Van Tassel Feast

One of the pivotal scenes in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is the harvest feast at the Van Tassel homestead, where Ichabod Crane famously indulges his appetite. We examine some of the historic dishes from that era.

  • The manor house at Philipsburg Manor is reflected on the millpond.
    Local History & Interest,  Places & Landmarks,  Van Tassel Feast

    Philipsburg Manor

    Drive North on Route 9 out of Sleepy Hollow and you’ll suddenly find yourself amidst trappings of a bygone era. An iconic white-washed stone building rests adjacent to a large and placid mill pond. Additional buildings, such as a mill and a barn linger nearby, framed by large picturesque trees. Squint and you might think you took a wrong turn and ended up in the wrong century. This is the remaining vestige of the early-18th century in Sleepy Hollow Country: Philipsburg Manor. The Lord of Philipsburg Manor In the 1680s, dutch immigrant, Frederick Philipse I had amassed nearly 52,000 acres of land on the eastern side of the Hudson River,…

  • A color drawing of an American shad (Alosa sapidissima) by Duane Raver commissioned by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
    Local History & Interest,  Van Tassel Feast

    Shad, the Most Delicious Fish

    “Fain would I pause to dwell upon the world of charms that burst upon the enraptured gaze of my hero, as he entered the state parlor of Van Tassel’s mansion . . . Such heaped-up platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds, known only to experienced Dutch housewives! There was the doughty dough-nut, the tenderer oly koek, and the crisp and crumbling cruller; sweet cakes and short cakes, ginger cakes and honey cakes, and the whole family of cakes. And then there were apple pies and peach pies and pumpkin pies; besides slices of ham and smoked beef; and moreover delectable dishes of preserved plums, and peaches, and…