The Gilded Age was all about an extravagant show of, well, just about everything,

from the bows on your dress, the rubies and emeralds at your ears,

and the sculptures on the facade of your mansion.

The idea was to show off your wealth and arguably raise the level of your social power with displays of conspicuous consumption.

The dining tables and the kitchens of those gilded gastronomes were one area where some of the most extravagant shows of the superfluous took place.

The iconic dishes of canvasback duck and Marilyn Terrapin, along with intricately

garnished roasts to exquisitely executed pastries and sweets, demanded the services of that

French chef that you just hired in Paris.

In the Gilded Age, what you ate, and how much it cost, along with where you ate it,

and how much that cost, defined one's social position. But the story of food in the Gilded Age

was, in truth, more complex than just that, and for, well, the rest of us, much simpler than all that.

New kitchen technologies like egg beaters and slicers, shredders, and sieves, along with

some canned foods, were helping much more modest home cooks prepare meals as social demands

increased.

My guest today, author and culinary historian Becky Liberald Diamond takes us on a tour

and perhaps a progressive dinner party of sorts through the Gilded Age, from the dining rooms

of the Astors to the dining cars of the new cross-country rail cars.

From summer picnics to holiday dinners,

we'll take a look at what mere mortal people ate

and how, thanks to Becky's wonderfully created vintage recipes,

how you can create it all in your home today.

Music in your home today.

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