Take a Bite Out of History

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

Hard to believe now, but history was my least favorite subject in school. At that time, history was textbooks: boring chapters filled with names and dates to memorize. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I stumbled across historical fiction (quite by accident) after choosing several novels from the library. And in the ensuing years, I have spent many enjoyable hours reading about a wide variety of characters, countries, and events, filling in gaps of long-lost, unrelated facts.

What does all this have to do with kids and cooking? Well, at our house we’ve found that history is even more interesting when you get a good taste of it—literally. We’ve discovered that no study of an era is complete without exploring some of the food and customs also. Food, three times a day, sometimes more, is such a vital part of any society that it needs to be included for study. After all, it’s the very sustenance that binds people and places and events together.

For example, when learning about World War I, we read how the rationing of wheat, sugar and canned goods brought about victory gardens and the mindset of "waste nothing." This gave us a whole new appreciation for turnips. My daughter was just thrilled to find those purple and white orbs in the produce department.

We rushed home to cook, butter and salt them to experience a small part of an American Girl’s life. First we tried them as Molly had—plain and unappealing—then we reheated them and added a touch of butter and cinnamon, just like her Mom had. Just this small taste of a slice of history brought compassion and depth to our understanding of the times.

And more than one hot snack has been inspired by the potato man selling steaming hot baked potatoes in The Whipping Boy. Many a potato has been wrapped in a napkin, end cut off, dashed with a sprinkle of salt, and eaten out of hand, one savory bite at a time.

Now, it’s not unusual at all to find our appetites awakened when we meet a new character in a book. Whether it’s Molly trying to make turnips palatable, munching a hot baked potato with salt or an apple turnover, I like to think of it as eating our way through history. And what better way to involve your kids in meals than to whet their appetites with a good book.

Here’s a sampling of some excellent books that provide a taste of history:

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, by Marjorie Priceman
The Whipping Boy, by Sid Fleischman
The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
Learning Through History Magazine
And, of course, any of the American Girl books by Pleasant Co., Inc.

Sometimes the curriculum may just be a fresh, crisp apple eaten out-of-hand; other times it may be raisin-filled pastries and hot mulled cider from the Middle Ages. But whatever you choose, have fun learning and trying new flavors from the past together.

Serves/Makes: 1

• 1 cup apple cider (or a red, fruity wine for grownups)
• 1 cinnamon stick, 2-3" long
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange or lemon juice (optional)