A social history of oats in 17-18th century North American colonies.
The pottage they make is really interesting:
Pottage of chopped herbs: Mince, very fine- spinach, chives, parsley, marigold flowers, [chicory], strawberry and violet leaves. Stamp them with oatmeal in a bowl, pat chopped greens in with it: you may either put broth or water to them; if water, boil a good piece of butter in it; put [croutons] in the dish, and pour it over them.
It makes sense as a cold weather survival food with the few crops that would survive winter conditions in the US, but that’s such a wildly different flavour profile from any modern US regional cuisine. Marigold is only sold in foreign spice mixes, chicory is only a novelty coffee substitute, I didn’t even know violets were edible, and even savoury oatmeal is just a 2010s trend that fizzled immediately.
savoury oatmeal is just a 2010s trend that fizzled immediately.
Always thought this was a shame, savoury oatmeal is great and incredibly nourishing/comforting (as seen in this video)
They made the mistake of reintroducing a poverty food as a bourgeois treat that costs as much as a bourgeois meal. During the height of the modern fad, I never saw savoury oatmeal in a casual restaurant for an affordable price. It was always a $15+ dish at a shitty overpriced restaurant chasing every other trend. If I’m in a position to be buying an oat lunch, it should cost $5 at most to be on par with the most basic taco truck lunch.
Yeah, it’s remarkable how much foods are just arbitrarily decided to be luxury. Like how lobster used to be the food of prisoners and people in extreme poverty (think there’s another Townsends video about that, fittingly), or how caviar and sparkling white wine were available to anyone in the Soviet Union.
I don’t frequently eat oatmeal but I universally prefer it to have a savory profile
I make oat porridge frequently for breakfast and it’s always like stock, ginger, kimchi or similar. Always surprises me that people want sweet meals first thing in the morning.
Even just soy milk, oats, sesame oil, soy sauce, black vinegar, spring onion is a solid meal throws together in a few seconds with quick oats.
Oh hey it’s townsends.
They make me wish I lived near Indiana so I’d have a single reason to visit Indiana. Of all the living history channels I’ve always liked them the best.
It’s the channel I watch most for historical food content, especially when it gives me ideas of how people may have lived in the past on a micro scale, unlike tasking history which is more macro
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
