What would George Washington Eat?
Since, for most people, traditional Fourth of July eats include hamburgers and potato chips (all invented less than 150 years ago), the subhead on this article—“Fourth of July food does not represent cuisine of the 1700s”—came as no surprise.
But the article itself is fascinating. A peek at the food of the 18th century, the piece uses as a jumping-off point the first American cookbook, the super-long-titled American Cookery, or the Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry and Vegetables, and the Best Modes of Making Pastes, Puffs, Pies, Tarts, Puddings, Custards and Preserves, and All Kinds of Cakes, From the Imperial Plumb to Plain Cake, Adapted to the Country, and All Grades of Life, by Amelia Simmons, an American Orphan.
In it, you’ll find out the secrets of Revolutionary War–era cookery—its preserving methods, its penchant for nose-to-tail eating:
Minced feet pie, anyone? How about calves head?
‘They ate more of an animal than we typically do,’ said Mark Turdo, assistant curator of collections at Fort Ticonderoga Museum.
A period-appropriate Fourth of July meal might include peacock, cornmeal mush, fricassee, or something flavored with the era’s favorite spice: nutmeg.
I think I’ll stick to a traditional Independence Day treat with ancient roots—beer.
“Since for most people, traditional Fourth of July eats include hamburgers, potato chips, and ice cream (all invented less than 150 years ago),…”
Ten seconds on google turned up this: http://www.idfa.org/facts/icmonth/page7.cfm
Which reads in part: “Ice Cream For America
The first official account of ice cream in the New World comes from a letter written in 1744 by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen. The first advertisement for ice cream in this country appeared in the New York Gazette on May 12, 1777, when confectioner Philip Lenzi announced that ice cream was available “almost every day.” Records kept by a Chatham Street, New York, merchant show that President George Washington spent approximately $200 for ice cream during the summer of 1790. Inventory records of Mount Vernon taken after Washington’s death revealed “two pewter ice cream pots.” President Thomas Jefferson was said to have a favorite 18-step recipe for an ice cream delicacy that resembled a modern-day Baked Alaska. Check out President Jefferson’s vanilla ice cream recipe here. In 1812, Dolley Madison served a magnificent strawberry ice cream creation at President Madison’s second inaugural banquet at the White House.”
Not only was there ice cream in GW’s time, there’s documentary evidence that he ate it (or at least, bought it).
Grrr. I knew I should have checked that. I think my brain was taking a Fourth of July holiday, even if my typing fingers weren’t
Oh, and the origin of the potato chip as we know it is attributed to 1853, which is more than 150 years ago (although just barely).
http://www.geography.ccsu.edu/harmonj/atlas/potchips.htm
It’s actually worse than that. Ice cream was apparently invented about 1,600 years ago, or thousands of years earlier than even that if you count dessert ices in general. And I recently read that the first ice cream parlor in the US opened in 1776.
Also, the Los Angeles Times has found hamburgers for sale in Los Angeles in the 1880s, with the name “hamburger” having been in use since at least 1785.