Chef Andrew Gerson of Brooklyn Brewery organized a dinner party featuring ingredients used by Dutch settlers and Native Americans living in 1650s New York City. Courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery
Thanks to the folks at the salt, and National Public Radio (USA) for this one:
Brooklyn Brewery Dares Diners To Eat Like Dutch Settlers
HANSI LO WANG
You can find food from just about any part of the world in New York City.
The Brooklyn Brewery is trying to push New Yorkers’ palates even further by going back in time.
This week, it hosted a dinner party inspired by the local cuisine of Dutch settlers and Native Americans in the 1650s.
Back when New York wasn’t even New York yet, and before the English took over in 1664, the Dutch called the city New Amsterdam.
“New Amsterdam tastes like salt pork,” said head chef Andrew Gerson. “It tastes like venison. It tastes like fried dough; tastes like back fat.”
In other words, it tastes like a heart attack.
“Yeah,” agreed Gerson. “It was very protein-heavy!”
And very beer-heavy.
“Water wasn’t palatable in the 1650s,” he explained. “Water carried tons of bacteria. People brewed to stay alive.”
These are details Gerson learned from reading history books and journals written by Dutch settlers, all to prep a menu that would bring diners back to 1650s New Amsterdam.
Gerson said many dishes from that period don’t hold up well to current mainstream American tastes.
“There were some things that, I was like, ‘Yep! Not going to do that one!’ ” he said. “A lot of liver, a lot of intestine. You know, tripe, for instance.”
This Dutch hotchpot includes roasted vegetable native to New York and smoked salt pork in a cornmeal porridge inspired by Lenape Indian cooking. Courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery
But some ingredients are still relatively popular in 2015.
“We have some beautiful breakfast radishes,” he said. “Some delicata squash, just typical vegetables that you would’ve been able to find.”…
Read the whole post here.
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