The American Gilded Age (1868 to 1900) and its extreme extravagance continue to be a source of wonder and fascination, particularly for foodies. The style and excessiveness of this era has ties to modern popular culture through books, films, and television shows, including The Alienist and the Julian Fellowes TV series The Gilded Age on HBO. On Thursday September 14, 2023 at 6:30pm the Newport Historical Society will host popular author Becky Libourel Diamond to discuss foods of the Gilded Age as featured in her new book The Gilded Age Cookbook (August 2023, Globe Pequot Press).
The Gilded Age Cookbook transports readers back in time to lavish banquet tables set with snow-white linen tablecloths, delicate china, and sparkling crystal glasses. Cuisine featuring rich soups, juicy roasts, and luscious desserts come to life through historic images and artistic photography. Gilded Age details and entertaining stories of celebrities from the era—the Vanderbilts, Astors, Carnegies, and Rockefellers—are melded with historic menus and recipes updated for modern kitchens. Sidebars highlighting Newport balls, dinner parties, luncheons, sailing and fishing trips and holiday events are featured throughout.
Becky Libourel Diamond is a food writer, librarian and research historian. She has been writing about food since 2008, parlaying her passion for food and history into the publication of The Thousand Dollar Dinner and Mrs. Goodfellow: The Story of America’s First Cooking School. She has also written about food and history for Eaten Magazine, Newtown Lifestyle, Dianne Jacob’s Will Write for Food blog, BookPage, Table Matters: The Journal of Food, Drink and Manners, The Historical Cooking Project, IFIS Food and Health Information, Prose Media and Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum. She lives in Yardley, PA; you can learn more about her at http://www.beckyldiamond.com.
The Gilded Age Cookbook takes place at the Newport Historical Society Resource Center, 82 Touro Street. Doors open at 5:30pm for a complimentary drink and a book signing, the program begins at 6:30pm. General admission tickets cost $20 per person, or $54.95 for a combo admission ticket with a copy of the book. Admission for Newport Historical Society members costs $15 per person, or $42.96 for the combo admission ticket with the book. Copies The Gilded Age Cookbook will also be available for purchase at the event.
