Northern History: Cooking by the Book in New England

Stavely and Fitzgerald's Book Cover

Think cookbooks are a new craze?  They've actually been around since antiquity and became widely popular in the 17th century in the United States. Yesterday, during a lecture for The Culinary Historians of Washington Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald shared their impressive and extensive research with our audience. 

Here are a couple of surprising facts that I learned:

• A 1739 cookbook entitled The Compleat Housewife (it was really spelled that way) offered recipes prepared in the traditional French manner, but also criticized the French kitchen for being too luxurious. This created an American trend of making French style food more accessible for the masses.
• It was in 1760 that separate rooms specifically for dining (dining rooms) became popular in the US.
• English cooking was popular in America even after the Revolution when new American styles were also introduced.

Biscoitos de Mel, Portuguese Molasses Cookies

At each CHoW meeting, members bring a dish to complement the speaker's topic.  I made Biscoitos de Mel, Portuguese Molasses Cookies from David Leite's The New Portuguese Table as a nod to New England's Portuguese community. The cookies were a major hit with family, friends, and the historians!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

pinch of ground fennel

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup dark molasses

3/4 cup walnut haves and/or whole blanched almonds

Preparation:

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and crank up the heat to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Beat in the egg until incorporated, then pour in the molasses. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.

4. Roll generous tablespoons of the dough between your palms and place them 1 1/2 inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Press a walnut half or almond into each one. Bake until browned around the edges and dry on top. About 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

If you are interested in culinary history and find yourself in the DC area, please consider attending one of the CHoW meetings, they are a lot of fun and free to the public. Here is our 2012 calendar - note that I am the May speaker!