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The Golden Age Cook Book
Excerpt from The Golden Age Cook Book
Lately I have been in the city of Chicago-one of the greatest slaughter  houses of the world  where the slaughter men,who are employed from early morn till late at night in the killing of thousands of these hapless creatures, are made a class practically apart from their fellow-men; they are marked outby the police as the most dangerous part of the community; amongst them are committed most crimes of violence, and the most ready use of the knife is found. One day l was speaking to an authority on this subject, and I asked him how it was that he knew so decidedly that most of the murders and the crimes with the knife were perpetrated by that particular class of men, and his answer was suggestive, although horrible. He 'there is a peculiar turn of the knife which men learn to use in the slaughter-house, for, as the living creatures are brought to them by machinery, these men slit their throats as they pass by. That twist of the wrist is the characteristic of most crimes with the knife committed amongst our Chicago population.' That struck me at once as both a horrible and significant fact. What right have people to condemn other men to a trade that makes them so readily take to the knife in anger; which marks them out as specially brutalized  brutes amongst their fellow  men? Being constantly in the sight and the smell of blood, their whole nature is coarsened; accustomed to kill thousands of creatures, they lose all sense of reverence for sentient life, they grow indifferent to the suffering they contin ually see around them; accustomed to inflict pain, they grow callous to the sight of pain; accustomed to kill swiftly, and sometimes not even waiting until the creature is dead before the skin is stripped from it, their nerves become coarsened, hardened, and brutalized, and they are less men as men because they are slaughterers of animals. And everyone who eats flesh meat has part in that brutalization everyone who uses what they provide is guilty of this degradation of his fellow-men.
Lately I have been in the city of Chicago-one of the greatest slaughter  houses of the world  where the slaughter men,who are employed from early morn till late at night in the killing of thousands of these hapless creatures, are made a class practically apart from their fellow-men; they are marked outby the police as the most dangerous part of the community; amongst them are committed most crimes of violence, and the most ready use of the knife is found. One day l was speaking to an authority on this subject, and I asked him how it was that he knew so decidedly that most of the murders and the crimes with the knife were perpetrated by that particular class of men, and his answer was suggestive, although horrible. He 'there is a peculiar turn of the knife which men learn to use in the slaughter-house, for, as the living creatures are brought to them by machinery, these men slit their throats as they pass by. That twist of the wrist is the characteristic of most crimes with the knife committed amongst our Chicago population.' That struck me at once as both a horrible and significant fact. What right have people to condemn other men to a trade that makes them so readily take to the knife in anger; which marks them out as specially brutalized  brutes amongst their fellow  men? Being constantly in the sight and the smell of blood, their whole nature is coarsened; accustomed to kill thousands of creatures, they lose all sense of reverence for sentient life, they grow indifferent to the suffering they contin ually see around them; accustomed to inflict pain, they grow callous to the sight of pain; accustomed to kill swiftly, and sometimes not even waiting until the creature is dead before the skin is stripped from it, their nerves become coarsened, hardened, and brutalized, and they are less men as men because they are slaughterers of animals. And everyone who eats flesh meat has part in that brutalization everyone who uses what they provide is guilty of this degradation of his fellow-men.
182 pages, Paperback
First published July 21, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 24, 2020
I've had this public domain vintage cookbook on my kindle for a while but this weekend was the first time I read it throughout. There's so much that I really like about it. It's from 1898 and is one of the first vegetarian cookbooks that was written in the United States.
(Side notes for anybody as interested as I was: The author felt very strongly about the rights of animals and children, writing about the benefits of taking up a "bloodless diet" for health and for the animals. She includes nutritional information about protein from "Dr. Alcott," a reference to Louisa May Alcott's father, who was a big vegan advocate of the day and raised the Alcotts as vegans. I was so intrigued by Mrs. Latham Dwight that I looked her up and found out that her husband made his fortune as a stockbroker and quartz miner in the time of the California gold rush. His brother went on to become the governor of California. Mr. Latham was also vegetarian but sadly died in his early 40's and she went on to marry again and also became a noted watercolor artist. Mr. Latham left the family so financially secure that they spent their lives trying to do good with their money. Two of their three children established a charity in their parents' name that exists to this day -- The Latham Foundation -- in order to keep the kindness of their parents going. They are especially interested in funding programs that use animals as service companions and similar causes.)
On to the cookbook -- it is grouped by chapter into types of dishes like breads, vegetables and desserts. It does rely heavily on eggs and dairy, so it will be of limited use to vegans. It is written in the standard style of the time, meaning the recipes are generally one short paragraph and the ingredients are included in the text. Sometimes measurements like gills are used instead of cups and tablespoons, or measurements like "a lump of butter the size of a walnut." I have no problem with this (you can easily look up the amount of a gill, I have in the past) and I like cooking from this kind of simple recipe, but it may be challenging for new cooks. You do need to know things like that a slow oven will be around 325 and otherwise assume it's about 350.
Most of the ingredients called for can still be easily sourced -- eggs, cream, bread crumbs, flour, standard vegetables and fruits, etc. A few more wild foods are used like gooseberries and jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) but not many, showing that the author had traditional English roots in her cooking background and didn't realize how many tasty foods were all around her like elderberries and ramps. She also doesn't use wild mushrooms, some of which (like chicken of the woods and morels) can be excellent vegetarian staples. The recipes are not terribly healthy, relying a lot on wheat, rice and dairy, and also using lots of boiling that reduces the nutritional content of veggies. There are a few recipes that I made a note to try. It's a great basic cookbook for things like rice pudding, pies and old fashioned salad dressing. The biggest appeal for me is the wonderful glimpse into the past and into this remarkable lady's world.
(Side notes for anybody as interested as I was: The author felt very strongly about the rights of animals and children, writing about the benefits of taking up a "bloodless diet" for health and for the animals. She includes nutritional information about protein from "Dr. Alcott," a reference to Louisa May Alcott's father, who was a big vegan advocate of the day and raised the Alcotts as vegans. I was so intrigued by Mrs. Latham Dwight that I looked her up and found out that her husband made his fortune as a stockbroker and quartz miner in the time of the California gold rush. His brother went on to become the governor of California. Mr. Latham was also vegetarian but sadly died in his early 40's and she went on to marry again and also became a noted watercolor artist. Mr. Latham left the family so financially secure that they spent their lives trying to do good with their money. Two of their three children established a charity in their parents' name that exists to this day -- The Latham Foundation -- in order to keep the kindness of their parents going. They are especially interested in funding programs that use animals as service companions and similar causes.)
On to the cookbook -- it is grouped by chapter into types of dishes like breads, vegetables and desserts. It does rely heavily on eggs and dairy, so it will be of limited use to vegans. It is written in the standard style of the time, meaning the recipes are generally one short paragraph and the ingredients are included in the text. Sometimes measurements like gills are used instead of cups and tablespoons, or measurements like "a lump of butter the size of a walnut." I have no problem with this (you can easily look up the amount of a gill, I have in the past) and I like cooking from this kind of simple recipe, but it may be challenging for new cooks. You do need to know things like that a slow oven will be around 325 and otherwise assume it's about 350.
Most of the ingredients called for can still be easily sourced -- eggs, cream, bread crumbs, flour, standard vegetables and fruits, etc. A few more wild foods are used like gooseberries and jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) but not many, showing that the author had traditional English roots in her cooking background and didn't realize how many tasty foods were all around her like elderberries and ramps. She also doesn't use wild mushrooms, some of which (like chicken of the woods and morels) can be excellent vegetarian staples. The recipes are not terribly healthy, relying a lot on wheat, rice and dairy, and also using lots of boiling that reduces the nutritional content of veggies. There are a few recipes that I made a note to try. It's a great basic cookbook for things like rice pudding, pies and old fashioned salad dressing. The biggest appeal for me is the wonderful glimpse into the past and into this remarkable lady's world.
May 16, 2022
✔️ Published in 1898.
Though I would most likely not try the majority of these recipes included in The Golden Age Cook Book, this is an entertaining work to read. There are many odd-to-me meals and concoctions, and there are a few that sound good enough to attempt.
For example: Cream of Lima Beans, Cream of Lettuce, Cream of Chestnuts. Then there is Parsnip Croquettes with Walnuts. If that does not stimulate the appetite, here is Pineapple and Celery Salad.
This might be good:
And to top everything off:
The Golden Age Cook Book is interesting, and Henrietta Latham Dwight presented it well.
🟣Kindle version.
Though I would most likely not try the majority of these recipes included in The Golden Age Cook Book, this is an entertaining work to read. There are many odd-to-me meals and concoctions, and there are a few that sound good enough to attempt.
For example: Cream of Lima Beans, Cream of Lettuce, Cream of Chestnuts. Then there is Parsnip Croquettes with Walnuts. If that does not stimulate the appetite, here is Pineapple and Celery Salad.
This might be good:
Stuffed Dates. Wash the dates as in the other recipes, drain in a colander and shake from time to time until they are dry. Stone them and fill with blanched almonds, or chopped nuts or cocoanut grated.
And to top everything off:
Ladies’ Locks Filled with Strawberries. Roll the puff paste thin, cut in strips an inch wide and about twelve inches long; wind these around the forms overlapping the paste as it is wound. Brush over with beaten egg and bake on the forms. When baked slip the forms out, fill with strawberries prepared as for strawberry shortcake.
The Golden Age Cook Book is interesting, and Henrietta Latham Dwight presented it well.
🟣Kindle version.
April 11, 2018
Public domain vegetarian (decidedly non-vegan) cookbook. I am not a fan of the organization/layout and did not find the book healthy (as a mostly paleo eater the grains, milk and cheese were problematic).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews