Customer Reviews

The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With recipes developed by John R. Gonzales, The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook brings the flavors and aromas of colonial Williamsburg's four taverns (Christiana Campbell's, Chowning's, the King's Arms, and Shield") and traditional cuisines to the modern family dining table. From Meat Patties in Crust; Celery Root Slaw; and Pot Likker Greens with Dumplings; to Broiled Bluefish with Whole-Grain Mustard Sauce; Yorkshire Pudding; and Buttermilk Pie, The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook offers two hundred wonderfully presented, highly recommended recipes which, while modified for the modern palate, owe their inspiration to our colonial history.

On a recent trip to Colonial Williamsburg for the weekend, my wife and I decided to forego the Atkins diet for a few days and enjoy all the wonderous treats this historical city had to offer. We were not to be let down and the cuisine was incredible. Naturally, being a bit of the chef myself, I thought owning the cookbook containing these recipes would at least be close enough to the real deal. I was wrong; the Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook more than matches the real deal!

From recipes like Peanut Soup (a King's Arms Tavern favorite) to Ham Relish (Adrianna Campbell's) to the main course Filet Mignon Stuffed with Oysters (and wrapped with bacon, I might add), this book gives explicit directions on preparing and serving these 18th century treats. You will be able to host your own colonial times dinner party. The pictures are crisp and beautfiul, though not every dish was given a treatment sadly. Still, there are more than enough visual aids to adorn your dinner with the proper utensils and table-top accoutrements.

If you enjoy cooking and would like to add the cuisine of Williamsburg's colonial taverns to your cache, this book is a must-have. Even if you just enjoy cooking or would like to explore new culinary horizons, I highly recommend this item. Trust me you will NOT be disappointed. Eat heartily and enjoy!

When I was in elementary school, we would drive 800 miles to Colonial Williamsburg for spring break every year. I fell in love with the 18th-century costumes, architecture, ornate silverwork, and Baroque music. We dined at several of Colonial Williamsburg's taverns: Shields, King's Arms, and Christiana Campbell's.

My mom has a first-edition copy of The Williamsburg Cookbook: Traditional and Contemporary Recipes from the 1970s, which I would pore over for hours, soaking up the line art and gross-sounding recipes (turtle soup! calf's head!). The only recipe she ever made regularly was the Bourbon Balls (although she had also tried the cream of peanut soup and the chicken and dumplings).

So when I saw that there was a new edition, "The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook," I was interested to see how the book stacked up against its predecessor. The first (and most obvious) difference is the color photos, both of finished dishes and of Colonial Williamsburg itself (the original Colonial Williamsburg cookbook was sorely lacking in photographs, and was illustrated with line art).

The book opens with a brief discussion of colonial dining habits and "Tavern of Colonial Williamsburg Today" (circa 2001) before launching into appetizers, many of which prominently feature Virginia ham (melon balls, biscuits) and seafood (smoked trout, crabmeat, shrimp). Similarly, "Soups" also owes a debt to seafood, including chowders, crayfish soup, crab soup, and oyster bisque, with the occasional peanut, bean, or pea soup. The Kings Arms Tavern Cream of Peanut Soup was also featured in the original cookbook and in a flyer handed out in Colonial Williamsburg; it was one of my family's favorites during our visits to Williamsburg, and the home version tastes every bit as good as the original. The texture is almost like a thick gravy, made by softening vegetables in stock, then straining the mixture and mixing in smooth peanut butter and cream over low heat.

In fact, many of the recipes in the Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook are taken verbatim from the first edition, right down to the sidebars. Many of the dishes are identical: King's Arms Tavern chicken pot pie, Chowning's Tavern Brunswick stew, Sally Lunn bread, and tenderloin of beef stuffed with oysters, for example. Others have been updated for the better: the bourbon balls now call for melted chocolate in place of cocoa, and have doubled the bourbon (the original called for a scant ¼ cup). The Shields Tavern carrot pudding spiced with cardamom has swapped cardamom for the original nutmeg, ditched the cream sherry and halved the sugar.

The most striking addition to this new version is the number of vegetarian-friendly vegetable and egg dishes, including grilled polenta, carrots glazed with two gingers, bean and corn succotash, mushrooms in cream sauce, and spinach pie. Southern staples such as grits and pickled watermelon rind also make appearances. The most noticeable absence is the lack of any nutritional information about the included recipes; no statistics on calories, fat, sugar or sodium are to be found. Like their forebears, these recipes are quite generous with butter, cream and shortening at times. Also, some of the ingredients may not be readily available in your area (fresh rabbit, scuppernong wine, chutney, cardamom, arrowroot).

Overall, this is a worthy souvenir for those who have dined at one of Colonial Williamsburg's taverns, or for those who enjoy collecting cookbooks. The beautiful photography adds to the experience, although not all photographs are labeled. The historical notes make for interesting reading, and the recipes themselves are fairly straightforward and easy to follow. However, if you already own the original "The Williamsburg Cookbook," be aware that many of the recipes here are direct copies, with few if any tweaks or adjustments.

I have been to Colonial Williamsburg and eaten at a couple of the establishments there. Kind of similar to City Tavern in Philadelphia. . . .

As introductory comments in this book say (Page 12): "Colonial Williamsburg's operating taverns--Christiana Campbell's, Chowning's, the King's Arms, and Shields--re-create the tastes, smells, and sounds that eighteenth-century visitors to Williamsburg and townspeople experienced. Visitors sample foods suggestive of the past but that suit modern appetites." So, we this cookbook doesn't reproduce foods exactly as they were served at these taverns. Nonetheless, the recipes are certainly evocative of the era and make for interesting reading (and I have already identified several recipes that I want to use). The book begins by discussing each of the taverns mentioned above.

The first set of recipes focus on appetizers and first courses. A typical dish is Chicken stock, featuring thyme, parsley, bay leaf, peppercorns, celery ribs, carrots, onions, leeks, chicken parts and salt. Soups? One recipe that interested me was King's Arms Tavern Cream of Peanut Soup. For a Constitution Day event at Penn State Harrisburg, a caterer prepared dishes from the Revolutionary era--one of which was peanut soup. It was delicious. So I want to fix a batch of this dish--featuring butter, onion, celery ribs, flour, chicken stock, peanut butter, light cream, and chopped salt peanuts for garnish. Seems doable--and looks like it would taste good!

Salads, dressings, and condiments comprise another section of this cookbook. There is Christiana Campbell's Tavern Crabmeat Salad, Shields Tavern Salmagundi, and Christiana Campbell's Tavern Slaw. Egg, cheese, and vegetarian dishes. . . . Egg and onion pie looks tempting to me. Shirred eggs with Surry sausage, Welsh rarebit with beer, bubble and squeak, and an open-faced omelette represent some examples of dishes in this section. There is a simple macaroni and cheese recipe here, too, that I aim to make within the next several days. . . .

Fish/shellfish: Examples include Sea Trout Fillets Topped with Crabmeat and Dill Sauce, Curried Shrimp, and Fish Stock. And so on, with poultry recipes, meat recipes, vegetables (I love making red cabbage' this chapter has a different take on this dish, and I am intrigued to try it out), breads, cakes and cookies, desserts, and beverages (I am interested in trying the Christiana Campbell's Tavern Wassail--which includes sugar, cinnamon, lemon slices, pineapple juice, orange juice, lemon juice, red wine, and sherry).

In short, lots of fun!

This book was far more beautiful and informative than I had expected. The pictures are exquisite and it brings me right back to all of the special memories I have of Thanksgiving 2011 with my family in Williamsburg. The recipes are easy to understand. The only thing I wish it had would be the nutrition counts - I am a diabetic so that is important to me, though I can calculate them myself.

Living in Virginia and being a native North Carolinian means I've spent my fair share of time at Colonial Williamsburg. In recent years, I've been many times just to stroll about and enjoy a good dinner. My particular favorite is Game Pie at the King's Arms.

I picked up this cookbook there one day when I realized how much I loved the food! Like a critical reviewer said, many of these recipes may be found by ones or twos in other cookbooks (Williams Sonoma series comes to mind) but I've never seen them all together except in this book. After enjoying it thoroughly and getting compliments on the food, I bought more through Amazon to give as gifts and spread the love.

Another note on the recipes seems pertinent for the modern cook. Many of the recipes have been brought up to date in terms of ingredients and cooking methods. An example is the prevalent use of lard, woodstoves for baking and the ubiquitous use of massive quantities of salt in traditional Virginia cooking. All these have been updated to be a bit less heavy in those areas and useful for your modern stove and oven. I have several recipes from the original time period as passed down from my own Northeastern North Carolina family and have long lamented that they are just inedible or do-able with modern methods and ingredients. I can now get a taste of them from this book.

As far as content, there are a full range of recipes from Appetizers to Desserts and Beverages with everything in between. A good many of the dishes are friendly to vegetarians. And if they are choices that are good to make ahead of time or partially make ahead of time, it is generally stated for your planning ease.

I've made a good half of the recipes so far and liked almost all that I have made. After I first got the book, we decided to have a full colonial Christmas and I had a houseful of happily full folks who adored the offerings. They were also happily toasted after serving Egg Nog from the book recipe, something we now do annually, but with slightly less booze!

If I had one criticism it would be that I would like to see them narrow back down a bit in using local ingredients that are seasonal. By updating some of the recipes they mixed seasonal and local with imported or out of season ingredients. Most of this seems to be due to those ingredients no longer being raised locally or no longer harvested from our local ocean area or rivers, so it is a minor complaint.

Whether it is the candies (we love the Bourbon Balls) or the vegetables (we love the Slaw, Celery Root Slaw, Polenta with Veg and so many more) or anything in between there is much to love. I think this is a fabulous thing to bring home from your visit or just purchase here for a few dollars less and enjoy.

Cooking Skill Level: Beginner to Advanced depending on recipe.

My wife loves to cook and on a recent trip to Williamsburg, we found a recipe at a tavern that she wanted to duplicate. This completes the process.

We saw this at colonial williamsburg and then found it here for less.
Thanks

Do not buy this cookbook. This book is a rehash of recipes that have been written about in many cookbooks for just about forever. The photographs are lovely but the recipes have a definite 1950's "Colonial Revival" aura about them. This is not really the fault of the author. The Tavern Cookbook is just a marketing tool for Colonial Williamsburg.

And having eaten in the Taverns I can tell you that the "chefs" are not even using these recipes. The Tavern food of today has a "boiled in a bag and reheated" taste. A very processed - "not cooked here" feel to the food. So stay away from the Taverns and do not buy this "Colonial Revival" cookbook.