America Eats Tavern Menu

Oyster

mary randolph, the virginia housewife, 1838.

Gooseberry

mrs f. l. gillette and hugo ziemann, the white house cookbook, 1887.

Anchovy

eliza leslie, directions for cookery, 1837.

Blueberry

maria parloa, miss parloa’s new cook book, 1880.

Mushroom

catherine beecher, miss beecher’s domestic receipt book, 1846.

Tomato

lydia maria child, the frugal housewife, 1830 the grandmother of the heinz tomato ketchup.

Blackberry

mrs e. f. haskell, the housekeeper’s encyclopedia, 1861.

Jack Daniel’s

lynchburg, tennessee, 1866.

Abalone

with butter-pepper air, bourbon worcestershire, (john steinbeck, cannery row, monterey, 1945), abalone was an abundant, delicious california seafood which was decimated by over-fishing in less than a

Vermicelli Prepared Like Pudding

(philadelphia, 1802), the grandfather of today’s mac ‘n’ cheese was first written down by lewis fresnaye, a refugee from the french revolution, one of america’s first commercial pasta-makers, fresnay

Hush Puppies

with homemade corn butter and american sturgeon caviar, a southern fisherman’s favorite, fried over an open fire with the leftovers to keep the dogs quiet, at some point, humans figured the corn cake

Pickled Sturgeon With Caviar

(mary randolph, the virginia housewife, 1838), the first regional american cookbook included several incredible pickles, including this fish --- now prized, but originally served to slaves. in the la

Crab With Old Bay Air, Out Of The Shell

(Baltimore, 1940), Spice merchant Gustav Brunn escaped Nazi Germany with a hand-cranked grinder in his suitcase. He created Old Bay in 1940 for Maryland’s beloved crabs and the recipe remains unchang

Fried Chicken With Catsup

(gordonsville, virginia, 1869), deep-fried foods, first introduced by spanish and portugese slave-traders, are the living history that links the south and the mediterranean, during the civil war, wom

Baby Corn On The Cob With Brown Butter

native americans taught the colonists how to survive by growing and harvesting corn. now corn is the most widely grown crop in the americas, this sweet baby corn, from the best farming co-op near the

Buffalo Wings

(frank and teressa’s, anchor bar, buffalo, 1964), a late night inspiration by teressa belissimo to impress her bar-tending son and his hungry friends. rather than throw the wings into a stock, teress

Shrimp Remoulade & Fried Green Tomatoes

(francois tanty, french cooking for every home, adapted to american requirements, 1893), tanty was chef to napoleon iii and the russian czar before he came to america, and this dish is inspired by bo

Shrimp ‘N’ Anson Mills Grits

(jamestown, 1607), native americans first taught the colonists to hull corn into hominy, creating one of the first truly american foods, here we use creamy anson mills grits, carefully milled from re

Clambake

native americans taught the first settlers how to dig for clams in the 1600s but the colonists thought the shellfish was inferior food for slaves, clams were first cooked with hot rocks and seaweed,

Bread Basket

Clinton’s Gazpacho

(mary randolph included a recipe for what she called ‘‘gaspacha’’ in her 1838 virginia cookbook, showing the early spanish influence on american cooking. gazpacho finally arrived at the white house 1

Peanut Soup

(george washington carver, 1914 ), carver published his peanut research to show how poor african-american farmers could prosper from an unpopular crop, peanut butter quickly grew from a delicacy to a

She Crab Soup

(william deas, charleston, sc, 1909), scottish seafood bisque transformed with the addition of carolina blue crabs. deas, who cooked for the charleston mayor, dressed it up with crab roe when his bos

Mock Turtle Soup

(amelia simmons, american cookery, 1796 ), in the first american cookbook, simmons included a recipe for both turtle soup and mock turtle --- or, as she put it, ‘‘to dress a calve’s head. turtle fash

Harvard Beet Salad

(fannie farmer, the boston cooking school cook book, 1906 ), supposedly named after the crimson color of harvard, this dish uses cornstarch, unlike its predecessors, the root puddings of medieval eur

Waldorf Salad ‘You’re The Top’

(oscar tschirky, new york city, 1893 ), tschirky was a swiss immigrant who started his career as a busboy but rose to become maitre d’hotel of the waldorf-astoria, his original recipe included only a

Shrimp In Grapefruit Cocktail

(irma rombauer, joy of cooking, 1931) , rombauer was a st louis widow who self-published the joy of cooking as she struggled to support her family. the book sold in the millions through the 20th cent

Oyster Po’ Boy

(clovis and benjamin marin, new orleans, 1925 ), the marins worked as streetcar conductors before they opened their restaurant in the french market. so when the transit workers went on strike, they s

Cobb Salad

(robert cobb, hollywood, 1936), cobb was the owner of the renowned brown derby restaurant in hollywood, one night he was hungry and supposedly created this salad from the leftovers he discovered in t

Maine Lobster Roll

(john d. rockefeller, mount desert island, maine, 1910 ), lobsters were so abundant that native americans used them as fertilizer and fishing bait, for centuries, lobster was seen as a demeaning food

Chesapeake Crabcakes With Pickled Watermelon Salad

(lord baltimore Hotel, 1932), Just four years after opening, the landmark baltimore hotel published the first known recipe for this chesapeake favorite.

Eggs A La Benedick

(charles ranhofer, new york, 1894), chef ranhofer is thought to have developed this classic at his legendary delmonico’s restaurant for a patron, mrs legrand benedict, who wanted something new for lu

Cornmeal Crusted Croaker With Succotash

(plymouth, massachusetts, 1769), the first printed mention of succotash came on a menu celebrating the first forefather’s day to mark the landing at plymouth rock. but the dish finds its origins in a

Mutton Shoulder With Oysters And Catsups

(esther allen howland, the new england economical housekeeper, 1845), howland was married to a publisher who was a direct descendant of one of the mayflower pilgrims, her hugely popular book was an e

Bbq Beef Short Ribs With ‘Cold Slaw

(lettice bryan, the kentucky housewife, 1839), barbecue was a caribbean cooking technique that traveled first to virginia and the carolinas, along with the african slaves’ taste for spices and pepper

Chicken Pot Pie

(hannah glasse, the art of cookery made plain and easy, 1805), the first pot pies appeared in print in america as early as 1785. within two decades, the classic cookbook by the english writer hannah

New England Chowder With Poached Cod

(plymouth, massachusetts,1624), chowder was originally a fish stew from brittany, france, and the native americans cooked their own thickened broth of clams and potatoes. the pilgrims initially disda

Eisenhower’s Stew

(dwight d. eisenhower, washington dc, 1954), this dish was included among ike’s personal recipe collection, as ‘‘general eisenhower’s old-fashioned beef stew.’’ the original recipe, using 20 pounds o

Lobster Newberg

(delmonico’s, 1876), the secret sauce came to delmonico’s from ben wenberg, who shipped fruit from south and central america. wenberg used rum and cayenne from latin america, but delmonico’s chef sub

Kentucky Burgoo With Rabbit, Squab & Lamb

(gus jaubert, kentucky, 1860s), burgoo was originally the porridge served to english sailors, until french chef jaubert transformed it into a meaty stew while serving the confederate general john hun

Shrimp, Crawfish And Pork Jambalaya

(sarah josepha hale, new household receipt-book, 1853), the origins of jambalaya are as mixed as the dish, with its flavors from africa, france, spain and the middle east. mrs hale, who is credited w

Bison Tomahawk Steak

with cheddar mashed potatoes, catsups & pickles, (lewis and clark, south dakota, 1804), bison was a vital and sacred part of the native american culture for many thousands of years before lewis and c

Hangtown Fry

(hangtown, california, 1849), hangtown was a rough mining town known for its public hangings and its gold strikes. when a lucky 49er struck gold, he celebrated at the cary house restaurant by orderin

Pickled Oysters

(new york city, 18th century), an american tavern favorite since the mid 1700s, before the days of canning, using the popular spices of the era. perfect with beer.

Oyster Stew

(Grand Central Oyster Bar, New York City, 1913), Grand Central is the last living link to New York’s great oyster culture. As rail travel declined, so did the oyster bar, which abandoned almost all i

Grilled Butter Oysters

(thomas downing, new york city, 1825), a downing specialty beloved by the power-brokers, financiers and socialites who made his oyster cellar so successful, smoky oysters on the half shell, touched b

Oysters On The Half Shell

(thomas downing, new york city, 1825), downing owned the most famous oyster cellar in new york. a free african american, he stored his oysters in the basement, where escaping slaves hid on the underg

Spoonbread With Oyster Ice Cream And Caviar

(eliza leslie, the lady’s receipt book, 1847), first named as indian puffs, this spoonbread is so light it could almost be a souffle, the ice cream was inspired by one of mark twain’s favorite snacks

Oysters Rockefeller

(antoine’s, new orleans, 1899), when antoine alciatore’s escargots grew hard to find and out of fashion, his son jules reinvented the dish with local gulf oysters, he named it for the richest man in