Author: Aurora Almendral

Meyer Lemon Marmalade Recipe

In 1908, Frank Nicholas Meyer, a professional food explorer, brought a decorative Chinese hybrid of mandarin and lemon to the U.S. For the next seven decades, Meyer lemon trees continued to be thought of as mostly ornamental plants. Productive trees grew almost exclusively within California, and it wasn’t until Alice Waters started using them did Meyer lemons begin its slow, but steady courtship with the broader culinary world.

Meyer lemons are less acidic than the standard lemon, and have bright, thin skins with an aromatic, almost herbal scent. The description hardly does it justice. Meyer lemons are delightful. As their season wanes, save a dozen or two to preserve.

Painting of Women wrapped in Lemon Peels. "Fragrance of the Lemon' Peel by Ilya Zomba, Oil on Canvas, 1997 Courtesy of Zombart

Fragrance of the Lemon Peel by Ilya Zomba, Oil on Canvas, 1997, Courtesy of Zombart

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Exotic Leather

Python Escalades, electric blue crocodile pimp loafers, and ostrich jackets are the very embodiment of tackiness—luxury writ large and rendered tragically cheesy. Exotic skins, the tidy stripes of silky eel, the beautifully imperfect patterns of snake, and the smooth rectangular gradations of crocodile, were treasured for their uniqueness and rarity. Used sparingly on cigarette cases tucked into the inside pocket of a flannel suit jacket, or as a delicate clutch in a gloved hand, restraint itself underscored the preciousness of each skin.

Crocodile Hunting for Leather. A dead Crocodile lies on deck of a ship

Crocodile on Deck of a Steamer in Africa, Courtesy of Gordon Mumford (Click on Image to Enlarge)

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Home Canning

In the days before ripe Chilean tomatoes in the snowiest of winters, year-round beets, and the never-ending zucchini season, if you had a hankering for a summer vegetable in the middle of January, you had to wait six months. That is until 1810, when canning was invented and along with it, the possibility of anticipating your winter desires two seasons ahead.

Young family arranging jars of canned fruit and vegetables on cellar shelves

Image by Nina Lee, 1952, Courtesy of LIFE Magazine

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Cured Meat

Like any good American kid, I grew up eating floppy baloney on white bread. And like any uninspired Manhattan office worker, I ambled down to the nearest deli and got slices of salami — hot pink and encased in branded, shrink-wrap plastic that the sandwich guy would peel back to measure out my portion. It was salty and tasted fine between sliced bread with a handful of shredded iceberg lettuce, or at least it seemed that way from inside my cubicle. Then I moved to Europe.

Butcher Shop in Paris. Sausages and Cured Meat is hanging from Ceiling.

Charcuterie in Les Halles, Paris, 1962, Image by Tom Palumbo (Click on Image to Enlarge)

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Leather Tanning

Leather can be strong or supple; it can drape languidly or provide structure. The memory of the texture stays with your hands, and the earthy fragrance reminds you of its closeness to nature. It responds to the curves of your skin, and grows in character and beauty with age. Fine leather is mesmerizing, and Nick Horween of the venerable Horween Leather Company in Chicago, helped us to understand how this incredible material is created.

Eddie, Horween Leather Co., Cordovan Department, Image by Brett Nadal

Eddie, Horween Leather Co., Cordovan Department, Image by Brett Nadal

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Mother Of Pearl

Unlike its flashier progeny, mother of pearl is more than an accessory to a favorite pastel sweater set. As masculine as the grips on Wyatt Earp’s spinning six-shooters, and as feminine as the posy holder dangling from Queen Victoria’s tiniest finger, mother of pearl’s subtle elegance was valued for adornments and accouterments, and lent weight, permanence and beauty to the everyday objects now molded out of disposable plastics.

Gustave Young Engraved Navy Percussion Revolver with Mother of Pearl Handle, 1851

Gustave Young Engraved Navy Percussion Revolver with Mother of Pearl Handle, 1851

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