Open Hearth Cooking Classes

Are you interested in historic foodways? Do you want to learn how to cook in your fireplace? Do you have a beehive oven and ever wondered how to heat it and bake in it? Please join us this winter to prepare and eat savory and sweet dishes under the guidance of our experience open hearth cooks.

A series of seven one-day classes, each with its own theme, has been scheduled for Saturdays in February and March 2016. Classes are held in the kitchen of the 1786 Hall Tavern.  The hearth cooks will teach you a variety of cookery techniques and lead discussions on 18th- and early 19th-century food preparation, preservation technology, seasonality, diet, and the availability of local and imported foodstuffs. New this year, three classes will focus on old cookbooks. While the food is cooking, a visit to a kitchen of a historic house is part of the experience. A bibliography on open hearth cookery will be distributed.

You will participate in the process and assist hearth cooks in the tasks undertaken. We recommend that you dress comfortably, bring an apron, pen, and paper for notes. After the food is prepared, you will sit down to enjoy the fruits of your labor. (You may also bring a brown bag lunch.)