Culinary History

Food and Travel On The Erie Canal Program Tuesday

October 25, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Closing out the Tuesday Talks portion of the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site’s NYS History Month programs, Amanda Massie and Valerie Balint will host “Converging on the Canal: the 19th Century Through Food.”

What people eat is closely related to where they live and their socio-economic standing. In this online program about food and travel on the Erie Canal, Massie and Balint will discuss how the canal shaped the way Americans ate in the 19th century. [Read more…] about Food and Travel On The Erie Canal Program Tuesday

Pot-Luck Suppers Of Yesteryear

October 8, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

Theologically, I identify as an ecumenical pot luck supper observer.

So, this historic pun caught my fancy.

“The all-absorbing question agitating the public mind at Sandy Hill is: ‘If a Roman Catholic roasts an Episcopalian’s turkey in a Methodist oven, what denomination will the turkey be?’” The Morning Star of Glens Falls asked on January 12th, 1884. “All the sages have given it up.” [Read more…] about Pot-Luck Suppers Of Yesteryear

An Age of Opulence In London and New York

August 25, 2020 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

In economic terms, the Western world made its fortune after the Industrial Revolution(s). Money became the deity of the age. But in the words of John Ruskin, “wise consumption is far more difficult than wise production.”

In the race for material prosperity, the idea of social purpose was lost or forgotten. By the beginning of the twentieth century, both in Europe and America, collective aimlessness deteriorated into vulgarities of excess. [Read more…] about An Age of Opulence In London and New York

When Eating Turtle Was All The Rage

June 14, 2020 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Before the mid-eighteenth century, turtles were largely untried as edibles in North America. For considerable time, the turtle was assumed to be poisonous. An infernal creature, a “resident of hell,” it should not be cultivated for food.

But attitudes changed. By the mid-nineteenth century, civic banquets would inevitably offer turtle on the menu. [Read more…] about When Eating Turtle Was All The Rage

Everyone Knows Elsie: A Short Borden Company History

December 25, 2019 by A. J. Schenkman 49 Comments

When you enter the hamlet of Wallkill, you are greeted by the happy face of the Borden Company’s mascot, Elsie the Cow. The company’s website states that this mascot dates to the 1930s.

Underneath Elsie is a sign stating that the Hamlet of Wallkill was the location the “Home Farm” of John G. Borden. Thus, many commonly believe that Borden Condensed Milk was in fact invented in the Hamlet of Wallkill; however, its origins can be traced to Burrville, Connecticut and Gail Borden, Jr. Actually, the business was not originally called Borden at all – that title would come later. [Read more…] about Everyone Knows Elsie: A Short Borden Company History

State Museum Hosting Taste NY Holiday Market

November 21, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Visitors will be able to shop at more than two dozen made-in-New York food and beverage vendors at the New York State Museum’s Taste NY Holiday Market, set for Sunday, December 8th from 11 am to 4:30 pm.

Vendors will offer samples and sales of chocolates; cheese; apple and maple products; hand-crafted beer, wine, spirits and cider; and other edible gifts. All participating vendors produce their products in New York State. There will also be a cooking demonstration, educational activities and a chocolate fountain station courtesy of We Do Fondue and Price Chopper/Market 32. Admission is free. [Read more…] about State Museum Hosting Taste NY Holiday Market

Jesse Williams’ Early Cheese Factory in Rome, NY

September 5, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Jesse Williams, a successful farmer and cheese maker in Rome, believed that farmers could maximize their profits by working together as cooperative dairies. He started a cheese factory in the n 1851 just north of Rome, NY and helped revolutionize the modern cheese industry locally and across the nation. [Read more…] about Jesse Williams’ Early Cheese Factory in Rome, NY

Jesse Williams’ Cheese Factory Revolutionized Modern Cheesemaking

May 2, 2019 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The Rome Historical Society is set to host museum educator Patrick Reynolds for a presentation about the start of the modern cheese industry on Wednesday, May 15th at 7 pm.

Just North of Rome, at the site of the current New York State Fish Hatchery, the modern cheese industry is said to have been born in 1851. Jesse Williams was a successful farmer and cheese maker but believed by working together as cooperative dairies, farmers could maximize their profits. This led him to start what is believed to be the first cheese factory in the United States, a move that revolutionized agriculture not only locally, but across the nation. [Read more…] about Jesse Williams’ Cheese Factory Revolutionized Modern Cheesemaking

NYC Mayor Havemayer: Sugar, Slavery and the Long Island Railroad

April 29, 2019 by Alan J. Singer 19 Comments

This year is the 185th anniversary of the founding of the Long Island Railroad. Despite service delays and fare increases it remains the spine of Long Island and the center of its transportation network. The LIRR serves over 300,000 passengers a week with about 90 million rides a year.

The origins of the LIRR, chartered by New York State in April 1834, have a little remembered dark side. Much of the railroads early funding came from profits from Caribbean sugar produced by enslaved African labor. The key link between the LIRR, sugar and slavery was William F. Havemeyer. [Read more…] about NYC Mayor Havemayer: Sugar, Slavery and the Long Island Railroad

Local Food & History Weekend At Southampton History Museum

March 4, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Southampton History Museum has announced THAWfest, a local food and history weekend, set or Saturday and Sunday, March 23-24, 2019.

As part of THAWfest, Amagansett Food Institute and the Southampton History Museum will co-host a hands-on workshop with Chef Jack Formica, who will focus on foods regionally available, with a particular emphasis on living/raw foods. [Read more…] about Local Food & History Weekend At Southampton History Museum