As the snow swirls and winds whip outside of the main office of the Greeley Museums, all is busy inside, especially in the kitchen. Developing more interactive offerings for our visitors takes a tremendous amount of research and trial and error. With this winters activity being more rigorous, yet more fun than ever, we have been able to authentically reproduce many recipes and preservation techniques for demonstration this summer enabling the historic experience to include ones pallet and stomach.
Everyone likes to eat; therefore you will be able to experience the past with your taste buds! Beginning in May, we will launch our first foray into programs that will focus on the farm to fork link between historic people and their agricultural connections to the past.
Our highly dedicated team of volunteers and staff has been meeting every Wednesday afternoon, since the first of the year absorbing and testing what average agricultural people from 1850-1900 would have considered common knowledge. Amongst subjects such as planting, harvesting, animal husbandry, etc., the most enthralling for all involved are the Pioneer Foodways which everyone looks forward to.
The Tasty Origins
Besides the life cycle of hogs, chickens, goats, and cattle we have been peeling back the layers of history and processing cuts of meat and utilizing the bi-products just as people of Historic Colorado would have after the butchering would have occurred. It is a popular myth that Euro-American settlers were part of a wasteful culture, while native people understood conservation and reuse of resources: nothing is farther from the truth when discussing Colorado pioneers.
Our recipes and techniques have been gleaned from research of historic farming manuals, cook books, housekeeping guides, written and oral history in order to develop a fuller view of pioneers through food. These sources clearly show pioneer-farmers as thrifty and conservation minded about all of their farm produce utilizing most animals tail to snout, with tasty results! Some of the flavors will surprise our visitors.
Salt, the universal preservative is widely prevalent in the preservation techniques. We have come up with a historic recipe for Sauerkraut that may have graced the tables of families of Germans from Russia farmers. Salt is also present in preserving meats like the salt pork we have made, which is nothing like the block of jellied pork you buy in the meat case. Our salt-pork is succulent once correctly prepared, and would have fed historic people from explorers to soldiers without refrigeration.
Tallow and lard, the rendered fat from cattle and hogs, graced the table of every home. With research we have discovered these to be much better for you than modern alternatives and in their purest, natural forms as we make them, can remain edible and fresh for months. Additionally, we are making our own soap from the lard and our own candles from the tallow.
Smoke, a preservative applied to meat, like the ham still curing here at the museum, was a regular odor that perfumed each person on the farm until Saturday night when the family bath was complete. You the visitor will be able to see the smoking process and smell its rich aroma.
When the Village opens May 1st, you will be able to learn from our research, using the actual tools and materials of the pioneers and tasting the bounty of the prairie as it would have been over 150 years ago. All of this excitement has led to the initial planning stages of a Candlelight Harvest event in October, where you will be able to sample historic and modern fare at Centennial Village.
Want to learn along with us? Please call (970) 350-9275 to talk to me about volunteering. We teach as well as learn from our volunteers and your support makes the museum a joy for all of our visitors.
Written by: Bill Armstrong, Curator of Education and Living History