Imagine that Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen—a chatty, personal recipe blog that celebrates unfussy food—came into possession of a time machine. Then pretend she had a penchant for early-modern British cooking. In that alternate world, her website might read quite like Cooking in the Archives, a Philly-based website that revives dishes from 1600 to 1800, one recipe at a time. Intimidating culinary techniques that have faded or been forgotten are reborn and rendered tangible for a 21st-century audience. A door to the past is opened, and preparations like “solid sillibubs,” a sweetened dessert of cream and wine, or “pease pods of puff paste” find new life.
Jenn Hall 