Next, an almost abandoned ingredient coveted by American cooks across the centuries in almost every era except our own.

- And this would be something that would have been enjoyed in the 19th century.

- I can't wait to see it.

Discover the culinary heritage of the cranberry once so much more than a Thanksgiving side dish.

- Something we want everyone to understand is that cranberries - were used at all times of the year.

Libby O'Connell details the delightful ways in which the Colonials and the Victorians, and the Native Americans all consumed cranberries.

Then Chef Melissa transports these recipes out of the past and onto the table.

- So it's bubbling away here, - and it looks like I can smash them up against the side - which is what we were talking about.

- Perfect.

- Yeah, that's what we're looking for.

- OK, so we're good to go?

- All right, let's move on to the next step.

- Great.

Can these tart creations of yesteryear compete with the more familiar flavors of today?

That's next on Drive By History... - Oh, that's so good.

...Eats [Music] Made possible by [Music] the New Jersey Historical Commission, enriching the lives of the public by preserving the historical record and advancing interest in and awareness of New Jersey's past.

Every day, thousands of motorists pass by countless history markers and say to themselves, '‘One of these days, I'm going to stop and read that.'

If you watch Drive By History, you know that's how every episode begins.

I start with a history marker, then go on an investigation to find out what happened and why it mattered.

What you don't know is that the food, or the '‘eats', often plays into that part of the history, but there's just not enough time to chew on that part of the past.

And that got me thinking - why not revisit that history with a focus on the food?

This is Drive By History: Eats.

[Music] The investigation we're revisiting today begins in Browns Mills, New Jersey, at Whitesbog Historic Village, once one of the largest cranberry farms in the region.

At the time of my visit, Monmouth University Professor Rich Veit detailed the fascinating relationship we've had with this tart berry across the centuries.

Hundreds, if not thousands of years ago, the Native Americans relied on cranberries, not only for food, but also for medicine.

When the colonists arrived in the 1600s, however, the culinary history of the cranberry changed course due to an import introduced by Europe.

- Honeybees, which are not indigenous to North America, - are brought over in the 17th century and then you've got that sweetness from honey.

- Ahh... - Tart sweet.

- So it changes the way you can use the cranberries.

[ MUSIC] From the early 1700s, we know Americans enjoyed cranberry juice, cranberry tarts, and cranberry sauce.

By the time of the Civil War, it was practically patriotic to serve cranberries at mealtime.

- We know that during the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant... - ...right, the famous Union General, that he, in fact asks for cranberries - as part of a meal for his troops, a Thanksgiving meal.

By the late 19th century, the public's appetite for cranberries became all but insatiable.

As a result, farms such as Whitesbog focused mainly on growing and selling cranberries.

They became a highly lucrative cash crop.

During the harvest, Whitesbog percolated with activity.

At one time, so many people worked here this farm operated its own post office and general store.

- But our region produces a bountiful array of berries.

- That's why I wanted to revisit this history.

- What is it about cranberries that catapulted them into the top spot - as arguably American history's favorite fruit?

To find out, I head to Lloyd Harbor, New York, to the home of Dr. Libby O'Connell, one of our nation's most esteemed food historians and author of The American Plate.

- Cranberry contains a natural pectin... - very easy to make into a jelly.

- They didn't have gelatin desserts like we do today, - But this made cranberries very desirable.

- They're easy to turn into something that you could pour into a mold, - and then have this beautiful light reflecting - molded art display.

- With this beautiful color.

- Yes, the color...this crimson.

- And that's an important point.

- Cranberries don't lose their color when they're cooked.

- And we're used to the idea that things - turn a little brown, or they don't quite shine as much.

- Cranberries stay bright on the table.

- There was a woman named Sarah J. Hale.

- She was the Martha Stewart of the 19th century...a publisher.

- She had a wonderful magazine and she wrote a lot of recipes - and encouraged women to be using cranberries in...for meat glazes, - for baking, as well as for jams and jellies and sauces.

As we head to the table.

Libby tells me that Sarah Hale was a key figure in the quest to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.

However, rather than focus on recipes from Sarah Hale, Libby prefers to look at cranberries as an ingredient, one used by cooks across the decades, across the centuries, maybe even across the millennia.

- One thing I really like about cranberries is that they're eaten in this continent, - on this continent for thousands of years, first by the indigenous people.

- And one of the cards I want to show you, - one of the recipes I want to show you is about pemmican.

- Granola bars is what comes to mind.

- It's an indigenous energy bar.

- It's portable, - highly nutritious, - really dense protein and fruit.

- And in this case, we're showing that dried cranberries were used - as part of these pemmican bars, and they brought vitamin C - to a very portable food for the indigenous.

- They really understood the idea of concentrated energy foods.

- Many of them would be hunting, they'd be moving.

- They were farmers, hunters and gatherers.

- But this is a type of food you could take on a hunt, - that you could take on when your camp was moving, - and it's handy.

[MUSIC] - Okay, so what's next on our menu?

- Well, we're going to talk about how people used cranberries with meat.

- So, a sweet and savory together.

- That's right.

- Okay.

- And we associate that with... - Thanksgiving.

- And that's a tradition that continues today.

- But what's I think something we want everyone to understand is that - cranberries were used at all times of year.

- I have a recipe here that shows you how flexible - cranberries can be when you're making a meat dish.

- It's a pork patty... - well, we would call it a pork meatball, really.

- It's on a bed of noodles.

- And this is sort of a combination, an homage to a 19th century food trend of a... - ...of the use of a cranberry glaze.

- So cranberries are what make this dish special.

- You have that tartness.

- You have the beautiful color.

- And it looks great on the noodles as well as the meatballs.

- It really is different.

- And I think you're really going to enjoy.

- I can't wait to try it.

For centuries, cooks would have been familiar with all types of cuisine made with cranberries.

Today, however, cranberries are anything but common.

Will these recipes for vegetarian pemmican and stuffed pork meatballs with noodles present unique challenges due to the cranberries piquant personality?

To find out, I turn to Chef Melissa Fairchild Clark.

- So cranberries are a notoriously tart ingredient.

- And as such, you need to balance that out with an amount of added sugar.

- And that is whether you're doing a savory or a sweet application.

- But you also need to make sure that you don't overwhelm with just - sweetness and lose the cranberry in there.

- Or you can go into the candy realm a little bit.

Exactly.

- Exactly.

- Well good.

- Well, I'll be watching to see how you mitigate that.

- Let's get started.

- So we're working with a vegetarian pemmican today.

- I'm really curious about this dish.

- So, first things first, - we are going to add all of our kind of chunky ingredients, I'll call them.

- We've got chopped almonds, chopped walnuts, - dried cranberries.

- So those will be a little sweet, too, right?

- Yes.

- They've...their sugars have concentrated through the drying process.

- Then we have raisins.

- Again, concentrated so you get a little sweetness.

- Yes.

And dried blueberries.

- So you've got a lot of sugar working there, but you've also got a lot of protein - with the nuts.

- Yes, exactly.

- And then there's also some protein in the wheat bran as well, - which we'll get to when we mix the next thing.

- Interesting.

OK. - So let's mix this up and let's get onto the next... - Can I have that spatula..the blue one?

- Absolutely.

- Thank you.

- And this is a quick one... you just toss it together.

- Well, this is looking like trail mix to me.

- Yeah, and this actually does turn out to be a lot like the fruit and nut bars - that we would take on a hike today.

- I can see that.

Yeah, absolutely.

- All right, where do we go next?

- So we can set this aside, - because as in a lot of baking, we are going to mix - our dry ingredients together next.

- Even though all of these are dry.

- All of these are dry.

But these are the chunky dry.

- Now we have pulverized dry and then we can add wet after that.

- All right.

What have you got here?

- So I have some wheat germ, - whole wheat flour, - Okay.

- wheat bran.

- This is dehydrated milk powder, non fat.

- Mm hmm.

- And then we have a little bit of pulverized flaxseed.

- And if I'm not mistaken, - wheat germ is an excellent source of protein as well, right?

- Yes, it is.

- Okay.

- I think what I remember Libby talking about - is that the Native Americans made their original version of Pemmican - using dried meat because of the protein content.

- Oh, so this is a great swap for that.

This really is, yeah.

- Okay, so let's clear off our workspace, - Oh, okay.

- And then we can get to the real assembly.

- Let's do that.

- So talk us through what we're going to see next.

- Yeah, this is a bit of a process because you don't want to just add - the pulverized dry ingredients and then add the honey.

- We're going to do it in batches.

- Is that so that you can really control how much you're putting in?

Or is it... - It controls the homogenization?

- Good word...a ten dollar word.

- Yes.

[LAUGHTER] - It just makes sure that everything distributes a little bit easier - than if you were to try and do everything at once.

- Okay.

Well, tell me if I can help.

You tell me what I can do.

- Oh, I'm going to be using your muscle power here.

- Okay.

- Yes.

- So I will add about a third of the dry ingredients - and just have you mix that together a bit.

- Okay.

- Did you want this honey over here?

- Yes, if I could have that...thank you.

- There you go.

- So once that's looking pretty well combined... - Am I doing a good job of folding?

- You're doing a great job of folding.

- You've taught me.

Well.

Yeah.

- Yes.

[LAUGHTER] - All right.

- So then slowly we're going to add - Oh, and I love honey.

- a good... a significant amount of honey.

Melissa repeats those same steps two more times until all the chunky dry ingredients and all the pulverized dry ingredients are mixed equally with honey.

- Okay, so at this point, we can add a little bit of the water - to activate the flax.

- So I'm going to do this at about a tablespoon at a time.

- Okay.

Talk about activating the flax.

- So flax is a really great alternative if you want it to be... - ...to have your dish be a vegetarian, - but it needed a binding agent like an egg.

- Flax...a bit of flax meal with water acts in the same way when you wet it.

- It's like a a little bit of a glue that you're creating with the... - Exactly, yeah.

- I never knew that.

Okay, so where do we go next?

- We are ready to load it into our baking tin.

- Ah, after I did all the hard work.

- Yes, of course.

- Here, I'll hold that for you.

- Thank you.

[LAUGHTER] - Good.

You know, it's hard for me to imagine there being meat in this.

- Yeah, it seems a bit peculiar, but if you consider beef jerky, chipped beef... - Oh that's true, that's true.

- You could do like a dry, shredded meat.

- Exactly.

I think that would make sense in here.

- Yeah, I'm guessing the shape of it probably would have been - a little different, too... the finished product.

- Likely.

I don't think that they had a loaf tin.

- Right.

You sure.

[LAUGHTER] - Maybe in pottery...I don't know.

- Oh, okay.

- Yeah, that's it.

- So what do we do with it now?

- We're ready to bake it.

- Perfect.

- All right, so our pemmican has cooked for 30 minutes.

- It's rested for ten.

- Yeah.

- Now we get to turn it out and see what we've got.

- Exactly.

So it will come out pretty easily.

- It smells amazing.

- Yeah, it really does.

- So we'll slice... - ...this end off.

- Ah, looks like it's very dense.

- It is pretty dense.

- And then we'll...I think we should do slices into bars?

- I think that sounds good.

- All right, okay.

- So, let's do... - Make it portable.

- Exactly.

- Delicious.

[MUSIC] - OK, Melissa, so now we're up to that savory dish that is potentially dangerous - because we're incorporating sweetened cranberries.

- Yes.

So we are going to take a little bit of cue from Nordic cultures - Okay.

- with their lingonberry jam.

- That's something that they'll put on like a slice of bread with cheese.

- Right.

- This is where we're going to pull our balance cues from.

- Okay.

- So, first things first.

- We're just going to get everything into the pot.

- So we have a cup of cranberries.

- Okay.

- Then we have a bit of lemon juice.

- Whoa, I got it.

- Fumble.

- Chili flakes.

- Okay.

- Oh, a little spice in there.

- Yeah, that'll really help with the balance.

- A quarter cup of sugar, because you gotta.

- So not too much sugar then.

- Not too much, no.

- And then we'll do a pinch of salt.

- Interesting.

- And about three quarters of a cup water.

- We don't want this to wet, but we also don't want... - to burn the berries.

- We want to give them that moisture so that they get a chance to burst.

- Okay.

- So I will turn the heat on.

- Let me get you a spoon here.

- Perfect.

- Okay.

Shall I stir?

- Yes.

[MUSIC] - All right, so these are cooking away.

- Yes.

- Now on to the meatballs.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- Rings off.

- And I'm going to ask you to hand me the small whisk to start.

- You got it.

Okay.

- So the first step with this is we're going to add the corn meal, the egg, - milk, - Okay.

- salt.

- I'm just going to turn this down a little bit.

- It's really bubbling up.

- Yeah, turn it down.

- Yeah, we want that at a steady simmer.

- Then we're going to add salt, - Okay.

- sage, - thyme - and parsley, - and whisk that together.

- Okay.

- Okay, so we're going to set this aside.

- I want to clear this off... - Okay.

- quickly.

- And then we will be ready to add in the meat.

- So that's about a pound of pork.

- About how many meatballs will this actually make?

- About 15 to 20, I think.

- Oh, okay.

- Yeah.

- So, hence taking the rings off, we're going to mix this in.

- So that has to simmer for 10 minutes.

- Okay.

- And then after that we'll make our meatballs.

- Great.

- Meanwhile, I'll wash my hands.

- Okay.

That's probably a good idea.

- All right, so 10 minutes have gone by.

- Yes.

- What's next?

- This looks the perfect consistency.

- So now we're going to strain it through this sieve and then we'll have our glaze.

- Okay.

- So I'm going to have you dump it into that sieve.

- Okay.

- Try not to make a mess while I do.

- Try not, but it happens... - it's a kitchen.

- It wipes down easy.

- That's true.

- So then, you're going to use the back of that wooden spoon - and just kind of mash it through the sieve - so that really all we're left with is pulp and seeds.

- Gotcha.

- And that will serve as our glaze.

- All right, I think I got just about everything we can get out of this.

- Yeah, I think we can set that aside and then we'll make meatballs.

- Okay.

- So I'm going to grab about a tablespoon of the meat - Mm hmm.

- and kind of form it into a rough ball.

- Okay.

- Then poke a hole in the middle, - grab one of these mozzarella pearls and kind of wrap that around.

- A little buried treasure in there.

- Yeah.

- And then I'll grab a piece of prosciutto, - rip that kind of down the middle... - they usually break into a nice ribbon... and then what you want to do - is wrap the meatball in the prosciutto, and just make sure - that when you set it on your sheet tray that you're putting that final flap down.

- So you're closing it.

- Yeah.

- They smell amazing.

- I know.

- So these are fresh out of the oven.

- I love how the prosciutto kind of shrunk up to hug them.

- Now we've got to get them into the glaze and then we're ready to plate.

- May I?

- Yes.

- Okay, wonderful.

- All right.

- So we're just going to roll these around in the glaze, is that the idea?

- Yeah, it's really, really simple as tossing them in there, - getting a good coating.

- The smell is amazing, though.

- Yeah, it's interesting because you've got all of those unctuous scents - coming through from those savory herbs, the pork, the prosciutto, - and then once the heat of those hit that sauce, - it really balanced it out into a little bit of a brighter profile, - which I think it's going to be really delicious.

- We'll see how balanced it is [LAUGHTER] - because you've got the sweet working here with the savory.

- Yes, which is one of my favorite balances to strike.

- So I'm confident.

- Well, we're going to... we're going to find out.

- Okay, challenge accepted.

- That's right.

[LAUGHTER] - I see some egg noodles over there.

- Yes.

- So let's plate those up.

- Wonderful.

- Okay.

- And we can just get...yep.

- And then I'm going to hit it with a little bit of parsley on top.

[MUSIC] - Libby has one more recipe for us.

- It's a dessert, but I do find the name somewhat ironic.

- A cranberry tart.

- Cranberry tart.

- Yeah.

- It's one of my favorite...it's by one of my favorite cookbook authors.

- Her name is Amelia Simmons and she published in the 1790s.

- She did include uniquely American recipes, and that's why she's important.

- She had recipes that included corn, - Okay.

- an American ingredient.

- She also had this wonderful recipe for cranberry tarts.

- Oh, that sounds good.

- It is.

- So here you have something from the 1790s, - but this could be replicated at any time during the 19th century - into the 20th century.

- Today this would be a beautiful looking tart, and a delicious one as well.

- It's just cranberries with a pastry crust, sugar, butter, - and then it's up to you to add ice cream or - heavy cream or maybe hard sauce.

- I mean, they always seem to have a way of getting booze in there somehow, right.

[LAUGHTER] - So we're dealing with an old recipe here.

- And as is so often the case, we're running into some challenges.

- Yes.

So this recipe was written for fresh cranberries in season.

- We have missed that season.

- Right.

- So what we have to work with are frozen cranberries.

- Because of that, the obstacle that we have to overcome is that - when a fruit or vegetable is frozen, the water inside creates an ice crystal.

- It pierces the cell wall and makes the water within the fruit - or vegetable much more bioavailable when you go to heat it back up.

- So you have too much liquid.

- Exactly.

- Okay.

- Yes.

- So we're trying to counterbalance that by adding pectin into this, - so that it will actually set up in a tart shell.

- Perfect.

- Yeah.

- Okay, good.

Well, it sounds like a good solution, so let's get started.

- So we are going to fill our pot with cranberries.

- Okay.

- And then we want to just fill - to the black...the line of the cranberries with water.

- Okay, just so they can go for a little swim.

- Yes, exactly.

We don't want to drown them.

- They're just in a wading pool.

- Okay.

[LAUGHTER] - And then we are... - Everybody in the kiddy pool.

- Yeah.

- So we'll get the heat going and we want this to simmer - so that they cook and burst and release their juices.

- And then we'll move on to the step 2.

- And about how long will that take?

- About 15 to 20 minutes.

- Okay.

[MUSIC] - All right, so it's bubbling away here, and it looks like I can smash them - up against the side, which is what you were talking about.

- Yeah, that's what we're looking at.

- Okay, so we good to go?

- Yes.

- All right.

Let's move on to the next step then.

Next, Melissa has me pour out the contents into cheesecloth stretched across an oversized measuring cup.

- Okay, so it looks like we have about two cups of liquid, - so we're looking for equal amounts of sugar and this liquid.

- All right.

- So now we've got to measure out two cups of sugar - If you want to dump this back in the pot... - Absolutely.

- it's got to get there anyways.

- Should I turn back on?

Sure, why not?

- And then we're essentially making cranberry simple syrup if you think about it, - equal parts sugar and liquid.

- Right.

- So, one cup.

Melissa adds a second cup of sugar and then we cook down the contents until the sugar is completely dissolved.

- All right, it looks like it's reducing.

- Yeah.

- You can tell from the bubbles that it's getting a little bit syrupy.

- We are ready to add the pectin at this point.

- All right, I'll continue stirring and you go ahead and... - Yeah - Sprinkle that in.

- All right, so we're trying to get this incorporated here -- the pectin isn't quite dissolving.

- Yeah, you know what, let's switch to a whisk.

- Okay, here, I'll give it to you.

- Get a little violent with it.

- All right, there you go.

- Now it's starting to get incorporated.

Yeah, the tines just really help to break anything up.

- All right.

- All right.

- So that looks much better.

So what do you want to do next?

- So next we will get this into our measuring cup.

- Okay.

- And then we'll let it cool for a little bit - because we don't want to hit the tart shell with, like, a boiling hot liquid.

- Right.

- And then when it's cooled a little bit, we'll fill our shell.

- All right.

- Oh, look at that.

- All right, so we let our concoction cool about 15 minutes.

- Yes.

- What's next?

- Now all we have to do is fill our tart shell.

- Okay.

- So, you want to be pretty gentle with this - so that it spreads nicely.

- Look at that.

- It's beautiful.

- It reminds me of something Libby had said about it - looking like stained glass.

- Yes, it definitely does.

- It's such a pretty, pretty red color.

- Beautiful.

- All right.

So now we put it in the oven.

- No.

[LAUGHTER] If it had eggs, we would send it into the oven - to cook them and cause it to seize up that way.

- But because we're using pectin - or anything with gelatin, it seizes up in the fridge.

- And in colonial times, they wouldn't have had a fridge... - Windowsill.

- but it was a colder season.

- Yeah.

[LAUGHTER] - So that it would definitely cool.

- Yes.

Yeah.

- Because cranberries are a fall fruit.

- There you go.

- That would be wonderful.

Okay, so then it sounds like we're done.

- We're done.

[MUSIC] - Okay Melissa, it's that time again.

- It is.

- We get to try everything we've been making all day.

[LAUGHTER] - See if I succeeded at all.

- I have faith in you, but let's see.

- All right, so we're start with the pemmican.

- Yes.

- So this looks really pleasantly dense.

- It does.

Here, I'll grab the other half of that.

- It does, and you can really see all of the ingredients in here.

- Yeah.

- It's incredibly dense, but it's got sweetness - Yeah.

- from the dried fruit - but the nuts give a little bit of saltiness.

- Yeah.

- You have your carbohydrates and your sugars in the fruits.

- You've got your healthy fats in the nuts.

- Just delicious.

- This is really good.

- I'm going to have another bite.

- Well, that was a winner, - Yeah.

- I have to say.

- But now I'm curious about this one.

- This was the biggest challenge for me, - because you've got the sweet with the savory together in the same dish.

- Yeah, that's one of my favorite combos, though, - Is it?

- so I'm confident that I can execute it.

- All right, let's go.

Let's see what's going on here.

- All right, I'm going to pop this in.

- The sweetness actually brings out the richness in the meat.

- Yeah, for me, the sweetness of the cranberry - really brings out the thyme and the sage.

- That's what I...I'm really tasting the thyme and the sage.

- It's the herbs that are coming through.

- I think the sweetness from the cranberries is actually enhancing that.

- I don't...I don't mind...and the little egg noodles here... - Yeah, I mean who doesn't love an egg noodle.

- So now to dessert.

- Yes.

- Okay, so I know this wasn't as set as you wanted it to be, - but it looks pretty good to me.

- Yeah, I was nervous it wasn't going to gel up - because I was using those out of season frozen cranberries.

- But it is a lot better of a texture than I was anticipating.

- Yeah, no, I mean, you've definitely got... - you've got the texture there.

- Got the flavor there.

Got the flavor there!

- Oh, that's so good.

- It's sweet, but I... - It's not cloying.

- It's not too sweet.

- I'm not questioning whether it's cranberry or strawberry - or raspberry.

I can tell that it's cranberry.

- And I love the crust behind it.

- You get that little butter finish.

- Yeah.

- It's so good.

- I'm actually gonna have another little bite here.

- Cranberries are so important to the nation's history, - they've even been called America's founding fruit.

- Chew on that the next time you have some.

- See you next time.

[MUSIC] You can find recipes for the 1790s cranberry tart, as well as stuffed meatballs with cranberry sauce and vegetarian pemmican bars on our website, drivebyhistoryeats.org.

Made possible by the New Jersey Historical Commission.

Enriching the lives of the public by preserving the historical record and advancing interest in and awareness of New Jersey's past.

[MUSIC]