Let’s bake history! In this episode, we feature historical recipes from family culinary manuscripts dating to the mid-19th century. Join us as we try cream cakes, blackberry cordial, pickle lily, and tomato catsup. We share our experiences testing these recipes, explore the history behind them, and discuss how culinary manuscripts can offer insights into the tastes and foodways of specific households in North Carolina. Transcripts of these recipes— along with a few suggestions to simplify or modernize them—and links to the full culinary manuscripts are available on our blog.
Culinary Manuscripts Available on North Carolina Digital Collections
Transcripts
Cream cakes from the Polk Recipe Book Two, 1858. Lucy Williams Polk Papers. Private Collections. State Archives of North Carolina. Call no. PC.75.
To Make Cream Cake
A quart of cream; four eggs sifted flour sufficient
for a thick batter; a small teaspoonful of pearlash,*
a spoonful of salt; beat four eggs very light and stir
them by degrees (a little at a time) into a quart of
cream & gradually enough of sifted flour to make
a thick batter put in the salt; dissolve the pearlash
in as much vinegar as will cover it and stir it
in the mixture. Bake it in muffin rings send them
up hot split them open & butter them. Sour cream
is better than sweet. The pearlash will remove the
acidity & the batter will be improved in lightness.
*Baking soda serves as a modern substitute for pearl ash.
Catsup from the Polk Recipe Book Two, 1858. Lucy Williams Polk Papers. Private Collections. State Archives of North Carolina. Call no. PC.75.
A Recipe for Making Catsup
Take one Gallon of Skinned Tomatoes 4 table
spoonsfull of Salt 2 do* of Black pepper, a
Half do of Allspice 3 pods of Read pepper
3 tablespoonsfull of Mustard ground very fine
& Simmer’d slowly in sharp vinegar for 3
Or 4 hours in a puter basin, & then bottle
it close, those who like garlick after the
simmering is over and the ingredients cool
you may add 2 tablespoonfuls of the juice.
*Do (or ditto) refers to the unit of measure used with the previous ingredient.
Adaptations: Bell pepper may be substituted for the “read pepper” for a milder flavor. Minced garlic can be substituted for garlic juice.
Pickle lily from the Dodd Recipe Book, 1859. Lillian E. Dodd Collection. Private Collections. State Archives of North Carolina. Call no. PC.150.
To Make Pickle Lily
Scald some vinegar and season with
Salt, pepper, cloves, mace and allspice and
When highly seasoned and Cold, pour into
Jar. Drop into this vinegar as they ripen.
Small Cucumbers tender radish pods
Young beans and very small onions.
Cork close.
Adaptation: Use equal parts vinegar and water for a more balanced pickle.
Blackberry cordial from the Polk Recipe Book Two, 1858. Lucy Williams Polk Papers. Private Collections. State Archives of North Carolina. Call no. PC.75.
Blackberry Cordial
Gather your Blackberries & mash them up then
strain them through a sifter & put all the pulp
& seed out. Then to every quart put 1 pound of
Brown sugar stew it well together when dun
take three measures of syrup to 1 of Brandy then
bottle it. Put any kind of spice you like allspice
is generally used
Adaptation: For a clearer, less muddled cordial, simmer the blackberries and your desired spices for roughly 30 minutes to release the juices, then dissolve the sugar into the mixture and strain.
