 When looking for recipes for my 1920s Health Brunch, I stumbled across Chef Wyman's Daily Health Menus cookbook, published in 1927. Written by Arthur Leslie Wyman, I could find little about the author himself, although a very nice photograph of him is included in the cookbook. But I did find that a few years earlier, in 1923, he edited the Los Angeles Times Prize Cook Book, and another photo and short biography were included in the introduction. It reads: "Chef A. L. Wyman, under whose direction the TIMES PRIZE COOK BOOK was assembled, acquired his mastery of cooking by an experience covering nearly all parts of the civilized world. As chef and master baker in famous cooking establishments of Europe, Egypt, India and the Orient, he has studied the cooking of all climates and races, acquiring first-hand knowledge of many exotic foods and seasonings which, when properly handled, add appetizing variety to the menu. "He has devoted himself of late years chiefly to educational work and to the testing and writing of recipes for large food organizations, including most of California's great fruit associations. Many of the familiar recipes using peaches, figs, raisins, walnuts, oranges and other local products were originated by him in laboratory-kitchen at Glendale. "Chef Wyman is, and always has been, especially interested in cooking as it applies to families and home. His department of "Practical Recipes," which appears each Saturday in the LOS ANGELES TIMES, is one of the newspaper's most popular features, and helps to make THE TIMES' Saturday marketing and domestic science pages, the most widely-read department of its kind in the West." Sadly, Wyman apparently died in 1927, though his column was taken over by his widow Mabelle, who herself tragically died of a heart attack just a few years later in 1931. As the foreword to the Los Angeles Times cookbook suggests, Wyman apparently cut his teeth in recipe testing for fruit growers in California, which accounts both for his interest in "Health Menus," and "Sunland" fruits. The Health Menus cookbook has no introduction or explanation, so I can only assume it was designed for California residents, who would have recognized his name and his column with the Los Angeles Times. At some point in the same year the Tennessee-based grocer Piggy Wiggly must have purchased the printing rights to the cookbook, as there are 1927 editions with blue cloth covers with gold lettering in two varieties. One has "Chef Wyman's Daily Health Menus" on the cover, the other, which I found, reads "Piggly Wiggly Daily Health Menus." The interiors appear to be identical. The cookbook is organized by month and day of the week, and includes menu suggestions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each day. Recipes are not provided for every suggestion, but most are present. Even today many of the recipes sound Californian, with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, seafood, and French and Mexican flavors. Many of the recipes also call for ingredients that would be out of season anywhere else, like strawberries in January. Wyman's "Sunland Salad" recipe was one that caught my eye because of the use of citrus fruit (how brunch-y!) with the 1920s favorite pineapple and the unusual addition of raisins. It smacked of California and 1920s ideas about citrus for vitamins, raisins for fiber, and of course lettuce-salads for reducing and health. Sunland Salad Recipe (1927) Chef Wyman's original recipe reads:
"Mix two cups of peeled and diced oranges with one cup of peeled and diced grape fruit, one cup of diced pineapple, and one cup of seedless raisins that have been soaked in orange juice for one hour. Mound on lettuce-covered plates and place a table-spoon of mayonnaise on each serving." Lots going on here! "Sunland" is clearly a reference to California, and we have both oranges and grapefruit, along with raisins - all California crops, with the addition of pineapple, likely from Hawai'i. Although the original recipe says "peeled and diced," I decided to be fancy and supremed my citrus fruit. Supreming involves cutting the peel off of the fruit, removing all of the skin, and then using a very sharp knife to cut the separating membranes away, leaving only the interior arils in nice pieces. Although the recipe doesn't specify, I also decided to use canned pineapple, since that is what would have been available to most Americans at the time. Supreming the citrus fruit made a lot of juice, so I used that, topped off with pineapple juice, to soak the raisins. It also doesn't specify the lettuce, but I assumed leaf-lettuce. And because no one likes to have to use a knife to eat a salad, I used romaine for a little added crunch, and chiffonaded it. In the interest of modern sensibilities, I skipped the mayonnaise, an extremely popular fruit salad topping in the 1920s and '30s, but not so in vogue today. Here's my version 3 smallish navel oranges 1 large ruby red grapefruit 1 cup canned pineapple tidbits 1 cup raisins Romaine lettuce Supreme the citrus fruits, catching the juice in a bowl and discarding any seeds and membranes. Drain pineapple, but save juice. Pour citrus and pineapple juices over raisins and set aside until ready to serve. Wash, dry, and thinly slice (chiffonade) lettuce, then chill. When ready to serve, make nests of the lettuce on salad plates, then combine the fruit and raisins and spoon on top of the lettuce, drizzling some of the juice over top as a dressing. Although simple, this recipe was extremely refreshing. This recipe was very similar to the Grapefruit Salad I made for my White Christmas party, but sweeter. It made a delicious brunch salad, although Chef Wyman originally intended it to be served with dinner. The soaked raisins added an interesting depth and sweetness and the combination of oranges, grapefruit, and pineapple was delicious. Supreming the citrus fruit made it look very pretty, but if you'd prefer to just peel and chop as Chef Wyman suggested, feel free! You can also feel free to add a tablespoon of mayonnaise to each plate, if you prefer, but that's up to you. Until next time...
0 Comments
 For those of you who have been following along, this is part of my "Dinner and a Movie: White Christmas" series! I chose this salad as a menu starter for a variety of reasons. One, because I enjoy grapefruit and wanted something relatively simple and refreshing to counter the heaviness of some of the other items on the menu. But also because grapefruit was a very typical appetizer and salad ingredient from the 1930s through the 1960s. Pink grapefruit was first commercialized in the late 1920s and by then grapefruit in general had become a popular breakfast food. In the 1930s, with the rise of Hollywood and the ubiquitousness of citrus fruits in both California and the newly popular Florida as a vacation spot, grapefruit took on other guises. Broiled grapefruit became a popular appetizer and it was increasingly used in salads. Commercially canned grapefruit became available in the mid-1920s, which added to its popularity. So, in a movie that doesn't QUITE make Hollywood and California the star, but which definitely "visits" the tropics through the tropical nightclub in Florida, grapefruit seemed like a natural addition to the menu. This particular one is quite a simple recipe, from my 1942 edition of the American Woman's Cook Book by Ruth Berolzheimer, an extremely popular cookbook that was in print from 1938 through the 1960s.  Cover of the "American Woman's Cook Book" (1942).  Grapefruit Salad (1942)The original recipe is quite simple. It reads: "Peel grapefruit and free the sections from all membrane and seeds. Cut sections in half, crosswise; lay on a bed of lettuce leaves and serve with French dressing. Sprinkle with tarragon leaves or with mint if desired." Supreming citrus (which is the official term for peeling and freeing citrus from the membrane) is extremely time-consuming work and doesn't always turn out how you'd like. Which is why if you'd rather use modern canned grapefruit, please feel free. The French dressing referred to in this recipe is NOT the modern, gloppy red stuff. It is, in fact, code for vinaigrette. I made my own, in my adaptation of the recipe, below. There's even a little maple syrup, to New England things up a bit. 1 large pink grapefruit for every two people 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional) 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard thinly sliced red leaf lettuce Peel the grapefruit with a sharp knife over a small bowl to catch the juice. Using the knife, carefully cut each section away from the membrane on either side and cautiously remove, trying to keep the section intact. When done, squeeze the remaining pulp for juice into the bowl. Arrange the lettuce on each plate, then add the sections (you can cut them in half, or not). If you get 8 intact sections, you're doing better than I did. With a fork, mash up any remaining pulp into the juice (fish out any seeds), then add the olive oil, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard and whisk with the fork to combine. Pour the dressing over the sections and lettuce and serve.  The pretty (and tasty) plated grapefruit salad. On my 1950s-appropriate Currier & Ives dinner plates. And that's it! Simple, if not easy (supreming is hard work!), and very tasty. The maple and the grapefruit flavors go very well together, although the dressing is a bit sweet. Do you think it goes with White Christmas (1954)? Let me know in the comments! And be sure to follow the White Christmas tag or visit the original menu post for the rest of the White Christmas Dinner and a Movie menu. Want to see more Dinner and a Movie posts? Make a request or drop your suggestions in the comments! The Food Historian blog is supported by patrons on Patreon! Join us for awesome members-only content like free digitized cookbooks from my personal collection, e-newsletter, and even snail mail from time to time! |
AuthorSarah Wassberg Johnson has an MA in Public History from the University at Albany and studies early 20th century food history. Archives
December 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed