Virginia T. Elverson - Revolutionary cooking : over 200 recipes inspired by colonial meals

DEDICATED TO
THE MEMORY OF

Miss Ima Hogg

COLLECTOR , SCHOLAR , TEACHER
PHILANTHROPIST , AND
DEAR FRIEND

Copyright 1975, 2013 by Virginia T. Elverson, Mary Ann McLanahan, and Betty T. Duson

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or info@skyhorsepublishing.com.

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-62636-416-5
eISBN: 978-1-62873-880-3

Chapter opening illustrations

Page 1 , IRON KETTLE ; page 3 , AMERICAN IRON CORN DRIVER ;

page 14 , HOE BLADE ( FOR HOE CAKES ); page 24 , PAUL

REVERE SILVER PORRINGER , 1795; page 79 , NORTH

CAROLINA SILVER SUGAR TONGS, SELPH & PYLE , 1780;

page 113 , AMELUNG CASE BOTTLES FOR SPIRITS , 1788;

page 129 , PAUL REVERE SILVER LADLE , 1795.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A cookbook such as Revolutionary Cooking is totally dependent upon the interest and generosity of the authors families and friends, for the rare, unpublished family journals which are quoted throughout the book; for the delicious recipes handed down from generation to generation in treasured notebooks; for the private, priceless decorative art collections which illustrate our text; for the endless hours which went into testing and tasting each recipe. For these and many other gracious gifts of time and effort we are indebted to: Miss Ima Hogg, who inspired the three of us with her love of Americana; Mrs. Joseph G. Thompson, who played put and take until our recipes pleased even her gourmet tastes; Mrs. Clare T. Spangler, Administrative Assistant at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, who typed our manuscript with never a complaint over changes and rewrites; Mrs. William C. Touret, Mrs. Justin S. Morrill, Mrs. Arthur D. Dyess, Jr., and Mrs. Douglas S. Craig, each of whom shared with us her own unique family journals and recipes. These heretofore unpublished insights into the early Colonial life of Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and New York, and the nineteenth-century customs of the plantation owners South, added a richness and depth to our text which was not duplicated in many published sources which we studied.

To the following friends who gave of their professional counsel or their culinary expertise, we are deeply grateful: Mr. David B. Warren, former Associate Director, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Mr. Barry Greenlaw, former Curator, The Bayou Bend Collection; Mr. Lonn Taylor, former Curator, Winedale Restoration; Mr. O. B. Dyer, Interior Supervisor, The Bayou Bend Collection; Mrs. Helen Duprey Bullock, formerly of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Mrs. Gail C. Beiden, former Assistant Curator, Winterthur; Mr. Paul H. Harris, formerly of the Henry Ford Museum; Mr. John A. Castellani, former Librarian, Mount Vernon, Virginia; special thanks to L. Proctor Thomas for his helpful legal advice; Mr. Wendell Garrett, former Editor and publisher of The Magazine ANTIQUES.

And to Mrs. John Mawhinney, Mrs. Raymond Risien, Mrs. William Broyles, Mrs. T. Allen Bynum, Mrs. Teckler Borgstedt, Mrs. Flora Jahnz, Mrs. Stanley Shipnes, Mrs. William T. Mendell, Mrs. Allen H. Carruth, Mrs. James W. Hargrove, Mrs. C. Brien Dillon, Mrs. George R. Brown, Mr. Cleto Hernandez, Mrs. C. P. Duson, Sr., Mrs. Donald Duson, Mrs. Adela Posadas, Mrs. William Wareing, Mrs. Albert M. Tomforde, the Dowager Countess of Radnor, O.B.E., and Mrs. Charles E. Richards, Jr., Mrs. George A. Peterson, Mrs. Thomas G. Tucker, Mrs. James C. Richdale, Mrs. M. L. Adams, Mrs. W. L. Edmundson, Mrs. I. C. Kerridge, Mrs. Pat Perini, Mrs. Robert Buckner, Mrs. Wilbur Moore.

Our illustrations are drawings of rare artifacts most graciously shown to us by the following public and private collectors: The Bayou Bend Collection; Winedale Restoration; Henkel Square Restoration; The Anson Jones House; Varner-Hogg Plantation; Mr. and Mrs. James Britton, Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Spurgeon K. Britt; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas D. Anderson; Mr. and Mrs. Robin Elverson; Dr. and Mrs. Lynn A. Bernard; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Gervais Bell; Mr. and Mrs. Fred T. Couper, Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Harris Masterson III; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jameson; Mr. and Mrs. C. Pharr Duson, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Strange; Mr. and Mrs. Peter G. Brooks; Mrs. Charles L. Bybee; Mrs. Doris Duckworth; Dr. and Mrs. John E. Martin; Mrs. Albert M. Tomforde; Mrs. Hazel Ledbetter; and Mr. and Mrs. George A. Butler.

Lastly, a warm Thank You to our families, who patiently tasted their way through these recipes that we might assure you of the culinary pleasures to be found within the pages of Revolutionary Cooking .

THE AUTHORS

It has been my great good fortune in life to see a number of my fondest dreams reach fruition. The success of these endeavors has rested very largely upon the loyal and enthusiastic help of many people. The Collection of American Decorative Arts at Bayou Bend is no exception. Begun by my brothers and myself in 1920, it now belongs to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the interested peoples of the world .

The three friends who have written this cookbook were among those who helped, in the very beginning, to document and study The Bayou Bend Collection, and present it to the public for the first time. They profess to owe much to me for their interest and their knowledge of this exciting period in our countrys growth. I am honored by their dedication and feel that I, in turn, owe much to them .

Their talents and their scholarship, as represented in A Cooking Legacy will take the true flavor of Americas illustrious past into many present-day homes, where such culinary pleasures may well have been a treasure heretofore unexplored. I know that each of you will enjoy, as I have, the fascinating facts and delicious recipes gathered in these pages .

TO THE NEW EDITION

This book, a true labor of love, was inspired by Miss Ima Hogg and her home, Bayou Bend. The home is now The Collection of American Decorative Arts at Bayou Bend, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston .

In the early 1960s, Miss Ima chose a few young friends to become the first docents to guide visitors through the collection. She always said she assembled and held this collection in trust for the public to enjoy and learn of our countrys exciting early growth .

In 1970, Virginia Thompson Elverson and I, now professionally trained docents, were asked by Miss Ima to give a lecture on Colonial eating and drinking habits to the newly formed docent organization. I wrote a pamphlet to accompany the lecture and Virginia displayed her extensive collection of early cooking tools. Excited by research, we then approached a third docent, a gifted artist, Betty Jo Tomforde Duson and we created the first edition of this book, which was called A Cooking Legacy .