How different would food taste if I set my time machine for New York c. 1880 and stepped into a restaurant for lamb stew? How about some hospitable Oregon Trail family’s home?
I do not have an exact answer, but I will offer this link for relevant reading
http://www.foodtimeline.org/index.html
and this link to a cook book from 1880 which includes directions on making stewed lamb’s tongue.
http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/coldfusion/display.cfm?ID=miss&PageNum=171
Check this out:
Not 1880 but 1939, you could also have your very own personal culinary wayback machine experience of the World’s Fair if you have the time and money to blow, according to this link I found:
http://www.momofuku.com/news-and-events/momofukupresents/#sundaysx
It’s interesting to see what was served on the RMS Titanic–here’s a link to the menus. Some of it looks pretty familiar, but I’ve never heard of a few items.
And interestingly, the last First Class meal has been recently recreated. So, if you are truly interested, Professor Bricker, you may not need your Wayback Machine–just ask the chef in the linked news item if he has any plans for future Titanic meals.
Nothing useful to add, except that if “Prof. Bricker’s Time Machine Checks Out Cuisine” was a new show on Food Network, I’d watch it.
The 19th Century NYC restaurant Delmonico’s is known for being the origin of the “Delmonico steak” (also known as a NY Strip Steak, though other sources claim the steak served at Delmonico’s was actually a boneless ribeye or top sirloin cut). The Wikipedia article for Delmonico’s also mentions that it’s the first “high class” restaurant offering a la carte menu ordering, and includes a link to a picture of a Delmonico’s menu from 1899.
I’m not sure, but I think the more relevant question is the taste of the ingredients, not the recipe or the menu. For example, grass-fed beef just tastes different than corn-fed, as most people realize. I wouldn’t have the first clue as to whether the lettuce we eat today would taste different if it had been grown 130 years ago, what with differences between fertilizers, amount of pollution in the air and water, and so on.
One thing that shows is the evolution of marketing. You’d never see a ship or plane ticket today billed as “third class,” they’d definitely come up with some much better sounding euphemism (Titanic Royal Club Class). And no matter how cheaply you wanted to serve the peons, you’d find a way to describe their supper options as something other than “gruel.”
Another thing that jumped out at me is just how thoroughly kidneys as a common breakfast dish have fallen out of favor. Were they really that popular? Whose idea was that? I’ve never seen them on offer even in England, and the recent head-to-tail eating trend has done a lot better job of gettin liver and sweetbreads back into the mainstream or near it than it has kidneys. Even at fancy gastro-snob places I’ve not seen many kidneys, but apparently people (or maybe just Brits) once thought nothing of throwing it on the plate next to the old shirred eggs and toast.
Chicken ala Maryland? I had to look that one up as I had never heard of it. the reality is somewhat boring, unfortunately. I won’t look up cabin biscuits as it’s more fun to imagine what they might be, fried-rat skin? baked magot-meal?
Yes, this interests me. I’ve noticed that pork in the Dominican Republic from local hogs tastes different than pork from supermarkets here.
A lot of the food will seem bland to the modern palate, if for no other reason than they would have used a lot less sugar and salt. Heinz was in business, so there would be some processed foods available. You’re 17 years before the first pizza, however, so scratch that staple from your diet. This is the time of the boom in Italian immigration, so lots of groceries catering to them are around. The oyster beds in the bay are still producing, so shellfish is a staple.
It sounds like several people here should keep an eye out for Heston’s Feasts, featuring the most entertaining TV chef, Heston Blumenthal, recreating the feel of ancient dishes. As all his stuff is, it’s fascinating.
Not quite Oregon Trail, but some frontier-ish stuff and just about from the right time period:
I was glad to find that as the parts about syrup-tapping, sausage-making, and (especially for Almanzo, who comes across as something of a dullard whose two main interests come across as looking at his cows and indulging in various gourmandish feasts) the big meals was really interesting to me when I read the books.
Does not appear to have aired in the U.S. but was gratified to see he’s got at least several full episodes up on youtube.
That’s fascinating. Especially the “breakfast, dinner, tea” of the third class versus the “breakfast, lunch, dinner” of the first and second.
Other than Italian and Jewish, and maybe a little Chinese, there won’t be much ethnic food of any type, and probably fewer spices overall.
I don’t know if this was one of the old time eras in which saloons provided free or cheap food to lure the drinkers in, but there will certainly be saloons aplenty.
There’ll be a decent chance your food may be a bit off as industrialized refrigeration was not there yet (was it? 1880 probably not). For that reason, you would be a true locavore (trendy well before your time) because most everything you ate would need to be grown within a day or two’s wagon or railroad journey (exceptions for dried/salted/pickled ingredients) of wherever you find yourself. Meaning just about no fresh fruit or non-root vegetables all winter, no Alaskan salmon unless you’re in Alaska, etc.
I think many homemade baked goods, especially fruit pies, would have tasted the same centuries ago.
We eat a meal in the summertime that has been in our family for as long as anyone remembers and there’s no reason it couldn’t have been made in 1750. It goes like this:
Fry some bacon or hocks in a Dutch oven, then add quartered white potatoes and let them soak up some of the grease. Put in green beans, let simmer for about an hour until everything is soft.
Serve with cornbread, corn on the cob, and a plate of sliced tomatoes and green onions. Season with nothing more than salt and pepper. If you really want to go authentic, wash it down with corn liquor, or lemonade for the young 'uns.
This is American food. It doesn’t have lemongrass, cayenne pepper, or fennel pollen - not that there’s anything wrong with any of those things, but it is possible to enjoy a meal without them.
German food would be possibly the most prevalent ethnic around at that time.
We had a recent thread on why you have a hard time finding good, authentic German restaurants in the last 10-30 years in the US.
Moved to Cafe Society. Let them foodies answer this.
samclem Moderator
This is pretty much what Grant Achatz is doing with his new restaurant Next.
So come to Chicago and see if you can snag a table - good luck.
There’s currently a lottery system for tickets as demand far exceeds availability.