Tōshi Yoshida: Autumn in Hakone (1954)
Good evening, Kibitzers!
I hope everyone is set for the holiday, and not needing to travel in some of the exciting weather I’ve seen forecast for various parts of the country this week! Since I live downstairs from the rest of my immediate family now, it makes it a lot easier for them to come to dinner. We are likely to be dining on Friday, to accommodate everyone’s schedule, and I am fine with that, as it gives me additional time to get all my stuff done. It’s not like I was hoping to go out at 3 am that day and line up outside some big box store waiting for bargains.
Many of us have seen Max Miller's series, Tasting History, on YouTube. Here’s the channel — it's one of many that got going during the Covid lockdown. Max found enough devoted audience to allow him to quit his day job when his furlough ended, and continue exploring the history of food by researching and cooking from old and even ancient recipes.
Since there are, by now, a number of Thanksgiving-centered episodes, some of which I hadn't seen, I decided I'd pick some to post today — mostly desserts, but not all. I'm not planning to change my holiday menu just yet, but I must say that there are a few things in here I'd be tempted to try sometime.
In this early episode, we learn the history of pumpkin pie, from the time before it was the pumpkin custard pie we know today.
"Pumpion" Pie from 1670 | The History of Pumpkin Pie [16:02]
For some further history of pumpkins themselves, we have this episode featuring a simple pumpkin soup.
French Pumpkin Soup from the 17th Century [21:26]
That's probably enough about pumpkins! "Indian pudding" is a very old-school New England-y dessert, so called because it's made from "Indian corn".
Indian Pudding - America’s Forgotten Dessert [20:43]
For a different take on Thanksgiving dessert, here is a tasty-looking cranberry-apple pie from the abolitionist originator of the Thanksgiving holiday itself.
Civil War Cranberry Apple Pie for Thanksgiving [19:12]
Since we've had pecans for way longer than we've had Karo syrup, what was pecan pie like originally?
The History of Pecan Pie [14:23]
Max examines Thanksgiving dinner as served by the US Navy (and other service branches) to American service members worldwide during World War II.
A Military Thanksgiving during World War 2 [21:23]
This last one is for quarter incher: how did hot chocolate evolve into the form we enjoy today?
18th Century Spiced Hot Chocolate [19:28]
Before we go on to a bit of music; since we are all, as always, dining on land that doesn’t belong to us (enter your address at https://native-land.ca/ to find out whose land you occupy):
The Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project is an effort of the Wampanoag Nation to restore their ancestral language to active use. The Wampanoag are the people who lived in the part of what we call “New England” co-opted by Pilgrims, Puritans, and other people arriving from England in the early 17th century. It’s possible to donate to this project: there’s a DONATE button in the upper right of all the pages at that site, but it’s interesting to read about it in any case.
So, music! Chris Cornell covers Led Zeppelin’s Thank You on the Howard Stern Show in 2011. [4:44]
George Winston: Thanksgiving [4:06]
This is new this morning: guitarist Laszlo Buring plays the Rolling Stones’ Angie as a Dire Straits song. [4:07]
