History Bites is a culinary history podcast. The host is Sarah Wassberg Johnson who works at Philipsburg Manor Hall and is a food culinary historian. History Bites uses academic research to explore and myth-bust food history with an emphasis on the Americas. The episodes that I listened to are about food eaten by pirates and apples in America. Johnson tells interesting stories about culinary history and the episodes are filled with fascinating facts!
In Eat Like a Pirate, Johnson describes foods and drinks that were most likely consumed by pirates. Being that many pirates were British sailors, she talks about the menu of the British navy in the 17th and 18th centuries. Some of the foods they ate were hardtack (hardened bread), salted beef and pork, oatmeal, and cheese. Beer rather than rum was drunk because of its abundance to lower classes and the high number of calories in it. An interesting fact is that cooks in the British navy (and persumably on pirate ships) often had injuries that prevented them from performing standard tasks and so they were given cooking duties.
The second episode I listened to was Apples in America. Johnson talks about how apples originated in Kazakhstan. They spread to Europe through the Silk Road and Europeans brought them to the American colonies. You learn about the origins of different types of apples, such as Red Delicious. She tells the true story of Johnny Chapman (Johnny Applespeed). Chapman planted apple trees throughout the American mid-West and is responsible for the growth of thousands of them. He was a vegetarian and animal lover that once put out a fire because it was killing mosquitoes.
Along with Johnson’s interesting history lessons, you are provided with recipes of historical dishes like apples and onions and applesauce. The interesting tales about these dishes will entice you to make them using the recepies described in the podcast. History Bites is a perfect podcast for anyone interested in culinary history.
Michael Walsh is an Adult Services Librarian at the Will Library. He is currently reading Once There Were Giants by Jerry Izenberg.