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New Dinner is Served! Exhibition on the Menu at Historic Deerfield
A new multi-site exhibition titled Dinner is Served!: Dining and the Decorative Arts in Early America will open at Historic Deerfield on Sat., August 21. This exploration of the social, cultural, and artistic importance of dining in early America will present accoutrements of dining ranging from the ordinary to the exotic. Visitors will also be invited to experience recreations of period dinners-complete with faux food-in the dining rooms of three historic houses. The exhibition displays more than 40 objects related to 18th-century etiquette, foodways, and social life including satirical prints, tureens, decanters, cruet stands, and hot water dishes. They are organized into sections including "First and Second Courses of the 18th-Century Meal," "Keeping Food Warm," "Condiments, Spices, & Sauces," "Wines & Spirits," and "Cutlery." Featured objects include a knife box with original silver cutlery which was owned by the Dwight family of Springfield, MA, circa 1785; a rare American silver cruet set made by New York City silversmith Daniel Christian Fueter, engraved with the arms of the Van Voorhis family, circa 1754-1764; and a dark blue transfer-printed Staffordshire tureen once owned by the Hall family of Goshen, CT, circa 1830. Before 1700, every dish of the meal had been placed on the table at once. Dining à la française stipulated that the meal should be divided into courses, usually two or more. Visually this type of dining proved more exciting, as diners could view elaborately decorated and symmetrically displayed dishes on offer before choosing. To illustrate dining à la française , the historic houses will also play a role by serving as settings for three recreations of period dinners complete with faux food. In the Sheldon, Williams, and Stebbins Houses there will be displays showing menus of late 18th and early 19th- century rural New England, which will be interpreted through guided and self-guided tours. In the Williams House the first course of a Winter Menu in Deerfield is laid out with peas porridge, marinated fowl, carrot pudding, bread and butter, cheese curds, pickled beets and mushrooms, and forced (stuffed) cabbage [see recipe]. By the winter fresh vegetables were a distant memory, so cooks relied on the pickled vegetables that they had preserved in August and September as well as the dried peas for the soup or porridge. At the Sheldon House will be a September menu, based on a 1794 letter from Mr. James Field of Conway, MA, to his sister Mrs. Filania Dickinson of Deerfield, MA. Filania and her husband were expected for dinner but did not arrive. Mr. Field described the dinner in great detail including their trouble in obtaining certain ingredients like lard for apple pies made in the "Deerfield taste." This meal featured late summer/early fall delicacies such as forced (stuffed) cucumbers and watermelon. Also included in the meal are salt pork and beans, beef fricassee, and fried beef tripe. The Stebbins House dining room will be arrayed with sugary dishes including candied orange rind, lemon tarts, marzipan fruits, a molded flummery, and hartshorn jellies. The arrangement of dishes on the table is based in part on instructions given by Robert Roberts' House Servants Directory (1827). Roberts (c. 1780-1860) was the butler at Gore Place in Waltham, MA, the country estate of Christopher Gore (1758-1827), U.S. Senator and Governor of the State of Massachusetts. This exhibition was co-curated by Lange, and Curatorial Intern Sarah Stephenson. Historic Deerfield's faux food has been created by three artisans: Sandy Levins of New Jersey, Henri Gadbois of Texas, and Shirley Willis of North Carolina. As part of programming related to this exhibition, the Open Hearth Cooks at Historic Deerfield will be recreating several recipes from the menus on display. The exhibit at the Flynt Center for Early New England Life and is included in the admission price. 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. 413-775-7214. 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM
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