Archive for the 'new york' Category

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Taste History Today: Heritage Pork Belly

Published on October 26, 2010 in 19th century, new york, pork and taste history today. 2 Comments
You know your meat’s fresh when it still looks like an animal.  This belly’s got nipples.

Last month, I was a presenter in a very special tour of Central Park: a walk-through of the lives of the residents of Seneca Village.  Seneca Village was a rural suburb of New York until 1858, when the property owners were forced off their land in the city’s first use of Eminent Domain.  The property, which was owned largely by Irish and German immigrants and free African-Americans, was seized to build Central Park, and the town disappeared from New York City’s landscape and our collective memory. Only recently has scholarship surfaced exploring the lives of the residents of Seneca Village, and Imagining Seneca Village presented some of what we know.

The residents of Seneca Village had a huge advantage over their southern Manhattan neighbors: they could self-produce food.  Although many immigrants were coming from rural areas, once they arrived to the tenements of the Lower East Side, there was little room to grow a garden.  But according to the New York Tribune, “(Seneca Village contained homes)…of varying degrees of excellence…a number of these have fine kitchen gardens, and some of the side-hill slopes are adorned with cabbage, and melon-patches, with hills of corn and cucumbers, and beds of beets, parsnips and other garden delicacies. (1857)”

Not only gardens, but livestock as well: geese, chickens, goats and swine.  The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy lists seven American pig breeds as critically endangered; these are pigs that have been bred in the States for a hundred years or more, and are often close descendants of 17th and 18th century pig breeds.  They’re breeds that are known for their foraging skills and their mothering skills.  A mother and her brood can be released into the fields to fend for themselves with very little care.  For residents of Seneca Village, pigs represented and immense amount of food that came at very little cost: a pig’s foraging diet would have been supplemented with kitchen scraps and food waste; by fall, they would be plump enough for slaughter.  These foraging breeds also acted like early garbage disposals on the crowded city streets of New York, before public sanitation and garbage pick-up existed.  Dickens, on his 1842 trip to America, mentions the handsome pigs rooting around the streets for discarded cabbage leaves and offal.

But after WWII, pig breed preferences turned toward those who did well for mass production.  These foraging breeds did not have a high survival rate in a pen and people stopped breeding them.  But thanks to a return to all things delicious, small farms have focused on preserving these breeds; and, by creating a demand for their pork, we’re helping them survive as well.

So, at Imagining Seneca Village, I prepared a pork belly I obtained from Flying Pigs Farms, a ranch outside of New York that breeds Large Blacks, Gloucestershire Old Spots, and Tamworth pigs.  When I served it, everyone demanded the recipe.  I admit, it was crispy, salty, meaty, and just awesome.  But I can’t give credit to my cooking skills — I owe it all to the meat itself.  Covered with a thick layer of fat that kept it moist while roasting, the belly’s meat was rich with the flavors of a well-exercised pig who had grown fat on fall acorns.

To make your own pork belly, start with a slab of heritage pork.  If you’re in New York, Flying Pigs is at the Union Square Greenmarket Fridays & Saturdays.  They also sell online, as do several other heritage pork purveyors around the country, like Caw Caw Creek in South Carolina.  Then, I followed Jamie Oliver’s simple recipe available here.  I didn’t even bother with the gravy, and it came out divine.

Established Eateries: Eddie’s Sweet Shop

Published on August 26, 2010 in 19th century, established eateries and new york. 2 Comments

Eddie’s Sweet Shop, in Forest Hills, Queens.

A couple weeks ago, I joined friends for a summer drive to Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Queens.  This soda fountain and ice cream haven hasn’t changed much since the turn of the century.  I read about it in a neat little book called The Historic Shops and Restaurants of New York; all the quotes in this post are pulled from this book.

The candy counter.  The interior of Eddie’s is “…preserved in near perfect turn-of-the-century condition.”

“The refrigerator is Frigidaire’s first electric mode, some 75 years old…”  A vintage canister filled with malt sits on top.

“Nine original wood-topped revolving stools still face the mahogany counter with its cool-to-the-touch white marble top.”  The surface of the stool has been worn smooth by the seats of many pants.

“They…serve only homemade ice cream, sherbert, syrups, and freshly whipped cream, all prepared on the premises.”  I had a chocolate malt, and a strawberry soda, made with syrup and seltzer.  Next time, I think I’ll get an ice cream float!

Events: New York Cookies

Published on May 25, 2010 in baking, cookies, directions for cookery in its various branches and new york. 5 Comments


Traditional New York Cookies, stamped with historic Rooster and Kitty stamps.

I spent last Sunday morning at Old Stone House, stamping out cookies with the local kids of Park Slope.  The stamps are historic replicas from House on the Hill and are just. beautiful.  I was shocked at the level of detail the molds yielded; although I used them with 19th century cookie recipes, I think they would work well with most modern sugar cookie dough.

Stamped cookies are a tradition early Dutch settlers brought to New York (nee New Amsterdam).  Over the years, they became known as a New York tradition that transcended immigrant groups.  In the city, stamped cakes were passed out as treats on New Year’s Day, and as a memorial token at funerals.


Heating up the hearth at Old Stone House.  I lit a large fire and let it burn down to red and white hot coals.  Then, I pushed the coals to the back of the oven, and placed the cookies in the front.  To test the oven, I made Tollhouse break and bake cookies, and they baked exactly as long as they said they would on the package.  Voila!


A teeny helper dusts confectionar’s sugar in the mold.  The sugar stops the dough from sticking, and delivers a more detailed image.  Photo by Sharon Stadul


And then we stamp.  Photo by Sharon Stadul.

We made two cookie recipes on Sunday: one, a caraway and orange cookie, came from the book Food, Drink and Celebrations of the Hudson Valley Dutch by Peter G. Rose.  Man they were good – I want to experiment more with that recipe.  The second cookie was a nutmeg-cinnamon-rosewater cake called, appropriately, New York Cookies.  The recipes is from 1840 and I give it a B+.  You may like them, particularly with a cup of tea, but they taste too much like the 19th century for my liking.

***
New York Cookies
From Directions For Cookery, In Its Various Branches by Eliza Leslie, 1840.

1 cup cold water
1/2 pound sugar
2 ounces rosewater
3 pounds flour
1 nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pound butter
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, spices, and baking soda.
2. Using your hands, rub the butter into the flour mixture until it forms a course meal.
3. Combine rosewater, water and sugar. Add to flour mixture and knead, first in the bowl, then move  to a board, cloth or non-stick mat dusted with confectioner’s sugar.  Knead until the dough no longer crumbles, adding additional water if neccesary.
4. Cut into three pieces, setting aside two and rolling out the third.  This dough also freezes well if you don’t want to make the cookies immediately.
5. Roll the dough 1/2 in -3/4 of an inch thick.  Using a pastry brush, dust cookie mold with powdered sugar. Press cookie mold firmly and evenly on the dough.  Lift up mold, and cut out cookie using a spatula or a knife.
6. If possible, let the cookies sit out for an hour before baking.  Letting the cookies dry slightly also delivers a crisper image.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

***

Events: Pancakes Aplenty! Wrap-up and Recipes

Published on March 7, 2010 in breakfast, events and new york. 2 Comments

Cooking Apple, Sour Milk & Molasses Pancakes at Old Stone House yesterday.  See more photos from the event here.

I was too immersed in pancake making to know how many people came out to the event yesterday.  Take a look for yourself:

Despite a constant flow of pancakes, the line was this long for an hour and a half.  I was flabberghasted.

I want to thank everyone who was able to make it out yesterday, and thank you for waiting patiently and amicably while I furiously flipped flapjakes.  I simply was not prepared, nor was I expecting, to serve hearth-cooked pancakes for 200 people; I’m so pleased that everyone was able to get a taste, and (hopefully) went home happy.

If you enjoyed yourself, then I encourage you to make these recipes at home!  They work just as well on an electric skillet as they do over an open hearth–and it’s probably a more efficient method of cooking.

Thank you again for the wonderful day; if you were able to attend, please leave your thoughts in the comments.  Enjoy the recipes, and I sincerely hope to see you at another event in the future.

***

Apple Pancakes
Adapted from The New England Economical Housekeeper by Esther Allen Howland, 1845.
Modern recipe adapted from The Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook, 3rd ed. by Jack Larkin, 2009.

The original recipes instructs the cook to deep fry these pancakes in lard, like a doughnut.  But I find this recipe works just as well fried with butter on a griddle or in a skillet.

2 cups sour milk or 1 1/2 cups fresh milk with 2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 baking apples
3/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour

1. Combine milk and molasses, whisking until emulsified.
2. Pare and core apples, and dice into 1/4 in. cubes.  Add to milk and molasses mixture and set aside.
3. In another bowl, whisk cornmeal, baking soda and flour until combined.  Using a wooden spoon or a spatula, create a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Pour milk mixture into the well, and mix until combined.
4. Fry in a skillet or on a griddle, with a generous amount of butter.  Serve with maple syrup, butter, or a hard sauce.
Clove and Rosewater Pancakes
Adapted from The New England Economical Housekeeper by Esther Allen Howland, 1845

Rosewater can be food in the Indian or Middle Eastern section of your grocery store.

3 tablespoons sugar
½ tsp cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lighten beaten with
½ tsp rosewater
1 cup whole milk

1. Combine sugar, cloves, baking soda, flour and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk until combined; set aside.
2. Whisk the milk into the egg and rosewater mixture.
3. Using a wooden spoon or a spatula, create a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Pour milk mixture into the well, and mix until combined.
4. Fry in a skillet or on a griddle, using a generous amount of butter.  Serve with maple syrup, butter, or a hard sauce.


Pumpkin Cornmeal Pancakes
Adapted from Food, Drink and Celebrations of the Hudson Valley Dutch by Peter G. Rose, 2009.

“Although (the Dutch) continued their own food ways, they did incorporate native foods into their daily diets. They did so, however, in ways that were familiar to them: for example, when they made pumpkin cornmeal pancakes (cornmeal instead of wheat flour) or pumpkin sweetmeat (instead of quince paste).”

— Food, Drink and Celebrations of the Hudson Valley Dutch by Peter G. Rose

1 cup flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon mace
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs, lightly beaten with
1 1/2 cups whole milk

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, and spices. Set aside.
2.  Whisk together egg and milk mixture with pumpkin puree until throughly amalgamated.
3. Using a wooden spoon or a spatula, create a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Pour milk mixture into the well, and mix until combined.
4. Fry in a skillet or on a griddle, with a generous amount of butter.  Serve with maple syrup, butter, or a hard sauce.

1 pound unsalted butter, room tempeature
2 cups sugar
½ cup white wine or brandy
1 tsp nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)

Beat in an electric mixer on medium until evenly combined.

Snapshot: Wild Game at Henry’s End

Published on February 26, 2010 in hunting and gathering and new york. 0 Comments

The Mixed Game Grill at Henry’s End: Elk chop, venison sausage, and the wild boar belly is buried in back, under some sort of pomegranate chutney.

Last weekend, the Boyf took me out for a belated Valentines.  We ate some animals at the Wild Game Festival at Henry’s End Restaurant in Brooklyn.  I had the Mixed Game Grill, pictured above, which included herb crusted elk chops; venison sausage; and wild boar belly.  I found the first two to be a little heavy on the seasoning; if I’m going to eat exotic animals, I want to taste their flesh!  The herb crust on the elk was overpowering, but after I scraped it off, I found the meat to be tender, juicy and flavorful.  The venison sausage was tasty, but tasted like herbs, not venison.  The boar belly had the purest flavor, and was well prepared.

The boyf had ostrich, pictured right, with coos coos.

Menus: Washington’s B-day at Niblo’s Saloon, Broadway

Published on February 22, 2010 in menu, new york and presidents. 0 Comments

Eaten on this day in 1851 at Niblo’s Saloon.  I think my favorite dishes are the Chicken Sallad and the Beef Tongues, both served in “gelee”; the Pigeons and the Widgeons; and (no party is a party without) Charlotte Russe.  I don’t know which would have been my favorite ornamental piece; probably the Fruits of Industry.

Menus: St. Nicholas Society Anniversary Dinner, Dec. 6th 1851

Published on December 6, 2009 in holidays, menu and new york. 3 Comments

The St. Nicholas Society of New York was founded by a man named John Pintard.  Pintard was largely responsible for the invention of our modern Christmas traditions, along with society members Washington Irving and Clement Clark Moore. These men were obsessed with the Dutch history of New York, and they appropriated St. Nick as New York City’s patron saint.

I’m reading a fascinating book on Christmas traditions,  The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum.  It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and is a wonderful read this time of year.  Nissembaum outlines the transition of the Christmas holidays from a time of gluttony and drunkenness to a celebration of domesticity.  On the St. Nicholas Society and its members, Nissenbaum has this to say:

…It was John Pintard who brought St. Nicholas to America, in an effort to make that figure both the icon of the New York Historical Society and the patron saint of New York City….In the 1810s, Pintard organized and led elaborate St. Nicholas’ Day banquets for his fellow members of the New York Historical Society…

In Holland, St. Nicholas brings toys to children on his saint’s day, Dec. 6th.  Historically, this tradition was observed by upper class Dutch families.   The working class Dutch that immigrated to New Amsterdam did not bring this tradition with them.

…Nobody has ever found contemporaneous evidence of such a St. Nicholas cult in New York during the colonial period.  Instead, the familiar Santa Claus story appears to have been devised in the early nineteenth century…It was the work of a small group of antiquarian minded New York gentlemen–men who knew one another as members of a distinct social set.  Collectively, those men became known as the Knickerbockers…

In short, the Knickerbockers felt that they belonged to a patrician class whose authority was under siege.  From that angle, their invention of Santa Claus was part of what we can now see as a larger, ultimately quite serious cultural enterprise:  forging a pseudo-Dutch identity for New York, a placid “folk” identity that could provide a cultural counterweight to the commercial bustle and democratic ‘misrule’ of early 19th century New York.

St. Nicholas evolved into Santa Claus with the aid of Clement Clark Moore’s poem A Visit from St. Nicholas.

In the above menu, note the special “Knickerbocker” recipes, various traditional Dutch dishes.  Additionally, take note of the “Ornamental Confectionery.”  These would have probably been sculpted out of marzipan.
For another piece of fascinating holiday ephemera, check out Charles Dickens’s original manuscript of A Christmas Carol currently housed at the Morgan Library and Museum.  The New York Times has a high-resolution scan of the full manuscript online, and “The reader who spots the most intriguing textual change will be invited to tea at the Morgan Library and Museum.”
Today is also the one year anniversary of this blog.  Thank you all for your support, encouragement, and enthusiasm.  This year has been so meaningful and wonderful, and I can’t wait to see what the next twelve months will bring!

Taste History Today: Jefferson’s Favorite Apple

Published on November 17, 2009 in apples, new york and taste history today. 0 Comments

Photo by Brandon Miller

The premiere issue of Edible Queens has a feature on the Newtown Pippin apple, a heritage breed with it’s origin in the New York area. From the U.S. Apple Association:

“Also known as Albemarle Pippin, a favorite variety of Thomas Jefferson. Discovered on Long Island in 1759, this apple is one of the oldest original U.S. varieties, helping to launch the U.S. fruit export industry. Newtown Pippin is a distinctive green, often with yellow highlights. Its aromatic, tangy flesh makes the Newtown great for use in pies and applesauce. Primarilly a processing variety, most U.S. supplies are used commercially. Newtown Pippin is typically available from September through December.”

Jefferson dubbed the Newtown “The Prince of Apples” and grew them on his Monticello estate. The Newtown is making a comeback in the New York area thanks to Erik Baard, a Long Island City–based environmentalist.

“Since 2006, Baard has spearheaded a local movement to plant Newtown Pippin saplings across the city and state. “I’m trying to remind New Yorkers of our agricultural heritage one tree at a time,” explains Baard, the borough’s own Johnny Appleseed.

The Newtown Pippin—a pippin is an apple grown spontaneously from seed—first took root in the Newtown section of Queens, now Elmhurst, in the 1700s, and was almost universally lauded as one of the best-tasting apples ever grown. (Edible Queens)”

You can get your hands on Newtown Pippins in New York at the Red Jacket Orchard stand at the Union Square Greenmarket on Mondays. They sell other heirloom breeds including Baldwin, Staymen Winesap, 20 oz pippin and Northern Spy.

I’m going to be featuring the Newtown Pippin at the Old Stone House event this Sunday: stop by to see the apples for yourself and for a taste of apple-rosewater tart.

Pepsi Throwback!

Published on April 16, 2009 in drinks, new york and retronovation. 0 Comments


Speaking on new/old products appearing on store shelves, Pepsi is releasing two new soda lines: Pepsi Natural  and Pepsi Throwback.  Their main selling point is that they are made with real cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.  According to Reuters.com: “Pepsi Natural, a premium cola made with sugar, natural caramel and kola nut extract, will be sold in glass bottles…The Pepsi and Mountain Dew Throwback drinks will be sweetened with natural sugar and will feature retro-looking packaging reminiscent of the 1960’s and 70s.” . 


My Dad used to rant and rave that Coca-Cola in glass bottles was better than Coke in cans, and fell into a deep depression when they discontinued the glass bottles.  After moving to New York, I brought my dad home a few bottles of Coke from the Mexican deli across the street, and I discovered the difference: imported Coke in bottles is made from real sugar; American soda (or pop, for my friends in the midwest) is made with HFCS.  Besides, People are really excited about that glass bottle.


I recently saw Pepsi Natural on the shelves of my local Duane Reade; I haven’t tried any yet, so if you have, let me know what you think. 

And on the topic of tasty sodas, if you live in New York, The Lexington Avenue Candy Shop is worth a visit.  More of a luncheonette than a candy shop, they make all of their sodas the old-fashioned way, with syrup and soda water.  They also don’t have that whole “we an old fashioned soda shop!!!” attitude.  I had never had a “real” root beer float before, and it was unbelievable.

Update: I’ve since tried Pepsi Natural, and It’s pretty good.  It definately doesn’t taste like Pepsi. I also found this lovely qoute by Andy Warhol about Coke:

“What’s great about this country is America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good.”

Sorry Men, No Milk for You!

Published on April 2, 2009 in menu, museum, new york and tenement. 0 Comments

The Tenement Museum Blog has launched a series of posts on food and immigration. I was intrigued by this “Bill of Fare for Thursday, December 28th, 1922″ from the Ellis Island dining room.

Ellis Island Dining Room (Tenement Museum Blog)