Period Spices

[Six Mile]

My brother-n-law entered us in a chuckwagon cookoff and now we have to prepare.  Neither of us have done much open fire cooking with dutch ovens and such....  I was wondering what spices did they use in the 1800's besides salt and black pepper?

any thing will be a big help...
thanks

Six Mile

[Delmonico]

Pretty much any spice that is not a blend was available at any well stocked grocery store.  Regional taste also had somthing to do with it.  Oreagano, cumin, coriander and oregeno seems to have came in to the south-West through Mexico from the Spanish, but was not well known in the rest of the country.  Oregeno seems to have came into the rest of the country from the Italian immegrants in the 1920's.  The others seem not well known till Tex-Mex cooking became popular in the 1960's. 

Chili Powder started to be made and shipped all over the country in the late 1890's as The 1892 Colombian Expo made it know to the rest of the country.

Herb gardens were popular with settlers, also these different Ethnical groups demanded the spices and herbs of the Old Country.

One sees Curry Powder listed once in a while on a grocery list from a store or wholesaler.

A true chuck wagon and a trail drive or roundup and most likely salt, black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and red pepper of some sort.

My partner and I's personna is a movable "Hell on Wheels" kitchen, this gives us lea-way to cook about anything and stay period.

[Delmonico]

One more thought, do check to see if they have any restrictions on items used.  I've seen some on TV that don't allow items I can find on lists of groceries from the period.

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[Forty Rod]

Nutmeg, onions, garlic, ground pepper, salt, sage, dill, chilis, curry. 

[Silver Creek Slim]

Don't forget castor beans. 

Slim

[Delmonico]

'Tain't a spice Slim.

[Silver Creek Slim]

'Tain't a spice Slim.

Oh! 
How 'bout vanilla extract and corn syrup?

Slim

[Forty Rod]

I have seen recipes for ground vanilla bean, but not liquid extract.

How about cinnamon?

[Delmonico]

Yes Vaniila extract, a lot of folks made their own or used the bean because it was harder to adulterate.  Fake vannilla came around in the 1880's as well as maple.

Cinnermon was common, that was one of the spices Cris was lookin' for when he stumbled into America.

[Wishbone]

Chili powder & Mayo are 2 not allouded at Ruidosia,NM Cook off. If I can find the rest of the items I'll post them.  Or you can go to  http://www.chuckwagon.org   & ask them. This is the web site of American Chuck Wagon Assoc.  Wishbone-Ks

[Delmonico]

The only reason chili powder is in my cupboard is because mu wife uses it when she makes tomato soup with hamburger and beans.

I make a mix of 2 parts ground cumin, 1 part oregeno and 1 part ground coreander.  This I keep in a jar, I then add what peppers I desire for who's eating it.

I'm to stubborn to let any one else decide what spices I use in my chili, which will never have beans or ground meat in it.  Sometimes not even the 'maters.

The first store bought Mayo was Hellman's and dates to just before WWI.  Before that it was made by hand and seldom seen in the era before electric mixers, it is a lot of work.  Today one needs to use cation if one makes it because it uses raw egg.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

The first store bought Mayo was Hellman's and dates to just before WWI.  Before that it was made by hand and seldom seen in the era before electric mixers, it is a lot of work.  Today one needs to use cation if one makes it because it uses raw egg.

My sister makes great mayo. I tried making it three times. The first two times it was a bust. The third time, I made a great batch, but just at the last minute got the spatula caught in the blender blades and, zoop, zoop, zoop! The whole thing had little bitty pieces of rubber in it. At least the stuff that was still in the blender, did. I quit trying after that.