The History of Garlic: From Medicine to Marinara

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Sarah Lohman

Garlick, from The Herbal by John Gerard, 1597.

I’ve got a guest post up on Books, Health and History, the New York Academy of Medicine’s blog, based on Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine. I’ll be speaking there on Monday, June 5, about the whole history of garlic (to read more about this lecture and to register, go HERE.) But in the meantime, this post is all about garlic’s connection to medicine:

Ms. Amelia Simmons gave America its first cookbook in 1796; within her pamphlet filled with sweet and savory recipes, she makes this note about garlic: “Garlickes, tho’ used by the French, are better adapted to the uses of medicine than cookery.” In her curt dismissal, she reflected a belief that was thousands of years old: garlic was best for medicine, not for eating. To add it to your dinner was considered the equivalent of serving a cough syrup soup.

You can the entire post, including some of garlic’s more dubious medical claims, here.

Mental Floss: Why Early America was Obsessed with Nutmegs

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Sarah Lohman

I’ve got a post up on Mental Floss, unwrapping the mystery of the wooden nutmeg!

Although today we’re primarily familiar with nutmeg as a powder that comes in little plastic bottles, it’s actually the pit of the fruit of a tree native to the Banda Islands of Indonesia. Throughout the 18th century, the Dutch controlled the Banda Islands, keeping nutmeg scarce and prices high in international markets. In America, where nutmeg was a popular flavor in 18th and early 19th century cooking, the spice was extraordinarily expensive—so expensive, unscrupulous vendors allegedly tried to replicate nutmegs in wood.

Read the whole story here!

And below, a visual step-by-step of making a wooden nutmeg.

Photos and nutmeg by Douglas Strich.

mental_floss: A Brief History of Sushi in the United States

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Sarah Lohman

A PLATE OF SUSHI IN THE 1970S, VIA GETTY IMAGES

I’ve got a new article up on mental_floss, and it digs up the history of sushi!

In the 1950s many Americans were somewhat resistant to Japanese food and culture, in part because they had lived through World War II and still perceived Japan as “the enemy.” But by the 1960s, the tide had started to turn: Food journalist and restaurant critic Craig Claiborne, writing for The New York Times dining section during that decade, was excited by international dining and kept tabs on the city’s numerous Japanese restaurants. He declared Japanese food a trend in New York after two establishments opened in 1963, noting that “New Yorkers seem to take to the raw fish dishes, sashimi and sushi, with almost the same enthusiasm they display for tempura and sukiyaki.” However, he admitted, “sushi may seem a trifle too ‘far out’ for many American palates”

Today, meeting friends for sushi is almost as American as going out for a beer and a pizza. It’s proof positive that when we leave our hearts—and plates—open to other cultures, good things often come of it. Find out how we became sushi lovers: I talk about America’s first sushi restaurants, the TV miniseries that made Americans obsessed with Japan, and how some “American-style” sushi rolls are making their way back across the ocean! Read more here.

Lapham’s Quarterly: Pie Fight

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Sarah Lohman

IMAGE: Marines stationed in North China participate in a pie-eating contest, c. 1941. Ray S. Robinson Collection (COLL/1940), U.S. Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections. CC by 2.0.

I’ve got an article up on Lapham’s Quarterly about the shocking history of pie eating contests:

Competitive eating contests have become common today, from the fictionalized pie-eating in the movie Stand by Me to the annual Fourth of July hot-dog-eating competition at Coney Island. Where these events came from and how they evolved over time—from masculine showdowns and competitions with racist overtones to family-friendly events—proved surprising.

Read the entire article here!