Founding Father Foodie: Thomas Jefferson and French Cuisine
Thomas Jefferson collected recipes and left notes on refining the tastes of simple fare like apple dumplings and beef stew for fifty-eight years. The 3rd President of the United States was a foodie who agreed wholeheartedly with Jean Jacques Regis de Cambaceres, an 18th century French politician, that is was mainly through the table that one governs. When given the opportunity to go to France, he struck a deal with a 19 year old slave named James Hemings. Young James was to master the art of French cooking, and help Jefferson introduce Americans to the style of cooking that hundreds of years later made Julia Child a star. In return, James would be granted his freedom. It's widely reported that it was James Hemings' cuisine that put Alexander Hamilton into a good enough mood to compromise over the location on the U.S. capitol in July of 1790. No doubt that had Jefferson been born in the 20th century, he'd have been an avid food blogger or possibly a cooking channel ...