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Post by spence on May 3, 2022 10:42:11 GMT -7
Warren Johnson was the brother of Sir William Johnson, famous Indian agent for the British. Warren lived in England, but visited his brother in the Albany, NY, area, 1760-1761, kept a journal. The area had a large Dutch population at the time. Here are his comment about food in the journal:
Morning, breakfasted upon Sausages, fryed Bacon & Strong Punch…
Indians chiefly live on boiled Indian Corn.
One Gallon of Molosses., which is but 2s. Ster., sufficient for a Barrell of Spruce Beer...
The Dutch hate both English and Irish, & Eat hogs Lard on their bread, instead of Butter, with Tea; they Use the Grease of fryed Bacon with Sallets, instead of Oil, & mix it up with their Hands for they never use forks; they Eat Cumcumbers sliced, in Buttermilk…
Pine Buds in spring used by way of Tea, & Buds of Red Deal Excellent agains the Gravel...
The Dutch salt Cabbage in the fall, on which they chiefly live with Bread.
there is noe Eating Butter or Milk, on Acct. of the Cows feeding mostly on Onions in the wood, which last but about a forthnight…
The Bread at Albany is very Good & white:...
The Indians. Sometime use the Bark of Trees, for Tobacco; a Gent: at Albany drank 27 Bowls of Punch one Night…
Trees are in blossom, and Asperigus very plenty the 15th. of April Instt.. ************ Pass the hog's lard, please.
Spence
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Post by paranger on May 3, 2022 11:30:50 GMT -7
Wow: 27 bowls of punch! That must've been an epic hangover.
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Post by spence on May 3, 2022 13:33:28 GMT -7
They were serious about their drinking in the day. Another entry from the journal:
March the 17th... A great meeting at my Brother's House to drink St. Patrick, & most got vastly drunk.
Spence
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Post by paranger on May 3, 2022 13:53:33 GMT -7
They were serious about their drinking in the day. Another entry from the journal: March the 17th... A great meeting at my Brother's House to drink St. Patrick, & most got vastly drunk. Spence Not much has changed there...🥳🤢🤮
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Post by brokennock on May 3, 2022 14:33:28 GMT -7
"& Buds of Red Deal Excellent agains the Gravel..." Explanation? I know pine buds can be high in vitamin C. What is Red Deal and is it used to fight a cold? Assuming the Gravel us illness...
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Post by lenapej on May 3, 2022 15:22:06 GMT -7
Thank you for those, always looking for some more period foods to try out.
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Post by spence on May 3, 2022 16:54:10 GMT -7
"& Buds of Red Deal Excellent agains the Gravel..." Explanation? I know pine buds can be high in vitamin C. What is Red Deal and is it used to fight a cold? Assuming the Gravel us illness... Deal is an old term for fir or pine wood. Gravel was an old term for kidney stones, especially when there were a bunch of small ones. Spence
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Post by spence on May 3, 2022 17:06:13 GMT -7
Thank you for those, always looking for some more period foods to try out. We think alike, lenapej, I keep my eye open for the same. This might be of interest, although it's rather late and doesn't really have anything new. Wm. Blane, in his _An Excursion through the United States and Canada, during the Years 1822-3 by an English Gentleman_, was impressed with the food on offer as he traveled around the country. 27 "The terms of boarding are, however, very moderate; at the Mansion-house only ten dollars per week. The table is always spread with the greatest profusion and variety, even at breakfast, tea, and supper; all which meals indeed, were it not for the absence of wine and soup, might be called so many dinners. There, Dick, what a breakfast!--- Oh, not like your ghost Of a breakfast in England--- your curs'd tea and toast! but a variety that would astonish even those accustomed to the morning repast of a Scotchman. At this important meal, besides tea, coffee, eggs, cold ham, beef, and such like ordinary accompaniments, we always had hot fish, sausages, beefsteaks, broiled fowls, fried and stewed oysters, preserved fruits, &c. &c. &c. The same variety of dishes was repeated at supper." Spence
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Post by lenapej on May 4, 2022 11:18:09 GMT -7
Spence Here is one that a friend gave me from a Williamsburg cook book that I really enjoy. Josh
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Post by spence on May 4, 2022 11:50:28 GMT -7
Thanks, lenapej, that sounds like a winner.
Spence
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Post by spence on May 5, 2022 11:08:43 GMT -7
I've searched the archives and didn't find that I had previously posted this info, pardon me if I missed it.
Ted Franklin Belue wrote an article in Muzzleloader magazine about the trip taken by a group of about 12 men in spring of 1775, by dugout canoe, down the Ohio and Kentucky rivers to Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Some returned via the Ohio, some went back on the Wilderness trail. Two of the men left journals, Nicholas Cresswell, James Nourse, Sr. I made a list of all entries related to food in both journals, with occasional notations.
grouse corn pork boiled chicken, fatback and bread turkey bread which they baked on the river bank boiled fish soup with a sauce of butter and walnut pickle catfish fried fish bacon flour buffalo fish (caught by an eagle, they snatched it) venison catfish chowder ducks coffee and buttered bread [for supper]
fish casserole (Get "an iron pot with half a pint of water and between each layer, butter, pepper and salt putting sticks to keep the fish from the bottom and then put the fire over and under the pot. a good dish for those that love seasoned meat." [.... possibly a Dutch oven?]
fried turkey eggs soft shell turtle fried in hog fat soft shelled turtle soup fried soft shell turtle eggs from a turtle they shot bacon frays made of the turtle eggs pancakes made with turtle eggs dug from a fresh nest in the river bank buffalo jerky buffalo heart, liver, kidney and sweetmeat broiled over coals on forks jerky soup bear fat and hot bread hominy (Harrod’s landing) salt pepper Indian corn cornmeal rice broth boiled beef and buffalo young cabbage plants (abandoned homestead) squashes (abandoned homestead) Cimbelines (cymblings, pattypan squash) (abandoned homestead) raw potatoes (abandoned homestead) fritters (Harrod’s landing) mulberries from the tree wheat bread buffalo stew with endive and lettuce (Harrod’s Landing) buffalo and deer stew cornmeal mush mixed with flour and buffalo fat buffalo milk from the udder of a cow they shot jerky soup thickened with flour sprouted Indian corn boiled and eaten with elk tallow a little bread baked on sticks for supper bread baked in a dutch oven corn bread made of corn only beat bacon soup thickened with crumbs of bread ginseng
So, they shot deer, buffalo, turkey, soft shell turtle, collected soft shell turtle eggs and turkey eggs from nests, caught catfish and buffalo fish from the river and stole a buffalo fish from an eagle, picked mulberries from the tree, milked a buffalo cow they shot, scavenged cabbages, squashes, cimbelines and raw potatoes from an abandoned garden and bartered gunpowder for mush from an old Dutch woman and chewed ginseng to settle the stomach when they were starving. Hunter-gatherers, indeed
Spence
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Post by lenapej on May 5, 2022 16:55:35 GMT -7
Thanks for taking the time to assemble and post that list, very interesting.
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Post by brokennock on May 5, 2022 20:18:48 GMT -7
Fantastic list Spence, thank you very much. I will add it to my notes. The notes I can never seem to find what I'm looking for in (sigh).
I find several things of interest but something minor in particular caught my eye. I see "rice broth," listed but not rice. Anyone have any ideas as to why one and not the other?
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Post by Sicilianhunter on May 8, 2022 7:32:41 GMT -7
Thanks Spence what an excellent insight to what ended up in the kettle/pan and over the fire while out on the frontier!! As Nock, I'm curious about the rice broth. Was it wild crafted maybe but not enough to process except to make a broth with? I'm curious about the soft shell turtle and eggs!! Got a supply of those around here!! I'll have to find out when and where they lay their eggs...
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Post by brokennock on May 8, 2022 11:55:31 GMT -7
Thanks Spence what an excellent insight to what ended up in the kettle/pan and over the fire while out on the frontier!! As Nock, I'm curious about the rice broth. Was it wild crafted maybe but not enough to process except to make a broth with? I'm curious about the soft shell turtle and eggs!! Got a supply of those around here!! I'll have to find out when and where they lay their eggs... Careful. The eggs might be protected. Also, if they aren't, they don't cook thr same as chicken or duck eggs. If you "hard boil" them, they never get hard.
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