Harriton House, in Bryn Mawr, was the backdrop for an episode of the PBS series, A Taste Of History. The show was broadcast on May 13, 2019.
The premise of the series is that Chef Walter Staib (who operated City Tavern in Olde City, for 26 years) goes to a historic place and cooks a meal utilizing recipes, cooking equipment and ingredients that (for the most part) would have been used in in the 18th or early 19th centuries.
A Taste of History is much more of a cooking show than a history show. However, watching it, we do learn that Harriton House was owned by Charles Thomson, who was the Secretary to the Continental Congress. What’s more, Thomas Jefferson was a good friend of Thomson’s, and Jefferson used to visit him at Harriton House. And more importantly, we learn how to prepare marinated asparagus, “one of Thomas Jefferson’s favorites.”