Black walnuts are native to the eastern and midwestern U.S. The English walnut wasn’t cultivated in the U.S. until around 1870, in California. Black walnuts have a different taste than Engish walnuts. I especially like black walnut ice cream, and I use them in baked goods or add them to my homemade trail mix. Black walnuts grow with a green outer coating on them. This coating has to be removed before the hard nut inside can be reached. The outer…
The only seafood salad I’ve eaten has been purchased in the deli department at a grocery store. It’s the type of salad that is made from “fake crab” and has a mayonnaise base. I like it a lot. I don’t know that I’d like all of these fish and seafood salads that came from 1800s cookbooks, but I’d like to try some of them. RECIPES BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS FISH SALADBoil four flounders, or any medium sized fish. When…
During most of the 1800s, people ate fresh garden produce seasonally. People didn’t begin home canning until the invention of the Mason jar in 1858 and it took a while for canning to become popular. So they needed to preserve their produce to have during the winter months, and making sure it was as fresh tasting as possible. No one wanted mushy or rotten vegetables because they weren’t stored properly. RECIPES BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS PROPER PLACE FOR PRESERVING ROOTS…
Making soup in the 1800s was a long process, requiring it to simmer for hours on the stove. Commercially canned soup only became available in the late 1800s. The largest and most popular company was Campbell’s, which began selling canned soup in 1895. And in 1897, Campbell’s chemist John T. Dorrance developed condensed soup by removing much of the water. This made soup cheaper to ship, store, and buy. and was certainly more convenient. One of the recipes below is…
It’s always good to save time and money on kitchen chores and food. Today, we can find advice in physical books, ebooks, on blogs, and on social media. In the 1800s, people found advice in cookbooks and newspapers. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS “A good cook never wastes. It is her pride to make the most of everything in the shape of food entrusted to her care, and her pleasure to serve it in the most appetizing form. In no…
The terms fritter and croquette are often used interchangeably, but there are differences. A fritter has a runny batter or dough that is dropped into hot fat and fried. A croquette has a thicker batter, often breaded, and is shaped into balls, patties, or logs before frying. RECIPES BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS Fritters are served for luncheon, dinner or supper, as an entree, a vegetable or a sweet, according to the ingredients used. The foundation batter is much the same…
In the 1800s, offal like kidneys was widely used in American cooking, but usually only by the working‑class. Beef meat in general, was relatively cheap, so middle‑class cooks did not need to use organ meats. But during World War II, the U.S. government actively promoted organ meats as a patriotic alternative so that prime cuts could be shipped to soldiers overseas. Many foods were rationed, including meat, but not offal. After the war ended, most Americans wanted to eat familiar muscle cuts…
Cookbooks from the 1800s did include recipes for salads made from greens, but these salads were eaten seasonally until commercial refrigeration became available in the late 1800s. The following salad recipes are interesting and unusual. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS ITALIAN SALADTake six cold, cooked potatoes, cut in dice, six flaked sardines, three small cucumber pickles, chopped, and a stalk of celery cut fine. Add French dressing. PIMENTO SALADTake several hard-boiled eggs cut into eighths. Add half the quantity of…