Early culinary self-sufficiency

January 27, 2015 5:35 AM

The History Kitchen takes a quick look at the food of the California Gold Rush, and has a recipe for Hangtown Fry.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (16 comments total)

"The most expensive ingredients available were eggs, which were delicate and had to be carefully brought to the mining town; bacon, which was shipped from the East Coast ..."

I find it astonishing that bacon had to come from the east coast. Even if they couldn't or didn't have pigs locally, surely they could have sent some bacon up from San Francisco with the oysters.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:42 AM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Seems to me the most likely way to riches was not panning for gold, it was the person selling eggs for a $1 each some 160 years ago. Just needed to raise and protect a bunch of egg laying chickens. If the eggs were so delicate (duh) why not transport the chickens?
posted by 724A at 5:52 AM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Hangtown Fry sounds... revolting. The early days of US California are a story of one injustice after another.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:54 AM on January 27, 2015

I find it astonishing that bacon had to come from the east coast.

That surprises me too, but there's also a lead time to ramp up to produce it. First you have to build up your pig herd, and then fatten them, and finally make the bacon. So maybe the population boom of the gold rush simply outstripped the food production supply chain for a few years?

And because bacon travels well, low-cost east coast producers would have been competitive even with transportation costs.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:04 AM on January 27, 2015

Hangtown Fry sounds... revolting. The early days of US California are a story of one injustice after another.

I see it very similarly to the modern $600 burgers with truffles and iberico ham, or the multi-thousand dollar cocktails with a diamond sitting in the bottom of it. Not really ordering it because diamonds are tasty.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:07 AM on January 27, 2015

There's nothing gross about Hangtown Frys. They are still popular and you can get them at several places in San Francisco. Certainly Tadich grill but probably the best one I've had was at the diner Just for You.

The closely related Oyster Omelette is fairly common in Asia as well. I really like the one they serve at Leong's Legend in London's Chinatown.
posted by vacapinta at 6:10 AM on January 27, 2015 [5 favorites]

724A, you are spot on. The real people who made money from the gold rush were sellers of pickaxes, dry goods, and false hope. Then Hurst bought up all the busted claims and came in with industrial capital to get at all the gold underground.
posted by absalom at 6:12 AM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

The early days of US California are a story of one injustice after another.

"The Most Expensive Thing in the Restaurant" sounds kind of like what kids do when given the option of making their own food at a salad bar, or are let loose on a pour-your-own soda fountain for the first (few) time(s). "I'll pour ALL the sodas in! SUICIDE!"

Except I agree with vacapinta, the Hangtown Fry would actually be enjoyable if done right.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:05 AM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Hangtown Fry is on the menu at the fancy Woodward Table here in DC. My girlfriend had one last weekend--$14.75 (plus tax and tip, of course).
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:31 AM on January 27, 2015

The importation of bacon isn't really all that surprising if you think about it. A year before gold was discovered, the Mexican-American war was going on, and California was Alta Mexico. Gold was discovered in January 1848, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo turned California over to the US in February of that year.

The thing is, though, that pre-American California was a land of ranchos. The Spanish began handing out huge land grants in an effort to attract settlers back in the 1700s. Around the 1830s, after Mexico had won its independence from Spain, the old school Californios were worried about American immigrants encroaching on their land. (That's right! The immigration threat in California in 1830s was the Americans!) So, more land grants were handed out, including what eventually became Sutter's land.

In any case, the point is that California was a mostly unpopulated collection of vast ranchos, and it was very much a cattle-raising place -- historically and culturally -- and not a pork producer. It was relatively easy to get beef in the mining camps (except for the fact that they were often on the verge of starvation because the roads were impassable and food couldn't get there, or because of other supply-chain problems), but there was no real local source of pork. There was wild boar, but I've never seen any references to people curing it.

All that to say, the importation of bacon isn't really all that surprising. If you're nerdy about this kind of stuff like I am, take a look at the San Francisco papers from 1849-1850 or so and check out the ads. Also very cool is that the merchants report the cargo they've taken off various ships.

THE CARGO OF THE BARQUE ELIZA, now landing and for sale on moderate terms, consisting of spanish brandy in barrels, anniseed in demijohns, ale in bottles, vinegar in casks, olive oil in jars, wines in casks and cases, viz: Claret, champagne, sherry, muscatel, malaga, chacoli; spanish almonds in casks, filberts in bags, preserved meats, a superior quality in cases, biscay iron, milan steel, tin plates, Havana cigars, quinine, window glass, hollow glassware, printed books, shoes, vicuna hats, Guayaquil hats, lisbon ribbons, sewing silk, embroidering silk, brittannias, platillas, letter paper, etc. Spanish florete, etc. colored shirts, etc. etc. Also by the bark Staoulli, from Valporaise, paper hangings, wooden houses, and an assortment of dry goods.
--Cross, Hobson & Co. San Francisco, Feb'y 19, 1849

posted by mudpuppie at 9:23 AM on January 27, 2015 [5 favorites]

The PBS recipe is mis-worded. Mix the cream with the eggs, not the oysters, then follow the rest of the recipe.
posted by Oyéah at 9:47 AM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Hangtown Fry sounds... revolting.

I think you mean delicious. I made my ex boyfriend poached eggs over a smoked oyster and potato hash for breakfast once, with Hollandaise of course, and it was sublime. Oyster omelette sounds right up my alley, but I'm one of those people who will happily gobble seafood for breakfast.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:10 AM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

All these origin stories must be taken with a grain of salt. I feel like everything old is new again though; I find myself paying outrageous prices for a dozen eggs because I want orange yolks. In the $8 to $10 range. I guess oysters are still slightly more expensive. Bacon is the current cheapest in my household.
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:01 AM on January 27, 2015

In any case, the point is that California was a mostly unpopulated collection of vast ranchos, and it was very much a cattle-raising place -- historically and culturally -- and not a pork producer.

"Mostly unpopulated" except for, you know, the people who were living there before the ranchos. But to your point, the population density not the same as country east of the Mississippi at that time.
posted by euphorb at 12:30 PM on January 27, 2015

mudpuppie: There was wild boar, but I've never seen any references to people curing it.

Might not be enough fat - same reason that sheep sausage isn't really a big thing, historically.
posted by IAmBroom at 1:14 PM on January 27, 2015

Wild boar bacon is incredibly delicious.

The muscle bundles are a bit bigger and each are surrounded by a nice layer of fat - adds to the wonderful "melty" mouthfeel. The fat's also a lot cleaner/sweeter tasting, and the meat has a much fuller flavour and a solid mouthfeel of meatiness compared to factory pork bacon.

Unfortunately, it's about $30 a pound, compared to $5-12 for "regular" bacon, where I get it and it's (almost) spoiled "regular" bacon for me.
posted by porpoise at 6:23 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]