[Thomas Slaughter] The class I'm teaching this spring is
"The History of Eating and Food".
So, we're looking at issues in
sustainability and nutrition and cuisine
and food preparation and in food distribution.
[Steven Terry] So, the signature items are
it's really a chicken wine and mushroom dish.
[Thomas Slaughter] To celebrate Thomas Jefferson's
birthday we're having the special lunch
catered by a chef who's using recipes
from Monticello during
Thomas Jefferson's lifetime.
[Steven Terry] Mace and nutmeg to me are something you put on coffee or a
cookie once a year whereas mixing it in
with a white chicken dish really brought
out the creamy flavor and is very good.
[Thomas Slaughter] One of the reasons I like the
students to sample this food is to
experience the ways in which the
flavoring of food is entirely different
[Louis Herman] I bit into this and there was a
little less salt than I expected, but it's good.
[Anna Alden] Definitely fresher and more natural.
[Ben Weinstein] I think it's a little more simple. You can taste everything individually.
[Thomas Slaughter] Our tongues we
don't experience sweet or salty unless
they are heavily sweetened or heavily
salted by comparison to that era.
[Ben Weinstein] It was super fresh and flavorful. It's a nice change
from the normal dining experiences on campus.
[Anna Alden] I would definitely say, I think
it's a lot less salt. A little bit less
of like a richer flavor, but I think we've
just become accustomed to that now.
[Thomas Slaughter] Thomas Jefferson's house was probably
one of the very best places to eat in
the whole country. So, if you were there
this time of year, April, you'd probably
get asparagus because this is the time
of year that asparagus was available.
Lots of root vegetables. Two-thirds of
the plate would be vegetables. A very
small portion of protein.
[Steven Terry] One of the interesting things about the difference
is the use of, well, they would have been
exotic spices. Emphasis on things like
mace, vanilla, nutmeg, things that are
available only through long distance
Atlantic trade at the time.
[Thomas Slaughter] The premise of the class is that food has been
essential not just the survival of human
beings but to the development of human
culture and that those two things are
deeply and
almost inextricably combined. So, this is
something that we can talk to the
students about, but tasting it is
something that you can't duplicate in
any other way.
