{"id":10566,"date":"2023-09-19T11:07:13","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T15:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10566"},"modified":"2023-09-19T11:07:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T15:07:13","slug":"cookbook-corner-brook-trout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10566","title":{"rendered":"Cookbook Corner – Brook Trout"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

This blog post was written by Jack Moore, SCRC Research Services Student Assistant. Jack has a double major in Political Science and Philosophy from Christopher Newport University. He is currently working on his Master’s in Biodefense at George Mason University.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"In looking through our collection of cookbooks, I\u2019ve noticed unique trait that many of the earliest cookbooks possess. It seems that many of these works are written for a particular person, a friend or family member who is a liability in the kitchen, and then are sold in a broader context. Each recipe will have an anecdote or a story that the intended reader will understand. These intensely personal writing endeavors often target broader cooking concepts such as pairing sauces to different meats (In this case, it was a ma\u00eetre d\u2019h\u00f4tel sauce and trout), general procedures for baking, or even procedures for properly serving guests at the time. There were specific social protocols that were firmly adhered to, and deviating from what was expected was considered a significant faux pas. This could range from how the table was set to when different alcohols could be served. Thus, it was often the role of the cookbook\u2019s author to specifically provide all the steps and necessary considerations for how dinner was served, not just what was on the menu. Chapter 1 of A Few Hints About Cooking<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, the subject of this week\u2019s Cookbook Corner, begins by detailing the hiring process of Mrs. Grier\u2019s home cook. Having done the cooking in her house prior to that, she has high expectations of any prospective employees, and the experience to teach them how to cook to her demanding standards. Each chapter is a multi-course meal broken down into its component recipes, and Mrs. Grier will frame the book through the story of teaching her new cook how to prepare and serve each meal.<\/p>\n

\"\"At its core, the Brook Trout recipe I chose is incredibly simple. After the prep work of chopping parsley and scoring the fish, it\u2019s just a matter of timing cooking the fish fully and having the sauce ready. An interesting point of note, however, is that despite being written for the \u201cidiot in the kitchen\u201d, many of the recipes have vague instructions. For the recipe this week, the only cooking instructions for the fish were \u201cbroil slowly. Dish on a very hot platter\u201d. As a younger home cook, I\u2019ve never broiled a dish through the entirety of its cooking process. I\u2019ve broiled as a finishing method to crisp up the outside of salmon, but I had roasted it beforehand. With no concept of how long \u201cbroiling slowly\u201d would take, it made it difficult to time out preparing the ma\u00eetre d\u2019h\u00f4tel sauce that it was paired with. I did in fact feel like an idiot in the kitchen as I stared through the opening of the oven at the trout without a clue in the world how long it would take. But I\u2019m not the type of man to turn my back on a fire risk, so look through that oven door I did.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The final result.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Mrs. Grier was certainly right about the ma\u00eetre d\u2019h\u00f4tel sauce. It was rich and delicious, but still simple, which would have helped given she planned 4 course meals coming out of a single kitchen. The sauce is comprised of two tablespoons of butter with the juice of a lemon and two tablespoons of parsley. Mix those in a hot pan, and boom, you have a ma\u00eetre d\u2019h\u00f4tel sauce. Butter and lemon are a winning pair, and even though I think I started the sauce too early, I could have eaten cardboard and loved it. This recipe served as a lesson: Cook your trout however you like, but butter and lemon are non-negotiable. I\u2019ve found that there are less hands-on methods of cooking fish, (I\u2019ve found more conventional roasting to work well for me in the past), but given that Mrs. Grier published this in 1887, I think we can forgive her for not relying on an electric convection oven with a handy timer.<\/p>\n

Follow SCRC on Social Media and look out for future posts on our\u00a0<\/em>Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0<\/em>Twitter<\/a> accounts. To search the collections\u00a0held at Special Collections Research Center, go to our\u00a0<\/em>website<\/a>\u00a0and browse the finding aids by subject or title. You may also e-mail\u00a0us at\u00a0<\/em>speccoll@gmu.edu<\/a>\u00a0or call 703-993-2220 if you would like to schedule an appointment, request materials, or if you have questions.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blog post was written by Jack Moore, SCRC Research Services Student Assistant. Jack has a double major in Political Science and Philosophy from Christopher Newport University. He is currently working on his Master’s in Biodefense at George Mason University. In looking through our collection of cookbooks, I\u2019ve noticed unique trait that many of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101014,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[326,5,121],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rare-books-2","category-scrc-interest","category-scrc-picks"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-2Kq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9278,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9278","url_meta":{"origin":10566,"position":0},"title":"Cookbooks as a Journey through Time","author":"admin","date":"June 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was written by Colleen Gerrity, Reference Assistant. For the past three months, the people of the United States have stayed home due to the ongoing pandemic. Going to your favorite restaurant for a nice meal or socializing at a coffee-shop is temporarily a thing of the past. Now\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GMU Fairfax Campus"","block_context":{"text":"GMU Fairfax Campus","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=272"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TX715-.M65-1948-1.jpg?fit=796%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TX715-.M65-1948-1.jpg?fit=796%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TX715-.M65-1948-1.jpg?fit=796%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/TX715-.M65-1948-1.jpg?fit=796%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10714,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10714","url_meta":{"origin":10566,"position":1},"title":"Cookbook Corner – Baked Pears","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"October 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog post was written by Jack Moore, SCRC Research Services Student Assistant. Jack has a double major in Political Science and Philosophy from Christopher Newport University. He is currently working on his Master's in Biodefense at George Mason University. This week\u2019s Cookbook Corner took a recipe out of Cookbook\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SCRC interest"","block_context":{"text":"SCRC interest","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pear.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pear.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pear.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pear.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pear.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pear.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7042,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=7042","url_meta":{"origin":10566,"position":2},"title":"Thanksgiving Materials in Special Collections Research Center","author":"admin","date":"November 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was co-written by Mahogani Harper, Research Services student assistant. Thanksgiving is one of the biggest holidays of the year. A large part of Thanksgiving is the food. From the turkey and stuffing to the mash potatoes and yams, you will never have to worry about being hungry on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Rare Books"","block_context":{"text":"Rare Books","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=326"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/thanksgivingflowers.jpg?fit=500%2C366&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10360,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10360","url_meta":{"origin":10566,"position":3},"title":"Cookbook Corner – Beef Stew","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"May 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog post was written by Jack Moore, SCRC Research Services Student Assistant. Jack has a double major in Political Science and Philosophy from Christopher Newport University. He is currently working on his Master's in Biodefense at George Mason University. Welcome to Cookbook Corner, a series where I will be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Cookbook-Corner.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Cookbook-Corner.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Cookbook-Corner.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Cookbook-Corner.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Cookbook-Corner.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4955,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=4955","url_meta":{"origin":10566,"position":4},"title":"Cookbooks!","author":"admin","date":"March 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Special guest blog post from George Mason University Libraries' Ordering Coordinator Meaghan O'Malley! The Rosemary Poole Cookbook Collection\u00a0in Special Collections & Archives gives patrons of the University Libraries\u2019 unique access to the documentation of 19th century housewifery, cookery, hostessing, basic first aid and treatment of common illnesses, and easy household\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GMU Fairfax Campus"","block_context":{"text":"GMU Fairfax Campus","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=272"},"img":{"alt_text":"sca stacks collage","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/sca-stacks-collage.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/sca-stacks-collage.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/sca-stacks-collage.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/sca-stacks-collage.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/sca-stacks-collage.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/sca-stacks-collage.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1356,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=1356","url_meta":{"origin":10566,"position":5},"title":"Holiday Recipes from Former Times","author":"admin","date":"December 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"With the holiday season in full swing, we've been inspired here in the library by some of the recipes found in our Rosemary Poole Cookbook Collection. The collection includes over 200 cookbooks from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries covering a range of regions and cuisines with books on proper\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"miscellaneous","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=93"},"img":{"alt_text":"From Mary Hunt's Pastry and Sweets Diary (1939)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/recipe-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/101014"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10566"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10582,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10566\/revisions\/10582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}