” and boasts of over 135 root cellars, some dating back 200 years.” – Rick Gush, Hobby Farms
Although the Maryland Historical Trust documents on Lea’s former homes do not mention surviving root cellars, there are many historic sites with a root cellar, and at least one historic site that IS a root cellar. The Spring Grove Hospital root cellar in Baltimore County was built in 1930 as a part of the hospital’s farm program. Like many old cellars, it has been repurposed for storage.
This candied sweet potato recipe was contributed to “Eat, Drink & Be Merry in Maryland” by a Mrs. E.W. Humphreys of Wicomico County. Born Mary Josephine Tarr, she married Eugene Humphreys, a doctor from a prominent Salisbury family, in 1869. The family resided in downtown Salisbury in a Greek revival home with Eugene’s medical practice operating out of the front of the house.
Towards the rear was a “large cooking fireplace,” and Mrs. Humphrey’s own root cellar was no doubt in one of the two outbuildings adjacent to the kitchen.
Family documents including correspondence, photographs and recipes are kept at Salisbury University.
This recipe might not be the best use for White Haymans. They turned out rather ugly. Even so, with a cup of cocoa they brought a little warmth into a bitter January day when my whole house felt like a dang root cellar.
Recipe:
6 sweet potatoes
salt
.5 Cup water
1 Cup brown sugar
piece of butter the size of an egg
Peel six sweet potatoes and peel cook until nearly done in boiling salted water. Drain, cut in pieces, and put in an oven dish. Combine one-half cup water, one cup brown sugar and lump of butter to make a syrup. Cook until sugar is dissolved. Cover potatoes with the syrup, put back in oven and bake at 350° until done, basting occasionally if necessary.
Recipe adapted from “Eat, Drink & Be Merry in Maryland”
