If Michele Bachmann, candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election, is offended by Gore Vidal’s 1973 novel Burr, I wonder what she’d make of Dave DeWitt’s entertaining nonfiction tome The Founding Foodies: How Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine (Sourcebooks, 2010)?
Beyond images of Paul Revere fortifying himself with rum in between his famous horseback rides (don’t get me started on Sarah Palin!), we are treated to all sorts of telling glimpses into the lifestyles of the USA's “Founding Fathers." Franklin and Jefferson clearly enjoyed their extended stays in France, not least including the abundantly available food and drink. Both maintained enormous, well-stocked wine and champagne cellars. George Washington was not exactly a 2011 white bread “Tea Party” type, either: at one fete in Maryland celebrating his arrival, attendees were treated to “forty-nine gallons of claret, thirty-five gallons of port, thirty-two gallons of Madeira, and six gallons of ‘spirits’” (page 104).
As far as Benjamin Franklin was concerned from his Parisian vantage point in 1779 during the American Revolution – “Let us adore and drink.” Jefferson, playing fast and loose with the institution of slavery, saw to it that James Hemings was trained as a chef in Paris, where slavery was abolished (in 1789); his sister Sally had been brought over in 1787. As Secretary of State under Washington, Jefferson was relocated to New York in 1790 (its population at the time: 33,000). Much hilarity follows by way of DeWitt’s account. “Compared to the excitement of Paris, with a population of half a million, New York was a letdown for Jefferson, and he began to feel out of place in his own country” (page 139).
Bottom line: the Founding Fathers were made of living flesh and blood, not dead marble. DeWitt’s overall take: “Today, the Founding Fathers would be superstars of sustainable farming and ranching, exotic imported foods, brewing, distilling, and wine appreciation” (page xv). Added bonus: recipes.
Today's Rune: Fertility.
2 comments:
Washington wouldn't be so famous or well liked now because of his Whiskey rebellion.
exactly. They weren't marble. But a lot of people want to turn them into that. It's so foolish, and doomed to failure as long as true information is allowed. That's why folks like that want to supress information.
Post a Comment