Study history with the Food Timeline!

Here's a fascinating way to supplement your history studies with the kids.  The Food Timeline is a web site that offers a timeline from prehistoric times (with foods including salt, oysters, mushrooms, eggs and millet) to present, listing not just the foods that were eaten but offering links to recipes, articles and more.

Did you know that tofu was already in America in 1769?  Bejamin Franklin, a vegetarian, wrote about it in a letter in 1770, when he wrote:

"I send.. some Chinese Garavances, with Father Navaretta's account of the universal use of a cheese made of them, in China… Some runnings of salt (I suppose runnet) is put into water when the meal is in it, to turn it to curds. I think we have Garavances with us; but I know not whether they are same with these, which actually came from China, and are what the Tau-fu is made of."

(Note: It is believed that garavances may have been garbanzo beans, and tau-fu was an earlier spelling of tofu.)

Find out when haggis was introduced, what amonia cookies were and who probably really invented the hot dog and when, plus tons more.

The site says:

Ever wonder what foods the Vikings ate when they set off to explore the new world? How Thomas Jefferson made his ice cream? What the pioneers cooked along the Oregon Trail? Who invented the potato chip...and why?

What would have been served for Thanksgiving in Minnesota in 1877?  According to the historic "Buckeye Cookery" by Estelle Woods Wilcox of Minneapolis:

"Thanksgiving Dinners. --Oyster soup; boiled fresh cod with egg sauce; roast turkey, cranberry sauce; roast goose, bread sauce or currant jelly; stuffed ham, apple sauce or jelly; pork and beans; mashed potatoes and boiled onions, salsify, macaroni and cheese; brown bread and superior biscuit; lobster salad; pressed beef, cold corned beef, tongue; celery, cream slaw; watermelon, peach, pear, or apple sweet-pickles; mangoes, cucumbers, chow-chow, and tomato catsup; stewed peaches or prunes; doughnuts and ginger cakes; mince, pumpkin, and peach pies; plum and boiled Indian puddings; apple, cocoa-nut or almond tarts; vanilla ice-cream; old- fashioned loaf cake, pound cake, black cake, white perfection cake, ribbon cake, almond layer cake; citron, peach, plum, or cherry preserves; apples, oranges, figs, grapes, raisins, and nuts; tea and coffee."

You can find out what foods would have been served in 1700 BC at a Mesopotamia banquet, during the time of Columbus or when Shakespeare was alive.  You can also learn how traditional dishes were typically prepared, from English Trifle to Hasty Pudding to Kimchi to Cock-a-leekie.

This fun web site is a wonderful way to add some fun to history, social studies and even dinner!