12 Historic Meals (So We Can Taste The Past)

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12 Historic Meals (So We Can Taste The Past)

What did people eat on the Titanic? What was the first food eaten on the moon? Why do we even care? 

You are what you eat. Or at the very least, what you eat says a lot about you and your cultural context. Food is a necessary part of life, but often we don’t learn about food when we are taught about history. Learning about past food can be revealing, and at the very least humanize historical figures who seem “above” the petty mortal need to consume calories. It’s not often we think about Lincoln or MLK snacking on some carrots, but they obviously ate a lot of food within their lifetimes. 

For that reason, we selected 12 historical meals that give us insight into the time, ranging from extravagance to horror. How we feed the people we oppress shows how we view their humanity. How we celebrate with food can show how we value our own humanity.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles' Wedding Reception

Princess Di had a chicken dish named after her to celebrate her wedding to Prince Charles Keeping with a weird English monarch tradition, Princess of Wales chicken supreme was fed to 120 guests. The meal also included brill in lobster sauce, cream of corn, butter beans, and strawberries with cream. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Source: Huffington Post

The Titanic's Last Meal

The last menus from the Titanic survived The night before the Titanic sunk, first-class passengers enjoyed a ten-course meal including lamb with mint sauce, poached salmon, filet mignons, foie gras, and roasted squab. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Source: Delish

Ashurnasirpal's Palace Inauguration Banquet

Ashurnasirpal Il's inauguration banquet included 20,000 jars of beer and wine The fearsome king of Assyria threw a ten-day rager, including 1,000 fattened head of cattle, 1,000 calves, 10,000 sheep, 15, 000 lambs, 500 stags, 500 gazelles, 10,000 doves, and 1,000 ducks to name just a few. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Source: WorldHistory.org

Daily Life for People Enslaved by George Washington

George Washington did not give enough rations to enslaved people for survival Enslaved people at Mount Vernon were only provided a quart of cornmeal and 5-8 ounces of salted fish per day. In order to receive enough nurtrition for forced hard labor, they tended gardens, foraged, and hunted wild animals in their precious time not working for Washignton. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Source: Mount Vernon 

The Uneaten Dinner the Night of MLK's Assassination

On the night of his assassination, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s friends prepared a soul food meal for him MLK loved traditional home-cooked Southern food and was looking forward to a dinner served by Gwendolyn Kyles, the wife of Rev. Billy Kyles. She had set out to get all of the soul food we could find after MLK joked that she better serve real soul food. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Source: Memphis Magazine

Barack Obama's Inauguration Meal

Barack Obama's inauguration meal was inspired by Lincoln's era 230 guests ate a seafood stew, a winter vegetable medley, duck, and pheasant, with a cinnamon apple sponge cake to finish. The Obama team asked for comfort food that wasn't too elaborate. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Source: The Guardian 

Lincoln's Inauguration Ball Buffet

Lincoln had a 250- foot-buffet table at his inauguration The menu included oysters, roast beef, veal, venison, lobster salad, duck, and endless varieties of cake. A ticket to his ball cost $10 (and admitted three). A great deal, if you ask us. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Source: Smithsonian

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