Culinary History Highlight: Event This Week!

What's Cookin' @ Special Collections?!

If you like this blog (which I KNOW you do), Special Collections at University Libraries has started a new Tumblr site that you'll LOVE:  What's Cookin' @ Special Collections?! 

This blog will feature some of the more unique and interesting items that are part of our Culinary History Collection--check it out today!!

Culinary History Highlight: Tailgating in 1899 Fashion

With the advent of the first game of the season (Go Hokies!), thoughts of football inevitably lead to thoughts of tailgating!  Finger foods, barbecue, beverages, and cornhole...is everyone ready?

If not, you may want to check out today's Culinary History Highlight, a manual for preparing what would sure have been consumed during an 1899 tailgate--Sandwiches, Salads, and Chafing-dish Dainties.  Written by Ms. Janet McKenzie Hill during the late nineteenth century, this book contains recipes and ideas for various vegetable salads, savory and sweet sandwiches, cheese confections, and even "dishes for the vegetarian."  

As usual, my favorite part of this book lies in the preface, where Ms. Hill writes that:

...since many women have become anxious to compete with men in any and every walk of life, they, too, are desirous of becoming adepts in tossing up an appetizing salad or in stirring a creamy rarebit...Care has been exercised to meet the actual needs of those who wish to cultivate a taste for light, wholesome dishes, or cater to the vagaries of the most capricious appetites.  

I thought that was a pretty apt description of preparing tailgating fare!  View the Addison record for more information, or go directly to the digitized version of this book.  

And good luck tomorrow in preparing your tailgating feast in order to "cater to the vagaries of the most capricious appetites!"

Culinary History Highlight: Cookery for Patriots

Although I'm a bit late in posting an Independence Day-related item, I felt that it had to be done, especially when I came across Practical American Cookery and Household Management.  One of the digitized items in our Culinary History Collection, this 1885 publication was written by Miss Juliet Corson, a cooking school leader in the late 1800s.  According to the book's preface, Miss Corson carries out a "long-cherished purpose" in publishing this book devoted to American cookery; apparently, her teaching often focused on the cuisine of Europe (particularly France), and the then-United States Commissioner of Education (Hon. John Eaton) suggested that she write a book proving "her assertion that genuine American cookery is both wholesome and palatable, and has lost none of the traditional excellence which characterized it in our grandmothers' days."

If that's not patriotic cookery, then I don't know what is!  The book includes tips and information about American household management, American etiquette, American ways of preparing nearly every type of food, and even suggestions for the "diets of invalids and children."

You can view the physical copy of this book in University Libraries Special Collections, but you can also read the entire book through our digital library:  http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/digital_books/pdf/TX715.C843_1885.pdf.

Enjoy, and Happy (late!) 4th of July!

Culinary History Highlight: Banana Pudding

Okay, so banana pudding isn't the title of our culinary history collection book that I'm highlighting today, but it is one of the defining features of this book!

With funds from the Peacock Harper Culinary Fund, VT Special Collections recently acquired the Kentucky Receipt Book, one of the first recipe books known to have a recipe for banana pudding!  According to WorldCat, VT is now one of only nine institutions to own a copy of this unique item.  As soon as the book is cataloged, it will be available to researchers in the Special Collections Reading Room.

However, you can also peruse a digitized copy of this book on Google Books!

Culinary History Highlight: The Queen of the Kitchen (1886)

Inspired by today's royal wedding events, this Culinary History Highlight features the 1886 volume The Queen of the Kitchen.  Girls, although we may never have the chance to become the Queen of England, we now have the resource to help us become Queen of the Kitchen!  Note that this book contains "over one thousand Southern recipes"--just the information we need to reign over a household ;)

My favorite part about this book is that it contains not only recipes for food, but also information about practical household tasks, such as making and using cement and furniture varnish:

I doubt we'll see the new Princess Catherine making cement or varnishing her furniture, but surely this information could help you become Queen of the Kitchen!  You can read the entirety of this book online, or visit University Libraries' Special Collections to read the hard copy of this culinary history treasure . 

Like this post?  Check out more Culinary History Highlights that have been featured on this blog!  

Happy National Registered Dietitian Day! A Culinary History Highlight.

I nearly forgot to wish you all a Happy National Registered Dietitian Day!  More information about the American Dietetic Association's National RD Day can be found here:  http://www.eatright.org/NNM/content.aspx?id=5189, but I wanted to make sure I mentioned it here, as well!

To celebrate National RD Day, I am highlighting an item from our Culinary History Collection, the 1886 A Manual of Dietetics, written by J. Milner Fothergill:

Note the quote on this page:  "What is one man's food is another man's poison." 

My favorite part in this item may be the preface, which proclaims that "the day of Dietetics has arrived!"  I imagine that the modern "day of Dietetics" is quite different from that of 1886, and encourage you all to drop by Special Collections to take a look at this jewel!  Of course, you can also view the entire book digitized, online:  http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/digital_books/pdf/RM218.5.F67_1886.pdf

And, once again, Happy National Registered Dietitian Day!  

Culinary History Highlight: A Presidents Day Treat!

Published in 1901 and "affectionately dedicated" to "the wives of our Presidents, those noble women who have graced the White House, and whose names and memories are dear to all Americans," The cabinet cook book:  Adapted from the White House cook book represents 440 pages of information on American food of all sorts. What better way to celebrate Presidents Day than to take a look at the recipes and food-related details that informed the Presidential wives of the 19th century.

Dedication page:  Click to enlarge and read

When I checked WorldCat, a union cataloging itemizing the collections of over 71,000 libraries internationally, I found that only one other library in the world seems to own this book; indeed, this item seems to be a true treasure of Virginia Tech's Culinary History Collection.

Even though the book itself may not be in the best condition (as you can see above), you can view the entire contents of this book--440 pages of recipes, illustrations, and even Presidential wives' portraits--online through our digitized Culinary History Collection:  http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/digital_books/pdf/TX715.G4818_1901.pdf

If you'd like to view it in person, you can always visit the University Libraries Special Collections, located on the first floor of Newman Library.  Happy Presidents Day!  

Culinary History Highlight: The Science of Nutrition (1896)

This culinary history highlight focuses on The Science of Nutrition:  Treatise Upon the Science of Nutrition, by Edward Atkinson, LL.D., Ph.D.  The entire book is digitized, and available here, thanks to University Libraries Special Collections, but let me give you some of the (sometimes amusing) highlights of this item:

• There is a note in the front matter from Dr. Atkinson thanking Andrew Carnegie, who apparently placed copies of this book in 3500 public libraries across the nation.  The note is dated November, 1895.  
• The author, Atwater, seems to have invented the Aladdin Oven, and describes in great detail how it can promote health and benefit the entire household.
• Coauthors Mary Abel and Maria Daniell offer instructions for using the Aladdin Oven, and a good number of recipes, including:  Beef, Oatmeal, and Tomato, Pigs' Feet a la Vinaigrette, and Daub, a creole dish.  
• Recommendations for entire dinners pull these recipes together.
• Authors also calculate nutritive values.

Be sure to check out this book for more nutrition information from the 1890s, either online or in our Special Collections (1st floor, Newman Library).  

Introducing: Culinary History Highlights

If you've been following this blog for awhile, then you know that posts generally fall into several rotating themes:  frequently asked reference questions, expert research tips, new books, library news, etc.  Well, during Spring 2011, I'll be introducing a few new themes.  Today, I am introducing Culinary History Highlights.


Special Collections at University Libraries possesses some amazing treasures including items from the American Civil War collection, the Appalachian Collection, the International Archive of Women in Architecture, and many more wonderful collections.  My favorite part of Special Collections, though, is the Culinary History Collection.  This collection includes nearly two centuries of historical information about the domestic sciences, including customs, eating behaviors, food choices and habits, social and economic history, and scientific and technological progress.  We have digitized quite a few books and images related to these topics, and, every once in awhile, I'll be highlighting one of those here!


For the first highlight, I am showing off our 1731 Book for Receipts.  

The "Book for Receipts" is a recipe book written in England in 1731. At least two owners added to this work (the names of owners remain unknown) because the handwriting changes in the last third of text. Some recipe contributors are named, such as: Lady Westmorland, Mrs. Catherine Sanderson, Mrs. Allston, Mrs. Gilbert, and Sr. Orlando Gees. Recipes focus largely on delicacies-not on staple meals-and home remedies. Categories of recipes include: pickles and preserves, cakes, biscuits, jellies, creams, and beverages (wines). One noteworthy example of a home remedy entitled "The famous American Receipt for the Rheumatism" appears in the volume and, according to the author, "is very famous in America; a Hundred Pounds have been given for the Receipt." Recipes also indicate the availability of foodstuff in the eighteenth century-as seen through the use of several pounds of good "Jamaican Sugar."


You can visit Special Collections, on the first floor of Newman Library, to look at this item in person, if you'd like.  The call number is:   Ms2008-024  Folder 1.  In fact, we invite you to do so!