Researching Food History

Years ago I wrote a post on Army tables and chairs with creative ways to close and transport on mules or wagons during the Rev War and Civi...

For those of us who like mechanical devices - check out Vittorio Zonca’s (1568-1603)  Novo Teatro Di Machine Et Edificii .   Padoua: 1607 ...

Visitors to Naples noted the "great coppers filled with macaroni ready prepared, sprinkled over with cheese" and customers ...

This cake was named for a Dickens character in an 1839 novel and the ensuing 1870s dress style.   The earliest recipe, in 1877, had four la...

Virginia "Jennie" Carter Benedict (1860-1928) created Benedictines - the green cucumber sandwich common at Kentucky Derby partie...

On the trip north from her South Carolina plantation the 67 year old made a point to stay at "Mrs. Randolph's" - a renowned ...

Once sold on the streets on Good Friday, the buns, marked with a cross on top, are now remembered as a nursery rhyme "One-a-penny, tw...

In an early (1842) detailed description to pipe icing onto cakes, paper was rolled into a cone, and the end was cut.  In addition to "...

A Frenchman, Paul-Jacques Malouin (1701-1778) wrote a detailed (over 300 pages) book Description et détails des arts du meunier: du vermic...

Huge macaroni machine in 1911 as compared with Jefferson's smaller version a hundred years before (below, more HERE ); from Artemas W...

While in France, Jefferson ordered William Short (who was for a time his personal secretary) to buy a macaroni (Jefferson spelled it macc...

When the wider silver folks came out some continued to eat with two prong steel forks or knife. An American defended " that Americans ...

The peppery soup of tripe (stomach lining), meats and vegetables was very popular in Philadelphia.  So popular, that later recipes were lab...

"What America Ate, Preserving America’s Culinary History from the Great Depression" - is an interactive website and digitized a...

Honey - a lot of honey - is boiled, foam removed, spices and dried bread crumbs incorporated, then pressed or rolled flat. Cut into hard (...

Once the chef for Queen Victoria (from 1840 to 1842), the Reform Club, the Prince of Wales and others, Charles Elme Francatelli (1805-1876...

So how did they work?  Leonardo da Vinci sketched one in the 1480s; the one on left is from the 1600s. The smoke jack was attached in the ...

By 1815, the Indian Queen Hotel in Baltimore had state-of-the-art kitchen equipment: a "patent oven" (metal wall oven), "ste...

Along with the symposiums, there is an opportunity to apply for a paid summer fellowship at the cookbook collection of Michigan State Univer...

Alaska, a state for 60 years (Jan. 3) - only 60?! - was bought from Russia in 1867.  Soyer's may have been the first recipe in English,...