Favorite Dishes : a Columbian Autograph Souvenir Cookery Book — Key Ideas to Explore

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Authors: Shuman, Carrie V. Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2004 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Cooking, American Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 43,922

Reading time 191 min

Text sections 5

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Source: Project Gutenberg record #6703

A 1893 cookbook compiled by Carrie V. Shuman, featuring over 300 autograph recipes and 23 portraits contributed by the Board of Lady Managers of the World's Columbian Exposition, offering a snapshot of American domestic cookery and women's networks at the turn of the century.

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Produced by Steve Schulze, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This file was produced from images generously made available by the CWRU Preservation Department Digital Library

A COLUMBIAN AUTOGRAPH SOUVENIR COOKERY BOOK.

OVER THREE HUNDRED AUTOGRAPH RECIPES, AND TWENTY-THREE PORTRAITS, CONTRIBUTED SPECIALLY BY THE BOARD OF LADY MANAGERS OF THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION

COMPILED BY CARRIE V. SHUMAN, CHICAGO, 1893

Favorite Dishes is due to the fact that the noble women who have labored for the best interests of mankind and womankind, in the development of the Women's Department of the World's Columbian Exposition, found time to contribute this collection of recipes, as a means of enabling the compiler to open an additional avenue for women to provide the necessary funds to pay the expenses of a visit to the Exposition.

The compiler is most happy to congratulate the Lady Managers and Lady Alternates of every State and Territory of the United States, including Alaska, upon the fact that their prompt responses to the statement of the object of this publication bring them together in this place as the exponents of the Art of Cookery, at this stage of its best development in this country, and as cheerful assistants of women who need the encouragement and blessings of their more fortunate sisters.

It is to be regretted that all of the letters of commendation cannot be published, but as they would alone constitute a fair sized volume, only a few have been inserted.

Tastes differ as to which of the many kinds of tea is the best, and yet the general use of English Breakfast and Oolong warrants the recommending of these two teas as standard. The Chinese have taught us the correct idea of tea drinking; to have it always freshly made, with the water boiling, and to steep the leaves at table.

The tea table can be easily equipped now with a boiler in silver or brass, with alcohol lamp underneath; a tea caddy in china or silver, with teapot and cups before the hostess.

No set formula can be prescribed for quantity to each cup, but it averages one-half teaspoon of tea leaves.

Heat teapot by pouring in some hot water, let it stand a few moments and empty in a bowl for hot water on the table. Place tea leaves required in the pot, pour in boiling water, instantly replace the lid and let it steep a few minutes. It is then ready to serve. Use a small amount of sugar and no cream, as both cream and sugar detract from the correct flavor of tea.

For "Five O'clock Tea" a "teaball" is recommended. The teaball is convenient at all times, but especially upon an occasion when guests are coming and going. Keep the water on tea table constantly boiling and the teaball partly filled with tea leaves. A cup of tea can then be brewed quickly by dropping the ball into the cup, pouring boiling water over it, holding it in the cup (slightly moving the teaball around through the water), until the color is satisfactory to the drinker's taste. In this way three or four cups of tea can be served quickly and the flavor of the tea leaves preserved. If agreeable to the taste, a slice of lemon can be added to each cup and a few drops of arrack to make tea _à la Russe_.

To make good Chocolate is not easy. One's own taste must be the guide regarding strength. Soften and smooth the chocolate with cold water in a jar on the range; pour in boiling water, then add milk, stirring constantly. Serve as soon as it boils. When each cup is filled with the chocolate, place two tablespoons of whipped cream on top.

Cocoa has the same flavor as chocolate, but it is richer and more oily.

When made from the ground it can be prepared at the table, but it is better boiled a short time in water and thinned with hot milk.

Made from the shells it requires a longer boiling. First wet two ounces of the cocoa shells with a little cold water and pour over them one quart of boiling water. Boil for one hour and a half; strain and add one quart of milk, also a few drops of the essence of vanilla.

When it comes to a boil take immediately from the fire and serve.

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This volume collects over three hundred autograph recipes contributed by the Board of Lady Managers of the World's Columbian Exposition, along with twenty-three portraits. Compiled by Carrie V. Shuman in 1893, it was conceived as a fundraising tool to help women cover travel expenses to the Exposition. The recipes are attributed to individual contributors, each identified by state and official title, lending the collection a documentary character as much as a culinary one.

The excerpts reveal a strong emphasis on pickling and preserving—cabbage pickle, picalilly, chow-chow, spiced gooseberries—using precise ratios of sugar, vinegar, and spices. The instructions are methodical, often specifying multiple days of brining or draining. The tone is practical and confident, with occasional personal asides, such as the note that spiced gooseberries can be adapted by putting the fruit through a colander.

Preserving as a Domestic Art

The recipes for pickles and preserves dominate the excerpts, reflecting a kitchen culture centered on extending the life of seasonal produce. The cabbage pickle from Mrs. Carrington Mason of Tennessee requires a three-day brine, a six-hour fresh-water soak, and a final scalding with turmeric in a muslin bag. The chow-chow from Mrs. H.K. Ingram of Florida calls for chopping vegetables or running them through a sausage grinder, then draining in a thin bag for twelve hours. These processes are labor-intensive and demand careful timing.

The spiced gooseberry recipe from Mrs. Amey M. Starkweather of Rhode Island offers two versions—one yielding nine pounds of fruit, another for four quarts—showing an awareness of household scale. The instruction to bottle immediately before it cools suggests a concern for proper sealing. Across these recipes, the repeated use of muslin bags for spices, stone jars for layering, and glass jars for final storage indicates a standardized preservation toolkit.

The Social Architecture of the Recipe Book

Each recipe is signed with the contributor's name, state, and official role—such as “Lady Manager” or “Alternate Lady Manager.” This framing turns the cookbook into a directory of women involved in the Exposition's Women's Department. The compiler's preface notes that the contributors' prompt responses bring them together “as the exponents of the Art of Cookery,” positioning domestic skill as a shared credential.

The inclusion of portraits further personalizes the collection. The recipes themselves are not merely instructions but autographs—personal endorsements of a particular method. The tea section, attributed to no single contributor, offers general advice on equipment and technique, including the use of a “teaball” for five o'clock tea. This blend of signed recipes and unsigned editorial content creates a layered authorship, where individual expertise and collective authority coexist.

Precision and Variation in Ingredient Ratios

The recipes consistently specify exact weights and measures: five pounds of sugar to nine pounds of gooseberries, one and a half pounds of sugar to one peck of green tomatoes, ten pounds of peaches to five pounds of sugar. Spices are measured by the tablespoon or ounce, and often combined in muslin bags for easy removal. The mustard chow-chow from Mrs. Alice B. Castleman of Kentucky calls for a half-pound box of Coleman's mustard, a branded ingredient that signals both precision and availability.

Yet variation is also present. The spiced gooseberry recipe offers two sets of proportions, and the cabbage pickle includes a note that turmeric should be added in a thin muslin bag—a detail that affects both flavor and color. The picalilly from Mrs. Ella Ray Miller of Idaho uses whole spices in bags, while other recipes use ground spices. These differences suggest that contributors adapted methods to local preferences or available ingredients, making the collection a record of regional variation within a national framework.

Readers approaching this cookbook should attend to the tension between uniformity and individuality: the recipes share a common structure of ingredients and steps, yet each bears the signature of a specific woman from a specific state. The book can be read as a network of domestic expertise, where pickling and preserving serve as both practical skills and social currency. The excerpts offer only a partial view—primarily pickles and preserves—so the full range of dishes remains to be discovered.

That rainy afternoon, I kept returning to the 1893 Favorite Dishes, its autograph recipes whispering of another century’s kitchens. The smallness of their portions — cups, not quarts — felt intimate. Later, almost without thinking, I pulled down Miss Parloa’s guide: Miss Parloa's Young Housekeeper Designed Especially to Aid Beginners; Economical Receipts for Those Who Are Cooking for Two or Three — A Reader’s Guide. It was like overhearing a quiet, practical aunt answer the question nobody had quite asked aloud.