Getting Out of Our Shells: Shellfish Cooking by an African-American Chef in 1901

Some recent research has led me to a little bit of the history of oyster availability in the early 20th century. I was fascinated to learn that landlocked (or at least landlocked from the eastern seaboard) locations like Kentucky and Tennessee would have train cars loaded with ice and oysters brought inland for purchase and consumption. In those, and other regions, it would be a bit of a status symbol to be able to afford and share this shellfish delicacy. And the cookbooks of the time reflected this: regional cookbooks from areas inland began to include recipes for clams, oysters, and other items that would continue to become easier to obtain. So, with shellfish in mind, and in honor on of Black History Month, I thought I would share a relatively recent publication by an African-American chef we were able to acquire last summer: 300 Ways to Cook and Serve Shellfish: Terrapin, Green Turtle, Snapper, Oysters, Oyster Crabs, Lobsters, Clams, Crabs and Shrimp. Written by H. (Harry) Franklyn Hall, it was published in Philadelphia in 1901.

Front cover

Title page

Fair warning: Historically speaking, this cookbook has more turtle, terrapin, and snapper recipes than I’ve ever encountered in a single cookbook–37 of them. It is also filled to the gills (seafood pun intended, of course), with oyster recipes–a whopping 101 of them, to be exact!

Table of contents 1

Table of contents 2

Table of contents 3

Table of contents 4

Interestingly, this book has several introductions. There’s a true intro before the table of contents by Hall, pointing out the economy and purpose of the book (with recipes made “plain and simple, so that not only the lady of the house can understand them, but to save her annoyance, the butler, housekeeper or cook, not only the proprietor, steward or chef, but the side cook, all of whom hope to become chef some day as well”). In other words, Hall has multiple audiences in the home and professional sphere. The second “introduction” is about Hall himself, which we’ll come back to shortly. After the table of contents, though, I found the “Caution,” which includes some of Hall’s advice–follow directions and don’t cut corners!

 Most persons think that it is not necessary to follow instructions exactly as given in preparing, cooking or serving an article of food. The same is a common but serious mistake. For instance, if you think it does not matter whether you bleed a green turtle five minutes or an hour, you will simply make the mistake that will keep you from ever making the kind of clear green turtle soup containing clear bottle green meat with the soft, smooth, peculiar flavor, which is procured in houses whose cuisine department is under the management of Chefs, who take on chances on hit-or-miss cooking…

Even scanning through this book was a huge education for me. I grew up eating seafood and I still adore it (though it took me a long time to come back around to raw oysters). I would rather cook and eat shrimp or fish before I would dig into a steak or a pork chop. Now, if you asked me to filet a fish, it wouldn’t be pretty–I’m no professional, but I could do it and make it tasty. Turtles and terrapins, on the other hand, are way out of my wheelhouse. Hall’s book, however, offers step-by-step, enlightening instructions:

Snapper [snapping turtle] recipes

Green turtle recipes

While turtles, terrapins, and oysters do seem the larger focus, I decided to share a few pages from the more underrepresented shellfish: clams, lobster, and crab. Opposite the start of chapter on crab, there’s also an advertisement. Apparently Hall was in the self-promotion business, too, like any good chef, and at least some of his recipes could be acquired already prepared! There’s a fair bit of overlap with the lobster, crab, and shrimp. You often see a recipes that says something to the effect of “prepare as you would for lobster xx, but use crab instead.” Once you nailed the technique, the protein could be swapped.

Advertisement and clam recipes

Lobster recipes

Crab recipes

The book tells us a bit about where Hall worked over his 29+ year career, in hotels and restaurants in Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (with the 15 years leading up to the book at the Chef Boothby Hotel Company in Philadelphia, which “contain[s] the generally acknowledged largest and finest oyster and shell fish department in the world”). A little genealogical research turned up that he was born in Washington, DC, in 1853. Around 1874, he was married and his wife, Georgia, was also born in 1853 in DC. According to the 1900 census, where he is listed as “Harry F. Hall,” they never had any children. Unfortunately, I can’t find a record of either of them after 1900 (or rather, after 1901 when the book was published), so I’m not sure they died before the 1910 census, if somehow they were recorded under something that isn’t coming up in a search, or if they just slipped through the records somehow. But the 1900 census certainly gave me more than I had first thing this morning. 🙂

300 Ways to Cook and Serve Shellfish is available online in its entirety, for all your turtle, crab, shrimp, lobster, clams, and oyster needs, too! It was Harry Franklyn Hall’s only book, despite his obviously long career in the cooking world, but I think it says a great deal about work, his expertise, and his efforts to bring shellfish to home cook. In other words, it’s worth a look–you might just find something to make today!

Cooking in Tidewater (It’s not like it sounds!)

Part of our goal with the History of Food & Drink Collection/Culinary History Collection is to document food history in Virginia. Among our nearly 3,500 publications are more than a few community, local, regional, and state cookbooks. Tidewater Virginia Cook Book: A Collection of Good, Reliable Recipes is an item we purchased for the collection in 2011. Published in 1891, it includes recipes contributed by women from all over the state for all kinds of foods, though the emphasis is on the Tidewater region of Virginia.

Although there is not necessarily a lot of visual appeal, at least not the recipe content, the book is certainly worth a glance or two! It pays special attention to fresh seafood, much more readily available than here in some other parts of the state (Blacksburg, I’m talking about you!): Pickled oysters, lobster, crabs, prawns, and fish.

One of the standouts here is definitely the abundance of terrapin and turtle recipes. On page 8, it’s “turtle soup;” on page 14, it’s two recipes for terrapin and one for “mock terrapin;” on page 7, it’s “mock-turtle soup;” and then, the topper, “Imitation mock turtle soup.” For those times when simply imitating a recipe isn’t enough, you can imitation the imitation! Mock turtle soup, by the way, comes from a calf’s head and ham base. Imitation mock turtle comes from black beans cooked with a meat joint, then mashed.

Not surprisingly, many of the included recipes are desserts: puddings, cakes (“pork cake,” anyone?), creams and custards, pies, and tarts. But there are also ices and ice creams, often a challenge with late 19th century technologies, and a “pepper candy” made with cayenne pepper. Pickles, preserves, jellies, and brandied fruits abound, and in a throw-back to our feature from two weeks ago, this recipe book includes “grape catsup.”

Whereas handwritten receipt books often shared cherished recipes within a family, the growing genre of community or other group cookbooks introduced these to a whole new audience. This particular volume came from the Reid Memorial Association of Norfolk, Virginia, though it contained recipes from ladies around the state. The idea of fundraising through cookbooks, especially by women, took off and our collection is full of similar publications dating from the late 19th century to the modern day. And, in addition to recipes, almost all of them have something else in common: advertising!

Questionable mock turtle/terrapin recipes aside, one of the other unique features of this volume is the ads in the back, several of which appear in the gallery above. General stores, food stores, florists, animal (sheep, beef, horses, mules–take your pick!) suppliers, insurance and real estate agents, appliance dealers (touting relatively new home technologies)…everyone got in on the action, even companies as far away as Oswego, NY! Although the baking powder wars had yet to start, we are greeted with “Government Tests” and “Royal Baking Powder” in large letters, suggesting a more reliable product than other companies. And, of course, targeting the women who could by buying there product over others.

See, as promised, nothing about cooking with laundry detergent (someone out there must have jumped to that conclusion first!), just some good old Virginia food history. We have a lot more to share with you, too. Be sure to keep following. Meanwhile, this archivist has weekend company coming and Mrs. Roper’s “Mock Terrapin” (made from calf’s liver and hard boiled eggs) might just be on the menu…