Life & Times Locavore: Historic cooking at the Riversdale Mansion

By IMKE AHLF-WIEN

The cooking demonstration is in full swing when I arrive at the Riversdale House Museum one Sunday in June. The air is thick with smoke, and the aroma of chicken sizzling in lard in a pan over open fire tickles my nose. Riversdale Kitchen Guild volunteers Michelle Kretsch and Gaby Gonzalez, who are both Greenbelt residents, along with Edwin Esquinel, a junior at Bladensburg High School, are cooking up a storm. On the menu: fried chicken, cornbread, fried sliced potatoes and cherry dumplings. 

The Riversdale Kitchen Guild, which “explores history through the foodways and cooking practices of 19th-century America” and is entirely run by volunteers, invites the public to open-hearth cooking demonstrations in the Dependency Kitchen — adjacent to the historic mansion — on select Sundays throughout the year.

Kretsch, who helped found the Riversdale Kitchen Guild, in 2001, explains what kinds of foods were eaten at the mansion 200 years ago, during the times of Rosalie and George Calvert, whose family moved into the Riversdale Mansion after it was built by Rosalie’s father, the Flemish aristocrat Henri Stier, in 1807. 

Their overall diet doesn’t sound so different from ours today: poultry, meat and fish, dairy products and bread, as well as plenty of fruits and vegetables, both seasonal and preserved. (What’s missing from the table, of course, is the nowadays ubiquitous ultra-processed food.)

Baked goods, including pies and cookies, were popular as well. Two mesmerized little boys, who have started to stir the cornbread batter, ask about the Calvert family’s favorite cookies; gingersnap and sugar, Kretsch responds.

Since nothing was ever wasted, animals were eaten head to toe, including offal like the heart and liver, according to Kretsch, and there were several different methods to preserve produce: with salt, sugar, alcohol, vinegar or oil, as well as through lacto-fermentation. Many of the preserved vegetables found their way into creatively assembled salads, such as the salmagundi, that were eaten year-round. The salmagundi includes chicken and ham, fresh or preserved produce, and some mild seasonings, Kretsch explains.

The enslaved people who undertook the strenuous task of cooking over an open fire for the Calvert household day in,

day out had to make do with much simpler fare. According to Kretsch, the staples of their diet most likely consisted of salt pork, dried fish and cornmeal. These were probably supplemented with vegetables like roots and greens that they could have grown on a small plot of land; with small animals, including rabbits and squirrels, that they could trap; and with fish from the nearby Anacostia River. During an open house honoring Harriet Tubman’s 200th birthday two years ago, a Kitchen Guild demonstration featured meals typical of those cooked in the slave quarters during the 1800s. (Go to bit.ly/3y4arfX for more on the diets of enslaved people.) 

Ideally, most of the ingredients for the cooking demonstrations would be provided by the garden and orchard of the Riversdale Mansion just like they were 200 years ago, but for the June event only the cherries were harvested on site. While just a fraction of the original 4.5 acres remains, the garden has a lot to teach — not only about the produce, herbs and flowers grown by Rosalie Calvert, but also about the history of Indigenous and enslaved people who lived in the area. One plot represents the kinds of crops grown by enslaved people, including cabbage, collard greens, beets, carrots and spinach, while another plot includes crops planted by the Piscataway and other people that lived in the area and prominently features the so-called three sisters: corn, beans and squash. 

After an hour chatting with Kretsch and the other volunteers, I notice that the cornbread has turned golden-brown and the chicken pieces are fried to perfection. Unfortunately, the Kitchen Guild can’t offer open-hearth-prepared food to the public because of county food safety regulations, Kretsch says. Gonzalez adds, with a wink, that you have to become a volunteer to sample the food. And maybe, just maybe, this is what I will do one day.

Between March and December, free Riversdale Kitchen Guild events take place on select Sundays from noon to 3:30 p.m. (riversdale.org). The next open-hearth cooking demonstration will take place on Aug. 25 and feature plenty of produce from the mansion’s garden and orchard. 

Green beans dressed the Dutch way

This easy-to-make side dish is ideal for a light summer meal. The recipe has been adapted from a cookbook the Riversdale Kitchen Guild uses: Hearthside Cooking — An Introduction to Virginia Plantation Cuisine Including Bills of Fare, Tools and Techniques, and Original Recipes with Adaptations for Modern Fireplaces and Kitchens by Nancy Carter Crump. 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups green beans, ends removed
• 1 large white onion, peeled and finely diced
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• Additional parsley for garnish

Directions:

Place green beans in a saucepan and barely cover with water. Add onion, salt, pepper and parsley; mix well. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over medium heat until the beans are barely tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and drain thoroughly. Place in a serving dish, add butter and additional parsley for garnish. Serve immediately. 

Imke Ahlf-Wien is a nutrition educator with a passion for fresh, locally procured foods.