The Forgotten Menu
All recipes

86 recipes

19th-Century Recipes

19th-century recipes from famous meals and hard times: Paris after Waterloo, Soyer’s soup kitchens, the Civil War, the Paris siege and the Klondike.

These 19th-century recipes run from the restaurants of Paris in 1815 to the Klondike trail in 1897, and each comes from a moment when food made the record. In July 1815, three weeks after Waterloo, British officers crowded the Paris restaurants, and Antoine Beauvilliers had printed his famous chicken suprême and Soubise cutlets the year before: Where Did the Victors Dine in Paris After Waterloo? Grimod de la Reynière’s tasting jury, judging the food trades of Paris for his Almanach des gourmands, sits a decade earlier.

Some of the century’s food was charity and war. Alexis Soyer cooked soup for the Irish famine in Dublin in 1847 and for the British army hospitals at Scutari in 1855. Richmond printed the Confederate Receipt Book in 1863, the year of its bread riot, and Philadelphia’s Sanitary Fair cookbook raised money for Union soldiers in 1864. Paris under siege in 1870 ate horse, then dog, cat and rat, and the US Army’s Manual for Army Cooks of 1896 shows how the canned and fresh beef of the 1898 war with Spain was meant to be cooked.

And some of it was celebration: Lincoln’s inaugural ball in 1865, the Suez Canal opening supper at Ismailia in 1869, ice cream made in four minutes in London in 1844, chafing-dish suppers, and an 1889 candy pledge. On the frontier, Fort Larned baked 340 loaves at a time, New Mexican tamales reached the Chicago World’s Fair cookbook in 1893, and Klondike stampeders paid more for beans and bacon with every mile. Each recipe names its period book and comes with a version for a kitchen today.

What Did Grimod’s Tasting Jury Judge in 1805?

  • A deep oval earthenware dish of baked macaroni tubes layered with a dark chopped liver and vegetable filling, the top browned with Parmesan, one spoonful taken out.
    Potage à la Camerani

    Soups & Broths · 1 hr 25 min total

    Potage à la Camerani (1805) 

    Potage à la Camerani, 1805: macaroni, chopped chicken livers cooked in butter with celery and pot vegetables, and grated Parmesan, layered in the dish and simmered.

  • Small golden cheese puffs set out on a plain pewter plate, one broken open to show a hollow, eggy inside with pockets of melted cheese.
    Ramequins de Bourgogne

    Breads & Cakes · 1 hr total

    Cheese Ramequins (1827) 

    Louis Eustache Ude’s cheese ramequins: choux paste beaten with eggs, a spoonful of Parmesan and diced Swiss cheese, dropped in small mounds and baked until puffed.

  • A shallow oval gratin dish holding a high, light-brown chestnut soufflé with a cracked, sugar-glazed top, a serving spoon resting beside it.
    Une espèce d’omelette soufflée

    Desserts & Sweets · 45 min total

    Chestnut Soufflé Omelette (1805) 

    Grimod’s chestnut soufflé omelette, 1805: a sweet cream of chestnut flour, egg yolks, milk, butter and sugar, cooked thick, folded into beaten whites and baked until risen.

Where Did the Victors Dine in Paris After Waterloo?

  • Four glazed double-rib lamb cutlets arranged in a ring on a white platter, bones pointing up, around a mound of pale onion purée, with small whole white onions around the edge, each with a parsley sprig standing in its top.
    Côtelettes à la Soubise

    Meat & Poultry · 2 hr 50 min total

    Lamb Cutlets à la Soubise (1814) 

    Lamb cutlets à la Soubise from Beauvilliers’s L’Art du cuisinier, 1814: double-rib cutlets larded with ham, braised, glazed in their own reduced liquor and ringed around a white onion purée.

  • Four pale, smooth chicken breasts set in a ring on a round white platter, alternating with four golden fried bread croûtons of the same shape, all coated in an ivory cream-colored sauce that pools in the center.
    Suprême de volaille

    Meat & Poultry · 1 hr total

    Chicken Suprême (1814) 

    Beauvilliers’s chicken suprême, 1814: breasts cooked white in butter and set in a crown with fried croûtons, under a sauce of reduced stock, velouté and butter.

  • Four thick slices of toast covered to the edges with melted orange Double Gloucester cheese, bubbling and browned in patches, on an oval pewter plate beside a small pot of bright yellow English mustard.
    Woiches rabettes

    Breads & Cakes · 20 min total

    Welsh Rabbit (1814) 

    Gloucester cheese melted with a little water and Cayenne, spread on toast, browned and served with English mustard: a Paris restaurateur’s Welsh rabbit, 1814.

  • A tall golden-brown molded rice pudding turned out onto a cream-colored plate, its crumb-crusted sides straight, a pale cream sauce poured over the top and running down, with one wedge cut to show the dense rice inside flecked with macaroon crumbs.
    Poutingue de riz

    Desserts & Sweets · 2 hr 5 min total

    Rice Pudding with Macaroons (1814) 

    Beauvilliers’s rice pudding with macaroons, 1814: rice cooked firm in lemon milk, mixed with crushed bitter macaroons and eggs, baked in a mold and masked with an orange-flower cream sauce.

What Was in the Pot Accum Warned About in 1820?

  • Four small white porcelain cups of pale yellow lemon custard, smooth and spoonable, with a few flecks of grated lemon rind, one with a teaspoon lifting out a spoonful, beside a halved lemon.
    Lemon custards

    Desserts & Sweets · 2 hr 35 min total

    Lemon Custards (1806) 

    Maria Rundell’s lemon custards, 1806: egg yolks thickened with boiling water, grated lemon rind and sweetened juice, set in cups and eaten cold.

  • Four small glass cups of soft, set ivory-white milk pudding with a matte surface, one with a spoon resting in it, beside a whole nutmeg and a few blades of mace.
    Arrow Root Blanc-Mange

    Desserts & Sweets · 3 hr 50 min total

    Arrowroot Blancmange (1837) 

    Eliza Leslie’s arrow root blanc-mange, Philadelphia, 1837: milk steeped with lemon, nutmeg and mace, strained, sweetened and set with arrowroot.

What Did the Cratchits Eat for Christmas Dinner?

  • A brown glazed earthenware bowl heaped with fluffy mashed potatoes, the top left rough and flecked with black pepper, on a striped cream towel, with two table forks beside it on a wooden table.
    mashed potatoes

    Vegetables & Sides · 45 min total

    Mashed Potatoes (1854) 

    Alexis Soyer’s mashed potatoes from his 1854 cookbook for working families, beaten light with two forks and a little butter and milk, as served with the Cratchits’ Christmas goose.

  • A dark, domed plum pudding studded with fruit on a white plate, a sprig of holly with two red berries in the top, on a red cloth beside a jug of white sweet sauce and a spoon.
    the pudding

    Desserts & Sweets · 4 hr 40 min total

    Plum Pudding (1854) 

    Alexis Soyer’s 1854 Christmas plum pudding of raisins, currants, suet, sugar, peel, flour and crumbs, boiled four hours in a mold: a working family’s Christmas pudding, with flour in it like Mrs. Cratchit’s.

How Did a Cook Make Ice Cream in Four Minutes in 1844?

  • Two scoops of pale beige ice cream speckled with small toasted breadcrumbs in a short-stemmed glass on dark mahogany, beside a slice of golden toast, loose crumbs and a silver teaspoon.
    Brown-Bread Ice Cream

    Desserts & Sweets · 8 hr 55 min total

    Brown-Bread Ice Cream (1844) 

    Brown-bread ice cream from Thomas Masters’s Ice Book of 1844: cream thickened with oven-browned bread and sponge fingers, frozen and finished with toasted crumbs and a little maraschino.

  • Two scoops of smooth pale tan tea ice cream in a small blue-and-white porcelain bowl on cream linen, beside a tiny dish of loose black tea leaves and a silver teaspoon.
    Howqua’s-Tea Ice Cream

    Desserts & Sweets · 5 hr 5 min total

    Howqua’s-Tea Ice Cream (1844) 

    Howqua’s-tea ice cream from Thomas Masters’s Ice Book of 1844: cream and sugar mixed with a cup of strong black tea and frozen. Howqua was the Western name of a great Canton tea merchant.

  • A small clear glass heaped with granular rosy-pink strawberry water ice on a pale pine table, beside three whole strawberries.
    Strawberry Water Ice

    Drinks, Punches & Ices · 4 hr 30 min total

    Strawberry Water Ice (1844) 

    Strawberry water ice from Thomas Masters’s Ice Book of 1844: strained strawberries, lemon and syrup frozen soft, in the flavor one of London’s first street ice sellers sold most.

What Did Soyer’s Dublin Soup Kitchen Serve in 1847?

  • A plain white bowl of pale soup thick with soft swollen pearl barley, sliced leek, chopped celery leaf and two small cubes of beef, beside a worn tin spoon on a bare scrubbed board.
    Receipt No. 1

    Soups & Broths · 3 hr 55 min total

    Soyer’s Soup No. 1 (1857) 

    Soyer’s Soup No. 1, his famine soup reprinted in 1857: a little beef fried with onion and vegetable trimmings, thickened with flour and pearl barley and simmered three hours.

  • A plain gray enamel bowl of thick, smooth pale yellow cornmeal soup with a few dice of turnip, one small cube of beef and a scatter of black pepper, on a worn gray stone flag.
    No. 2

    Soups & Broths · 2 hr 45 min total

    Soyer’s Soup No. 2 (1857) 

    Soyer’s Soup No. 2, his second receipt for the needy, printed in 1857: maize flour boiled two hours with a little beef and diced turnip, seasoned with garlic, mint and celery.

  • A brown-glazed earthenware bowl of thick pale yellow cornmeal soup with small soft cubes of unpeeled potato and a few dice of turnip, on a plain gray-blue painted board.
    Receipt No. 3

    Soups & Broths · 2 hr 50 min total

    Soyer’s Potato Soup No. 3 (1857) 

    Soyer’s Potato Soup No. 3: his maize flour soup with a pound of diced potatoes boiled in for the last twenty minutes, written for famine families who could get potatoes once a week.

What Did Catherine Dickens Plan for a Winter Dinner Party?

What Was Served at the Dinner Inside the Iguanodon?

  • A white soup tureen with a ladle in it and two shallow white rimmed soup plates of light brown, lightly thickened soup with cubes of braised beef and pink ham, on a white linen tablecloth.
    Mock Turtle

    Soups & Broths · 4 hr total

    Mock Turtle Soup (1846) 

    Mock turtle soup after Alexis Soyer’s 1846 recipe: a light brown soup thickened with a roux, scented with savory, thyme, marjoram, basil and bay, with sherry.

  • Four thick white portions of poached cod, their flakes starting to part, on an oval white platter with sprigs of curly parsley, beside a white sauce boat of creamy oyster sauce with five plump oysters showing, on a white marble slab.
    Cod and Oyster Sauce

    Fish & Seafood · 45 min total

    Cod with Oyster Sauce (1846) 

    Cod with oyster sauce after Alexis Soyer’s 1846 Cabillaud aux Huîtres: poached cod with parsley and a milk sauce of oysters, anchovy and mace in a boat.

What Did Soyer Cook for the Soldiers at Scutari?

  • A wide bowl of thick barley soup with soft diced carrot and turnip, beside a plate of pieces of stewed lamb shoulder cut from the bone.
    Semi-Stewed Mutton and Barley

    Soups & Broths · 3 hr 40 min total

    Semi-Stewed Mutton and Barley (1857) 

    Semi-stewed mutton and barley, Alexis Soyer’s hospital soup from Scutari: mutton or lamb simmered whole with barley, vegetables, salt, sugar and pepper, then thickened with a flour batter.

  • A clear amber beef broth in a plain white cup with a saucer, beside a small fine sieve resting on a bowl.
    Beef Tea

    Soups & Broths · 1 hr 50 min total

    Beef Tea (1857) 

    Beef cooked down with butter, onion and carrot to a pale gravy, then simmered an hour in water and strained: Alexis Soyer’s beef tea from the Scutari hospitals.

  • A baked rice pudding in a shallow oval dish with a golden-brown top, one corner spooned out to show soft rice set in pale custard.
    Rich Rice Pudding

    Desserts & Sweets · 1 hr 20 min total

    Rich Rice Pudding (1857) 

    Alexis Soyer’s rich rice pudding for the hospitals: rice simmered in milk and water with sugar, lemon peel and butter, then set with beaten eggs and baked quickly.

What Was Richmond Cooking in the Year of the Bread Riot?

  • A tall, golden-brown pan loaf of white bread on a wooden board, two slices cut from one end showing a close, soft, very white crumb.
    Rice bread

    Breads & Cakes · 5 hr total

    Rice Bread (1863) 

    Rice bread from the Confederate Receipt Book, printed in Richmond in 1863: a yeast loaf that stretches wheat flour with a cooked rice-flour paste.

  • Small oval corn fritters, golden brown and glossy with butter, on a white ironstone plate beside an empty cast-iron skillet on a wooden table.
    Artificial oysters

    Vegetables & Sides · 40 min total

    Artificial Oysters (1863) 

    Artificial oysters from the Confederate Receipt Book, printed in Richmond in 1863: grated green corn fritters, fried a spoonful at a time to the size of an oyster.

  • A double-crust pie with a golden, slightly rustic top crust on a tin pie plate, one wedge cut out to show a pale, soft, apple-like filling.
    Apple pie without apples

    Desserts & Sweets · 4 hr 10 min total

    Apple Pie without Apples (1863) 

    An apple pie without apples from the Confederate Receipt Book of 1863: soaked crackers sharpened with tartaric acid, butter and nutmeg, in the same book’s potato pastry.

  • A smooth, pure white blancmange turned out of a plain fluted mold onto a white plate, one spoonful taken from the side.
    Rice flour blanc mange

    Desserts & Sweets · 4 hr 35 min total

    Rice Flour Blancmange (1863) 

    A rice flour blancmange from the Confederate Receipt Book, printed in Richmond in 1863: milk thickened with rice flour, sweetened, scented with rose water and molded.

What Was in the 1864 Sanitary Fair Cookbook?

  • Four small hollowed bread rolls fried golden brown, filled with plump halved oysters in a little thin sauce, their crisp lids leaning against them, with fried breadcrumbs scattered around them on a white platter with a slotted spoon at its rim.
    Oyster Loaves

    Fish & Seafood · 40 min total

    Oyster Loaves (1864) 

    Oyster loaves of 1864: small French rolls emptied, fried crisp in clarified butter and filled with oysters stewed in their liquor with white wine, gravy, lemon peel and mace.

  • A whole stewed duck with pale golden skin in a deep earthenware dish, surrounded by small whole white onions, bright green peas and pieces of bacon in a thin brown sauce.
    Stewed Duck and Peas

    Meat & Poultry · 2 hr 45 min total

    Stewed Duck and Peas (1864) 

    Stewed duck and peas from a recipe written as a poem: a whole duck stewed with butter, streaky bacon, twenty small onions, parsley, bay and cloves, finished with green peas.

  • A shallow coconut pudding baked in a puff pastry case in a pie plate, its pale golden top flecked with grated coconut and dusted with white sugar, one wedge cut and drawn a little away, showing a light, close-textured filling.
    Cocoanut Pudding

    Desserts & Sweets · 2 hr 20 min total

    Cocoanut Pudding (1864) 

    A cocoanut pudding of 1864: freshly grated coconut folded into butter, sugar and stiffly beaten egg whites with rose water, wine and brandy, baked on puff pastry and dusted with sugar.

  • Squares of dark brown, dense gingerbread with a flat, slightly shiny top, cut from a buttered rectangular earthenware baking dish, one square lifted out and set beside the dish, showing a close, moist crumb.
    Lafayette Gingerbread

    Breads & Cakes · 1 hr 50 min total

    Lafayette Gingerbread (1864) 

    Lafayette gingerbread of 1864: a dark molasses cake with brown sugar, butter, five eggs, freshly ground cinnamon, allspice and cloves, a great deal of ginger and two lemons.

What Was on the Sweets Table at Lincoln’s Inaugural Ball?

  • Shaggy coconut macaroons, white with pale golden tips, piled on a white plate, with more on a sheet of parchment on a painted wooden table.
    Ornamental Pyramides: Cocoanut

    Desserts & Sweets · 50 min total

    Cocoa-nut Maccaroons (1840) 

    Cocoa-nut maccaroons from Eliza Leslie’s best-selling American cookbook: little balls of grated coconut, sugar and beaten egg white, dusted with sugar and baked quickly.

  • A square white cake under a thin lemon glaze, cut into squares on a round white platter, with two squares on a small plate in front showing the fine white crumb.
    Lady Cake

    Breads & Cakes · 2 hr 45 min total

    Lady Cake (1840) 

    Eliza Leslie’s lady cake, from her 1840 Directions for Cookery: a white almond butter cake raised only by beaten egg whites, baked in a square pan and iced with lemon.

  • A round charlotte russe walled with upright sponge fingers and topped with smooth pale lemon icing, with a wedge on a second plate showing the sponge top, the vanilla-flecked cream and the sponge base.
    Charlotte à la Russe, Vanilla

    Desserts & Sweets · 5 hr 15 min total

    Charlotte Russe (1840) 

    Eliza Leslie’s charlotte russe, from her 1840 Directions for Cookery: vanilla custard and whipped cream set in a straight-sided mold lined with sponge cake, turned out and iced with lemon.

  • A molded block of pale, vanilla-flecked ice cream on a frosted white plate beside two squares of plain cake, with a silver spoon on gray marble.
    Ice Cream: Vanilla

    Desserts & Sweets · 7 hr 5 min total

    Vanilla Ice Cream (1840) 

    Eliza Leslie’s vanilla ice cream, 1840: cream sweetened with vanilla-steeped milk and sugar, churned, then packed into a mold and frozen a second time.

How Was Bread Baked at a Frontier Fort?

  • A tall pan loaf of white bread with a floury golden crust on a wire rack, three slices cut to show a soft, even, pale crumb, beside an old dark iron loaf pan on pale wood.

    Breads & Cakes · 18 hr total

    Army Potato Bread (1862) 

    Army potato bread from Captain Sanderson’s 1862 handbook for the troops: a one-pound loaf raised on an overnight ferment of potatoes, flour and yeast, cut down from an army baker’s method.

  • A blue-rimmed white enamel bowl of thick bean soup, partly mashed, with black pepper, beside an enamel plate with three slices of boiled salt pork and a slice of white bread, and a tin spoon on a worn green painted table.

    Soups & Broths · 11 hr 20 min total

    Pork and Bean Soup (1862) 

    Pork and bean soup from the company kitchen in Sanderson’s 1862 army handbook: navy beans boiled with salt pork, finished with onion, pepper and a dash of vinegar and mashed thick, the pork served on the side.

  • A black cast-iron pot of soaked hardtack layered with boiled salt pork, onion and parsley in a little broth, a tin plate serving with a spoon, and two dry square hardtack biscuits on weathered gray planks.

    Meat & Poultry · 2 hr 30 min total

    Salt Pork and Hard Bread (1896) 

    Salt pork and hard bread from the field-cooking pages of the War Department’s 1896 Manual for Army Cooks: hardtack soaked soft and layered in a pot with boiled salt pork, onions and parsley, then stewed gently.

  • An oval brown earthenware dish of baked bread pudding with a deep brown crusty top and a spoonful taken out, showing a soft pale custard crumb, with a serving on a small plate, on a linen cloth.

    Desserts & Sweets · 1 hr 35 min total

    Baked Bread Pudding (1896) 

    A baked bread pudding from the War Department’s 1896 Manual for Army Cooks: dry crumbs soaked in boiling milk, enriched with egg yolks, butter and a little sugar, lightened with beaten whites and baked brown.

What Was on the Menu at the Suez Canal Opening in 1869?

  • A rolled and tied roast sirloin of beef with a browned crust, partly carved into pink slices, on a large oval pewter platter, with a small jug of thin dark meat juices beside it.
    Roast Beef à l’Anglaise

    Meat & Poultry · 1 hr 55 min total

    Roast Sirloin of Beef (1868) 

    Jules Gouffé’s roast sirloin of beef, 1868: a tied joint roasted plain, with no seasoning before it cooks, and its own juices poured over at the table.

  • A pointed mound of salad on a round white porcelain dish, with small balls of carrot and turnip, diamonds of green bean, pieces of asparagus and diced chicken, partridge and pink salmon, topped with a spoonful of black caviar and ringed by pink prawns, green olives and small gherkins.
    Salade russe

    Fish & Seafood · 1 hr 15 min total

    Russian Salad (1868) 

    Gouffé’s 1868 Russian salad: chicken, partridge, salmon and anchovy with small carrots, turnips, asparagus and beans in oil, vinegar and herbs.

What Did Paris Eat Under Siege in 1870?

  • A soup plate of clear golden beef broth with pieces of carrot, leek, turnip and onion, in front of a platter holding a tied piece of boiled beef with one slice cut, and an enamel stockpot behind.
    a mess of soup made from vegetables and a small quantity of meat

    Soups & Broths · 4 hr 50 min total

    Pot-au-Feu (1868) 

    Jules Gouffé’s everyday pot-au-feu of 1868: a piece of beef and a bone simmered for hours with carrot, onion, leeks, turnip, parsnip and celery into a clear broth, with the boiled beef kept for another meal.

  • Slices of boiled beef under a light brown sauce flecked with chopped gherkin and parsley, in an oval copper dish beside a slice of country bread.
    served up in a sauce piquante

    Meat & Poultry · 40 min total

    Boiled Beef with Sauce Piquante (1868) 

    Boiled beef with sauce piquante from Gouffé’s 1868 Royal Cookery Book: slices from a pot-au-feu warmed in broth under a sharp sauce of shallots, vinegar, gherkins and parsley.

  • Braised quail halves with diced bacon and button mushrooms in a pale white-wine sauce, sprinkled with parsley, in an oval white dish on a marble table, with a carafe of white wine behind.
    a salmi of game

    Meat & Poultry · 40 min total

    Salmi of Quail (1868) 

    A salmi of quail after Jules Gouffé’s quick household salmi of larks of 1868: quail browned with bacon and mushrooms, dusted with flour and finished in hot white wine with parsley.

  • A domed mid-brown plum pudding studded with raisins and currants on a white china dish dusted with sugar, with blue rum flames around its base.
    plum-pudding

    Desserts & Sweets · 4 hr 35 min total

    Plum Pudding with Rum (1868) 

    Jules Gouffé’s plum pudding with rum, 1868: suet, raisins, currants, candied peel, breadcrumbs and apple, mixed with rum, boiled four hours in a mold and flamed with warm rum at the table.

What Did a Total Abstinence Candy Society Eat Instead?

  • Rows of small pale caramel-colored squares of maple cream candy on white parchment on a marble slab, one square broken in two to show its fine, grainy inside, beside a long steel kitchen knife.
    Maple Cream

    Desserts & Sweets · 1 hr 50 min total

    Maple Cream Candy (1884) 

    Maple cream candy after the one a Chicago candy maker sold over the counter in 1884: maple syrup boiled to a soft ball, cooled and stirred until pale and creamy, then set in a pan and cut into squares.

  • Twelve round chocolate-coated creams in rows on waxed paper in an old tin baking sheet, one cut in half to show a smooth white fondant center, with a dinner fork on a dark wooden table.
    Chocolate Cream Drops

    Desserts & Sweets · 14 hr 10 min total

    Chocolate Cream Drops (1884) 

    Balls of soft white fondant dipped in sweet chocolate melted with a little ground cinnamon, after the chocolate cream drops in an 1884 Chicago candy maker’s trade manual.

  • Two scoops of pale pink strawberry ice cream in a footed pressed-glass dish on a linen cloth, with two fresh strawberries and a silver teaspoon beside it.
    Strawberry Ice Cream

    Desserts & Sweets · 6 hr total

    Strawberry Ice Cream (1896) 

    Fannie Merritt Farmer’s strawberry ice cream, from her Boston Cooking-School Cook Book of 1896: fresh berries sugared, mashed and sieved, folded into a light cream base thickened with a little arrowroot.

  • One tall scoop of very pale green ice cream, smooth and without nuts, softening at the base on a blue-and-white transferware plate, with an empty white teacup behind it on a pale pine table.
    Pistachio Ice Cream

    Desserts & Sweets · 6 hr total

    Pistachio Ice Cream (1896) 

    Pistachio ice cream with no pistachios in it: a pale green custard ice cream flavored with vanilla and almond, after Fannie Merritt Farmer’s Boston Cooking-School Cook Book of 1896.

What Did the Southwest’s Tamales Look Like in Print?

  • Two sweet tamales tied in pale corn husks and a third unwrapped and cut in half on its husk, showing ivory corn dough with dark raisins and a streak of cinnamon, on a cream plate beside a heap of raisins on a pale wooden table.
    Tamales de Dulce

    Desserts & Sweets · 2 hr 30 min total

    Tamales de Dulce (1893) 

    Tamales de dulce, sweet corn tamales from New Mexico: masa beaten until it floats, enriched with lard and sugar, filled with ground cinnamon and raisins, tied in husks and steamed, from Vicenta Labadie de Chaves’s recipe of 1893.

  • Three tamales tied in corn husks on a red-brown earthenware plate, a fourth opened on its husk and split to show ivory dough around shredded pork in dark red chile sauce, with a small bowl of the chile pork on a weathered wooden table.
    Tamales de Chile

    Meat & Poultry · 4 hr 25 min total

    Tamales de Chile (1893) 

    Tamales de chile from Vicenta Labadie de Chaves’s New Mexican recipes of 1893: pork cooked in red chile and salt, on the same beaten masa as the sweet tamales they refer back to.

  • A brown-glazed earthenware dish of pale golden, separate-grained rice with pieces of pale chicken and a few whole black peppercorns, a wooden spoon resting in it, on a worn light wooden table.
    Pollo con Arroz

    Meat & Poultry · 1 hr 45 min total

    Pollo con Arroz (1893) 

    Pollo con arroz from Vicenta Labadie de Chaves’s New Mexican recipe of 1893: chicken boiled until tender, folded into rice fried with onion in lard and cooked in the strained broth with whole peppercorns.

What Did a Chafing-Dish Supper Serve?

  • Ten browned mushroom caps, stems removed and hollow side up, on two slices of golden bread glossy with paprika-red oil, on a white plate beside a small silver dish with its lid ajar.
    Mushrooms for “Jim”

    Vegetables & Sides · 20 min total

    Mushrooms on Toast (1896) 

    Mushrooms on toast, the bachelor’s chafing-dish supper from Deshler Welch, 1896: caps browned under a lid in olive oil with paprika, on bread warmed in the same pan.

  • Plump oysters with curled edges, dusted with paprika, in a pale butter broth with bits of celery over slices of toast in a shallow white bowl, with a lemon half beside it.
    Oysters (in any way)

    Fish & Seafood · 20 min total

    Chafing-Dish Oysters (1896) 

    Chafing-dish oysters à la George Trimble Davidson, 1896: oysters warmed in butter and their liquor with celery, paprika, Tabasco, lemon and sherry, poured over hot toast.

What Did People Eat for Breakfast in the 1890s?

  • A dark square metal pan of golden cornbread cut into squares, seven left in the pan and two on a plate beside it showing a fine, even yellow crumb, with a small bowl of butter and a butter knife on a butcher-block counter.
    Corn Bread

    Breads & Cakes · 30 min total

    Golden Corn Cake (1896) 

    Golden corn cake, Fannie Farmer’s sweetened cornbread of 1896: yellow cornmeal, wheat flour, milk and one egg, baked in a shallow pan in twenty minutes.

  • Two slices of golden-brown toast, softened and lying flat in a shallow white scalloped dish of thin, pale milk sauce with a sheen of melted butter, beside a spoon and a blue-and-white check napkin.
    Dipped or Milk toast

    Breads & Cakes · 40 min total

    Milk Toast (1896) 

    Milk toast as Fannie Farmer made it in 1896: dry toast dipped slice by slice in a milk sauce cooked for twenty minutes, then covered with the rest of the sauce.

What Did Klondike Stampeders Eat on the Trail?

  • A deep brown earthenware baking dish of baked navy beans, browned and fairly dry on top, with thin slices of salt pork showing between the beans and a serving spoon resting in the dish.
    Beans and bacon

    Meat & Poultry · 19 hr 15 min total

    Baked Pork and Beans (1896) 

    Baked pork and beans after the War Department’s Manual for Army Cooks, 1896: navy beans soaked overnight, boiled, layered with parboiled salt pork and baked slowly until nearly dry.

  • Nine plain, pale golden biscuits baked touching each other in a dark square metal pan, a tenth split beside it to show a fine white crumb, with a dish of butter and a butter knife.
    Bread and butter

    Breads & Cakes · 29 min total

    Baking-Powder Biscuits (1896) 

    Plain baking-powder biscuits of flour, salt and a little lard, rolled thick and baked close together, from the War Department’s Manual for Army Cooks, 1896.

  • Soft, whole stewed peach halves in a thin amber syrup in a white enamel bowl with a dark blue rim, with a tin spoon beside the bowl.
    Dried peaches

    Desserts & Sweets · 15 hr 10 min total

    Stewed Dried Peaches (1896) 

    Stewed dried peaches from the War Department’s Manual for Army Cooks, 1896: soaked overnight, simmered under a lid, sweetened at the end and served cold.

What Was the ‘Embalmed Beef’ Scandal of 1898?

  • A dented enamel camp kettle of stew with thick slices of soft potato and onion in a thin pale broth, chunks of pale shredding canned beef through it, beside a tin plate with a serving.
    Stew, with canned meats

    Meat & Poultry · 45 min total

    Stew with Canned Meat (1896) 

    A stew with canned meat from the 1896 Manual for Army Cooks: sliced potatoes and onions stewed soft in a covered pot, then canned beef cut up and simmered in for ten minutes.

  • A thick beef stew of large tender cubes of simmered beef with small pieces of potato, carrot and soft tomato in a thick red-brown gravy, in a wide brown stoneware dish with a pewter spoon.
    To stew fresh beef

    Meat & Poultry · 3 hr 30 min total

    Fresh Beef Stew (1896) 

    A fresh beef stew from the 1896 Manual for Army Cooks: stewing beef simmered two hours with bay, then an hour more with potatoes, tomatoes, onions and carrots, kept thick.

  • A white enamel saucepan of soft stewed tomatoes in a thick red sauce flecked with cracker crumbs, beside a few square crackers on a pale linen cloth.
    Stewed tomatoes

    Vegetables & Sides · 1 hr 5 min total

    Stewed Tomatoes (1896) 

    Stewed tomatoes from the army’s 1896 Manual for Army Cooks: peeled ripe tomatoes stewed gently with butter, salt, pepper and a little onion, then thickened with rolled cracker.

  • A round cake of finely minced beef and potato with a deep brown crisp underside, turned out whole onto a warm white ironstone plate, one wedge cut away to show the soft minced inside.
    Beef hash

    Meat & Poultry · 45 min total

    Dry Beef Hash (1896) 

    Dry beef hash from the 1896 Manual for Army Cooks: cold cooked beef, potato and parboiled onion minced, moistened with stock and fried in dripping until brown underneath.

Was Chicken Marengo Really Cooked on the Battlefield?

More recipes

  • A white soup plate with a gilt rim holding smooth, pale green cream of asparagus soup with five green asparagus tips laid on the surface, on a white damask cloth beside a silver soup spoon.
    Crème d’asperges à la Dumas

    Soups & Broths · 1 hr 10 min total

    Cream of Asparagus Soup (1894) 

    Delmonico’s cream of asparagus from Ranhofer’s Epicurean (1894): asparagus fried in butter, sieved with broth and velouté, finished with egg yolks and cream.

  • Four poached salmon steaks of different shapes with pale coral flesh in the middle of a long white platter, ringed by thick round slices of lobster tail with red shells, each with a thin brown wine sauce spooned over it, and a white sauce boat of the same sauce beside the platter, on a pale linen cloth.
    Saumon à la Victoria

    Fish & Seafood · 1 hr 30 min total

    Salmon à la Victoria (1894) 

    Salmon slices cooked in a ham and vegetable stock with red wine, the stock reduced to a buttered sauce, served with lobster: Ranhofer’s Epicurean, 1894.

  • A clear golden stock in a white china bowl beside a plate of pieces of boiled veal on the bone with chopped parsley and a pat of butter.
    Stock for Clear Soup. First Lesson

    Soups & Broths · 1 hr 30 min total

    Soyer’s Stock for Clear Soup (1854) 

    Alexis Soyer’s first lesson in A Shilling Cookery for the People, 1854: veal, bacon and onion stirred down to a pale gravy, then simmered in water, skimmed and strained into a clear stock.

  • A brown earthenware pot with its lid set aside, full of thick split pea soup with pieces of beef and carrot, beside a round loaf on a wooden table.
    A baked Soup

    Soups & Broths · 3 hr 25 min total

    Baked Soup for the Poor (1806) 

    Maria Rundell’s baked soup for the poor, 1806: sliced meat, split peas, a little rice, onions and carrots, covered close in an earthen pot and baked slowly, made to give away.

  • Folded white fillets of sole on an oval silver platter under an ivory cream sauce, with a heap of poached oysters, small white button mushrooms, squares of pink lobster and thin black truffle slices in the center.
    Suprême de barbue à la normande

    Fish & Seafood · 1 hr 25 min total

    Fillets of Sole à la Normande (1894) 

    Agnes Marshall’s fillets of sole à la Normande, about 1894: cooked under buttered paper, in cream sauce made on a spiced fish stock, with oysters, mushrooms, lobster and truffle.

  • Twelve small soft white marzipan stars, hearts and rounds laid out on a parchment-lined baking sheet, with a small blue-and-white bowl of blanched almonds and a rolling pin.
    Marzipan

    Desserts & Sweets · 3 hr 40 min total

    Lübeck Marzipan (1858) 

    Henriette Davidis’s Lübeck marzipan: almonds ground with orange flower water, stirred with sugar over low heat, rolled and cut into small soft white shapes.

  • A tall, golden-brown steamed pudding turned out onto a plain white plate, its sides darkened with sugar and its top dusted with fine white sugar, one wedge cut away to show raisins, currants, pale pieces of apple and chopped almond in an open, cake-like crumb.
    Plum Pudding

    Desserts & Sweets · 5 hr 35 min total

    Plum Pudding (1894) 

    Agnes Marshall’s plum pudding of suet, raisins, currants, sultanas, chopped apple, almonds and peel, raised with baking powder and steamed in a basin, about 1894.

  • Long thin strips of pale green avocado on a cold white plate over a few butter lettuce leaves, glossy with oil and vinegar dressing flecked with pepper.
    Alligator Pears, French Dressing

    Vegetables & Sides · 40 min total

    Alligator Pear Salad (1899) 

    Alligator pear salad, the 1899 name for avocado: long thin strips served very cold with French dressing and a few drops of onion juice, after De Loup (1899) and Farmer (1910).

What did people eat in the 1800s?

It depended on where and who. A Paris household’s everyday dish was Pot-au-Feu, beef and vegetables simmered to a clear broth with the beef kept for the next day. The poor of Dublin and Spitalfields queued for soup, while a grand supper such as the Suez Canal opening’s served English roast beef, Russian Salad and asparagus with oil and vinegar.

What did soldiers eat in the 1800s?

Bread, soup and stew from the ration. Soyer’s Mutton and Barley Soup fed the Scutari wards in 1855, the army’s 1862 method baked Army Potato Bread, and the 1896 Manual for Army Cooks gives Fresh Beef Stew and a stew of canned beef, the meat at the center of the 1898 embalmed beef scandal.

What did people eat on the trail?

Beans and bacon, bread and butter, dried fruit and coffee. In August 1897 a tent hotel on the Dyea Trail served exactly that for 75 cents, and much the same plate cost $3.50 in Dawson that winter. Our Baked Pork and Beans, Baking-Powder Biscuits and Stewed Dried Peaches make the meal.

What they drank with it

Forgotten Drink, our sister site, follows the century in the glass, from switchel and cider at harvest and negus and orgeat at the ball to saloon whiskey and soda-fountain phosphates, in its 1800s drinks (opens in a new tab).