The History of American Food

What a disappointment, beans.
The green bean - the French bean - how this quintessential American food got that name, I'll explain - is the only fancy tasty bean. The rest, and sad stand-ins for when there's no meat.
And since the British diner - at home or in the colonies - doesn't use garlic, except as a cough remedy, it's unlikely they could even enjoy beans.
Except down south, where spiced and smoked pork, the cayan pepper, and rice are all conspiring to bring the black-eyed pea to a good place.
But alas - overall, the 18th century bean is a bummer. No garbanzos, no lentils - but surprise! Soy Beans!
Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @THoAFood
Instagram: @THoAFood

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 from... 16th century Mexico, and not New England... at all? And we’ll continue to follow the baffling saga of Colonists taking perfectly good domestic animals and letting them get feral.
All this and more on this week's episode of The History of American Food!
(*cue jaunty synth music from ‘80s evening magazine style show*)
Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @THoAFood
Instagram: @THoAFood

Orange - a strange word, and important fruit - not just in the kitchen, but as a political symbol as well.
Come hear about it all, and some mythbusting about the origins of marmalade - and the defense of onion marmalade as well.
Link to Townsends recipe for Orange Fool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2AG545WIsg
Link to Orange Syllabub with the Kitchn (I would suggest orange flower water instead of the rose water): https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-orange-syllabub-166177
Feel free to do an orange liqueur tasting! Choose from the very many options.
Cointreau
Triple Sec
Grand Manier
Curaçao (blue or clear - either is fine)
Bols Orange Liqueur
Pierre Ferrand
Gran Gala
DeKuyper
Combier
Clement Creole Shrubb
Naranja Liqueur
and so on...
Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @THoAFood
Instagram: @THoAFood

So many Links this week!
But great places to visit - a blog, a rice foundation, a shop for all things (many things?) Carib - I admit I'm excited about that one. There's not much Caribbean representation on my Global Shopping Street.
But most exciting of all - the exposure of fakes and the possibility of breaking news!
Rice pretends like its a background player - but it's a drama grain.
A savory calas (rice croquette) recipe: https://www.poppytooker.com/calas
Oh - just look up Poppy Tooker, this a New Orleans name of note. (I know the French are the Enemy right now, but its OK) https://www.poppytooker.com/this-weeks-show
Woah - can no longer find the digital version of the Lucayos Cook Book I snagged. Sloppy of me... and it looks like I have a pirated book! As a work published between 1924 and 1978 - it has a 95 year copyright... So I won't be slapping up a PDF. But! When do my bonus episode, I will be providing extensive recipes as quotations, and you'll definitely get the flavor of it.
In the meantime, a fair selection of smaller University libraries seem to have a copy of those book, so you can check it out.
Modern-ish take on Carolina Snowballs with Turnspit & Table
https://www.turnspitandtable.com/uncategorized/carolina-snowballs-re-do/
Anson Mills - https://www.ansonmills.com/
Get some Carolina Gold - regular rice, or rice grits - https://www.ansonmills.com/products
Carolina Gold Foundation - http://www.thecarolinagoldricefoundation.org/
But you can buy the red rice from Trinidad! Caribshopper:
https://caribshopper.com/blogs/caribshopper-blog/moruga-hill-rice-the-red-grain-with-a-great-story-and-taste
Links to the better red rice information:
Michael Twitty - https://leitesculinaria.com/325844/writings-the-history-of-rice.html
Abena Offeh-Gyimah - https://abenaoffehgyimah.com/blog/oryza-glaberrima-and-the-decline-of-indigenous-african-foods
Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @THoAFood
Instagram: @THoAFood

I cannot let the story stand that abortion and management of fertility is only a modern issue in America. It has been part of the landscape before Europeans arrived. But I'm not even close to being qualified to comment on that.
Instead this is a deep dive into the back of cookbooks of the popular and widely available 17th and 18th century cookbooks that were to be found in British Colonial and American Kitchens - and the fact that they contained recipes and instructions for both ending early pregnancies and helping along childbirth.
Fertility and reproductive care was the province of women and unregulated by legislation. Until it was.
In the 20th and 21st century, the legend was, access to fertility regulation in the past had always been treated as A Big Secret. I'm here to tell it wasn't. The how tos were available in the contemporary equivalent of the Julia Child cookbook. Don't believe me - listen in.
Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor Turtle
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @THoAFood
Instagram: @THoAFood