Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A modern Quaker cookbook

I've been pondering the thoughtfulness Mr. Clayton put into his 1883 Quaker cookbook. I also have been appreciating his mindfulness in offering recipes that are--or were-- simple and accessible to ordinary people, and his care for using wholesome--what we would probably call organic--food.

Our ideas of diet have changed since 1883, though almost all of us would recognize such staples as scrambled eggs and baked beans. We eat less meat and dairy today and don't exclusively rely on a Northern and Western European cuisine. We also don't eat the range of meats that were apparently considered normal 125 years ago--few of us, even among the carnivores, would probably savor pig's knuckles or calf brain.

Do we have staples that are distinctly Quaker in this day and age, recipes comparable to Clayton's "Quaker Cake?" I can't think of any, though I imagine Quaker foods still run to the simple and "wholesome." What would you include in a modern Quaker cookbook?

1 comment:

Flo Fflach said...

I would suggest that if we do choose to eat meat then pigs knuckles or calf brains ought to be on the menu. Full use of the food available to us! But I was brought up in a rural working class family and we ate those sort of foods, and when we had our own animals nothing was wasted.