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New York Times
27-03-2025
- General
- New York Times
Our Ultimate Guide to Making Soufflé
Impress your friends and family with a restaurant-worthy result (that isn't even that hard to pull off). Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times Published March 27, 2025 Updated March 27, 2025 [This article was originally published on Feb. 14, 2017.] A hallmark of French cooking, the soufflé is like magic. It uses nothing more than air to transform workaday eggs into a lofty masterpiece, puffing and browning in the oven before collapsing at first bite. This guide is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, the 10 definitive dishes every modern cook should master. In 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking,' their profoundly influential 1961 cookbook, Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle describe the soufflé as the 'epitome and triumph of the art of French cooking.' A half-century later, soufflé remains as vital as ever, as successive generations of chefs revisit and refresh the classic recipe. A soufflé has two main components , a flavorful bas e and glossy beaten egg whites , and they are gently folded together just before baking. The word itself comes from 'souffler,' meaning 'to breathe' or 'to puff,' which is what the whites do to the base once they hit the oven's heat. The base may be made either savory or sweet . Savory soufflés usually incorporate cheese, vegetables, meat or seafood and are appropriate for a light dinner or lunch, or as a first course. They require a substantial and stable base, in the form of a cooked sauce that often involves butter, egg yolks and some kind of starch (flour, rice or cornstarch). Sweet soufflés, with fruit, chocolate or liquors , make spectacular desserts. The base can be made from a fruit purée, or a sweet, rich sauce. Soufflés are found all over France, with each region applying its own spin. In Alsace, cooks use kirsch. In Provence, goat cheese or eggplant are excellent additions. And naturally, Roquefort cheese is a popular addition in Roquefort. The menu at Le Soufflé, a restaurant in Paris. Courtesy of The New York Public Library Marie-Antoine Carême, the father of French haute cuisine, is credited with perfecting and popularizing the soufflé, publishing his recipe in 'Le Pâtissier Royal Parisien' in 1815. (The first recipe had appeared in 1742, in Vincent La Chapelle's 'Le Cuisinier Moderne.') Initially, Carême made his soufflés in stiff pastry casings called croustades that were lined with buttered paper. Soon after, vessels were developed just for making souffles, deep dishes with straight sides, for the tallest rise. Carême went on to create several variations, including Soufflé Rothschild, named after his employer, one of the richest men in France; it contained candied fruit macerated in a liquor containing flecks of gold. (Contemporary versions substitute more attainable kirsch for the golden elixir.) As the soufflé evolved, the number of variations grew. By the time Auguste Escoffier published 'Le Guide Culinaire' in 1903, which codified the classic recipes of French cuisine, more than 60 soufflé variations were in common use, with versions that incorporated ingredients as varied as Parmesan cheese, foie gras, escarole, pheasant, violets, almonds and tea. A layered soufflé called a Camargo alternated stripes of tangerine and hazelnut soufflé batters in the same dish. 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking,' published nearly six decades later, offered several recipes, including a version called Soufflé Vendôme, in which cold poached eggs are layered into the unbaked soufflé mixture. After baking, the eggs warm up slightly, releasing their runny yolks when the soufflé is broken. Despite a movement in France in recent years that called for a more experimental take on traditional cuisine, there is still a place for perfect soufflé. And while chefs may innovate upon the classic version, those first 18th-century recipes are still very much in use. The soufflé has a pan created just for it, a deep ceramic dish with straight sides. Ceramic holds the heat evenly, so the center cooks at nearly the same rate as the edges, and the sides direct the expanding air upward, to give the most rise. A heavy metal charlotte mold also works. Or use a shallow oven-safe dish, like a gratin dish or a skillet. The soufflé won't rise as high, but it will still puff up. (It will likely cook faster, so watch it carefully.) You will achieve better results beating the whites in a metal mixing bowl rather than in a plastic, glass or ceramic bowl. Plastic can retain oily residue, and glass and ceramic are slippery, making it harder to get the whites to cling and climb up the sides. This is especially important if you are beating the whites by hand. Stainless steel or copper work best. Using an electric mixer, whether it is a hand-held model or a stand mixer, makes the work of beating egg whites go faster and easier than if you were to use a whisk and your arms. Wirecutter, a product recommendations website owned by The New York Times Company, has a guide to the best stand mixers . A savory or sweet dish in which a roux or purée is mixed with egg yolks and whipped whites and baked until light and ethereal. By Meg Felling The primary technique for making a tall and airy soufflé is the proper beating of the egg whites. Once you learn it, a whole fluffy world opens up, rich with spongecakes, mousses and foams. How to separate eggs. By Alexandra Eaton Always use eggs at room temperature or even warm, for the highest rise . Cold egg whites won't beat up as loftily. To get cold eggs to temperature quickly, soak them in their shells in warm water for 20 minutes. Make sure your hands are clean. If there is any trace of oil or grease on them and you touch the egg whites, the soufflé may not puff. Crack your eggs on a flat surface , like the countertop, instead of on the rim of the bowl. That way, you are less likely to shatter the shell and pierce the yolk. There are two ways to separate eggs. The first is to hold the cracked egg over a bowl and pass the yolk between shells, letting the white slip into the bowl. Gently drop the yolk in into a separate, smaller bowl. Take care: The sharp edge of the shell can easily pierce the yolk, allowing it to seep into the white. The other method requires you to strain the whites through your fingers, but it ensures that yolks do not creep into the whites. First, set up three bowls. Hold your hand over one bowl and drop the cracked egg into your palm, letting the white run through your fingers into the bowl. Drop the yolk into the second bowl. Inspect the white for traces of yolk. If there are none, slip the white into the third bowl. Repeat with remaining eggs. Using that first bowl as a way station for each freshly cracked white before it gets added to the main bowl of pristine whites helps ensure no yolk contaminates the mixture. How to beat egg whites. By Alexandra Eaton Well-beaten, stable whites are the key to a gorgeously puffy soufflé. So don't rush this step. The slower you go, the better your chances for success. Take a moment to make sure there are no traces of yolk or any fat in the egg whites or the bowl. (Egg yolk will impede the whites from frothing.) Adding a little bit of acid (in our recipes, cream of tartar) helps stabilize the egg foam , and also helps prevent overbeating. Beating the whites in a copper bowl will produce a similar result without the added acid, which is why copper bowls were historically considered essential for making meringues. If you are using a stand mixer, c heck the bottom of the bowl every now and then for unbeaten egg whites . Sometimes the whites pool there, and when you go to incorporate the meringue into the base, those whites will deflate the overall soufflé. Whisk any pooled whites by hand into the rest of the meringue and continue beating with the machine. Beat until the meringue is just able to hold stiff peaks. This means that when you lift the whisk out of the meringue, it will create a little cowlick that stays upright without drooping as you gently move the whisk. It should look glossy, or be just starting to lose its shine. Don't overbeat (which will make the foam turn grainy and dry) or underbeat (which won't give the proper lift). If you overbeat your whites, you might be able to rescue them by beating in another egg white. This often restores them. Folding eggs into a soufflé. By Alexandra Eaton The goal in folding the egg whites into the base is to work quickly and use a light touch . This lightens the base, making it easier to fold in the rest of the meringue mixture all at once. Fold in a C shape, as demonstrated in the video above: Starting in the middle of the bowl, drag the thin edge of a spatula down like a knife, then tilt and scoop up a spatula full of the soufflé base, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Turn the batter over, away from your body, back into the middle of the bowl. Shift the bowl 45 degrees, and repeat. Stop folding when the streaks of white have just disappeared — or rather, when they have almost disappeared. A few white streaks are preferable to overfolding, which deflates the batter. Buttering the soufflé dish, then coating the butter with something with a bit of texture, is essential for the rise . If the soufflé dish were to be just buttered, the soufflé would slip down the sides instead of climbing. An additional thin coating of granulated sugar, bread crumbs, ground nuts or grated cheese creates a rough texture for the egg whites to hold onto as they rise. If your soufflé dish isn't big enough to accommodate all of the batter, you can extend it by tying a buttered piece of parchment paper or foil around the rim of the soufflé dish to increase its volume. For individual soufflés, use small ramekins placed on a rimmed baking sheet so they are easy to get in and out of the oven. Reduce the cooking time of a larger soufflé by about half. Heat matters. Make sure the oven is preheated ; that initial hot blast expands the air trapped inside the bubbly foam of batter, which makes it rise. Having the soufflé base hot or warm when you fold in the egg whites helps the temperature rise quickly, too. Baking the soufflé on a preheated baking sheet on the bottom of the oven helps the soufflé cook on the bottom as well as the top, producing a more even result. The baking sheet will also catch any overflow. Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times For a higher rise, rub your thumb around the inside rim of the soufflé dish to create a gap between the dish and the batter. (Many soufflé dishes already have a groove there to help.) If you want a perfectly flat top to your soufflé, level the foam with the back of a knife before baking , and before running your thumb around the edge of the dish. Or you could leave the foam as it is, for a more natural, wavy look. Julia Child preferred a natural top; pastry chefs tend to prefer a flat top. A soufflé is done baking when it has risen above the rim of the dish and is nicely browned on top. It should feel mostly firm and only slightly jiggly when you lightly tap the top. Flourless soufflés, such as those made with fruit purée or chocolate, are lighter and cook faster. (Chocolate soufflés can also be intentionally underbaked for a gooey chocolate interior. The soufflé should be a tad wiggly when gently shaken but firm around the edges.) Thicker soufflés made with flour, like a cheese soufflé, don't rise as much in the oven, but won't collapse as much either. Use the window of your oven to monitor the soufflé, and don't open the oven door until you see the soufflé puff up over the sides of the dish. Once it has done that, you can safely open the oven and check on it. If the top of your soufflé starts to brown too fast, top it with a round of parchment paper. All soufflés fall within minutes of coming out of the oven , because the hot air bubbles contract when they hit cooler air. That's why you need to serve them immediately after baking. But as long as you don't overfold the whites, and you resist opening the oven door until the last few minutes of baking, your soufflé will rise gloriously before the dramatic and expected collapse. You can prepare any soufflé batter ahead, but you will probably lose some volume. Assemble the soufflé in its dish, then set it aside in a warm place without drafts for up to four hours. Julia Child recommends turning your largest soup pot over the soufflé, and that would work. But any draft-free space is fine. A draft could deflate the foam. Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times Savory soufflés are usually served by themselves, but sweet soufflés often have a sauce on the side, to be poured into the center of the soufflé after you've dug in your spoon. Or opt for ice cream, which provides a thrilling hot-cold contrast. Either will deflate the soufflé, so add it after your guests have had a chance to admire it. Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times
Boston Globe
31-01-2025
- Boston Globe
When travel was treacherous for Black people: The Green Book's legacy in New England
Someone had a camera. Everyone paused what they were doing, turned to it, and smiled. Flash. The image of them celebrating the languid summer days on the South Shore was forever preserved. Guests who stayed in cottages at the resort could go horseback riding at nearby stables and bring their children to swim in the crisp blue sea at local beaches. Camp Twin Oaks, a go-to destination on the Duxbury-Kingston line for Black families, was just one location listed in the Green Book. Advertisement The cover of the 1940 edition of the Green Book. The New York Public Library The Green Book was a travel guide listing hotels, restaurants, gas stations, barber shops, and other establishments across the country where Black travelers would not get hassled, turned away, or be put in dangerous situations. It was started in 1936 by Victor H. Green, a US Postal Service carrier who wanted his fellow Black travelers to be able to 'vacation without aggravation.' The Green Book was circulated when Black travelers had to navigate a segregated South, sunset towns, and de facto segregation in the North, with no guarantees of finding a safe place to eat or sleep. Such was the case in October 1955, when a Haverhill hotel owner refused to accept a reservation for a Black college professor despite his booking the room months in advance. And in July 1962, when seven hotels in Maine refused to provide lodging for Black actress Claudia McNeil when she was starring in a play at the Kennebunkport Playhouse. Guests dined at Camp Twin Oaks on the Duxbury-Kingston line. The resort was one of many vacation destinations listed in the Green Book. Duxbury Rural & Historical Society Green's guide wasn't the first of its kind. Six years before the first Green Book was published, a woman in Connecticut named Sadie D. Harrison put together a nationwide directory of accommodations for Black travelers that was published in 1930. Green's guidebook only included New York businesses when it first came out but soon included other states and, eventually, other parts of the world. Businesses listed ranged from pharmacies to summer resorts to 'tourist homes,' which were private residences where travelers could rent a room for a few nights. Advertisement After the Guests posed for a photo at Camp Twin Oaks, circa 1930s. Duxbury Rural & Historical Society 'That is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States,' he wrote. 'It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication for then we can go wherever we please, and without embarrassment.' Candacy Taylor, author of ' The Globe created a database of Green Book sites in all six New England states. It contains approximately 350 listings that can be viewed by clicking on the dots on an interactive map. Globe reporters have also written stories about several businesses that were listed in the Green Book, some of which are still around today. If you have anecdotes about any of these places or photos to share with us, ***Intro end*** ***** The interior of the Sunset dining room at the Western Lunch Box, with proprietor Mary C. Jackson in the back left. Boston Guardian/Library of Congress *** ***** The buildings at 415-417 Massachusetts Avenue used to house the Western Lunch Box, a restaurant in the Green Book. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff For one girl, Western Lunch Box was Nana's house By Larrine King and her baby sister, Mary Ethel, leaned forward and peered out their grandmother's upper-story brownstone window to engage in one of their favorite weekend pastimes: people watching. Advertisement People of all shades buzzed up and down the busy street. Some jetted by to urgent plans while others staggered under the weight of liquor. Several more, led by their empty stomachs, walked through the front screen door of Mary C. Jackson's Western Lunch Box. Mary C. Jackson (second from right) posed for a portrait with her family. Jackson was the proprietor of the Western Lunch Box on Mass Ave. From left, granddaughter Mary Ethel, son Lachester, mother, Jerrie Johnson, Jackson, and granddaughter Larrine. Boston Guardian/Library of Congr To King, now an 84-year-old Sharon resident, Western Lunch Box wasn't a renowned South End restaurant and guest house that hosted people from all over the country. It was Nana's house. It was where her grandmother's gingerbread cookies melted into a chewy, 'molassessy,' buttery concoction on her tongue. Where the savory, peppery smell of her grandma's hot tamales seduced her nostrils. Where her fingertips winkled in the humongous tub of cool water as she and Mary Ethel rinsed dirt from the day's hand-picked collard, mustard, and kale greens. As King's grandmother claimed in newspaper ads, Western Lunch Box was a 'home away from home' for Southerners booking short and lengthy stays in Boston. Before the actress and comedian Jackie 'Moms' Mabley began donning her iconic housedress and bucket hat, she would linger near Jackson as she battered fried chicken for customers. Martin Luther King Jr., then a Boston University student, came in often because he was enthralled by Jackson's ham hocks and greens. King remembered thinking once after speaking with Martin, 'Maybe I could go to BU, too.' *** ***** At Kornfield Pharmacy in Nubian Square, Sharon Kamowitz (right), granddaughter of its second Jewish owner, Henry Shapiro, met current owner, Esther Egesionu, inside the pharmacy for the first time. Esther took ownership after her husband was killed. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Frappes, sandwiches, and elixirs. Kornfield Pharmacy was a local favorite. By At all hours of the day, Kornfield Pharmacy was a symphony of business. The jolt of a hand-crank cash register here. The ringing of a telephone there. The smoothing of medicinal powder on marble. Ching. Ring. Swoosh. Henry Shapiro was its hardworking conductor, and the comforting, busy medley lasted until his death. Advertisement From 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., 'there were always people going in and out of the store,' said Sharon Kamowitz, Shapiro's granddaughter. Children tugged at their parents' clothes as they picked up their prescriptions, begging them to buy them one of the decadent frappes — a sugary concoction of milk, soda, and ice cream ― the store sold. Hungry passersby would snag cold tuna or egg salad sandwiches from the lunch counter. Intoxicated clubbers from Aga's Highland Tap across the street sauntered into Kornfield Pharmacy for another round of liquor, purchasing non-medicinal elixirs over the counter in inconspicuous paper bags. Henry Shapiro behind the counter of Kornfield Pharmacy. The photo was taken at some point in the 1950s. Sharon Kamowitz Shapiro immigrated to Boston from what is now considered Ukraine dreaming of possibility. He applied to Harvard University's medical program to become a doctor. But when he applied, he was told that 'they had too many Jews,' his daughter, Elaine Bloom, told the Globe. Shapiro didn't give up on his dream. He went for the next best thing, which didn't require a degree at the time: pharmacy. He worked at and later bought Kornfield in Lower Roxbury's thriving Jewish community. While around 80 percent of the businesses in the Green Book are Black-owned, the remaining ones were sometimes owned by other marginalized groups, including Kornfield, which, under Shapiro's stewardship, became a favorite pharmacy for locals. His customers called him 'Doc.' Exterior of the Kornfield Pharmacy, taken in the 1950s. Sharon Kamowitz *** ***** Longtime patrons shared a laugh at the bar during jazz night at Slade's Bar and Grill in Boston. The historic establishment, a fixture on Tremont Street since 1935, has hosted the WeJazzUp band for nearly 25 years, continuing its legacy as one of Boston's enduring venues from "The Negro Motorist Green Book" era. Erin Clark/Globe Staff Since opening in 1928, Slade's has been a haven for the community By It's a Tuesday night at Slade's Bar & Grill, and the band is kicking into high gear. In the blue light, patrons sip drinks, eat Slade's famous chicken wings, and nod along with the music. Some members of the ensemble, WeJazzUp, have been playing this venue for decades. Some are Berklee College of Music students sitting in for the night. Most of the customers are regulars. Advertisement A man posed in front of Slade's barbeque chicken restaurant on Tremont Street 1935-45. Winifred Irish Hall/Northeastern 'They call this the Black Cheers,' said Sonya Yancey, who has worked at the historic restaurant and nightclub for about 20 years. 'Everybody would come here after work. We had a lawyer who sat at the bar and would give free legal advice. We had a doctor who would pop in every now and again. We had some of everybody once upon a time.' Muhammad Ali. Ted Kennedy. Martin Luther King Jr. Bill Russell of the Celtics, who owned the place in the 1960s, nearly 7 feet tall in his burgundy suit. All passed through the doors of Slade's, which opened in Boston in 1928 in a different location, under the name Slade's Barbecue. The restaurant even employed Malcolm X as a server when he needed a job to get out of jail, according to current Slade's owner Britney Kyle Papile. *** ***** The building at 510 Columbus Ave. in Boston where Mother's Lunch used to host many famous musicians. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Mother's Lunch: where famous jazz artists practiced By Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Andy Kirk, and J.C. Higginbotham. They are just some of the jazz musicians who passed through Mother's Lunch, a venue in Boston's South End that had rooms for rent and kept intimate, conducive spaces for musicians on tour. Mother's Lunch was one of many packed brick rowhouses on Columbus Avenue but it stood out because it offered more entertainment options than the rest. It wasn't just a place musicians could stay when they were in the city. Mother's Lunch rented out a rehearsal space and had a nightclub called the Tangerine Room on its second floor, where jazz artists played until the night sky turned gray and then a clear, pale blue. There was a downstairs restaurant, and when the city warmed in the summer months, patrons spilled into the street when it turned into a relaxed outdoor cafe. For a while, Armstrong's band rehearsed at the venue daily and Ellington's group passed through on their summer tours. The establishment offered a nurturing space for Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop, big band jazz and other complex compositions. 'With the jazz and nightlife, Mother's became a prominent location and was the most important and best of a series of running houses in that area,' Jazz historian and writer Richard Vacca said. Mother's Lunch was owned by Wilhelmina 'Mother' Garnes, a Black businesswoman from Ohio who ran it until 1956. While Boston hotels began admitting Black people in the 1930s, many Black musicians would choose to stay at Mother's Lunch over the other rowhouses in the South End. *** ***** A mural at Fulton Park in New London Conn., with an image of Sadie Harrison. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff *** ***** The exterior of 73 Hempstead St. in New London, the former home of Sadie Harrison. It is featured on New London's Black Heritage Trail. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Before the Green Book, there was Sadie D. Harrison's trailblazing Black travel guide By My Dear Madam: Could you tell me if there is a colored boarding house in New London? I expect to be driving through November 13 and would like to spend the night. If you know of such a place that you could recommend, I would appreciate the address. Very sincerely yours, W. E. B. Du Bois Du Bois had asked the right person where to stay in the port city in southern Connecticut. Sadie D. Harrison ran a tourist home in one of the city's first black neighborhoods, a two-story, wood-frame house called Hempstead Cottage. Her mind turned as she read over the letter, dated Nov. 8, 1929. Du Bois didn't know this, but for years Harrison had been creating a hotel guide for Black people traveling through the United States. Harrison responded to the civil rights icon the next day, typing out her letter on Putting together the hotel guide was a labor of love for Harrison, who spent countless hours writing to local chambers of commerce and city officials across the country and compiling the names and addresses of hotels and tourist homes that welcomed Black guests. This photo of Sadie D. Harrison appeared in a 1928 issue of "Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life," an academic journal published by the National Urban League. The Internet Archive Publishing the book was simply one accomplishment in her intrepid life. Years before, Harrison had left her husband in Indiana, filed for divorce, and sought a Harrison teamed up with Edwin H. Hackley, a Black lawyer and writer in Philadelphia, and published ' In the introduction to the book, Harrison reprinted the letter she received from Du Bois (with Tom Schuch, a New London historian and researcher for the city's 'Prior to what she did, it was basically word of mouth,' Schuch said. 'She got it into print, which made it available for people.' *** ***** The Pates Hotel, also known as "The Pates," was at 86-90 Archibald St. in Burlington, Vt. It was listed in the Green Book from the 1930s until the last edition was published in 1966. Rebekah Mortensen *** ***** The listing for The Pates in the 1956 edition of the Green Book. The New York Public Library A porch full of memories at The Pates Hotel: Vermont's haven for Black travelers By Maxine Leary has fond memories of the time she spent doing bookkeeping work at The Pates Hotel as a teenager in the 1940s. On Saturday mornings during her freshman year of high school, she walked over to the two-and-a-half story building, which looked like several houses stitched together, knowing she'd get to spend time with one of its owners, Cleta Pate. Pate was a Filipino native who ran the hotel with her husband, Frank, and lived there with her family. When Leary arrived, Cleta would bring out the paperwork and sit with her at the dining room table while she crunched numbers for a couple of hours. Leary remembers that Cleta was a warm and easygoing person and they laughed a lot together. 'I loved her,' Leary said. The hotel had a big porch in the front where people could gather and where Frank, who was Cleta's second husband, would sometimes spend time relaxing with his step-grandchild. Occasionally, celebrities passed through. In the summer of 1930, about a decade before Leary was employed there, a Black baseball team called the Burlington Colored All Stars took up residence there for the summer. One of the players on the team was Cleta purchased the building in the 1920s with Frank Pate, a military veteran who'd served in the US 10th Cavalry, an all-Black Army regiment known as the Buffalo Soldiers. She expanded it over the years to become both a boarding house and a hotel. Long after Leary left, Cleta's son from her first marriage, Alfred, continued to run the family business as a Green Book hotel until the 1960s, and then turned it into an apartment house. *** ***** Bob Greene in front of the former Thomas Tourist Home (far right), a Green Book destination for Black travelers in Maine. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff *** ***** A green lantern led Black travelers to Thomas Tourist Home By PORTLAND, Maine — When the sun set on Portland's West End and the streets went quiet, the Green Lantern Grill at the Thomas Tourist Home came to life. Black soldiers, sailors, and railroad porters listened to Nellie Lutcher and Dinah Washington on the jukebox. They relaxed over cards, and they ate warm, filling meals before heading upstairs to rest at one of the few places in the city that welcomed Black travelers. The Thomas Tourist Home was a Green Book destination used by many of the Black porters who worked out of nearby, long-gone Union Station. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff 'Everybody knew about the Green Lantern,' said Bob Greene, a Black historian and eighth-generation Mainer. The Thomas Tourist House was a modest, cream-colored, two-story rooming house where a green lantern hung in a bay window, lit in good weather and bad, to welcome Black members of the military and railway workers from nearby Union Station. They laughed, they gossiped, and if they wanted a drink, they brought their own. Maine did not serve liquor by the glass at the time. The place was run by Benjamin Thomas, a Red Cap who assisted railroad passengers, and his wife, Edith, whom the government paid to feed Black service members during World War II. The couple also opened the Marian Anderson USO, named after the famed Black singer. There is no plaque at the Green Lantern Grill, and its history is not widely known. But today, according to Kate Lemos McHale, executive director of Greater Portland Landmarks, 'it's part of a bigger story that needs to be told.' *** ***** This private residence, at 57 Salter Street in Portsmouth, N.H., was the site of the Blank's Riverview Cottage. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff *** ***** A peaceful snapshot of Blank's Riverview Cottage By Blank's Riverview Cottage was shrouded in a restful calm that Baxter F. Jackson welcomed after days of traveling through New England and Canada, according to an essay he wrote in the 1941 Green Book. He left for his trip on a Sunday in July with the Southernaires playing on his car's radio. The sun was warm as he drove on roads that reminded him of ribbons, passing farmhouses and white birches as he drove through the countryside. When Jackson reached the cottage, he had already visited Hanover, N.H., home to Dartmouth College, in addition to stops in Vermont and Quebec. He reached Portsmouth after spending two days in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, with a friend who dragged him to the beach despite it being a bit too cold to swim. At the picturesque waterfront cottage nestled on a dead-end street, Jackson had a chance to relax. Outside, wooden shingles shielded the house from the elements, while the interior contained upscale decor, including a floral-patterned china serving dish and ornately carved side tables made of wood and marble. He met some friends from New York there who were just beginning their vacation and they feasted on meals made by Annie B. Blanks, who ran the cottage along with her husband, Eben F. Taylor. 'If a man digs his grave with his teeth as I have been told, I hope I can dig mine with Mrs. [Blanks'] cooking,' he wrote in the essay. In the evening, he listened to Eben talk about his younger years in the Navy, completely absorbed by the stories. He felt like his days at the cottage, frequented by musicians and Black travelers, passed too rapidly. Soon, he was on his way home dreaming of the vacation he'd take next year. He hadn't settled on his next destination, but he hoped it would be as pleasant as the last. The Farrar Sisters Trio performed in Portsmouth, N.H., in 1933, including at Blank's Riverview Cottage, according to the historical newspaper clippings and documents pictured. Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire *** ***** The Biltmore Hotel and neighboring buildings, seen from across a plaza in Providence. Providence Public Library *** ***** Graduate Hotel in Providence, which was previously named the Biltmore Hotel. The Biltmore was listed in the Green Book, which was a travel guide for Black Americans during the time of Jim Crowe . A view of elevator at top. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Velvet, velour, and high fashion at the Biltmore Hotel By A Black model in a floor-length coat walked down a catwalk. The coat swished back and forth when she moved, the fur-trimmed hem brushing against her ankles. Another model strutted in a dark, glittery dress. Others wore velvet and velour outfits created by some of the leading designers in the United States and Europe for a high fashion show hosted by Ebony magazine at the Biltmore Hotel in 1970. It was Ebony's 13th annual show, which had been seen in 78 cities from coast to coast since its inception. The show's theme focused on a liberated look in various styles — from soft and casual to the most elegant, wrote fashion writers at the time. For those who were in the know or worked inside the luxurious Biltmore, having people of color at the hotel had long been the norm. The Biltmore hosted politicians, Rolling Stones bandmates, and socialites. But, even before the Civil Rights Movement, the Biltmore welcomed both Black and white guests at a time when discrimination at hotels was common. 'This was everything a traveling businessman would need access to,' said Interior view of the Bacchante in the Biltmore Hotel in 1950. Providence Public Library The Biltmore Hotel stands 18 stories tall over downtown Providence and directly next to City Hall. It opened in 1922, with an opulent chandelier hanging from the ceiling and an awe-inspiring glass elevator rising from the center of the gold-and-marble lobby. The Biltmore was acquired by Sheraton Hotels, which paid to be listed in the Green Book from 1947 to 1955. Today, there are no historical markers in the hotel noting it was open to Black travelers at a time when most luxury hotels were not, and many members of its current staff and leadership are not aware it had been listed in the Green Book. ***
