For my July 4 breakfast, I had the same thing I have every morning: a cheese and egg breakfast burrito. It’s not, I’m pretty sure, what the the Founding Fathers had for breakfast on July 4, 1776, but it is certainly an early American food. Very early, early American.
The word tortilla originates from the Spanish word tort meaning “cake” and its first documented use was around the mid-1600s. The food itself, a thin flatbread made from dried and finely ground corn, can be traced back many thousands of years to people of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Today, tortillas are second only to sliced bread as the number 2 packaged bread product sold, passing bagels and muffins.
I put some cheese on my tortilla. Apparently, not an American discovery, but I suppose we invented American cheese.
It is thought that cheese was first discovered around 8000 BC around the time when sheep were first domesticated, in Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. Rennet, the enzyme used to make cheese, is naturally present in the stomachs of ruminants. The leak-proof stomachs and other bladder-like organs of animals were often put to use to store and transport milk and other liquids. Without refrigeration, warm summer heat in combination with residual rennet in the stomach lining would have naturally curdled the milk to produce the earliest forms of cheese.
East Indian history indicates that wild fowl were domesticated as early as 3200 B.C. Egyptian and Chinese records show that fowl were laying eggs for man in 1400 B.C. Europe has had domesticated hens since 600 B.C. There is some evidence of native fowl in the Americas prior to Columbus’ arrival. However, it is believed that, on his second trip in 1493, Columbus’ ships carried to the New World the first of the chickens, which originated in Asia, related to those now in egg production.
Most people of the world eat the egg of the chicken, Gallus domesticas. Nearly 200 breeds and varieties of chickens have been established worldwide. Most laying hens in the U.S. are Single-Comb White Leghorns.
My breakfast, then, has some American, and very, very, early American roots. I took my hand-held breakfast to the computer.
I enjoy working online jigsaw puzzles on the computer. They have a bit of an edge over regular jigsaw puzzles that come in a box. You do not have to worry about lost puzzle pieces, pieces that fall on the floor and no one notices, or, the ruthless friends and family members who will sneak a piece from the table and hide it in their pocket, so they can be the person who places the last piece into the puzzle, completing it. (No one like that in your family? Really?)
Anyway, I like the site Jigsaw Explorer. They put up a couple of new puzzles each day, and they have a big inventory of previous puzzles. The best part is that I can adjust the number of pieces into which the puzzle will be divided, from 6 to 1026. I like the 140-150 range myself. I enjoy completing a puzzle, but I don’t want to spend the entire day working on one. Thursday morning (July 4), I did the puzzle version of the painting “Congress Voting Independence,” by Robert Edge Pine.
For lunch, David said, “Where?” and I suggested D’s Mediterranean Grill, self-described as “Counter-serve Mediterranean-Middle Eastern eatery serving gyros, falafel, salads & kebabs in a casual setting.” He wasn’t so sure, but after looking at a couple of other places, he said OK. April and I had been there the past weekend and enjoyed it. They’ve been in business for several years and have expanded their menu quite a bit. In addition to their Mediterranean fare, they’ve added things like grilled chicken breasts, which is what I had, and, seriously, chicken fried steak, which is what David had. You get sides, and, last weekend, I had Fried Green Beans, which is why I suggested going there. More Fried Green Beans! David had some of those, too, braiding together Mediterranean/American cuisine in the most delicious way!
The saying “an army marches on its stomach” has been attributed to both Napoleon and Frederick the Great. It is recorded in English from the early 20th century.Which makes me wonder, “What did revolutionary was soldiers eat?” Or, rather, what were the revolutionary soldiers supposed to be getting to eat?
Since the grass started growing again in the spring, I have fallen into something of a pattern on Fridays:
Drive out to McGregor, mow the yard there, and celebrate finishing it by driving to Sonic, getting a Diet Coke and drinking it while I read your weekly post, which I always enjoy. Thank you!