The Founding Foodies: American Meals that Wouldn't Exist Today If Not For Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin

by Dave DeWitt

Ever wonder how certain foods came to be such huge staples of American culinary history? In this fascinating mashup between history book and cook book, one of America's Founding Fathers could be at the source! Food writer Dave DeWitt entertainingly describes how some of America's most famous colonial leaders—like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin—not only established America's political destiny, but also revolutionized the very foods we eat. Beyond their legacy as revolutionaries and politicians, the Founding Fathers of America were first and foremost a group of farmers. Like many of today's foodies, they ardently supported sustainable farming and ranching, exotic imported foods, brewing, distilling, and wine appreciation. Explore their passion for the land and the bounty it produced through an intriguing narrative, sprinkled with recipes that showcase their love of food and the art of eating that would ultimately become America's diverse food culture. Features over thirty authentic colonial recipes,

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Food, Food and Drink, American History, Foodie, Historical

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1984

About the author

The New York Times calls this author "The Pope of Peppers" and TV viewers recognize Dave DeWitt as the ever-affable chile pepper expert and organizer of Albuquerque's huge annual National Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show. Dave is also the author of more than 40 food related books, including the best-selling "The Complete Chile Pepper Book," "The Southwest Table," and the forthcoming "Growing Medical Marijuana."
National TV appearances include "American Journal," Cable News Network, "The Today Show," "Home with Gary Collins," "Scientific American Frontiers," "Smart Solutions," and "CBS Sunday Morning." He has also been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, American Way, Smithsonian, and approximately 200 newspapers across the country.
Now, the world's authority on the Southwest's hottest food turns his attention to New Mexicos most compelling and legendary historical figures--the rag-tag group of Apache warriors led by an elderly gentleman set on avenging the death of Victorio--and those who pursued them, the officers and buffalo soldiers of the U.S. Army's Ninth Cavalry as told in Dave's novel "Avenging Victorio."
The people, the story and the settings are real; DeWitt poured through endless documentation in the form of military records, old photos, newspaper clippings, letters and other correspondence to piece together the facts. Then, drawing on his background as a university professor of composition and literature-- plus his almost uncanny grasp and sensibility of Apache customs, traditions, rituals (and humor) -- DeWitt has woven a fast-paced and engaging saga. Click here for more information."

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting overview of some of the contributions to American cuisine by people like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. Contains a few colonial recipes.

[Dorrit · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Founding Foodies is one part history, one part cookbook, one part travel guide, and one part bibliography. Unfortunately it does none of them well (ok - to be fair, I didn't read the bibliography carefully - maybe it does that well). The history section rambles somewhat incoherently and tries to cover far too many people for the brief space making it hard to grasp much about the topic. The cookbook section presents a collection of modernized recipes for colonial dishes. It is roughly as coherent as the history section and the recipes are poorly written. The travel guide section is, perhaps, the best of the three. It does, at least, present an intelligible list of key colonial sites which might be of interest to people interested in food. All in all, you can probably do better.

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and insightful read into the traditions and diversity of American cuisine in the founding days of this great country. Many different recipes, classical, and tweaked for modern days are all a part of this "cookbook". It reads half biographical half entertaining thought provoker, but it is still a great book for any "foodie".

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars because I really enjoyed this. I had to take a half pt. off because it focused way more on beverages than food, and it could have used one more edit. Anything about the founding fathers, and that generation though, is tops with me, especially after watching Hamilton 3 times :)

[Nini Villanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, this book was VERY interesting, but it was poorly written, and I would venture to say questionably researched. The author seems to have done his primary research on wikipedia and then backed himself up by doing follow-up research afterwards. In addition to poor research, the author begins chronologically, but then begins jumping around as the book continued. I do want to play around with the recipes, which look interesting and worth a try (do I smell a dinner party coming up?)

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look at early food and drink in America but a bit rambling at times.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE THIS BOOK! Must read for anyone who interested in the history of food in the U.S.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The historical part of this book (the vast majority of it) was fascinating. I found the recipes included at the end underwhelming, but I might also be spoiled by the James Townsends & Son Youtube channel which has amazing videos about accurately recreating food from this time period. I wouldn't go to this book if you're looking to cook, but if you want a great historical read on how a number of folks shaped America's food history, this is it. The writing was easy-to-read and engaging.

[Jasmin Chua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful; warning: do not read on an empty stomach.

[Coleen Dailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an easy read and combined two things I really love - history and food. It reveals a lot about how certain foods became "american" as well as some historical background as to the why. No Jefferson did not invent ice cream, but his recipe is included which makes the book all the more fun. There is also a listing of restaurants and places to visit. Of the five restaurants listed, I have eanted and 3 and loved each one. Enjoy or perhaps Bon appetit!

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read 2022

Used for research for a history paper. Part history book and part cookbook it had some great information.

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

The topic should be interesting, but it is impossible to trust this author with anything resembling historical facts. Published in 2010, long after facts he smooths over were well established, he panders to the tale of first father glory, while shamefully ignoring or infantalizing the human beings who did the cooking. A few lines to underscore my frustration:

"France adhered to the freedom principle, which held that anyone who set foot on French soil, even a slave from another country, was free. [James] Hemings however, knew the limitations of being black anywhere and, as he worked for the kindly Jefferson, decided there was to need to run away." (pages 106-107)

"Note: Comparative dollar values here and following are extremely approximate."

Even math is just made up to suit the author's whim.

[Patricia Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

bought this book at the Monticello book store after a visit to that location. our guide said that Jefferson introduced ice cream, mac n cheese and french fries to the American diet. this book does not exactly confirm this, but said that he was open to new foods especially during his job in Paris. he had one of his slaves come with him and paid for his french food education in order to do that for him upon his return to Virginia. more impressed with George Washington as he was a farmer with methods used to keep his farm solvent. sounds like he had a green thumb with his plantings and business practices. Ben Franklin said that good times went along with good drink so encouraged wine and other alcoholic beverages.

Miss you Matt

[Apryl Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting survey of colonial American agriculture and culinary habits. It makes me want to visit each of the historic homes for more in-depth study, and I celebrate the American living-museum culture! I've found the curators to be so engaged and engaging—something that few European curators seem to have mastered, although that's happily changing away from traditional Ivory Tower lordship of knowledge.

The recipes presented are also an overview of the wealth that is available to those who google. Project Gutenberg, for instance, offers...oh look, it's lunchtime!

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be very badly organized and very chaotically written. The facts about American cuisine were interesting but DeWitt likes (rightly so I think) to contextualize changes in food and agricultural practices with the political and social scene at the time and he gets A LOT of basic facts wrong. Nothing that seems major to the larger story he's telling but it certainly bothered me and it calls into question his research skills. I was not very impressed by this book.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a basic - here's interesting vignettes about how colonial era Americans eat with a profoundly Jefferson-centric point of view from the author who went to UVA and obviously reveres Jefferson. Readable. Not sure I would recommend it to others since I'm in the middle of a BUNCH of food history books, and this feels more like a collection of interesting facts. But it also wasn't bad. It just wasn't what I wanted to sink my teeth into.

[Matthew McDonough · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliantly fresh take on some historical figures that likely seem old and dusty to so many. When I was dreaming of becoming a history teacher, this book inspired me to think outside the box in regard to creating a cross-curriculum program to help bring history to life.

[Janet Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book and American revolution is my favorite part of American History- especially Jefferson and life at Monticello. I actually made the macaroni and spinach bake for dinner. Very good!

[Tarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little drier than I like my histories, but some fun facts and recipes that I look forward to trying out.

[Sarah Logan-Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read about the food culture

[Tippi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book club book, though I didn’t make it to the meeting. A bit disjointed, never really got into it. Might have enjoyed it more after a discussion.

[Mert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun easy read about food in Colonial times with a trove of modernized recipes at the end. The amount of booze!

[Donna Covell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book - love the recipes from this time in history - learned a lot about these men and their contributions to farming, beer, wine, composting and farming tools.

[A. Czepyha · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love food and knowing where it comes from, you will love this book.

[Christina]

This book could have benefitted from some stronger organization- at times it read like a first draft, and the story skipped around a bit. That being said, I thought this was an enjoyable read and I learned a lot about the Founding Fathers and their food habits. I always find culinary histories to be incredibly interesting (my all time favorite is still A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression) and I never knew about most of what this book covers, like Jefferson's numerous attempts to grow European varietals of wine or the lavish, extensive dinner parties the Washingtons threw at Mount Vernon. I appreciated that the author included a lot of original recipes from the period, too, and modernized a good amount to make them a bit easier for readers to make.

[Lindsey Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining look at the early history of food in America and the Founding Fathers who were greatly influential in its development, this book was full of delightful information. The period recipes, presented verbatim, are fun to read - and definitely give you an appreciation for modern cookbooks, because I would hate to try to follow one. Be aware that book is perhaps mistitled; the first segment of it (a significant portion of the book) is not so much about founding foodies as it is about the early economy, necessity and evolution of food, from the explosion of the pepper trade in Salem to the duties of the baker-general of George Washington's army.

This is not a general history book - it is an in-depth analysis of American eating, and includes a lot of elements we often take for granted nowadays, such as the requirements imposed by geography and the creation of a national identity. The chapters that focus specifically on Washington and Jefferson are really well-balanced, providing a general sense of their lives and historical high-points, while keeping the focus on the real star on the story: the cuisine.

For me, where this book falls down is the translation of recipes at the end of the book. The author has attempted to modernize the recipes, but the result seems half-hearted at best, both in the product and the methodology used to arrive at these interpretations. To be honest, I would have been perfectly content - might have even enjoyed it better - to have another few chapters, looking at some of the other early culinarians, rather than the recipes. This kind of a project really requires an entire book to itself - perhaps even for each individual region (for instance, New England fare versus Jefferson's Virginia), never mind the whole Revolutionary landscape; it's not really suited to be squashed into 46 pages.

Still, as a reading book rather than a recipe book, highly recommended. If you love the story behind the food, this is for you.

[Julieann Wielga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jefferson and Franklin traveled widely traveleld widely in Europe. They brought home ideas about unusual foods. Jefferson was a gardener and fascinated by the science of plants. He tried many non-native plants in america such as Olive Trees. He was a huge fan of wine. He had his half brother-in-law, James Hemmings, as his cook in Paris. James become a honored Parisian cook and brought the knowledge of how to make these delicassies, sauses to America. Jefferson as governor and president hosted generous dinner parties as part of his role as politicain. Washington traveled less, but was a tremendous farmer. He experimented with different crops as to which would give the greatest profit. He made mills to grind the grain....

A small aside was how the author dealt with the question of what both Washington and Jefferson did with their cooks. Washington's well known and accomplised chef ----Washington escaped from the plantation, and to Washington's dismay was never heard from again. Jefferson's cook James, returned to slave status when he returned to America with Jefferson. He eventually became an alcoholic and committed suicide.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out with the promise of being a good, if not great, food anthropology of early America. Not well written, but maintained by a subject of interest to me and providing expansion on things I had already studied. Unfortunately it turned into a complete breakdown of disorganization and repetition. Just when I reached the point where I felt I could no longer continue I happily discovered that the last 125 pages are recipes, bibliography, travel recommendations (do you really need to tell someone that would buy this book they should visit Monticello?) and index. Thank goodness, because the idea of forcing my way through even 50 more pages of DeWitts writing just made me want to stick the thing on a shelf somewhere, perhaps as a reference for the next time I wanted authentic grog. If this hadn't been engaging, despite the poor writing for the first 2 chapters it definitely would have only garnered 1 star. Although, had it not sucked me in for those first 60 pages, I doubt I would have continued for the next 100, and I don't review books I don't finish.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this book in the gift shop of the National Archives during our recent trip to Washington, DC. It intrigued me as I am now in the food banking world and I am a history buff.

The subtitle of the book, "How Washington, Jefferson and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine", pretty well summarizes what the book is about. The author focused much more on Washington and Jefferson than Franklin as they both were also experimental farmers whereas Franklin was not.

The book is filled with colonial recipes for all types of food and drink. DeWitt starts with the early English settlements and moves through Jefferson's lifespan. I found it interesting the role that pigs (hogs), cod, salt and pepper all played in the development of food in our country along with assisting a flourishing economy at that time.

The book is a quick read and interesting from a "foodie" point of view. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in early american history and what types of food they ate and how it was prepared.