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Medalta resurrects local recipes dating back close to a century

Aug 13, 2018 | 3:56 PM

 

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A mixture of old and new at the former I-XL brick plant on Monday, as staff from Medalta tested out recipes dating back to the mid 1920s.

The recipes come from a Medalta cookbook discovered in the provincial archives in Edmonton, and list meals such as sugar-cured bacon, baked beans, corned beef, and even pickled tongue.

On Monday, staff chose to re-create a chicken casserole and sauerkraut, using many of the same methods as the recipes from 1924.

Medalta marketing coordinator Jessica Knodel said it was a spur of the moment decision to try cooking the meals almost 100 years later.

“We just thought that would be really cool to put those online,” said Knodel. “And then our booking associate Alice said, ‘Well, why don’t we try making some?’ I thought it would be fun, none of us are really huge cooks so it’s been kind of entertaining.”

Most of the recipes involve either canning or jarring, as refrigeration was not widely available at the time the cook book had been published.

Knodel said it’s eye opening to see how many local families survived ahead of the Great Depression.

“You had to kind of figure out how to keep this stuff over winter without a fridge,” said Knodel. “So, I could see how much of a challenge it would have been back then. And, how much people would have relied on crocks and with canning, and why it became such a big thing back then. Why everyone had crocks, you really needed it in order to survive with your family.”

The demonstration meanwhile took place at Medalta’s Artists Lodge, which started to house a handful of on-site artists over the last month.

While the physical cook book isn’t currently in their possession, Knodel said it’s a cool feeling knowing it’s been kept as a part of Alberta’s history in Edmonton.

“It’s just really awesome that what Medalta is doing, is exciting enough to be held there,” she said. “And, to be kept and recorded for history, just these recipes.”

Medalta will be officially opening their Artists Lodge at the old I-XL plant sometime in the fall.

More information on the 94 year old recipes can be found on Medalta’s website.