How New York Ate in 1900New York City has five geographic areas, "boroughs", that were incorporated into one city in 1898. Of these, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn had their own city governments, tax base, etc. The Bronx had been more connected to Manhattan administratively and much of the development from farmland followed the advent of public transportation to Manhattan. With the exception of the border between Brooklyn and Queens, each borough is separated from the others by a river or harbor; local food production, industry, neighborhood markets and restaurants developed their own flavors and functions in the communities.
How New York Ate 100 Years AgoAt the turn of the last century nearly 3.5 million people saw the birth of the newly consolidated City of New York. In their food supplies, Manhattan had ceased to be self-sufficient decades before, and relied on imports and the bounty of the other four boroughs.
The New Yorkers in these boroughs cultivated orchards, trapped wild fowl in the teeming woodlands, foraged for edible plants, fished in the surrounding waters of New York Harbor, Long Island Sound, and Jamaica Bay, and worked 250-year-old farms raising cattle, horses, hogs and grain.
In the urban neighborhoods of all boroughs, residents bought bread, milk, ice, fish, hot corn, pie and more from horse-drawn wagons and pushcarts. Children bought snowballs of shaved ice and sweet syrups for a penny.
As for restaurants and hotels, they fed millions, from single five-cent meals to $10,000 banquets. Ethnic foods helped establish immigrant enclaves, and dishes and markets were starting to find cross-cultural acceptance. As the largest port and market in North America and a leading manufacturing area, New York City provided food and food products for the entire country.
The variety of ethnic communities and the diversity of immigration to New York created a wealth of cultural traditions, each community taking on a different character as it grew, strengthened, diversified, assimilated, dispersed, specialized in industry or faced special discrimination.
When communities were substantial, their food dynamics affected food quality and prices (for more on the Kosher Meat Riots, click Manhattan on the map above) stimulated import trade, created manufacturing and farming opportunities as in the Chinese farms and restaurants, restaurant chic and frequently food industries, needing limited English language skills or American certifications (see pushcarts for one example, current restaurant practice for another--links from Retail section at left).
Opportunities in the food business led to advancement in other food-related businesses, and fostered restaurant ownership and ethnic food manufacture. For recent immigrants, a neighborhood that practiced familiar food traditions meant a place of security, fellow countrymen and women, news from home.
Immigrant communities, particularly Greeks, worked truck farms near Bull's Head that provided the Manhattan markets with vegetables and livestock for Washington Market.
Today Chef Sharif created a dish for us. He decided to make BBQ Chicken Wings, Ranch Infused Mashed Potatoes, Garlic Spinach. Sharif Made the bbq sauce this morning from scratch. Great job Sharif. Please join us.
GLAM – Girls Learning to Achieve More – aims to equip young women with life skills and social/emotional competency in order to be successful academically and personally. It is a sorority type organization for the 6th grade scholars and aims to build positive friendships while encouraging the young woman to learn about and who they are as a unique individual. "Cupcake Secrets", a program developed by Ms. Leah Foster, used the fun activities of baking and decorating cupcakes to explore personal fears, insecurities, anxieties, and goals. Each girl was able to hide a secret message within their own cupcake and then decorate the outside to represent how they portray themselves to the world. The GLAM girls had a great time sharing their secrets and then decorating and eating the cupcakes!
Today we have are featuring a delicious dish created by our very own, Chef Kim. Chef Kim prepared a Cajun Style Shrimp and Chicken Alfredo over Linguini. A special salad was also prepared using Romaine, Mandarin Oranges and Red Bell Peppers topped with a Creole Salad Dressing. Please join us! Bon Appetit!
Today at the main building we are offering a Cold Minted Pea Soup during lunch. A great way to start off Spring!
Good Morning! Today we have decided to change the menu and incorporate a personal favorite from one of our team members. Chef Daniel decided to make one of his favorite dishes. Baked Ziti with Turkey accompanied by Cesar Salad. Stop by and have lunch.
How New York Ate in 1900
The Great Kapok Tree is set in the Amazon rain forest. A young man begins to chop down a kapok tree, following the orders of a "larger man". After he has hit the tree a few times with his axe, he sits down to rest and falls asleep. While he sleeps, several rainforest animals and a child whisper into his ear and beg him to spare the tree, explaining its importance in the fragile ecosystem. When the man awakes, he leaves his axe at the foot of the tree and walks away.
Truce Fitness recently had it first culinary arts class. The students created a dish using fruit. The dish had to be creative in creating their fruit personality.
