Thanks to everyone who joined us for Episode 21 of the Food History Happy Hour! We discussed pumpkins and their indigenous origins, as well as the history of pumpkin pie spice, including a discussion of the European spice trade, where various spices come from, and how they went from the purview of the fabulously wealthy to hopelessly old-fashioned, to ragingly popular again. Plus we talk about how pumpkin spice got its name and what's REALLY in those cans of pumpkin puree.
Port Wine Negus (1862)
This particular recipe comes from the famous Jerry Thomas, in his 1862 book, The Bar-Tender's Guide but the drink is actually much older, dating back to the 18th century, and features in the novels of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. By the Victorian period, it was commonly used for children's parties (shocking I know), and it seems that Jerry Thomas may have lifted his recipe directly from Isabella Beeton.
I followed this recipe pretty closely, and it makes a LOT - I filled my teapot full - so be aware that either you need to save any leftovers for a soda negus (also in Jerry Thomas), share with friends, or cut the recipe down. Here's the original: 151. Port Wine Negus
Here's the version I made:
4 cups water, brought to a boil 2 cups Ruby port 1/2 cup sugar 4 tablespoons bottled lemon juice 4 cloves about 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg This makes one and a half quarts of hot Negus, which is delicious but was too sweet for my taste. I'm guessing the original recipe called for Tawny port, which is not as sweet as Ruby port. I also cheated and used bottled lemon juice instead and added cloves because another recipe for soda negus I saw called for them. It really is imperative to use fresh nutmeg for this recipe, as the ground kind doesn't hold a candle in flavor. One or two nutmegs will last you a long time, so you don't have to buy a ton. It is fairly addictive, so just be forewarned. I may or may not have had four cups in the course of Food History Happy Hour and writing this blog... Episode Links:
I had fun researching this topic and even learned a few things! One of my primary sources for the European spice trade as the book Nathaniel's Nutmeg, by Giles Milton. It's a highly engaging read and designed for a more popular audience, so if anyone wants to read about bloodthirsty Europeans obsessed with spice and their various maritime misfortunes, check it out.
other fun links include:
The next Food History Happy Hour won't be until Friday, October 30, 2020, but we'll be discussing Halloween! And making the Stone Fence cocktail. I hope you'll join us then. AND! I have a special treat for Patreon members old and new - join or renew at the $5 level and above, and you'll get a special Halloween packet mailed to you! Chock full of all kinds of fun history, images, party ideas, recipes, and more.
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After another week of 80 degree weather (ugh), we're nearing October and it's finally getting cool again! Cloudy, misty, chilly weather makes me feel spooky, and I'm getting in the Halloween spirit again. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (the other is Christmas), and it's a typically American one. I had a blast with a vintage-themed Halloween party last year, and although I can't have friends over this year, I still intend to up my decorating game and have fun with the holiday. I definitely spent too much money this weekend on a huge ceramic cauldron and some velvet-covered pumpkins and next weekend (Monday & Tuesday for me) I will be decking the old halls with all things spooky! I'll post some pictures, I promise. I've got a number of Halloween-y freebies planned for this year, including this Friday's Food History Happy Hour, which will be about Pumpkins and Pumpkin Pie Spice, and Food History Happy Hour on October 30 (I'll be out of town on the 16th), upon which we'll talk about historic Halloween traditions! Be sure to join us on Facebook for the livestream or you can catch it after the fact on Instagram TV or here on the blog. If you're watching live on Facebook, say hi and drop your questions in the comments! You can also ask questions ahead of time by commenting on this blog post or emailing me. Halloween is such an awesome tradition in the United States and it's got a lot of interesting history behind it that I can't wait to share with you. Plus we'll get to discuss all the traditional Halloween-themed treats! I do have one special treat to offer for new and existing Patreon patrons! If you join or renew in the month of October at the $5 level or above, you'll receive a special Halloween-themed packet in the mail! I'm very excited for this little project and who doesn't love getting mail? The contents are a secret, but recipes, fun vintage images, game and party ideas, some Halloween history, and more will be included! There are lots of perks to being a Patreon patron, including special members-only posts, occasional mail, and free vintage cookbooks NOT available anywhere else online! Because I've digitized them from my personal collection. :D
And, of course, welcome to new Patreon patrons, both of whom joined in September, Jessica and Katarzyna! Thank you and glad to have you aboard! I hope you'll join us!
An untitled woodcut, bold in design, apparently created for use on broadsides or banners during the Whigs' "log cabin" campaign of 1840. In front of a log cabin, a shirtsleeved William Henry Harrison welcomes a soldier, inviting him to rest and partake of a barrel of "Hard Cider." Nearby another soldier, already seated, drinks a glass of cider. On a staff at right is an American flag emblazoned with "Harrison & Tyler." Library of Congress.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's Food History Happy Hour! In this episode we made the Jersey Cooler from the Roving Bartenter (1946), but the cocktail itself appears to have been invented by the famous Jerry Thomas as it appears in his 1862 How to Mix Drinks.
With the primary ingredient hard cider, I thought it a particularly apt cocktail for our discussion of apples in America! I chose apples as the topic for tonight's Food History Happy Hour because mid-September is when apple harvest in the Northeast usually really starts to get underway. Coincidentally (on my part, anyway), tonight is also the start Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year, which runs until Sunday. One of the components of Rosh Hashanah is the use of apples and honey, particularly in Ashkenazi Jewish households, who originate in Eastern Europe. Apples and honey are eaten to symbolize sweetness and prosperity for the coming year. On a more somber note, I learned that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away just minutes before the start of the show. In fact, I almost didn't do tonight's episode because I was so upset. But I figured that the notorious RBG would power through if it was her, and it was fitting to be talking about apples and hoping for peace and prosperity in the coming New Year. So we poured one out for Ruth and gave her a toast. We talked about the origins of hard cider, with an aside ​about the 1840 presidential campaign of William Henry Harrison, why hard cider fell out of favor, the origins of apples in the mountains of Kazakhstan, Johnny Appleseed, the story of Red Delicious, heirloom apple varieties, and the not-so-American origins of apple pie. Jersey Cooler (1946)
From the 1946 Roving Bartender by Bill Kelly:
You can see other, slightly more complicated versions below: Jersey Cocktail (1862)
As far as I can tell, this is the oldest version of the Jersey Cooler (called cocktail here), invented by the famous Jerry Thomas from his How to Mix Drinks from 1862. Because the earliest reference is from Mr. Thomas, who was a born and raised New Yorker, I think that the "Jersey" in this instance refers to New Jersey, not Jersey, England.
Here's his recipe: ​ (Use small bar glass.) 1 teaspoonful of sugar. 2 dashes of bitters. Fill tumbler with cider, and mix well, with lemon peel on top. Episode Links
Our next episode will be on Friday, October 2, 2020 and since it will officially be October, we'll be talking about pumpkins and the origins of the much-maligned pumpkin spice!
If you enjoyed this episode of Food History Happy Hour and would like to support more livestreams, please consider joining us on Patreon. Patrons get special perks like access to members-only content. ​
Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's Food History Happy Hour! In this episode we made the Angler's Cocktail from Recipes of American and Other Iced Drinks, London (1909).
Because it's Labor Day Weekend and traditionally one of the biggest travel dates of the year, I thought we could talk about road food! We discussed the development of early federal highways, including Route 66, the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, the Green Book and Driving While Black, rest areas versus service areas, Howard Johnson's and the development of other fast food chains, Gourmet and Ford Motor Company travel books on regional restaurants, the work of Jane and Michael Stern to catalog regional foodways, and the foods people took with them while traveling, roadside stands, and more. Angler Cocktail (1909)
Here's the original recipe, from Recipes for American and Other Iced Drinks by Charlie Paul (1909):
Fill a tumbler with chipped ice; put in two or three drops of Angostura bitters, half a teaspoon of orange bitters, and three or four drops of raspberry syrup; add half a wine-glassful of gin, then stir well and strain off. Here's my version: 3 drops Angostura bitters 6 drops orange bitters a dash of raspberry syrup 2 ounces American gin Add to a cocktail shaker of crushed ice - swirl until cold, then strain into a cocktail glass. It's quite lovely - very floral and a pretty shade of peachy gold. I would add more raspberry syrup next time as I couldn't taste it at all and the drink was not sweet at all. Episode Links:
We're switching to a twice-a-month schedule, so join us on Friday, September 18, 2020 at 8:00 PM EST for the next episode of Food History Happy Hour!
If you enjoyed this episode of Food History Happy Hour and would like to support more livestreams, please consider joining us on Patreon. Patrons get special perks like access to members-only content.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's Food History Happy Hour! In this episode we made the Ice-Cream Soda-Water from Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks (1869). As I went through the laborious process of hand-shaving ice from a block, we briefly discussed the history of ice harvesting and the first uses of soda fountains.
We also discussed all things hot dog! Including the history of hot dogs, how they are made, their prevalence at beaches, ball parks, and fairs, regional variations in hot dog toppings, the origin of the corn dog, and the use of hot dogs in American diplomacy, including famously by Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park when they entertained King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain in 1939. We also discussed sweet v. savory cocktails in history, uses for leftover hot dog buns, and more. Check it out! Ice-Cream Soda-Water (1869)
In my research for last week's episode into the origins of the root beer float, I found reference in the 1860s to soda fountains and the invention of the ice cream soda that was simply ice and cream and soda water. So it was fun to discover this recipe in the cocktail guide Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks (1869).
The original recipe doesn't have much direction, but here it is:
Ice-Cream Soda-Water - Equal quantity of fruit syrup and cream; double the same of shaven ice; add bottle of soda water and drink off. Here's my recipe: 1 cup hand-shaven ice (the more the better) 1 ounce raspberry syrup (a 19th century favorite!) 1 ounce heavy cream 6-8 ounces seltzer or club soda Place the ice in a large tumbler and pour syrup and cream over, top with seltzer, stir gently, and drink quickly. "Dog Factory" by Thomas Edison (1904)
A Food Historian friend asked if I was going to "ruin" hot dogs for Food History Happy Hour by discussing how they are made. I didn't make any promises, but thought this Thomas Edison film was fun to watch. In it, dogs are turned into hot dogs, and hot dogs are turned back into dogs. In the background of the "factory" - which closely resembles a hot dog push cart - ropes of sausages hang on the wall labeled by type of dog.
It's a bit gross, but meant to be all in good fun - making a joke (as always) about the origins of the meat used to make hot dogs, something that still occurs today. In the end, more sausages get magically turned into dogs than vice versa. Episode Links
This was a fun episode to research, and here are a few of the articles I referenced:​
Thanks for watching!
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Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's Food History Happy Hour! In this episode we made the Flash of Lightning from the Recipes of American and Other Iced Drinks, London (1902).
For this episode we discussed the recent controversy from Goya CEO and the context and history behind Spanish culture and colonialism in South and Central America, the history of root beer and other early sodas, including ginger ale, birch beer, and sarsaparilla, the origin of root beer floats and ice cream sodas. Flash of Lightning Cocktail (1902)
Here's the original recipe, from Recipes for American and Other Iced Drinks by Charlie Paul (1902):
Fill tumbler with chipped ice, into which squeeze half a lemon; then add half a teaspoonful of sugar, a teaspoonful of raspberry syrup, half a wine-glassful of brandy, a little cayenne pepper; then strain off. And here's my version: In a cocktail shaker over ice, add: Juice of half a lemon 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar 1 teaspoon (or thereabouts) raspberry syrup 2 ounces cherry bounce one or two taps of ground cayenne pepper Shake then strain into wineglass. This recipe is definitely a quite sweet (thanks in part to the cherry bounce), so if you want something not so sweet, leave off the sugar. As the drink warms and sits the heat of the cayenne will intensify, so you might want to use a light hand to begin with. Episode Links
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Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's Food History Happy Hour! In this episode we made the Gin Daisy from the Recipes of American and Other Iced Drinks, London (1909).
We talked about Holland gin, orgeat syrup, picnics, including picnicking in rural cemeteries, potato salad, Miracle Whip a.k.a. boiled dressing, camping, including Maria Parloa's Camp Cookery, How to Live in Camp (1878) and Camp Cookery by Horace Kephart (1910) with an overview of the types of recipes and cooking they offer, and brief discussion of dehydrated backpacking foods. We did have a few issues with the new service, so apologies for pixelated, skipping, or out-of-synch video. Hopefully it won't happen again! Gin Daisy (1909)
Gin Daisy from the Recipes of American and Other Iced Drinks, London (1909) original recipe:
Take half-pint tumbler half full chipped ice, add three or four dashes of orgeat or gum syrup, three dashes of maraschino, juice of half lemon, a wine-glassful of Hollands gin; shake well; strain into a large cocktail glass, and fill up with seltzer or apollinaris water. ​So here's my translated recipe that I used on the show: In a cocktail shaker with ice, add: 1 tablespoon simple syrup with almond flavoring 1 tablespoon maraschino syrup juice of 1/2 a lemon 1/2 wineglass gin (about 3 ounces) splash bourbon Shake and pour into a 12 ounce glass; fill with seltzer (I used lemon-lime). Add ice if desired. If I were to make this again, I would definitely cut down on the gin, but the bourbon was a very nice addition for a little bit of smooth malty flavor to approximate Holland gin, a.k.a. jenever. And I might try this recipe for a more authentic orgeat syrup. Or maybe I'll try the old-school barley kind! Related to syrups - I finally ordered raspberry syrup! So expect some cocktails that call for that in the future. More pink drinks!
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Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's Food History Happy Hour! In this episode we made the Saratoga Cooler from the 1917 Recipes for Mixed Drinks. We also talked about Saratoga Springs, Ann Northup, Saratoga chips and George Crum, Hand melons, watermelon and melons in general, ginger ale, root beer, birch beer, spruce beer, and other lightly fermented soft drinks, by request, my food and cooking memories, celebrating my grandpa's 101st birthday, lemon shakeups and lemonade, tomato sandwiches, Miracle Whip, tomatoes and food storage, the Soviet version of Spam, whether or not to refrigerate eggs, a brief foray into next week's topics of camping, drink pairings, and ice cream. I also asked for input on putting together new talks!
Saratoga Cooler (1917)
The "Saratoga Cooler" cocktail comes from the "Cooler" section of Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugo Ensslin (1917).
Here's the original recipe: Use Collins glass. Juice of 1/2 lemon 1/2 teasponful powdered sugar 2 dashes Angostura bitters 1 bottle ginger ale (cold) Stir slowly and serve. I used 1 tablespoon of lemon and just filled the glass with ginger ale. I also added ice to keep things nice and cold and guestimated the powered sugar. It really was quite refreshing though!
And this handsome fella is my grandfather, who just turned 101 years old. He was born on July 3, 1919. Happy Birthday, Grandpa Les!
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Thanks to everyone who joined us for Food History Happy Hour! This week we make the super retro, somewhat disgusting, Beef Fizz. We talk about the history of the Beef Fizz, including the history of consomme, the taste of Beef Fizz and why it's more appropriate for puppies, some background on the history and terminology of the word "cocktail" and its role as a first course, hot cocktails, a cameo by Sweetie Pie (who LOVED the Beef Fizz), tiki bars and cultural appropriation, Teddy Roosevelt and American colonialism in the Philippines and Polynesia, destructive ideas about Indigenous women and sexuality, Hawaiian and Pacific Foods (1940) cookbook, "it's safe to be hungry" in reference to electric and gas stoves, and foraging between the two World Wars, Nature's Garden for Victory and Peace (1942) by George Washington Carver, historic hunting, venison, and the modern deer population, the same with Canada geese, ecological carrying capacity, roadkill and historic consumption of wild meats, and Lent and what constitutes "meat."
Beef Fizz (1960s?)
So some Food Historian friends and patrons ALL tagged me in this social media post (below) with the recipe for Beef Fizz. It's been going around the interwebs for a while, so I'm definitely not the only one to make this on film. However, I couldn't track down what cookbook it was from.
A 1968 Campbell's cookbook DOES have a recipe for "Beef Fizz," but theirs calls for club soda, not ginger ale. So if anyone is able to find the original cookbook below, please let me know!
2 cans condensed beef broth
1 cup chilled ginger ale 2 tablespoons lemon juice Combine ingredients and pour over ice in glasses. 6 to 8 servings. Of course, as I mentioned in the video, I did not want to have 8 servings of this stuff, so I cut the recipe in half: 1 can Campbell's beef consomme 1/2 cup chilled ginger ale 1 tablespoon lemon juice (bottled) Poured over ice. Not as bad as I expected, but do not recommend. Think of it as cold soup, and it's sort of drinkable. Sort of. Now for the roundup of links!
A little sparse this week, but that's because there are more links up above! Happy reading.
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It's Juneteenth! Thanks to everyone who joined us for Food History Happy Hour. This week we make the Rose in June cocktail from the 1917 "Recipes for Mixed Drinks." We discussed Juneteenth, red velvet cake, victory gardens including propaganda and the exclusion of Black farmers and imprisoned Japanese Americans, the role of visuals in influencing taste, Black Food Historians You Should Know, disparities in book contracts, hot weather foods, salads, summer kitchens, how historical peoples coped without air conditioning, how historical peoples kept foods cold before refrigeration, ice and ice cream in the ancient world, rural electrification and electric refrigerators, the Frigidaire Cookbook, icebox pie, racial stereotypes in food advertising, including the history of the "Aunt" and "Uncle" terms, including Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima, the history of the mammy trope, the tragedy of child caring roles, What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, Black children in advertising, Franchise: the Golden Arches in Black America, the forthcoming book scanner I ordered, monuments and statues, and we ended with a signal boost for the James Hemings Society.
Rose in June Fizz (1917)
The "Rose in June" cocktail comes from the "Fizz" section of Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugo Ensslin (1917).
The original recipe calls for: Juice of 1 orange Juice of 2 limes 1 jigger raspberry syrup 1 jigger gin Shake well in a mixing glass (or cocktail shaker) with cracked ice, strain into Collins glass and fizz with sparkling water OR - if you don't have fresh citrus fruits OR raspberry syrup - you can substitute 1/3 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup lime juice, a heaping tablespoon of raspberry (or in my case, strawberry) jam, and the gin. Very nice, very refreshing, but sadly NOT pink.
Here's a roundup of links related to everything we talked about (in addition to all the links above!):
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AuthorSarah Wassberg Johnson has an MA in Public History from the University at Albany and studies early 20th century food history. Archives
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