What did the Americans do with Marmalade in 1919?
(It's that question that we have all been asking!)
A recent ebay discovery by Mr Jones has seen this 88 year old booklet published by American marmalade manufacturer Sunkist wing its way to Marmaland form the states.
The publication gives an insight to what our friends across the pond were doing with marmalade in the early 1900's, and stars a lady called Alice Bradley who shares her 31 favourite ways to serve marmalade. Some of them seem a little odd now, and over the coming months we promise share the best with you.
Interested in finding out more about Alice?
Alice Bradley Biography:
Alice was born on June 28, 1875, in Bradford, Massachusetts.
She started her culinary career performing cooking demonstrations with Janet McKenzie Hill, who in 1896 became editor of American Cookery, the magazine of the Boston Cooking School (BCS).
Alice went on to attend the BCS, where the fabulously named Fannie Merritt Farmer was director; she and other students tested recipes for Farmer's new book, The Boston Cooking School Cook Book, which became famous for its novel use of precise, level measurements of ingredients. Both Alice and Fannie were thought to be real sticklers for precision.
In 1897 AB was graduated from the BCS; she then taught in Montreal and Ottawa for 3 years.
In 1902 Fannie opened Miss Fannie Merritt Farmer's School of Cookery (MFSC). Fannie and Alice were pretty tight so she invited her old chum Alice to teach there.
The school used two teaching methods: the demonstration lecture, and laboratory work done in small groups in kitchen/classrooms. AB taught at the school for nine years, and then taught at the New York School of Cookery for two.
When Fannie died in 1915, Alice bought MFSC from Fannies sister Cora Dexter Perkins, and became its principal.
The curriculum included proper methods of serving food in formal settings, which was practical training for those who wanted to open tearooms or restaurants.
In 1916 Alice became cooking editor for The Woman's Home Companion, a post she held for twenty years. Her talents were sought by government and private industry: during World War I she was employed by the US Food Administration as consultant and by the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia as the head of its Nutrition Department - it is thought that it is here where Alice's interest in marmalade grew.
By the end of the war she was writing cook books and manuals of her own, rather than for the government; AB wrote more than ten books in 26 years.
In 1925 and 1926 she went on a culinary lecture tour of the United States and Europe. In later Years she also ran a "radio school" of cookery, had her own newspaper column, and contributed articles to other newspapers and magazines.
Alice retired as principal of MFSC in 1944 and sold the school to Dr. Dana Wallace.
Alice died on November 28, 1946.
Sadly Alice never married, some believe that she chose to dedicate her life to food and that this dedication never left room for a man in her life - others simply feel that she was probably a rampant, comfy shoe wearing, carpet munching lesbian.
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