The 1930s are eternally, irrevocably associated with the Great Depression.
Other things happened in the decade, of course, many of them good news. The Hoover Dam was built, a stunning achievement of engineering that brought water and electricity to residents as far away as Los Angeles. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. The first around-the-world telephone conversation was held. And it was the golden age of movies.
But it was the Great Depression that stands out most in our imagination and our memories. The stock market collapsed, banks failed and between 13 million and 15 million people lost their jobs — about 25 percent of the working population. Meanwhile, dust storms ruined crops across the Great Plains, and millions of people moved north or west, looking for greener pastures.
Despite the widespread hardships, though, the Depression was not a time of starvation. People went hungry, but few if any of them died of it.
There were many reasons that people could generally find food. Advances in canning and other technology made food available for little money throughout the year, and many folks took to growing some of their own produce. Soup kitchens opened up across the country, providing nourishing meals for free, and many homeowners were happy to share their food with anyone who knocked at the back door. And a host of government programs gave employment to more than 10 million people who otherwise could not find it.
Americans were eating, although the food they were eating may not have been of the finest quality. Beans — cheap and nutritious — were a part of many meals, and so was soup, for the same reasons. And at least one cookbook printed in the 1930s included a recipe for baked opossum, plus several more requiring squirrel.
Other dishes of the day were more savory, though perhaps not much. Cooks of the time loved dishes that were jelled or in a loaf, giving rise to something called a jellied veal loaf. A chicken mousse loaf, which was said to be a specialty of Missourians, was an oval loaf of chicken mousse decorated with what was supposed to resemble a poinsettia on top, with a parsley stem and blossoms made from pimentos around a center made from a slice of hard-cooked egg.
A dish called chicken à la tartare, I am happy to report, involved cooking the chicken. But roast groundhog was, in fact, a roasted groundhog — garnished with yams, of course. It, too, was said to be a favorite in Missouri.
In setting out to cook some of the foods of the 1930s, I decided to stick with perhaps more ordinary dishes. My source was the “New York World’s Fair Cook Book,” which came out in 1939 to accompany the New York World’s Fair. The book contained recipes gleaned from all 48 states, including those dishes supposedly from Missouri that gave me pause.
I began with breakfast, a coffee cake that actually has coffee in it. Already it’s guaranteed to taste great with coffee, but this recipe from Michigan raises the stakes with brown sugar and a lot of molasses — a whole cup (though the resulting cake is quite large).
A stick and a half of butter doesn’t hurt, either. Allspice and cinnamon bring out the best of the coffee, and raisins and currants add just the right amount of sweet moisture.
The cake is a bit dense, but utterly delicious — and decidedly unlike the coffee cakes we eat today. When you try it, you may be tempted to think that things weren’t so bad during the Depression.
They were, of course, and the next two dishes I made show creative ways to work within the frugality of the decade.
Because of the prevalence of both beans and soup in the dishes of the day, I decided to make bean soup. This soup is different from most in that it uses only black beans. These are cooked with the expected onions and celery, and a couple of unexpected cloves.
The cloves make the dish, more even than the hard-cooked egg yolk mashed with dry mustard and pepper and mixed into the soup. A small amount of roux contributes a rich thickness, and this texture is enhanced by puréeing the soup before serving it. It is hearty and surprisingly good.
Because rice is just as inexpensive as beans, and thus as appropriate for the Depression, I next made stewed rice. This is rice that is slowly cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic, peas and potatoes — yes, that’s starch with starch, perfect for filling a hungry belly.
In keeping with the aesthetic of the day, the dish is then packed into a mold, so that when it is served it is presented in a beautiful or unusual shape. Intriguingly, you can then serve the rice dish in slices or wedges.
It has a well-balanced taste, but it also takes a lot of work to create it. The effort-to-flavor ratio is a little high on this one. On the other hand, it made wonderful leftovers, especially mixed in with eggs.
I finished with dessert, a caramel pie. This is the kind of dessert that helps you forget your economic circumstances. You make what is technically a caramel pudding out of egg yolks, milk, brown sugar and vanilla, thickened with flour. This mixture is then placed in a baked pie crust; homemade is best, of course, and more in keeping with the original concept, but use frozen if you must.
Then, best of all, you top it with a meringue and bake it. The meringue makes the pie sweeter, yes, but it also goes incredibly well with the caramel.
The 1930s was a tough, tough decade for most Americans. It is nice to know that good food made the tough times a little better.
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Coffee Cake
Yield: 12 servings
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, melted and somewhat cooled
1 cup cold coffee
1 cup molasses
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried currants
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Blend flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and allspice, sifting the ingredients twice. Mix together the eggs and the cooled melted butter, and add about 1/3 of the mixture to the dry ingredients, and blend. Add 1/2 of the coffee and 1/2 of the molasses, and blend. Add another 1/3 of the egg-butter mixture, and blend. Add the remaining coffee and molasses, and blend. Add the remaining egg-butter mixture, and blend. Stir in the raisins and currants.
3. Pour into a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and cook until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Per serving: 602 calories; 13 g fat; 8 g saturated fat; 77 mg cholesterol; 8 g protein; 116 g carbohydrate; 72 g sugar; 3 g fiber; 147 mg sodium; 127 mg calcium.
Recipe from “New York World’s Fair Cook Book” by Crosby Gaige, 1939
BEAN SOUP
Yield: 7 cups
2 cups dried black beans (about 1 pound) or 3 (15-ounce) cans
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 ribs celery, sliced
2 whole cloves
2 teaspoons salt
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
1 hard-cooked egg yolk
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sherry, optional
7 tablespoons sour cream, optional
1. If using dried beans, soak them in water overnight.
2. Drain beans and rinse in cold water. Add to a large pot with the onion, celery, cloves, salt and sufficient stock to cover the other ingredients by an inch or 2. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are soft or for 1 hour if using canned beans.
3. Purée in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender (or, if you want to be true to the 1930s, push the beans through a strainer). Add sufficient stock or water to make the consistency of thick cream. Mash the egg yolk with pepper and mustard, and stir into the soup mixture.
4. Mash the flour into the butter with a fork and cook over medium heat in a small skillet or pot until golden brown. Thin with a little stock and stir into the soup. Cook for 5 minutes; if too thick, add water. Add 1 teaspoon sherry or 1 tablespoon sour cream to each bowl just before serving, if desired.
Per serving: 304 calories; 6 g fat; 2 g saturated fat; 39 mg cholesterol; 19 g protein; 43 g carbohydrate; 5 g sugar; 12 g fiber; 1,064 mg sodium; 53 mg calcium.
Adapted from “New York World’s Fair Cook Book,” by Crosby Gaige, 1939
STEWED RICE
Yield: 8 cups
1/2 pound rice (about 1 1/4 cups dried)
3 cups boiling water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, minced
3 whole cloves garlic
1 cup tomatoes, diced (canned is fine)
1 cup green peas (frozen is fine)
1 cup potatoes, diced 1/4 inch
1 teaspoon minced parsley
4 cups water
Salt
1. Cover rice with boiling water and let soak, off the heat, for 15 minutes. Wash with cold water and drain well.
2. Heat olive oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet with a lid or pot, and brown onion and garlic. Remove garlic when brown. Add rice, stirring constantly, and brown evenly. Add tomatoes, peas, potatoes, parsley and the 4 cups of water. Salt liberally, and cook at a low simmer for 55 minutes. For the full 1930s experience, pack the mixture firmly into a well-greased mold or pudding dish. Serve warm.
Per serving: 220 calories; 7 g fat; 1 g saturated fat; no cholesterol; 4 g protein; 34 g carbohydrate; 2 g sugar; 2 g fiber; 22 mg sodium; 30 mg calcium.
Adapted from “New York World’s Fair Cook Book,” by Crosby Gaige
CARAMEL PIE
Yield: 8 servings
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs, separated
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pie crust, baked
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Use a little of the milk to dissolve the flour. Beat the egg yolks well (reserve the egg whites).
2. In a medium pan over medium heat, mix together the rest of the milk, the beaten egg yolks, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and dissolved flour. Cook until thick, and pour into the baked pie crust.
3. With a mixer or by hand, whisk together the egg whites, granulated sugar and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Spread this meringue on top of the pie and bake until meringue is set and golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Watch closely to prevent burning. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
Per serving: 326 calories; 14 g fat; 7 g saturated fat; 88 mg cholesterol; 5 g protein; 46 g carbohydrate; 34 g sugar; 1 g fiber; 138 mg sodium; 74 mg calcium.
Adapted from “New York World’s Fair Cook Book,” 1939, by Crosby Gaige
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