Eats History

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1 day ago | [YT] | 498

Eats History

A man ran for president of Brazil in 1945. He lost. The chocolate truffle his supporters invented to get him elected became one of the most beloved desserts in the world. The truffle is called Brigadeiro.

Brazil in 1945 was holding its first free presidential election in over a decade, and the first in which all Brazilian women could vote. One of the candidates was an Air Force Brigadier named Eduardo Gomes, handsome, single and politically ambitious, whose female supporters coined one of the better campaign slogans in democratic history: vote for the brigadier who is handsome and single.

To raise funds at rallies they needed something to sell. Fresh milk and sugar were still scarce from wartime rationing. What was abundantly available, thanks to Nestlé having opened a Brazilian factory in 1921, was sweetened condensed milk. So they combined condensed milk, cocoa powder and butter in a pan, cooked it until thick and fudgy, rolled it into balls, coated it in chocolate sprinkles, and sold it at every campaign event they could organise. They named it after their candidate. Eduardo Gomes lost the election to Eurico Gaspar Dutra. The Brigadeiro won everything else.

Within a decade it was at every Brazilian birthday party. Within a generation it was at every Brazilian wedding, baptism and celebration of any kind. Specialty Brigadeiro shops opened across Brazil selling gourmet variations in passion fruit, pistachio, coffee, sea salt and dozens of other flavours, all built on the same three-ingredient base. It has spread internationally through the Brazilian diaspora and is now recognised globally as one of the defining expressions of Brazilian culinary culture.

Four ingredients. One pan. Twenty minutes. And one of the most satisfying chocolate things I have made for this channel. I rated it 8.2 out of 10 and for as simple as it is it genuinely tastes like an indulgent chocolate truffle. Full history and the complete recipe on the blog now.

eatshistory.com/brigadeiro-recipe-the-brazilian...…

4 days ago | [YT] | 926

Eats History

Drumroll….. A big change is coming to the channel!

I’m a big believer in calculated risks, especially when fueled by a passion project. I took a risk by starting this channel and putting myself out there- the internet can be a brutal place and I’m a pretty reserved guy. But I’ve stayed true to the channel content, and it’s grown to 4 million followers across all platforms.

So here’s the risk part: a few weeks ago I sold 99% of my possessions, leaving just some clothes and gear for the channel. I did this because I will be launching this August:

The Eats History Project

This will be a multi-year odyssey traveling all around the world documenting thousands of traditional and historical recipes with fascinating stories. It will be edible tales of wars, civilizations, people, and culture. All documented with video, a blog, and recipes that you the viewer can make at home (for free!).

This project begins in August from Krakow, journeying over to Scotland in September, and Spain for October and November. There is no end date, and my goal is by the end of this journey to have a global catalog of thousands of historical recipes for you to try at home!

Stay tuned for the next chapter (and yes, I will still be cooking historical recipes out of my various Airbnbs!)

-Donnie

6 days ago | [YT] | 1,535

Eats History

It is a billion degrees outside and I have the answer for you.

Panzanella. A Tuscan bread salad that has been keeping Italians cool since the 14th century and is genuinely one of the best things you can make in the heat of summer. Ripe tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, fresh basil, crusty bread crisped in olive oil and left to soak up a sharp red wine vinegar dressing until everything comes together into something that is simultaneously refreshing, filling and completely beautiful on the plate.

The history of this dish is better than most people know. Giovanni Boccaccio, author of The Decameron, first described something called pan lavato, washed bread, in 1353. A soaked bread and onion preparation eaten by Tuscan peasants who baked bread once a week and needed to do something with the stale remainder.

Then in the 16th century Agnolo Bronzino, one of the greatest painters at the Medici court, wrote an entire poem praising a version of it. His exact words describe the dish as sending you above the stars. A Renaissance master painter writing love poetry about stale bread salad. The original version had no tomatoes because tomatoes had not yet arrived in Italian cooking from the Americas. The tomato version we know today only became standard in the early 20th century and it transformed the dish completely, the tomato juice becoming part of the dressing in a way that makes everything click into place.

I topped mine with fresh mozzarella and a drizzle of balsamic which is not traditional Tuscan panzanella and any Florentine purist will tell you so. It was still a 9.1 out of 10. Make this immediately. Full history and the complete recipe on the blog now.

eatshistory.com/classic-tuscan-panzanella-recipe..…

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 864

Eats History

Responding to a kind message with a 13th century almond milk recipe.

Reminder that sometimes thinking before you speak goes a long way!

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 2,087

Eats History

It was a very important and busy morning for Eats History.

First of importance and an extremely once-in-a-lifetime event: I finally went to Buc-ee's for the first time this morning.

My review: It was claustrophobic, the crowd at the brisket line was wild for 7am, and the scene was like when those SeaWorld trainers (the brisket employees) dangle fish above the seals. The brisket taco and Buc-ee's nuggets were good. Is it worth the crowd? Maybe not.

Secondly, at 8am, I went live with ABC News (Like the national channel, which is kind of crazy) to do a segment on Eats History for America's 250th. Very cool experience to be on National news for the first time (was secretly still thinking about Buc-ee's).

Happy Saturday & have a great weekend!

-Donnie

eatshistory.com

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,122

Eats History

Big day yesterday for Eats History! I had the honor of hopping on ABC 15's Sonoran Living this morning to talk about the channel, America's 250th coming up, and cook a little history live on TV.

From popular demand, the recipe is now posted on my blog!

For the Arizona dish, there was no better choice than a true chuckwagon recipe straight from the territorial era: beans, beef, and biscuits, just like the cooks (lovingly nicknamed "Cookie") would have made for cowboys on outfits like the Hashknife, one of the largest cattle operations in North American history, headquartered right here in Holbrook, Arizona.

This dish is humble, but it tells a powerful story. No refrigeration, no grocery store for a hundred miles, and meals built purely for survival on some of the harshest land in the country. Dried beans because they didn't spoil. Beef because it was the one thing these outfits had in abundance. Biscuits because flour, lard, and a hot skillet were reliable even when nothing else was.

I broke it all down on the blog, the history, the source, just how brutal cattle drive life really was, and of course, the rating. Spoiler: this one earned a solid 7.7/10.
Link to the full post and recipe in the comments.

eatshistory.com/a-recipe-from-the-chuckwagon.../

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 829

Eats History

Fun morning on ABC 15s Sonoran Living here in Phoenix!

Cooking up George Washington’s hoecakes for America’s 250th and a chuck wagon recipe from early 1880s Pre-Statehood Arizona (recipe coming soon)

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,170

Eats History

Chicory was a medicine in ancient Egypt 3,500 years before anyone thought to brew it like coffee.

Wild chicory first appears in the Ebers Papyrus, an Egyptian medical text dating to 1550 BCE and one of the oldest known medical documents in human history. The Greeks and Romans ate it as a salad vegetable. Galen, the famous Greek physician, called it the friend of the liver. For roughly three thousand years it was simply food and folk medicine. Nobody was roasting the root and brewing it as a drink.

That changed when coffee arrived in Europe in the 1600s and people discovered that roasted, ground chicory could imitate the colour and bitterness of the new, expensive import everyone suddenly wanted. Frederick the Great institutionalised it in Prussia.
Napoleon's British blockade forced all of France onto it, and decades later, exiled on Saint Helena, he bitterly blamed the coffee shortage for some of his own downfall. Confederate soldiers cut off from real coffee by the Union blockade turned to it by the ton, which is the exact reason it is still poured in every cup of coffee at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans 160 years later.

I made a chicory-dandelion blend this week after using it in a German WWII ration episode and genuinely did not expect to like it as much as I did. No caffeine at all, but smoother than regular coffee with a deep roasted sweetness that surprised me. 8.2 out of 10. Full history and the brewing method on the blog now, link is below.

eatshistory.com/what-is-chicory-coffee-the-wartime…

Had you heard of chicory coffee before today? And would you try a zero caffeine coffee alternative?

-Donnie

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,068

Eats History

Recently returned from Vienna, and one of their iconic desserts is Kaiserschmarrn. A soufflé-like pancake caramelized in a bit of sugar and butter, torn to pieces and served with a plum sauce.

I think I nailed this recipe from the 1850s, excited to give you the recipe and all of the history behind the dish, coming soon.

-Donnie

eatshistory.com

1 month ago | [YT] | 1,114