Weekly Trinity journal., 1867-06-01
WEEKLY TRINITY JOURNAL
Porter-House Steaks,

\ new book, entitled 1.-The Market Assis.an. ;.
Just published by Hurd & Houghton. eives tho
following as the origin of the term {. por,e--
house Steak:
The origin of the name of ,.nortor-ho,,,o
steaks" took place about the wear az in tnI
lowing manner: :" 'H' io'-
Martin Morrison was thp. nron-;o,o
established and well-kep' as
TED ana known at that period At M 297 PeerI
street New ork, near the ssOld WaItco uo,,se ;,
We introduce him in 1903. where we find he
opens porter-house" at No. AZ Cberrv sfreet
~ulctl pecame popular resort with MAN. Of the
We" ! ork pilots for his prepared hot meals at
',n; nolF az their call, they being occasionally
safely moored
me, ne Po:ter-houses" in those davs were not
~ to '-ippling, dram-drinking and the
of - nest for loating, or the manufacturing
'tcla is and corrupt officials as at the pres
- -ay' '1ut rather to accommodate the hungry
i tniLsty travellers, old and Young bachelors
ae"ine and others, with cold lunch, after the
EnsHsh custom pot of ale Tor porter) and
bite Of something.' Some of the .'porter-
h1uses prepared hot meal of one or two
dishes, among which was Morrisons who must
have been quite famous for his excellent broiled
heetstcaks, which were universally called for at
Lis place.
On one occasion (at the period l8l4,) Norri-
son having had m unusual call for steak, and,
as fortune would have it for all future partakers
of bccisteaks, m old flvorte but rough pilot
made him q late visit, both hungry and thirsty,
having been several hours without food Not
carlAg for the salt junk aboard the vessel which
he had piloted in, he concluded to await until he
got on shore, that he might cast his anchor at
NoFrson's, where he could enjoy his = hot steak
and mug of porter"
In his honest language the pilot gave his usual
order Morrison had nothing but his flmly din
ner for the next day, which consisted OF siroin
roasting piece, OF which he offered to cut from if
the pilot would have it. AYES, my hearty any
thing-so long IS it is a beefsteak-for am as
empty as gull = exclaimed the pilot. Morri-
son cut off gOod-sized slice had it dressed and
served, which the pilot raYcnousy deroured,
and, turning to the host (who had been expect
ing blast from the old tarpaulin, but who, to
his astonishment, received the order y Ness
lnaie, another steak just like that-do you
hear EITing finished his steaks and the sec
ond mug Of porter, the Old pilot squared himself
toward his host, loudly vociferating, = Look
here, messmate, after this | want my steaks Off
the roasting piece do Won hear that? so mind
your Weather eye Old boy g
Il was not long after this when the old pilots
corpanions insisted upon having these small
!oiI steaks se~Yed to them. Morrison soon
discovered that these steaks were more suitable
in size to dish up for single individuals, and he
ever after purchased the sicloin roasting pieces,
from which he cutoff these small steaks as they
called for the large sirloin steaks becoming less
in demand.
Morrison's butcher, Thomas Gibbons. in the
Fly Market, one morning puts the question. af-
ter he (liorrisonl had selected several srloin
piece, why he had ceased purchasing the
usual quantity of sirloin. steaks ~ Says Morris
son, - viii tell you the reason: cut off from
The sirioin roasting pieces small steak which
serves nj pilots and single patrons best but as
it is now cod Weather l wish to have these
roasting pieces cut up rs I shall direc; every
morning.. After this, Morrison's sirlons were
daily cut up by Gibbons, with his order to cut
steaks for the porter-house' hence the sirloin
was changed into 81 cut the porter-house steaks
Their appearance attracted the attention Of other
butchers and keepers Of porter-houses, who ad-
mired Their appearance and convenient size in
few wears their name and character became
Cuite common to the butchers of Fly Market |
from which the name has spread to the several
principal cities Of the United States, and doubt
not that the name, porter-house steak, has
reached across the Atlantic