Meat Recipes for the Family Chef
National Livestock and Meat Board
1951
Today we have another recipe book (actually pamphlet) from yesteryear. Obviously, this belongs in an archive. They are great fun and remain a good reminder that cookery does tend to have have a sell by date as far as public library collections go. In the meantime, they are a hoot to look through. I particularly want to call your attention to some of the recipes. My favorites include the ultra appetizing Tropical Meat Salad and the Ham Mousse.
Bon Appetit!
Mary
If you’re curious about the Tropical Meat Salad (and who wouldn’t be?), Retro Ruth made it a few years back at the Mid-Century Menu: http://www.midcenturymenu.com/2009/04/mid-century-menu-tropical-meat-salad-oh-yes/
Good GRIEF that blog was horrific! I actually felt rather ill reading it. The writer is one brave woman. Thanks very much for the link, her site is really interesting.
I was excited for a minute about the Scotch Pancakes, but on closer inspection I see they don’t actually have scotch in them. Not that I would cook with scotch myself, unless it involved pouring the stuff over the top as a syrup or something.
or as a chaser…
they had me at scotch
Yea I had that one come right out at me too.
One for the meat, one for the cook. That’s the rule I use when cooking with champagne.
I just like that they use quote marks around the word ‘chef’ on the cover. It gives it a very questionable feel.
Sounds like that Ham mousse would be Hormel’s SPAM™
I think you mean “chef.” Never forget the patronizing quotation marks; they make the ham mousse tastier.
These are recipes from back in the day when recipes were never tested to see if they were indeed, edible.
Actually, those “Scotch pancakes” appear to be a variation on a traditional British picnic/bar food, Scotch eggs, where small hard-boiled eggs are wrapped with sausage, then battered and deep-fried: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_egg
I can assure you that no one in Scotland or anywhere else in Britain would recognise this abomination presented in the above book.
The “chef” is cooking “meat” for “dinner” tonight! (Was the word chef unusual in 1951?)
Yeesh, the face of the woman on the cover! I’ll be seeing that in my dreams tonight. And not in a good way.
Those eyebrows are something…
I always love the scary retro cookbook posts!
Aside the ham mousse, there is no seasonings aside from s&p.
C’mon,not even a the bay leaf in roast?
They really did not do seasoning in the old days, did they? Yuck. And I don’t think it’s possible to buy a can of crab apples anymore. I have a 1941 cookbook that I sometimes still use for baked goods( those apparently they did much better back then), but the entrees were appalling. I can’t even stand a typical Thanksgiving meal, and apparently everyone ate the equivalent every day back then.
I can see now why American cuisine had such a bad reputation.
Send these books to James Lileks; he’ll put them to good use.