The History of American Food

Margaret Hardin

From the 17th Century to the Present. Let's dig in.

  • 26 minutes 29 seconds
    138 19th Century Pigs - Greasng the Way to the Future
    To Market to market to buy a fat pig
    Home again home again jiggety jig...

    But how did those pigs get to market in the first place?

    On their own 4 feet!  That's right, there's more than one way to concentrate corn down for better transport and not all of it is Bourbon / Corn Whiskey.

    Also learn about how early mechanical America only kept moving due to the presence of pigs.

    Big contributions to the script from Mark Essig's _Lesser Beasts_ 

    Be sure to look up the Canadian Super Pigs... and the problem they are.

    Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
    Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
    Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
    Threads: @THoAFood
    Instagram: @THoAFood
    & some other socials... @THoAFood
    5 February 2025, 11:00 am
  • 29 minutes 53 seconds
    137 American Crackers – Biscuit by Another Name or Another Thing?
    This week I've gone crackers.  I've wondered for awhile why it's biscuits everywhere else - but sometimes ... it's crackers.  
    I mean, the most British of British claymation - Wallace and Grommit, when they go to the moon to get cheese, even they bring crackers.... not biscuits.

    That, and a few other things had me wondering if crackers and biscuts DIDN'T come from the same source?  Rather did the two just meet in America.  Turns out - that's what it was.

    It was Douglas Mack of The Snack Shack that got me stared with this post on biscuit and cracker mysteries of the past: The Snack That's a Secret Ingredient

    And here are the llinks to @oliviacooks excellent cracker recipes made with sourdough discard:

    Love & Olive Oil
    Sourdough Crackers
    Siicilian Parchment Sourdough Crackers (pane carasau)
    both include a non-sourdough version.

    Find out how it was New Sweden all along.  Or maybe not that... but they were involved.  Anyway, be glad your crackers have fat and leavening in them.  


    Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
    Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
    Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
    Threads: @THoAFood
    Instagram: @THoAFood
    & some other socials... @THoAFood
    22 January 2025, 11:00 am
  • 35 minutes
    136 America is Made of Bread & Steel
    Sure - people say America is built on A LOT of things, but the rise of Industrial America depends on two things - Bread and Steel.  Steel to make the Great American Dessert into the Great American Bread Basket - and all that wheat would make the steel of the railroad make lots of sense very quickly.

    If you are curious just what steel is - and how all that early American iron is related, this is your episode.  Sure - I'm a food podcast, but this time it's all about Geology, Steel and some bread.

    The King Arthur Focaccia Bread Recipe

    Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
    Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
    Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
    Threads: @THoAFood
    Instagram: @THoAFood
    & some other socials... @THoAFood
    8 January 2025, 11:00 am
  • 1 hour 4 minutes
    Crossover… PART 16 - Is This too Many Locations? Zorro S1E6 on Amazon Prime
    For those of you listenting along at home - a little reminder, these are just filler episodes from the other podcast project I was playing around with.  If you want that feed and not this one - hop over there.

    But for those of you who need something to tide you over - listen along to the Hot Nonsense (and a little Cristo Fernandez appreciation).

    Again - this is not the safe for everyone part of the feed.  And some of the bonus contect will be just fine.  But this is to simply avoid a blank space if I can help it.

    So carry on with the Zorro-ing and say in the comments if it's too many locations #locations #toomuch

    Bust seriously - your 6 eps in to a 10 episode season and you're just going to send this many hares running in the field of story.
    What Gives?
    Also - Greta admits she entirely absolutely was guessing and was WRONG.
    But that's happened before & will most likely happen again.


    You better start paying some things off in the next few episodes.  That's all I ask. 
    Oh - and don't stop delivering on the fashion.
    27 December 2024, 11:00 am
  • 34 minutes 28 seconds
    135 Some of the Reasons America is so Weird About Liquor - Lack of Cash, Lack of Refrigeration & Lack of Expertise
    Welcome to the messy alcoholic beverage scene in the early 19th century.  Migration, mechanization and new profit centers are all going to shift how alcoholic beverages are made and regarded in early America.  

    They are less part of community exchange, and instead become part of the flow of economic life.  Any sense of aged or carefully constructed liquors will never develop.  Instead alcohol will have more of an identity as a cog in the economic wheel.
    And becaseu booze is about to become big business, lots of people are going to have lots to say about it.

    So to find out how messy and fast moving thing are as the split in what the north drinks and what the south drinks emerges - jump in and hang on.  There is a whole bunch of information in here.

    Drink Up! 

    Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
    Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
    Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
    Threads: @THoAFood
    Instagram: @THoAFood
    & some other socials... @THoAFood
    18 December 2024, 5:38 pm
  • 1 hour 14 minutes
    Crossover... Part 15: SLAP! Achievement Unlocked Zorro S1E5 on Amazon Prime
    *THIS* is the don't listen at work part of the feed. 
    I'll include this for all the naughty episodes.  And Zorro - he's a Bad Boy?  Bad Girl? 
    Oh heck... it's just how bad people can be when it all becomes about money, power and entertaining TV.

    So have you been following along?
    Now that we have our major players set up - and the relationships are established we can really get the plates spinning:
    Secret Societies - check
    Love Triangle - check
    Twin Brothers - check
    Mysterious/Nefarious Death - check
    and a SLAP! - check and check

    There's some fun close quarters fighting, riding off frantically into the moonlight, and jaw clenching to beat the band.  Capt. Monestario get's to employ his jaw clenching in a range of emotional situations.
    We get a doctor that washes his hands (what!?)

    But most of all - Jamie and Greta hint what's next after we come to the end of the 1st season of Zorro.
    So saddle up - and come along for the ride.

    As always - you can reach us on the internets.
    Jamie Lewis (plagueofstrength.com & IG @plagueofstrength)
    and his NEW YouTube Apprearances on Carved Outta Stone Wednesday AM or Friday PM
    Schedule Details: instagram.com/carvedouttastone
    &
    Greta Hardin (The History of American Food podcast & @THoAFood all over)
    13 December 2024, 10:02 pm
  • 39 minutes 9 seconds
    134 Lessons from Early 19th Century American Stew
    This episode wwas one for the books.  So many many books.  
    And the reading and researching of all those recipes showed me that - once again - some of the assumptions I went in with were way off!

    Chicken and dumplins... dumplin - are not typical early 19th century fare.  But plenty of other stew type things are.  And there are lessons in the recipes for all us modern cooks - regardless of how we cook our stew.

    The biggest big deal - brown your meat!  The other thing - freshen up your seasoning right before serving.  Do it!

    But what if it's a vegetable... a meatless stew?  Well, I fear to tell you, due to the spice fearing vegetarian crusaders of the 19th century (the Grahamites and their ilk) this was a terrible time to go hunting for good American vegetable stew.  It was there, but not in any printed cookbook.  America's date with generally good vegetable cookery got badly shoved into the corner.

    Sigh.

    But get on board with why our stew got so bad - and how you can make yours great!

    Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
    Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
    Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
    Threads: @THoAFood
    Instagram: @THoAFood
    & some other socials... @THoAFood
    4 December 2024, 7:52 pm
  • 40 minutes 8 seconds
    133.5 BONUS - Unnecessary Romanian Adventure
    This episode is a not a love letter, more of a crush note about Romania. 
       I’m at the point of fascination. I don’t know a lot about Romania, really, and they definitely know nothing about me, but what I got to see in a short amount of time has me wanting to know more.  
       If Romania strikes you the same way – here are all the links I mentioned to look up cool and tasty stuff. Along with the Russian History
    (None of this is beng done on a promotional basis - I get nothing out of this.  I just wanted to share!)   

    Perestroika 
    Glasnost
    Boris Yeltsin   

    Step by Step Bucharest
    Exodus Romania   
    Irina Georgescu – Cookbooks
    Carpathia 
    Danube 
    Tava 

    Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
    Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
    Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
    Threads: @THoAFood
    Instagram: @THoAFood
    & some other socials... @THoAFood
    29 November 2024, 4:55 pm
  • 26 minutes 51 seconds
    133 Stew – A History Including Etymology, Techniques, & What it Was Called Before
    Did you know there was no "stew" before the 18th Century?

    OK - there was stew, it's just that it went by all sorts of other names.  While the concept of stew is old, the word "stew" itself is only about 300 years old.  I know I was shocked as well.

    To find out about stew, gravy, soup, braise and all sorts of other words - and more importantly how YOU can make your stews better, come along and listen for a bit.

    And then next week I'll tell you about all the regional styles of stew that are going to influence our national cuisine on into the future.
    (Chicken & dumplins anyone?)

    Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
    Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
    Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
    Threads: @THoAFood
    Instagram: @THoAFood
    & some other socials... @THoAFood
    20 November 2024, 11:00 am
  • 58 minutes 10 seconds
    132.5 Bonus - Danderfunk, Salt Junk, & Scurvy- Cuisine Aboard Ships
    This week’s bonus episode is an interview I did with Rich Napolitano of the delightfully dark and decidedly educational podcast highlighting the Age of Sail - Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs - Tales of Mishaps, Misfortune, and Misadventures

    Bring along all the Cabin Girls & Boys - this one is for everyone.

    Rich does me the favor of quoting vivid primary sources to back up all these things I’ve been saying about food at sea. In a word: Terrible. 

    Check out Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs (https://shipwrecksandseadogs.com/blog/) to discover many more engaging episodes about tales of mishaps, misfortune, and misadventures.

    For images and sources, please visit https://shipwrecksandseadogs.com/blog/2024/11/12/danderfunk-salt-junk-and-scurvy-cuisine-aboard-ships/ For ad-free listening to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs and many other fantastic history podcasts, subscribe to Into History at IntoHistory.com/shipwreckspod.
    13 November 2024, 11:00 am
  • 28 minutes 56 seconds
    132 Baked Beans - Boston and the Other Kinds
    Can I just be a black cat now?

    Anyway - what are Baked Beans really, how did they come about, and why, in my opinion are they America's first influential fusion food?  Also, why did America pass up the chance to become a pottery power house - and give it all up in favor of steel and glass (is it becasue we think art is secretly decadant and a waste of time?)

    Come along for the journey, give pork a chance and don't give up on mustard.  We all need it.


    Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
    Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
    Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
    Threads: @THoAFood
    Instagram: @THoAFood
    & some other socials... @THoAFood
    6 November 2024, 11:00 am
  • More Episodes? Get the App