I love food. And history. So any book that can tell me the history of the food that I eat or am aware of is of interest of me. The American Plate by Libby O’Connell is a book that does just that. Beginning with the Native Americans and the staples they consumed through the debates over GMO’s and other ethical topics in today’s epicurean debates, O’Connell explains the relationship between food and history. On top of that, she includes recipes for some of the principal dishes of each era.
What’s amazing to me is that the foods we eat today still have many of their roots in the Native Americans’ diet such as corn, squash, and beans. Think about a lot of our holiday food or the food we prepare for special occasions, there’s usually some form of corn, squash, or bean. And being good Americans we have a lot of food dishes that are a consequence of our innovative spirit, Wonder Bread and Tang anyone?
It was surprising to me the influence the government and economics has had on our palate. From the rationing in WWI and WII which spawned crazes in canning and meatloaf to the soups of the Great Depression, these two factors have played a factor in the next generation of food innovations. We also have to take into consideration the influence of immigration on our culinary choices. Many of the foods we consider part of the American diet other nations would consider “foreign food”. Bagels, Meatballs, Chop Suey, these are all made by immigrants in the U.S. Thanks to the proliferation of meat and the limitation of geographic-specific ingredients, many immigrants groups changed their native diets to fit what they found in America. For examples, spaghetti and meatballs and chop suey are all made by Italian and Chinese Americans but are not necessarily the same recipes you would find in Italy or China.
Who knows what the next evolution of food will be? We still see fad diets telling us what to eat and not eat and Veganism and Gluten-free diets seem to be determining what super markets advertise, but history teaches us that these fads won’t last long. I don’t know about you but I’m excited to see what we will be adding next to our American plate.
