I am a culinary historian focusing on early foodways and cooking apparatus – stew stoves, bake ovens, Rumford Roasters, other metal wall ovens, steam kitchens, boilers and early steam or gas apparatus. I am always willing to travel anywhere to look at any in museums and private homes. For over 30 years I have demonstrated and taught bake oven and hearth cooking.

A few of my writings -

Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (Beaten Biscuits; Jelly)

Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets (Layer Cakes; Sponge Cakes)

Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2013 talk and proceedings: “A Federal-era Kitchen: Hampton’s Stew Stove, Iron Oven, and Hearth” in Food and Material Culture : proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. HERE

Petit Propos Culinaires article: “Early Steam Kitchens” (the apparatus not just steam in kitchen) in PPC101. London: 2014 p15-33

Booklets:

20-40 page info/recipe hearth cooking class booklets (at my 'home' museum and numerous others)

~68p subject booklets: Civil War bake ovens in the US Capitol; Elizabeth Ellicott Lea (1st Maryland cookbook author 1845); Gov John Eager Howard family with Jane Howard cookbook author; Women cookbook authors; Pumpkins; Lemonade; Cakes; Jellies; Bake Ovens and more.

PowerPoint Presentations on hiatus: for Maryland Humanities Council Speakers Bureau, Food history groups, museums, libraries, symposiums. Some topics include Maryland foods, kitchens and cookbook authors; Federal Dining, Bake Ovens, Civil War Bake Ovens in the US Capitol, Lemonade, Chocolate, and more talks with links to info and images for each talk. HERE.

I have spent decades researching in American and British libraries, historical societies, and archives; and am very fortunate to live near the Library of Congress, National Archives and the other phenomenal collections.

Researching Food History - blog

started 2009 to post articles of various lengths with references, period images and some photographs. HERE

Calendar of virtual food history talks

since lockdown April 2020. Stopping in 2023. HERE

Historic Culinary Resources website. HERE

Started 1999 to expedite online research and provide information on all parts of food history. Still some useful info and links, but I spend more time on the blog. As a culinary historian using primary resources, I gathered over 1000 online cookbooks, which at that point were scattered at a variety of sites, and are listed by date and also by author. Some subject searches and articles include glossaries of terms, suppliers of historic ingredients, art and images of food and kitchens, culinary groups, blogs and cooking apparatus such as stew stoves, fireless cookers, and ovens.

Please contact me at (patreber@hearthcook.com) with any comments or corrections.