Old World Foods New World Families

OLD WORLD FOODS FOR NEW WORLD FAMILIES A H a n d b o o k PREPARED BY L e l ia M . M cG u ir e , M . S. M e r r il l -P a l m e r S c h o o l P u blish ed by the S chool 71 F erry A v e n u e , E ast D etro it, M ich igan The Questing Cook. A bundle of good recipes from foreign kitchens. By R uth A. Jeremiah G ottfried. Cambridge: Washburn & Thomas, 1927, pp. 380. $3.00. One hundred and twenty-eight recipes, “the booty that one casual adventurer in foreign kitchens found practical to bring home and too tempting to leave behind;” mostly bourgeois delicacies in family quanti ties, from half a dozen European countries, with a section from the Near and Far East. The index is conveniently arranged in tripli cate—alphabetical, by the place of the dish in the usual courses, and by its chief ingredi ents. / y \ i r From Ewing Galloway, N. Y. T h e B eauty of t h e I m m em orial T ask WOMEN OF A FARM VILLAGE IN SARDINIA BAKING PASTRY AT A PRIMITIVE OVEN OLD WORLD FOODS FOR NEW WORLD FAMILIES A H a n d b o o k PREPARED BY L e l ia M . M cG u ir e , M . S. M e r r il l -P a l m e r S chool P u b lish e d by the S chool 71 F erry A v e n u e , E ast D etroit, M ich igan E dited by D orothy T yler C o p y rig h t 1931 By the M errill-Palmer Motherhood and Home Training School JSorfc @afttmore (press BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. FOREWORD Since the beginning of its work the Merrill-Palmer School has been interested in the women of foreign birth resident in Detroit, and in their home problems. One of the many adjustments these women are called upon to make in their new surroundings relates to food selection and preparation, and this problem they have often discussed with us. We soon realized that this was a channel through which they could offer a service to their adopted country in suggesting variations in the American dietary. This handbook is the result of that realization. We are most grateful to the many women who have contributed to this compilation. We offer it to the public in the hope that it will be found both useful and interesting. Since 1924 the Merrill-Palmer staff has included an instructor, Miss Lelia McGuire, whose special function has been to consider the home problems of the foreign-bom woman in our community. It is through her interest and understanding and her untiring energy and enthusiasm that these women have been able to offer their contribution to other American homes. E d na N oble W h it e D irector, M errill-P almer S chool iii CONTENTS PAGE Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 Armenia .................................................................................................... 3 Bulgaria ...................................................................................................... 11 Croatia.......................................................................................................... 14 En g l a n d ....................................................................................................... 18 Finland ........................................................................................................ 23 Greece .......................................................................................................... 29 Hu n g a r y ....................................................................................................... 33 Italy .............................................................................................................. 41 Mexico ......................................................................................................... 47 Roumania ........................................................................................................... 51 Russia .......................................................................................................... 56 Sy r ia .............................................................................................................. 63 A S e le c te d L is t of* R e f e r e n c e s .............................................................. 68 Index ............................................................................................................ 73 Y INTRODUCTION The material in this handbook is the result of a program with foreign-born women begun at the Merrill-Palmer School in 1925. Working with various community agencies in Detroit, the School has attempted to give Detroit women of foreign birth or foreign- born parentage, through an exchange of ideas, a better insight into the problem of adjusting their food habits to the American situa tion. A knowledge of the dietary habits of different peoples is of course essential to the person who wishes to be of help to women of other countries in these matters. This knowledge the author, who is in charge of the work at the School, has attempted to gain by inviting women of many different nationalities to come to the School to prepare and discuss meals characteristic of their countries. The information concerning the food materials, menus, and recipes of these nationalities thus secured is presented in this hand book in the belief that it will be useful to many teachers of nu trition, nurses, dietitians, visiting housekeepers, and others who work with people from other countries. The author believes that many of these dishes could profitably be added to our American dietary, giving it greater variety. It is interesting to note that many of these peoples prepare foods ac cording to methods now recommended by food authorities. Meats, for example, are usually broiled or roasted, and vegetables are baked or cooked with little or no water. It is believed that many of the nationalities whose food habits are discussed in the handbook are those concerning whom little infor mation of this kind has been available. However, it has not been possible to include sections on the foods of the people of all the many nationalities living in Detroit. Though all the recipes in cluded have been tested, it is probable that any method of secur ing material of this kind is subject to error, and the author re grets any inaccuracies. It should be noted also that, in general, all Central European people have similar methods of preparing food, and, further, that Southern European people have been influenced in their dietary habits by the people from the Near East; so that 1 2 Old World Foods for New World Families it is impossible to say that any one dish originated with or is used exclusively by any one group. The International Institute of Detroit has cooperated through out the course of the study in bringing the author into touch with women of various nationalities, and in allowing their workers of foreign nationalities to assist in collecting material for the hand book. Members of the Cosmopolitan Women’s Club have given indispensable assistance in preparing many of the dishes and sup plying much of the information included. Women of the particular nationalities represented have written the introductions to the vari ous sections of the handbook; their names are given and their assistance is acknowledged at the proper places in the text. ARM ENIA * The valleys and plateaus of Asia Minor are very fertile, and accordingly fine-flavored vegetables of every description, and often of unusual size, are found in abundance. From early times an im portant occupation of the people has been the grazing of sheep, and it is natural, therefore, to find the diet of the people in this region—especially those in the towns and villages of the interior— composed principally of vegetables prepared with lamb. Such vegetables as tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers are stuffed with chopped lamb, flavored with onion and herbs; they are also cooked as a stew with lamb. Eggplant is prepared in a dozen or more different ways. Many herbs, such as mint and parsley, are native to the soil and are used as flavoring. Rice, cooked with meat stock or butter, forms a staple food. Wheat, called bourlgour, is also used. Fruit, uncooked or stewed, forms a large part of the daily diet. Milk is used freely, and in the form of matzoon f (fer mented milk) is a part of the daily diet. People living on the sea- coast use a great deal of olive oil, and those in the interior a great deal of cut beef fat. T ypical F ood M aterials Meats—chicken, lamb. Vegetables—artichokes, cabbage, cucumbers, dried beans, eggplant, endive, grape leaves, green peppers, leeks, lettuce, okra, onions, squash, string beans, tomatoes. Fruits—apricots, red and black cherries, dates, figs, grapes, mulberries, muskmelon, pears, plums, quinces, ripe olives, watermelon. Fats—olive oil, cut beef fat, butter. Cereals—wheat (bourlgour), rice. * For this introduction the author is indebted to Elise Russian, f “ Matzoon is a fermented milk in which two kinds of fermentation are prominent. One is lactic acid and the other caused by the growth of yeast. It is of course wild yeast, and not a cultivated pure strain. Matzoon contains both lactic acid and alcohol, the yeast forming alcohol.” Journal of Home Economics, February, 1921, page 87. 3 4 Old World Foods jor New World Families Nuts—almonds, filberts, pine nuts, pistachio nuts, pump kin seeds, walnuts. Milk—cow’s and goat’s. Cheese. M ethods of P reparation Meat—broiled on skewers (shish); roasted; first browned, then cooked with vegetables. Vegetables—cooked with meat; cooked with fat or olive oil (served cold when cooked with olive oil). Cereals—rice cooked in meat broth; bourlgour cooked

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