{"id":14532,"date":"2024-01-13T16:38:18","date_gmt":"2024-01-13T16:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/?p=14532"},"modified":"2024-01-19T21:45:29","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T21:45:29","slug":"time-travel-through-the-gilded-age-of-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/winter-2024\/time-travel-through-the-gilded-age-of-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Time Travel Through the Gilded Age of Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span>f you love food and time travel, Becky Libourel Diamond\u2019s The Gilded Age Cookbook, Recipes and Stories From America\u2019s Golden Era<\/em><\/a> is not to be missed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Gilded Age in America took place roughly between 1868 and 1900. The term \u201cGilded Age\u201d was coined by Mark Twain, who wrote a satirical book named The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today<\/em><\/a>. Although the book satirized the greed and opulence of the era and was not one of his most famous books, the descriptive \u201cGilded Age\u201d defining the times lives on in perpetuity.<\/p>\n

The Gilded Age Cookbook, Recipes and Stories From America\u2019s Golden Era, <\/em><\/a>is a beautifully photographed and researched cookbook, According to Diamond, her book \u201creconstructs this era of lavish banquet tables set with snowy white linen tablecloths, delicate china, and sparkly crystal glasses\u2026 details are melded with historic menus, and recipes updated for contemporary kitchens \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Diamond, a food writer, librarian, and research historian who has been writing about food since 2008, painstakingly shares significant food and historical moments of the Gilded Age.<\/p>\n

She transports you through the highlights of this privileged period, from simple gastronomic inventions like the rotary eggbeater patented in 1856, lavish banquet events hosted by the likes of the Astors and Vandebilts, luxurious rail travel in dining cars introduced by George Pullman, summer entertaining in Newport, Rhode Island and Saratoga Springs, New York and beach resorts like Long Branch and Cape May, New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe style and excessiveness of this period,\u201d Diamond said, \u201ccontinue to be a source of wonder and fascination for us today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diamond artfully weaves the historic recipes updated for modern cooks with stories of famous people, events, and happenings of the time period, such as the 1893 World\u2019s Fair, cooking classes, oyster roasts and clambakes, social clubs, balls, holiday fare and more.<\/p>\n

Take a glimpse into this unique book with three recipes shared by the author with her descriptions of what makes the recipes so special.<\/p>\n

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Simply Scallops. Photo: From The Gilded Age Cookbook. Photography by Heather Raub of FrontRoom Images<\/p><\/div>\n

Simply Scallops<\/h3>\n

Delicate and buttery with a tinge of salty brininess, it\u2019s hard to imagine that scallops were one of the least consumed shellfish throughout most of the nineteenth century. The lack of scallop offerings was not due to cost\u2014it was simply because they were not as favored.<\/em><\/p>\n

According to Boston Cooking School instructor Maria Parloa, this was due to their \u201cpeculiarly sweet flavor.\u201d Regardless of this viewpoint, tastes began to change by the 1870s, when demand for this delicacy began to increase in New York markets, particularly in the fall, at the height of the scallop harvesting season.<\/em><\/p>\n

This recipe is adapted from one featured in Pierre Blot\u2019s <\/em>Hand-Book of Practical Cookery. Although Blot recommends blanching the scallops first, I feel this is an unnecessary amount of cooking for these tender morsels, so I skip this step.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Cream Puffs. Photo: From The Gilded Age Cookbook. Photography by Heather Raub of FrontRoom Images<\/p><\/div>\n

Cream Puffs<\/h3>\n

Cream puffs were a popular dessert and tea-time treat during the Gilded Age. Light and airy like a popover, cream puffs are made from a French type of dough called choux paste, which is very different from other types of pastry such as sturdy piecrust and flaky puff paste.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is made by adding butter to boiling water and then adding flour and beaten eggs, which cause the puffs to rise, creating a crispy shell that is hollow on the inside, perfect for filling with whipped cream, custard, or jam. This recipe is adapted from Sarah Tyson Rorer, who described cream puffs as being \u201cvery heavy when they get into the oven and very light when they come out.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Waldorf Salad. Photo: From The Gilded Age Cookbook. Photography by Heather Raub of FrontRoom Images<\/p><\/div>\n

Waldorf Salad<\/h3>\n

Created by Oscar Tschirky in the late 1890s, the Waldorf Salad has had many iterations over the years. As ma\u00eetre d\u2019 of the Waldorf-Astoria, Tschirky was known for devising signature recipes for the restaurant, including this simple salad included in his 1896 cookbook, <\/em>The Cook Book by \u201cOscar\u201d of the Waldorf. His original recipe featured just diced apples and celery \u201cdressed with a good mayonnaise.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Feel free to try the adapted homemade version below or use your favorite jarred mayonnaise. Chopped walnuts can be added for extra crunch.<\/em><\/p>\n

Reprinted with permission from The Gilded Age Cookbook, Recipes and Stories from America\u2019s Golden Era<\/em> <\/a>by Becky Libourel Diamond. Copyright \u00a9 2023.<\/h5>\n
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