Which ethnic foods?

[major bill]

If a Civil War soldier got in a time machine and came to 2016, what would they think of the various ethic foods? Most Civil War soldier would have found the foods add tasting. What would they think of:
1.Thai foods?
2. Chinese food?
3. Ethiopian foods?

Most of us eat these all the time, but I have a Thai restaurant that a Civil War soldier if he ate there would probably be sure they were trying to set his stomach on fire.

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

With all the "hybrid" vegetables (which to me have no taste) in restaurants today, and various chemicals (monosodium-glutamate, etc) in foods, I'd bet a CW soldier would not recognize that KFC is supposed to be "Fried Chicken"! Would a Texas soldier say Taco Bell tasted as good as he used to get back home??
As to more "exotic" foods like Thai, you raise a very interesting question! A fellow from Louisiana might enjoy Thai food!

 

[LoriAnn]

The one and only time I tried Indian food didn't go well. I felt burning in my stomach for hours afterwards. Never again.

I have no idea what the dietary heat tolerance was of the average era citizen. If they had more bland diets, I would definitely steer them away from the hot stuff.

I'd wait to see how long it would take them to fall in love with pizza.

 

[donna]

Great question. I would think some of these foods might be different to them but I think many would acquire taste for them.

 

[nitrofd]

I think they would have found a big difference in citrus foods.the oranges and lemons and grapefruits of the mid 19th century are totally different from what we have today.they were just beginning to start the grafting of different type of citrus together to get what we have today.what they had back may have been good to there taste but today we would probably feed it to livestock.

 

[Mr. King]

With all the "hybrid" vegetables (which to me have no taste) in restaurants today, and various chemicals (monosodium-glutamate, etc) in foods, I'd bet a CW soldier would not recognize that KFC is supposed to be "Fried Chicken"! Would a Texas soldier say Taco Bell tasted as good as he used to get back home??
As to more "exotic" foods like Thai, you raise a very interesting question! A fellow from Louisiana might enjoy Thai food!

There is a great misconception that cajun and creole food is all hot. Some HAPPENS to be hot, and 90% of it is considered spicy to an extent, but what really ties Louisiana food together is the use of the "Holy Trinity", i.e. bell pepper, celery, and onion. When you mix those 3 things together in a dutch oven with a little bacon fat and canola oil..... dear Lord that is a heavenly smell.
Being raised in Louisiana, and having lived "abroad" for about 12 years or so now, I've seen a lot of restaurants advertise cajun food, only to see it be something with Old Bay sprinkled all over it. I came to a point several years back of only ordering cajun food when I know the cook. I've been disappointed too many times.
I ended up learning how to make it myself. That's the best thing that could happen. My gumbo is a travesty. I'm very ashamed of it. But my Jambalaya and Red Beans & Rice... IMO, they can't be beat.

 

[jackt62]

Ethnic food or not, the food that was produced, grown and consumed in the 19th century was probably tastier and more natural than the highly processed, chemical infused, and frozen foods that make up much of our current diet. Of course, this statement would not apply to the CW soldier's diet of hardtack and salted pork.

 

[Mr. King]

We can bash modern technologically advanced foods all we want, but let's not forget that these people, prior to, and after the ACW, consumed massive amount of smoked and salted food.
They may have had 100% heirloom vegetables and organic meats, but their methods of preservation were not really any better, and I'd say worse than ours.

Look at how many generals suffered from weird stomach ailments like dyspepsia. Jackson, Ewell, Bragg, Mahone, Beauregard, and those are just a few that I can think of. I imagine a nexium would solve a few of their problems, but the high sodium content was very bad for someone with acid reflux.

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

Certain cities that received larger quantities of immigrants were already somewhat familiar with international cuisine. For instance trade between the Pacific Coast area of California during the Gold Rush years from the Canton area of China produced a number of what were initially eateries for Chinese laborers (from railroad, mining, etc.), but became popular with American workers as well. While massive waves of Italian immigrants came in the second half of the 19th century bringing Italian food with them, there were some Italians immigrating before the years of the Civil War and spreading their tasty cooking around NYC.

As a side note, British people would have been familiar with Indian cuisine long before it became popular in America. I remember a scene in Vanity Fair wherein Becky Sharp consumes a curry dish not realizing how spicy it was. So, while the average ACW soldier probably never had anything as exotic as Chop Suey in the 1860's, some may have had the opportunity to indulge in something exotic by 19th century standards.

 

[Mr. King]

I have often wondered if someone from the 1860s would even recognize most of what we eat or drink today.
Obviously, no sodas, and I do not think they drank sweet tea. Beer required refrigeration to an extent, so though they were knowledgeable of it's existence, until the refrigerated rail car came along, I think only guys who were in somewhat close proximity to the brewery got to order a beer very often. I believe that milk, coffee, water, some sort of cider, wine, champagne, or whiskey would have been their customary drink order. Some of the more affluent guys might enjoy a mint julep or some other cocktail, but really on the cultured gentlemen would have known anything about that.

The ham we consume may look close to the same, but is probably much less salty, and a much better cut of meat than they were accustomed to. Their appetite for pork & beef was quite different from ours, i believe. Kidneys, brains, liver, tongue, heart, etc., those parts were not only palatable, they were down-right delicacies to some, if not, most men.

 

[diane]

We can bash modern technologically advanced foods all we want, but let's not forget that these people, prior to, and after the ACW, consumed massive amount of smoked and salted food.
They may have had 100% heirloom vegetables and organic meats, but their methods of preservation were not really any better, and I'd say worse than ours.

Look at how many generals suffered from weird stomach ailments like dyspepsia. Jackson, Ewell, Bragg, Mahone, Beauregard, and those are just a few that I can think of. I imagine a nexium would solve a few of their problems, but the high sodium content was very bad for someone with acid reflux.

I can't imagine what would upset the stomachs of those generals! But they didn't complain much of that before or after the war (except Stonewall, who may have had native critters in his guts from the water in his childhood region), and many developed migraines during or after the war. Salt peter, for example, was sometimes added to preserved meats - yikes!

Interestingly, not to go off topic, but the taste and make-up of agricultural items was very different then - wheat, corn, etc. I happened to be reading an article by a beerologist - yes, there are such professors - who was reconstructing ancient and near past beer recipes. One problem was getting the exact type of wheat and hops used - when using modern varieties the beer tasted far, far different. In 1850, the beer had a very different flavor than that of today. We probably would not like their beer and they would not like ours!

 

[Mr. King]

I can't imagine what would upset the stomachs of those generals! But they didn't complain much of that before or after the war (except Stonewall, who may have had native critters in his guts from the water in his childhood region), and many developed migraines during or after the war. Salt peter, for example, was sometimes added to preserved meats - yikes!

Interestingly, not to go off topic, but the taste and make-up of agricultural items was very different then - wheat, corn, etc. I happened to be reading an article by a beerologist - yes, there are such professors - who was reconstructing ancient and near past beer recipes. One problem was getting the exact type of wheat and hops used - when using modern varieties the beer tasted far, far different. In 1850, the beer had a very different flavor than that of today. We probably would not like their beer and they would not like ours!

We opened and consumed a bottle of wine with my father-in-law a while back that was bottled in Portugal in 1906. It had a waxed cork, and the vineyard is still in business. Through email, they told my dad-in-law that if it had been properly stored, and the wax seal was intact, then we should open it and enjoy.
Well, we did and it was good. It was much cloudier than we are used to. And there was a bit of dark purple sediment at the bottom of my glass, but the flavor was awesome. I will not pretend that it was spectacular, but the novelty of drinking something over 100 years old... and enjoying it.... that was very neat. Just 2 - 4 oz glasses gave me a buzz, and I'm not usually a lush, so I think the alcohol content was higher than we are accustomed to.
It had a deep taste, it was cloudy, and it was once in a lifetime. I've felt privileged to drink it, and I kept thinking that 99.5% of the population will never have a chance to do that. I told him to sell it, but he said the value was surprisingly low.
I have the bottle at home. I'll post a picture later.

We are wayyyy off topic.

 

[Pat Young]

I read a while back that some Irish Brigade officers ate kebabs because they had served in Turkey during the Crimean War.0

 

[major bill]

Wonder what they would think of the Ethiopian restaurant not using silverware. I think some people today are shocked when they share a large dish with everyone eats with no silverware.

 

[major bill]

Also would like to see them use chopsticks. Maybe just poke the meat and not pick it up. I remember eating soup and then ice cream with chocolate topping both with chopsticks. The poor JAG major I ate was not good with chopsticks and made a mess on his shirt.

 

[Aussie Billy Sherman]

Very interesting what if question

 

[E_just_E]

This is a pretty good read on ethnic foods in America, with links to digitized full-text cookbooks. Almost all of the books listed in that section are from later years.

Also, this is a good list of 1840-1859 cookbooks (again with links to digitized full text.)
(Warning: The world "Domestic" in the titles does not mean "the opposite of International", but "of Housekeeping".)

As far as the OP goes, there are so many different foods in those cuisines that some of them might have tasted familiar. eg. Roasted whole fish recipes in modern Thai & Chinese cuisine, other than some spices like sesame oil would not be that much different that what they were used to. Chinese-american egg foo-young, is totally something that they would have eaten as well. As far as Ethiopian food goes, there is a dish called Gomen Kitfo, that is practically stewed collard greens with added cottage or farmer's cheese. Totally ACW-era palate.

Not sure that they would eat boiled chicken feet (chinese dim-sum) but maybe. If they were hungry. The spectrum of a particular ethnic cuisine is very wide and I am sure that there would be familiar and less familiar dishes in any kind of cuisine...

 

[major bill]

Most Americans can use chopsticks but to be honest, I have relatives that would not go to a Chinese restaurant, but if they did they would ask for spoon and fork.

 

[Mr. King]

Most Americans can use chopsticks but to be honest, I have relatives that would not go to a Chinese restaurant, but if they did they would ask for spoon and fork.

chop sticks are all part of the experience.

 

[Waterloo50]

A CW soldier would have enough trouble just trying to order a coffee,

CW Soldier: can I get a Coffee Please.
Barista: would that be a:Caffè Americano, Café Cubano, Espresso Romano, Ristretto, cappuccino, macchiato, mocha, a mocha with chocolate or a Caffè crema, we also have Antoccino, Breve, Café bombón, or a Cotador and do you want sprinkles with that.
CW Soldier, screw it, tea please.