[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: the attack of the killer frozen dumplings



So I looked at the subject line, and said to myself, sheesh, here comes a wild, food-related reference question. I was starting to feel relieved until I got to the end of the post and saw that, yes, it was a wild, food-related reference question.

I checked several Native American cookbooks, concentrating on those that dealt with Southeast/Cherokee food, given the location. There were no dumplings in these books. However, _The American Indian Cookbook_ (eARTh [sic] Company, 1974) includes a recipe for "Indian Dumplings" (ingredients=flour, baking powder, salt pork), but does not give a time period or tribal affiliation for the recipe. (a cursory search didn't lead to any information on the date of the first use of baking powder). There was no mention of these being used as weapons.

One thing to consider is that the description of this food fight came from the European-rooted settler, and he was interpreting the food, trying to describe it based on something he was used to. Perhaps it wasn't dumplings at all, but something that reminded Hubbard of dumplings. If they were indeed frozen, it must have been this time of year, since this was a few years before Birds Eye Frozen Dumplings were introduced in that area.

I guess Mr. Hubbard is too early to be a Monty Python fan (military training against attacks by people armed with fruit).

Or, is it possible that there is a transcription error, or that Draper or his interviewer misunderstood something that Hubbard said? Perhaps he actually said something like "he threw his metal bludgeon," or something like that.

No, I think I like the other version better!





Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer
Special Collections Librarian/Archivist

The Culinary Institute of America
1946 Campus Drive
Hyde Park, NY  12538
(845) 451-1757
c_crawfo@culinary.edu


>>> Russell Baker <russell.baker@MAIL.STATE.AR.US> 01/11/02 01:59PM >>>
What I want to know is has any one ever
heard of a "frozen dumpling" being used as an attack weapon or for any other
purpose? And what in the world was a "frozen dumpling" in 1783? Was it a
staple of native American diet, frontier fare?

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>