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Dear Friends,
This
week at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum is full of activities.
We start the week with a cocktail seminar by the Dale DeGroff of the
Museum of the American Cocktail. Midweek, we have a panel discussion
on food and identity in New Orleans sponsored by One Book One New
Orleans. Saturday, Sharon Vercellotti, a chemist and president of
V-Labs, Inc, presents a compelling discussion and tasting/experiment on
the perception of taste. We also celebrate the opening of our new
exhibit, "Yes We Can," which includes a large rendering of a birthday
cake made entirely of cans.
We are pleased to announce that Galatoire's Restaurant has chosen the Southern Food and Beverage Museum
as a beneficiary of its traditional holiday auction, which auctions off
tables for the popular Friday lunch before Christmas. The auction will
take place on Monday, December 1 2008. The evening will begin at 5:30
with hors d'oeuvres by Chef Brian Landry. The auction, led by renowned
auctioneer Ruthie Winston, will begin at 6:30 p.m. Reserve space now
for this event. Contact Christi Gaudet by calling 504-525-2021, or
emailing cgaudet@galatoires.com.
In conjunction with this event, Galatoire's
is hosting a special event at SoFAB only open to museum members.
Please scroll down or click the sidebar for details. For information
on this event and others, please scroll down.
Cheers,
Stephanie Carter
Editorial Director
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Election Cake
Before
roads had improved and voting locally was an option, many people had to
travel long distances to cast a vote. At that point, the United States
was the only democracy and people took a special pride in elections,
treating them as a major holiday. As people made their way into town
to vote, housewives were preparing "Election Cakes," dense cakes
sometimes weighing up to twelve pounds.*
Originally, these cakes
were known as "Muster Cakes," prepared when farmers were called into
towns for military training. They traveled long distances and,
according to Alice Ross (Journal of Antiques and Collectibles, October
2003), "descended on the nearest designated towns for days of training
sessions ('mustering') and nights of socializing, carousing, and
partaking of what became known as 'Muster Cake.' "
Over time,
Muster Cakes were used to celebrate a different event, the election.
"Travel time to the polling places had not changed, and the logistics
of a week of spirited fun away from home was as attractive as the
voting. The dates were scheduled to accommodate passable roads and
lulls in farm work, just as Muster Days had been ... Again men made
their way to town in droves and stayed for several days, arriving early
enough to take in the electioneering, to vote, to drink, and then to
hang around for the results. The cake continued to be a special feature
of the event, its name was transposed to 'Election Cake.'" (Ross)
The first appearance of Election Cake was in the 1796 cookbook by Amelia Simmons, The First American Cookbook,
second edition. The recipe was made for a crowd, calling for 30 quarts
of flour and 10 pounds of butter. To view images from The First American Cookbook, visit the Library of Congress website. Scroll down for the 1796 recipe for election cake and for a slightly more modern recipe.
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s. carter
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"Yes We Can"
Exhibit Opening Party: Thursday, November 6, 2008, 5 p.m.
by Elizabeth Pearce
How many canned goods does it take to build a giant birthday cake? At the Southern Food and Beverage Museum,
approximately 4,500. The Southern Food and Beverage Museum is pleased
to announce "Yes We Can," the installation of two sculptures built
entirely of canned goods. A reception celebrating the exhibit will be
held November 6 from 5-7 p.m. at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.
Refreshments and food will be provided. Admission to the reception is
free to museum members and free with museum admission.
The sculptures were created for Canstruction,
a design/build competition in which architects design and build giant
structures made entirely from non-perishable food items. The winners
were announced at the Awards Gala presented by The American Institute of Architects, New Orleans and all of the food used in the creation of the structures is donated to Second Harvest Food Bank
of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana. The results are displayed to the
public and all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to
local food banks. The exhibit includes an 8 foot tall birthday cake,
several 5 foot bowling pins made entirely of soup cans and photographs
of participants from past years. Also on display will be an assortment
of vintage can openers. The exhibit will be on display until February
28, 2009. SoFAB is also continuing the food drive by allowing visitors
to bring in two canned goods in exchange for $2 off any adult
admission.
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Elizabeth Pearce is the Senior Curator at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.
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Recent Acquisitionsby C.Smith 
SoFAB has received a great donation from Theresa Latshaw, a New
Orleanian who owns a gift shop on Bourbon Street and is recognized as a
master "junker." The gift is an old, metal Falstaff sign that formerly
adorned a business known as the Bebop Café. The roughly 4' x 4' sign
will be placed in the Louisiana gallery next to the Gendusa Bakery sign.
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C. Smith is Director of Collections at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.
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book review:
Bananas:
How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World
Peter Chapman (New York: Canongate)
review by C. Smith
Because
I am curating a show on the banana, I am reading as much as I can
relating to the world's most popular fruit. The first book on my list
was Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World, by Peter Chapman.
Bananas
documents the rise of this controversial, multinational company, which
often has been accused of practicing business-bullying practices and
having cozy relationships with governments throughout Central America.
It built its own cities, railroads and hospitals, fostered covert
relationships with the likes of CIA operative Howard Hunt, provided
ships for the Bay of Pigs invasion, earned the ire of Castro and
Guevera, and even is believed responsible for two coups against foreign
governments. Throughout it all, it built an empire based on the banana.
It has an extraordinary tale to tell.
Chapman provides readers
with a good overview of the notorious company, but a 208-page book
simply is not able to scratch the surface of all of the activities
involving United Fruit. Though the book is written by a journalist who
has worked for London's Financial Times, The Guardian and the BBC, it
seems careless in spots. There are times when the reader wants
verification for some of the claims made, but there are no footnotes.
Some sentences reach too hard to be clever and the result is that they
come off as a little too sarcastic. There are at least a handful of
sentences that simply make no sense at all.
Still, Chapman
provides a lot of information in a short book. He goes a long way in
helping us to understand how the banana business started and how a
single company helped shape the world, all in the name of a smallish,
yellow fruit.
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Chris Smith is Director of Collections for the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.
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weekly event calendar:
Monday, November 3
"The Essential Cocktail:
The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks"
with Dale DeGroff, America's Best-Known Mixologist
presented by the Museum of the American Cocktail
November 3, 2008
6:30 p.m.
location: Tasting Room, Southern Food and Beverage Museum
No one needs to know how to make 2,500 different drinks; you just need to know how to make the great ones ...
Join
Dale DeGroff, America's best known mixologist and author of the new
book: "The Essential Cocktail." Discover the techniques and elements
that comprise the essential cocktails - the classic, dramatic, and
notorious ones presented by barkeeps throughout history!
In addition to these exciting presentations, you'll get to view the
permanent collection and new rotating exhibits, plus the museum gift shop offers a
terrific variety of bar tools and cocktail related publications.
$20 when you register online in advance.
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weekly event calendar:
Wednesday, November 5
Food and Beverage as Identity in New Orleans
Panel Discussion
presented by One Book One New Orleans
November 5, 2008
5:30-7:00 p.m.
location: Tasting Room, Southern Food and Beverage Museum
Panelists,
including Ralph Brennan, Jim Monaghan of Molly's at the
Market (one of the two bars that stayed open during Katrina), and Sara
Roahen, former Gambit food writer and author of Gumbo Tales: Finding My
Place at the New Orleans Table, discuss the prominent role of food and
beverage in the identity of residents of Greater New Orleans; presented
in partnership with the Southern Food & Beverage Museum
504-569-0405 for more information
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weekly event calendar:
Saturday, November 8
"A Question of Good Taste:
The Perception of Flavor"
with Sharon Vercellotti
presentation, discussion, tasting
November 8, 2008
2 p.m.
location: Tasting Room, Southern Food and Beverage Museum
Sharon Vercellotti is president of V-LABS, INC.
V-LABS is a consulting, analytical, and manufacturing laboratory,
specializing in carbohydrates and polysaccharides, and serves research
scientists in academia and in the food, pharmaceutical, biotechnology,
and cosmetic industries. As a chemist she has extensive experience in
applying instrumental analysis to food products.
free with museum admission
free for members
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recipe:
Election Cake
"Thirty
quarts flour, 10 pound butter, 14 pound sugar, 12 pound raisins, 3 doz
eggs, one pint wine, one quart brandy, 4 ounces cinnamon, 4 ounces
fine colander seed, 3 ounces ground allspice; wet the flour with milk to
the consistence of bread over night, adding one quart yeast; the next
morning work the butter and sugar together for half an hour, which will
render the cake much lighter and whiter; when
it has rise light work in every other ingredient except the plumbs,
which work in when going into the oven."
[American Cookery; Amelia Simmons 1796.]
And a slightly more modern recipe for election cake.
Election Cake (Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, 1911)
1/2 cup butter
8 finely chopped figs
1 cup bread dough
1 1/4 cups flour
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sour milk
2/3 cup raisins seeded, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
Work butter into dough, using the hand. Add egg well
beaten, sugar, milk, fruit dredged with two tablespoons
flour, and flour mixed and sifted with remaining ingredients.
Put into a well-buttered bread pan, cover, and let rise one
and one-fourth hours. Bake one hour in a slow oven.
Cover with Boiled Milk Frosting.
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Special Event for Museum Members
November 20, 2008
5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
at SoFAB
Cooking Demonstration and Tasting - Galatoire's Chef, Brian Landry, demonstrates Sauteed Black Drum Yvonne.
Special Presentation - David Gooch speaks about the history of Galatoire's. David Gooch currently
serves as manager of Galatoire's
New Orleans. A son of Clarisse Galatoire Gooch
and grandson of Leon Galatoire, David began his
career in the family business in 1967. He spent
four years in the kitchen before moving to the
front of the house. David is a lifelong resident
of New Orleans.
If you are interested in attending the Galatoire's Holiday Auction, please come to this event. There will also be a cash wine bar for your enjoyment while you mingle and check out SoFAB's newest exhibit, "Yes We Can."
This event is only open to SoFAB members.
Space is limited. You must RSVP via email to stephanie@southernfood.org.
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