Food History Articles and Links

[CeeCee]

On 4/5/2021 at 3:52 PM, curls said:

Very interesting @CeeCee! I’ll find the time to watch those videos. I vacationed in the Netherlands September 2019 and visited another bakery museum, the one in Hattem.  Very interesting museum. The lecture that day was about traditional shapes for special occasion breads. They were also making poffertijes in the attached cafe.  https://www.bakkerijmuseum.nl 

 

   

 

 

 

 

You beat me to it, both visiting and posting about it!😄 Hattem has been on our to do list for a while, because of the Hanseatic history, Anthony Piek Museum (he inspired Dutch theme park Efteling) and the bakery museum as well.

Did you enjoy your stay?

 

This is from an old Dutch tv show called Ontdek je plekje, discover your spot. Footage was shot during late '70's and or '80's. I haven't figured out those time stamps yet, but you can find Hattem from 19.00 minutes on and the bakery museum itself at 24:04. (Before that you get to see Harderwijk and Elburg, which are similar towns in the same area). Unfortunately they don't go in, so this is completely off topic.

 

I found some recent footage from this bakery museum. The baker in your pictures is quite funny and great with kids! He's practily doing up stand up, while teaching and he serves jokes for all ages. Unfortunately most of the material has been shot by enthousiastic amateurs.

 

 

This is a part from the bread figures demonstration. He explaines how to make a swan. This figure was used as a symbol for unity and loyalty, on wedding cakes but also as a wedding bread. Swans mate for a life time and two swans can make a heart symbol.

He then procedes to make a branch, which symbolizes fertility. You wished people a lot of kids, since the government and insurance wasn't available in those days. There's a lot of embellishment about his personal life and family dynamics. He gets nostalgic about his mothers hutspot (a historic dish in its own right) among other things.

 

Here's another part that continues after the wedding.

 

We're now heading to child birth and he explaines that in the eastern region of The Netherlands called Twente, a krentenwegge was brought when visiting a newborn. This is a raisin bread.

He's demonstrating a wikkelkind, which is inspired by the practice of swaddling babies. It is typical for the Veluwe region, where this museum is located. They give to new mothers to recuperate. Powdered anise is always included, as anise is linked to this period.

 

(Read more on anise and muisjes here.

 

The baker also uses the word wikkelbrood and in my area we have one too, but I guess that it is only folded and more like a stollen. It's a raison bread, stuffed with kaneelspijs. Spijs is a coarser almond paste (it should be, although the cheaper white bean can pop up too) 1:1 with regular granulated sugar and kaneel is cinnamon. Marsepein is less coarse and contains powdered sugar in 1:3 or 1:4. This information was brought to you by me and is not from the clip.)

 

We then move on to death. As this is usually not very festive, banket/sugary things were offlimit in the Veluwe during the mourning period. As white was the colour of mourning until in victorian times black took over, white bread was ordered at the bakery. Before hitting the oven, they used a salt water wash and called it a groevebrood. (In both English and Dutch grief means kind of the same thing, but groeve means quarry or grave) This is a braided bread, using four strands. He explains that during the rise it takes a certain shape referring tussen komen en gaan, literally coming and going.

Thus were the seasons of life, nature is up next.

 

To greet spring, he makes a regular bunny. Easter is next. This used to be breakfast and egg searching for the kids, but nowadays brunch is more common. He tells that as a baker, one of the first things you should be able to do, is making an easter bunny.

 

We're back at wedding customs from the Veluwe. The daughters parents paid for the wedding, the boys parents would give live stock. Some piglets, a calf or a goat, just to get them started. Then some personal stuff about roulade for christmas (and vegetarian girlfriend from one of his sons) and making surprise gifts (made from gold painted curly vermicelli) and poems for Sinterklaas. We miss some footage, but he made a pig.

 

Sinterklaas full steam ahead, this starts in november until it peaks on the 5th (Dutch) or 6th (Belgian) of december. This is a very traditional time for sweet products and bakers could show off many things. Things that we're only made in this period of even just once a year. He tells about a baker removing his the door to his bakery, so he can use it as a table top to spread out and show off everything.

Borstplaat (mentioned in my post above), fondant (a different sugary product, not the one applied to cake exteriors), marzipan, chocolate letters, taaitaai, speculaas both regular or stuffed with spijs, pepernoten. There's no other festive day that gets this many exclusive products. And now christmas is taking over, so less of these products get made.

 

He's making a kerstmanbrood, santa shaped bread. And killing any romantic thoughts about life as a baker. If you want to bake in that old oven of theirs, you need to get up three hours early to fire it up. You can't just throw in some wood, it needs skill to heat up evenly to 250 c degrees.

Delivery wasn't as easy as it is today. Unpaved roads that could turn to mud, clients living off road on their farms, etc. If you arrived at the last house and couldn't fulfil what was ordered on the spot, you would have to go back to the bakery and return to the customer when the product was ready. Yes, that means firing up that oven again. You had to, because there was a lot of competition in that region. 12 bakers for 7.000 people pre-war time. Nowadays they have 15.000 inhabitants and two dedicated bakers, who struggle against supermarket competition.

Making banket, the sweet stuff, was done while the oven temperature dropped. It wasn't a daily chore and something that was best sold on Fridays and Saturdays. As the salaries came in on those days, debts from during the week could be paid off. If in luck the left over money could be used to splurge on raisin bread or some cookies and such.

 

Then he tells about the 19th-century bakery next door and passing on knowledge from generation to generation. Knowledge you need to feel and experience from someone who has spent years honing his skill. And, if you're lucky, has written his routine down so you have a booklet to fall back on with the family recipes and perhaps the economics how to monetize it best.

 

 

In this clip from 2020 it turns out the baker is also the ceo. There is a new building for the museum, where he wants to show off kermisbakery. Kermis background in English, but also check out the the page in Limburger (this is the southern region bordering Germany and Belgian) dialect. It shows two pictures, one of a contemporary kermis in Maastricht and some of the regional specialty vlaai.

Oliebollen (a fried dough, also very much associated with new years eve) and waffles are part of kermisbaking.

 

Poffertjes (no i included, unless in South Africa I think) are also linked to kermis, although the poffertjeskramen can show up without kermis. One, if not the oldest, is in my region and open from March/April to September. It's sort of a family tradition for us. I have been taking pictures, which will show up in another post on this subject.

He has pictures on the wall of poffertjes makers. These were catholic families from the south, Brabant and Limburg, both Dutch and Belgian. In The Netherlands Brabant is officially Noord-Brabant, but everybody calls it Brabant. Belgium has a Flemish and a Walloon Brabant and a Limburg of its own.

The statues are patron saints of compassion, all holding a piece of bread or otherwise referring to grain. The middle one he points at first for the poor, the second for the sick and the third is for the soul. He is resting after work and looking up to symbolize that. Back to the first one, but the edit misses what refers to being poor. The bread and lamb symbolize life.

 

We move on the second room, het spijslokaal. No, not almond spijs. This instance it translates as food in general. It used to be a cafe, but from here he wants to serve the terrace that looks in on the bakery. They will be selling banket from here, which is pastry. He mentions krentenwegge again, but they will also be selling suikerbrood (sugarbread with characteristic sugar lumps called parelsuiker/pearl sugar.

The tiles behind the bar he's pointing at are original and have been restored.

 

The golden pretzel/krakeling sign came three weeks after buying this building. It came from the city of Zwolle, where bakery De Kruyter ceased to exist after 80 years. He mentions two other bakeries, which I frequented personally as I used to live there. But I'll leave the story of Zwolle's inhabitants nickname and the delicious cookie modeled after it for another day. De Kruyter were very happy that their krakeling got such a nice spot at the bakery museum.

 

Up in the attic he shows the workshoproom (leslokaal), which is still empty for now. Covid struggles etc, but the restoration has been done. He points at the rafters which have been raised. Again, he likes the view on the other museum buildings.

Expo space (pronckkaemer) is up next. They have 20.000 books on baking, from as early as the 17th century up to now. He also mentions poststamp and menu collections. 1000 menu's to show what bakeries catered for through the years. This might take a while to develope though, as exposing books and menu cards means they need climate controle, good lighting, etc. They're working on funds to make this happen.

 

The stairs lead to the offices, where a part of the book collection will be kept. Which is why they kept up all those walls. He points out the window where outdoor activities will be held. Last room will be storage for things not currently on display, like chocolate molds. It's a good space, as it's not very warm for an attic and the small windows block most of the light.

 

 

Amateur footage of the old bakery, where bread is baked. Also some shots of the exposition and old bakery and chocolate shop.

 

 

Yes, even more can be seen. Warning though, this is not steady filmed footage including the volume.  It does show the entrance, the shop and some other locations, which wasn't available in the prior clips.

 

Enjoy!

 

[liuzhou]

Genetic Code from 5,700 Year-old ‘Chewing Gum’ Reveals Extraordinary Details of Young Danish Woman

 

You are what you chew!

[liuzhou]

This Kiwifruit Isn't From New Zealand at All. It's Chinese, and This Is How It Got Hijacked

 

Quote

The kiwifruit may be New Zealand’s defining agricultural product, generating a handsome $1.05 billion in exports for the country in 2015, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But how the South Pacific nation came to claim the exotic, fuzzy fruit with soft, green flesh and a unique taste is a story that combines considerable luck and a stroke of marketing genius.

 

 

NOTE: This paragraph below is misleading at best.

 

Quote

Today, even parts of the Chinese-speaking world call the fruit by a partial transliteration of its Oceanic moniker. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, at least, it’s known as strange fruit — qi yi guo in Mandarin, or kei yi gwo in Cantonese. (Google searches of mihoutao still turns up considerable results, but mostly confined to web pages from the People’s Republic.)

 

Taiwanese call it 奇异果  (qí yì guǒ), but it still called 猕猴桃 (mí hóu táo) by around 1 billion Mandarin speaking mainlanders. Taiwan has just over 4 million native speakers of Taiwanese Mandarin.

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

Moscow's palatial Yeliseyevsky food hall closes after 120 years

 

I'm taking this one personally!  I lived in Moscow in the late 1980s and visited this place. At that time, the USSR was on its last legs and stores had almost nothing to sell. Russia wasn't short of food, but the infrastructure to get it to the city was bankrupt and corruption endemic. Food trains and trucks were lined up outside the city unable to get in.

Only high ranking party members and pampered foreigners like me could get food easily.

But the building was beautiful.
 

Edited April 11, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[curls]

On 4/10/2021 at 3:37 PM, CeeCee said:

 

You beat me to it, both visiting and posting about it!😄 Hattem has been on our to do list for a while, because of the Hanseatic history, Anthony Piek Museum (he inspired Dutch theme park Efteling) and the bakery museum as well.

Did you enjoy your stay?

 

This is from an old Dutch tv show called Ontdek je plekje, discover your spot. Footage was shot during late '70's and or '80's. I haven't figured out those time stamps yet, but you can find Hattem from 19.00 minutes on and the bakery museum itself at 24:04. (Before that you get to see Harderwijk and Elburg, which are similar towns in the same area). Unfortunately they don't go in, so this is completely off topic.

...

On 4/10/2021 at 3:37 PM, CeeCee said:

 

In this clip from 2020 it turns out the baker is also the ceo. There is a new building for the museum, where he wants to show off kermisbakery. Kermis background in English, but also check out the the page in Limburger (this is the southern region bordering Germany and Belgian) dialect. It shows two pictures, one of a contemporary kermis in Maastricht and some of the regional specialty vlaai.

Oliebollen (a fried dough, also very much associated with new years eve) and waffles are part of kermisbaking.

 

We move on the second room, het spijslokaal. No, not almond spijs. This instance it translates as food in general. It used to be a cafe, but from here he wants to serve the terrace that looks in on the bakery. They will be selling banket from here, which is pastry. He mentions krentenwegge again, but they will also be selling suikerbrood (sugarbread with characteristic sugar lumps called parelsuiker/pearl sugar.

The tiles behind the bar he's pointing at are original and have been restored.

 

The golden pretzel/krakeling sign came three weeks after buying this building. It came from the city of Zwolle, where bakery De Kruyter ceased to exist after 80 years. He mentions two other bakeries, which I frequented personally as I used to live there. But I'll leave the story of Zwolle's inhabitants nickname and the delicious cookie modeled after it for another day. De Kruyter were very happy that their krakeling got such a nice spot at the bakery museum.

 

Up in the attic he shows the workshoproom (leslokaal), which is still empty for now. Covid struggles etc, but the restoration has been done. He points at the rafters which have been raised. Again, he likes the view on the other museum buildings.

Expo space (pronckkaemer) is up next. They have 20.000 books on baking, from as early as the 17th century up to now. He also mentions poststamp and menu collections. 1000 menu's to show what bakeries catered for through the years. This might take a while to develope though, as exposing books and menu cards means they need climate controle, good lighting, etc. They're working on funds to make this happen.

 

The stairs lead to the offices, where a part of the book collection will be kept. Which is why they kept up all those walls. He points out the window where outdoor activities will be held. Last room will be storage for things not currently on display, like chocolate molds. It's a good space, as it's not very warm for an attic and the small windows block most of the light.
 

 

My mother, my husband, and I were in Zwolle for a week visiting family so the trip to Hattem was one of many sightseeing trips. Thank you for finding video of the Bakery Museum in Hattem and for providing summaries of the videos in English. Yes, I would definitely recommend that you visit the Hattem museum. The demonstrations and the museum exhibits were very interesting. Lots of old bakery equipment to look at! I did not know about their 2020 expansion - will remember this for when I visit the Netherlands again. I have not been to the theme park in Efteling, perhaps next time.

[weinoo]

A little history but no link.  Here are the concession prices at Shea Stadium, in 1967...

 

 

The fact that they sold cigarettes AND cigars is quite interesting. Obviously, one could smoke while watching a game...ahhhh, those were the days.

 

I'm thinking a cheap cigar and an egg salad sandwich - what could possibly be bad?

[rotuts]

10 % more for a premium beer !

 

wonder what it was back then ?

 

"" High Life ? "

[liuzhou]

The Unlikely Rise of the French Tacos

Quote

French tacos are tacos like chicken fingers are fingers. Which is to say, they are not tacos at all... ...Technically, the French tacos is a sandwich: a flour tortilla, slathered with condiments, piled with meat (usually halal) and other things (usually French fries), doused in cheese sauce, folded into a rectangular packet, and then toasted on a grill.

 

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

French tacos are tacos like chicken fingers are fingers.

I kept reading but my conscience told me that I was no better than a rubbernecker viewing the blood and gore of a major traffic accident. I may need to go to confession very soon. 😂 

[weinoo]

Pickles were once available on practically every block in my neighborhood...back in the day.

 

Even though I've never heard it referred to thusly, what the hell...

 

THE SWEET AND SOUR HISTORY OF NYC’S PICKLE ALLEY

 

Despite the obvious mistakes in editing and accuracy, still a fun read. (No, Russ & Daughters is not a deli).

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[nickrey]

On 4/11/2021 at 12:29 PM, liuzhou said:

This Kiwifruit Isn't From New Zealand at All. It's Chinese, and This Is How It Got Hijacked

 

 

 

NOTE: This paragraph below is misleading at best.

 

 

Taiwanese call it 奇异果  (qí yì guǒ), but it still called 猕猴桃 (mí hóu táo) by around 1 billion Mandarin speaking mainlanders. Taiwan has just over 4 million native speakers of Taiwanese Mandarin.

 

When I was a kid, it was called a Chinese gooseberry not a kiwifruit.

[liuzhou]

1 minute ago, nickrey said:

When I was a kid, it was called a Chinese gooseberry not a kiwifruit.

 

Me too. As the article mentions. Well, it doesn't mention me! But it does reference the older English name.

[weinoo]

On 4/12/2021 at 9:27 AM, rotuts said:

10 % more for a premium beer !

 

wonder what it was back then ?

 

"" High Life ? "

 

Heineken? Anything imported? 

 

Of course, the last time I was at Citi Field in 2019 (RIP Shea), a standard beer was like $11 and a premium more like $15. But LaFrieda, Chang, Meyer/Shake Shack, etc. all represent at Citi.

[weinoo]

If anyone thought there were only internecine fights over pizza in NYC...

 

The True Story Of The Lower East Side Pickle Wars

 

Probably just one of the true stories, as is always the case. @Margaret Pilgrim might like this!

 

The Great Lower East Side Pickle War

[blue_dolphin]

Pickle wars?  What a great segue to this upcoming interactive food history event from the University of Southern California Libraries

The video I linked below will take you through some materials in their collection that feature early British recipes for/documentation about Indian-style pickles. 

 

Here's the text that appears beneath the video if you watch it on YouTube with the requisite links to the recipes and an option to register if you want to participate.

Quote

"The British Empire on a Plate"—a USC Libraries Special Collections and USC History Department interactive event Pickle-along with us! Participants are encouraged to try out a recipe for an Indian Pickle from an eighteenth-century recipe book held in USC Libraries Special Collections. In this brief video, Professor Lindsay O’Neill from USC’s Department of History offers historical context and further instructions, along with links to the recipe itself. You can use either our modernized recipe or test your hand at the original—straight from the recipe manuscript, which can be found at: http://bit.ly/picklealong. Document and share your process on Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #picklealong, and tagging @uscspecol and @usclibraries. Join us on Monday, April 26 at 12:00 noon (PDT) for a discussion of the process and to share our results. Please RSVP for the event at http://bit.ly/RSVPpicklealong.

 

 

https://youtu.be/TOOoD4UtgVI

 

[liuzhou]

The world’s oldest unopened bottle of wine.

 

 

 

Dated to AD 325, the so-called Speyer wine bottle is a sealed vessel, presumed to contain liquid wine. It was found in 1867 when archaeologists discovered a Roman tomb near Speyer. The bottle has handles shaped like dolphins.

 

 

found via Twitter @carolemadge

 

[liuzhou]

 

80,000 Snails, 12 Tiny Electric Fences, and 1 Rediscovered Recipe for 'Wallfish'

 

 

[liuzhou]

Tracking the Elusive Bloater

This traditional English herring dish offers a taste of cultural heritage—if you can find it.

 

 

[Anna N]

13 hours ago, liuzhou said:

This traditional English herring dish offers a taste of cultural heritage—if you can find it.

I must admit that I’ve heard of this but never sampled it. Not at all sure I really want to, either. 

[liuzhou]

4 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I must admit that I’ve heard of this but never sampled it. Not at all sure I really want to, either. 

 

I want! Delicious. Fortunately, I know where to find them - or did pre-pandemic. I ate some on 2019 when I went to the UK last for my mother's 90th birthday. 

[Anna N]

39 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

I want! Delicious. Fortunately, I know where to find them - or did pre-pandemic. I ate some on 2019 when I went to the UK last for my mother's 90th birthday. 

Yes there is no doubt you are a much more adventurous  eater than I. But damn I still enjoy your eating adventures.  

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

I must admit that I’ve heard of this but never sampled it. Not at all sure I really want to, either. 

I'm genuinely a bit surprised that, after a life spent wedded to a Dane, any herring preparation might strike you as intimidating.

[Anna N]

53 minutes ago, chromedome said:

I'm genuinely a bit surprised that, after a life spent wedded to a Dane, any herring preparation might strike you as intimidating.

Guts. It has plenty; I have none. 

[chromedome]

LOL Okay, now I get it.

[liuzhou]

Liverpool cafe finds menu from 1913 during refurb

 

Nice to see them using "entrée" correctly, as everyone did back then. It is still never used to refer to a main dish in the UK, except in places that have "concepts" and "themes" and think they are trendy and therefore should never be eaten in anyway! ⛔

 

 

Quote

Entrée: Cookery. A ‘made dish’, served between the fish and the joint. Also attrib., as entrée dish. (Littré explains entrées as ‘mets qui se servent au commencement du repas’.)

OED