Barbara McClintock at the table

1902 — 1992

The Frugal Laboratory Table (20th-Century American Home Cooking, Self-Sufficient Version)

In mid-20th-century America, the home meal revolved around a main dish (starch or garden vegetable) accompanied by quick breads and home preserves; cooking followed the seasons, often from what one grew or foraged. McClintock, a single, sober woman living on the Cold Spring Harbor campus, took this logic to the extreme: vegetable garden, foraging in the woods and along the shore, simple meals eaten quickly between microscope observations. No appetizer/main/dessert: one staple food, a few side items kept in reserve, a non-alcoholic drink.

Signature : Maize (Zea mays) and Foraging on Long Island

For McClintock, maize was not just food: it was the organism of her entire life, whose every colored kernel she could read under the microscope. Around it revolve the treasures foraged near the laboratory — black walnuts and beach plums from the Long Island dunes — the signature of a self-sufficient scientist who observed nature before eating it.

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Everyday

Barbara McClintock at the table

Fresh Boiled Corn on the Cob, Butter and Salt

Corn Spoon Bread (Corn Pudding)

Black Walnut Quick Bread

Long Island Beach Plum Jam