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 Internets: @THoAFood
Episodes
October 1, 2025 • 23 mins
As a child reader, I always thought it was so quaint that "dinner" was this old-timey word for lunch. It was a "Dinner Pail" - which was a crude Indian Tiffin - only 1 chamber - vs. a Lunch Box.
But I had never spent any tme thinking about why and how Dinner was the big meal of the day, and supper was toast dipped in cooling stew.
Until I thought about it in terms of cooking in the dark. When the sun goes down at 4:25 pm, why was ...
But I had never spent any tme thinking about why and how Dinner was the big meal of the day, and supper was toast dipped in cooling stew.
Until I thought about it in terms of cooking in the dark. When the sun goes down at 4:25 pm, why was ...
Mark as Played
September 17, 2025 • 33 mins
Celebrate National Public Lands Day by finding a place to visit and get involved at
NEEFAUSA.og
or
NPS.gov
And get into what was getting to be popular as vegetables in the early 19th century.
How did Avocado Toast become a thing?
Well, it would never have gotten the traction it did with out practice runs by spinach or even more glamourously by celery.
And those would have never had a chance if not for the propensity for food fads devel...
NEEFAUSA.og
or
NPS.gov
And get into what was getting to be popular as vegetables in the early 19th century.
How did Avocado Toast become a thing?
Well, it would never have gotten the traction it did with out practice runs by spinach or even more glamourously by celery.
And those would have never had a chance if not for the propensity for food fads devel...
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September 3, 2025 • 34 mins
Wake up America! Coffee is on its way to becoming the drink of the people. Sure Cider and Beer are out there... but coffee is coming up on the outside.
But how did one brew coffee in the 19th century?
And just how weak was it?
To find out, tune in.
Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
Threads: @THoAFood
Instagram: @THoAFood
...
But how did one brew coffee in the 19th century?
And just how weak was it?
To find out, tune in.
Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
Threads: @THoAFood
Instagram: @THoAFood
...
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August 20, 2025 • 30 mins
Last show on the substandard mic - but the paper towel as popfilter helped some.
Let's talk tea - what tea were people drinking in the early 19th century? The answer was almost uniformly, "bad tea".
Ignorance lead to people needing sugar in their tea b/c they were drinking the bad stuff. In fact a whole grade of "export quality" tea was invented to fulfill the growing global/European/American demand. Just in this case - "expot q...
Let's talk tea - what tea were people drinking in the early 19th century? The answer was almost uniformly, "bad tea".
Ignorance lead to people needing sugar in their tea b/c they were drinking the bad stuff. In fact a whole grade of "export quality" tea was invented to fulfill the growing global/European/American demand. Just in this case - "expot q...
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August 6, 2025 • 38 mins
First of all - sorry about the diferent mic. But this way we get the episode. I'll see what I can do to make things better for next ep - and all will be back to normal by the one after that.
Anyway - 19th Century Chinese Food?
What can I tell you? It would have looked much the same as lots of the food you will find right now around the Pearl RIver Delta, the old district of Canton - now known as Guangzhou.
But this episode is not j...
Anyway - 19th Century Chinese Food?
What can I tell you? It would have looked much the same as lots of the food you will find right now around the Pearl RIver Delta, the old district of Canton - now known as Guangzhou.
But this episode is not j...
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July 23, 2025 • 23 mins
Think you're fancy with your lobster roll... or did you get it from a Massachusetts McDonalds?
All are possible... and much more - including death by lobster poisoning.
To get more of the story - tune in to early 19th century lobster
Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
Threads: @THoAFood
Instagram: @THoAFood
& some other...
All are possible... and much more - including death by lobster poisoning.
To get more of the story - tune in to early 19th century lobster
Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com
Threads: @THoAFood
Instagram: @THoAFood
& some other...
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Have you ever thought how we got here - that farm land is all AWAY and houses are all in close?
That products come to you... and packaging is often more important than the thing inside?
That didn't happen over night.
The fact that farms are there, house are here, and manufacturing stuff is a third place altogether is not an accident. Instead it's something that has been developing in America for about 200 year.
To see WHY you don't ...
That products come to you... and packaging is often more important than the thing inside?
That didn't happen over night.
The fact that farms are there, house are here, and manufacturing stuff is a third place altogether is not an accident. Instead it's something that has been developing in America for about 200 year.
To see WHY you don't ...
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June 25, 2025 • 32 mins
What happens when you grow more cows to make more milk to make more cheese and butter?
You end up with more oxen that can't make milk - but are useful as a source of beef.
And this works out well when you are living in a society that craves more meat,
and are in a place with apparently wide open spaces that are just fine for feeding said cattle.
A bonus when you have lots of growing industries that are willing to buy beef from you to ...
You end up with more oxen that can't make milk - but are useful as a source of beef.
And this works out well when you are living in a society that craves more meat,
and are in a place with apparently wide open spaces that are just fine for feeding said cattle.
A bonus when you have lots of growing industries that are willing to buy beef from you to ...
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June 11, 2025 • 33 mins
So you are a typical early 19th Century American type...
Is there a dairy scene? Yes.
But are you drinking milk? Maybe... and probobly only for breakfast.
Ok... but is it Raw Milk? Most likely not.
In the early 19th century, most milk products were at least heated (cheese) or outright cooked - almost everything else - or downright boiled - your breakfast milk.
Funny thing is, Americans have retained their passion for boiled milk at ...
Is there a dairy scene? Yes.
But are you drinking milk? Maybe... and probobly only for breakfast.
Ok... but is it Raw Milk? Most likely not.
In the early 19th century, most milk products were at least heated (cheese) or outright cooked - almost everything else - or downright boiled - your breakfast milk.
Funny thing is, Americans have retained their passion for boiled milk at ...
Mark as Played
May 28, 2025 • 28 mins
Check out the NCPTT... while it's still there, and maybe find an unexpectedly cool place to live. Or maybe a cool woodworking job.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/ncptt/index.htm
Hey - so were early Americans eating mushrooms?
Yeah. But not all that much. Just enough for a mushroom industry to spring up in the end of the century - but only in one place, and only for one kind.
But in the meantime - mushroom powder is DELICIOUS... and no...
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/ncptt/index.htm
Hey - so were early Americans eating mushrooms?
Yeah. But not all that much. Just enough for a mushroom industry to spring up in the end of the century - but only in one place, and only for one kind.
But in the meantime - mushroom powder is DELICIOUS... and no...
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May 14, 2025 • 28 mins
While last episode was drowning in information - this week when hunting down mushroom info... it's a bit of a desert. But no worries, there's still fun stuff to be learned - mainly just what is a mushroom? And how have humans crossed paths with it - in ways besides tripping out?
Also - how is the lack of information and the limited presence of mushrooms in AMerican food related?
Some answers are here.
Also - The Fantasia clip of Tch...
Also - how is the lack of information and the limited presence of mushrooms in AMerican food related?
Some answers are here.
Also - The Fantasia clip of Tch...
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April 30, 2025 • 32 mins
This week - it’s time to look at the connection between westward American Expansion and the apple. How is the apple all tangled up with our creation of the 19th century tall tales we started to tell on and about ourselves?
So get ready for a visit from some of the features/specters of that myth making that inhabited a huge part of the 20th century.
Links:
Johnny Appleseed Cartoon (1948)
Paul Bunyan Cartoon (1958)
John Henry Cartoo...
So get ready for a visit from some of the features/specters of that myth making that inhabited a huge part of the 20th century.
Links:
Johnny Appleseed Cartoon (1948)
Paul Bunyan Cartoon (1958)
John Henry Cartoo...
Mark as Played
April 16, 2025 • 32 mins
As odd as it sounds, there was a time in American Food before oatmeal.
And while that's wild on it's own, even more impossible to imagine is how much of agriculture used to be dedicated simply to growing food to feed the animals that allowed you to run the farm. Having solar panels and biodigesters to create power on the farm now is pretty wild... but it wasn't that long ago, all things considered when all the energy used on a farm...
And while that's wild on it's own, even more impossible to imagine is how much of agriculture used to be dedicated simply to growing food to feed the animals that allowed you to run the farm. Having solar panels and biodigesters to create power on the farm now is pretty wild... but it wasn't that long ago, all things considered when all the energy used on a farm...
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April 2, 2025 • 40 mins
Finally - Recipes for early 19th Century Fried Chicken - sorta.
IT's time to learn some chicken history and face the reality about what chickens were really for in the early 19th century - eggs!
If you wanted bird meat there were lots of better birds out there to eat above and beyond the scrawny backyard chcicken.
But that was about to change as the worlds chickens began to come to America.
To learn about all that and more - listen in...
IT's time to learn some chicken history and face the reality about what chickens were really for in the early 19th century - eggs!
If you wanted bird meat there were lots of better birds out there to eat above and beyond the scrawny backyard chcicken.
But that was about to change as the worlds chickens began to come to America.
To learn about all that and more - listen in...
Mark as Played
March 19, 2025 • 35 mins
Ever notice that fabulous dinner parties depicted on screen rarely take place earlier than the 1800's - and in America pretty much always after the Civil War?
Well! That's because in just about every one of those situations the eating etiquette would look so different it would be unrecognizable - in fact it's likely people would be eating with their fingers!
Americans have only been eating with forks - on a regualr basis for about 1...
Well! That's because in just about every one of those situations the eating etiquette would look so different it would be unrecognizable - in fact it's likely people would be eating with their fingers!
Americans have only been eating with forks - on a regualr basis for about 1...
Mark as Played
March 5, 2025 • 33 mins
Yes yes... tasty pigs.
But as you might have gathered I'm not entirely OK right now. Will there be a National Park Service -NPS.gov by next episode?
Will I have access to the library of congress or is it going to get "Alexandira'd"?
I don't know, but at least I do know that I can hook you up with both old school and modern methods of preserving pork when the power grid goes down.
I the mean time take care, love your local food produce...
But as you might have gathered I'm not entirely OK right now. Will there be a National Park Service -NPS.gov by next episode?
Will I have access to the library of congress or is it going to get "Alexandira'd"?
I don't know, but at least I do know that I can hook you up with both old school and modern methods of preserving pork when the power grid goes down.
I the mean time take care, love your local food produce...
Mark as Played
February 19, 2025 • 30 mins
Turns out all I was able to squeeze in to this episode was the fresh pork - more or less.
How to keep pork will be around next time.
But the big lesson is - boy do we need our hands held when it comes to recipes.
Is 50 words not enough for you to prepare boiled poik and pease porridge?
It certainly isn't enough for me. I'd be absolutely sunk.
Though it does explain why enslaved cooks could learn the recipes that were read to them out...
How to keep pork will be around next time.
But the big lesson is - boy do we need our hands held when it comes to recipes.
Is 50 words not enough for you to prepare boiled poik and pease porridge?
It certainly isn't enough for me. I'd be absolutely sunk.
Though it does explain why enslaved cooks could learn the recipes that were read to them out...
Mark as Played
February 5, 2025 • 26 mins
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...
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...
Mark as Played
January 22, 2025 • 29 mins
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 ...
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 ...
Mark as Played
January 8, 2025 • 35 mins
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 podca...
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 podca...
Mark as Played
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