| < Vegetables | |
TomatoesIn 1849, a writer in The Horticulturist observed, “Look at the tomato. Twenty years ago, a few curious amateurs cultivated a specimen or two for this plant in their gardens, as a vegetable curiosity; and the visitor was shown the ‘love apples’ as an extraordinary proof of the odd taste of the ‘French people,’ who outraged all natural appetites by eating such odious and repulsive smelling berries. And yet, at the present moment, the plant is grown in almost every garden from Boston to New Orleans; may be found in constant use for three months of the year in all parts of the country; and is cultivated by the acre by all our market gardeners. In fact, it is so popular, that it would be missed next to bread and potatoes.” Nothing grown in American gardens during the nineteenth century underwent the transformation in esteem that the tomato did, going from horticultural specimen plant to a summer staple. Only potatoes stimulated as much kitchen creativity. Its history was well known, from its nativity in central America where the Nahua grew and ate it as the “tomati.” Introduced into Europe in the 1540s, seeds spread throughout Europe among humanist savants and aristocratic collectors of garden novelties. The herbanist John Gerard mentions its entry into England in the 1590s and opined that its taste tended toward the rancid. It first entered into European cookery in Italy where a taste for soups and sauces with tomato developed. The French began making tomato sauce in the seventeenth century, and fixed it in their books of cookery during the Enlightenment. The English were indifferent to the tomato, only using it as part of the hodge podge of vegetables composing soups. Pickled tomatoes break this indifference at the end of the 18th century. In Anglo-America, it remained a garden ornamental in New England and the Middle Colonies, only entering American cookery in the south. Spanish-French Louisiana was a stronghold of tomato use, and its employment in sauces, pickles, and stews became rather common in Virginia and the Carolinas during the 1820s. In the 1830s Dr. John Cook Bennett’s extravagant claims about the health benefits of the tomato inspired a national tomato craze as a health novelty. Once the taste for the vegetable had been established, there was no turning back. The tomato increased in popularity in the field and in the cookhouse. Seedsmen developed round, dwarf, pear-shaped, and cherry tomatoes, establishing a range of choices. When commercial nurseries and seed companies became national entities during the latter half of the 19th-century, signature varieties of tomato became important devices for establishing brand identity. Each season brought multitudes of new forms of tomato, many of which quickly passed into obscurity. No garden crop has as many heirloom varieties surviving in garden patches throughout the country. During the 1870s, the tomato became a greatly important greenhouse crop near northern cities, as demand for off-season tomatoes to use in sauces burgeoned. Turk’s Turban, Scarlet History This new tomato (as of 1880) is particularly early and prolific, producing rarely less than ten to fifteen fruits in a cluster. The fruit contain only a few seeds, is fleshy, small, excellent for preserving. Alpha Tomato History this new tomato (as of 1880) is roundish, solid, rich colored, very symmetrical, and does not crack when, after a rain, some other kinds show a decided weakness in that direction. Paragon Tomato History This new tomato (as of 1880) won first prize in its class four years consecutively at the annual exhibitions of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. It ripens perfectly around the stem and is the largest round tomato in cultivation; remarkably solid; bears transportation well. Canada Victor History This exceptionally early tomato introduced in 1874 is now cultivated prevalently among market gardeners; it’s large, generally symmetrical, heavy, full meated, and rich; between round and oval in shape, red. Triumph Tomato History a large sized, productive, solid sort, ripening well around the stem. Red Chief History a new variety (as of 1880); a cross between General Grant and Excelsior; thrifty and productive; fruit of good size and regular in shape; solid and with but few seeds; rather late. New Japanese Tomato History a new variety (as of 1880) sent out by an eminent German seed firm. Yellow Victor History a beautiful golden sort, resembling Canada Victor in earliness and shape. Little Gem History a prolific variety and desirable for those who wish a small, nice tomato a little larger than the Plum Tomato. Conqueror History Resembling the Canada Victor but not as large, solid or always early. Livingston’s Acme History a purple variety. Livingston’s Perfection History introduced in 1881; combining most of the good qualities of the older varieties; large and solid, fine for canning. Powell’s History of good size, round, smooth, solid, and ripens well around the stem. Hubbard’s Curled Leaf History the earliest of all the Tomatoes; small to medium in size, some specimens irregular; plant dwarf in habit; the leaves curl as if drying up; fruit has a dark, rich color; stands shipment and ripens up better after picking than any other sort grown for general crop. Early Smooth Red History round, medium size, of fair quality, and productive. General Grant History a very superior, good sized Tomato, smooth, rather flat in form, of good quality and ripens rapidly and thoroughly. Hathaway’s Excelsior History early, medium to large, smooth as an apple; very solid, and of excellent quality in every way; apple-shaped, and when fully ripe has a dark, rich color. Trophy History very large, solid, of fair quality; too late, or it would be popular. Green Gage History a new (as of 1876) orange-colored Tomato; less than medium size, very good flavor. Persian History a very large, solid variety, of delicate flavor, and beautiful creamy yellow. Large Yellow History bright yellow, large. Pear-Shaped History fine for preserving and pickling. Plum-Shaped History Yellow, for preserving and pickling. Yellow and Red Cherry History for preserving or pickling Strawberry, or Winter Cherry History a distinct species; prized for preserving; fruit enveloped in a husk; has a pleasant sweet-acid, strawberry-like flavor; it may be flavored with lemon juice and preserved like plums. Feejee Island, (Lester’s Perfected) History fruit very large, light red or pinkish, very solid. Yellow Plum History a beautiful variety; used primarily for pickling. Red Currant History a very ornamental variety De Laye History excellent for growing in pots, as it requires no support. Rochester History a new variety (as of 1883) of the highest quality—a hybrid by F.H. Horsford, between Acme and Lester’s Perfected, from the same tomato as the Mayflower, but much larger than that and only 2 days later. Beautiful dark purplish-red color. Mayflower History introduced 1882-1883; solid, few seeds, fine flavor, bright red color. Acme History of the earliest and most popular; handsome; medium sized; dark purplish-red, few seeds, no core. Essex Early Hybrid History New (as of 1883); much like Acme, but larger and darker. Garfield History The largest of Tomatoes; solid flesh, but so wrinkled as to be almost worthless in comparison with the Rochester, which is nearly as large and quite smooth. Hundred Day History at the South, this seems to be the earliest sort, and is largely used for shipping north; bears small clusters of irregular shaped fruit of medium size, distinct bright scarlet vermilion color, flat, with broad shallow corrugations at the stem. Queen History a new sort (as of 1884); very popular at the east for canning; produces very large, solid, scarlet fruit; so firm that it will stand rough usage better than any other sort. To bake Tommatoes (American Domestic Cookery 1823) History Cut some tomatoes in two the broad way, put them upon a tin, with the part where there is rind downwards. Strew upon each a seasoning of pepper, salt, and sweet herbs chopped small. Set them into an oven till they are soft, and serve them up without any other sauce. To stuff Tomatoes (Practical Housekeeper 1857) History Take some fine tomatoes and scoop the inside out, which should be set aside until required. Chop or mince fine some beef, mutton, or other fresh under-done meat, mix with a little pepper, salt, and a little sweet herbs; or make a forcemeat, and mix wit the scoopings of the tomatoes; form into a good consistence, and stuff the inside of the vegetable with the mixture. Set the prepared vegetables in a dish with a little lard in a slow oven, and bake until tender; then serve with the liquor that exudes during the process; but if not brown enough, color by means of a salamander held over the top of each. A good rich beef gravy poured over all, improves the flavor very much. This is the best way to dress these vegetables, and serves also to make cold meat more palatable, in addition to forming a pretty and economical side dish. Fried Tomatoes (Southern Planter 1850) History Slice and fry in good sweet butter, or without if you prefer. Or take a piece of good pork, cut into small pieces, and add an onion, of a size proportionable to the family; cut up fine, fry these brown; put in the tomatoes, cover them up and fry till well done. This method is highly recommended, and many who cannot endure tomatoes prepared in any other way, admire them when fried thus. To Fry Tomatoes (Domestic Cookery 1859) History Slice them, season with pepper and salt, and fry in hot butter; if they are green, dip them in flour after being seasoned. Stewed Tomatoes (Southern Planter 1848) History Peel, slice and stew them slowly. When done season them—thicken a little with bits of bread or crackers, and put in a small lump of butter, and eat them as you would applesauce. When thus prepare, with good roast beef, green corn and lima beans, you’ll find them first rate. To Stew Tomatoes (Mrs. Hale’s New Book of Cookery 1852) History Take 10 large tomatoes—put them into a pan, and pour scalding water over them to remove the skins easily; peel them and cut out all the hard or unripe portion; then cut them through and take out the seeds. Boil an onion and mash it fine, add it to the tomatoes with pepper and salt to your taste, and a piece of butter as large as a hen’s egg. Put them on to stew in an earthen pipkin, and let them simmer 2 hours. A quarter of an hour before dinner is ready, add 4 or 5 table-spoonsful of grated bread, and let it all stew till ready to serve. The onion may be put in raw if cut fine, provided the tomatoes are stewed longer, which is desirable, and instead of bread, 2 table-spoonsful of flour might be mixed with a piece of butter as large as a turkey’s egg, and stirred in half an hour before dinner. To Fricassee Tomatoes (Domestic Cookery 1859) History Wash and cut them in two, if large; if small, leave them whole, but do not peel them or they go too much to pieces; have a broad speeder or stove-pan; put in a half spoonful of butter; season the tomatoes with pepper and salt, and flour them; cover them with a plate; they will cook in ten minutes, stirring them once; pour in half a tea-cup of cream just as they are done; let them boil up and dish them while hot; this dish is much liked either for breakfast, dinner or tea. To Scollop Tomatos (Virginia Housewife 1838) History Peel off the skin from large, full, ripe tomatos—put a layer in the bottom of a deep dish, cover it well with bread grated fine; sprinkle on pepper and salt, and lay some bits of butter over t hem—put another layer of each, till the dish is full-let the top be covered with crumbs and butter—bake it a nice brown. Scallop of Tomatoes and Rice (Unrivalled Cook Book 1881) History Boil one pint of rice, and mix in it, while hot, one large spoonful of butter, and pepper and salt to taste; add one can of tomatoes and one teaspoonful of sugar; bake in a well-greased pan. Scallop of Tomatoes and Green Corn (Common Sense 1874) History Peel and cut in slices a quarter of an inch thick. Pack in a pudding-dish in alternate layers, with a force-meat made of green corn cut from the cob, and seasoned with some fat pork chopped very fine, a minced shallot, pepper, salt, and sugar. Let the top layer be tomatoes, butter and season, and sift grated bread-crumbs over it to brown and scallop. Bake covered half an hour; uncover and leave in the over as much longer. This time is for a large dishful. Broiled Tomatoes (Southern Planter 1850) History Select the largest, cut them in two and broil them over a moderate fire till done. Add a little butter, or salt and pepper, and you have an excellent dish. To Dry Tomatoes for Pies (Excelsior Cook Book 1870) History Take the skins off in the usual way, then slice thin and sprinkle sugar over them, then dry in an oven; soak a little while in cold water before using; add a little lemon. Tomato Sauce (Southern Planter 1848) History Slice a quantity of green tomatoes and onions in proportion of one-fourth. Put a layer of tomatoes in your preserving kettle and a layer of onions; sprinkle over them a few green peppers, sliced, with cinnamon, cloves, black pepper and any other spices; also a little salt and ground mustard. Repeat the process until the kettle is nearly full. Then fill with vinegar, put over a plate and let it boil, and when cool put in jars for use. Tomato Sauce (Southern Planter 1850) History Take ripe tomatoes, peel and stew them with apples for sauce, and season with salt and pepper. If a due quantity of water be added, no salt will be necessary. Sauce thus prepared is not too acid to be eaten with meat; but when otherways used, the flavor is rendered more agreeable to the palate of most people by adding a small quantity of fine sugar, honey or molasses. Chelee Sauce (Housekeeping in the Blue Grass 1881) History Twenty-four ripe tomatoes, eight onions, six peppers, eight coffee cups of vinegar, eight table-spoonfuls of sugar, eight tablespoonfuls of salt, one table-spoonful of cinnamon, one of allspice, one of nutmeg, one of cloves. Boil all together well, and seal while hot. Superior to tomato catsup. Tomato Mustard (Young Wife’s Cook Book) History Cut a peck of tomatoes in small pieces, and boil them till tender. Rub them through a sieve to extract the pulp which put on and boil until nearly dry. Then add one tablespoonful of Cayenne pepper, one tablespoonful of black pepper, one teaspoonful of cloves, two tablespoonfuls of mustard seed, and two tablespoonfuls of salt. Boil the hwole a few moments, and when cold bottle it and cork it tightly. If this should not be quite salt enough, a little more may be added before it is boiled the last time. Put a tablespoonful of sweet oil on the top of each bottle before it is corked to exclude the air. Tomato Catsup (American Economical Housekeeper 1845) History Take a gallon of skinned tomatoes, four table-spoonfuls of salt, four of black pepper, and three of mustard. Grind these articles fine, and simmer them slowly in sharp vinegar, in a pewter basin, three or four hours, and then strain it through a wire sieve, and bottle close. It may be used in two weeks, but improves much by age. Use enough vinegar to make half a gallon of liquor when the process is over. Tomato Catsup (Southern Planter 1848) History To one gallon skinned tomatoes put four table-spoonsful of salt, flour do. of black pepper, two of allspice, eight of mustard seed, and eight pods of red peppers. These be bruised fine and simmered slowly in a pint of vinegar three hours. Then strain them through a fine sieve, and stew down to half a gallon. Ripe Tomato Pickle (Tennessee Farmer 1837) History Take ripe tomatoes and pick them with a fork; put them into any kind of vessel; salt each layer thickly; let them remain in the salt about eight days, then put them in vinegar one night; take them out in the morning. To a peck of tomatoes and one bottle of mustard, half an ounce of cloves, half an ounce of pepper, and a dozen large onions sliced; pack them in a jar, by placing a layer of onions and spices between the layers of tomatoes. In ten days they will be in good eating order. The vinegar should be good, a nd scalding hot when put over them. German Pickled Tomatoes (Queen of the Kitchen 1874) History To 7 pounds of tomatoes, well ripened and nicely skinned, put 1 ounce of mace, and 1 of cloves. Put the tomatoes and spice in layers, in a jar; boil together 1 quart of vinegar, and 4 pounds of brown sugar; skim it, and pour it, while hot, over the tomatoes; let them stand until morning, or for 24 hours, and then pour all into the kettle, and let boil for 5 minutes. Indians Pickle (Southern Planter 1847) History Take green tomatoes and slice them. Put them in a basket to drain in layers, with salt scattered over them, say a tea cupful to each gallon. Next day slice one-quarter the quantity of onions, and lay the onions and tomatoes in alternate layers in a jar, with spices intervening. Then fill the jar with cold vinegar. Tomatoes pickled as they ripen, and just thrown into cold spiced vinegar, are a fine pickle, and made with very little trouble. Green Tomata Marmalade (Cook’s Own Book 1840) History Gather full-grown tomatas while quite green; take out the stems and stew them till soft; rub them through a sieve; put the pulp on the fire, seasoned highly with pepper, salt and powdered cloves; add some garlic, and stew all together till thick. It keeps well, and is excellent for seasoning gravies. To pickle Green Tomatoes (Southern Planter 1858) History Cut the Tomatoes in slices about ¼ of an inch thick, and to 16 lbs. of them add 7 pints of strong apple vinegar, 6 lbs. of brown sugar, ½ lb. of white mustard seed, a tea cup full of flour of mustard, 1 ½ lbs. of onions, cut up fine, ½ oz. of mace, 2 oz. of cinnamon, ¼ lb. of beaten black pepper, 1 oz. of allspice, ½ oz. of cloves, and 5 oz. of salt. All of the materials are to be put in a porcelain skillet, and boiled for an hour and a half. Green Tomato Crout (DeWitt’s Connecticut Cook Book 1871) History Pick the last green tomatoes before frost, and chop very fine with any desired quantity of green peppers, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. Pack in jars and set in a cool place until it sours, when it may be cooked like cabbage crout, or eaten raw. Tomato Hodge-Podge (The Orphan’s Friend 1845) History 2 qts of green tomatoes, 2 qts. Of green peppers, 2 qts. Of onions, 1 cup salt, 1 pint of mustard-seed. Cut all up fine, mix all well together, cut like mince-meat, then have a nice jar, and cover two inches thick, then strew salt and mustard-seed, then mince until through, set it away, and let it stand until it works a trifle, then put one quart of the best vinegar over. It is excellent with meats. Tomato Soy (Godey’s Lady’s Book Receipts 1870) History To one peck of green tomatoes, sliced thin, add one pint of salt; stand twenty-four hours, strain, and put on the fire with twelve raw onions, an ounce of black pepper, one ounce of all-spice, quarter of a pound of ground mustard, half a pound of white mustard seed, and a little Cayenne pepper. Cover with vinegar and boil till as thick as a jam, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, to prevent burning. Green Tomato Sweetmeats (Housekeeping in Old Virginia 1879) History Slice the tomatoes and soak them a day and night in salt and water, then in fresh water for an hour or two, then scald in alum water with grape leaves. When taken out of alum water, put in cold water to cook. Scald in ginger-tea and again put in cold water, while you make the syrup. To each pound Tomatoes put one and a quarter pounds of sugar and a few races of white ginger. Cook the tomatoes till clear, the syrup till thick. When coo, season the syrup with essence of lemon and pour over tomatoes. Tomatoes Instead of Cucumber (Southern Planter 1848) History Peel and slice them as you would cucumbers; season with plenty of salt, pepper and vinegar to your taste. A few slices of onions added will improve them very materially. A Spanish Method of Dressing Tomatoes at Table (Home Cookery 1853) History Scald and cool the tomatoes, slice them sprinkle over pepper, salt, and Cayenne, and cover them with the best of Madeira wine. Tomato Salad, with or Without Shrimp (La Cuisine Creole 1885) History Slice a dozen large tomatoes, slice with them three or four sweet peppers, then pepper and salt the tomatoes; lay slice of tomato and a little sweet pepper until the dish is full. Pour over all a dressing of oil, mustard and vinegar. A pint of shelled shrimp is a gret improvement to this salad, but it is good without. To Preserve Tomatoes (Southern Planter 1844) History Dip the ripe tomatoes in scalding water, peel them, and divide them into two, or if very thick through, three slices, lay them on plates and put them into the oven after the bread is drawn; if a good over, by the time it is cook, or in forty-eight hours, they will be perfectly dried; put them into paper bags and keep them in a dry place; when wanted for use, dip them into cold water and lay them on a dish to swell, and in a mince or stew, they are almost equal to the fresh fruit. If you wish to make tomato sauce, add a little water to cook them in. They are very good to eat out of hand in the dry state. Preserved Green Tomatoes (American Economical Housekeeper 1845) History Take them when quite small and green, put them in cold clarified sirup with an orange, simmer gently over a slow fire two or three hours. Equal weight of sugar and tomatoes, and more than water enough to cover the tomatoes used for the sirup; boiled down quite thick. Tomato Figs (Southern Planter 1848) History Take six pounds of sugar to one peck, or sixteen pounds of fruit. Scald and remove the skin in the usual way. Cook them over a slow fire, their own juice being sufficient without the addition of water, until the sugar penetrates, and they are clarified. They are then to be taken out, spread in dishes, flattened and dried in the sun. A small quantity of the syrup should be occasionally sprinkled over them while drying; after which pack them down in boxes, treating each layer with powdered sugar. Boil he remainder of the syrup and bottle it for use. They will keep from year to year, and retain a nice flavor. The pear shaped, or single smooth tomatoes, answers the best purpose. Tomato Jelly (Southern Planter 1850) History Having divested tomatoes of the rinds, squeeze them through a fine cloth, add to the mass its weight of dry sugar; boil to jelly and bottle it closely.—It should be kept in a cool, but not freezing place. Jelly prepared in this manner, will retain its flavor unimpaired for a long time. It is an excellent article. Husk Tomato Pie (Valley Farmer 1858) History Line the sides of a deep plate with pastry, slice the tomatoes thin, add sugar, a little butter, some pounded cloves and nutmeg, add half a cup of water, and a little brandy. A little flour makes the syrup richer. Cover the whole with pastry, leaving an opening in t he center to let the steam escape. Green Tomato Pie (Illinois Cook Book 1881) History Select nice, smooth tomatoes, pare them very thin, slice them into a pie-dish lined with puff paste. Put half a cup of sugar and a few bits of butter to a pie and sift on a little flour. Use sliced lemon, lemon extract or nutmeg for flavoring. Put on the upper crust carefully, so that the juice will not in baking. Tomata Soup (Cook’s Own Book 1840) History Wash, scrape, and cut small the red part of three large carrots, three heads of celery, four large onions, and two large turnips, put them into a saucepan, with a table-spoonful of butter, and half a pound of lean new ham; let them stew very gently for an hour, then add three quarts of brown gravy soup, and some whole black pepper, with eight or ten ripe tomatas; let it boil and hour and a half, and pulp it through a sieve; serve it with friend bread cut in dices. Tomato Soup (Housekeeping in Old Virginia 1879) History Take one quart ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped up, or a three-pound can of same, put in an earthenware baking dish with 1 pint grated corn (or, if in winter, dried corn prepared as if for the tble), and add—1 teacup sugar, 1 teacup grated craker, 1 teacup butter, 1 teaspoonful black pepper, 2 teaspoonfuls salt. Set this in a hot oven with a tin plate over it to prevent browning. Have ready, in a porcelain kettle or pan, two quarts new milk boiling hot. When the tomatoes and corn are thoroughly done, stir in one large Irish potato mashed smooth, a little minced onion and parsley, and pour into the boiling milk and serve. Tomato Syrup (Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book 1846) History Express the juice of ripe tomatoes, and put a pound of sugar to each quart of the juice, put it in bottles, and set it aside. In a few weeks it will have the appearance and flavor of pure wine of the best kind, and mixed with water is a delightful beverage for the sick. No alcohol is needed to preserve it. The medical properties of the tomato are in high repute, and it is supposed that this syrup retains all that is contained in the fruit. Tomato Sweetbreads (Lady’s Receipt Book 1847) History Cut up a quarter of a peck (or more) of fine ripe tomatoes; set them over the fire, and let t hem stew with nothing but their own juice till they go entirely to pieces. Then press them through a sieve, to clear the liquid from the seeds and skins. Have ready four or five sweetbreads that have been trimmed nicely, cleared from the gristle, and laid open to soak in warm water. Put them into a stew-pan with the tomato-juice, seasoned with a little salt and cayenne. Add two or three table-spoonfuls of butter rolled in flour. Set the sauce-pan over the fire, and stew the sweetbreads in the tomato-juice till they are thoroughly done. A few minutes before you take them off, stir in two beaten yolks of eggs. Serve up the sweetbreads in a deep dish, with tomato poured over them. Tomato Omelet (Mrs. Putnam’s Receipt Book 1850) History Beat up six eggs, mix two table-spoonsful of flour in a little water, and add some salt and pepper. Peal and chop very fine four tomatoes; stir this all together. Put a bit of butter half the size of an egg into a frying-pan, heat it hot, turn in the mixture, stirring it all the time until begins to thicken. Then let it stand to brown three minutes, lap it half over, slip it on to a dish and send it to the table very hot. A Spanish Dish (Mrs. Hale’s New Book of Cookery 1852) History Peel the skins from ripe tomatoes; put them in a pan with a table-spoonful of melted butter, some pepper, salt, and an onion chopped fine. Shred cold meat or fowl; add it to the tomatoes, and fry it sufficiently. Tomato Corn Cakes (Southern Farm and Home 1870) History Take a dozen ears of green corn; grate off the kernels fine; scald a dozen medium-sized tomatoes and remove the skins; beat three eggs well, and mix the whole with a pint of milk, and flour enough to make a batter; add salt, pepper, and allspice to taste. Fry on a griddle, avoiding excess of grease. Tomato Chicken (Lady’s Receipt Book 1847) History Take four small chickens or two large ones, and cut them up as for carving. Ut them into a stew-pan, with one or two large slices of cold boiled ham cut into little bits; eight or ten large tomatoes; an onion sliced; a bunch of pot-herbs, (cut up;) a large green pepper, (the seeds and veins first extracted;) half a dozen blades of mace; a table-spoonful of lard, or of fresh butter rolled in flour; and two pounded crackers, or a handful of grated bread-crumbs. Add a tumbler or half a pint of water. Cover the sauce-pan closely with a cloth beneath the lid; set it on hot coals, or over a moderate fire; and let it stew slowly till the chickens are thoroughly done, and the tomatoes entirely dissolved. Turn it out into a deep dish. Rabbits may be stewed in this manner. Also, veal steaks, cut thin and small. Tomato Fricandeau (Young Wife’s Cook Book 1870) History Get some slices of veal cutlets, pound and wash them, season them with pepper and salt, and fry them slowly till they are done. They should be of a light brown on both sides. Stew some tomatoes very dry, strain them through a sieve to get out all the seeds, pour the pulp into the gravy after the meat has been taken out, ad thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour. Pour this over the meat and serve it hot. Tomato Stew (Cookery as it Should Be 1856) History Take eight pounds of the plate of beef, put it on to boil in a gallon water, with a dozen of tomatoes, the same of okras, six potatoes cut small, two carrots cut lengthwise, two onions; season it to your taste with pepper and salt; let it stew slowy four hours; ski all the fat off the gravy, and garnish the meat with the potatoes and carrots. Rice and Tomatoes (50 Years in a Maryland Kitchen 1881) History Wash a cupful of rice, and put in on the fire with sufficient water to boil it. Add to it a spoonful of salt, seven or eight large tomatoes cut fine, two onions chopped, a table-spoonful of butter, and two green peppers cut round, the seeds having first been taken out, or it would be too hot. Boil all together, until the rice is well cooked and almost dry. A spring chicken, cut in small pieces and boiled with the above, is very nice. Fish with Tomatoes (Queen of the Kitchen 1874) History Cut the fish in pieces; fry it in boiling lard, a light brown, having first rolled the fish in cornmeal. When done, set it to one side, where it will keep warm, and put some tomatoes in the skillet with a little onion, and stir them until they are done; then pour over them a little boiling water. Season with pepper and sal; pour over the fish, and serve hot. |
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| < Vegetables | |
TomatoesIn 1849, a writer in The Horticulturist observed, “Look at the tomato. Twenty years ago, a few curious amateurs cultivated a specimen or two for this plant in their gardens, as a vegetable curiosity; and the visitor was shown the ‘love apples’ as an extraordinary proof of the odd taste of the ‘French people,’ who outraged all natural appetites by eating such odious and repulsive smelling berries. And yet, at the present moment, the plant is grown in almost every garden from Boston to New Orleans; may be found in constant use for three months of the year in all parts of the country; and is cultivated by the acre by all our market gardeners. In fact, it is so popular, that it would be missed next to bread and potatoes.” Nothing grown in American gardens during the nineteenth century underwent the transformation in esteem that the tomato did, going from horticultural specimen plant to a summer staple. Only potatoes stimulated as much kitchen creativity. Its history was well known, from its nativity in central America where the Nahua grew and ate it as the “tomati.” Introduced into Europe in the 1540s, seeds spread throughout Europe among humanist savants and aristocratic collectors of garden novelties. The herbanist John Gerard mentions its entry into England in the 1590s and opined that its taste tended toward the rancid. It first entered into European cookery in Italy where a taste for soups and sauces with tomato developed. The French began making tomato sauce in the seventeenth century, and fixed it in their books of cookery during the Enlightenment. The English were indifferent to the tomato, only using it as part of the hodge podge of vegetables composing soups. Pickled tomatoes break this indifference at the end of the 18th century. In Anglo-America, it remained a garden ornamental in New England and the Middle Colonies, only entering American cookery in the south. Spanish-French Louisiana was a stronghold of tomato use, and its employment in sauces, pickles, and stews became rather common in Virginia and the Carolinas during the 1820s. In the 1830s Dr. John Cook Bennett’s extravagant claims about the health benefits of the tomato inspired a national tomato craze as a health novelty. Once the taste for the vegetable had been established, there was no turning back. The tomato increased in popularity in the field and in the cookhouse. Seedsmen developed round, dwarf, pear-shaped, and cherry tomatoes, establishing a range of choices. When commercial nurseries and seed companies became national entities during the latter half of the 19th-century, signature varieties of tomato became important devices for establishing brand identity. Each season brought multitudes of new forms of tomato, many of which quickly passed into obscurity. No garden crop has as many heirloom varieties surviving in garden patches throughout the country. During the 1870s, the tomato became a greatly important greenhouse crop near northern cities, as demand for off-season tomatoes to use in sauces burgeoned. |
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