#foodways

The Still Room Blog

A Maryland Breakfast: Fried Red Tomatoes in Cream Gravy

Becky Fifield

Apr 5, 2013
1 min

A Maryland Breakfast: Fried Red Tomatoes in Cream Gravy

I recently visited my great uncle, Uncle B, in Arizona. Having left our ancestral seat for a life of western adventure in 1947, we don’t have all that much in common. However, as conversations meander in and out of the present and past, interesting cultural gems emerge, such as foodways, stories of prize winnings at The Graw racetrack in Havre de Grace, and hard work. While the 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes brought that dish roaring back to the table, I have yet to see my fa

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Becky Fifield

Nov 23, 2012
2 min

Caraway.

Caraway and Salt Flatbreads from Agata & Valentina, NYC. RL Fifield 2012. Caraway. It’s lyrical. It’s herbal, savory, and astringent. My French friends confuse it for a cumin seed. It evokes strong feelings of admiration or disgust, depending on whose palate is assessing it. And it’s one of my favorite flavorings. When I was a child, caraway appeared solely in rye bread and in sauerkraut on Thanksgiving (yes, Marylanders include sauerkraut on their Thanksgiving table, and I

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Becky Fifield

Nov 17, 2012
2 min

Cleveland’s West Side Market

My brother Mr. F is Cleveland’s Man about Town. During my May visit, he toured me around a number of sites and neighborhoods, including Shaker Square, downtown, Detroit Seaway, and Cleveland’s West Side Market. West Side Market. RL Fifield 2012. I knew zip about Cleveland, beyond its being the butt of many jokes – most of these, I found out, are told by people from Ohio. Sure, Cleveland suffered the same blight that most cities have suffered over the last 60 years of anti-urb

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Becky Fifield

Oct 13, 2012
1 min

Farewell Tomatoes

Last weekend, I pushed it. I bought two tomatoes at the local farmer’s market on 67th street. New York state tomatoes are okay (they aren’t tidewater Maryland tomatoes, alas), and I thought I’d have just one more shot at a tomato sandwich. But the cold must have gotten to them: they were mealy inside, just like I’d bought Florida fresh market tomatoes at the supermarket in January (which I don’t do). It’s like eating pink styrofoam. When the weather settles into the cool, the

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Becky Fifield

Oct 5, 2012
1 min

Pigeon Pie.

We have some pigeons who decided to make a nest on our window sill. I found them too late – when I knocked on the window to get the hen to move on, I realized she’d already laid her eggs. Photo: Depositphotos. From The Art of Cookery by Hannah Glasse, 1747. To make a Pigeon Pie. Make a puff-paste crust, cover your dish, let your pigeons be very nicely picked and cleaned, season them with pepper and salt, and put a good piece of fine fresh butter, with pepper and salt, in thei

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Arts and Crafts Hors d’Oeurves – Meta Givens’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking

Becky Fifield

Sep 14, 2012
2 min

Arts and Crafts Hors d’Oeurves – Meta Givens’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking

Get a sharp knife, some scissors, and good luck. I remember the first time I opened Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeuvres Handbook. I laughed out loud – it was a guide to preciousness and I found the intricate directions hilarious. But the photography was so appealing, the geometry so beautiful. I can see the attraction. Within Meta Givens’s instructions for hors d’oeuvres in her Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking (1947, 1959 ed.) I can see this practice take root. Be an instant succe

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Becky Fifield

Sep 12, 2012
2 min

What I Ate: Germany

It’s not all sauerbraten and rouladen. I was pleasantly surprised by incredible salads, grilled fish, and lots of mushrooms while in Germany. Not everybody’s idea of breakfast. German hotel breakfast offering. Photo credit: www.foodondrunk.com. Let’s start with breakfast. I love European hotel breakfast (most of them). Most decent hotels have a pretty good spread at breakfast, and in Germany, that means aufschnitt – that would be lunchmeat and sausage to Americans. I love it.

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Becky Fifield

Aug 31, 2012
1 min

Having Dinner with Robert Jocelyn

I’ll have the Scollop of Oysters, hartychokes, cold lobster, and olive pudding! Winterthur has in their collections the Dinner Book of Robert Jocelyn, First Viscount of Jocelyn and one time Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The book includes drawings of his daily dinner table, indicating where the dishes of food were placed, and dates from 1740-1751. It’s an incredible document for anyone interested in dining history and eighteenth century foodways. Visit the interactive digital fe

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Liquor Shopping in 18th Century New York

Becky Fifield

Aug 3, 2012
1 min

Liquor Shopping in 18th Century New York

With all the cocktail goings-on currently, it’s worth a look back toward the 18th century processes being rediscovered and further riffed upon today. New York’s Vaux Hall Gardens were once located near Astor Place. New York Journal. March 9, 1775. American Antiquarian Society. America’s Historical Newspapers. I did find this recipe for Royal Usquebaugh at Historic Food.com. You must take Raisins stoned two Pounds, Figs sliced half a Pound, Cinnamon two Ounces and a half, Nutm

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Transportation Tuesday: Fred Harvey Is Your Host

Becky Fifield

Jul 24, 2012
1 min

Transportation Tuesday: Fred Harvey Is Your Host

Fred Harvey was a British immigrant that brought high standards for trackside eating halls alongside the Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad. Beginning in the 1870s, the Harvey family operated numerous restaurants and hotels along the railroad, culminating in several hotels along the south rim of the Grand Canyon, which still operate today. It also outlines the careers of many others, including interior designer Mary Colter, who was responsible for the interiors of many

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Museum Monday: Lunch Hour at the New York Public Library

Becky Fifield

Jul 23, 2012
2 min

Museum Monday: Lunch Hour at the New York Public Library

New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Photo: Wikipedia. My mother’s favorite meal of the day is lunch. Usually those with a bent towards a particular meal time choose breakfast, but for Mom, it’s lunch. So when my parents came up to visit for the day, we went to see Lunch Hour, a new exhibition at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street. Automat. Edward Hopper, 1927. Des Moines Art Center. The exhibition ex

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Becky Fifield

Jul 19, 2012
1 min

Devil’s in the Details – Deviled Eggs

Devilled eggs. A staple at my family’s picnics. A 1950s joke. A modern canvas for fine herbs and expensive vinegar. My family recipe is much more of the 1950s bent. Mayo, mustard, ketchup (just a little for tang, lest the yellow yolk filling turn orange) salt & pepper, and secret ingredient, sweet pickle juice. Forbidden City, 1943. What’s on the Menu? New York Public Library. Devilled or Deviled? Devilled eggs in 1901 aren’t restaurant food. A quick check of the What’s on th

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Becky Fifield

Jun 10, 2012
1 min

It’s Sunday – Make Whafles!

This eighteenth century spelling of waffles was too good not to share. From Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery (1747/1805): To Make Whafles One pound of sugar, one pound of flour, one pound of butter, half an ounce of cinnamon, one glass of rose water; make it in balls as big as a nutmeg, and put them in your whafle iron to bake. #TheArtofCookery #HannahGlasse #foodways #waffles #breakfast

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Becky Fifield

May 31, 2012
1 min

Asparagus – Time to Pickle

Photo: Box of Apples.com. Asparagus season is drawing to a close, depending where you live. If you’ve reached your limit of fresh asparagus, and can’t possibly make any more asparagus soup, try Hannah Glasse’s recipe for pickled asparagus. From The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (first published in 1747): Take the largest asparagus you can get, cut off the white ends, and wash the green ends in spring water, then put them in another clean water, and let them lie two or th

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Becky Fifield

Apr 21, 2012
3 min

Thoughts on the Winter Garden

Manhattan Tomato Harvest, 2011. I come from a gardening family, and at this time of year, I’m biding my time until garden season. My great grandfather was listed in the 1930 Census as “Superintendent” for an “Orchard Farm.” This was Mt. Pleasant Orchard on Chapel Road, which began in 1757 and was recently destroyed by development in 2001. It has a beautiful view of the Chesapeake Bay. My grandfather’s garden had more square feet than the Cape Cod house he built in 1947. Pulli

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Becky Fifield

Apr 21, 2012
3 min

Thoughts on the Winter Garden

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Becky Fifield

Mar 30, 2012
2 min

Peeling apples

Apples at the Union Square Greenmarket, courtesy of Dr. V. Saturday night, I had a little dough left over from the quiche I was preparing, and I used it to make a small pie for Dr. V and myself. We had picked up some apples from the Union Square Greenmarket, ones that were clinging onto last season due to the help of cold storage. As I began with my paring knife at the top of the apple, creating that long curly strip immortalized in the film Sleepless in Seattle, I remembered

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Becky Fifield

Mar 19, 2012
2 min

Welcome to The Still Room.

Barbara Fritchie Restaurant, Frederick MD, RL Fifield photo, 2009. Conjuring the appearance of a 17th or 18th century Still Room yields a beautiful bounty of preserved foods for the grimness of winter, as well titillating sweetmeats. Here, harvests of the better months are sugared and salted, turning them into something more robust and intense. Fruits suspended in sugar, candies, a good tonic for darkening hair, and many a stringent spiced pickle issued forth from the Still R

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