What’s cooking in our archives! A taste of the past

The Museum’s Archives collection includes nearly 1,000 cookbooks and recipe pamphlets produced between the mid-18^th and early 21^st centuries. Many were booklets published to promote a specific product or brand. Others are compilations of recipes carefully written out by hand or assembled in scrapbooks, chronicling timeless family traditions or, conversely, the latest trends of the day.

Appealing in more ways than one, the collection offers information about changing eating habits, social norms surrounding meals, the role of women in the family home, advertising, and the development of new culinary practices.

For those willing to try some of the recipes, it is also a wonderful opportunity to rediscover the tastes of yesteryear!

→ Visit the Recipes and Food Collection to discover more recipes
→ Share your creations on social media with #McCordMuseum and @museemccord

In this season of leisurely meals shared with family and friends, the SAQ, a partner in the McCord Museum’s 100th anniversary celebrations, has some perfect wine and spirit suggestions for your holiday table.

Which taste tag do you prefer?

• • Courge d’été aux fines herbes
  • Casserole à la courge et aux arachides
  • Chili con carne
  • Ratatouille
  • Favourite Turkey Stuffing
  • Apple Pudding
  • Croustade aux pommes
  • Galette au gingembre
  • Pumpkin or Squash Pie
  • Spice Cake

• • Breuvage des Caraïbes rafraîchissant
  • Hawaiian Shrimp Salad
  • Outdoor Barbecued Chicken
  • Baked Stuffed Lake Trout
  • Glazed Strawberry Pie or Tarts
  • Spiced Watermelon Rind

Mousse glacée à l’érable, prepared by Stéphanie, Digital Outreach, Collections

• • Mousse glacée à l’érable
  • Maple Syrup Pudding
  • Canadian Maple-Upside-Down Cake

• • Salmon Omelet
  • Cherry Crumb Pudding
  • Midget Donuts
  • Strawberry-Pink Meringues
  • Macarons

As part of International Archives Week, Museum employees had fun revisiting the recipes from this collection.

Mocktails

• • Punch bonne chance

Snacks

• • 7-Up Fluffy Baking Powder Biscuits
  • Sandwiches au beurre d’arachides
  • Garniture pour sandwich olives-cornichons

Main dishes

• • Eggs Benedict
  • Casserole aux oeufs et au fromage
  • Salade fusée
  • Jell-O Vegetable Salad
  • Chou-fleur entier en surprise
  • Brochettes des crevettes et de fruits
  • Mediterranean Layers
  • Marrow Pudding

Desserts

• • Macarons
  • Carrés aux fraises et à l’ananas
  • Chocolate Ice Cream
  • Jell-O Crown Jewel Dessert
  • Tarte à la pichoune
  • Carrot Pie
  • Pumpkin pie
  • Apple Pudding
  • Bananes au Rhum
  • Individual Orange Soufflés