Menus and Mudlavia- Part 2

The tricky part about piecing together the food, menus, kitchen, and chefs at Mudlavia is the limited amount of information available. There are a handful of menus, a few articles, and some stories from locals, but that’s pretty much it. When the original hotel burned down in 1920, much of its history burned with it. Mudlavia never returned to its former glory, so there isn’t a lot of information that remains today, almost 100 years later.

The lack of information is both frustrating and fun. Frustrating, because I have so many questions without answers, and fun, because it gives me a blank canvas to imagine and create the food and kitchen staff, and how they impacted the hotel. Mudlavia had a 400 acre farm including vegetables, fruit, beef, and poultry. Their farm would have had a huge impact on the menu, and the workers at Mudlavia would have spent an enormous amount of time growing vegetables, caring for the animals, and prepping the food in the kitchen.  Even though I get to create how this all comes together in my novel, I still want to make sure that it is historically accurate.

To do this, I researched other historical places in the United States that focus on historical gardens and the great importance they had on our country. Two places that stood out were George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Both of these places have working gardens that reflect the gardens these two presidents used back in the day. They have tours that emphasize the importance of gardens in U.S. history, they grow the same vegetable, fruit, and flower varieties that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew, and they offer tours of the kitchens where the food was prepared for the presidents, as well as their many guests.

Side entrance to lower vegetable garden at Mount Vernon

Vegetable garden at Monticello

I was blessed to able take a trip to visit Mount Vernon and Monticello last summer with my family, and was amazed by how much I learned from taking tours of the gardens and kitchens at both of these places. 

Our family at Mount Vernon

My husband and I by the garden at Monticello

Peanut variety that Thomas Jefferson grew

Vegetables the kids picked from Thomas Jefferson's garden that the kids picked for a special class

Washington used this building to store the seeds he saved for the next year at Mount Vernon

Washington's vegetable garden- the cisterns captured rain water which he used to water the plants

 Both of these places, like Mudlavia, entertained large numbers of guests and provided elegant food without the conveniences that we have today. Most of the food they ate was grown and raised on their properties.Visiting these places allowed me to fill in the gaps I was missing in my novel and helped me imagine what the food and entertainment at Mudlavia would have been like. It also made me realize that the garden was not just something pretty to have or a hobby, but a way of life that was crucial to keep the hotel running to feed its staff and guests.