Announcing Retro Recipe Challenge #1!

RRC #1 Challenge has been posted. Please take a look!

One of my favorite sites is The Gallery of Regrettable Food. Such loving care seems to have been put into each recipe – but the results are just appalling.

When did benedictish frankwiches seem like a good idea? Why?

Let’s find out.

Here’s the challenge for round 1: make a dish of any kind from a recipe first published between 1920 and 1975. Unlike the Gallery of Regrettable Food, your creation does not have to be gross. It can be utterly beautiful and absolutely delicious. (But if it’s gross, that’s OK too; frankly, I’m kind of curious to see someone make aspic.)

The point here is to find an old recipe and have fun creating it. When possible, cite your source, the year it was published, and take photos! (Here’s an example.) Post your results on your blog and then send me the link between now and June 9. I’ll post the round up shortly thereafter.

Looking for resources? Try these:

The Food Timeline

Fanny Farmer's Boston Cooking School Cook book

Peggy's Antiquated Recipes: The Twenties

Some searching and digging is required, but it take a look at Uncle Phaedrus: Consulting Detective + Finder of Lost Recipes

I've also had luck doing Google search for "Recipes" plus the decade (e.g., Recipes 1930) .

Don't forget to peruse your local library, scour some garage sales (I found a 1960's cookbook published by the Alabama Peanut Producers Association...), and dig through your Mom's or Grandma's (or Dad or Grandpa's) bookshelf.

Let’s party like it’s 1955 – get cooking!


Tags: cooking, baking, recipes, Retro Recipe Challenge, carnival