A Wannabe Food Historian

I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve said that if I weren’t doing what I’m doing, I’d be a food historian. When I wrote Painting the Past: A Guide for Writing Historical Fiction, I waxed poetic on the charms of cooking recipes from the historical era you’re writing about. I love to cook so cooking historical recipes is something I enjoy.

What Did They Eat on the Oregon Trail?

As I’ve been researching the Oregon Trail for the next installment of the Loving Husband Series, one of the things I’ve realized is that the eating wasn’t always all that good. While the men would hunt to supply their company with meat, and there were a few forts along the 2000-mile journey where the pioneers could replenish their supplies, for the most part, the travelers had what they carried with them.

Barrels of flour and cornmeal were necessities, and that was with the hope that the ingredients didn’t spoil or become infested with creepy crawlies.

Johnnycakes Were a Popular Meal on the Oregon Trail

One popular meal during the journey was a cornmeal pancake called Johnnycake. There are a number of different theories about where the name Johnnycake came from. I like the definition that the Johnny in Johnnycake is a shortening of the word journey since the cakes are easy to make and carry around. Johnnycakes were popular during the American Civil War as well, and modern versions are still widely eaten.

Since I wanted to taste some of the flavors of the Oregon Trail, I put on my wanna-be food historian’s hat and made a batch of Johnnycakes. I used this recipe from The Daring Gourmet as the basis for my Johnnycakes.

This particular recipe is quick and easy to make, which I wanted because I wanted to try to keep the recipe as authentic as possible. Of course, I use modern-day appliances and ingredients that I bought in the grocery store. Keep in mind that even this recipe uses more ingredients than the Johnnycakes they ate on the Oregon Trail.

On the Oregon Trail, the Johnnycakes might be very simple, made by mixing ground cornmeal with water and frying it over an open fire. If sugar, butter, and salt were available, they might be used as well. Food on the Oregon Trail was meant to be sustenance. It wasn’t meant to be fancy or even great-tasting depending on what ingredients were available.

Since I wanted to actually taste the Johnnycakes to get a sense of what they ate on the Oregon Trail, I used ingredients with flavor.

How To Make Johnnycakes

Here are the ingredients from The Daring Gourmet:

• 1 cups cornmeal, stone-ground white or yellow
• 3 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 1/2 cups water, boiled

Making the Johnnycake mixture was similar to baking cookies. You whisk the dry ingredients and add them to the liquid (in this case boiling water).

First, I put the water on to boil. While waiting, I whisked the dry ingredients together. Once the water was boiling, I added the dry ingredients and continued whisking. Then I added the two pats of butter and continued whisking until the batter was smooth.

After I whisked the butter into the batter, I let it rest for 15 minutes while I did the dishes. I’m not the neatest cook in the world, but I like things to be tidy as soon as I’m done! The mixture thickens while it sits and after 15 minutes I had something resembling thick cake batter. Then I heated some vegetable oil in a frying pan.

I formed the Johnnycakes into silver dollar-sized patties and fried them. Then I flattened them with a spatula so that they would cook more evenly. You need to wait for the cakes to brown before you flip them over, or else they’ll fall apart, as I can attest to.

The process is similar to when I make latkes during Hannukah. When the cakes were browned and crispy on both sides, I set them out on a plate covered with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

You’ll notice that some of the Johnnycakes are darker than others, but we have a difference of opinion in my house regarding how crispy things should be. I love the cakes crispier and darker because I think there’s more flavor in the crust.

Let the Johnnycakes cool down before you dig in. I nearly burned the inside of my mouth because I was so impatient to try them, and also they taste better after the excess oil has had a chance to drain away.

What Do Johnnycakes Taste Like?

The Johnnycakes are simple to make and delicious to eat. They taste like cornmeal pancakes. You can eat them with butter, jam, or even maple syrup. Quite frankly, I ate them without any adornment because I didn’t think they needed anything else. The cornmeal, salt, sugar, and butter give the pancakes enough flavor, at least the way I made them.

Eating Johnnycakes on the Oregon Trail

I imagine the westward-traveling pioneers in the mid-1800s sitting around their campfires after a long day of driving the wagons or walking alongside them. Maybe there aren’t a lot of supplies available, maybe the men haven’t been successful hunting, or maybe the fort didn’t have a lot of supplies to trade for, but the women can scrounge some cornmeal and maybe a sprinkle of sugar and a pinch of salt.

I can see them around their campfires frying the Johnnycakes. The Johnnycakes are hearty and filling, and I can see now why the cornmeal cakes were such an important meal for the pioneers on the Oregon Trail.

I think I’ll have some of those Johnnycakes with my dinner tonight.