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The Hertzler Culinary History Prize was made possible by a generous gift to the Peacock-Harper Culinary History Committee. The gift was given to encourage the use and growth of the Culinary Collection. The Culinary History Committee was pleased to present the Culinary History Prize to two students during the Chef's Challenge.
* David Mouser graduated from Virginia Tech in May 2002 with a History and Political Science major. He will be entering law school this fall. David's paper was titled: "Elite America: 18th and 19th Century Cooking Practices."
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* Nick Rose graduated from Virginia Tech in May 2002 with a degree in Community Nutrition. Nick has been accepted into graduate school and will be pursuing a masters degree in Community Nutrition. Nick's paper was titled: "Coming Together: Virginia Foods, Festivals, and Communities."
Elite America: 18th and 19th Century Cooking Practices
For century's kings and queens held social gatherings and dinners parties of extravagant proportions. Naturally, since the colonies were under British control, and many colonists were originally born in Britain, the inhabitants knew of such gatherings. Even as the colonies became more established and rooted in their own ways, stories of royal galas continued to permeate the colonial shores. Eventually, as the colonies progressed and became an independent nation, a certain type of aristocracy formed of its own in the New World. Even though America was a democracy, a hierarchy still developed amongst the population. In most cases, the elite became enshrined through family connections either by business or marriage. In turn, by the time of American independence there were numerous families in the colonies that were synonymous amongst the public--the Adam's, Washington's, Carter's, Lee's, etc., but to name a few. In their own right, the American elite started to mirror their European counterparts. Elite families started to amass large quantities of land and host their friends and neighbors to large dinner parties. There were instances of this in Massachusetts, Georgia, and all points in-between. However, at the same time there was a distinct division amongst the elite; all of whom were on a level far above commoners. Harriet Horry was one such individual amongst the elite--yet there were still those who transcended those of their own class to a level of their own--the likes of John Adam's, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. In a sense, they were the best of the best.
At one end of elite life lay Harriet Pinckney Horry. The majority of cases during this time period found that the place of the woman to be in the kitchen. Mind you, Horry's place was not the equivalent of modern stereotypes of women in the kitchen that have carried over from the 1950s. Rather, a woman's duty was to manage the kitchen by overseeing the work done by the slaves. She may have cooked had she chosen to, but it was not her responsibility to do so. Instead, modern day stereotypes were reserved for black women who came to populate many of the kitchens in the south. (1) The proverbial "mammy" was the person who was actually in charge of the housework. It was mammy "who often ran the household, interceded with... parents..., [and] nursed..."(2) The role of the mammy emerged because of the large size of plantations and understaffing. Most plantations had a hierarchical system of power as, "authority descended downward from the master, to the overseer, to the slave driver."(3) In turn, "constant surveillance of slaves... was one of the most onerous of overseer's duties."(4) George Washington himself even expected one of his overseers to "remain constantly" on the plantation unless otherwise directed. However, since the majority of plantations were very large, the task of checking the whole plantation frequently made it difficult for the overseer to look over the house itself. Plus, the belief that a woman's place was believed to have been in the home contributed to the mammy being in charge of the household work, as well as the plantation mistress overseeing the slaves within the home while the overseers spent more time outside. Catherine Clinton reiterates this by stating that "Women administered food production, purchase, and distribution," and "although the overseer might have given some assistance in the barnyard, the critical food-production spheres were clearly those of 'women's work'." (5)
Not all homes during the period could have the same type and/or amount of labor or the same types of cooking ingredients available. It was in fact Horry's marital status that enabled her to start her cookbook and to have the lavish dishes that she would serve at her home. Harriet was initially married to Daniel Horry. Daniel Horry was already of an established South Carolina family, enriched with wealth and land in the form of rice plantations. Daniel Horry's family had been wealthy enough for him to claim several rice plantations to his name. Daniel Horry was also wealthy enough to have a summer home in Charles Town South Carolina.(6)
In due course, Harriet Horry would find herself alone after the death of her husband in 1785.(7) Now a widow, Horry took it upon herself, with the assistance of her mother, to take over full management of the plantations. This action by Horry was most certainly uncommon for her time and place &endash; even more so because she was a woman. As Catherine Clinton points out,
A Second marriage was not uncommon for widow or widower, especially one in reduced circumstances... while she might be fully capable of running the faming of the plantation, she could not publicly execute plantation affairs without a man's assistance; no woman could transact business without a male surrogate for court and legal proceedings.(8)
Despite these institutional stereotypes and patriarchal restrictions, Horry chose to take over her former husbands property and transactions. Probably the only reason that Horry was able to accomplish this was because of her background. In 1748, Horry was born a Pinckney by birth. She was the daughter of Charles Pinckney, an "attorney, prominent political leader, and... briefly the chief justice of South Carolina."(9) Even though her father and husband were dead, Horry most certainly looked to her two Uncles to help her transact her legal business. After all, the Pinckney name had become prominent in South Carolina.
The wealth of Daniel Horry allowed Harriet to have her kitchen and receipts. Being of a wealthy family, Horry had at her disposal more culinary resources than many residents did in her day. For instance, many of the recipes that Horry had "called for lavish use of butter, milk, and cream;" all showing the abundance of wealth with the Horry's since the average person could not afford such ingredients, let alone keep such ingredients longer than a day or two at best. Most common people did not have the privilege of frequently using such ingredients. According to writings by Reverend Deverux Jarratt, the food of the commoner was, "altogether the produced from the farm, or plantation, except a little sugar, which was rarely used..." there was also "...no use of tea or coffee for breakfast, or at any other time." Jarratt points out himself that he did not "know a single family that made use of [tea or coffee]." Another quotation from Jarratt reveals that, "Meat, bread and milk [were] the ordinary food of all [his] acquaintance..." Furthermore, he, "...supposed the richer sort might make use of those and other luxuries," but Jarratt insisted that he had no such access. (10)
In most instances recipes that called for lavish ingredients were indicative of English practices of cooking.(11) However, most of the dishes at the Horry table were "simple everyday dishes." &endash; at least according to Horry herself.(12) More likely than not, Horry was classifying these dishes according to the social circles in which she traveled. If one simply looks at some of the receipts found in Horry cookbook, it will soon become apparent that her dishes were not everyday, nor were they simple. First, some excerpts from main courses:
To Ragout a Breast of Veal
Take a large Breast of Veal, more than half roast it, cut it into four pieces and have ready much strong gravy as will cover it. Put it into your stew pan, season it high with Pepper, Clovers, Mace, and Nutmeg, a little Chalot, Lemon Peal, mushrooms, Oysters fried and stew'd; Sweet Breads skin'd and Pull'd in little pieces, and when it is done enough fry your largest Oysters with Crispt Bacon and forced Meat Balls and put them in. But for a white ragoe take the same ingredients only boil the Breast of Veal in half Milk and water; with a bunch of sweet herbs, a little Lemon Peel, Mace, and whole Pepper; when it is enough wash with the Yolks, and a little Butter and put it into your Stew Pan, just long enough to make it look Yellow and thicken your sauced with the Yolks of Eggs, and a piece of Butter rolw'd up in flow'r with three Spoonfulls of Cream thickned up to-gether.
To Caveach Mackrel
Cut Your Mackrel into round pieces and wipe them dry divide one into five or six pieces, to six Mackrel you may take one Ounce of Beaten pepper, three large Nutmegs, a little mace and a handfull of salt and spice and make two or three holes in each piece and put the Seasoning into the holes, rub the pieces over with the Spices, and fry them Brown in Oil and let them stand till they are cold, then put them into your Vinegar cold and cover them with oil. They will keep well cover'd a great while and are delicious. The Vinegar should be boil'd with a little Spice, a good deal of horse radish and mustard see, and let stand to be cold before you put the fish in.
Simply by looking at these receipts one can see that they did not require everyday items. Spices were certainly highly sought after and expensive, even in the 1770s. Spices, added to cured meats such as bacon, along with oysters and veal, are still amongst the higher priced meats. Additionally, unlike Jarrett, Horry used at her disposal, and often times to taste, butter, cream, and eggs in her recipes for dinner dishes; which is not even factoring in dishes intended for dessert:
Irish Butter
Take an Ounce and half of Isinglass, put half a pint of Spring Water, let it simmer till 'tis dissolved, then put in a pint and a quarter of Water and a quarter of a pint of Mountain Wine, then Juice of one Lemon and the peal of half a one pared thing, a very little saffron and sugar to your tast, let all boil together a quarter of an hour strain it in a dish through Muslin and cut it out in what form you please.
To Make Snow Cream
A quarter of a pound of roasted Apple a quarter of a pound of fine Sugar beaten and sifted, then Juice of two lemons and the whites of six Eggs; Beat these all together in the manner you do Floating Island. put some grated Lemon Peel, orange flower Water, and fine Sugar into half a Pint of Cream, let it stand some time, then strain it into your dish, and put some froth gentle upon it.
Cocoa Nut Puffs
Take a Coca Nut and dry it well before the fire, then grate it and add to it a good spoonfull of Butter, sugar to your tast, six Eggs with half the whites and 2 spoonfulls of rose water. Mix them all together and they must be well beat before they are put in the oven.
Like some of the main courses, all of the dessert items call for large amounts of sugar &endash; often times in large proportions. None of Horry's receipts call for exact measurements when it comes to sugar. If a common person were actually able to have sugar, then they most certainly would have made it a point to conserve their sugar as long as they could by only putting in the minimum amount necessary. Also, cocoa nuts were a foreign item from the Caribbean, which would have made it necessary to have them requested at a high price.
While many of the dishes served by Horry were English in origin, at the same time many of the dishes were "wholly or largely of American origin." To the people of the time, such "American" dishes included cured hams, biscuits, as well as various fruits preserved with alcohol--which itself was a main part of daily meals for families such as the Horry's. The Horry's, on daily occasions, being of the South Carolina elite, had rum mixed with water, or brandy.(13) Also, if you look through the ingredients for Irish Butter you will notice that Horry calls for Spring Water and not regular water. Because of the subsequent risk of infections from the contaminated water supplies, more often than not, poorer whites and slaves were the ones subjected to drinking regular water.
At the other end of the elite, lay the likes of Thomas Jefferson. While both Jefferson and Horry represented the elite of the South, Jefferson exerted an aura of Old World style and class. As a result, Jefferson was almost in a league of his own. Jefferson certainly was not born as a commoner. One of his first memories included being surrounded by slaves as a child. When Jefferson was a child, his father was probably living at a level near that of Daniel Horry, if not slightly below. However, Jefferson would not remain at such a level for long. Jefferson's first introduction to the Old World was as a young adult studying at William and Mary. Jefferson fell into the company of the governor, where he was frequently invited to dine and have lavish meals, the likes of which he had surely never seen. Dumas Malone comes to the same conclusion by saying that during "his student days, when [Jeffeson] dined and performed in amateur musicals at the Palace, he undoubtedly found more elegance there than he had ever before observed."(14) Jefferson was also strongly influenced by his peers and their dwellings. There was a strong French influence at places such as Mount Vernon, Westover, Hermitage, and Drayton Hall.
Jefferson's stay in France, however, was his actual induction to the Old World and its ways. Jefferson came to appreciate many things while in France &endash; top amongst the list was his affinity for wine. For example, while the Horry family chose to consume rum mixed with water, Jefferson had the diligence to learn how to make his own wine. He would surely have given up his reputation as a politician sooner than add water to his wine. Even upon departing France, Jefferson took his newfound love of wines with him. After being recalled to America to assume the post of Secretary of State, Jefferson ordered French wines to be served with dinners for purposes of state. During his stay in France, Jefferson made it a point to not only sample the cuisine of the major French cities, but he made numerous trips to the countryside to sample local cooking. However, probably the most important influence upon Jefferson's dining was the aristocracy. After attending his first audience with King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Overall, Jefferson "was not impressed by [such] ceremonies and he never admired the queen," but such events show that Jefferson was "an official of established standing." Henceforth, Jefferson was "entitled to attend the King's levee every Tuesday and dine with the whole diplomatic corps afterward." Jefferson attended such functions, but was never over whelmed by the experience as opposed to others amongst him.
All of the grandeur of France certainly had a lasting impression upon Jefferson. Probably the most lasting visual affects that show France's influence upon Jefferson is his home in Charlottesville &endash; Monticello. By the time Jefferson had actually completed work on Monticello, the house as well as his person stood on a par by themselves. (15)
Monticello was not Jefferson's only lasting impression of France. Whether it was for simple admiration, or for the lasting ability to consume such foods, Jefferson had numerous items shipped back to America. He had grapes from France imported into his vineyard at Monticello. Not only did Jefferson have a vineyard at Monticello, but he also had an extensive collection of gardens. Strewn amongst Jefferson's crops at Monticello were carrots, peas, lettuce, apples, cherries, plums, and peaches &endash; these were but a few of the more common vegetables and fruits grown throughout the colony.(16) However, Jefferson also grew more exotic foods that were less common to Virginia. Furthermore, Jefferson had European products, including, "hares, rabbits, pheasants, partridges... cork and oak trees," shipped back to America as part of his continuing appreciation of Europe.
Even while residing amongst the culinary elite of France, Jefferson still had a spot for foods of American nature &endash; yet, not exclusively American. Breakfast meals at Monticello were often composed of "half-Virginia half-French" entrees. This mixture consisted of "braised partridges, Capitolade of fowl on toast, eggs, bacon, fried apples, cold meats, tansy pudding, hot breads and battercakes." (17) The breakfasts served under Jefferson should indicate that he was unlike many of his counterparts of the day. He was born in America, brought up on American cuisine, and yet still retained a palate for American cuisine even after he came to appreciate the delicacies of Europe that were introduced to him by Governor Fauquier, as well as his stay in France. (18)
The dichotomy of late Eighteenth Century and early Nineteenth Century culinary tastes and practices amongst the elite should indicate that America was indeed a unique place to live at the time. Society was divided on terms of who held power. However, it is quite evident that even among the elite, there was a clear separation when it came to tastes of the palate. Food may be a simple every day necessity, but it also says a lot about people &endash; especially turn of the century American, where certain foods were coveted for their rarity. Harriet Horry was a woman who was happy to be alive. She had lived through a war, and seen the death of her husband. She had a stable home and family in South Carolina, which she managed to provide for after the death of her husband. Even amongst the planter elite of South Carolina she was a woman who indulged in European as well as American food and took stock in her family. Thomas Jefferson on the other hand was a man of the world. He had a fine taste for good wines, and foods of various cultures. Jefferson's taste for foods is actually in accordance with his architectural desires. Jefferson was never happy with Monticello and was continually redrafting the plans and making modifications. Similarly, Jefferson was continually traveling throughout the country and around the world forever changing his palate and becoming accustomed to different and new dishes. In the end, Jefferson would return to what appears to have been his true home &endash; his garden at Monticello where he had a little something preserved from every place that he had visited.
Endnotes
1. Horry, Harriot, A Colonial Plantation Cookbook, ed. Richard Hooker (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1984), p6.
2. Blassingame, John W. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. Pp. 266.
3. Blassingame, p. 238.
4. Blassingame, p. 273.
5. Clinton, Catherine. The Plantation Mistress: Woman's World in the Old South. New York: Pantheon Books, 1982. Pp. 7.
6. Horry, p. 5.
7. Horry, p. 7.
8. Clinton, p. 78.
9. Horry, p. 3.
10. Escott, Paul D. and David R. Goldfield. Major Problems in the History of the American South. Volume I: The Old South. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1990. Pp. 91.
11. Horry, p. 27.
12. Horry, p. 29.
13. Horry, p. 17.
14. Malone, Dumas. Jefferson and His Time, Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1948. P. 75.
15. Fishwick, Marshall, "Southern Cooking - Thomas Jefferson," in The American Heritage Cookbook, ed. American Heritage (American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1964), 123.
16. Fishwick, p. 137.
17. Fishwick, p. 139.
18. Fishwick, p. 136.
Coming Together: Virginia Foods, Festivals, and Communities
Abstract
The state of Virginia produces a wide variety of foods across the state, and Virginia's food festivals bring people together to celebrate many of these foods. These festivals give the community a chance to come together and learn about their common heritage, because food festivals are regional events, and honor a specific food produced in that part of Virginia. A celebration of food is a celebration of life, because food sustains every other aspect of life. "Eating is a social custom as well as a physiological necessity." (Rose 1940) Virginia's food festivals allow us to come together to eat and celebrate the importance of food to our bodies and our society.
Introduction: Food Festivals
The Highland County maple festival in Virginia gives tours of how maple syrup is produced and the festival brochure says that the "sugar camp tours provide a unique and educational glimpse of a rapidly vanishing way of American life." (HCMF 2002) As this quote indicates, food festivals can teach us about the unique qualities of a region and community. They can also teach us about how our country's food culture has changed in recent years. The state of Virginia has a variety of different festivals that are centered on different foods and celebrate the uniqueness of Virginia's geography, agriculture, and culture. These festivals also portray a part of America's history that is currently under Transition. Fewer people are required to produce food today and foods are no longer consumed only locally, but are shipped around the world in our global society.
Why do we celebrate food? Humans need food to survive, and as Mary Swartz Rose writes in her book, Feeding the Family, "while many things contribute to health-sleep, fresh air and exercise, for instance-the most fundamental consideration is food." (Rose 1940) Today food can be easy to find, cheap, and quick. Yet it is also just as essential to our health as it has always been, so we celebrate food. Today's festivals honor local foods and traditions of the past. They can teach, entertain, and bring communities together.
Food festivals are usually "regional events... calling attention to seafood, produce, or preparation techniques special to a particular area." (Geffen 1988) They are a time when a community can come together to have fun, socialize, and eat good food. The festivals usually offer a variety of foods, music and crafts; they also allow the attendees to celebrate the uniqueness of local customs. Today to help celebrate these foods, the festivals often have beauty pageants, live music, and crafts. Of course, the focus of the festival is usually on "freshness and flavor" of the special foods. (Geffen 1988)
Virginia's Food Festivals
Food production (usually in the form of agriculture or livestock) is dependent on environmental conditions, which means that a region's climate and soils determine what foods are produced. For example, maple trees can only produce syrup at elevations above 2,300 feet; so celebrating maple syrup production is celebrating the local physical geography as well.
In the past, when people were more involved with the food that they produced and consumed than we are today, festivals coincided with the planting and harvesting of popular staple foods. Some of these foods achieved a "super-cultural" position in communities that have been producing these special foods for many generations. (Garine 1987) Many foods have achieved this super-cultural position because they are unique to a specific region and representative of local agricultural practices. For example, the Cherokee Indians who lived in the southeastern part of the U.S. had many ceremonies related to agriculture. In fact "most ceremonies were related to agriculture" and their most important ceremony was the green corn ceremony, which celebrated the harvest of the first edible corn. The ceremony was so important to the Cherokee that the corn could not be eaten until the ceremony took place. (Sutton 2000)
Sabine O'Hara compares today's system of food production and consumption with food systems of traditional, indigenous populations in her article about our current global food market. She writes "while food production and consumption in the traditional food system took place within a given location," today the two (production and consumption) are becoming more and more independent. (O'Hara 2001) Today communities still celebrate the foods produced around Virginia, even though these foods may not be consumed locally today as they were in the past. They are still important to the region today because of their historical and economic contributions to a community.
Virginia agriculture produces several crops that rank in the top ten nationally on the basis of production. Fresh tomatoes, peanuts, apples, snap beans, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, summer potatoes, and tobacco are some of Virginia's crops that rank among the top ten states in the country in total production. (Horsely 2001) Virginia's agriculture leads to celebrations by its citizens, and these celebrations give the people a chance to come together to share recipes and their common heritage.
The state of Virginia can produce a variety of foods in its different physical regions. The mountains, piedmont, and the coastal areas all have the potential to produce foods that bring nourishment, income, and pride to the people who live in that region. Table 1 highlights forty-one of Virginia's food festivals and provides information about where/when these festivals take place. It also displays the variety in foods and cooking methods that are celebrated at the festivals. This paper highlights the Highland County Maple Festival as a specific example of what a Virginia food festival represents, and what to expect at a Virginia food festival.
Table 1: Forty Selected Food Festivals in Virginia
Festival
Table 1: Forty Selected Food Festivals in Virginia
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Festival
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Location
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Time of year
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Highland Maple Festival
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Monterey
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March
|
|
Whitetop Mtn. Maple Festival
|
Whitetop
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March
|
|
King William Ruritan Club Fish Fry
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King William
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April
|
|
Virginia Beef Expo
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Harrisonburg
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April
|
|
Wakefield Ruritan Club Shad Planking
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Wakefield
|
April
|
|
Annual Seafood Festival
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Chincoteauge
|
May
|
|
Annual Strawberry Festival
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Roanoke
|
May
|
|
Heart of Virginia Festival
|
Farmville
|
May
|
|
Chicken BBQ
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Greensville
|
May
|
|
Virginia Wine and Mushroom Festival
|
Front Royal
|
May
|
|
Annual Strawberry Festival
|
Heathsville
|
May
|
|
Pungo Strawberry Festival
|
Virginia Beach
|
May
|
|
Nelson Farmer’s Market grand opening
|
Nellysford
|
May
|
|
Harborfest
|
Norfolk
|
June
|
|
Ashland Strawberry Faire
|
Ashland
|
June
|
|
Virginia Pork Festival
|
Emporia
|
June
|
|
Virginia Chicken Festival
|
Crewe
|
June
|
|
Virginia Cantaloupe Festival
|
Halifax County
|
July
|
|
Annual Deborah Blueberry and Craft Festival
|
Chincoteauge
|
July
|
|
Shockhoe Tomato
|
Richmond
|
July
|
|
Pork, Peanut, and Pine Festival
|
Surry
|
July
|
|
Amelia Beef Festival
|
Amelia
|
July
|
|
Blackberry Harvest Festival
|
Nelson County
|
August
|
|
Virginia Food Festival
|
Richmond
|
August
|
|
Virginia Peach Festival
|
Stuart
|
August
|
|
Cabbage Festival
|
Meadows of Dan
|
August
|
|
Taste of the Mountain Main Street Festival
|
Madison
|
August
|
|
Annual Church of God Seafood Festival
|
Chincoteauge
|
September
|
|
Bay Seafood Festival
|
Kilmarnock
|
September
|
|
Virginia Peanut Festival
|
Emporia
|
September
|
|
Climax Sorghum
|
Climax
|
September
|
|
Apple Harvest and Apple Butter Making Festival
|
Nelson County
|
September
|
|
Harvest Festival
|
Kiptopeke
|
October
|
|
Apple Butter Making Festival
|
Nelson County
|
October
|
|
Suffolk Peanut Festival
|
Suffolk
|
October
|
|
Virginia Garlic Festival
|
Amherst
|
October
|
|
Graves Mountain Apple Harvest Festival
|
Syria
|
October
|
|
Central Virginia Pork Festival
|
Richmond
|
October
|
|
Poquoson Seafood Festival
|
Poquoson
|
October
|
|
Town Point Virginia Wine Festival
|
Norfolk
|
October
|
|
Urbanna Oyster Festival
|
Urbanna
|
November
|
Highland Maple Festival
After attending the Highland County maple festival, I discovered a new sense of Virginia pride with regard to local Virginia foods. I also learned about how a region's physical geography affects its food choices and culture. The festival is in its forty-fourth year, and takes place all over Highland County, which is located on the West Virginia border, thirty-five miles west of Staunton. Maple syrup and maple sugar are made from tree sap that is collected from maple trees and then boiled to evaporate the water and leave behind a thick, sweet liquid. Maple trees can only grow where the altitude is above 2,300 feet, and they need a good frost followed by warm weather to produce maple syrup. This means that the trees can only thrive in certain parts of the country, and Highland County is one of the few regions that can provide the proper environment to produce good syrup.
The region's success in producing a good quantity of maple syrup (which is a very profitable product) creates a feeling of local pride within the community. The festival had remarkable attendance, even though it went on for over two weeks. The festival consisted of a sugar tour, which included stops at maple orchards, sugarhouses, and country stores. Many people came out to visit the maple orchards, socialize, and of course sample all of the tasty foods served throughout the county.
The most popular food at the festival was the maple doughnuts, which were sold by the dozen, and almost everyone attending the festival carried around at least one box filled with these sweet maple frosted treats. Several sites in the county served up buckwheat pancakes with butter and maple syrup. Other popular foods served at the festival include country ham sandwiches, fried pork skins, maple fudge, maple candy, and even maple flavored funnel cakes. Also served at the festival were the familiar festival foods such as hot dogs, hamburgers, cotton candy, popcorn and sausages. These festival foods are well known to most Americans and "suggest a festive orientation". These foods are "held and eaten without utensils or dishesÉand suggest both familiarity and festivity." (Adler 1988) Even though the focus of a festival is on a local food, these foods are familiar to those attending the festival, and can be called "comfort foods" because they allow people to feel comfortable to eat a familiar food and have a good time.
After eating all of the food you can stand, and watching how they actually make the syrup from tree sap, even more events took place at the festival. There was a maple queen contest, a maple hoedown, clogging, and lots of live music. Another key element to the festival was all of the crafts that were displayed and sold all along the sugar tour.
This festival provided a glimpse into how a unique Virginia food is produced, consumed, and even celebrated within a community. Everyone who attended the festival learned about how syrup is produced both today, as well as how it was produced in the past by Native Americans and early American settlers. The festival attendees also tasted many different ways to prepare maple-infused dishes, and the food was definitely at the very heart of this festival. Everyone attending the festival also had a chance to simply get outside, mingle with their neighbors, and celebrate their region's heritage.
A vanishing way of American life
When Virginia, and the rest of the United States was settled by Europeans during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the settlers brought with them their "old world" values from Europe, but often found that "new world" crops were more successful. (Mitchell 2000) Barbara Carlson writes in her book Food Festivals that the food culture of Virginia and America emerged from many cultures and these different cuisines have been "synergized into a marvelous whole." (Carlson 1997)
This combination of old and new came together to form Virginia's culture and food customs. In the olden days, the foods were celebrated because it was these foods that kept the settlers alive, and they had to work very hard to produce these foods. Patricia Mitchell writes in her book, Mountain Foodways, that today "the traditions themselves still linger at the edge of consciousness, but to an ever greater extent they are childhood memories of Ôthe old folks' rather than personal experience." (Mitchell 2000) These days, most families rarely consume food that they produce; yet the celebrations of local food continues because these festivals teach about what life was like for previous generations, and also helps to celebrate and praise local farmers.
Conclusion
Why do we celebrate foods produced in Virginia? As mentioned earlier, food festivals teach us about the unique qualities of a region. They also bring people together to learn about their region's heritage, because most festivals honor foods that have been produced for generations in a specific region. Food festivals and ceremonies have existed in many cultures throughout time because food sustains life. Coming together to feast is therefore a celebration of life.
We gather together to feast and celebrate because "eating is a social custom as well as a physiological necessity." (Rose 1940) We need to eat to sustain life, but eating together also allows us to reaffirm our cultural identity. In Virginia today, you can find a food-centered festival somewhere in the state from March to November. You may find a celebration of fruit, vegetables, peanuts, pork, apples, strawberries, seafood, or some other unique Virginia food. These festivals are best when "the music gets people moving, the parades bring cheers from the sidelines, and the produce and cooking contests make heroes of local gardeners and chefs." (Geffen 1988)
References
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1. Adler, T. A. "Bluegrass Music and Meal Fried Potatoes: Food, Festival, Community" in We Gather Together: Food and Festival in American Life, 1988, ed. Humphrey and Humphrey, UMI Press, Michigan.
2. Carlson, B. Food Cestivals: Eating Your Way from Coast to Coast, 1997, Visible Ink Press, Detroit.
3. Garine, I. "Food, Culture, and Society" in UNESCO Courier, May 1987, p.4-8.
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5. Highland Maple Festival brochure, 2002 Highland County Chamber of Commerce; Monterey, VA.
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7. Mitchell, P. B. Mountain Foodways: Flavors of Od Europe on the Southern Frontier, 2000, Chatham, VA.
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9. Rose, M.S., Feeding the Family, 1940, 4th ed., Macmillan Company, USA.
10. Sutton, M. Introduction to Native North America, 2000, p.348.
Written by Written by Caryl Gray
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