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GOOD THINGS TO EAT
AS SUGGESTED BY RUFUS
GOOD THINGS TO EAT
AS SUGGESTED BY RUFUS
Pullman Company Porter and Chef
A COLLECTION OF PRACTICAL RECIPES FOR PREPARING MEATS, GAME, FOWL, FISH, PUDDINGS, PASTRIES, ETC.
http://www.archive.org/stream/goodthingstoeata00esterich#page/26/mode/2up
Guttenberg.org lists it as the first cookbook to be written by an African American chef
CHERRY DUMPLINGS
Sift two cups of pastry flour with four level teaspoons of baking powder and a saltspoon of salt. Mix with three- quarters cup of milk or enough to make a soft dough. Butter some cups well, put a tablespoon of dough in each, then a large tablespoon of stoned cherries and another tablespoon of dough. Set in a steamer or set the cups in a pan of hot water and into the oven to cook half an hour. Serve with a sweet liquid sauce
ASPARAGUS SOUP
Take three pounds of knuckle of veal and put it to boil in a gallon of water with a couple of bunches of asparagus, boil for three hours, strain, and return the juice to the pot
Add another bunch of asparagus, chopped fine, and boil for twenty minutes, mix a tablespoonful of flour in a cup of milk and add to the soup. Season with salt and pepper, let it come to a boil, and serve at once.
BY RUFUS ESTES CHICAGO, 1911, PUBLISHED BY , THE AUTHOR
Rufus Estes worked for the Pullman company, as a chef looking after the unimaginably luxurious private Pullman railway cars that travelled across America in the second half of the 1800s. He had worked his way up from a porter.
He was born in Murray County, Tennessee, in 1857. He was given the last name of Estes, because that was the last name of the man who owned his family. He had two younger sisters, and six older brothers, two of which died during the American civil war.
In 1867, his family moved to Nashville, Tennessee to be with his grandmother where he was able to attend one term of school, while being expect to do many chores around the household. In 1873, at the age of 16, he started working in a restaurant in Nashville, and stayed there until he was 21. In 1881, he went to Chicago, where he worked for 2 years (it's presumed he worked in a restaurant.)
In 1883, he began work for Pullman. He travelled between 1894 and 1897, going up to Vancouver and sailing as far as Tokyo. From 1897 to 1907 managed a private car for the United States Steel Corporation. Over the course of his career, the people he managed a Pullman car for included American Presidents Benjamin Harrison (1889 - 1903) and Grover Cleveland (1884-1888, 1892-1896), Spanish Princess Eulalie (in 1893), Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the British explorer (of "Dr Livingston, I presume" fame), and Ignace Jan Paderewski (1860–1941), the Polish pianist and statesman.
In 1911, he published his recipe book, "Good Things to Eat, as Suggested by Rufus: A Collection Of Practical Recipes For Preparing Meats, Game, Fowl, Fish, Puddings, Pastries, Etc.", containing over 600 recipes. Guttenberg.org lists it as the first cookbook to be written by an African American chef and the first African American cookbook to be commercially published.
The book shows the two halves of his personality, varying between his southern rural roots, and the elegant, private, ultra-rich world that he became a part of. He gives recipes to use up unripened tomatoes, grapes and melons that in the late fall would otherwise perish and go to waste when the frosts came. He gives fancy recipes that draw on truffles, clearly aimed at the carriage-trade. And, he gives some simple recipes that would be enjoyed by anyone: corncakes, fritters, steamed breads, crumpets, muffins, fried corn, and fried cauliflower.
Download entire free book Guttenberg.org …
http://www.archive.org/stream/goodthingstoeata00esterich#page/26/mode/2up
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18435