The History of American Food

Margaret Hardin

Starting with the first English settlements in the 17th Century, this podcasts traces how we went from barrels of salted meat & peas to Korean bbq tacos and the largest grocery store selections ever seen anywhere in the world. We'll go everywhere - and it is full of surprises.

Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood@gmail.com
Internets: @THoAFood

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221 episodes
Updated July 24

Episodes221

Newest first

Jan 26, 2022 · 25 min
036 Fat - All that Moral Weight
Less Food and more Religious Baggage! I really know how to liven up a conversation. I was so taken aback at the preserved ire at humans just living in so much of the early New England writing, and how vilified the fat, the lazy, the people who even...
Jan 20, 2022 · 28 min
035.5 Bonus - Soap is Made of Fat
Soap - Just what is soap, and what makes soap... soapy? How do you make it? Is it better or worse than chemical detergents? And how were people getting clean before soap? I look into all that and more, and express my love for the 90's Comic...
Jan 19, 2022 · 25 min
035 Fat - Liquid Gold
Fat – and not for just this week, but next week too. I foolishly thought I could get through this in one week. Not so. As a result this week is fat overview and fat prestige rankings, and not until next week do I get on to the morality. But you...
Jan 12, 2022 · 23 min
034 Horses - Americans Don't Eat Them Except When We Do
Wild horses, feral horses, eatin' horses - only 2 of those exist in 17th Century America. The eating and not eating of horses has shifted across European and American history - as have the reasons why. I'll explain that - and pronounce "Przewalski"...
Jan 5, 2022 · 31 min
033 Stimulants - Wired for Discovery
Caffeine, Nicotine & Theobromine - along with the printing press and sugar all arrived in a big way in Europe in the 17th Century. They each affected the colonization of America - some immediately... and some waited. Do you think kids these days...
Dec 23, 2021 · 32 min
032 Double Dutch - Part 2 of New Amsterdam's Influence on American Food
Part 2 of the 17th Century Dutch colonial influence on Modern American food. Doing doughnuts before they were cool - or maple bars. Also a quick peek at the why of Santa Claus vs. Father Christmas. Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle...
Dec 8, 2021 · 29 min
031 Donut Disappoint Me - New Amsterdam and the Dutch Part 1
What portion of what we think of American food has its feet in Dutch clogs? I'm not entirely sure, but the research tells me it is more than I thought. After a helping of Dutch history, I look at sweet bread things - and why it is cookie in America,...
Dec 3, 2021 · 50 sec
Series Trailer - The History of American Food
Do you want to listen? You want to listen, and learn about why American food is the way it is. Grab a red Solo cup and some Popcorn. Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/ Email:...
Nov 24, 2021 · 23 min
030 Turkey - the Bird: A Very Special Thanksgiving Episode
Finally - the truth comes out. Why is this truly American bird called the name of a country it was never from? And is it true your Thanksgiving turkey came from… 16th century Mexico, and not New England… at all? And we’ll continue to follow the...
Nov 10, 2021 · 22 min
029 Eggs and Scrawny Colonial Chickens
Back then chicken probably tasted not like our chicken. If you could catch one of the scrawny little birds. But of much more import were the eggs. All four iterations - whole eggs, the rich yolks, the strong whites, and the practical hard cooked...
Nov 3, 2021 · 27 min
028 Apple Cider, Other Fruit Wines & Vinegar - Are We Drunk or Just Pickled?
After dealing with the good, solid, respectable apples, this week we deal with liquid apples. There's the fermented juice - cider & the fermented fermented juice - vinegar. I throw in the rest of the fruit juices because it's essentially the same...
Oct 27, 2021 · 26 min
027 Apples - How a Global Fruit Made its Mark on the New World
This week is History of Apples, and Solid Apples, Liquid Apples is next week. I hold myself open to a possible future Gaseous Apples, but draw the line at Plasma Apples. The hegemony of the Apple is covered, as is the transformation of the Apple from...
Oct 20, 2021 · 31 min
026 Pigs - The Terrifying Swine of the 17th Century
Piggies piggies piggies. It's all bacon, salt and smoked hams in the 17th century. The images of Babe and Wilbur from Charlotte's Web are all off the mark. The early colonial pig was lean, mean, long legged and would bite you if it could. Some...
Oct 13, 2021 · 27 min
025 Pickle - We Really Are in One Now
Yes I've already mentioned Pickles once, but this time I'll be looking into the whole range of what was pickled (boy oh boy, it was more than cucumbers - it was more than vegetables), the different ways of pickling, how those pickles were stored, and...
Oct 6, 2021 · 29 min
024 Wood and Wood Accessories - Can't Have American Food Without Them
Once again - not a food, but wood is absolutely essential in the quest for edibles in the 17th century. Wood was necessary to grow food, harvest food, process food, cook food, store food, and transport it to market. And there were lots of trees used...
Sep 29, 2021 · 30 min
023 Deer and Venison - What a Difference a Flint Makes
Deer are 17th Century Colonial Food. But because they are seen as free, and not well managed, they quickly fall off the regular American Menu. Learn about the toughest meat everyone ate for a few years, but then only the richest and poorest ended up...
Sep 22, 2021 · 25 min
022 Bread - From Ashen Corn Cakes to Wheaten Loaves
17th Century bread had plenty of fiber, and occasionally some very tiny rocks. The hand milled grain - and initially this was mostly corn - that went into to the early breads was more meal than flour, so bread was rather dense. More of an unleavened...
Sep 15, 2021 · 35 min
021 Beer - It's Pilgrim Breakfast, We Are Not Drunk Yet
No coffee? No orange juice? No sparkling water? What did the 17th C colonists drink to wake up, to refresh themselves? Beer of course. The problem was… it was bad beer. Join me to find out why, and how long it lasted. Music Credit: Fingerlympics by...
Sep 8, 2021 · 30 min
020 Wheat & Barley - Missing Real Bread & Beer
Corn bread and Pumpkin beer - that was some serious suffering in the 17th century. Finally the competent farmers showed up in Pennsylvania to grow the real grains the English colonists missed in the New World. Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor...
Sep 1, 2021 · 24 min
019 Butter & Cheese - Finally, Some Dairy We Can Sell
How does milk work so you can take a liquid and make it in to solids? This episode I talk about how liquid milk, which will just go bad on you in a second was turned into butter and cheese so it could travel around the 17th Century American food...

The History of American Food

036 Fat - All that Moral Weight

035.5 Bonus - Soap is Made of Fat

035 Fat - Liquid Gold

034 Horses - Americans Don't Eat Them Except When We Do

033 Stimulants - Wired for Discovery

032 Double Dutch - Part 2 of New Amsterdam's Influence on American Food

031 Donut Disappoint Me - New Amsterdam and the Dutch Part 1

Series Trailer - The History of American Food

030 Turkey - the Bird: A Very Special Thanksgiving Episode

029 Eggs and Scrawny Colonial Chickens

028 Apple Cider, Other Fruit Wines & Vinegar - Are We Drunk or Just Pickled?

027 Apples - How a Global Fruit Made its Mark on the New World

026 Pigs - The Terrifying Swine of the 17th Century

025 Pickle - We Really Are in One Now

024 Wood and Wood Accessories - Can't Have American Food Without Them

023 Deer and Venison - What a Difference a Flint Makes

022 Bread - From Ashen Corn Cakes to Wheaten Loaves

021 Beer - It's Pilgrim Breakfast, We Are Not Drunk Yet

020 Wheat & Barley - Missing Real Bread & Beer

019 Butter & Cheese - Finally, Some Dairy We Can Sell