The Original Foodie

At the time of the American Revolution (around 1775) colonists were still eating a primarily British diet, consisting of meats, stews, puddings, bread, and sweets, with limited vegetables. Beer, ale, and cider were frequent beverages. For the more affluent, there was a port and a few liqueurs. After the death of Martha Jefferson in 1782, widower Thomas was given the appointment of "minister plenipotentiary" (your basic diplomat) by the newly formed U.S. Congress and dispatched to France. Thus began the life of a serious foodie, wine connoisseur and kitchen gadget aficionado (we're talking France, here, the country known for haute cuisine). There he discovered fine dining, olive oils, tasty mustards, succulent cheeses and pastries, all unique foods that were virtually unknown back within the Colonies. And he was hooked.

On his second trip to France, Jefferson took a young male slave with him for culinary training and returned range in 1789, bringing a number of his favorite delicacies with him, alongside 680 bottles of wine (wine connoisseur extraordinaire). He also brought home his newest gadget acquisitions, including the primary frozen dessert freezer, a cheese grater, and a pasta maker. Although unsuccessful in starting a sizeable vineyard for domestic wine production on his Monticello property, he was an enthusiastic gardener and horticulturist. alongside numerous vegetables familiar to the world, he introduced and successfully cultivated eggplant, okra, tomatoes, garlic, lima beans, peanuts, and hot and sweet peppers, all of which had previously been considered Mediterranean warm climate vegetables, virtually unknown to British diet. Over his lifetime, he experimented with organic gardening, developing new species and grafting fruit trees to supply flavorful fruits. He changed the landscape of gardens from colonial times forward. Historians estimate that he was liable for growing 330 sorts of vegetables and herbs, and 170 sorts of fruits.

Dinners at TJs included copious meats and fowl for his guests, but he preferred the bulk of his meal to contains many fresh vegetables from his garden, with many imported wines to scrub down everything. you wanted to get on his invite list. After a typical dinner at the White House or Monticello, one can only surmise that the gentlemen retreated to the library to imbibe in tobacco, cognac and maybe a couple of loud belches, then nodded off. the women retired to the parlor, where a number of them would have let loose a couple of notches on their corsets. Little wonder, with the outline one guest recorded in her diary as a "casual" dinner: a light-weight rice and bean soup, beef roast, turkey, lamb, ham, veal cutlets, fried eggs, macaroni, a spread of fresh vegetables, and a final course of pudding, fruit, cheeses and frozen dessert with sauce. amid many imported wines, of course. As a recognized gourmand, Jefferson frequently advised other luminaries and American presidents on menus for state dinners and helped enlighten chefs with proper preparation of his unique recipes.

We've Jefferson to thank for introducing America to a potpourri of latest dishes, with many ingredients fresh from his gardens: french-fried potatoes, peanuts, Johnny-cakes, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pudding, benniseed oil, fried eggplant, and people great American staples, catsup, pie and mac and cheese. He also introduced frozen dessert to astonished dinner guests. Combining Western European gardening with his unique Monticello cooking, he enjoyed merging different cuisines and experimenting with new vegetables and fruits. Fortunately for future generations, TJ frequently wrote down recipes during his European travels, also as recording menus and collaboration together with his chefs. His daughters and grandchildren preserved a number of those precious recipes for perpetuity.

Thomas Jefferson was an interesting man. A visionary, a gourmand, author, wine connoisseur, and Southern gentleman. One can only fantasize about what his dinner guests experienced. Was he alive today, there's no doubt he would have his show on TV's Food Network?