Authentic Fourth of July
By Irene Kraft | Of The Morning Call July 1, 2009 Looking for a different twist to the traditional hamburgers and hot dogs you serve at your Fourth of July celebration? Consider stepping back in time and serving authentic Colonial cuisine -- foods enjoyed by founding fathers
George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson and
Benjamin Franklin while they established our nation's independence.
Few know more about the first July 4 celebration and what these great men ate than renowned chef Walter Staib, who for 15 years has been proprietor of
Philadelphia's historic City Tavern, a national landmark where the first Independence Day celebration took place July 4, 1777.
Staib has made it his mission to preserve America's culinary heritage. He does it every day at The City Tavern, where his mission is to offer the grand array of foods that would have been served when the restaurant was a favorite dining spot of our country's forefathers. Everything served at The City Tavern is inspired by late 18th-century cuisine.
''Even though I strive to preserve the authentic nature of the Colonial recipes we use, I have had to adapt some of them to modern tastes and equipment,'' says Staib. Recipes have been altered to address increased health-awareness -- animal fats, such as lard, have been replaced with healthier alternatives, such as vegetable oil, and sodium and sugar content have been reduced, he explains. Some recipes had to be adjusted to account for kitchen equipment not readily available in the 21st century.
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