The History of American Food

Listen to "016 The American Cow - Origin Story" on Spreaker.  Link to the Episode: Episode 16 The American Cow - Origin Story Lascaux cave paintings of Aurochs By Prof saxx - Own work, Public Domain For more information on these caves... go check out:  Bradshaw Foundation - Rock Art Network San - Thomas River rock art - 25,000 YA Facts and Details - African Rock Art Painting Laes Gael, Somaliland rock art 20,000 YA Photo: Eric Lafforge More information:  British Museum - Rock Art (it's ok... they left it in situ) I spend some time defining a cow, and looking at how cows got to America in the first place, and then how they got to roam free right from the start. Please enjoy this Canada Goose refusing to acknowledge cows.  It was here first. Cows trying to scare a Canada goose. pic.twitter.com/IzFzCB33Ov — Weird Animals (@Weird_AnimaIs) Media: Newman, Lenore. Lost Feast.  Toronto, ON, Canada: ECW Press, 2019 Duncan, Mike "Revolutions Podcast" Season 5, Eps 1, 2...

Listen to "015 Pickles, Pie, Pottage & Stew - Meet the Rest of the Vegetable Crew" on Spreaker. Link to the Episode: Episode 15 Pickles, Pie, Pottage & Stew - Meet the Rest of the Vegetable Crew Botanical illustration of Skirret / Crummock Wikimedia Commons I was dithering a bit on how to do more than just list vegetables and recite some opaque recipes for them (rabbet [ sic ] pie with turnips and carrots anyone?). But when I got into how differently farming was done and viewed north and south... right from the start, it was a much bigger story. Books: Culpepper, Nicholas & Stephen Foster. Culpepper's Complete Herbal: Illustrated and Annotated . NY: Sterling Publishing, 2019  Hess, Karen. Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery, with Historical Notes and Copious Annotations. NY: Columbia University Press, 1981 O'Malley, Gregory E. Final Passages: The Intercontinental Slave Trade of British America, 1619-1807 . Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolin...

Listen to "014 Pumpkins and Squash - What's the Difference?" on Spreaker. Link to the Episode: Episode 14 Pumpkins and Squash - What's the Difference? Variety squash... and pumpkins!  The Platonic ideal pumpkins This was a fun episode to research - there's my whole history with pumpkins, being a mother when it comes to pumpkins and getting to rewatch some Charlie Brown holiday specials.  I was excited to find a  whole book just about the history of Pumpkins!  And then there were the 16th and 17th century engravings... and really getting in to how useful contemporary still lifes are. For me - Barbara Tuchman was the first historian I read who introduced me to the use of art to go back and spy on history.  And then the books by Will and Ariel Durant - while largely Western facing - made good use of art as a window into time.  And they were very good at pointing out that paintings are largely symbolic, rather than literal, but mundane details can give the...

Listen to "013 Legumes - Old World & New" on Spreaker. Link to the Episode:  Episode 11 Legumes - Old World & New by  Anthony Mendoza from Encyclopedia of Life My biggest challenge this episode was not scaring the pants off people that new world beans can hurt you if you eat lots of the fully grown beans raw.  But also pointing out no one eats the fully grown beans raw.   1) They are really hard!  You pretty much can't eat them raw.   2) Even the most cursory cooking - before they are even tasty to eat, they can no longer hurt you. Other than that - beans are old!  They have been with humans for a very long time.  There are many kinds in Europe, but few in England.  And the  17th century colonial bean selection was likely limited to what was just... there.