Recreate the Very First Oscars Menu for Your 2019 Oscars Party

Attending the Oscars is a lifelong dream for many, but being one of the millions of fans who watch the show’s telecast has its benefits—particularly, the opportunity to chow down during the nearly four-hour ceremony. For decades, the Academy Awards has been a food-free affair (a situation host Jimmy Kimmel tried to remedy at last year’s gala by providing snack boxes to attendees), but that wasn’t always the case.

Dinner with a side of awards, courtesy of The Hollywood Roosevelt

The First Oscars Was All About the Food

In fact, the very first Oscars, held in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s Blossom Room, was more of a dinner party than an awards ceremony—the winners were announced three months prior and it took only 15 minutes for host and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Douglas Fairbanks Sr. to present the evening’s 15 awards. (For reference, just the opening number of the 1989 Oscars—you know, the one with Rob Lowe and Snow White—took nearly as long as the entire inaugural ceremony.) With the recipients of the statues already known, dining, not drama, was the focus for the 250 guests, which included Hollywood luminaries Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B. DeMille, and Mary Pickford.

The first Oscars menu, courtesy of The Hollywood Roosevelt

But the Menu Was Surprisingly Simple

The meal began with a selection of olives and nuts, which were often featured on menus in California during that time. “They were not only popular items,” says Richard Foss, board member of the Culinary Historians of Southern California, “but the most famous exports of the state.”

There was also celery (a canapé tray staple, according to Foss) and rolls for eating, of course, and in the case of Chaplin, potentially for amusement.

Chowhound’s Celery Victor recipe

Next came the soup course, a bowl of consommé Celestine. The French classic, consisting of clear chicken broth topped with a julienne of crêpe, is now a rarity in American dining but was a favorite during that era, especially at banquets. “While time-consuming to make, it used cheap ingredients,” says Foss.

Entrees consisted of your standard fish and chicken options, in this case filet of sole sauté au beurre (sole sautéed in butter) and half broiled chicken on toast, a riff on a dish that likely would have been an Instagram sensation had the technology existed at the time. “One of the fad dishes of the late teens and early 20’s was quail on toast and this was treating chicken the same way,” says Foss. “It was a stylish presentation more than anything else, though people did eat the toast with the chicken drippings and gravy.”

Chowhound’s Sole Paupiettes recipe

The mains were accompanied by a simple lettuce and tomato salad along with a pair of sides: California-grown new green beans (now known as baby green beans) and Long Branch potatoes, a preparation of seasoned French fries that originated in New Jersey.

Service of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, a selection of cakes, and coffee brought the evening to a close.

Chowhound’s Homemade Ice Cream recipe

As for booze, well, there wasn’t any. Thanks to Prohibition, not a single drop of alcohol was served that evening, at least not officially—Foss suspects a hip flask or two may have been passed around at the event.

A New Era

Though certainly impressive by the standards of the time, the food served at the 1929 Oscars wouldn’t exactly have been considered award-worthy by today’s standards. “This is well before the idea of celebrities as foodies, or of celebrity chefs,” notes Foss. Ninety years later, the Academy has certainly raised the bar when it comes to its culinary ambitions. The organization’s official after party, the Governor’s Ball, has become a celebration of gastronomic extravagance ever since chef Wolfgang Puck took control of the stoves 25 years ago. Uni custard, jamón Ibérico, and black truffle chicken pot pie are just a taste of the dozens of drool-inducing bites on this year’s menu.

Still, while the Governor’s Ball spread is sure to please the likes of Chrissy Teigen, it likely wouldn’t have the same appeal to the stars of Hollywood’s golden age. “Hollywood was too new, most of the stars too unsophisticated, to make them icons of good food,” says Foss. “They may have had style, but not taste.”

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Pinch Pennies

Relish Tray

Simply Whisked

Update the relish tray with more modern additions like fresh berries and marinated mushrooms, but represent the classics (like celery and olives) too. They’re all perfect cocktail nibbles, no hip flasks required. Get the Relish Tray recipe.

Consommé Celestine

Chowhound

This simple chicken broth with sherds of herbed crêpe may have fallen out of fashion long ago, but it’s still an elegant way to start a dinner party. Get our Consommé Celestine recipe.

Basic Roasted Chicken

Chowhound

For a fancier twist, tuck black truffles under the skin before you roast it, then whack it in half and serve over toast—or simply carve on a platter and give your guests manageable slices instead (since the chickens of yore were much smaller than the ones we normally see at the store today). Get our Basic Roasted Chicken recipe.

French Fries

Chowhound

Learn the secrets to great homemade French fries—and feel free to call them Long Branch potatoes to lend a little more cachet. Get our French Fries recipe.

Parker House Rolls

Chowhound

The first Oscars were clearly a time before celebrities were afraid of carbs and everyone was keto—dinner rolls, potatoes, and toast were on the menu. So don’t forget the bread basket on your own table; these classic, soft Parker House rolls are perfect, and definitely impressive. Get our Parker House Rolls recipe.

French Green Bean Salad

Chowhound

Go one better than a simple mixed green salad and sauteed green beans, and make a crisp haricots salad instead. Whole grain Dijon, garlic, shallots, white wine vinegar, capers, and parsley give it a fresh bite. Get our French Green Bean Salad recipe.

Angel Food Layer Cake

Chowhound

For dessert, debut a reboot of classic angel food cake—skip the tube pan and make it a layered affair instead. Fill it with bright lemon curd and top it with fluffy whipped cream, fresh blackberries, and salted caramel sauce (sometimes the sequel really is better than the original). Get our Angel Food Layer Cake recipe.

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Related Video: How to Make a Red Carpet Royale Champagne Cocktail with Gold Leaf

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Herbes de Provence Skillet Chicken with Potatoes and Greens

One pan? Yes, please! This French Herbes de Provence skillet chicken uses chicken tenders, potatoes, olives, and spinach make quick work for this weeknight, freezer friendly meal.

Continue reading "Herbes de Provence Skillet Chicken with Potatoes and Greens" »

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Sambal: Everything You Need to Know

The Burning Kitchen

The only thing I truly love more than food itself are the condiments associated with it. My interest in food and food writing, a thinly veiled ploy to get closer to them. All of them. As proof, I once famously patronized a sub shop in Boston for years solely for their mind-melting blue cheese sauce (which they politely declined to sell me in bulk), despite other neighborhood spots that made far better buffalo chicken. That’s why I reacted with both horror and delight, on a recent trip through Southeast Asia, to learn I’d been in relative darkness about a wildly diverse and delicious condiment category. Sambal.

Now, I knew of sambal before this adventure. The basic hot chili paste sold and served in round plastic jars with green lids and presented with tiny spoons for instant added heat to Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese food. In the states there are really just one or two brands widely available, and they look and taste similar, so I’d venture to guess the average American assumes, as I did, that this is all that sambal is.

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Give your next meal some heat from the east.

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What I didn’t know is that in the place of its origin, Indonesia, and surrounding countries, sambal is almost completely open to interpretation with only a few hard and fast rules, creating interesting and seemingly endless versions, used in truly endless ways.

What Is Sambal?

In short, to be called sambal the mixture should consist of ground red (sometimes green) chili and probably (but not definitely) vinegar, soy sauce, or another liquid binder. That’s it. From there a combination of other flavorings and aromatics like ginger, shrimp paste, peanut sauce, anchovy, coconut milk, citrus, garlic, and tomato give each sambal a distinct profile and personality. It is traditionally mixed into a paste via mortar an pestle but certain versions are simply diced and left chunky while others are pureed into a thinner consistency.

As I wound my way through the region (Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and eventually down through Indonesia), ramekins of pastes, salsas, and sauces of many colors, textures, and tastes would arrive with increased frequency for nearly every piece of fish, chicken, or plate of vegetables I ordered. Never one not to ask an annoying follow-up question when food is placed before me, time and again I was told it was “sambal.” Often as many as three would be dropped together; diced chunky with tomato and sweet shallots and just a hint of chili heat to be scooped up with a fork and heaped onto grilled fish, with others ground into a finer paste, and far more Scoville burn to be mixed, carefully, into soup, rice, or noodles.

Despite influence from nearby powerhouse food cultures like China, Thailand, and India, traditional Indonesian food is sound yet simple. Fresh fish, fried rice and noodles, soups, vegetables, fried chicken, or skewered satays, to name a few. The thing that all these foods have in common, I’d discover, is they’re made better and more interesting by the presence of good sambal, and the versatile chili paste proved a singular and perfect way for restaurants and warungs (small family-owned eateries) to differentiate themselves, and add a personal touch to time-tested recipes.

Amazon

Nasi Padang is a popular Indonesian style of dining, which prompts diners to choose, or let the chef powers that be choose, a variety of meats, vegetables, rice, noodles, and curry dishes to be served family-style and always with a selection of sambals. It’s been said you can venture an educated guess as to where in Indonesia you are based on the sambal you’re served, often influenced by the literal hundreds of native and immigrant ethnic groups, in one of the most diverse regions on earth.  

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Make your own sambal with a traditional mortar and pestle.

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While there are countless versions and recipes to choose from, these are a few popular sambals you’ll find in the region. And while you won’t find many in western markets, trust that all are simple to make with a mortar and pestle (traditional), food processor, or chopping knife.

Sambal Oelek

Chili Pepper Madness

This is the version you’ll find most in the U.S., made popular by Huy Fong Foods (of Sriracha fame). It’s mostly just crushed chili pepper and a touch of vinegar. A very efficient method for adding heat without much else. Get the recipe.

Sambal Bajak

Indoindians

Another basic version of sambal with chili, onion, garlic, and tomato and a dash of vinegar. This sambal is a no-nonsense way to add some burn to most any dish without disrupting the rest of the flavor profile much. Great to balance out sweet dishes like ones with coconut milk. Get the recipe.

Sambal Terasi

The Burning Kitchen

This version is one you’ll find most frequently in Indonesia. It’s essentially the same as Sambal Bajak but with the addition of Terasi, a type of fermented shrimp paste which adds an undeniable depth to the sauce, and in turn, whatever you add it to. Gte the recipe. 

Sambal Dabu-Dabu

Indoindians

This looks and feels more like a salsa than the more homogenous chili paste we’ve come to associate sambal with. Great to spoon over grilled fish or chicken, or mix in with a simple fried rice. Get the recipe. 

Sambal Kacang

Butterkicap

This is another popular one in Indonesia. With the addition of ground peanut to the more traditional chili, garlic, and tomato, this sambal is especially good served with chicken satay, dumplings, or foods made with traditional Indian spice. Get the recipe.

Sambal Kecap

Indoindians

This sambal starts with soy sauce and then any variety of chili, garlic, shallots, and ginger are blended in via mortar and pestle or a fine chop. Used often as a dipping sauce for gyoza, spring rolls, or other fried bites. Get the recipe.

Sambal Matah

SBS

Another that looks much more like a salsa than a chili paste. Sambal Matah is found on the Indonesian island of Bali among other places. Simply chopped chili, onions, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, and lemongrass make this a fresh and simple sambal to make with very little time or trouble. Get the recipe.

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What Is the Difference Between Creole and Cajun Food?

Mardi Gras is swiftly approaching, and with that celebratory holiday comes the consumption of all the amazing dishes that come out of the Big Easy and surrounding lands. Jambalaya, etouffee, crawfish everywhere…truly, you can’t go wrong. Whether it’s Creole or Cajun food, whatever you’re chowing down on is bound to be delicious. However, when it comes to Louisiana cooking, does it matter whether it’s called Cajun or Creole? Are those terms interchangeable? What’s the difference, if any, between Creole and Cajun cooking? The answer, it turns out, is important. And don’t dare mix those terms up amongst native Cajun and Creole down in Louisiana.

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If you want a simple answer, there is one: Creole is city food and Cajun is country food. Creole cooking uses tomatoes, Cajun cooking does not. There. Now go about your day.

Of course, there’s more to it than that, and even a few blurred lines. But if you really want to get into the details, there are a lot of important nuances between the people (yes, Cajun and Creole describe both people and cuisine) and their food, and a lot of the influence on the food has to do with the history of the settlement of Louisiana itself.

What is Creole?

The Creole people are quite a melting pot of cultures that goes all the way back to the settlement of New Orleans hundreds of years ago. The earliest settlers were French and Spanish, and their descendants, the first to be born in the New World, referred to themselves as Creole. Over time, this definition also came to include the African slaves and their descendants that were brought to the New Orleans area by those early inhabitants. Over generations of immigrants, migrants, and through the end of slavery, the people who could rightfully call themselves Creole grew. It’s now considered a mix of people from French, Spanish, African, and Native American heritage who originate in the New Orleans area.

Chowhound

Because of their proximity to water, their cuisine developed with an eye towards local seafood and French-inspired flavors from the Old World. One of the most direct connections to French cooking is found in a traditional roux, the flavorful base of many dishes. Roux is made with what locals call “the holy trinity” of onions, celery, and green pepper, cooked with butter and flour, which resembles the French mirepoix, the version made with onions, celery, and carrot. With prosperous trade and lots of wealth, Creoles also had access to exotic seasonings that came both from trade and the influx of people from abroad, such as spices from the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe. Their wealth meant they also had more readily available access to refrigeration. This allowed them to use dairy and other highly perishable ingredients, which is why a Creole roux is cooked with butter like the French version, instead of oil. Creole dishes can also be quite fancy with a lot of sauteing and simmering, developed in wealthy households who had servants that could spend a good part of the day preparing meals.

Chowhound

So how to spot a traditional Creole dish? First, look for the roux—it should be prepared with butter. Creamy soups and sauces are more likely to be Creole as well. Tomatoes, another luxury at the time, are often featured prominently in Creole dishes (or at least, if you’re looking at two different jambalayas and one has tomatoes and the other doesn’t, you can reasonably guess which one is the Creole version.) Creole cooking tends to feature fish and seafood more prominently than heavy meats. Seasonings and spices from the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa are abundant, though not necessarily melt-your-face-off hot. Though its origins are French, the influence of all these cultures makes for a truly unique cuisine.

River Road Recipes:

The Textbook of Louisiana Cuisine

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What is Cajun?

If Creole are the city folk, then the Cajun are their country brethren. Unlike the Creole settlers, early Cajun settlers didn’t come from the Old World, but instead north from the Acadia region of Canada. When the British invaded New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, many of the French Canadians fled or were forced out and made their way down to the Louisiana countryside, settling the area now known as Acadiana. Unlike the Creole, they didn’t have the benefit of wealth, trade, and servants at their disposal.

However, coming from French Canada, they did share some of the same basic culinary roots. For example, you see that in their roux: The Cajun version of a roux still uses the holy trinity, but they cook it in vegetable oil instead of butter, originally not having the same access to refrigeration. Similarly, Cajun cooking uses a lot of salt and curing of meat to help it last longer. Their dishes, not as intricate and more likely to be a one pot meal than a day long sophisticated culinary adventure, feature the bounty of the land around them: Meat, pork, and crawfish are abundant in Cajun dishes.  

Viet-Cajun crawfish, Tiki Time

Therefore, Cajun cuisine, though it shares similar dishes with Creole cuisine, such as gumbo, has telltale characteristics that makes it easy to distinguish from Creole cooking. First, the roux—remember that the Cajun version uses oil instead of butter, and the further south you get, the darker the roux. Crawfish boils are telltale Cajun, as a one-pot meal using the local crustaceans. Cajun food may also use lots of spices, especially cayenne, but not necessarily to fire-hot levels. Ever had Andouille or boudin sausage? You’ll get the flavor of the salt and smoke in the preserves. And in many dishes where you might expect to find loads of tomatoes, you’ll find little or none.

That’s not to say that these rules are hard and fast, nor the only ones. As the years have passed and dishes evolved as Cajuns moved to New Orleans and vice versa, some of these “rules” have been mixed or broken with delicious results. In the end, just don’t forget that Cajun and Creole are not the same thing.

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

Chowhound

This is a great example of the flavors from both cuisines being slightly interchangeable. The chicken and andouille, along with the oil-based roux, make it distinctly Cajun. However, tomatoes and okra give it a Creole flair. Get our Chicken and Andouille Gumbo recipe.

Maque Choux

Chowhound

Maque Choux (pronounced “mock shoe”) is a delicious vegetarian side dish that uses a classic Cajun ingredient: corn! Made with cream (see, not every cream dish is Creole) and bacon, this goes well with any main course. Get our Maque Choux recipe.

Crawfish Boil

Chowhound

Crawfish can be found in a lot of wonderful Cajun dishes, but to eat it on its own, cooked with potatoes and corn, is something of a treat. It’s more fun with friends, so multiply this recipe out, throw a plastic sheet on the table, and get to it. Get our Crawfish Boil recipe.

Crawfish Etouffee

Acadiana Table

You can never get enough crawfish! Etouffee can be either Creole or Cajun. Whip up this quick Creole recipe for a delicious and filling dinner. Get the Crawfish Etouffee recipe.

Boudin

Acadiana Table

Boudin is a distinctly Cajun sausage made from pork, liver, and rice. Wash it down with a cold beer and you have a wonderful and traditional Cajun meal. Get the Boudin recipe.

Mufuletta Sandwich

Laura Fuentes

With all this talk of roux, meat, and crawfish, it’s easy to forget that there are unique dishes that don’t really involve any of them. Mufuletta sandwiches are a New Orleans specialty, first invented and sold at a corner store by an Italian immigrant. With an olive salad and a selection of deli meats between two slices of Italian bread, it’s a great lunchtime treat. Get the Mufuletta Sandwich recipe.

Donald Link’s Shrimp Remoulade

Louisiana Travel

This is a great way to enjoy a Creole shrimp dish…cold. Served over lettuce, this shrimp is tossed in a thick, tangy mustard and mayo sauce. A great light dish for a hot Louisiana afternoon. Get Donald Link’s Shrimp Remoulade recipe.

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