The New York Public Library has long been a haven for the niche market of food-obsessed history buffs, maintaining an exhaustive collection of restaurant menus from 1840 to today. But now, they're taking it one step further with the launch of a crowdsourced menu transcription project, in an effort to make their ginormous menu database more digestible (forgive us).
"Until now this kind of information (the food!) was difficult—if not impossible&mdash'to search in our digitized menu collection," explains librarian Rebecca Federman. "Here are some items I'm excited to track over the next few months: tutti fruiti, the rise and fall of oysters, vichy water, Battle Creek Sanitarium dishes, [and] Moselle wine." What the hell is she talking about? You'll just have to start transcribing to find out!
Since kicking off earlier this week, there have been 26,546 dishes transcribed from 406 menus (and counting!), ranging from "Minced Veal a la Zingari" from a 1900 Red Star Line menu to "Deviled Whitebait with Graham Bread Toast" from Cafe St. Denis. Dorky foodies can browse menus or individual dishes, and transcribe as much or as little of a given menu as they see fit. It's kind of like playing Snood, only more educational!
