1921 Description of High-Quality Pie Crusts

Slice of Lemon Apple Pie

Here’s how a 1921 home economics textbook describes a high-quality pie:

A pie should have a light, flaky, tender crust that is thoroughly baked. Pie crust must be chewed thoroughly, since even the best is hard to digest. It is easier to make tender pie crust from pastry flour because that contains less gluten and more starch than bread flour. Bread flour may be used, however. Many kinds of fat are used in pie crust, such as lard, butter, vegetable fats and oils. Fat make the crust “short” and flaky, and is often called “shortening.” The crust is made tender by careful handling, and by folding and rolling several times so that air is folded into the dough. This air, and the steam formed from the water used in the mixture, expand the dough during baking and make the pie crust light.

Elementary Home Economics (1921) by Mary Lockwood Matthews

Fig and Cranberry Pie

slice of fig and cranberry pie

I’m always on the lookout for new pie recipes that I might make for Thanksgiving, and fresh, seasonal cranberries are one of my favorite November foods. So when I saw a hundred-year-old recipe for Fig and Cranberry Pie, I decided to give it a try.

The pie turned out beautifully with a lovely purple filling. The sweetness of the figs and the tartness of the cranberries perfectly balanced each other. If you didn’t tell your holiday guests which fruits were in the pie, I don’t think that they’d ever guess. My husband said that the pie wasn’t too sweet and it wasn’t too sour, but (ala Goldilocks) it was just right.

The recipe is a keeper.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Fig and Cranberry Pie
Source: American Cookery (November, 1921)

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Fig and Cranberry Pie

  • Servings: 6 - 8
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

1/2 pound (8 ounces) figs, chopped

2 cups water

2 cups cranberries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons butter

juice from 1/2 of small lemon

milk

sugar

pastry for 2-crust 10-inch pie (It might possibly fit in a 9-inch pie shell, but it would be really full.)

Put chopped figs and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the figs are tender (about 15 minutes). Add the cranberries and continue cooking until the cranberries pop.

In the meantime, put the sugar and flour in a small bowl, and stir until combined.

Once the cranberries have popped, gradually add the flour and sugar mixture while stirring constantly. Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and lemon juice.

Preheat oven to 425° F. Turn cooked fig and cranberry mixture into pastry-lined pie pan. Cut the second pie dough circle into strips and make a lattice top crust and flute edges. Brush crust with a small amount of milk; sprinkle with sugar.  Bake in oven for 10 minutes; then reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until crust is lightly  browned and juice just begins to bubble.

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12 Ways to Preserve Food a Hundred Years Ago

jars of pickles

The 1921 edition of the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book lists 12 ways to preserve food. Some still are commonly used – others less so.

Ways of Preserving

  1. By Freezing. Foods which spoil readily are frozen for transportation, and must be kept packed in ice until used. Examples: Fish and poultry. 
  2. By Refrigeration. Foods so preserved are kept in cold storage. The cooling is accomplished by means of ice, or by a machine where compressed gas is cooled and then permitted to expand. Example: meat, milk, butter, eggs. etc. 
  3. By Canning. Which is preserving in air-tight glass jars, or tin cans hermetically sealed. When fruit is canned, sugar usually added. 
  4. By Sugar. Examples: fruit-juices and condensed milk
  5. By Exclusion of Air. Foods are preserved by exclusion of air in other ways than canning. Examples: grapes in bran, eggs in lime water, etc. 
  6. By Drying. Drying consists in evaporation of nearly all moisture, and is generally combined with salting, except in vegetables and fruits. 
  7. By Evaporation. There are examples where considerable moisture remains, through much is driven off. Example: beef extract. 
  8.  By Salting. There are two kids of salting, –dry, and corning or salting in brine. Examples: salt, codfish, beef, pork, tripe, etc. 
  9. By Smoking. Some foods, after being salted, are hung in a closed room for several hours, where hickory wood is allowed to smother. Examples: ham, beef, and fish. 
  10. By Pickling. Vinegar, to which salt is added, and sometimes sugar and spices, is scalded, and cucumbers, onions, and various kinds of fruit are allowed to remain in it. 
  11. By Oil. Examples: sardines, anchovies, etc. 
  12. By Antiseptics. The least wholesome way is by the use of antiseptics. Borax and salicylic acid, when employed, should be used sparingly. 

Macedoine of Vegetables a la Poulette

Macedoine of Vegetables a la Polette in dish

A few recipes in the 1921 edition of The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book have French names. One of those recipes is Macedoine of Vegetables a la Poulette. After googling the words in the name, I think that it roughly translates into cut vegetables in a creamy sauce. In any case, this is a nice recipe for an attractive vegetable mixture containing matchstick-sized pieces of carrots and turnips, as well as peas, in a rich sauce made with chicken broth and cream.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Macedoine a la Poulette
Source: The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1921 Edition)

And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Macedoine of Vegetables a la Poulette

  • Servings: 5 - 7
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

1/2 cup turnips cut into matchstick-sized pieces (about 1 medium turnip)

1 1/4 cups carrots cut into matchstick-sized pieces (about 3 medium carrots)

1 1/4 cups peas

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup cream

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

salt  and pepper

Cook each of the vegetables (carrots, turnips, peas) in a separate pan; cover each vegetable with water (add salt to water if desired), bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until tender. Drain vegetables.

In the meantime, melt butter in another pan. Stir the flour into the butter. While stirring constantly, slowly pour in chicken broth and cream, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the vegetables. Reheat until the sauce comes back to a boil while stirring gently. While continuing to gently stir, add lemon juice and egg yolks. If desired, add salt and pepper to taste. When the added ingredients are combined into the sauce, remove from heat and serve.

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What is Food? 1921 Description

Two men in food laboratory
Source: The Science of Food and Cookery (1921) by H.S. Anderson

How would you define food? Here’s what a 1921 cookbook called The Science of Food and Cookery had to say:

Foods are substances which, when taken into the body, supply the necessary elements for promoting growth, repairing its broken-down tissue, and furnishing it with heat and power for muscular work. True foods contain the same elements as are found in the human body, and thus they are able to build and maintain the body.

Old-fashioned Rye Gems (Rye Muffins)

Rye Gems (Muffins) on Plate

Some ingredients languish in my pantry during the summer months, and then, as the weather cools, I again begin to regularly use them. Rye flour and molasses are two such ingredients. I hadn’t used either in months, but when I came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Rye Gems (Muffins) that called for both ingredients, I just had to try it.

The rustic sweetness of the molasses merges beautifully to create a hearty muffin. The Rye Gems make a nice dinner muffin. I served them with butter. They nicely complemented the roast beef and baked winter squash that I served with them.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Rye Gems (Muffins)
Source: The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1921 Edition)

Gem pans traditionally were made of cast iron, but I just used my usual muffin pans and it worked fine.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Rye Gems (Rye Muffins)

  • Servings: approximately 24 muffins
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

1 2/3 cups rye flour

1 1/3 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup molasses

1 1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 400° F. Sift together rye flour, flour, baking powder and salt. Add molasses, milk, eggs, and melted butter; stir to combine. Grease gem pans (muffin pans), and then fill each gem 3/4th full with batter. Bake for approximately 20 – 25 minutes or until an inserted wood pick comes out clean.

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