A trail recipe that should probably stay that way...
Some recipes have genuinely made me wonder am I a little crazy, a glutton for punishment, or both. This time, I'm pretty sure it's both.
Maybe it was leftover confidence from how well my vinegar pie came out three years ago or just my ongoing commitment to trying out bizarre historical recipes, but I'm going to say this right up front: unless you're a settler making your way to Oregon in 1847, I wouldn't recommend trying this one at home.
Maybe it was leftover confidence from how well my vinegar pie came out three years ago or just my ongoing commitment to trying out bizarre historical recipes, but I'm going to say this right up front: unless you're a settler making your way to Oregon in 1847, I wouldn't recommend trying this one at home.
That's exactly what this recipe is meant for: settlers going to Oregon (or California, Utah, and other western territories in the mid 19th century). These settlers were faced with problems long before setting out on the dangerous journey, which anyone who's played any version of the video game can surely attest to. The biggest issue was the question of provisions: what to pack, how much of it, and how long would it last on the trip?
Anything fresh or perishable wouldn't make it to Oregon, which raised concerns about combating scurvy, assuming you might not have access to fresh fruit along the trail. By 1847, it was understood that eating fresh fruits like oranges, lemons and limes could prevent diseases like scurvy, although the exact reason why hadn't been discovered yet. It was thought of as a nutritional rather than vitamin deficiency, as vitamin C wouldn't be discovered until 1920, and vitamins in general weren't discovered until 1913. To help prevent the disease, families would make batches of "lemonade" made with apple cider vinegar, hoping that that would help supplement their diets until they found new fresh fruit.
Allegedly. Although apple cider vinegar does contain at least trace amounts of vitamin C, I actually can't find any good sources that definitively say this recipe was used as a way to prevent scurvy on the Oregon Trail, although it was definitely a good option for keeping drinking water purified during the journey. This was an era where people were still a little suspicious of just drinking plain water, as crowded conditions in cities and towns often meant water sources were contaminated. People would turn to beer and cider, or boiled liquids like coffee to stay hydrated. On the trail, you'd want to preserve any coffee or beer you managed to take with you, and adding vinegar to any water you stumbled across could (theoretically) help kill anything that could make you sick.
Adding sugar and other flavoring might also help just break up the monotony of drinking plain water, and might have felt like a treat for settlers trekking miles every day alongside their wagons and animals.
To make your own vinegar lemonade at home (why), all you need is eight cups of cold water, 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar, and 1 cup of sugar. Mix it all together, chill, and enjoy.
Anything fresh or perishable wouldn't make it to Oregon, which raised concerns about combating scurvy, assuming you might not have access to fresh fruit along the trail. By 1847, it was understood that eating fresh fruits like oranges, lemons and limes could prevent diseases like scurvy, although the exact reason why hadn't been discovered yet. It was thought of as a nutritional rather than vitamin deficiency, as vitamin C wouldn't be discovered until 1920, and vitamins in general weren't discovered until 1913. To help prevent the disease, families would make batches of "lemonade" made with apple cider vinegar, hoping that that would help supplement their diets until they found new fresh fruit.
Allegedly. Although apple cider vinegar does contain at least trace amounts of vitamin C, I actually can't find any good sources that definitively say this recipe was used as a way to prevent scurvy on the Oregon Trail, although it was definitely a good option for keeping drinking water purified during the journey. This was an era where people were still a little suspicious of just drinking plain water, as crowded conditions in cities and towns often meant water sources were contaminated. People would turn to beer and cider, or boiled liquids like coffee to stay hydrated. On the trail, you'd want to preserve any coffee or beer you managed to take with you, and adding vinegar to any water you stumbled across could (theoretically) help kill anything that could make you sick.
Adding sugar and other flavoring might also help just break up the monotony of drinking plain water, and might have felt like a treat for settlers trekking miles every day alongside their wagons and animals.
To make your own vinegar lemonade at home (why), all you need is eight cups of cold water, 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar, and 1 cup of sugar. Mix it all together, chill, and enjoy.
And by enjoy I mean... choke it down. There was really no getting over that this tasted like sweetened, watery apple cider vinegar, and it wasn't exactly pleasant to drink. Admittedly, if I was desperate for anything different from trail food, maybe I'd be singing a different tune, but I live in 2019 and chose to do this to myself because... curiosity. You never know, it might have turned out really nicely!
Some recipes for this concoction recommend using flavored lemon extracts or raspberry vinegar, probably to mask the flavor a little bit. We didn't have any handy and didn't like the original results enough to experiment any further or buy special ingredients just for it, but if you're curious enough to try it out yourself, that might be worth investigating.
Would Kirsten and her family have enjoyed something like this on their way to their new home? Probably not, as their trip from New York to Minnesota was a lot shorter than other pioneers' journeys were, and they had access to better food along the way too. They probably would have had access to apples or some kind of citrus on the ship over from Sweden, as scurvy was considered an even bigger danger on board a ship. But as lemons were scarce in Minnesota, and probably pretty expensive for a humble farming family like the Larsons, it's definitely possible this would have been a drink they'd turn to in the summer months to have something sweet, refreshing, and as close to lemonade as you could get without breaking the bank.
In conclusion: I'm really glad I don't live in the mid 19th century.
Some recipes for this concoction recommend using flavored lemon extracts or raspberry vinegar, probably to mask the flavor a little bit. We didn't have any handy and didn't like the original results enough to experiment any further or buy special ingredients just for it, but if you're curious enough to try it out yourself, that might be worth investigating.
Would Kirsten and her family have enjoyed something like this on their way to their new home? Probably not, as their trip from New York to Minnesota was a lot shorter than other pioneers' journeys were, and they had access to better food along the way too. They probably would have had access to apples or some kind of citrus on the ship over from Sweden, as scurvy was considered an even bigger danger on board a ship. But as lemons were scarce in Minnesota, and probably pretty expensive for a humble farming family like the Larsons, it's definitely possible this would have been a drink they'd turn to in the summer months to have something sweet, refreshing, and as close to lemonade as you could get without breaking the bank.
In conclusion: I'm really glad I don't live in the mid 19th century.
And you should be, too!
There are people now who swear by a tablespoon of vinegar every morning and I don't get that either. Thanks for braving one for the team!
ReplyDeleteThat said, this is probably better not cold and after you've been out in the sun for awhile. It would hit the same taste tickles as a warm beer or pop. You're thirsty so the flavor itself wouldn't matter.
I agree - apple cider vinegar (and lemons if you have them) does wonders for the digestion and improving stomach acid. I've actually been drinking ACV diluted in water a lot lately because my digestion sucks. It's an acquired taste and definitely better with room temperature water - had on an empty stomach is best. Alternatively, hot water (with some lemon) is good on an empty stomach, too. Apparently, my great-grandmother swore by drinking a cup full of hot water first thing in the morning!
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