Investigating History’s Food Secrets

We are Food Detectives on a quest to uncover the secrets of Hash! Where the heck did it come from? Is it a potato dish? We are looking at recipes spanning over 150 years to find the common threads. Come along as we investigate!

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[cjkoehler]

300 year old Sloppy Joes. Back when they were known as "untidy Joseph."

[Havenwyck_Media]

It all looked really good to me. My dad, way back in the 1950's to early 1970s use to make a great tasting 'hash' with leftover venison roast, carrots, potato, onion, parsly, lard, plus salt and pepper. He said his dad made it, and his dad was born in 1875.

[brick]

There's an idiom in the UK: make a hash of it. i.e. a mess. Hash being a jumble of mangled fragments. I always assumed hash the food was... well, that. a jumble. Dishes like 'bubble and squeak' comes to mind.

[vaylonkenadell]

Michael Dragoo is correct when he says that "stew" is not understood as a noun meaning a type of cooked dish until later. Per the Online Etymology Dictionary:

"The meaning 'meat slowly boiled, ' generally with vegetables, is recorded by 1756. The colloquial sense of 'state of agitation or worry' is by 1806."

Thanks again for another wonderful video. Always good to see Michael Dragoo on!

[madamedex]

I think you hit the nail on the head with "clean out the refrigerator." Frugality in the kitchen has always been paramount and this recipe seems to serve the purpose of using things up in a tasty way.

[DM-klem]

My grandmother worked at a grocery store back in the 1950s. She had a customer come in, whose husband's favorite meal was hash. He was always comparing his wife's cooking unfavorably to his mother's, asking "Why can't you ever make hash as good as my mom's?" One day, she finally got so angry that she served him canned dog food without telling him. He said, to her shock, that it was the best hash he ever had. She was worried, because NOW she didn't know what she was supposed to do.

[johnanon]

Its great to see Michael again, because he always has so much enthusiasm for the foods that I daresay it rivals Jon's interest in using nutmeg.

[joejackson]

One of the most top tier channels on youtube.

[robfut]

Given the fact that the first recipe specified “raw beef” in the title, I will assume most hash in the 1600’s was also done with leftover meat and to use raw meat as unusual enough that the author had to highlight the fact in the title

[ashleighlecount]

When my daughter was little corned beef hash out of the can was one of her favorite foods. She called it cash

[MsLeenite]

Thank you, Jon and Michael, that was very interesting. About chestnuts: my only association with them (apart from the Merry Christmas song) is the hot chestnut vendors on Central Park West (in NYC) near the Museum of Natural History. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY in the 1950's. In October and early November when the weather became crisp, the hot chestnut vendors would be tending their charcoal brazier carts near the park entrances, sending the wonderful aroma of roasting chestnuts into the cool air. A trip to the museum in late fall was special: it meant holding a warm little bag of chestnuts with their smoky fragrance, and enjoying their sweet flavor and chewy texture, while ogling the bright fall foliage of the park. Followed, of course, by dinosaurs! 🦕🦖🦕🦖 Good memories.

[MrTickleTrunk]

Every time I see Michael Dragoo's in a thumbnail I know it's going to be a good one.
You guys bounce off each other so well.

[TisiphonesShadow]

In parts of the South, we have "Hash and Rice". It consists of finely-shredded cooked meat (usually pork) in a thickened mustard-based sauce served over rice.

[mikeks]

For me growing up?! A Hash was a Nice way of taking the leftovers and Making a Meal! Im 58 now and Still do It!
Thank You for Sharing This!

[gailsears]

Very interesting. The hash I usually make here in the southern US is leftover ham with potatoes and onions. A dry sort of mixture.

[steveparker]

My parents made us kids hamburger hash when growing up.
Simply, hamburger, onion, celery, potatoes, salt and pepper.
Easy to make and very filling with a couple slices of buttered bread.
I still make it now and then. Great memories.

[HyggeState]

I always love an appearance by Michael!

[CounterNerd]

An episode featuring Dragoo is an episode I'm sure to watch.

[mikeskelly]

My Gran was born in 1900, she had a hand crank meat grinder she used to make ground pork. She fried it in bacon fat and added the crumbled bacon to the mix along with Cumin, Mustard and S&P. It was served with a 'gravy' on Rye toast. She must have had 'secret' ingredients, because I've never been able to replicate those flavors. Maybe I'll try some pickle juice or chestnuts...

[TacticalKiwi]

Awsome deep dive. This is one of the reason why I love the channel!