The Model A Ford was officially introduced in 1927, during the Roaring Twenties, and some ingenious drivers figured out a way to combine motoring with “fine” dining!
Manifold Cookery soon became the talk of the towns and women were blending their knowledge with a new tool-the motorcar! Iowans had access to rich agriculture and a wide variety of local ingredients. Many families would travel between farming communities or would explore the countryside. This was before drive throughs and fast food, so what could they do when lunchtime came around? One of the most creative solutions was cooking with their car’s engine!
The engine block of a Model A never reaches the boiling point of water as you drive, but the exhaust manifold can reach temperatures as least twice that high. While the vehicles that are built now don’t allow this method, could you envision 60-Mile-Per-Hour Chicken, cooking while you drive a distance of 55 miles? Rumbleseat Cabbage was another popular recipe that required 55 miles of travel time. And I know that the readers are asking, how safe was the food if it was being prepared on the manifold? It was extremely safe, as they triple wrapped the food items before cooking. The food never touches the manifold. There were even special cookers you could buy after-market to install, thus saving yourself the effort of wiring your foil-wrapped food to the manifold!
Written by Shanda Berhow