A Picnic Menu from Old Gourmet, 1978

I've been reading through the July issues in the box of old magazines that arrived yesterday, a bit surprised by the lack of strict seasonality. July 1971, for instance, has an insane recipe from the Troisgros brothers for a Gratin Forezien containing a pound of potatoes and more than two cups of cream.  That issue also has ham with port and mushroom sauce, a cranberry soup (cranberries in July?) and a lamb and cabbage casserole.  (There is also, I must admit, a long and splendid James Beard article simply entitled "Fruits.")

July 1978, however, is so extremely seasonal it was difficult to choose a single recipe. So I'm offering a few of the interesting (given the date) recipes from the centerfold picnic.  Hummus. Ceviche. And this rather mad stuffed celery.

Here's that celery:

And for good measure, here's the magazine's recipe for scallop seviche. What intrigues me is the inclusion of fresh coriander - cilantro - in a 1978 recipe.  It was, for the time, an extremely arcane ingredient.  I'd never even seen fresh cilantro until I moved to California in 1973, and I'd bet that most people on the east coast had never even heard of it.