Reading Terminal Market to host Festival of Forgotten Foods

November 9, 7:36 PMPhiladelphia Nutrition ExaminerMargie King

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  Reading Terminal Market (Flickr/ Photo by pwbaker)

Reading Terminal Market will celebrate Philadelphia’s rich culinary past on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at its first-ever Festival of Forgotten Foods.

See Slideshow of Reading Terminal Market

Ask anyone his or her favorite Philadelphia specialty and you’ll get a long list of treats including cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, Tastykakes, hoagies, Taylor's ham, scrapple, Italian water ice and cream cheese. And, of course, do not forget Zitner’s coconut cream Easter eggs, Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews and Asher’s chocolate covered pretzels. Each specialty has a story to tell and reminds us of our connection to the Philadelphia experience.

But what about all of those foods that only our grandparents and great grandparents now remember from their childhoods? Since the founding of this nation, Philadelphia has boasted unique regional specialties. How many local residents remember other gastronomic staples such as pepper pot soup and fried catfish with waffles? Are some things better left forgotten? Over time these recipes have vanished from menus and dining tables across the region.

Pepper pot soup has been given credit for turning the tide of the Revolutionary War.  While General Washington was camped at Valley Forge in December of 1777, and his troops were starving, he instructed the cook to make a hearty soup to warm the soldiers.  Since there was little meat available the cook used tripe, meat scraps and lots of pepper.  It worked and the war was won.  

On Saturday, several of the Reading Terminal Market’s vendors will be bringing culinary history to life by offering more than a dozen “forgotten foods” for sampling. There will also be a live demonstration of how to make fresh horseradish.

Visit the festival, do some great shopping and sample these forgotten or almost forgotten Philadelphia foods:

• Wilbur buds, a candy originally made in Philadelphia in 1894 and a precursor to the Hershey Kiss;
• Cope’s dried corn, made only in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania;
• fried catfish with waffles, a 19th century indulgence, back when catfish were caught from the Schuylkill River;
• pepper hash;
• snapper soup;
• fried oysters and chicken salad;
• Cape May salt oysters;
• butter creams;
• heirloom cranberries;
• black walnut cupcakes; and
• teaberry ice cream.

The Festival of Forgotten Foods will be held at the Center Court of the Reading Terminal Market, 12th and Filbert Streets, Philadelphia, Saturday, November 14, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.