Yesterday, we took a lunchtime break to go see Lunch Hour NYC, a new exhibition at the New York Public Library.
The Stephen A Schwarzman Building in Bryant Park is one of my favorite places in the city, period, but the menu collection (45,000 and counting) at NYPL is something else and a major attraction for anyone interested in food and/or the history of New York.
The exhibition shows a well-curated, fun, and interactive history of power lunches, women’s luncheons, school lunches, working lunches, lunches from the Automat and more.
It was interesting to see that while some things, such as nutrition requirements, prices, and food preferences have changed, other things like working New Yorkers’ rushing to get food or impressing each other with their daring, new food choices (at one point, that was jello or peanut butter!) had not.
I picked up some recipe cards from the Horn & Hardart‘s Automat to share with everyone:
Burgundy Sauce with Beef and Noodles:
You’ll need:
- 2 lbs lean beef (chuck or round)
- 2 T flour
- 1 t salt
- 1/4 t black pepper
- 1/2 medium carrot, grated
- 1/2 medium onion, grated
- 1/2 celery rib, finely minced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 t salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 t Maggi seasoning
- 1/2 cup tomato juice
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups Burgundy wine
- 2 cups broad noodles, freshly cooked
1. Trim beef of any fat or gristle. Save the fat; cut beed into 1 1/2 inch cubes. Season it with salt and pepper. Dredge with flour.
2. Render the fat in a heavy pan. Sear the meat in it. Add all the other ingredients, bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and cover, and cook slowly until tender.
4. Just before serving, remove the bay leaf and mix in two cups of freshly cooked noodles. Serves 4-6 people.
The exhibition runs through February so, I hope you get to visit it too!
Hahaha…i love the fact maggi seasoning is one of the ingredients in the recipe..;-) x
Even then π
Seems like a fun outing my friend π
The history of luncheon – how could you possibly not have a blast π
Cheers
CCU
Thank you! It really was π
This was so fun for me to see. I’m clear across the country (CA) but heard all about this exhibit on an NPR report last weekend, and I’ve thought of it frequently. I even started reading a bit on the history of the Automat after listening to the interesting report. I’m sure it was indeed a very interesting visit. The recipe looks deicious, too! π Debra
That’s fantastic! So glad you had a lot of context and information about it already too.
What a brilliant exhibit and I really loved the opening front/facade! I can’t wait to visit NY one day and an authentic pretzel is on my goodie bucket list too π
Whoops… Typo…’foodie bucket list’
I hope you get to visit NYC too! Pretzels and all π
Ooh, I like the sound of this recipe. And, I’ve got ground beef defrosting!
I was surprised by how hearty but simple it was!
Sounds yummy and I can only imagine how fun the exhibit was/is!
Lots of amazing photography there too, you would have enjoyed it!
I would love to see that exhibit.. I’m a big fan of museums and don’t seem to make it to them often enough!
I think you would really enjoy it, Smidge! This exhibit made the perfect midday break π x
x
That sounds wonderful!
Thank you:)