Cooking in History

~ Laura

I adore Megan's video in which she demonstrates how easy it is to bake a cake today, compared with the time consuming methods that her grandmother used. 

 

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1

This summer, Steve canned his own sauerkraut. As he sliced up the cabbage and stored it away in a dark corner in a cabinet, he gave me a long lecture on why ancient German hordes probably made this and what methods they used and what nutrients they got from the sauerkraut and all that lovely history trivia that usually makes my eyes glaze over. He was so cute and so full of info that I tried to convince him that we should write a history and cooking book. He declined. He prefers to give private kitchen lectures to his semi-interested wife. 

Check out Megan's column, too. 

Published by Laura

14 thoughts on “Cooking in History”

  1. I really like sauerkraut, as long as it is with pork or, if you have a reuben, beef. Cooking a pork roast with sauerkraut and potatoes (add a single minced apple to cut the sour) is about as easy as it gets in terms of hands on prep time.

    Like

  3. I wonder how far I’d have to talk to get a reuben? Probably about 20 minutes each way to get a good one. No time today.

    Like

  6. We make our own sauerkraut on a regular basis (and yes, Amy, we make bigos with it, as well as choucroute garni!). It’s the thin end of the wedge with regard to pickling… Now we make kimchi, preserved lemons, and all sorts of quick pickles with random vegetables. Oh, and our livers — those are lightly pickled as well.

    Like

  7. I’m allergic to MM so I’ll pass, but did you watch the Mildred Pierce miniseries these past few weeks on HBO. Loved it so much, and so many of the period details were great. Mildred bakes pies and cakes, plus she starts her own chicken and waffles restaurant, and it was just amazing. Also, I found out, despite living in Long Island most of my life, that there are several houses in Merrick that have a southern California style, and these houses were used for the exteriors in Mildred Pierce.

    Like

  9. I’m allergic to MM
    Antihistamines will probably clear that up. It’s almost pollen season, so you may already have some.

    Like

  10. To MM’s point, we got Cuisinart for our wedding. We never used it until we had the baby and then we used it nearly daily until he could eat regular food. I don’t think we’ve used our KitchenAid mixer, but that wasn’t a wedding present.

    Like

  11. Cooking time of 90 minutes is much too short for bigos. Triple that, if you can, and turn down the heat. Point five in the recipe gets it right.

    Like

  13. The first point she makes, about measurements, misses the mark. My mother-in-law was a great cook. She rarely had to consult a cookbook, as she had learned to cook from her mother, by observing. She wasn’t tied to measuring out a cup precisely. She had a feel for how much butter, flour, etc. she would need for a recipe, by observing the batter’s consistency. Thus, she wasn’t charging around the kitchen trying to conform to the recipe.
    Cook’s Illustrated features an obscure gadget from the past in each issue. Last year, they featured an old nut grinder.

    Like

  14. Wow, she has a lot of equipment. But, I guess this is why I don’t quick. I’d never heard of sifting flower in a food processor.
    I’ve always been amazed by what it must have meant to be a “good” cook in the days when nothing was standardized (no standard measuring devices, flour that could vary widely in content and texture, cooking over fires or in wood burning ovens with no thermostats).

    Like

Comments are closed.