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Menus From History: George Washington
What did America’s first president eat for dinner?
There is much fuss made about American presidents. Everything they do is examined then reexamined ad nauseam. What did they wear? What did they write in their journals? Who did they correspond with? Yet, despite all of that what they ate is rarely discussed with such vigor.
Food has evolved, and continues to evolve, abreast of technology. As technology begins to rapidly progress and change, so too has what is served on the tables of people throughout history. Despite everyone needing to eat daily, or nearly daily, the history of our leaders meals has been largely ignored.
These thoughts got me thinking… What did George Washington eat on a typical day?
Not Gourmet
One of the most remarkable things about how the Washington’s dined, was how unremarkable it truly was. Despite having thousands of letters, documents, journals and other writings from the time, people rarely mention the dinners they had with Washington other than to say that they had attended. Very few mentions of the menus, presentation or food are ever made.
