The History of American Food

  Listen to "054.5 Bonus Scurvy - What it is, How to Cure it & Why Modern Society Keeps Bringing it Back" on Spreaker. Link to the Episode: Episode 54.5 Bonus! Scurvy - What it is, How to Cure it & Why Modern Society Keeps Bringing it Back These pictures are what would happen if  Bart Simpson – or Elementary School age children with a certain fascination with the grotesque and extreme were allowed to be in charge of 3 rd grade Biology lessons. Ewww!  Gross. Eat your fruits, vegetables and definitely your cabbage! The problem – then as now – being so sure of your conclusion that the new information is invisible to you, even as you write it down. You can read this too! Despite Lind talking himself out of lemons & oranges curing scurvy the Admiralty has decided to put up heroic paintings of him 18th century satirical cartoon showing the impressment of sailors *the hard way* on the streets of London (notice the Tower of London and a ship masts in the background)...

Listen to "054 18th Century Oranges - Bitter, not Sweet" on Spreaker. Link to the Episode: Episode 54 18th Century Oranges - Bitter, Not Sweet The reach of the bitter orange? As far and wide as sugar.   Can you imagine a world without either?  And yet, and orangeless world – both for food and the color are not that far in our past.   Well, this is an odd place for my high school French to intrude, but it makes a certain amount of sense.  If you think about it – or maybe if I think about it. Vercingetorix a real guy who fought Julius Ceasar (but all pictures are pretend) Astérix & Obélix cartoon guys w/ a cartoon Merlin in the background Charles Martel - the Hammer of the 8th Century Franks He may have stopped the expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate at Tours but the orange - and the tradition of quince and orange patés or cheeses definitely infiltrated from that same direction a few centuries later The French city of Orange - in the Vaucluse the south e...

Listen to "053 18th Century Gardens - For Use or Delight - 7:19:22, 2.48 PM" on Spreaker.  Link to the Episode: 18th Century Gardens - For Use or Delight Like American food, there will never be one sort of American Garden.  We have too many influences and imports at our fingers.  But looking back at some early sources will always be interesting. The prominent sources of garden ideas in 18th century were traditional European knot gardens, Islamic sectioned gardens (though the central water pool or fountain was less common) and the naturalistic gardens depicted on imported Chinese porcelain. Knot gardens often make use of hedges to outline other plants, but are always made of geometric shapes and are arranged symmetrically on at least one axis.   Islamic gardens were walled, and typically arranged around a central water feature. Trees - fruit, nut and flowering - along with palms are included along with plants and hedges. The use of walled beds was typical Garden scen...

Listen to "052 18th Century Pre-Revolutionary Tea" on Spreaker.  Link to the Episode: Episode 52 18th Century Pre-Revolutionary Tea - You Are Invited to Have a Dish with Me Tea is a beverage that invites the invention of ceremony.  And one where it should be: To each, Their own.  The kinds and ways of tea – virtually infinite, for there is always something new to be found or made.   And yet – might we love to be the pedant more than we love the joy of personal enjoyment? Van Aken's 1733 Family Tea Party Notice - Pinkies up! Already. (for the adults anyway - the kiddo has a cooler cup  they can hold with the entire hand)  18th Century (fancy) Tea Paraphernalia: porcelain tea caddy The lids of caddies was often used as a tea measure Fruit shaped tea caddies were popular. A pineapple shaped tea caddy is such a double display of wealth gilded 18th century tea set - caddy, tea pot & auxiliary pitcher Notice the handleless cups and deep saucers. Also - the ...

Listen to "051 Lemons & Pineapples - The Caribbean Invasion" on Spreaker.  Link to the Episode: Episode 51 Lemons & Pineapples - The Caribbean Invasion After immersing myself in 18th century context, seeing piles of lemons and pineapples in grocery stores now registers as mind boggling wealth. But it also feeds the story line that American food has gotten distracted by shiny objects - pineapples for all - at all costs.  And we have lost the plot of deep wealth - soil, variety, and the complex biospheres we need to survive. We have successfully figured out how to mine for pineapple gold - but at what cost. Anyway - just how much treasure was being spent in the 18th century on these two objects of culinary gold, and how did it shape the world? Botanical illustration of a lemon the blossom is common across all the citrus Botanical illustration of a fingered citron Citron - half of the family tree of lemons Cross section of citron fruit - almost no pulp nearly all pith....