When Canape chef Matthew Gould and Bellamy Mansion executive director Gareth Evans met, it was a matter of minutes before the two came up with the idea to collaborate on a dinner at the Bellamy featuring adaptations of Victorian-era recipes from the museum’s archives.
“I'd been looking to do something based on Victorian Bellamy recipes and got to talking to Matthew in a restaurant one day,” Evans said. “He mentioned pop-up restaurants and an interest in locally sourced, organic food and history. The idea to try it at the mansion was pretty obvious to me from there.”
Before Canape opened last March on North Fourth Street, it operated as a pop-up restaurant for nearly three years, serving a variety of cuisines every Sunday at San Juan Café. Now that it has its own space, Canape changes its menu every day based upon availability of local ingredients.
When Gould began researching what Wilmingtonians were eating in the late 1800s, he realized that they were using many of the same ingredients he’s using today. They were cooking what was available to them seasonally, just as he is. Local and organic food was the norm at that time, and only the well-to-do could occasionally get their hands on items imported from Europe or the Islands.
Gould used the Bellamy recipes as inspiration. While he did not want to replicate them exactly, he wanted to use similar ingredients and cooking methods to highlight the flavors of the time. Much of the food at this time was prepared over a wood- or coal-burning fire, which lent it a very smoky flavor. Gould’s menu reflects that in the use of smoked vinegar and smoked and grilled vegetables.
He has also incorporated mustard, which was a trendy condiment at the time, having recently been imported from Europe, as well as coconut, which was very much a treat as it was also imported from thousands of miles away.
“It seems so simple to us now,” Gould said. “But to them it was something really, really impressive and special.”
The dinner will benefit the Bellamy Mansion Museum’s educational programming, and Evans hopes to partner with other area nonprofits for future events.
“The mansion hasn’t been used for a formal seated dinner like this in decades, so this is really something unique,” Evans said. “I like bringing in new audiences to try new things, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.”
Canape’s Antiquity Dinner at the Bellamy Mansion Museum will take place on July 26 at 6:30 p.m. Contact the museum at 251-3700 for details and reservations.
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