The Battle Creek Diet, Day 1: Breakfast

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Whole wheat gems.

For the next five days, I’m going to be immersing myself in the food of John Harvey Kellogg and the Battle Creek Sanitarium. All of the meals I’ve planned and the recipes I will be using come from The New Cookery be Lenna Francis Cooper (1914), who was at one time the head dietitian at Battle Creek.

Breakfast
Whole Wheat Gems, Hashed Brown Potatoes, Pineapple, and Tea.

Although I work from home, I don’t ordinarily bounce out of bed and fix myself a hearty breakfast. It ended up not taking that much time, and it felt like it could be a pleasant ritual. It also felt good to sit down to my first biologic meal. I can feel my intestines being cleansed already!

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To make whole wheat gems, replace the grahams flour in the recipe with 1 cup whole wheat flour. A gem tin is essentially a cast-iron mini muffin pan, which, when greasy and hot, makes the gems extra crispy. I didn’t have a gem pan, so I made these into drop biscuits by adding a 1/4 cup less milk. I baked them for 9 minutes in a 450 degree oven. They didn’t take much time to mix up, and came out cute as buttons. They tasted alright–the sweetness was pleasing, but you could really taste the whole-granieness. I think they will be better tomorrow toasted and smeared with jelly.

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The hashed browned potatoes were the most difficult thing I made this morning. I only used one potatoes, and cut it into cubes. I originally baked them in a pan lined in tin foil, but when I took them out after 10 minutes they were sticking, and the brown crispy parts were tearing off. So I plucked them off the pan, burning my finger badly in the process, and dropped them into a non-stick skillet. I added the milk and popped them back into the oven, stirring after an additional five minutes. All in all, they cooked about 18 minutes. The potatoes mostly absorbed the milk, and there was also this crispy milk skin. They were pretty tasty, but I don’t think you can go very wrong with potatoes, salt and butter.

I also cut up a fresh, sweet, heavenly pineapple and had a mug of herbal tea. Kellogg forbade caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco at the San; a few rules which we will ignore at the dinner party next month.

History Dish Mondays: Protose

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So the big week is finally here: I’ve decided to spend the next five days immersing myself in the diet of the Battle Creek Sanitarium and John Harvey Kellogg. I’m not sure what to tell you to expect–either the delightful world of vegetarian cuisine, or another week of torture comparable to the Tenement Diet.

Protose is one of J. H. Kellog’s invented meat substitutes. I currently have it on my menu for the Dinner on the Road to Wellville party in March. I’m skeptical that it’s not horrible, so I want to give it a try in advance, so that i have time to come up with a suitable replacement, if necessary.

Protose was manufactured by the Kellogg/Worthington company until about 2000; since it was discontinued, there seems to be an online group of hard-core vegans trying to recreated it’s special taste and texture. While searching for a suitable recipe, I came across this fascinating recollection of one man’s experience with the cuisine of J.H, Kellogg:
“Protose. What does that conjure up for me?
You’d never guess.
The three most trusted people that Dr. J.H. Kellogg had working for him were three unmarried sisters: Gertrude, his chief administrator and executor of his will; Angie his chief dietitians; and Mable his chief nurse and the one person who accompanied Kellogg to Ontario to attend the Dion quintuplets.
By the mid-1950’s, the doctor long dead, the three unmarried sisters now running the Sanitarium in Miami Springs would spend the summers back up in Battle Creek at their farm in the country.
My grandfather was the brother to these three sisters and, dying young, my own father was raised by the sisters and Dr. Kellogg.
During the summers we would visit them three or four times for a weekend and invariably one of the meals was the most delicious “roast” made out of Protose. Once you’ve had it, especially the way they prepared it, you were hooked.”
I can’t confirm whether the story is true, but fascinating none the less.
After further research, I came up with this recipe:
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Protose
Original Recipe from a post on Vegan Food
With variations suggested by Chowhound.com and Ellen’s Kitchen
1/2 cup creamy, natural peanut butter
1 cup wheat gluten (seitan)
1 c vegetable stock
2 T cornstarch
1/2 a medium onion, chopped
1 tsp Italian herb blend
Pinch of salt
Steam in top of a double boiler for three hours, stirring occasionally. Let cool in the pan, turn out on platter and slice.
***
Seitan, if you were wondering, is a vegan food product invented by Buddhist monks in China. You take wheat dough and wash it under water until nothing remains but the gluten. It’s very high in protein, but it also looks like this:

I tasted a tiny bit of it out of the bag. It had a bizarre taste I wasn’t expecting: like burnt maple syrup. Very unappealing.
I buzzed the seitan in a food processor and mixed it up with all the other ingredients. I found out I didn’t have corn starch, so I ended using flour instead. I used McCormick’s Italian Herb Grinder for the seasoning. I took a tiny taste of the mixed ingredients and it tasted like…peanut butter with Italian seasoning.

I set it on a double boiler, and it looked done after about two hours. I flipped it out of the mold and it looked pretty unappealing. I’m preparing it in a dish for dinner today, so we’ll see how that goes. But I have a feeling I’m going to end up taking this one off the menu.

Martha Washington’s Great Cake

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In honor of our first president’s birthday, I wanted to share the recipe for Martha Washington’s infamous big-ass cake.

From the Mount Vernon website, Mrs. Washington’s Original Recipe:

“Take 40 eggs and divide the whites from the yolks and beat them to a froth. Then work 4 pounds of butter to a cream and put the whites of eggs to it a Spoon full at a time till it is well work’d. Then put 4 pounds of sugar finely powdered to it in the same manner then put in the Yolks of eggs and 5 pounds of flour and 5 pounds of fruit. 2 hours will bake it. Add to it half an ounce of mace and nutmeg half a pint of wine and some fresh brandy.

Notes on making Martha Washington’s Great Cake:

In making the great cake, Mount Vernon’s curatorial staff followed Mrs. Washington’s recipe almost exactly. Where the recipe called for 5 pounds of fruit, without specifying which ones, 2 pounds of raisins, 1 pound of currants, and 2 pounds of apples were used. The wine used was cream sherry. Since no pan large enough was available to hold all the batter, two 14 layers were made and stacked (note: the original was one single tall layer). The layers were baked in a 350 degree oven for 1.5 hours. Should be iced with a very stiff egg-white based icing, flavored with rosewater or orange-flower water.”

And in the spirit of the Month of Presidents, and the ongoing celebration of Lincoln’s 200th birthday, Dj Bryan sent me this post on What about the plastic animals? about Mary Todd Lincoln’s White Almond Cake:

“The Lincoln Home National Historic Site has the recipe, which I assumed was authentic. It turned out well. The recipe called for six whipped egg whites to be folded into the batter. That made the cake fairly light, but still denser than an angel food cake…

Another recipe still has me scratching my head. And I quote: ‘Because I love a challenge, I took this recipe home and made Mary Todd Lincoln’s cake. Even with today’s modern technology, the process was slow going. In all, it took about four hours to cream the butter, whip the egg whites, chop the almonds and get it all mixed and baked. I used a mixer and a mini chopper…’

Four hours? Discount the baking time and there’s still three hours left. What task could have possibly taken three hours? I don’t mean to brag but it took me all of 15-20 minutes using an electric hand mixer, a mini food processor, and a large wooden spoon. Did she shell, peel and blanch the almonds? Were the almonds chopped one at a time? Did she forget to mention that she has no arms? I am baffled.”

Me too. Happy Birthday, Presidents!

A Shout-Out to Lenell

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I wanted to make mention that Lenell’s, my favorite liquor store in New York, is closing today. She wants to reopen in a new location sometime soon, and I hope she does. She’s the best supplier for hard-to-find historic cocktail ingredients, including an unparalleled selection of bitters, Absinthe, Old Tom Gin, and peach brandy for making traditional Mint Juleps.

Read the full story here: Last Call: It’s closing time for Red Hook’s cocktail rock star—for now

Come back soon, Lenell.

Have You Ever Wanted to Learn Hearth Cooking?

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Old Sturbridge Village, a living history museum set in the 1830’s, is offering a program called Dinner in a Country Village:
“Enjoy a unique opportunity to prepare and eat a meal the way early New Englanders did. The Parsonage is the setting for this cold-weather Saturday-night program, where costumed interpreters oversee the preparations, but the guests do the roasting, baking, and mulling. Participants roast meat using a tin reflector oven, fire a brick bake oven, and mull spiced cider over the hearth before sitting down to enjoy the results, all by candlelight.”
If you’d like to learn how to prepare Pounded Cheese and Scots Collops, sign up on the OSV website. The class, plus dinner, costs $85 per person.

If you’re in New York, Dr. Alice Ross, who holds her PHD in culinary history, offers classes at her Long Island Home. She explores the entire gamut of hearth cookery from Ancient Babylon, to Medieval Europe, to basic hearth techniques for American cookery. She’ll also teach you how to butcher, Check here for the full class schedule, which cost $400 for one session.

History Dish Mondays: Ginger Beer

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Ginger Beer, not so clear.

I was inspired to try this recipe after Zaite sent me a simple brewing recipe from Alton Brown, that reminded me of the daily home brewing that was common in the 18th and early 19th century America. For families, it was an important source of clean water and nutrients; home brewing seemed to be less common after the temperance movement started to take hold in the 1840s.


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Ginger Beer
Original recipe from The House Servent’s Directory by Robert Roberts.
Modern recipe adapted from Alton Brown.

1 tablespoon powdered ginger; or 1 1/2 ounces finely grated fresh ginger
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
7 1/2 cups filtered water
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Place the ginger, sugar, cream of tartar and 1/2 cup of the water into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.

If you use fresh ginger, remove from the heat, cover and allow to steep for 1 hour. Pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl, pressing down to get all of the juice out of the mixture.

If you use ground ginger, remove from heat and add remaining water and lemon juice; set in the refrigerator, uncovered, until at least room temperature, 68 to 72 degrees F.

Using a funnel, pour into a clean 2-liter plastic bottle and add the yeast. The bottle will not be filled to the top–this is necessary to leave room for the yeast to expel gas, carbonating the drink.

Place the cap on the bottle, gently shake to combine and leave the bottle at room temperature for 48 hours. Open and check for desired amount of carbonation. It is important that once you achieve your desired amount of carbonation that you refrigerate the ginger ale. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, opening the bottle at least once a day to let out excess carbonation.

You can also try this recipe with molasses for an “Excellent Jumble Beer.”

***
When I opened the bottle after two days, it foamed up a lot. Enough that I had to hold it over the sink. I poured a little tasting glass, and it had all kinds of floaties in it. I don’t know if it was the yeast, of grains of ground ginger that got kicked up from the bottom when it was opened. It tasted alright: a little zingy, a little citrus, a little yeasty.. I put the rest in the refrigerator to mellow for a few more days.

I found the longer it sat, the better it tasted. A week later, it’s sweet and smooth, and still carbonated. For you home brewing guys out there, I’d love to find out what the alcoholic content is. And if you live in NYC, I still have some left if you’d like to taste it.

Rating: A
This recipe is simple, and an easy introduction to the world of home brewing.

Oh, and P.S.: If you’ve been following the Spruce Beer Saga, there’s been a tragedy:

“With the sudden change in weather over here in Cleveland a drastic and sudden change has occurred with the Spruce beer. With a sudden drop in pressure a bottle has exploded! Inspection of the other bottles showed excessive pressurization and further investigation showed evidence of a Gusher infection. Little Bacteria were fermenting everything in site and leaving only chaos and terrible flavors in their wake. The cause of the infection hasn’t been determined yet. It seems like the product was ok through fermentation. But it’s unknown yet if it picked up it’s bugs during bottling.”
Waah-waan.

Eating Offal at Þorrablót

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My buddies in Iceland are experiecing the festival of Porrablot, a feast of traditional and historic Iclelandic food. It features all kinds of cured meats and offal, many of which are at least partially putrified. The feast includes Hrútspungur (cured ram’s testicles), and Hákarl (fermented shark). According to my sources, the shark tastes like cat pee.

To learn more, head over to Ameriskur.

History Dish Mondays: Pain Perdu

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Pain Perdu, made with hoo doo.

I had a few slices of Cider Cake left over from last week, so I decided to put it to good use in this recipe for Pain Perdu, or “lost bread.” It’s a Creole favorite similar to french toast.
The source for the modern recipe noted that Pain Perdu was originally flavored with orange flower water, an alcohol based floral flavoring popular in the 19th century. I didn’t have orange flower water, but I did have Florida Water, another 19th century flavouring/perfume with notes of orange flower, lavender, and clove.
According to Florida Water website, it can also be used to treat “Jangled Nerves,” and for “Boudoir Daintiness.” It’s also used for hoo doo. Who knew. (read more.)
I found Florida Water at my local pharmacy, but you can sometimes find it in the Goya food aisle in the grocery store. Orange flower water can be found in the baking section of some grocery stores, or at Middle Eastern food markets.
***
Pain Perdu
Modern recipe adapted from The American Heritage Cookbook.
Dash Orange Flower Water or Florida Water
2 eggs
1 tbsp confectioner’s sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 cups milk
Grated rind of half a lemon
6 slices of “not too fresh” bread; I used left over apple bread.
Combine ingredients and beat thoroughly. Dip slices of bread in the mixture, then fry in plenty of heated butter until crisp and golden brown on both sides. Serve immediately with maple syrup, honey, or a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

***

This was pretty bad. I made a few slices without the Florida Water first, and they were pretty gooshy, but somehow also dry. Maybe it would have been better with regular bread, but I’m not so sure. After the Florida Water was added, it tasted like–surprise–perfume. I drowned it in maple syrup, but it didn’t do much good. I expected the lemon zest to perk it up with a citrus zing, but no. Not really.

Rating: C+ I would stick to a modern french toast recipe.

Apple Rosewater Tart

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Ever been curious about the image at the top of this blog? It’s an apple-rosewater tart, a recipe that originally debuted during my thesis project. I recently received an email from one of my college professors that got me thinking about this recipe again. He said:
“I can’t seem to make an apple pie any more without using your Riesling wine and rosewater recipe. Actually, sometimes I use orangeblossom water, a suggestion of the Arabic grocery store where I get the rosewater.”
It tastes divine.
***
Apple Rosewater Tart
Based on American Cookery (1796) by Amelia Simmons
2 1/2 lbs. Apples,
2 tablespoon Rosewater
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2/3 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Riesling white wine
1 tbls. orange juice
1 tablespoon + 1tsp cornstarch

Crust recipe of your choice
1. Prepare crust
2. Slice apples and mix with sugar, cinnamon, orange juice and rosewater.
3. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add apples, wine and cornstarch. Saute until apples begin to sizzle, then about five minutes more. They will be just tender, but still fairly firm. Let cool.
4. Line tart pans with crust. Pour filling into crust.
5. Bake in an oven at 400 until crust edges are golden brown.

Dinner on the Road to Wellville

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I’m re-reading The Road to Wellville, a historic novel (and movie) based on the life of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. I would credit Kellogg with launching vegetarianism into popular culture. While there had been American vegetarian advocates before him (like Dr. Graham of Oberlin college, inventor of the cracker by the same name) Kellogg’s health spa, The Battle Creek Sanitarium, made it fashionable. “The San,” as it was nicknamed, was frequented by the wealthy and famous. It treated all your ills with “scientific living” and “biologic eating.”

What appeals to me about Kellogg’s food is it’s combination of the cream-and-butter French cuisine that was so popular at the turn of the century; early vegetarianism; and the foundations of the modern American diet.
Although many of Kellogg’s ideas were bunk (and a few even dangerous, like radium treatments) many of them still hold up. Kellogg’s diet focuses on fruits and vegetable, whole grains, and replacing proteins lost by excluding meat. He invented the breakfast cereal, launched peanut butter into the mainstream, and introduced “exotic” foods like yogurt and seaweed to America. He invented meat substitutes like Protose, which were not dissimilar from the black bean burgers and tofu hot dogs of today.
It was all a huge departure from the eating habits of the day. But Kellogg was also working around the same time as the release of The Jungle, Upton Sinclair’s expose on the meat packing industry in Chicago. In a time before the FDA, it may have not been such a bad idea to eat vegetarian. Sinclair and his wife frequented the San themselves.
After reading about Kellogg’s food, I became curious to try it. I tracked down a cookbook of recipes from the Battle Creek Sanitarium, The New Cookery by Lenna Frances Cooper (available in its entirety online) and I’m planning a dinner party in March. The menu will be as follows:
Salpicon of Fruits
Soup
Manhattan Soup
Toast Sqaures
Hors D’oeuvres
Radishes with Butter
Toasted Pine Nuts
Olives
Refeve
Protose Roast
Baked Eggplant
Buttered Cauliflower
Potatoes a la Maitre d’Hotel
Entree
Asparagus Tips on Toast
Hollandaise Sauce
Sorbet
Pineapple Sherbert
Roti
Apple and Celery Salad
Dessert
The Queen of Puddings
Assorted Fruits
Fromage
Neufchatel Cheese on Wafers
However, I don’t know if this single event would do Kellogg’s diet justice. He promoted it as a way of life, not just limited to the walls of his Sanitarium, that would “exonerate the bowels” and flush the poisons from your system.

So I’ve been considering immersing myself in his diet for a week, to see if my bowels exonerate. What do you think?