The Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook
The Old Sturbridge Village
Cookbook has many old-time recipes that are based on classics
from historical cookbooks such as The American Frugal Housewife,
by Lydia Maria Child (1829), American Cookery, by Amelia
Simmons (1796), and A New System of Domestic Cookery, by
Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell (1807), among many others.
Old
Sturbridge Village and Hearth Cookery
For those unfamiliar
with the Old Sturbridge Village, it is located in Sturbridge,
Massachusetts and showcases and authentically replicates what life was
like back in the 1830's. Their living history staff members wear
period clothing and work in the kitchen creating the same dishes
people did back then.
One of the most important elements of a
kitchen back in that era is the use of the hearth in cooking. The Old
Sturbridge Village Cookbook describes in all the recipes how to
cook the dishes by a modern method and by a hearth method. Hearth
cookery involves cooking over a common area fire (usually set up in
the kitchen area). Do you own an old home with a hearth? The cookbook
provides invaluable tips and instructions for anyone wanting to use a
hearth in their own home, including the equipment used, precautions,
and the four basic problems with heart fires and their
solutions.
Fish Cookery
The cookbook contains
many recipes, including those for breads, cakes & pies, puddings,
vegetables, soups, and meats and poultry. Four basic fish recipes
that can be used for many types of fish, either whole, in fillets or
steaks, or as leftovers mashed up.
The Fried Fish recipe calls
for rendering salt pork for its fat before cooking the fish. The
Broiled Fish recipe uses suet as a cooking fat, and the hearth method
is very similar to grilling, calling for a gridiron. Fish Balls is a
recipe that rolls leftover flaked fish and mashed potatoes into
beaten eggs before being fried in bacon fat. The Poached Fish recipe
is served with "A Most Delicious Salad Sauce." Any of the
recipes can use other fats, such as canola or corn oil, in place of
the rendered salt pork or suet, for frying and cooking.
- The Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook, 2nd: Authentic Early American Recipes for the Modern Kitchen
- Editor: Caroline Sloat; Illustrations: Cynthia Dias-Reid
- The Globe Pequot Press; 1995
- 243 pages.
Renee Shelton
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