Curious Facts

Everything below is in the book — each one links straight to the page it comes from.

1. The eggs cook for a full hour. The Anchovy Canapé starts with eggs kept over boiling water for 60 minutes — and the whites are chopped "with silver knife to prevent discoloring." Every detail is a hostess's detail. Read it in the book →
2. Nothing of the apple is wasted. The Apple Ball Cocktail scoops eight apples with a French ball cutter — and the tops, cores and trimmings are formally reserved and reappear two pages later as Apple Sauce. Read it in the book →
3. Bacon is engineered into curls. Strips are pressed thin with a broad-bladed knife, rolled, pinned with a wooden toothpick, and fried "in hot Bacon fat deep enough to cover the curls" — garnish as light industry. Read it in the book →
4. Mint leaves are candied one at a time. Each fresh leaf is rubbed with a finger dipped in egg white, then sifted with sugar mixed with three drops of oil of spearmint — both sides. Read it in the book →
5. The parfait has a thermometer reading. Butterscotch Parfait boils sugar, butter and water "to 238 degrees F. or until syrup forms a soft ball" — the candy thermometer and the cold-water test standing side by side in 1922. Read it in the book →
6. The fowl acknowledges the pressure cooker. Boiled Fowl gives the classic simmer — then notes the alternative: "Fowl cooked in pressure cook[er]" — a 1922 kitchen keeping both options open. Read it in the book →
7. Frosting comes with failure-prevention. The Boiled Orange Frosting orders the sides of the saucepan washed down "with pastry brush dipped in cold water" to stop crystals forming — pastry science, mid-recipe. Read it in the book →
8. Butterscotch hides inside the biscuits. Butterscotch Biscuits are rolled thin, spread with creamed butter and brown sugar, and rolled up — a cinnamon roll's method with a butterscotch heart, served to luncheon guests. Read it in the book →