Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | February 12, 2012

Historic Cookbooks with Barbara Ketcham Wheaton

 

Barbara Ketcham Wheaton and Myself

  This past Thursday, February 9th, 2012, I had the honor of participating in an abbreviated version of Barbara Ketcham Wheaton’s Reading Historic Cookbook’s:  A Structured Approach.  Barbara’s typical seminar on this topic is 5 days and 16 participants in Thursday’s workshop had a taste of reading and studying original receipt (recipe) books under Barbara’s experienced guidance for 5 1/2 hours.  The time flew as four groups read sections of receipt books, examined them for specific criteria, and discussed our findings.  Twelve receipt books were examined that afternoon ranging from the 17th to 19th century.

Barbara has been researching culinary history for 50 years and is honorary curator of the culinary collection in the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
Visit my website at:  www.hearttohearthcookery.com
My next hearth cooking class is March 17, 2012 at Bolton Mansion.

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Posted in books, culinary history, food history, receipts | Tags: , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | February 9, 2012

And these are Nibs

Nibs are on the Metate

 After roasting raw, fermented cacao beans to the flavor of chocolate, the outside hulls are removed and the remaining roasted bean is now called a nib.  In the picture, both in the ceramic with the date 1699 that I am holding and on the granite metate, are nibs ready to be rolled into chocolate liquor on the heated metate.

Visit my website at:
www.hearttohearthcookery.com
My next hearth cooking class is at Bolton Mansion March 17th, 2012.

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Posted in Beverages, chocolate, culinary history, food history, metate | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | February 6, 2012

Pour it a Score of Times

Frothing Chocolate

Just like the Aztec woman depicted in a late 16th century Codex Tudela, I am pouring chocolate to raise foam.  The froth was an important part of partaking of the chocolate beverage.  As a 1685 receipt (recipe) for chocolate states:  Then take the pot from the fire and work it well with your little Mill, if you don’t have a mill, pour it a score of times from one pot to another, but this is not as good.   I am in disagreement with the author of the receipt as I have made the beverage scores of times and it froths better and faster by pouring it from one pot to another.

Visit my website at:   www.hearttohearthcookery.com

If your site or organization qualifies for Pennsylvania Humanities Council Presentations you might want to check out my new presentation for 2012-2012 Chocolate: The Pennsylvania Connection

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Posted in 17th century foodways, Beverages, chocolate, chocolate lectures, culinary history, food history, receipts, Speaker topics | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | February 4, 2012

Grinding Cacao Nibs

Grinding Cacao Nibs

 Today was my annual Chocolate Workshop at the Johnson Ferry House.  In the picture, I am demonstrating the technique to the class and  have just placed chocolate nibs on a heated lava metate to be ground and rolled into chocolate liquor.

Visit my website at:
www.hearttohearthcookery.com
My next hearth cooking class will be March 17th, 2012

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | February 3, 2012

Pre-Blog Bite: After the Baking-Drying

Bake Oven Dried Apples

  After firing a bake oven, whenever possible, I use drying racks to take advantage of the slack oven for drying foods.  Bake oven racks are made so each of the three sections fit through the oven door and slide in place to cover the floor of the oven.  It never ceases to amaze me when I open the oven door the next morning to see all the food perfectly dried.

Visit my website at: www.hearttohearthcookery.com
My next hearth cooking class will be March 17, 2012 at Bolton Mansion.  See the “Current Classes” tab for more information.

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Posted in apples, Bake oven, Bolton Mansion, culinary history, drying, food, Hearth cooking classes | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | January 30, 2012

Pre-Blog Bite: What’s in the oven-brown paper??

Bread, great cakes, and ??

  After pulling the embers from the side-oven and determining the oven was a good baking temperature, the food for baking was placed in the oven with what required the highest heat in the back of the oven.  You can see the loaves of bread furthest in the oven, then the tin baking sheets with small tin cake hoops for “great cakes”.  Then the mystery brown paper “package” tied with string baking.

Visit my newly revised webpage at: www.hearttohearthcookery.com
My next worshop is on Chocolate-February 4th, 2012!

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Posted in 18th century foodways, Bake oven, Bread, Great cakes | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | January 27, 2012

Pre-Blog Bites: A Harrowing Task

Pulling coals from side bake oven

  I love cooking and baking with fire and there was nothing about a cooking fire that was of a concern to me until I fired a side-opened bake oven.  This was the first time that I was raking out embers from an oven with my back to the open flame!  I had to be very cautious and was limited in space between the live embers dropping in front of me and the fire behind.

Visit my newly up-dated website at: www.hearttohearthcookery.com
My next class is February 4, 2012 on Chocolate!

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | January 23, 2012

Pre-Blog Bites: Firing Side Bake Oven

 

Firing Side Bake Oven

The snow falling this weekend reminded me of my firing this side bake oven one winter when there was snow on the ground.  No one remembered the last time the oven had been fired.  Caution was used to heat the oven slowly.  In the picture, my bake oven rake is in back of the large crock holding the sponge for the bread prepared from barm the night before. And just part of one of my three drying racks appears in the lower right corner.

 

Visit my newly up-dated website at:  www.hearttohearthcookery.com

My next class is February 4th, 2012 on Chocolate!!!

 

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Posted in 18th century foodways, Bake oven, Bread, culinary history, food history | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | January 20, 2012

Pre-Blog Bite- And after Plucking…

 

The Rooster is Boyled

  After the rooster was plucked (see Plucking post),  a 17th century receipt (recipe) of William Rabisha was followed: Boyl your Chickens in water and salt, with a faggot of sweet herbs, and large Mace…  As you can see, it was a simple process to remove the bird from the kettle by its feet.

Visit my website at:  www.hearttohearthcookery.com
My next scheduled workshop is Chocolate!  February 4th, 2012

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Posted in 17th century foodways, culinary history, food, food history, receipts, recipes, Stewing | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | January 18, 2012

Pre-Blog Bite: Plucking

Plucking a Rooster

  This picture  of my plucking a rooster is over ten years old!  And what memories it brings back to me!  I have not kept count of how many chickens, roosters, turkeys, peacocks that I have plucked but it is many.  Fortunately, I did not have to do the “deed” but I would find the bird hanging on my “plucking rack” and still warm which is the best time to start plucking.  I would use the wet method of plucking to limit the tearing of the skin and allow visitors that “ah ha” moment of realizing that the birds packaged in the grocery store were living birds!  It is an awesome demonstration but for  some aspects I would place myself in an area where visitors had a choice of whether to view or not.  Roosters were frequently awaiting me as only one is needed for the hens.

Visit my website at:  www.hearttohearthcookery.com
The next scheduled workshop is on Chocolate! and will be February 4th 2012.

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Posted in culinary history, food, food history, Plucking, Rooster | Tags: , , , ,

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