2
   

Archives exhibit serves up Uncle Sam's role in our kitchens

 
 
Reply Sat 11 Jun, 2011 09:42 am
June 10, 2011
Archives exhibit serves up Uncle Sam's role in our kitchens
By Tish Wells | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government's fascination with America's eating predates the nation itself, and the National Archives can prove it.

On display at a new exhibit, "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam? The Government's Effect on the American Diet," is a recruiting poster from 1776 that lists the rations the Continental Congress offered to the soldiers: beef, peas, beer and candies.

Tucked away on the first floor in the Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery at the National Archives, the exhibit of more than 100 items — including newspaper articles, photographs, documents and audio recordings — shows the connection between the federal government and American life.

It's broken into four easily digestible parts: farm, factory, kitchen and table. In them, curator Alice D. Kamps shows the evolution of the government's involvement.

In the "Farm" section, a visitor can hear a clip from folksinger Pete Seeger singing an old song, "I'm a-Gonna Starve." Its haunting refrain, "I'm a-gonna starve, and everybody will, if they don't wise up on Capitol Hill," illustrates the hard life and hunger of everyday Americans during the Great Depression.

Visitors also can meet government-sponsored explorers who brought new plants and vegetables back to American tables. For example, early in the 1900s, Frank Meyer traveled to Siberia and Manchuria, searching for new crops such as apricots. He's probably best remembered for the Meyer lemon.

"Factory" covers food dangers, regulation and processing.

Included is an eight-page letter to President Theodore Roosevelt about the hazards in the meatpacking industry written by noted author Upton Sinclair, who wrote "The Jungle," a sensational novel about the slaughterhouses of Chicago.

A crumbling box discovered in the College Park, Md., branch of the archives offered up a food adulteration notebook with a sober note from an investigator in Schuyler, Neb., in the 1890s:

"This sample of candy requires a very special examination. After eating of it one child died and two were taken sick." In due time the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was passed to protect the populace from such food adulteration.

Nutrition studies and wartime food campaigns are depicted in the "Kitchen" section.

Since 1894, the government has tried to offer advice on serving sizes, what should be "A Week's Supply of Food for an American Family" and various information about food groups. Many of these were aimed at mothers, to improve the nutrition of their children.

Wartime posters exhorted Americans to "Grow more sugar beets in 1945" to "meet wartime need for sugar."

Under "Table" are school lunches, military food and the presidency.

Eating habits introduced by the military services tended to be what soldiers liked later. School lunches started as child welfare programs.

Presidents often led the way on fashionable foods.

Dr. Roland Mesnier, a former White House executive pastry chef, says he used to get calls asking for his recipe after one of his desserts was served at a White House dinner:

"Chefs from downtown ... wanted the recipe for one of my desserts, because they wanted to reproduce it for their place because it was in a newspaper."

Some presidents introduced new tastes to the national palate. The Johnsons gave us the Southern dish spoon bread, which resembles a thick pudding, and Pedernales River Chili, with lots of ground beef. Mamie Eisenhower had a deep dish apple pie that used the rind of a lemon and half a cup of brown sugar.

From grim statistics to hokey posters to nutrition and health, "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam?" covers it all. It provides a snapshot of America's food, eating habits and safety. Visitors will walk away more respectful of the past — and very hungry.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/10/115592/archives-exhibit-serves-up-uncle.html#ixzz1Oyy6NO00
  • Topic Stats
  • Top Replies
  • Link to this Topic
Type: Discussion • Score: 2 • Views: 1,911 • Replies: 4
No top replies

 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sat 11 Jun, 2011 09:44 am
@BumbleBeeBoogie,
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/whats-cooking/

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/whats-cooking/images/slide2.jpg
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sat 11 Jun, 2011 09:45 am
@BumbleBeeBoogie,
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/whats-cooking/preview/images/kitchen/01-lg.jpg
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sat 11 Jun, 2011 09:46 am
@BumbleBeeBoogie,
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/whats-cooking/preview/images/kitchen/03-lg.jpg

butter as a food group!
BumbleBeeBoogie
 
  1  
Reply Sat 11 Jun, 2011 09:53 am
@ehBeth,
April 4, 2011
Know the history behind your child's PB&J sandwich
By Tish Wells | McClatchy Newspapers

The humble sandwich has a history as lively as its makings and is defined only by the limits of the human imagination.

Susan Russo's "The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches" can be viewed as just a cookbook, but it can also be enjoyed as a thought-provoking history lesson. And your mouth will water at the photographs by Matt Armendariz.

The term "sandwich" dates to the 1760s, when the British Earl of Sandwich first demanded a snack of putting meat between two slices of bread and ate it then and there. He probably wasn't the first human to come up with the idea but is generally credited with popularizing the term.

The trend spread to America. In the 1830s a cookbook came out with a recipe for a ham sandwich. The concept had obviously blossomed, since other fillings, such as sardines, cheese, nuts, and jelly, were also listed.

Every ethnic group that came to America brought a new quirk to the humble sandwich. Liverwurst from Germany, the Cubano from Cuba, the Caprese from Italy.

The "classic club" started in a gentleman's club in the 1890s. If you overstuff it, Russo notes, you have a "Dagwood" named for the "Blondie" comic strip character — a multi-level sandwich taller than most human mouths can bite.

Sandwiches come as open-faced, bagel, pouched, wrapped, unleavened, in sugary doughnuts, and even as dessert, like in ice cream sandwiches. Explore exotics like Lobster Roll or Croque-Monsieur or stick with the homespun pleasure of a BLT — bacon, lettuce and tomato.

One thing becomes clear as you go through the book. Between 1890 and the 1920s, there was an explosion of new sandwiches. The well-loved Fluffernutter — white bread, peanut butter and a thick layer of marshmallow fluff — first started appearing after World War I.

There are trends in sandwiches. The sandwich loaf of stacked bread slices with layers of garnishes and then frosted like a cake with unsweetened cream cheese was popular in the 1950s but by the 1970s was scarcely seen.

"The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches" might even get your child interested in the history behind a PB&J.

THE JUCY LUCY CHEESEBURGER

2 pounds ground chuck, preferably 85 percent lean

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

6 slices cheese, such as American or cheddar, cut into quarters

6 hamburger buns

Garnishes, such as lettuce, tomato, pickle slices and fried onions

Preheat grill to medium. Season meat with salt and pepper. Divide into 12 equal patties.

Neatly stack 4 quarter slices of cheese in the center of each patty and top with a second patty. Using your fingertips, seal patties together. The patty will have a small bump in the middle from the cheese.

Place patties on grill, with the cheese-bump sides up. Cook 6 to 7 minutes, flip and piece sides with a knife to let steam from the cheese escape. Cook another 6 to 7 minutes

Remove burgers from grill. Serve on buns with choice of garnishes. Let burgers cool slightly before eating.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/04/04/111458/know-the-history-behind-your-childs.html#ixzz1Oz19U5bn
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

 
  1. Forums
  2. » Archives exhibit serves up Uncle Sam's role in our kitchens
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.04 seconds on 11/09/2024 at 11:11:27