Culinary Historians of Chicago
SUMMER 2002
|
NEWSLETTER OF THE Culinary Historians of Chicago |
SUMMER 2002 |
The Chicago Historical Society library is hardly musty-dusty (try Medieval scrolls for that plus who know what microbes) but it does hold treasures, often of a domestic sort. Not long ago I came across a collection of papers donated by Herma Naomi Clark. Born in 1871, she wrote a column for the Chicago Tribune from 1932-1954 (or 59) called "When Chicago Was Young." The box of papers is divided among folders, one of which contains letters soliciting recipes from old-time Chicagoans, many illustrious in their day, for a book to be called Inside Chicago Homes. Most of the letters date to the late 1940s and early 50s, and among the responses were notes from such luminaries as the Carter Harrisons, Mrs. Stanley McCormick (and others of the Prairie Avenue set), a Maria Patterson Phillips, who gave a recipe from her family cookbook begun in 1843, and whose grandfather once stood back-to-back with Abe Lincoln to see who was taller (both 6'4" she says). Coming across this handwritten note tells us how brief, and yet so rich, our American history really is.
Here in a small envelope was a copy of a 1932 letter to Mrs. Luther Rossiter who lived on South Greenwood Avenue. It thanked her for Mrs. Norman Judd's copy of "Mrs. Lyman Trumbull's Cookies." Written on crumbling paper with a nibbed pen and in a shaky hand, the recipe calls for sugar, butter, soda and some vanilla. Not different from any of today's recipes, but of a different time and domestic setting. One can picture the corseted lady in her bustled dress, working the ingredients before a wood or coal fired stove.
Another respondent, Mrs. George Webster, says that she has "Kinsley's" recipe for Corned Beef Hash. Charles Kinsley was the leading caterer and restaurateur in Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century Chicago -- more about him another time. And here in another packet is a recipe on a letterhead bearing this imprimatur "Kinsley, a Chicago and Hillard House, New York City, founded in 1865," for none other than Corned Beef Hash. It reads: "1 lb. boiled corned beef, 3/4 lb. boiled potatoes, small dice, some white pepper, a little Worcestershire sauce, and some soup stock or Bouillon," all to be mixed together and cooked in a skillet until the stock has been absorbed. Meanwhile, Carter Harrison in 1949 remembers Kinsley well, "a fine old gentleman" who was keen on the quality of his food. Yes, another time, if not place, and a different culinary era. Or was it?
I don't know if this book ever saw print. The Chicago Tribune does not have a copy, nor does any other library or antiquarian book place I have asked. If any of our members know about this, please let me know. This would have been a marvelous piece of Chicago social and culinary history. Certainly Ms. Clark's papers are.
It is easy to forget the kindnesses people do, harder to forget the wrongs. This is about some of the generous people who have made the Culinary Historians of Chicago work as an organization. There are many, but some deserve special mention. Most of the food that is served at our meetings, and everything that goes into styling it, and setting it up has long been the work of Dawn McGlone, Barbara Olson, Sher Blair and Joan Wainovich. Despite having busy lives in the real world, they have worked diligently and without fail to provide delightful examples of the topics being discussed. It's edible history and I can't think of a meeting without having these refections. Members will recall the talk given by Jan Thompson on POWs in Japanese prisoner of war camps in the Philippines. The dishes served came from actual recipes books done by the starving men, and the setting created for them were splendid. Nothing could have told the story better -- and so Jan reminds me, often.
Many others have and continue to make CHC go. Scott Warner is our witty Program Chair and Don Newcomb, the flower doyen, is Vice President and President of our sister organization, ChicaGourmets. Catherine Lambrecht, our resident mushroom expert, has taken over our internet mailings and runs books sales and more, while Cecile Margulies is our official archivist and does our snail mailing, as she has almost from the beginning. Special thanks must go to Susan Ridgeway, Amy Ridgeway and Wanda Bain. Our Treasurer, Susan, has made CHC financially stable, Amy has done wonderful creative things for our events, brochures and more, and Wanda is our marketing and publicity guru. As my old Dad used to say, fixing me with guilt-invoking look, sometimes you don't know who your real friends are. But, sometimes you do. And if I have forgotten to mention a name, please do not take offence at some failing Caesar.
Bruce Kraig, Carbondale, Illinois
September 30
Send all materials for the newsletter to:
Whenever anyone asks about what I taught and what my training at university was, I always say, history and archaeology. The latter usually draws great interest as opposed to the first discipline, which evokes milder responses -- alright, often yawns. The reason for this general attitude is our popular culture. Books, magazines, movies, and many television programs have made archaeology glamorous: Indiana Jones has lots of ancestors and heirs (even though he is more a looter than a scholar). When I say that most archaeological work is anything but glamorous, mainly meticulous scraping in muddy-to-dusty trenches, drawing, and photographing with few finds of "precious" objects, most respondents nod their heads. But they know better. When I say that historical research, that is, written materials, in musty archives might be more interesting, the listeners don't even nod. Well, here's an example of my argument for us culinary historians.
Nancy Ross Ryan
2970 N. Lake Shore Drive, #8C
Chicago, IL 60657
773-883-1575; fax 1510
e-mail: nrryan@xsite.net by the date listed.