Shows / The History of American Food
The History of American Food
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
Substack: https://thoafood.substack.com/
Internets: @THoAFood
Episodes
- The History of American Food
044 Iron, Bricks & the Invention of Toast
Don't Forget - Intelligent Speech Conference - 2022, June 25th Come hear me reveal possibly dangerous information about Gumbo…
- The History of American Food
043 Iron - Building the Home Industry
Welcome Back! (Sorry about the late Ep - I thought it would be only 12 hrs late... but wood chippers) Don't Forget - Intelligent Speech Con - 2022, June 25th…
- The History of American Food
Season 2 Preview
Welcome Back! Season 2 is just around the corner. With more kinds of food, a little less time spent in the prehistory of food and much more access to…
- The History of American Food
042.5 Bonus - History of Distillation
Intelligent Speech - June 25th - come hear me reveal possibly dangerous information about Gumbo. https://www.intelligentspeechconference.com/ Regular Ticket…
- The History of American Food
End of Season 1
We've come to the end of Season 1. I'll answer some questions, give a preview and let you know about the future of the show. But mainly I'm just here to let…
- The History of American Food
042 The Labor Situation 1661 - 1699
1660 - When England gets serious about money and stuff & makes some big changes to its laws. This is going to make some big changes to North America. But first…
- The History of American Food
041 Housekeeping - Domestic Labor Before 1660
When this whole America project got started as a bunch of random colonies, it wasn't just the Colonists there, they brought their servants as well. While there…
- The History of American Food
040 17th Century Fast Food
Without cars - there were no drive-thrus, so was every meal a sit down affair? Of course not. Too much to do - and as we'll soon see - nobody's got time for 3…
- The History of American Food
039 Varmints - Eating the Wild
What critters are you willing to eat? If you were a certain kind of colonist, the answer would have been deer, or bird, possibly some certain fish, or none…
- The History of American Food
038 Spice - Worth Taking Over the World
So I'm reading along about the Spice Islands and start to wonder - was #Dune just Frank Herbert vibing out in Big University Archives and smoking too many…
- The History of American Food
037 Rum - The Most Profitable Industrial Waste of the 17th Century
The debut of Rum - or Kill-Devil as it was known at first. Regardless, this was a bad liquor, and it was how you let other people know you were bad. Yo-ho-ho…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
The History of American Food030 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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
The History of American Food023 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…
- The History of American Food
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 History of American Food021 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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
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…
- The History of American Food
018 Milk - New, Clabber, Sour & Cream
Did you know milk fresh from the cow is 101F/38C ? That's right, a "cold glass of milk" wasn't really a thing in 17th Century Colonial America. But people…
- The History of American Food
017 Beef - It's Almost Never for Dinner
I finally did it - I've covered all the thingies in my logo! Beef, Sugar and Iron (though that cowboy coffee pot will remain empty until the 18th Century)…
- The History of American Food
016 The American Cow - Origin Story
Another reason for America at all... Cows. Arable England was all out of room - and there were lots of casks of salt beef the Navy needed to buy. So, go grow…
- The History of American Food
015 Pickles, Pie, Pottage & Stew - Meet the Rest of the Vegetable Crew
Digging out the rest of the vegetables our 17th Century pre-Americans were eating. But really showing how vegetables are involved in the North-South rift, and…
- The History of American Food
014 Pumpkins and Squash - What's the Difference?
How and why the 17th century colonists made a distinction between pumpkin and squash. One was good and the other bad. Spoiler alert - those Puritan Pilgrims…
- The History of American Food
013 Legumes - Old World & New
Pease/Peas and Beans and the other ones. Unglamorous, but dependable, legumes have been with humans for a long time. Untangling Old World & New World beans…
- The History of American Food
012 Herbs, Flowers & Berries - Not Worth a Thing
We love our perishables now, but they were both welcome and considered worthless in the 17th Century. Is that dandelion food or medicine? What about that…
- The History of American Food
011 Mercantilism - Do You Want Pirates?
There are other things that cause pirates, but restrictive shipping rules, navigation acts and tariffs - enforced from over 8 weeks away definitely causes…
- The History of American Food
010.5 Bonus - Extra Salt
A chemistry tangent on salt - 17th Century Style Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/ Email…
- The History of American Food
010 Salt - Saving Food for Later
How salty was 17th Century American food? Very, very salty. The fridge of the age. I'll talk about how the salt was made and used and why salt went industrial…
- The History of American Food
009 Salt - A Solid Foundation
Can't live without it... wouldn't want to live without it. So the development of industry, tax, and cuisine are all tied up here with salt. Listen up for…
- The History of American Food
008 Fish - Cod and Some Other Things
How important was 17th Century fish? And how did people keep and prepare fish when there was no refrigeration? Show Notes…
- The History of American Food
007 Corn - Is Life
Corn really is how 17th Century colonists either just didn't die - or made fortunes. There are 3 different versions depending on if you were in New England…
- The History of American Food
006 Corn - The Journey of Maize
Corn has come a long way from that little grass, teosinte, near Oaxaca State, Mexico. Where did it go on its travels, and how the heck did it get, not just to…
- The History of American Food
005 $ugar - Let's Make Some Money. Oh, And a Little Dessert
Sugar changed the world in the 17th Century. It became a way to make lots of money - and changed the map of North America. The changes to food will take a…
- The History of American Food
004.5 Bonus - Humorism & Solidism
Here's where I didn't go in the Sugar History episode. This shows the bones of how medical thinking worked until germ theory got off the ground in the 19th…
- The History of American Food
004 Sugar - A History
Where is sugar even from? When did it make it to Europe? How did it get to the West Indies? I have questions. Show Notes…
- The History of American Food
003 Iron - Chains
When everything – including making food – is done by muscle power – how did Colonial America decide to get more for less? In many cases – by using iron to make…
- The History of American Food
002 Iron - Sharp Things and Blunderbusses
Tools and Weapons – this is what lots of the iron was used for. How were they connected to colonial food? Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle Show…
- The History of American Food
001 Iron - Out of the Ground and Onto the Table
Sure, Iron's not a food - but it is an essential part of how America does food. We'll go back to the beginning and look at how the very 1st settlements'…
- The History of American Food
Introduction - Let's Start
What is this podcast? How in the world am I going to do the History of American Food without getting lost? For a quick preview try this introduction. Music…