Marylanders, love it or hate it, serve sauerkraut at Thanksgiving (see a previous post on the subject here). I particularly like the tang of fermented cabbage to break up the richness of the other dishes on offer.
I’m curious how and when sauerkraut made it onto the menu, and where it doesn’t appear. This Thanksgiving menu from the Royal Blue Line, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s elite rail service, doesn’t list it. Other regional dishes appear, including terrapin, canvasback duck, oyster dressing, and stewed tomatoes.
Was sauerkraut too homey a dish? Not considered elegant? Too pungent for the train? This is yet another intriguing menu from the What’s on the Menu? project at the New York Public Library. Now, to figure out Iced California Malagas…
What’s on the Menu? New York Public Library. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1900.
