Hunters, adventuresome cooks, and the historically curious will all find something of interest in Delmonico’s Game Recipes: Provender from Field and Sky.
Eating is something we do three or more times a day, but dining is a much rarer phenomenon. Dining was made possible for those with pockets full, half-full, and only somewhat full of cash with the advent of the restaurant on the American scene.
Delmonico brothers John and Peter started it all in 1837 in New York. This perhaps most famous of all restaurants featured Continental cuisine, and—for at least to the end of the century—wild meat was prominent in the restaurant kitchen. Lorenzo Delmonico, a nephew, was the driving force behind the restaurant and opened many other Delmonico’s, the last of which closed in 1923.
A hunk of braised venison is a hunk of braised venison, but a colbert sauce—butter, lemon, nutmeg, sherry, chopped parsley—makes a strategic diversion. We present recipes used by Delmonicos in the hope that by reading—and perhaps following—some of these elaborate creations you get a “taste” of a vanished time.
A limited number of new paperbacks are available directly from us; please inquire using our Contact page.