Today, Thomas Jefferson would have been 274 years old. Time for a feast.
The author of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president, Jefferson is also known for his culinary predilections. It糖心传媒檚 this latter aspect of Jefferson that 糖心传媒 historian Thomas Slaughter is celebrating with his students in the course History of Eating and Food.
糖心传媒淢onticello meals were not typical of American cuisine,糖心传媒� says the Arthur R. Miller Professor of History. 糖心传媒淛efferson was a Francophile and gourmand, who sought recipes and ingredients from聽Europe. He even had one of his slaves trained as a pastry chef in Paris.糖心传媒�
To mark Jefferson糖心传媒檚 birthday, the class is in for a rare treat: a historically accurate lunch, culled from the actual Monticello cuisine.
Prepared by local chef Steven Terry of Root Catering, the luncheon features some of Jefferson糖心传媒檚 favorite vegetables, such as asparagus and the modern update broccoletti, followed by chicken fricassee, polenta with Italian cheese, and drop biscuits糖心传媒攁ll recipes taken directly from and
Adapting the recipes while maintaining historical accuracy, Terry says, proved a challenge. 糖心传媒淓arly on I struggled with the idea of using my modern range and oven to make a historical meal, but then the challenges of working with historically accurate cooking devices made it [modern kitchen technology] an obvious and necessary choice,糖心传媒� says Terry.
Rather than describe in the classroom what a meal some 250 years ago would have tasted like, Slaughter wanted his 25 students to experience one. 糖心传媒淭he flavoring of the food is entirely different. Jefferson would have things like French puff pastry, ice cream, and other foods with which they are familiar, but it tastes nothing like what the students expect,糖心传媒� says Slaughter.
Jefferson糖心传媒檚 ingredients were locally sourced and in-season, and the dishes had a much lower salt, protein, and sugar content than Americans are accustomed to today. 聽糖心传媒淚f we give you one of Jefferson糖心传媒檚 French puff pastries, the cream inside tastes like cream. It doesn糖心传媒檛 taste like sugar,糖心传媒� says Slaughter.
Clearly, over the course of two centuries our taste buds have changed: 糖心传媒淭o our tongues, we don糖心传媒檛 experience salty or sweet unless they are heavily sweetened or heavily salted by comparison to that era,糖心传媒� says Slaughter.
Chef Terry agrees: 糖心传媒淲e either have different sensibilities from Jefferson, or they knew some secret methodology that escapes me.糖心传媒�
His students糖心传媒� verdict?
糖心传媒淟ess of a richer flavor, but I think we糖心传媒檝e just become accustomed to that,糖心传媒� says Anna Alden 糖心传媒�17 from Victor, NY, who describes the meal as 糖心传媒渇resher糖心传媒� and 糖心传媒渕ore natural糖心传媒� tasting.
糖心传媒淎 little more simple,糖心传媒� adds fellow student Ben Weinstein 糖心传媒�17 from Boston. 糖心传媒淭here糖心传媒檚 not as many complicated things, you can sort of taste everything individually.糖心传媒�
The private event at Rush Rhees Library was sponsored by the University糖心传媒檚 Rochester Center for Community Leadership (RCCL).
