Historical Disney Dishes

From The Old Mill in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

The Old Mill is a pretty important short to the history of animation. It was the first cartoon to use the multiplane camera, which helped to give perspective to shots.

It was a camera with multiple levels to place foreground and background stuff, so you could zoom into shots while keeping those background and foreground layers separate.

Food

Now the only food featured in the short is the bugs and worms that the various creatures eat. While these things are technically edible for humans, I'm not going that route sorry.

So my next thought was candy, like gummi worms, instead, and what better way to eat gummi worms but in a dirt cake?

Only dirt cake and gummy worms didn't come out until the 1980s. You had gummi bears, but not worms yet. Also instant pudding still wasn't a thing in the 1930s.

So in my research I discovered that Mississippi Mud Pies were a precursor to Dirt Cakes. However this was for 50s and 60s when pudding packets hit the shelves. It is the Black Bottom Pie that predates the Mud Pie.

So here is a Great Depression Black Bottom Pie, and if you want to forgo the historical and throw some gummi worms on top, I won't blame you.

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

2 large egg yokes

4 tablespoons cocoa

2 cups milk

2 to 3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 large egg whites

3/4 tablespoons sugar

2 prepared pie crusts, baked (either homemade OR store-bought)

Cookware

Whisk

Mixing bowl

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Beat egg yolks in a separate bowl.

Sift dry ingredients together into a saucepan.

Add the butter and the milk.

Mix

Mix in the beaten egg yolks.

Cook on medium heat until mixture thickens, stirring regularly.

When mixture reaches "pudding" consistency, pour into baked pie shells.

Beat the egg whites with 3/4 tablespoon sugar until stiff peaks form.

Spread over cooling pie filling.

Bake for 10 minutes OR until merigue peaks turn golden

Cool and serve.

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

Here’s the real reason for all those previous recipes. You can combine them to create a charcuterie board. The charcuterie board dates back to 14th century France and was traditionally contained only preserved meats. It’s since grown to include cheeses, wine, breads, and fruits and veggies.   

Food

Ingredients

Cheddar Cheese

Swiss Cheese

Muenster Cheese

Cream Cheese Dip

Avocado Dip

Spicy Brown Mustard

Ham Slices

Bologna

Salmon Spread

Rye Bread

Water Crackers

Focaccia

Romaine Leaves

Celery Sticks

Pimento Olives

Grapes

Apple Slices

Apricots

Banana Blackberry Meringues

Strawberry Gelatin

Lemon Raspberry Tea Cake

Champagne

Rose Wine

Tea with Sugar

Cookware

Serving board or platter

Spreading Knife

Directions

Slice up the cheese, ham, and apples.

Arrange items onto board

Serve with tea and wine

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

Towards the end of the short you can clearly see a teapot, cup and saucer as the two mice slip off the table.

Food

All of the finger foods on display and the tea makes me think this is a tea time meal rather than dinner. And who knows more about 'tea time' tea than the British?

Ingredients

3 teaspoons or 3 small tea bags of black tea

water

milk

granulated sugar

white sugar cube

lemon slice

Cookware

Kettle or pot for boiling water

Teapot

Teacup

Teaspoon

Directions

Only use freshly drawn cold water, ensure that kettles or water boilers are de-scaled regularly and that teapots are spotlessly clean.

Teapots should be warmed with hot water, which is then poured away.

Use the recommended number of tea bags or one teaspoon of loose tea per cup, AND one teaspoon for the pot. (For one person use a 10oz tea pot, for two persons a 20oz tea pot is recommended.).

Water should always be freshly boiled and boiling when added to tea.

Leave to brew for 3-5 minutes before serving. Stir before serving.

Pour a little milk into each cup before pouring the tea through a strainer if necessary, and sweeten with sugar as required.

You can omit the milk and serve the tea with lemon slices if you wish.

One last bit of advice, the reason why you want to either use a kettle or a pot on the stove top is because heating water in a microwave is dangerous. The way microwaves heat things is by vibrating water molecules inside the food super fast. This causes the water to bypass the boiling stage and become 'super heated', which can cause a cup of water to literally explode and scald the unsuspecting person.

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

There's a lot of cake on the table in this short. So much so that I'm not going to try and make like three different cakes. So let's assume that they're all the same flavor cake.

Food

"But what flavor cake?" you may ask. Well, we see a lot of what looks like raspberries scattered about and that one slice there looks yellowish... So how about raspberry lemon?

Ingredients

For the Cake

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup sugar

½ cup melted butter

½ cup sour cream

2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of half a lemon

½ cup raspberries

For the Glaze

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, melted

2 to 4 tablespoons warm milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cookware

Mixing bowls

Whisk or Beaters

Cupcake pan

Cupcake liners

Directions

For the Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Add butter to a medium size bowl then heat in 30 second increments until fully melted.

Add the sugar and lemon zest to the melted butter then whisk until well combined. Next, whisk in sour cream, eggs and lemon juice until well combined.

Toss raspberries into flour mixture to coat slightly. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients then gently fold in.

Using a medium scoop, scoop batter into each mold.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. After the cakes have baked, allow them to cool in the mold for 10 minutes, then gently remove them from the mold. Allow to finish cooling on a wire cooling rack.

For the Glaze

Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium-sized bowl.

Add the melted butter, 2 tablespoons of milk or hot water, and the vanilla to the confectioners' sugar. Stir to blend.

Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, adding a little more milk or hot water if necessary to reach the desired consistency.

Drizzle the finished glaze over a cooled cake

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

So in the short the country mouse gets into a fist fight with a plate of pink jello while drunk. This is a gag Disney would return too in a later film called Fun and Fancy Free.

Ah, but what flavor of pink? That is the question. I decided to rely on some good old fashioned strawberry, since it's a flavor profile we haven't explored yet on the blog.

Food

The interesting thing about gelation desserts is that they've been around for literal centuries, dating back to the medieval ages. Back then they were used by combining leftover jellified protein from meat dishes, like roasted ham and mixing it with fruit and berries.

It was often a dish for the really wealthy because of the time and the special storage needed to make it. That was until instant gelatin came on the scene.

Pre-packaged gelatin came about during the late victorian era. Jell-O, with its pre-packaged flavors hit stores around the turn of the century and were very popular in the early 20th century. Though the product would hit its stride until the 50s, you can still find vintage ads dating back to the 20s.

Ingredients

1 package of strawberry jello

1 cup boiling water

1 cup of cold water

1 cup heavy whipping cream

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Whole strawberries to top garnish

Cookware

Jello mold

Pot for boiling

Mixing bowl

Whisk

Directions

Boil one cup water

Add jello and stir until dissolved

Add one cup of cold water and pour jello mixture into a jello mold

Let sit in the fridge for at least 30 min to an hour

In a mixing bowl whisk together cream, sugar, and vanilla till soft peaks form

Set whipped in fridge to also chill

When ready to serve, set jello mold in a pot of warm water for a min and then flip out onto a serving tray. Jello should come out smoothly.

Top with whipped cream and strawberries and serve.

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

We're in the home stretch for this short. It's time to tackle the desserts. We see a lot of these round things topped with something white and creamy with cherries.

Instead of just plain old cupcakes I've come up with a fun alternative... Meringues!

Food

Unlike most of the recipes I use this one isn't historical based. It's rather me trying to combine some of the different things I saw on the table during the short into one easy recipe.

Ingredients

15 phyllo pastry cups

1 to 2 bananas

15 tablespoons of blackberry jam

Maraschino cherries to garnish

4 egg whites

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar

Cookware

Baking pan

Baking sheet or parchment paper

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees

In a mixing bowl, add egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar

Mix at high speed till stiff peaks form, and then set aside

Slice the banana/s and place one slice into the bottom of each pastry cup

Spoon one tablespoon of blackberry jam into each cup

Top with meringue and garnish with a cherry

Bake in oven for 10 to 15 mins, till pasty turns golden and meringue slightly browns

Let cool, before eating

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

There's a bunch of triangles of what looks like bread, maybe for finger sandwiches, but I'm going with another bread that you could make sandwiches with if you wanted.

Food

No date for this recipe as focaccia is a traditional Italian bread that dates back for centuries. This is a typical recipe with the usual traditional toppings of rosemary and olive oil.

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose or bread flour (250 grams)

1 pinch sugar

½ teaspoon instant dry yeast

2 tablespoons lukewarm milk 2% (100-105F / 40C)

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water (100-105F / 40C) (132 grams)

1 teaspoon salt

Cookware

Stand mixer or hand mixer

Mixing bowl

Plastic wrap

Baking pan

Directions

In the bowl of the stand up mixer whisk together the flour, sugar and yeast

Make a well in the middle and add the milk and oil, start to knead with the dough hook, add the water a little at a time and knead 2 minutes (on speed #2), then add the salt and knead 3 minutes until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Cover the mixing bowl with a damp towel and let rest 20 minutes, then knead again on speed #2 for 1 minute.

Cover the bowl again and let rest 15 minutes. Knead again for 1 minute.

Move the dough to a lightly floured flat surface and knead for 30 seconds and form into a smooth ball.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning the dough to lightly cover in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in bulk.

Pre-heat the oven to 450F (230C).

Place the dough on a lightly oiled cookie sheet, and let rest 20 minutes.

Then stretch the dough to fit the cookie sheet. Make indentations with your fingers, sprinkle with coarse salt, chopped rosemary and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Drizzle with a little more olive oil when baked.

You can cut the bread into triangles to fit the look of the film, or you can cut it however you want.

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

I am at this point, just trying to give definition to blobs and shapes of color on the screen.

Food

We've already gone over soda crackers, so for a more fancy variation I present to you water crackers.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher/sea salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

Cookware

Food processer

Rolling pin

Baking sheet

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix flour and salt in food processor fitted with cutting blade. Turn processor on and add oil in a smooth stream.

Once oil is incorporated, add water in a smooth stream.

Once water is incorporated, form the dough into a ball. Do NOT knead.

On a lightly floured surface, roll as evenly as possible, until the dough is approximately 1/16th of an inch thick.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured sheet pan (alternatively: roll dough directly onto lightly floured parchment or silpat, and transfer both onto sheet pan).

Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned, rotating once for evenness.

Remove from oven, and transfer to a cooling rack. Once cool, break into pieces as large as you prefer. Store in a plastic bag.

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

So there's a bit of controversy around this short. It won the 1936 Oscar for best animated short, supposedly because of the character work where the main character acts drunk.

However that was also the same year that Fleischer Studios released Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor.

The short was deemed notable for being a two reel cartoon. It was double the length of most shorts at the time and historians argue that it was a major step forward towards full length animated films.

The short, along with its two sequels, are in the public domain and can be viewed from the National Archives if you want to watch them.

Food

Okay, back to the recipe. The country cousin slips on some slices of bread after getting drunk on champagne. This bread looks more rustic than pre-sliced bread, and darker too, so I've chosen an old rye bread recipe from 1934.

Ingredients

420 g of cold water from the tap

275 g boiling water

300 g of rye starter

340 g of rye flour

260 g of wheat flour

11 g of salt. You can add more to your taste.

Cookware

Stand or hand mixer

Mixing bowl

Baking pan

Directions

Mix your starter with flour and water and let it ferment for about 5-6 hours at room temperature.

Reserve about 10% of required flour amount, then mix all dry ingredients apart from reserved flour.

Add required boiling water to dry ingredients in three stages mixing everything very fast to get rid of lumps and without letting your mixture to cool down excessively. Once mixed with all the water, wait for your scald to cool down a little.

Mix in 10% of flour you have reserved previously. Cover tightly, and let sit for a few hours till cool completely.

Mix your sourdough and scald, let the mixture ferment for 4 hours.

Add remaining ingredients to you scald and mix well until no dry spots left. If you’re making a single loaf, then shape straight away and let the dough proof for 50 minutes.

Kneed the dough in a stand mixer on low for 15 to 20 mins (or hand kneed if so desired) and then let proof a second time for another 50 mins.

Place dough into a greased loaf pan and bake at 210 degrees for about 45 to 60 mins.

Then take the loaf out of the pan and let it cool completely before serving.

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

There's a lot of indistinguishable blobs of color painted in the background of this short. Conventional wisdom would suggest these would be sweet things like ice cream, however, I would like to offer up a more savory option.

Food

Rillettes is a type of preserved meat confit where said meat is stewed, shredded, and then stored in a sterile container like a can or a mason jar.

Since we've already had beef and pork the last two recipes let's go with a seafood option.

Ingredients

250 g of skinless salmon fillet

115 g of skinless smoked salmon

1 minced shallot

2 tbsp of chopped chives

White pepper

Salt

Water

50 g of unsalted butter

1 tbsp of sour cream or creme fraiche

2.5 tsp of chopped dill

1.5 tbsp of lemon juice

Cookware

Boiling Pot

Mixing bowl

Spoon

Non-stick pan

Mason Jars for canning if you choose

Directions

Add 4 cups of water to a pan along with the peppercorn, bay leaf, and lemon juice, then let the mixture boil. Once it starts boiling, simmer it for about 2-5 minutes.

Afterward, add the salmon while simmering. Keep poaching the salmon for about 5-10 minutes. Make sure to turn the salmon over to poach both of its sides equally.

When you’re done poaching the salmon, take it away from the heat and cover it. Then, put it in the refrigerator to cool down. Note that it can cool down to room temperature without having to refrigerate it, but it’d take more time.

While the salmon is cooling down, start working on the smoked salmon. Get a medium-size bowl and put together the smoked salmon, butter, olive oil, sour cream or creme fraiche, lemon juice, chives, and the shallot. Whisk this mixture well until all the ingredients are combined together perfectly.

Back to the salmon. Flake it, and heat it together with a tablespoon of butter and shallot till it’s soft. Then, wait till it’s cool and add it to the mixture you prepared previously.

Whisk the mixture enough so that it’s chunky. Afterward, season it with salt, white pepper, and a sprinkle of dill.

Your rillettes are now ready to be served. You can serve it on baguettes and top it with the watercress or any other vegetables you like. You can put the rillettes in two glass cups or mugs, and place them along with the side dish on a tray, for some fancy-restaurant vibes.

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

I'm going to say that those pink round disks on the table are sausage, like say bologna sausage.

Food

Doing research online I found a number of homemade bologna recipes. Though none were historical, actual bologna that you make at home, hasn't changed that much in the past 90 years. So here's my take on the recipe.

Ingredients

2 pounds of ground beef (80% lean/20% fat or more)

Beef casing

7 1/2 tsp. Light Brown Sugar

2 tsp. black pepper, finely ground

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. mustard seed, ground

1 tsp. celery seed, ground

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 cup chilled water

1/2 warm water

1 cup finely powdered skim milk

1 tea spoon liquid smoke (optional)

Cookware

Food processor

Steamer or Smoker

Mixing bowl

Directions

Soak Casing in warm water for 30 to 60 mins.

Mix salt and sugar with 1/2 cup warm water and stir mixture into meat.

Let cured meat sit in the fridge for at least one hour.

Afterwards place the meat and the rest of the ingredients into a food processor or meat grinder and grind till you achieve a pate texture.

Take the meat mixture and stuff into the casing and tie it off.

Refrigerate sausage overnight

If you have a smoker, smoke the bologna at 150° F for 3 to 6 hours, and then raise the temperature to 180 degrees and finish cooking for one hour.

If you do not have a smoker, you can steam the sausage for 3 to 6 hours at 160° F and just add liquid smoke to the meat mixture before stuffing.

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

The History

It's time to tackle the meats on this gorgeous spread.

The Food

We have a recipe for baked ham here from 1936. The year that the short came out.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pound ham

Whole cloves for studding

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup mustard

Cookware

Pot for boiling

Knife

Pan for roasting

Directions

Boil the ham in a large pot of water for 2 hours.

Then drain and score the meat into squares

Glaze on the mustard

Then rub in the brown sugar

Stick one clove into each square

Bake for 1 hour in a 350 degree oven

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

As a savory dip to contrast with the sweet cream dip, I looked for a type of green dip, as there's a lot of indistinct green blobs on the table during the short. And what is more green and mushy than an avocado?

The Food

I found a vintage, great depression recipe for guacamole from a Spanish cookbook from 1929. Ramona's Spanish-Mexican Cookery was the first complete and authentic Spanish-Mexican cook book printed in English.

Ingredients

3 Medium Avocados

1 Tomato, Minced

1 Tablespoon Onion, Minced

1 Teaspoon Jalapenos, Minced

1 Tablespoon Cilantro

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

Salt and Cayenne Pepper to taste

Cookware

Knife

Mixing bowl

Spoon

Directions

Cut avocados in half and remove the pits.

Mash the avocado meat.

Mix in the lemon juice and olive oil

Add in the tomato, onion, jalapeños, and cilantro.

Salt to taste.

Sprinkle a dash of cayenne pepper on top.

Refrigerate until time to serve.

From The Country Cousin in An Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons

History

So The County Cousin won the Oscar for best animated short in 1936.

In it, there is a large dinner spread upon the table.

We'll be going through and choosing to highlight certain recipes of what can be seen on the table.

The Food

First we'll be looking at the sweet cream that tops a lot of the desserts in the short.

Since they're mice, I've chosen a simple cream cheese dip.

Ingredients

1/2 a cup of cream cheese (softened to room temperature)

3 Tbsp butter (softened)

1 cup powdered sugar (whisked to remove lumps)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

1/4 cup of whole milk

Cookware

Whisk

Mixing bowl

Directions

Beat cream cheese and butter together

Add the sugar and mix vigorously till fully incorporated

Add vanilla and milk, and stir till mixture is smooth and silky

Serve immediately or chill in fridge till ready to eat

Main Course

Corn Soup

Side

Corn on the Cob

Bread

Cornmeal Muffins

Dessert

Cornbread Cake

Drink