HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2024

Have yourself a traditional holiday meal

Like, from a century ago

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Do yourself a favor and do some prep work before researching old-fashioned holiday meals. Maybe eat a full breakfast. Because in this case, study can leave you hungry.

I have a lot of old cookbooks, many from the 19th century, some earlier than that.  There is the Internet Archive and Google Books too. 

Each year I go rummaging through the sources, looking for a new take on old holidays.

Christmas

Christian holidays looked different before the Victorian era.  Dickens set the stage with “A Christmas Carol”: expansive meals, as much luxury as a family could afford. Turkey, oysters, mince pies, pudding. 

Mrs. Beeton offered no Christmas menu 60-some years later in the WWI-era edition; there were only meals for December. But perhaps this was intended as a holiday meal: Mock turtle soup, royal soup, baked filleted brill, mutton cutlets, braised turkey and tongue (a tiny note suggests flageolets and potatoes to go with the turkey), roast quail, salad, Christmas pudding, apple fool and cream, and caviare on toast. The (undoubtedly wealthy) family would certainly be well fed.

Phillis Browne’s “A Year’s Cookery” (1900 or so) had a Christmas plan: Palestine soup (Jerusalem artichokes and bacon rind), roast or boiled turkey, sausages, potatoes, bread sauce, Brussels sprouts and chestnuts, plum pudding, mince pies, apple mould (chopped apples in gelatine) and cheese, such as Gorgonzola and Camembert.

Or we could cross the ocean to find future radio star Ida Bailey Allen and her “Mrs. Allen on Cooking, Menus, Service” from 1924. A century ago in the post-war era, Americans were feeling flush. Mrs. Allen recommended stuffed pimentos, consommé, croutons, roast turkey, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, piccalilli, cranberry sauce, horseshoe rolls, butter, jellied coleslaw, mayonnaise, plum pudding with hard sauce and finally coffee. 

Perhaps something closer to the modern era? Here’s 1944 in “Alice Bradley’s Menu Cookbook,” which cautioned the reader that rationing might affect which foods were available. A Christmas menu during WWII included canapes, roast goose with gravy, onion stuffing, baked potatoes with green peppers, wax beans, cauliflower souffle, cranberry salad, steamed plum pudding, homemade after-dinner mints (with scarce, rationed sugar), mixed nuts and coffee (the last was rationed). Fewer desserts because again, sugar was rationed. So were meat, butter, dried fruit, and jams and jellies.

Lard, shortening and oil had come off ration that year, so maybe folks felt celebratory.

Hanukkah

Christmas menus were common. Hanukkah menus were not. And yet the miracle of the oil took place in 139 BCE. Hanukkah food now often calls for oil and frying in remembrance. 

River Reporter food columnist Jude Waterston said that “Latkes would be eaten as a first course. They would be served both with sour cream and apple sauce.”

For the main entree, “[it] most likely be pot roast or brisket or roast chicken.”

If you’re looking for an old-fashioned Hanukkah menu, I didn’t really find one. 

The best I could do came from “Aunt Babette’s Cook Book,” published in 1889. According to a post by Dvorah Lewis at thesutrolibrary.wordpress.com, the book was the first popular Jewish cookbook, clearly targeted at German Jews, new to the U.S. 

The book lists Easter dishes but nothing for Christmas. Served up for “Easter”? Several types of recipes using matzos, several types of macaroons, potato pudding, raisin wine.

There’s no mention of Hanukkah either. However, the foods that Jude and others recall—you’ll generally find them. There are no latkes, but there are potato pancakes; no sufganiyot but there are Berliner pfannkuchen. You’ll find applesauce and brisket and a mandeltorte (but not mandelbrot). 

Hanukkah, Lewis at the Sutro Library wrote, is not well represented in old cookbooks. But “While Aunt Babette may not have provided me with a recipe for Hanukkah, she did shed light on the Jewish immigrant experience.”

You can still find old recipes for this year’s holiday, which takes place December 25, 2024 to January 2, 2025. Start with “Aunt Babette’s Cook Book” at www.google.com/books/edition/Aunt_Babette_s_Cook_Book/bPDCUESSiJ8C?hl=en.

More recipes

Old recipes are fun but involve the trial and error necessary to create good food. Sizes of vegetables might be different. Measuring tools were different. 

These recipes are left largely in the format in which they were originally written. Fiddle with the recipes. Keep trying. The result could well be worth it, and you’ll have new taste treats for your holiday table.

Not boiled.
Not boiled.

Boiled turkey

Adapted from “A Year’s Cookery,” by Phillis Browne, Cassell, ©1892.

Truss the fowl firmly. 

Put breast downward into fast-boiling water, which has in it a carrot, an onion and herbs (unspecified but sage is always nice). 

Boil for one minute, then lower the heat and simmer gently for an hour or more, depending on the size of the bird. 

Considering that our turkeys are bigger, “more” will probably be necessary.

Sadly, I didn't give you a recipe for jelly doughnuts. You can have a look at Aunt Babette's (see link in story) or try this more modern recipe: www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/sufganiyot-israeli-donuts.html.
Sadly, I didn't give you a recipe for jelly doughnuts. You can have a look at Aunt Babette's (see link in story) or try this more modern recipe: …

Brisket of beef

Adapted from “Aunt Babette’s Cook Book,” the Bloch Publishing Company, ©1889.

Take about five pounds of fat, young bone-in beef (you might want to make soup stock of it first). 

Take out the bones, salt well and put in a porcelain-lined kettle. Top with a quart of “nice” sauerkraut. Boil slowly until tender.

Add more vinegar if the sauerkraut isn’t vinegary enough.

Thicken with a grated raw potato and add a little brown sugar. Some like a few caraway seeds.

I don’t know what kind of meat Aunt Babette had in mind here. I’d say ask your butcher for their opinion.

By “boil,” it’s possible Aunt Babette just meant “cook” or “bake.” Even assuming your sauerkraut was really liquidy, there might not be enough liquid to “boil”—or not for very long anyhow.

I’ll try this in the slow cooker, where it won’t matter if there’s not enough liquid. Maybe 8 hours on low. Might add a bit of beef broth.   

Gelatine cabbage

From my great-grandmother, Anna Schuetz, and her personal cookbook. Ida Bailey Allen calls for a similar salad at Christmas.

1 envelope plain gelatine, dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mild vinegar 

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix all the above. Add 2 cups of boiling water and cool until it is slightly thickened. [You want to add the vegetables and not have them sink to the bottom. The gelatine has to be just thick enough to keep them afloat.]

Add 1 cup shredded white cabbage; 2 cups celery, cut fine; and 2 pimentos, cut fine. Combine.

Pour into a mold and chill. 

Turn out and serve on lettuce, endive or cress.

A platter of potato pancakes
A platter of potato pancakes

Doris’ fantastic potato pancakes

Makes about 30-35 pancakes

If you happen to be able to get your hands on some chicken or duck fat, by all means add a tablespoon or two to each batch of frying oil. Decadent! I like to keep the potato skins on, but feel free to peel them if you prefer.

4 Idaho or russet potatoes

1 medium onion

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs, beaten well

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Vegetable, olive (not extra-virgin) or avocado oil for frying

Halve each potato lengthwise and grate them in a food processor or by hand on the large holes of a hand-held grater, and place in a large bowl. 

Grate the onion on a hand-held grater and add to grated potatoes. 

Transfer mixture to a large colander and, with paper toweling or a tea towel, press out as much liquid as possible. 

Return the grated potatoes and onions to the large bowl. Add the beaten eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and freshly ground pepper to the potatoes and mix well, turning with a large spoon so all the ingredients are incorporated. 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet. Drop batter by tablespoons into hot oil and flatten with the back of a spoon or slotted spatula. Do not overcrowd. Five pancakes at a time is a good number. 

Fry slowly until golden, for about 3 minutes. Turn and brown on the other side for 2 more minutes. When they are cooked through, crisp and golden, remove and drain well on paper towels. 

Place on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and keep warm in the oven. Repeat until all batter is used. 

Remove pancakes from oven and place on a large serving platter. Lightly salt, preferably with sea salt. Serve hot with applesauce and sour cream. 

These can be made in advance and reheated until crispy (for about 20 minutes) in a 350-degree oven. 

If you have any pancakes left over, place them on a cookie sheet, freeze and remove to a reclosable plastic bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. They keep well, frozen, for about a month. 

When ready to use, reheat defrosted latkes in a 375-degree oven until crisp and hot, about 6-7 minutes, turning mid-way. If you’re using frozen pancakes, heat them in the oven for about 15 minutes, turning once.

—Jude Waterston

A gorgeous green apple: The basic ingredient for a fine applesauce.
A gorgeous green apple: The basic ingredient for a fine applesauce.

Applesauce for adults

Makes about 1 1/2 cups 

And finally, our own Jude Waterston shares her applesauce recipe. You could make it without the liqueur, but the touch of Calvados (apple-flavored liqueur), orange-flavored liqueur or Courvoisier adds a mysterious depth of flavor to this spiced applesauce.

1 1/4 pounds (3 large) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-1 1/2-inch chunks

1/2 cup apple cider 

1 tablespoon light brown (or granulated) sugar

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

A few gratings of fresh nutmeg or a pinch of ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon Calvados, Courvoisier or Grand Marnier

Place the apple chunks, cider, sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and nutmeg in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and then lower heat. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Remove lid and mash apples slightly with the back of a wooden spoon. 

With lid off, continue to cook apples until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 4-5 minutes. Add liqueur and simmer 1 more minute. 

Remove from heat and let cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Palestine soup

Curious? I can’t do better than Mrs. Crocombe from Audley End. Watch the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnXcGW3HtdQ.

A plum pudding with its jewel-like candied fruits
A plum pudding with its jewel-like candied fruits

Plum pudding 

Adapted from “A Year’s Cookery,” by Phillis Browne, Cassell, ©1892.

Begin in early December, because the pudding will need to sit for at least two weeks. 

Take a quantity of stale bread and rub it through a wire sieve until you have 3/4 pound of breadcrumbs. 

Put in a bowl. Add 1/4 pound of flour and 1 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 pound chopped suet (ask your butcher for the suet; what’s sold for birds might not do). Add 1 1/2 pounds muscatel raisins (remove the pips first, Browne said), 1/2 pound currants (picked and dried), 6 ounces candied mixed peel (try to splurge on the nice stuff if you can) and 1 tablespoon of moist brown sugar. Mix all thoroughly.

Whisk 8 good eggs well and add to the fruit. Add a wineglass-full of brandy. 

Mix thoroughly.

Boil a sturdy pudding cloth, wring it dry, flour it and plop the mass of pudding ingredients inside. Leaving room for expansion, tie the cloth firmly closed. You don’t want it to open up.

Carefully place in a kettle of boiling water and boil for 8 hours, making sure that the water does not boil away. Add boiling water as needed.

When finished, remove the pudding carefully (it will be heavy). Browne recommends hanging it, rather than leaving on a plate till Christmas.

On Christmas Day, put back in boiling water and boil for 2 more hours till heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before it is turned out to serve.

Note: I have made a close version of this (both boiled and in a slow cooker) and it is delicious. Mine cured in the freezer. Keep portions small. I soaked all my fruit in cheap brandy for months ahead of time, but Browne does not suggest that. 

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