Apples in Abundance Part 2
Courtesy of US National Archives College, Park Maryland
Louis Hughes had been enslaved on a plantation near Charlottesville, Virginia just before the start of the civil war. On special occasions apple dumpling made by and for the enslaved had been a prized dish. He recalls years later, "They rolled out the pastry like any pie crust but twice as thick . . . the apple dumplings were served with sauce made from brown sugar. It lacked flavoring, such as cinnamon or lemon, yet it was a dish highly relished by all. . . The [portable Dutch] oven was then put over a bed of coals, the cover put on and coals thrown on it, and the process of baking began. Four of these ovens were usually in use at these feasts . . . .
