English cooking had a bad rap during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Caricatures of the typical Englishman (“John Bull”) poked fun at his florid face, his avoirdupois, and his bad manners when eating a meal consisting of a joint and boiled vegetables. In contrast, the typical Frenchma[...]
Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
July 22nd, 2010 - 8:00 am § in Food
Chinese-American Cookery
The pre-launch issue of GILDED included an article on the popularity of dining in Chinese restaurants and chop suey joints in Gilded Age America. In response to one reader’s request for actual recipes from that era, I dug up a few digitized cookbooks available online to oblige her request! The[...]
June 14th, 2010 - 10:52 am § in Food
Coney Island Delicacies
Michael Immerso, in his book “Coney Island: the People’s Playground,” describes the epicurean delights found at the year-round New York amusement park “as combustible as its fastest rides.” It was Coney Island where Americans—native born or immigrant—tasted the literal melting pot that[...]
The Tea Rooms of London
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, meals could be obtained at chop houses, coaching inns, hotels, and coffee houses, yet all these ways of eating were deemed unsuitable for respectable women, who generally ate at home. This situation changed in the 1860s with the arrival of better railway h[...]
Of Cooking & Gender
After reading The New York Magazine’s list of the Top 20 Chef Empires, and perusing a few culinary books I’d borrowed from the library, I was struck, dumbstruck actually, that all save one of those twenty names are those of men. Many would argue that the age of modern cookery was of the [...]
May 4th, 2009 - 6:00 am § in Food
Setting the Table
The evolution of formal dining begins in the medieval era, where dining became a sign of social status. At that time, the table setting included the Salt Cellar, which was the first thing put on the table. The salt was far more than a condiment–to sit above the salt was to sit in the place [..[...]
February 17th, 2009 - 12:59 am § in Food
An Edwardian Breakfast
More than one’s residence, food and fashion greatly demarcates the wealth–or poverty–of the individual or family. During the Edwardian era, this was never more true, though, with the introduction of mass produced foods in America, those with less wealth could now afford to eat a bi[...]
The Care and Feeding of the First Family
As “First Family,” the President, his wife and children, and any other dependents, had their needs and cares were catered to by a bevy of secretaries, secret service agents, and most important of all, domestic servants! According to Helen Taft, “the management of the White House is[...]
