November 3rd, 1801, Karl Baedeker was born. “ Baedeker guide books are still being used today, he set the standards not only with maps of countries, cities, and towns, but of sites to see, places to eat and sleep.
I love books with insert pages and maps, and Baedeker maps are superb. Have a few books in my collection. One Baedeker travel book, “Northern Germany” printed in 1893, talks of traveling along the ‘high road’ across the Thuringian mountains to the ‘Reinsteig’ an ancient road in the mountains. Where they meet, a path descends to a small village called Goldlauter. It was a town so small that the main map did not even show it, but another detailed area map did.
My great, great grandfather Emil Frederick Will (I was named Frederick because of him-Scott is my middle name) came from Goldlauter in 1860. He now resides in Lake Mound cemetery downtown Zion. A few years ago, I was able to take a trip and visit the town of Goldlauter, Germany. We had a wonderful meal in the town. I got some weird looks from the owner who did not speak english, when I paid for our meal. It may have been because of the way of Germans marking the “7” with a slash. Did I try to pay 10 euros for the bill instead of 70 euros? It is the only reason I can think of for the bad looks. He just waved us out.
One can travel by reading books. A vacation in the Library.
November 3rd is International Sandwich Day. It commemorates the birthday of John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich. It is said that he invented the sandwich-a quick bite to eat while he was gambling.
I have the book “Sandwiches” by Mrs S.T. Rorer, revised edition published in 1919. I also have her cookbook “Quick Soups” from 1894. (but I think this may be a reprint.)
Rorer wrote over thirty cookbooks before 1900. She was an editor in many of the magazines, and was the “Julia Childs” of that age. Everyone knew of her cookbooks and recipes. She was also considered the first dietitian in America.
There are some interesting sandwich recipes, and some that are interesting just to read. For example there is a “Swedish Sandwich”. It is a flaked fish dusted with salt peper and lemon juice. Rorer then made a type of tartar sauce (back in 1894) that she would spread on the bread, then add the fish. It sounded good.
I also liked “Sandwiches à la Bernhardt”. This would be chopped cold rare roast beef, mixed with cayenne, salt, mango chutney, tomato catsup, shallets, garlic and olive oil mixed together. Then put on buttered slice of brown bread, and topped with buttered white bread, along with some leaves of cress. again good.
Another interesting sandwich would be “Sandwiches à la Stanley”. This would take cold beef loaf or roll and slice very thin. Bake some bananas, and also make a creamed horseradish sauce. Then take whole wheat bread, buttered, add slice of meat, thin layer of mashed baked banana, a teaspoon of horseradish sauce, and another slice of bread. She recommended to slice off the crust, cut into triangles, and serve soon after they were made.
Rorer actually had many recipes for sandwiches that sounded pretty good to eat. There were pages of cheese recipes, ie “Creole Sandwiches and “Curry Sandwiches” that involved mixing cheeses with spices and/or nuts, that seemed to make very interesting cheese spreads. For a cookbook over 100 years old, it had very modern sounding tastes.
One can travel around the world, or travel back in time to find some delicious new food tastes. Don’t be scared to try. And don’t forget to pay.
Librarytomes 