“The
pervasive role that food played in furthering the cause of American
independence eventually led Americans to make their first collective attempt to
describe what their food was all about, what it meant to them, what they
thought about it. The answers that they came up with—frugality, pragmatism,
honesty, and a lack of pretension—not only articulated the defining qualities
of American food for the next two centuries, but also proved critical to
America’s embrace of a pastoral ideal that reaffirmed the centrality of food
production to American life while distinguishing the new nation once and for
all from the continent that it would never again call home.
~ Pg
283, “A Revolution in Eating”
Iron
Chef: Mount Vernon
A
merry crowd mingles about, gossiping and playing games on a great expanse of
green backyard overlooking the Potomac. Guests indulge in summertime favorites,
including Virginia ham, bacon, and roast chicken served with a variety of
garden fresh vegetables. They sip on lemonade, sweet tea, and freshly made
sugary cocktails. And as for dessert? Apple pie, of course! This idyllic
afternoon is representative of the quintessential American barbeque. However,
this party in particular is taking place on the lawn of the Mount Vernon
estate, and the hosts are George and Martha Washington.
It
is no secret that the end of the eighteenth century in America was wrought with
revolution and transformation. As paragons of a growing American society, the
Washingtons demonstrated such cultural shifts through their constant role as
hosts at Mount Vernon and elsewhere. The food that they served and consumed was
no exception to the changes sweeping the new nation. As the figurehead of the
United States, George Washington was conscious that the British food he and his
fellow citizens grew up eating would no longer be appropriate. Over time, he
and his wife helped to form and establish a new American culinary identity
adapted from the old English cuisine common among the colonies. This argument
stems from the multitudes of early American culinary historianship, but
particularly that of Mary V. Thompson, David DeWitt, Karen Hess, James E.
McWilliams, Waverley Root, and Richard de Rochemont.[1]
Through a combination of changes in political ideology and a different climate
resulting in a new set of ingredients, the English fare of the colonies slowly
morphed into the cuisine Americans cherish today.
This
culinary transition has its roots in the American Revolutionary War. Between 1764
and 1773 the Sugar Act, the Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act all imposed
limitations on foodstuffs, while the Quartering Act of 1765 required colonists
to supply room and board to soldiers. In
response to these acts, George Washington wrote in 1774 that he did not believe
that “the Parliament would embrace a favourable oppertunity of Repealing Acts…
in order to enforce their Tyrannical System… For Sir, what is it we are
contending against? Is it against paying the duty of 3d. pr lb. on Tea because
burthensome? No, it is the Right only…”[2]
Despite his insistence that taxes on tea were not the issue, the popularity of
coffee and drinking chocolate spiked in the following years as patriotic
alternatives to tea.[3]
These limitations on edible goods inspired consideration into new and
sustainable foods, home grown and independent of Europe. Joining the patriots,
George Washington was noted once to have only served coffee and chocolate at a
ball in July 1774, with tea being “in disgrace amongst them at present.”[4]
Unfortunately,
the transition from English cuisine to American was tremendously slower than
the quickly developed aversion to tea would suggest. When the French Comte de
Rochambeau dined with Washington during the war in 1780, he was served a
painfully English-style meal of multiple meat, poultry, and vegetable courses
in pie and pudding form. However, the dinner took a turn at dessert when apples
and nuts were placed on the table, apples being a fruit native to and
associated with America.[5]
However, the soldiers did not eat so sumptuously. American soldiers were
generally provided with the legendary flour-based hardtack, salted and dried
beef and cod, as well as other basic non-perishable foods. Although the eats
were not the most palatable, they were impressive and a leg-up from the British
army who relied on supplies shipped all the way from England. The American
soldiers as well as citizens had the unique ability to feed themselves entirely
from their own land, not needing to rely on foreign sources to get by; an
advantage that can be argued helped the Americans survive to win the war.[6]
Through
time, it has become taken for granted that the patriots had rejected tea, given
the legendary status of the earlier Boston Tea Party of 1773. The true gravity
of this repudiation is realized once we consider that the colonists were truly
British subjects for many years, echoed by their culinary tastes. Martha
Washington’s own cookbook is the prime example of the English tastes that
dominated the colonies’ gastronomy. Titled A Booke of Cookery by Hannah Glasse, the book is full of English
recipes spanning the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.[7]
The recipes involve meals most popularly associated with the Isles. This
includes mutton, beef, various dairy-rich meat pies and puddings, seafood, and
a multitude of forest berry themed desserts. Before it can be presumed that
this was the type of food cooked in Martha’s kitchen, it must be considered
that this was an old copy of the book passed down through the generations. According
to the expert on this manuscript, Karen Hess, the book had become an heirloom
rather than a functional guide for cooking by the time Martha received it in
1749. Not only were the recipes out of fashion by that point, but they were
impractical given the resources available in eighteenth century Virginia. A new
cuisine had already begun to form in the colonies by the middle of the century,
with its roots firmly planted in the privileged basis of rich English cooking.[8]
True
to his English roots, Washington was known to have had a passion for tea
throughout his life, despite the political passions of the day. No discussion
of George Washington’s gastronomic preferences is complete without mention of
his step-granddaughter Nelly Parke Custis’s recollection of his morning fare:
“He ate three small mush cakes (Indian meal) swimming in butter and honey, and
drank three cups of tea without cream.”[9]
Washington’s breakfast is a great amalgamation of classic American
fare—pancakes made with corn flour—and tea, associated with England. He
consumed black tea daily, his favorite variety being Hyson black tea that he
frequently bought in bulk. However, as he famously stated in his Farewell
Address, he wished “to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the
foreign world,” particularly England.[10]
Washington did exactly this, and intentionally purchased his tea directly from
China to avoid supporting the English economy. Along with several linens and
some drinking wares, he ordered “A Quartr Chest best Hyson Tea” from a ship “immediately from China” in
1785.[11]
Even with tea’s English associations, when imported from China the warm drink
signified a status of gentility and luxury given the high cost of transporting
it overseas.[12]
In
addition to Washington’s frequent consumption of tea, he did follow the social
current of America’s other favorite morning beverage. At most social functions,
the Washingtons served coffee as Abigail Adams once observed during a
presidential levee in New York in 1789.[13]
Although Washington had already owned two English coffeepots, he determined
that he ought to contribute to American artisans when he desired a new silver
one for entertaining. Days before his resignation as general in 1783 he
purchased a fashionable “Silvr Coffee Pot” engraved with his coat of arms from
Philadelphia, made by Joseph Anthony.[14]
Over time this famed rococo-style coffee pot reached General Robert E. Lee, of
American Civil War fame, who then donated it to the museum in which it resides
today. Not only did he serve this patriotically popular drink, but he had the
natively-sourced serving wares to match.
The
next year, in May 1784, Washington purchased a “Cream Machine for Ice.”[15]
This is the first mention of the cold dessert in his records, and it went on to
become iconic of American summer food. However, ice cream was not a widely
consumed fare in Washington’s time; it was reserved for the elite as it was
expensive, difficult to make, and the ingredients were challenging to procure
and maintain.[16] Because
freezers did not yet exist, the Washingtons (and others) used dark, cool
icehouses in which large chunks of ice taken from the frozen winter Potomac
were stored and covered with straw. This preserved the ice for as long as
possible for ice cream and beverage use during the summer.[17]
Having only become popular around this point in time, ice cream is a distinctly
American dessert that Washington used to show his level of gentility to
visiting guests.
Ice cream was not
only served at Mount Vernon, but was also a popular item during the
presidential levees held on Friday nights around 7 o’clock in the evening.
Levees were social events open to high-ranking members of the local society,
given they were properly dressed for the occasion. Mr. and Mrs. Washington
would make themselves available to the people, chatting and sharing light fare
including tea, coffee, lemonade, ice cream, and cake. Lemonade, another popular
levee drink, was a lighter option that also went on to be come associated with
American summertime. Lemons—like ice—were not the easiest ingredients to come
by, but Washington managed to cut down his importation of the fruit. Instead of
relying on foreign fruits, he used his agricultural skill and innovation to
grow lemons as well as other exotic fruits such as oranges, limes, coffee, and
aloe in his garden greenhouse.[18]
Despite the light-hearted nature and all-American menu of these affairs,
Washington’s political opponents scorned the levees for their aristocratic and
monarchic flair.[19]
Perhaps
these opponents would have been appeased by a serving of apple pie; the classic
American dessert that was a favorite of Washington’s. The combination of
uncooked apples, sugar, fats, and spices enclosed in a shell was based off of
an English-style pie, though the 16th and 17th century
British version was more pudding-like.[20]
Washington wrote in 1779 of his excitement in a dinner invitation over the
prospect of apple pie for dessert, “[The cook] has had the surprizing luck to
discover that apples will make pyes.” This luck shouldn’t be so surprising,
however, as green Pippin apple trees grew on the estate and were stored in the
basement during the winter.[21]
Although
mutton—a carry-over from hearty English cooking—was consumed at Mount Vernon,
it was not as popular as the new American porcine favorites. The Washingtons
prided themselves on their Virginia hams and bacon, serving ham with dinner
almost daily. The Washingtons even had their own smokehouse on the property,
which was perhaps necessary given that “Virginia Ladies value themselves on the
goodness of their bacon,” as Washington wrote to his friend the Marquis de
Lafayette in 1786.[22]
The daily Virginia ham was the product of a lengthy process of salting,
smoking, and curing to preserve the meat and to impart the distinctive
characteristics of the Virginia style.[23]
Therefore serving this meat to guests daily demonstrated the patriotism of an
American classic and the high status implied in owning an on-property
smokehouse and the subsequent high quality pork.
Venison,
another English left over, was another savory preference even though it never
caught on as a classic in America. Nonetheless, it was served at most dinners
and reflected the genteel pastime of deer hunting. Washington loved deer so
much that he chose to build a fenced-in park just for the showcase of them in
his backyard, beginning in 1785. This park displayed both American and British
breeds of deer in a surprising reflection of the transition process of American
society.[24] However convenient this park may have
been for Washington’s hunting habit, he insisted several months before his
death that they were for visual pleasure only. “I shall be obliged to you… who
may be in the practice of hunting… for desisting from that practice… I have
been at much expence, and was at a good deal of trouble, to procure Deer; both
of the Country & English kind; and have never yet killed one for my own
table…”[25]
In creating this deer park, Washington manifested the American pastoral ideal
yet acknowledged the growing country’s roots. Not even his neighbors could
resist taking their (illegal) share of his deer! Regardless of this fiasco,
Washington did hunt for deer on separate grounds many times, often bringing the
meat home for dinner. Elizabeth Ambler Carrington visited Mount Vernon in the
same year, 1799, and later recounted her experience with Washington’s venison:
“It
is really a joy to be here, to witness the tranquil happiness that reigns
throughout the house (except now & then a little bustle, occasioned by the
young squire Custis when he returns from hunting, bringing in a “Valient Deer”
as he terms it, “that Grand Pa & the Col. will devour”)—nice venison I
assure you it is, & my taste in seasoning the stew is not passed unnoticed
while the whole party, I wont say devour it, but do it ample justice.”[26]
Carrington describes the
peacefulness of the estate as compared to the bustling evenings when
Washington’s step grandson Washington Parke Custis would return from hunting
deer for dinner. She goes on to mention that the venison later served was
actually of good quality, though she is the only surprised guest as it can be
presumed that the others must have been accustomed to such fresh, high quality
meats. Carrington quotes Custis as suggesting that his grandfather Washington will
“devour” the deer, giving us a personal look at Washington’s culinary tastes.
Besides
red meat and poultry, fish was a frequent main course served at Mount Vernon.
Fish is prevalent in English cooking as well, but it was a major component of
the Virginian diet. Because Mount Vernon is situated next to the Potomac River,
it was practical and easy to catch a wide range of fresh fish to put on the
table. Washington took full advantage of this, fishing for commerce as much as
he fished for pleasure in sport and dining. In some years he caught and sold
fish for a profit exceeding £100, an amount significant for a side endeavor.[27]
He is recorded as having fished for leisure, however, fishing in Sandy Hook, NJ
“for the benefit of the sea air, and to amuse himself in the delightful
recreation of fishing” in 1789. Washington is described as being an “excellent
sport” having caught a large amount of sea bass and black fish.[28]
Rather than serving a simple filet of plain buttered cod secondary to main meat
pies as the English would have, Washington not only caught the fish fresh from
his backyard, but used the opportunity for commercial advantage in true
American spirit.
Washington is
known for having loved Madeira wine from Portugal and homemade whiskey, but
when it came to beer his passion was for dark, English porter. He always made
sure to have a good stock of it on hand at Mount Vernon. After the
Revolutionary War, he decided to only purchase porter in America in order to
support the new economy and to boycott British goods. He admitted this to
Lafayette in 1789 in a letter that demonstrated impressive faith in the new
country: “We have already been too long subject to British prejudices. I use no
porter or cheese in my family, but such is made in America: both these articles
may now be purchased of good quality.” He goes on to describe the good quality
of varied goods available throughout the states, particularly fabrics from the
northeast. He reveled in the peace that reigned throughout the country
following the war, and displayed confidence that the United States would be
able to wholly support itself and stay strong while Europe crumbled:
“While you are
quarreling among yourselves in Europe—while one Kind is running mad—and others
acting as if they were already so, but cutting the throats of the subjects of
their neighbors: I think you need not doubt, My Dear Marquis we shall continue
in tranquility here—And that population will be progressive so long as there
shall continue to be so many easy means for obtaining a subsistence, and so
ample a field for the exertion of talents and industry.”[29]
In buying mostly American goods,
Washington showed the utmost support for the new nation, demonstrating that
they need not depend on Europe for high quality items. Not only were the States
independent, but were in better condition than many European countries,
particularly France, that were descending into civil war. This put the new
country on a strong foot in their first steps as a fully independent nation.
In
addition to military general, politician, and president, Washington was
foremost an agriculturalist. In addition to purchasing goods in the States to
aid the economy, he used his farming innovations to avoid reliance on importing
goods from foreign countries and to encourage advances in land cultivation.[30]
He gave America’s sustainable gardeners a way to recycle their food scraps by
being the first to develop a compost heap to enrich the soil for his crops.
Washington was so pleased with the results that he started a “dung repository”
to add to the compost, and held the method in such high regard as to compare
manure to gold: “ When I speak of a knowing Farmer, I mean one… Midas like, one
who can convert everything he touches into manure, as the first transmutation
towards Gold…”[31] He was also
the first to use mules in farming, although he did rely on horses to process
wheat. In order to make this process faster and more efficient, Washington
designed and built a 16-sided barn for threshing wheat. It was an innovation in
American agricultural architecture, and demonstrated his desire for efficiency
in all things. In regards to this crop, he famously said that, “I hope, some
day or another we [The United States] shall become a storehouse and granary for
the world.”[32] Washington
also developed a seven-year plan for crop rotation, which would prolong the
usability of soil. Some crops would render soil fallow, but then the plan would
call for a crop in that section that would regenerate and heal the soil. This
way, most sections of land could be used for seven years rather than two or
three.[33]
He truly believed that America was the future of agriculture, and that
agriculture was America’s future. America would be as independent as possible,
and would not longer need to rely on England or any other country for means of
survival.
Food
is not simply a means of survival, but a way of life. One’s culinary choices
can tell a great deal about one’s life, given it is generally an activity taken
part in multiple times a day, every day. What Washington’s plate shows is a man
who grew up cherishing British cuisine, but learned to experiment and try new
options to honor his political ideals in fostering a new nation. He was a
member of the elite class and held the power to influence cultural change, and
in doing so his family brought us American favorites such as pancakes, bacon,
coffee and hot chocolate, fresh fish, and many others. Although he never fully
broke away from his childhood tastes, Washington strove to create a new
atmosphere both for political reasons and as a result of a new world of
ingredients.
[1] Mary V.
Thompson, “’Served up in excellent order’
Everyday Dining at Mount Vernon,” in Dining With The Washingtons, ed. Stephen A. McLeod (Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 2011), 37., David DeWitt, Founding Foodies: How
Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine (Naperville: Sourcebooks Inc., 2010), Karen Hess, Martha
Washington’s Booke of Cookery (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1995), James E. McWilliams, A Revolution
in Eating (New York: Columbia University
Press, 2005), Waverley Root and Richard de Rochemont, Eating in
America (New York: William Morrow and Co.,
Inc, 1976).
[2] “George
Washington to Bryan Fairfax, 20 July 1774”, The Papers of George Washington
Digital Edition, ed. Theodore Crackel
(Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2008).
[3] Sandra L.
Oliver, Food in Colonial and Federal America (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005), 84.
[4] “Diary
Entry, July 14, 1774” The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, 1774-1777, ed. Lincoln MacVeagh (New York, 1924), 27-28.
[5] Root and
Rochemont, Eating in America, 98-99.
[6] McWilliams, A
Revolution in Eating, 280.
[7] Hess, Martha
Washington’s Booke of Cookery, 7.
[8] Hess, Martha
Washington’s Booke of Cookery, 7.
[9] Thompson, “’Served
Up In Excellent Order’ Everyday Dining at
Mount Vernon,” 38.
[10] George
Washington, Farewell Address (1769),
OpenLibrary.org, 27.
[11] “To Tench
Tilghman, 17 August 1785,” The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition.
[12] Carol
Bourchert Cadou, “’An excellent table’ The Art of Dining at Mount Vernon,” Dining with the Washingtons, 62.
[13] “Abigail
Adams to Mrs. William Stephens Smith, 9 August 1789,” New Letters of Abigail
Adams 1788-1801, ed. Stewart Mitchell
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1947) 19.
[14] Mount
Vernon Ladies’ Association, “Coffee pot,” eMuseum, George Washington’s Mount
Vernon Estate, Museums & Garden, http://tinyurl.com/c75ksup. (accessed 2
May 2013).
[15] Thompson,
“’Served Up In Excellent Order’ Everyday
Dining at Mount Vernon,” 32.
[16] Food and
Drink in America, ed. Andrew F. Smith (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004),
704.
[17] Patricia
Brady, lecture for “George Washington & His World,” The George Washington
University, 8 April 2013.
[18] DeWitt, Founding
Foodies, 80.
[19] Cadou, “’An
excellent table’ The Art of Dining at Mount Vernon,” Dining with the Washingtons, 70.
[20] Food and
Drink in America, ed. Andrew F. Smith
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 43.
[21] Nancy
Carter Crump, “The Recipes,” Dining with the Washingtons, 172.
[22] DeWitt, Founding
Foodies, 78.
[23] Thompson, “’Served
up in excellent order’ Everyday Dining at
Mount Vernon,” Dining with the Washingtons, 52.
[24] “Diary
Entry, 18 August 1785,” The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition.
[25] “Letter to
Doddridge Pitt Chichester and Daniel McCarty Chichester, 25 April 1799,” The
Papers of George Washington Digital Edition.
[26]
“Experiencing Mount Vernon: Eyewitness Accounts, 1784-1865,” ed. Jean B. Lee
(University of Virginia Press, 2006), 91.
[27] Dennis J.
Pogue, “Drink and Be Merry: Liquor and Wine at Mount Vernon,” Dining with
the Washingtons, 106.
[28] Paul Leland
Haworth, George Washington: Farmer,
Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11858/11858-h/11858-h.htm,
266.
[29] “Letter to
Lafayette, 19 January 1789,” The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition.
[30] DeWitt, Founding
Foodies, 75.
[31] “Letter to
George William Fairfax, 30 June 1785,” The Papers of George Washington
Digital Edition.
[32] DeWitt, Founding
Foodies, 85.
[33] “Rotation
of Crops for Dogue Run, 1793,” The Papers of George Washington Digital
Edition.
