At Monticello, food culture and dining were significant parts of daily life. Though Jefferson’s desire for French style food and his interest in gastronomical cultures influenced how food was prepared at Monticello, it was enslaved African Americans who were chiefly responsible for the “rich” and “elegant” cuisine, literally from farm to table.
This is mountop history a podcast produced by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at monell Mountaintop history brings forward meaningful stories from this historic home and Plantation from the past and from the present my name is Kyle chattleton and I’m Olivia Brown thank you for joining us we hope you’ll learn something New he enjoys his dinner well taking with meat a large proportion of vegetables he has a strong preference for the wines of the continent of which he has many sorts of excellent quality having been more than commonly successful in his mode of importing and preserving them dinner is served in half
Virginia half French style in Good Taste and abundance no wine is put on the table till the cloth is removed giving us an insight into what it was like to dine at monachello this description came from Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster in December of 1824 at monachello food culture and
Dining were significant parts of daily life Jefferson’s love of French cuisine was combined with what he described as Plantation fair to create this unique French Virginia style that Webster described Jefferson cultivated a reverence for French food throughout his life and when he was appointed as foreign minister to France he brought
With him an enslaved man named James hemings Jefferson brought hemings to Paris with the express purpose of having him trained in French cuisine after training under other French chefs hemings served as the chef to cuisine in Jefferson’s Paris home while living in France Jefferson dined at the court of King Louis V 16th
Every Tuesday only deepening his love of French food upon his return to the United States he brought crates of European Goods like art and Furniture but we also brought back a number of food items including things like mustard vinegar raisins nectarines macaroni almonds cheese anchovies olive oil and approximately
680 bottles of French wine according to early Jefferson biographers however some Americans like Patrick Henry were a bit put off by Jefferson’s Devotion to French food say saying quote Thomas Jefferson came home so frenchified he has abjured his native victuals in favor of French cuisine though Jefferson’s desire for
French style food and his interest in gastronomical cultures influenced how food was prepared at monachello it was enslaved African-Americans who were chiefly responsible for the rich and elegant Cuisine literally from Farm to Table most of the ingredients used in the meals were coming from the monello plantation either grown in Jefferson’s
Thousand foot vegetable garden or in the personal Gardens of enslaved people Bagwell Greener an agricultural laborer tended a garden at his home in the small amount of time he didn’t spend working on Sundays some members of the enslaved Community made extra money by selling some of their items to the Jefferson
Family Granger sold squash melons cucumbers and notably hops that would later be used for brewing beer enslaved people also harvested the wheat and Grains from the plantation Fields planted and tended to the vegetable garden and raised chickens and other animals as well once the ingredients were acquired they were then
Placed into the capable hands of the chefs and kitchen staff after James hemings returned from France he worked as a chef in Jefferson’s home in Philadelphia at some point he negotiated his freedom by agreeing to train his younger brother Peter hemings in the art of French cooking in exchange for papers
Of manumission in 1793 Frenchman Adrienne Pati signed a witness statement to this agreement and Jefferson formally freed hemings 3 years later in 1796 Peter hemings served as chef at monachello from 1796 until Jefferson’s retirement in 1809 and leader specialized in brewing and molting in beer production while President Jefferson
Sent for three enslaved women Edith faucet Francis Hearn and Ursula Granger they traveled to Washington DC where they too learned French cuisine from a hired French chef named hore Julian Edith faet then became the head cook during Jefferson’s retirement period with her sister-in-law Francis Hearn at her side the kitchen would have
Been a tirelessly busy place at monachello outfitted with a large Open Hearth and a then state-of-the-art stew stove for cooking faucet and Hearn would have also directed younger enslaved people like Israel Gillette in the peeling slicing and preparation of ingredients for dishes each meal had a number of small dishes and
Accompaniments as was the French style that were prepared in the kitchen then brought to a smaller kitchen underneath the dining room where the platters could be warmed and Sauced once ready for service platters were brought from the cellar up a set of stairs and placed on the shelves of a
Revolving door to be spun into the dining room itself head Butler Burl colber oversaw the meal service as well as the one or two younger enslaved men who served as waiters for Jefferson his family and his guests it’s hard to say if Jefferson had favorite dishes but each Chef had their
Specialties James hemings was known for his Flawless execution of snow eggs a cream and custard dessert Peter hemings though known later for his beer also made muffins that Jefferson sent for when he was living in Washington Edith Fossett’s gingerbread was a favorite of Jefferson’s granddaughters as well meals centered
Around vegetable dish dishes with meat being eaten less often and in smaller quantities vegetables of all kind were served as the vegetable garden was filled with around 70 different species and over 300 varieties Jefferson favored English peas and large salads filled with a variety of lettuces sprouts and other greens
Artichokes asparagus tomatoes and other vegetables still very much enjoyed today appeared on the Chinese porcelain and silver platters adorning Jefferson’s table enslaved chefs also Incorporated African influences and vegetables like okra were used specifically to make okra soup that was enjoyed frequently by the Jefferson family Thomas Jefferson is
Often spoken about as an important figure in American food culture and the melding of cuisines in The Early Republic we also remember though that it was men like James and Peter and women like Edith faucet and Francis Hearn who brought these dishes to life and combined traditional French local
Virginia and their own personal African styles and techniques into one unique blend that people still remember today this has been another episode of Mountaintop history a collaboration podcast between wtju and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation join us for new episodes every two weeks on Apple and Google podcast Stitcher and
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