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August 14
Menu: Celery Soup; Braised Ox Tongue; Mashed Turnips; Baked Potatoes; Waldorf Salad; Ginger Ice Cream Coffee Mashed Turnips-Peel and dice 3 turnips, cover with boiling salted water and cook till tender; drain and press the water well out of them. Return to pan and add 3 tablespoons Crisco, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 saltspoon white pepper, beat and mash them well together, when thoroughly hot turn into vegetable dish and serve.
A plain vegetable side lifted out of a day's menu in Crisco's calendar of dinners. The technique is sound; only the fat and the vague quantities need attention.
- A saltspoonAn old table measure equal to about 1/4 teaspoon. So the seasoning here is 1 teaspoon salt and a scant 1/4 teaspoon white pepper. The recipe gives no weight for the turnips, so taste before using all the salt.
- How many turnips"3 turnips" is genuinely ambiguous — a white salad turnip runs 3 oz, a large storage turnip or a swede 1 lb or more. Work to about 1 1/2 lb peeled weight, which serves four, and taste before committing to the full teaspoon of salt.
- CriscoThe book exists to sell hydrogenated vegetable shortening, and 3 tablespoons of it here is doing the job butter would do. Butter gives a better flavour with turnip; a neutral oil works if you want it dairy-free.
- Pressing out the waterThis is the hinge. Turnip holds a great deal of water and a wet mash turns grey and soupy. Drain in the colander, then press firmly with the back of a spoon or return the cubes to the dry hot pan for a minute to steam off.
- Cooking timeDiced turnip is generally tender in 12-20 minutes depending on age and size. The recipe gives no time, only "cook till tender"; test with a knife tip rather than the clock, and expect old winter roots to take longer.
- Beating hot"When thoroughly hot" matters — mash and beat over low heat so the fat emulsifies into the purée instead of sitting on top. A potato masher gives better texture than a food processor, which can make turnip slick.
- White pepperProbably chosen so the mash stays pale, though the recipe does not say so. Black pepper will speckle it and has a somewhat different, less musty flavour; use it if appearance is no concern.
Mashed turnip belongs to the long northern European tradition of buttered root purées, and it appears in American cookery of this period as an inexpensive winter vegetable that kept for months in a cellar. What is notable is the context: The Story of Crisco (1913) was a promotional cookbook issued by Procter & Gamble to teach cooks what to do with a wholly new product, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, and its calendar of dinners works Crisco into the dishes on the menu traditionally finished with butter or other animal fats. The dating of the entry to particular days in August is part of that scheme, a year of menus built around the product.