New Year, Same Old, 27. Cooking the Past

Today was one of those days with some meat in the fridge, a few vegetables, and no idea of what to make for lunch. So, I faced the bookshelves with the cookbooks, and drew out an old friend. 

The American Woman's Cookbook, first published in 1938, has been with me since I was a teenager. My edition is from 1948, and has several color plates, besides black and white photos. In Boston, we owned a triple decker and rented out two of the apartments. One tenant, who moved out, left behind a box for the trash man with old magazines and a couple of books, among them the cookbook. I rescued it, and loved to read the recipes, and all the curious, to me, information about entertaining guests, setting tables, making menus, and information about food that time had passed by, such as buying canned food by numbered cans and even how to pasteurize milk at home.

I have made some of the recipes in it over the years, such as Beef Miroton, or Fillet of Flounder au Gratin, or Chocolate Chip Cookies, or Orange Cake. Then, there are others, like, Celery, Nut and Potato Loaf, or Roast Squirrels, that do not appeal to me. Some of them, such as gelatin molds of vegetables, are quite dated. Dated also, is the separation of French recipes and recipes with wine into their own chapters, and the lack of pasta recipes. That is because French food was considered the apex of good food once upon a time. Though, some of the recipes are about as French as me. Gnocchi, for instance, or Stuffed Tomatoes, or Casserole of Sausage and Corn. The secton on recipes with wine has a vintage chart from 1915 to 1933 for a few different French wines, no more. If I ever find a bottle of red Bordeaux from 1921, I'll know it was a good year. In the description of wines, the author mentions that of German wines, the whites are the best, and that the Italian ones are heavier than either French or German. As for California wines, some vineyards look very fine, but they are yet too young. 

I have many other cookbooks, but I keep coming back to that one and the other American ones I have, which are three editions of the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook and The New England Cookbook. I prefer their measurements, in cups and teaspoons and tablespoons. The Spanish cookbooks talk of grams and milliliters that are more difficult for me to gauge. Since most recipes don't have to be exact, I tend to adjust quantities to what I see best, except in baking. Baking is more of a chemical reaction, and needs more exact quantities. I still remember an Easter sweet bread my mother baked long ago, that was hard as a rock because she added too much sugar to the dough. 

One of these days, when I am inspired, and if I can find powdered gelatin, I might make marshmallows. I just opened the book at random and fell on the Candies section. Or I might make peanut brittle or Turkish Delight. Butterscotch will have to wait until I can get to Santiago or Pontevedra, to buy light corn syrup at a specialty American foods store. 

Life continues.