Saturday, July 30, 2022

Dining at Jefferson's White House

Quotes from people who dined with the President. Honore Julien (1760/1–1830) was Thomas Jefferson’s French chef for both terms (1801-1809). Image 1807.

Sunday, July 24, 2022

Walker's "artificial cold" (ice) for wine, ice cream 1828

Richard Walker spent many years developing "artificial cold" - making ice using chemicals (writings from 1787 to at least 1832). He was the Apothecary to the Radcliffe Infirmary at Oxford from 1781 to 1805. He heard that an ice cream apparatus was being sold that used one of his 'freezing powders' so he investigated.

Friday, July 15, 2022

A Rice Dish with Peaches & Maryland food history taped talks

Rice pudding with peaches on the bottom from Elizabeth Ellicott Lea's Domestic Cookery, 1845... the first Maryland cookbook. Rice was boiled in milk, sweetened, put over peach slices, then baked for two hours. When warm it was like other rice puddings, but it compacted as it cooled.
Many Md. taped talks, below.

Saturday, July 9, 2022

Octagon cast iron ovens

This unusual oven in the Kew Palace kitchen was made by the famous Carron Company of Scotland, and was restored in 2012 to its 1789 appearance under King George III (1738-1820). Cast iron octagon ovens were noted as early as 1751. The octagonal ovens were heated by the fire in the fire box, the ashes fell below, like later Rumford Roasters and other tin block ovens (pictures below).

Sunday, July 3, 2022

Drying herbs and paper packets for seeds or dried herbs

Dry herbs in sun, no, dry in shade (Miller 1769). Hang in "small bunches" no, that dried them too much (Loudon 1835). Dry in oven (Randolph 1824, Beeton 1863). Dry in bag in oven (1893). Store dried in: brown paper sewn like sack (Culpeper 1809), paper packets (Loudon 1835), covered boxes (Mollard 1802), corked bottles (Randolph 1824), bacon racks (1923).