Ham was an important food as it could be cured and preserved for the winter months. It was heavily salted, so it needed to be soaked many hours before cooking to remove most of the salt taste. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS TO CURE HAMS To make good hams, the pork must be of the best quality. No animal tastes so much of its food as the pig. For one hundred pounds of fine pork, take seven pounds of coarse…
When I was young, my family lived near St. Louis, Missouri. Each summer, we took a vacation to southern Illinois, where most of our relatives lived. My Aunt Helen had a good-sized vegetable garden and canned most of the vegetables. She always cooked a big lunch for us when we visited and I loved her green beans cooked with onions and bacon grease! INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: VARIETIES OF STRING BEANS There are two general types of string beans:…
I never tasted a soup made from fruit until a couple of years ago. I was at a local restaurant in southern Illinois, and they had cantaloupe soup on the menu. Since I like to try new things, I ordered it and was surprised at how good it was. Many of the recipes below are from Mrs Mary Wilson’s Cookbook published 1920. Even though this blog is based on 1800s cookbook recipes, I thought you might like to try…
Salsify (oyster plant) was a popular vegetable in the 1800s, but people didn’t seem to use it much in the 1900s. Salsify is supposed to taste slightly like an oyster, but some people say it tastes more like an artichoke. You use the roots of salsify just like parsnips or carrots. Peel or scrape the outside and then you can boil, bake, or fry it. Many people add it to soups and stews. There’s also a similar plant called Scorzonera…