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May 15, 2009
On Dining At The Twains'
Due in part to his success as an author and humorist and in part to his success in marriage, Mark Twain lived most of his life as an affluent New Englander. The Hartford Courant has a nice little piece on what it was like to dine at the Clemens' table in Harford.
Here's a sample,
Notebooks, journals and household receipts provide a wealth of detail about Twain's food preferences and the level of entertaining at the home. Scotch, bass, butter for cooking, steaks, chops, poultry from local farms and chocolate turn up frequently. "Oysters, salmon, lobster, a lot of fruits, and not necessarily fruits in season," Philippon says. "It was a sign of their wealth that they could get these things and keep them on ice."In a letter dated June 19, 1887, Louisiana author Grace King describes a dinner party at the Twain residence with adjectives such as "exquisite," "beautiful" and "magnificent." "Grace King's letter, to me, says it all in terms of the creativity, the elegance, the refinement — and, boy, I would have loved to have dinner there," Driscoll says.
King writes of the white roses at each place setting, a cut glass bowl filled with daisies, ferns and grasses, "decanters of quaint shape" and each plate as "simply a chef d'oeuvre of artistic porcelain." "To me, this epitomizes the sort of elegance with which they entertained," Driscoll says. King's comments about European touches, such as a dessert of "Charlotte Russe and wine jelly with candied cherries in it, with whipped cream" and Apollonaris water, "signals to guests that this is a very sophisticated household," Driscoll says.
Twain had his own ideas on proper cuisine, "Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." When and where he said this I have no idea but at his 70th celebration he told the many celebrants, "In the manner of diet--I have been persistently strict in sticking to the things which didn't agree with me until one or the other of us got the best of it."
Via Steve Courtney on the Mark Twain Forum
Posted by Duane Smith at May 15, 2009 7:41 PM | Read more on Mark Twain |
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Comments
I wonder what sorts of desserts they made with chocolate back then.
Posted by: Aydin at May 18, 2009 11:36 AM
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