Vintage food?

[niektete.livejournal.com]

What ho, what ho, what ho! I've got a question for you all.

Does anyone know about any cakes, confections, small dishes etc that were popular/common in the wonderful Jazz Age? I'm hosting a theme party (yes, I was watching J&W when I got the idea), and we need stuff to eat along with the champagne ^^ I'm keeping it all as period-appropriate as possible, so we'll all be wearing costumes and listening to Radio Dismuke and smoking cigarettes in long mouthpieces and what have you. (I might post photos) But I need ideas for the food/cakes, and maybe for decorations, if anyone's got a clue. I don't, sadly :S

Researchers/history geeks, come forth ^^

Comments

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

I did this a couple of years ago, and found this page (http://www.dinnerandamurder.com/themes/1920s.htm) pretty helpful. It covers everything - food, drinks, music, clothes - and includes lots of links to pages with more information.

In the end the food I put together was as follows: prawn vol-au-vents, mushroom vol-au-vents, cucumber and watercress sandwiches, cheese straws, boiled asparagus, celery stuffed with crabmeat, marinated artichoke hearts, cheese canapés, anchovy canapés, devilled eggs, cocktail sausages, crudités with a dip, macaroons, chocolate biscuits and fruit salad.

And you can see pictures of how we got on here (http://pics.livejournal.com/purple_pen/gallery/000161zq?page=1).

[purplefluffycat.livejournal.com]

Sounds great fun! (and by coincidence, I'm also thinking about having a party along those lines). Here are some links that might help:

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/494071.html

http://www.foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.html#1920s

http://www.leitesculinaria.com/writings/features/dining4.html

PurpleFluffyCat x

[thirstyrobot.livejournal.com]

I found Easy Entertaining (http://books.google.com/books?id=SfUpAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=easy+entertaining&lr=&as_brr=1&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPP1,M1) from 1917 on Google books. A little early, but it's got recipes and what all. Also a random volume of American Cookery (http://books.google.com/books?id=PF4BAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=cookery&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=1900&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1930&as_brr=1&as_pt=ALLTYPES) from 1921-22, and it looks like there are probably a good many other volumes too. (The table of contents links don't work very well, but typing in the page number does.)

Now I don't necessarily recommend actually cooking something from a vintage recipe because it just assumes you know stuff like what temperature to bake a cake at, but they might be good inspiration and I'm sure you can find modern versions.

[notchka88.livejournal.com]

Although I love old cookbooks and cooking (I'm not anywhere near Anatole's superbness), I find them quite trying. The recipe instructions are a little daunting because they're not very precise and the lack of pictures is hard to contend with because I have the attention span of a 2 year old. However, if something you make for your party is really good you should definitely share!

Are the things Wodehouse attributes to Anatole actual meals or just made up? My French isn't too too bad but I always get stuck on a part of the name. If they are actual things or resembling actual things then perhaps they can be googled.

[kakareen.livejournal.com]

And I'm remembering something from an interview with Stephen Fry about his movie, Bright Young Things, and how much more creative and enthusiastic the kids were about their parties:

"Oh! I have a fantastic idea! What if all the food was blue?"

Probably not helpful. ^_^;;

But, maybe that is the right angle to be heading at it from. Be enthusiastic, have a 'Yes, let's try it!' attitude, and that will help with authenticity.

[kakareen.livejournal.com]

Come to think of it, watching Bright Young Things may be a good thing to go with.

[squirrelbandit.livejournal.com]

nesselrode pudding was popular