It is from the Mid-Atlantic Seaboard that America's dominant culinary traditions emerged: German and English. In the early days, this was the land of farmers who settled around the old Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, Philadelphia and Maryland. Shelfish, terrapin, venision, game and peanut-hogs yielding succulent hams were plentiful. Vegetables included cabbages, kale, yams, onions, potatoes, okra, broccoli and carrots. Orchards yielded berries, peaches, pears and apples. The little Dutch settlement on the banks of the Hudson had been taken over by the English in 1664 and renamed New York.
Now New York is called the International Cooking Pot and has more than 3000 foreign restaurants producing the classic dishes of all nations and a wealth of foodstuffs in the markets. It is said that in Brooklyn alone more macaroni and spaghetti is made than in all of Italy.
The culinary inventions that have come from New York are legend. Coney Island started the hot dog (Coney Island Turkey) and the hamburger craze. Our all American dessert, pie ala mode, originated in 1842, when an upstate restaurant ran short of apple pie and the thick fresh cream that used to accompany it. So the resourceful restauranteur cut smaller pieces of the pie he had left and clapped a generous gob of ice cream on top to take the place of the double cream. Potato chips were invented when a demanding quest at the Moon's Lake Lodge in Saratoga, New York insisted on thinner potato slices. Chef George Crum sliced the potatoes as thinly as possible and deep-fried them, creating an instant hit!
In 1964, the owner of a bar in Buffalo, New York received a large shipment of chicken wings by mistake. She fried them and served them with hot sauce and blue cheese dressing. They were such a success that every July 29th is now Chicken Wing Day in Buffalo. Lobster Newburg was invented in Delmonico's restaurant in New York by a steady patron, a Mr. Wenburg. He later quarreled with Mr. Delmonico, who changed the name of the dish to Newburg. Eggs Benedict was also created at Delmonico's. A certain Mrs. Benedict complained that there was nothing new on the menu. This dish was the restaurant's response.
Waldorf Salad was the invention of Oscar M. Tschirshy, the maitre de of the famed Waldorf Astoria in New York City from 1893 to 1943. Its key ingredients are apples, celery, walnuts and mayonaise. Manhattan Clam Chowder differs from New England style in that it has no milk but adds tomatoes to the recipe.
While New York became a veritable cooking pot, neighboring New Jersey, Deleware and Pennsylvania held on to their "Dutch" culinary heritage. Of all the regional cooking styles in America today, perhaps the most enduring and distinctive can be claimed by the Pennsylvania Deutsch. New American foods such as corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and molasses were combined with the pork, cabbage, pickles, preserves and pastries of the Old World to make the Pennsylvania "Dutch" food tradition that has become famous across America.
MID-ATLANTIC
THE FLAVORS OF AMERICA
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By Mary Eccher
page 3 of 13
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