August 5-11, 2004

food

offthemenu

by Juliet Fletcher

On the issue of flavorings, it sometimes feels the nation is split into two groups: People who think that the availability of four flavors of Coke is plainly a good thing, and those who are starting to re-examine the sources of our flavorful foods.

This week, there'll be a chance to explore some familiar flavors in their earlier incarnations. Historic Cold Spring Village, in Cape May, teams up with experts in foods of the 18th and 19th centuries to provide a window on how people used to use ingredients such as herbs and spices.

The event allows visitors to do more than observe: Everyone will come away with about eight original recipes that can be prepared at home (technically, at least). These recipes are derived from the book by Lydia Maria Childs, The American Frugal Housewife, published in 1833.

Delving into those recipes, there's much to be learned. While there's a great variety of desserts listed, on inspection you find they all are compared to one another: So a cherry dumpling recipe begins by saying, "Make a paste about as rich as you make shortcake." There's also an indication that cooks had a number of tricks for running a sophisticated kitchen, even using a basic brick oven. While the heat from the fire is hardly adaptable, Childs' recipe for a delicate sponge cake made with rose water specifies that "20 minutes is about long enough to bake. [The cake is] not to be put in till some other articles have taken off the first few minutes of furious heat."

Above all, the lesson of not just the book but of Cold Spring Village is one of self-sustained farming and cooking. Frugality, praised in the book's title, was more than a hobby; it was a constant concern and the mark of a smart cook. For example, cupcakes are described as being "about as good as pound cake, and […] cheaper." And of raspberry shrub, a sort of punch made with wild berries, Childs says "it is good economy to make it answer instead of Port and Catalonia wine."

Elsewhere that day, pineapple tin punch will be brewed, gingerbread will be baked at the Spicer Leaming House, and Liz Miler will take you through the herb and kitchen garden, teaching how to identify different plants. And, completing Childs' lesson of how to use what you've got, the kitchen will make room for Joe Colanero, author of the book, Down Jersey Cooking, who'll demonstrate some traditional local dishes of today.

Foodways and Fables Weekend, Sat.-Sun., Aug. 7-8, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Joe Colanero demonstration, Sat., Aug. 7, 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and Sun., Aug. 8, noon and 2 p.m.; $5-$7, Historic Cold Spring Village, 720 Route 9, Cape May, N.J., 609-898-2300 .