Thanksgiving Dinner at the Chinese Embassy (Washington, 1908), Part II.

Yesterday I gave you the background to the vegetarian Thanksgiving menu at the Chinese embassy in Washington in 1908, and included the recipe and assembly instructions for the “mock turkey” which was the star of the dinner-table. The story was from The Washington Post of November 22, 1908. Today I give you the complete menu and the remainder of the recipes featured in the article.

“The menu card for the Thanksgiving dinner at the Chinese embassy is interesting, and it may perhaps be enlightening to give the recipe that the Chinese chef so freely offered for each separate dish.

The menu card is as follows:

Cream of Almond Soup

Salad Delight            Chili Sauce

Olives

Scalloped Oysters                Deviled Eggs

Vegetary [sic] Turkey, Cranberries

Mashed Potatoes, Browned            Spinach

Celery

Fruit Mince Pie         Lemon Gelee Sherbert

Nuts    Candies          Raisins

Figs                 Dates

Cereal Coffee

To prepare the almond soup: Make a cream of one quart of water and one half pound of almond butter; salt to taste and heat in a double boiler. Cut one dozen almonds into inch strips and place in tureen, afterward pouring in the cream. Serve hot, with toasted wafers. So says my friend, the chef.

The salad delight is simple to prepare, but, as its name indicates, is delicious. Cut into squares one-half cupful of beets and add one cupful of grape fruit; add to this one-half cup of minced celery, one hard boiled egg, and three medium sized radishes cut into fancy shapes. Mayonnaise dressing is added one-half hour before serving on very crisp lettuce leaves.

The mock turkey [see yesterday’s post]

The escalloped oysters are nothing more than “salsify” simmered until tender, and afterward baked in a pudding dish, with alternate rows of bread crumbs, and over which has been poured a cream made of slightly thickened milk, of course properly seasoned.

For the fruit mince pie, mix together 5 cups of chopped tart apples, 1 cup of prune marmalade, 5 cups of minced protose (a substitute for flesh food), 1 cup raisins, 1 cup of chopped nut meats, 1⅓ cups sugar, and cook gently for three hours. The quantities are sufficient for five pies. The crust is the usual pie crust, the filling being simply a recipe for mince pie, made without meat or suet, and with the plentiful addition of nuts.

The lemon gelee sherbert is simple to make, is more acceptable after a heavy dinner than the ices where cream is used. For the gelee, take 2 cups of lemon juice, 2 cups sugar, 6 cups water, a box of gelatin, the whites o 3 eggs, and flavoring. Dissolve the gelatin and strain through cheese cloth. Mix together the water, lemon juice, and sugar, Add the beaten whites of the eggs, and lastly the strained gelatin, stirring constantly. Freeze to the consistency of sherbet, and serve in sherbet cups or champagne glasses.”