Dispelling the myth that all Depression-era foods were boring. This party menu, circa 1932, could be featured on FoodTV using Williams Sonoma tableware. Sophisticated rustic meals are timeless. One difference? No wine. Prohibition was still in effect.

"Maybe you've already hard the story of how Sunday-night suppers made an unpopular girl the toast of the town. With no special array of good looks to help her she had to put her wits to work. She decided to concentrate on those evening when folks wanted to go out but never got invited. Thursday nights--when maids were out. Sunday--when supper is usually a dinner left-over. Her success was sure and quick. Her tactics certainly present a cue to other hostesses keen to doing things a the right moment. And here's just that kind of evening all worked out for you. A peasant supper--with sophisticated trimmings!

"Of course, the setting is out-of-doors. And a good idea it is, too, on hot summer evenings, when you want to enjoy every stray whiff of breeze. There's another reason for the outdoor setting. It's informal. It calls for simple, inexpensive table linen, gay-colored china and only a couple of courses requiring a minimum of service and dish-washing. All of which simplifies the preparation and the performance and is right in linbe with the new mode of entertaining which is leading us back to the simple.

"If you have a weather-beaten garden table that has seen convival days and battering rainstorms...so much the better. Placed on it are gay Basque squares [placemats] in golden yellow, striped with emerald green and ruby red. On each square are plates in a lovely shade of yellow pottery with green edges. They are flanked by knives and forks with handles of brilliant green, simulated jade; and the crude squatty tumblers are a brilliant amber color. But the center decoration--that is the masterpiece...It is made with fruits and all manner of vegetables and leaves. Imagine shiny red and green peppers, onions, tiny squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, even a potato or two arranged in a crescent of green leaves. In the center of this semicircle is placed a grand pineapple. But in the middle offers all sorts of opportuntiy to your imagination. For instance, you might get an arran of toy animals and set up a barnyard...

"Then the ever important menu. Start with hors d'oeuvres--gorgeous pimentos of flaming scarlet, a slices of ham, shaved thin enough to roll, juicy fat sardines, a hard-cooked egg and in the center a tiny bunch of water cress. With these serve thick slices of Italian bread cut peasant fashion, which simply means you slice it nearly in two in great chunks and let everyone pull his own. Onion soup au gratin or spaghetti may be introduced here, or you may omit this course and dash right on to the main one. Cutlets a la Milanese would be just the thing. Typically peasant. They are made by covering thin slices of veal with a mixture of chopped parsley, grated cheese, chopped salt pork and seasoning. The cutlets are then rolled in bread crumbs and fried in olive oil. These can be served in the kitchen on dinner plates and brought in while you mix the salad at the table. To do this in true peasant fashion, get a large wooden bowl and a long salad fork and spoon. Mix your French dressing with the greens at the table. This always registers well with dinner guests. When you're sure that every leaf has been touched with the tasty sauce, mix a couple of minutes more to whet appetites and serve. Fruits of any variety placed in a bowl may be passed around for dessert and, of course, cheese. The coffee is wisest made a l'Americain, but after so fuch a dinner make it wickedly strong."
---"A Peasant Supper," Linda Bonbright Lyman, Ladies Home Journal, August 1932 (p. 22)

NOTES: (1) Did people really have maids during the Great Depression? Most certainly yes. Prior to World War II, this was perfectly normal for middle class Americans. (2) The way this salad was served was not "discovered" by restauranteurs until the 1970s.

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