Information: www.roswellgov.com; www.archibaldsmithplantation.org
Evening walks in my neighborhood, always pleasant and peaceful, have taken on a new sensory pleasure, as chimneys alight the air with the aroma of wood burning in fireplaces. A cozy backdrop on a chilly night, or an energy-saving way to take the edge off an unseasonable cold snap, a working fireplace provides warmth and glow.
Although still several weeks away from officially welcoming winter, there have been frost and freeze warnings aplenty, with corresponding runs on space heaters by those of us with aging or unreliable home heating systems. And here, a fireplace can help pick up the slack of a struggling system, or no system at all, as during power outages, often the unwelcome plus of inclement weather.
Fireplaces were the original heat sources and cooking facilities going back hundreds of years. Wood burning fireplaces can be far more serviceable if properly called to duty, as I learned last spring from living history demonstrator and food historian Clarissa Clifton during an open hearth cooking demonstration in the Cook House on Smith Plantation in Historic Roswell.
Modern fireplaces are shallow compared to the utilitarian ones of the past, which means that there is less area to utilize, and that extra care should be taken. As few of us have swing-arm technology to more safely bring the food out from within our fireplaces, bricks or andirons assist to elevate the cookware and thick oven mitts help handle the heat of the cookware handles.
Clifton advises using cast iron or copper cookware and pots with legs to sit up over the coals, or the soapstone cookware Native Americans used. But absent these, “no pot is needed, a chicken can be cooked wrapped in a couple of large cabbage or greens leaves,” she offered.
“Just remember to season the chicken before wrapping it in the leaves,” Clifton continued, adding that this kind of cooking requires less salt.
“Forget symmetry,” she contends, “build the fire off to the side, so pots can be put at different temperatures, closer and further from the fire.” Clifton says that the cooking is not done in the fire, but beside it, once it has burned down to coals, embers and ashes.
Don’t wait for the power to go off before attempting to cook colonial style, preparation and basic background knowledge will best serve the situation. As will a clean chimney, a dry stash of hardwood logs, the area near the hearth clear of flammables, a bucket of water or fire extinguisher, fireplace tools, and open-hearth-friendly cookware.
Clarissa Clifton holds her delightful, informative and engaging open hearth cooking demonstrations every other Saturday morning, free of charge. The next is scheduled during Roswell’s Twisted Tinsel Holiday Spectacular Dec. 6 and features a savory main dish and butter cookies, for a delicious taste of history that children will also appreciate.
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