Margaret Quinn, open heart cooking expert and Bernadette Rogoff
It was cold outside but a warm meal was cooking inside the Durand-Hedden House.
Margaret Quinn, an open-hearth cooking expert and historical interpreter from Mercer County, was giving a demonstration, illustrating what cooking was like in the 1770s.
Quinn, with assistance from Bernadette Rogoff of the Monmouth County Historical Society, gave the demonstration Sunday, Jan. 12. She talked about how open hearth cooking was the primary method of cooking in the 1700s and was centered around fireplaces in colonial homes.
“Margaret is amazing,” said Rogoff.
“History is fascinating and interesting. Food is a good way to communicate with community,” said Quinn.
Quinn talked about how readily available apples were back then.
“The common man would use applesauce, stewed apples, apple pie,” Quinn said. “It was a common thing to use. There are so many different varieties of apples.”
Kale, potatoes, and sausage were common too.
Baking was done once a week. Quinn said they would start a fire first thing in the morning. The fire would retain high heat for a couple of hours. They began with cake, then pies, then cookies.
They made fresh bread without preservatives. Once the bread was stale, they made use of the crusty bread as a trencher, which was like a plate. There were also community bake ovens. A baker would charge to bake items in his oven.
Fish pies were made with white four, which, back then, was more of a whole grain.
Recipes didn’t say how much of an ingredient to use as they do today. Breakfasts were heavy in protein, sometimes with multiple meats. The wealthy didn’t do their own cooking. Herbs were used, but there wasn’t as large a variety as there is today.
“Some recipes worked better with lard, some with butter,” said Quinn.
After the demonstration, samples of the applesauce, soup, and sausage were passed around.
“It’s good. Not overly sweet,” said Melissa Sonkoly of Maplewood, who was there with her 4-year-old daughter, Catherine. “The demo was great. I learned a bunch of things.”
Jorge Salinas, of Randolph, said the lemon peel in the applesauce made it “very lemony.” He shared that his wife likes historical cooking.
“It’s really cool,” he said. “It’s very period correct.”
Next door in the Carriage House there were children’s activities and a butter demonstration.
Alice Vitale, a volunteer from Columbia High School, and Dianna Wilson performed the demonstrations.
Lisa Minardi of the Durand House taught children about salted dough.
There was another space for children to create art.
Durand-Hedden House is dedicated to telling the history and development of Maplewood and the surrounding area in new and engaging ways. It’s located in Grasmere Park in Maplewood.
To learn more about the Durand-Hedden House, visit: https://www.durandhedden.org/.
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