What People Ate on Ellis Island

[@TastingHistory]

Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel 🎉. Get 60% OFF your subscription during their Black Friday sale➡Here: go.babbel.com/t?bsc=usa-influ-eg-dt-1m&btp=default&KZbin&Influencer..Mar-2024..USA-TATAM..1200m60-yt-tastinghistorywithmaxmiller-mar-2024

[@brokenglassshimmerlikestar3407]

I wish Babbel had Greek. But so far no luck lol

[@death-istic9586]

Love your videos!💚

[@monikadeinbeck4760]

you would only ask, "hast du den Zucker?" if you already talked about the sugar. If you ask someone, "do you have THE sugar?" the propable reply is, "what sugar?". If you want to ask somebody for sugar you would say, "hast du Zucker?" or more politely, "hast du vielleicht etwas Zucker für mich?" = do you by chance have some sugar for me?

[@Diebulfrog79]

liberty pudding is either rice or bread pudding with fruit

[@kellikelli4413]

You are wrong about names being changed (there on Ellis Island) they actual were shortened and even changed according to the profession of the immigrant.... Do the research ‼️

[@Asparagoose]

Max writing a new script wracking his brain trying to figure out a way to squeeze a hardtack mention into the video

[@TastingHistory]

😂

[@marcelarios4330]

And I'm here for it

[@BlackTigr]

Literally now whenever I hear him start to talk about some kind of old bread, or bread-like thing, I know to prepare myself for the *klack-klack*

[@thegreatowl4296]

Clack clack

[@kylecocciante4362]

CLACK CLACK!

[@terr777]

My grandfather came over from Germany, steerage in 1897 age 11. He had relatives upstate to pick him up, so I don't know if he stayed for dinner. He did however write in his memoirs how the food in his new country was wonderful and plentiful. He was first employed picking violets, saved his pennies (literally) then bought a horse and wagon milk business, and finally became a prosperous farmer. One of our orchards is now a public park where folks can pick apples from trees my father planted. [Peach Hill Park in Poughkeepsie]

[@be6715]

@terr777 How wonderful that you have your grandfather's memoirs to read! I've heard it said that so much history is being lost due to people not keeping diaries any longer.

[@terr777]

@be6715 Thank you. Unfortunately, he passed before he finished it (I was only 6). But he wrote about his immigration, his hard work, and the origins of my family. We didn't know it existed. Luckily, I visited an uncle by marriage who passed it on to me in the 1980s. It is now published in the county historical society's yearbook.

[@gafls3151]

Love this. Bless your family

[@peterbernhardt5169]

Thank you for that solid piece of history. Your grandfather picked sweet violets (Viola odorata) domesticated from European wildflowers. They were a big part of the winter florist's trade in New York and New England by forcing them to bloom in warmer greenhouses to make little bouquets sold on Valentine's Day. The flowers were also crystallized with sugar to decorate cakes and puddings but candy stores sold them to children. My Brooklyn born father said it was like eating perfume.

[@camjones9061]

That’s sick

[@unsafe_dB_level]

As soon as I heard "cabin biscuits", I grinned in expectation of the clack-clack!

[@MeAuntieNora]

I started Leo Dicaprio pointing at my tv.

[@jonathanpanlaqui1855]

Sir Max loves tapping hardtacks with a sound.

[@jillcutler405]

ditto!

[@Yammerzaki123fr]

I heard bread the first few secs and just shook my head

[@ToastontheEastCoast]

Max has basically pavloved his Tasting History followers to expect the clack clack whenever hardtack or similar is mentioned, lol. I love it! I feel like Tasting History needs a theme song written, mentioning things like garum and asofetida, and the clack clack clip used as part of the percussion.

[@papabungle]

"I was afraid of coffee." One of the most unintentionally funny quotes I've ever heard.

[@sukulmati]

I hope you can do a similar treatment for Angel Island sometime. Americans don't really get any information on Chinese immigration which is really too bad because it's deep and fascinating.

[@darkwing3713]

This is a wonderful suggestion.

[@lirima-hirumi]

My family has gone back and forth between China and the US since the 1840s(?). The story we have is kinda brutal, but it highly depended on a generation showed up and when they left. My something-amount-of-greats grandpa was a labourer for the transcontinental railroad and was living off of basically nonexistent wages. He didn't even go there on his own free will, he was basically tricked to go there thinking he'd have a decent job. My great grandpa was born in the US and then went back to China which had its own problems, but when he went back in the 60s(?) the immigration officers didn't believe that he was born here so he had to redo all his papers. My grandparents and parents came here during the late 70 or early 80s long after the immigration islands were closed My mom's side mainly remembers learning English on the ship, but the lessons weren't exactly great. I don't think either of my grandparents remember anything they ate, but my mom did comment that American food at the time was worse than what she'd been eating in China considering meat was at least (mostly) guaranteed over there while here it wasn't. I don't know much about my dad's side, but they probably had an easier time since they still carried some status from China that could've made the journey less terrible.

[@Trassel242]

@@lirima-hirumithank you for sharing your family’s history, I took some Mandarin Chinese classes in school for fun and found it very challenging, despite my native Swedish language also being at least a little bit tonal just like Mandarin (the same word can have multiple meanings depending on which syllable you put the stress on in Swedish), and that course didn’t even cover the different writing languages! My teacher just said “you know, we’d be here for ages if I had to teach you how to read and write as well, but as long as you can talk a little, I’m happy”. Your family are all brave and tough people to be able to withstand all those hardships, and it’s not easy to share such a personal story.

[@witsonsmom729]

My family came through Angel Island also, from Spain through Hawaii.

[@ashkitt7719]

More Americans probably know of Angel Island from Sonic Adventure than this IRL Angel Island.

[@kathyschemine3072]

Most of my ancesters came from Germany in the mid- to late-1800s. They entered the US at Baltimore. There is a family story of one of my great grandfathers setting foot in the US and his first purchase was from a produce cart. He thought he was buying an apple, but it was actually a tomato. He took one bite and declared it to be the worst apple he had ever eaten.

[@knife-wieldingspidergod5059]

Was there no tomato in Germany?

[@Trassel242]

That’s just like my grandma who first saw a fresh tomato when she was 6 years old or so. She didn’t know what it was, but didn’t dare to eat it in case it was poisonous (such bright red). Her brother, meanwhile, thought it was some kind of toy ball and tried throwing his on the floor, hoping it would bounce! This was in very rural northern Sweden in the 1930’s, so not that long ago, comparatively. A fresh tomato is very different from a can of tomato paste, and I guess it’s not that obvious that the red sauce in the tin cans is made from that weird round red shiny “fruit” unless you’re familiar with both products.

[@terminallumbago6465]

@@Trassel242Even in America for a while people thought tomatoes were poisonous.

[@terminallumbago6465]

@@knife-wieldingspidergod5059Tomatoes were native to North America. They were brought to Europe later by people who came here and then went back.

[@andyyu5957]

Most of the plants in the family which the tomato belongs to are poisonous. In the UK for example, there is the deadly nightshade (which featured as a symbol in "The Go Between" - we studied this novel in secondary school). It is not surprising that people would be cautious when they see something that looks like a poisonous plant back home.

[@Kiliamdoneit]

The Statue of Liberty Pikachu is absolutely essential.

[@tktyga77]

He missed in opportunity for a Victini given the theme

[@lazygardens]

I just noticed he has changing background critters. She's adorable.

[@TotallyNotRicardio223]

Free-kachu

[@OrbObserver]

@@thaisstone5192It's not a fetish, adults are allowed to have innocent interests, you're the one being weird. He's expressing something he likes, showing a bit of personality. A concept foreign to you, I'm sure. You should be too mature to care about such things, only children are obsessed with appearing mature.

[@THEGRUMPTRUCK]

​@@thaisstone5192You're probably also the kind of person that would be disgusted to find out Max actually has a husband.

[@mattlevault5140]

Here's a recipe for Liberty Pudding from "Half Century Magazine" - July 1918 Put a pint of stale bread crumbs in a pint of milk and soak for half an hour; add a half cupful of honey, one egg well beaten, a bit of grated nutmeg; mix well and bake until the pudding is set in the center. Serve hot with honey or maple syrup.

[@fightingparamecium9605]

Thanks, found it. I also found a very new post by Bianca Bakes with a recipe inspired by historical accounts. Slightly more sophisticated but not too far off and kind of interesting. check it out.

[@thathobbitlife]

I hope Max sees this!

[@csipawpaw7921]

A few years ago I met a man with the same last name as mine. When I asked about his relatives to see if we were related he said we are not related. He then said his family was originally Russian. But when they came to the U.S.A. his ancestor decided it would be better to have a common, American-sounding, name. So he changed their last name to my family's last name because it was the last name of a kind guard on Ellis Island.

[@AmyC531]

I've been researching my genealogy for years and have been going to Ellis Island since I was a child, but somehow, something like this happening never occurred to me! I wonder how many people got their names this way! While it is true that names were recorded improperly by immigration, most name changes were voluntary, with immigrants wanting to anglicize their names to better fit in.

[@jimlondos6943]

Gxd Bless America

[@ashkitt7719]

@@AmyC531Yeah, at the time assimilation through the "melting pot" was considered the best thing to do as an immigrant. I get the sentiment but obviously it doesn't always work. Hence why the narrative now is more about a "mosaic" or a "salad" in which everything is in one bigger part but there is heterogeneity. Unity yet individuality I guess. I think that's what my family has done more or less. We've been strongly assertive of our heritage (both the English and the Ashkenazi Jewish side) in which I have plum pudding for Christmas and gefilte fish for Pesach, two dishes typical Middle Americans can't seem to stomach much, but I far prefer coffee over tea and I love bacon cheeseburgers.

[@RangerMan-yv7rl]

Surely not "Paw Paw"?

[@krono5el]

most europeans that came to the Americas got a name change in some way.

[@lisatheboywonder6744]

My great grandma Eka came to Ellis Island from Hamburg Germany in the 1930s she didn't have an easy life. But she made her way to Chicago and made a great career and life for herself and the shit she seen and experienced. She was a no nonsense woman and family legend was she yelled at a ghost to leave her alone cause she was trying to sleep lol. I miss her she was one of a kind.

[@MiguelDunham]

It cracks me up every time Max switches to his "Movietone" voice. Almost too real!

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

It's an episode highlight every time 😂

[@sntslilhlpr6601]

Guy's got a lot of talent. I wasn't surprised to learn he was a Disney performer.

[@shawnpeterson3386]

That's a favorite of mine, too! He could have been on the radio at the time.

[@Artyom1247]

I think i remember in an early video he said that he worked in theater before going full time on KZbin.

[@bananalimb1002]

crack.. mmmm....

[@TuckerSP2011]

My mom always tells a story of my 14 year old grandfather coming hete from Sicily and having developed an eye infection on the boat, that they sent him back and he had to try again. I'm not sure that really happened but he did come here as a 14 year old boy. His uncle lived in Patterson NJ and sponsored him. When my grandfather made his way to his uncle's home, he was turned away gruffly, telling the boy that he had too many mouths to feed, find your own way. So somehow grandpa went to Manhattan and found some of his townspeople from Sicily and roomed with them in a boarding house. They took turns sleeping in the bed. Somehow he survived and though I can honestly say he was not a financial success, he served in WW1 and returned home shell shocked. He had 8 children. He married my grandmother who had come here as a baby from the same ancestral town. She actually was the breadwinner in the family.

[@AsparagusG]

Jesus that's a hell of a rough life.

[@TheArnaa]

My maternal grandmother emigrated from England to Australia with her parents and siblings in 1912. They came on the cheapest tickets and had black tea with hard biscuits for breakfast. They had to whack the biscuits repeatedly against the edge of the table to knock the weevils out before dunking the biscuit in the tea to soften it enough to be eaten.

[@LorenIpsum75]

Do you know the name of the ship? The Friedrich der Große (Frederick the Great) made regular trips between England, Australia & New York before WWI.

[@TheGypsyVanners]

Sounds like hard tack!

[@TheArnaa]

@@LorenIpsum75 It was the Gothic, which did return trips from England to Australia around the Cape of Good Hope. During the voyage my grandmother’s family was on, there was a massive storm as they rounded the Cape, and cargo which hadn’t been secured properly slid to one side of the ship. That made the ship list to that side so badly it was in danger on sinking. The crew had just started getting the lifeboats out when a really big wave pushed the ship back upright.

[@SecretAgentXD1]

​@@TheGypsyVanners Klack klack

[@nogglebeak]

you really don't have to explain ship biscuits or hardtack to anyone watching this channel.

[@kaylawheezy]

My great grandpa come over from Greece in 1912 when he was 12 years old all by himself. It was during the Turkish war and his mama sent him away because she was afraid he’d be drafted into the war. Watching this and seeing what he possibly ate makes me feel a little more closer to him. Thank you. ❤

[@Yusuf-ok5rk]

sry about the war, it was italian invasion.

[@Hiltok]

A little historical aside: At 14:13 the photo of the dining hall shows a large US flag hanging from the upper walkway. That flag has 46 stars in rows of 8,7,8,8,7,8. The 46th state to join the Union was Oklahoma on November 16, 1907. The 47th state was New Mexico on January 6th, 1912. The photo should be from between these two dates.

[@TastingHistory]

I feel like there was a period where they were always having to update the flag. Then they hit 50 stars and were like, stop!

[@joanhoffman3702]

Thank you! You saved me from having to do the research on the flag.

[@bigjohnsbreakfastlog5819]

They'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before they recognize Missourah.

[@napoleonfeanor]

​@@TastingHistorythere have been numerous unsuccessful movements though. Not sure if it will ever change again

[@truth4004]

@@bigjohnsbreakfastlog5819

[@themattschulz3984]

Well, if a german asks for sugar at the table, it is usually: "Reichst du mir bitte den Zucker?", "Kannst du mir den Zucker geben?" ... "Hast du den Zucker" is something we would ask when grocery shopping and want to cross that of the list. Cheers from germany ... and props for the pronounciation, well done.

[@p.s.shnabel3409]

"Hast *du* den Zucker?" sounds slightly accusatory, doesn't it?

[@themattschulz3984]

@@p.s.shnabel3409Yes, that too :D

[@looshaas]

That depends on how posh you are haha I feel like "hast du den Zucker" is just fine as well

[@p.s.shnabel3409]

@@looshaasNope, not in that context is isn't. If you don't stand on manners, you could say "Gib mir den Zucker". Asking "Hast du den Zucker?" means you don't know where the sugar is. And you're asking someone else whether they know.

[@WhereThatLongGrassGrows]

My 2× great grandpa said (according to my grandmother) that when he sat to eat his first meal in America at Ellis Island, the dining staff set down bread and little dishes of butter on long, white-linen covered tables. He went to slather the bread with butter, but it had a very odd consistency. Upon tasting it, he commented to his wife that American food is very different from the food they were used to in Germany, noting, "their butter isn't very good." Turns out, it was ice cream. Something he never knew existed as a country bumpkin in the old country.

[@Daniel.Belas1]

The staff watching him put bread on ice cream we're probably so confused too

[@mandie492]

To be fair to your 2x great grandpa, why TF would they put ice cream down with bread. I would assume it's some kind of butter as well

[@ifga16]

My great grandparents came through Ellis Island from Austria Hungary in 1914, on the last ship out of Trieste when the war started. One of the problem foods that was talked about was the consternation of some to getting 'animal feed' aka boiled corn on the cob. Like mince pie, it quickly became quite welcome after explanations, staff demonstrations and a self experimentation. Grandmother was still rather young when arriving, she always joked that she wanted to return some day to find the shoe that she lost.

[@shinyshinythings]

Your grandmother sounds like good fun, love that sense of humor in the toughest times!

[@TheKalihiMan]

It’s interesting to see the different approach here compared to what others experienced. I am of partial Chinese ancestry, and some of my extended family members went through the Angel Island Immigration Center in California. Instead of merely checking their immigration forms and asking a few simple questions, immigrants at Angel Island were detained there for extended periods (sometimes months) and questioned extensively multiple times for any discrepancy in their background, which would often result in deportation. The rejection rate for prospective immigrants to the western United States was around 6 times higher than at Ellis Island.

[@sojourn3r1]

Apparently, in order to get Chinese workers to come over to help build the rails we had to sign a compact with the Emperor that the US wouldn't grant these immigrants citizenship. As far as the Emperor of China was concerned, the peasants belonged to him, he was only allowing them to leave to earn money. That's what I was told when I questioned the apparent hostility to Chinese Americans who were denied citizenship even though they were born here. There were several court cases about this. I couldn't understand the basis of citizenship being denied.

[@mandie492]

I do have an inkling that it's because there were more Asians coming through the Angel Island center

[@ahmedakhan1]

@@sojourn3r1 Pure and simple racism!

[@marazobrist16]

Many comment sections on the internet are scary, toxic places but this one is so polite and interesting. I am enjoying all of your family stories and learning about Angel island.

[@Kiliamdoneit]

Perfect! I just made lunch and u just released this 42 seconds ago. Sometimes things just work out.

[@alecdeter1999]

Do you also eat while listening to his videos?

[@alecdeter1999]

@@Demode_Elf fair fair always makes me hungry watching food vids

[@erikhendrickson59]

@@alecdeter1999 Yea. Because his fucking videos often *_make me hungry,_* lol

[@Mote.]

Same thing happened to me

[@screamsinmyhead]

Odd coincidence: just made breakfast and saw this in my feed 😆

[@StrikertheEchidna]

5:11 beef shin is one of the easiest cuts to find. It is more commonly sold as Osso Bucco. Or if you head to your local butcher and ask for beef shin they will grab it from their fridge out back if they break down sides of beef. I am a butcher by trade and I have many people asking for beef shin. Another alternative is Gravy beef or Heel muscle both are really good cuts for stews.

[@peabody1976]

Okay, Pikachu welcoming new people to the US is very cute!

[@mayraeg2629]

One of my favorite things is, (I think)he has a pokemon in every episode

[@nyratk1]

@@mayraeg2629 The Clodsire in the hot chocolate episode had me dying.

[@LeedleLee457]

Kangaskhan for the Genghis Khan episode, Grimer for molasses, Giratina for Alcatraz, etc. Non-Pokemon fans are missing out on how creative Max really is!

[@brookelackey6231]

And with some bananas! So sweet of Pikachu.

[@rairyu7528]

@@LeedleLee457 I actually think that's his husband's doing. Might have mentioned that many years ago.

[@Subvetsteve]

I was just enjoying your video on Ellis Island and I was looking through some old recipes and found one for Liberty Pudding made with apples, Referred to as an Autumn dessert? Liberty Apple Pudding JUNE 15, 2017 IN CSA BAKING, HELSING COOKING Cold weather and desserts seem to go hand in hand. Here's a recipe for a warm and comforting fall treat -Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a medium pie pan. -To make the topping, coarsely grate 4 TBS butter into a bowl. -Add 1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup chopped almonds, 1/4 tsp salt, some freshly grated nutmeg and 1/2 tsp freshly grated lemon rind. -Work the above ingredients in with the butter until you have a coarse crumbly mixture, then set aside. -In a blender, combine 3 eggs, 1/4 cup honey, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp almond extract, a small pinch of salt, some freshly grated nutmeg, 1 1/2 cup milk and 1/3 cup flour and puree until smooth. -Scrape down the sides and blend for a few more seconds. Set-aside until ready to use. -Core and thinly slice about 1 1/2 pounds Asian pears and/or Liberty apples into a pie pan. -Pour the batter over top, add the crisp topping and bake until puffed and golden, about 50 minutes. -If desired, sprinkle tart with a few TBS Amaretto as soon as it comes out of the oven. -Serve warm with a pitcher of fresh organic cream or vanilla ice cream Not sure if it’s the same? I really enjoy your site and treated myself to your cookbook this past Christmas, keep up the good work!

[@Lazydaisy646]

It sounds very nice

[@tulmar4548]

​@@tarbhnathracso combine it in a bowl and mix like your life depends on it. Its just an updated version using common available everyday appliances we use now. No need to be anal.

[@tarbhnathrac]

@tulmar4548 The original poster updated the recipe date from 1017 to 2017.

[@tulmar4548]

@@tarbhnathrac you do know if its edited we can see it say edited next to the post right ? Does it say edited ? No , no it doesn't.

[@tulmar4548]

@@tarbhnathrac why would you like your comment with not only your main account but your alt account. Thats weird af.

[@wenchbyatt]

10:50 for the record, that's still the case today. If you get rejected at the border at an airport, the airline is responsible for getting you back to your departure airport

[@andersjjensen]

Interesting. I did not know that.

[@RangerMan-yv7rl]

Unpaid return trip?

[@chriskasprzyk6235]

That is why the airlines are very fastidious about checking your passport multiple times when flying Internationally. Keep that thing handy because you are going to be needing it A LOT.

[@annew8365]

Max and Jose, I hope you are both doing well. Thanks for the continued great content. ❤

[@smeeAndyEN]

Thicc bone marrow X vegetables soup is something that still feeds families in my eastern EU country. As you said, it's hearty. Hearty enough to get you from lunch to dinner. Actually I kinda prefer it to heavy meals as it doesn't get you into a food coma. Even if you eat A LOT of it, you'll be fine after a hour - the magic of the mass of vegetables merged with the flavor of meat. Ideal combination.

[@RangerMan-yv7rl]

Veggies full of nutrients. Love it!

[@WPTheRabbitHole]

bone broth is extremely healthy, you can never eat too much of it

[@JudgeNicodemus]

​@@WPTheRabbitHole and it tastes great to boot!

[@ashkitt7719]

If you have a historical recipe, might be cool to see a cooking video from it. Sure, it would be cool to see Max Miller do it but also be the change you want to see in the world.

[@mwater_moon2865]

Fun fact: A fermentable fiber from some grains like oats, rye, and barley (like in this soup) called beta-glucan triggers the body to produce the same "feeling full, controlling insulin" hormone that Ozempic mimics, GLP-1, and 4-6 hours after you eat it, your gut starts to release peptide YY, another appetite suppressing hormone. It doesn't just fill you up, keeps you feeling full and smooths out insulin bumps (sugar highs/crashes) Source: NPR

[@theyoodoo]

On March 29, 1912 my Father Bruno, Uncle Romeo and my grandparents Aristide and Carla Borromei came through Ellis Island from a ship called the Oceanic. They left behind their Homeland planning to make a new life in America. I'm sure they had meals just like this. The city of Trieste which they left behind is now in Italy, formerly it was in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. I am so proud their spirit of adventure led them here. I have much to thank them for. And thanks to you for remebering the many immgrants who came here.

[@ahmedakhan1]

Unfortunately, most Americans do not have the same admiration for the migrants coming from south of the border nowadays. They too have a great spirit of adventure and courage to overcome many of the difficulties!

[@JenniferBrown-hm4sx]

My ancestors came from England in 1668 so I’m guessing they had hard tack ( clack clack) 😀

[@loriloristuff]

Some of mine came from England a little prior. Some landed in Massachusetts, some in the Carolinas, some in Virginia.

[@BackWordsJane]

​@@loriloristuff Same here. My grandmother's father's family landed in Massachusetts. In 1630s Everyone else arrived between 1630s to 1725 in Virginia. My dad's immigrant ancestor came as an indentured laborer to Virginia during King Charles ll 's reign

[@jonathanpanlaqui1855]

Sir Max's favorite habit was tapping hardtacks.

[@ashkitt7719]

tfw I'm one of the few people who is a second-generation immigrant __and__ the first generation immigrant is from England. Rather than the tenth or whatever.

[@dmbalsam]

Only my Dad’s family came through Ellis Island. My Mom’s family was mostly here before the17th century and all before the Civil War

[@johnathantufano8068]

My great-grandfather was of people who came through Ellis Island when emigrating here from Italy. Thanks for the video.

[@kap79]

Okay okay, I aboslutely love the bit where the Pokemon matches the episode, but this one... *chef's kiss*

[@xoPeridotTea]

I'm actually really happy to see this episode. My paternal grandmother's grandparents came from Bavaria in 1917 through Ellis Island on the USS Aeolus. When I was writing a paper in college on the subject, I couldn't get as many sources as I needed to do the research or learn about their experiences because Hurricane Sandy had just hit NY and a lot of records (at least at that time) were lost. So seeing this and learning more about the experiences really made me happy to see.

[@gardenlady1293]

One of my grandmother's earliest memories (she was 4 and with her Mom) was taking the ferry to Ellis Island and seeing "The Big Green Lady" (statue of Liberty) from the boat.She was simply amazed.

[@terminallumbago6465]

Where did they come from?

[@angsern8455]

Huh, by her time the statue of liberty has oxidised, interesting

[@gardenlady1293]

@@terminallumbago6465 Transylvania (yes its a real place)

[@shirleyannconfer9651]

I love the liberty statue Pikachu! It’s just too cute. I’m sure people thought that this was a feast after living in famine conditions for so long. Some of the best soups I’ve ever eaten had been cooked long enough for the meat to disintegrate into the broth.

[@MissMTurner]

My grandfather came through Ellis Island with his pregnant Mom and siblings from Greece.

[@AlexisOnF1re]

My Grandma came from Germany and settled in Chicago, its the story of so many of us

[@unsafe_dB_level]

I wonder if "liberty pudding" is a WWI-era reference to a German food like "liberty sausage" (frankfurters) or "liberty cabbage" (sauerkraut). Especially since pudding was a historic name for savory dishes as well as desserts.

[@napoleonfeanor]

Freedom fries lol

[@unsafe_dB_level]

​@@napoleonfeanoryep, even freedom fries seems dated today, but we did the same thing about 100 years earlier.

[@caseydarrah]

That wouldn't surprise me if it were a germanic food of some kind. Makes sense given how many towns changed name or at least pronounciation (Berlin, OH became Burrln, for example), and how a lot of German-speaking people changed names.

[@Robb1977]

Liberty was also used as a catch all for "catch-as-catch-can" style foods. Liberty Potlucks, Liberty Gardens... basically anything that you did to save money or face during a war got the prefix "liberty"

[@caseydarrah]

@@Robb1977 Very true. Odd that there isn't a publicly available recipe, though.

[@Firthmax]

Fresh off the ship in 1910 and I don't quite understand this internet fad but I thoroughly enjoying this picture show.

[@memetea22]

I had a unique watching experience with this video, since at the same time as I'm watching, my mom is in the kitchen making this exact soup (called krupnik in Polish) so I get to learn about it and smell it from the kitchen at the same time ^^

[@LaundryFaerie]

By the way, Max, I did find a recipe for Liberty Pudding over at the Internet Archive. In The Half-Century Magazine, July 1918 issue, there was this recipe on page 14: LIBERTY PUDDING Put a pint of stale bread crumbs in a pint of milk and soak for half an hour; add a half cupful of honey, one egg well beaten, a bit of grated nutmeg; mix well and bake until the pudding is set in the center. Serve hot with honey or maple syrup. I'm thinking a couple of things here -- 1) while the tapioca pudding took longer to make, it might have been the more palatable choice; 2) that mention of nutmeg should summon Jon Townsend at any moment!

[@giuliettamassina7787]

Wow beef and barley soup and tapioca pudding were two things my mother made for us as children. I haven't eaten either in decades. Thanks for the memories.

[@tr5947]

Another of your episodes that's as moving as it's educational. Thank you for the excellent work.

[@HeatherHayden-p9e]

I absolutely love your show. Since discovering Tasting History a couple months ago, thanks to a friend, I've watched every past episode and now eagerly await the next one every Tuesday. You have a magical way of bringing history to life--and relating it to food, which is one of my favorite things. My friend and I adore the massaman curry (and have made it multiple times with homemade seitan!), and I cannot wait to make Sally Lunn buns and semlor, along with various other recipes you've discussed. In the meantime, I will continue watching this channel. Thank you for making the world a brighter place. ❤

[@raymondsosnowski9717]

As all 4 of my grandparents came through Ellis Island (twice for my maternal grandfather) from Central Europe, thank you for highlighting this pivotal aspect of my family history!

[@LMFuqua]

My college age son and I have a standing lunch once a week when I make him lunch, and we watch these. He's going into Culinary arts we love every episode.

[@jenharper1861]

My Great Grandparents came through Ellis Island right before WWI kicked off from Hungary. Later all 4 of their sons (one my grandfather) all served in WWII and survived.

[@cronezone6214]

Love the "Mid-Atlantic" accent! Great job all around. I felt my ancestors' struggle in my DNA. Thank you so much.

[@stijnvth]

I struggle really hard with misophonia. In such a way i can't watch people eat. I have never struggled with this channel. And i can't stress enough how much i appreciate that. I love your work. Cheers Max! You freakin rock.

[@katybechnikova2821]

I'm from Czechia. My great-great-grandmother actually went to America after abandoning her illegitimate daughter (lol they were poor). We found some sort of document of her coming through Ellis Island around 1905-1910. She wrote home only once from Canada and we assume she died poor with no other children. But there's a story in my family that some day we will inherit something froma wealthy auntie in America who doesn't have closer relatives. America was a symbol for wealth and well earned rest in my family just until a decade ago.

[@janicewebber5584]

That came off kind of...abandoned her illegitimate daughter? Wonder what happened to the poor girl. 😢

[@katybechnikova2821]

@@janicewebber5584 Yeah, the girl is my great grandmother. They were piss poor, the girl got left with her aunt, who was properly married. She got well enough education (household management, good for that time) and she got married to a soldier. She was content when she was old, although she never forgave her mother for abandoning her. It was rough, ngl. And it's part of my family history.

[@mandie492]

What changed their mind about the US

[@katybechnikova2821]

@@mandie492 Maybe the dumpsterfire we realized it is when we could access information? Idk..

[@KarrotPL]

15:15 - the sign you are talking about can be seen on the right side of photo in 13:04 and it is translated to polish too

[@onemercilessming1342]

My Lithuanian gateway ancestor came to the USA to mine coal for the Yankee steam trains just before the Civil War. They, along with others, were sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church specifically to work the mines. The story told in that branch of my family is that they first crossed from Lithuania (which celebrated 1000 years in 2009) in an ox-cart to the port from which they embarked for the USA, arriving in time to be counted in the 1860 census.

[@wrenblackwell4417]

My relatives were Volga Germans and I can’t tell you how many times I ate this in a year as a 3rd generation American. The exact meal. I had no idea. Thank you ❤❤

[@EmpressoftheLoneIslands]

I love it when you find a way to incorporate your 1930s newsreel announcer voice!

[@1701beth]

Thanks!

[@TastingHistory]

Thank you so much!

[@jetfowl]

My grandparents (mother's side) came through Ellis Island when they were very young. They came from the Ukraine only a few years before the start of WWI. And they built a good life here. "The New Colossus" (the sonnet found at the base of the Statue of Liberty) is the heart and soul of America. I just wish people would remember that.

[@MissaDelegato]

I don't care what anybody says this man is the absolute Pinnacle of history and food, and where they meet!!! he is soooo dope

[@nikkiewhite476]

Excellent video Max and thank you José for the captions! Being Canadian I know very little of Ellis Island, so this video was a real education. My mom loves marrow so any marrow in the house she would eat up.

[@josephgaviota]

Dear Max: I think you do a great job of bringing the historical experiences of people to us in a way that's easy to imagine. THANK YOU for that.

[@kaarlimakela3413]

I saw Mock Turtle Soup on the menu too. Of course, the Mock Turtle was a character by Lewis Carroll. It was also the name of my parents' boat back in the day. I and II.

[@AynMax666]

Naming the character the 'Mock Turtle' was Carroll's essentially the same joke as the "Car Talk" brothers' a century later claiming that Naugahyde came from naugas.

[@cheesyllama]

My maternal great grandmother came through Ellis Island in the early 1920s. She came from Czechoslovakia, on a repurposed cattle ship. She eventually settled in the Detroit area, and married, had 8 children, and taught herself English with her kids school primers, and enough conversationally of several other languages so she and other immigrant ladies could chat and share recipes. She was a petite, not even 5 feet tall, cleaning lady until she died in her 80s. My family has only been here in the States for about 100 years. This video has my eyes tearing up, but happy.

[@chasemcintyre3528]

I WAS WAITING FOR THE HARDTACK CLIP. AS SOON AS YOU BEGAN TALKING ABOUT SHIPS I WAS LIKE "IT'S COMING" Your channel has made me a weirdo. Someone said something in my hearing the other day about pemmican and other old-fashioned shelf-stable foods and I got way too excited and yelled "LIKE HARDTACK" Anyway thanks Max, you're a delight

[@Magmafrost13]

I love how the way Max gives recipe instructions starts to become influenced by the language of old recipes, with phrases like "a good bit"

[@producersfanclub7747]

Here to show my continued support of the Pokemon in the background. Pikachu rocking lady liberty! Always talking about your videos! Love them!

[@mwater_moon2865]

My great great grandma came in through Baltimore in the 1890s. Shortly off the ship, she ate a banana with skin still on, BUT back then the bananas were a different type, the skins were much thinner and like cucumbers today, some people did eat the peels. (There's a fun candy channel called Lofty Pursuits that covers that in the history of banana flavor.) Her father had paid her passage but remained in Europe (He had abandoned his wife and young daughter, selling them into indentured servitude to raise money to prospect for gold in Africa. While he was gone her mother died, so once he got back, she didn't want to stay with him), but it was illegal for women to come in to the US alone (to prevent mail order brides/ ladies of the night) so she claimed to be the niece of an unrelated family also traveling on the boat to be allowed in.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

LIBERTY PIKACHU! 🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽

[@khippolytewade]

Google translates that to say "LIBERTY IS NOT!"

[@Parcha64]

I improvised pretty much this exact soup during the pandemic when some creative cuts of meat were available. The marrow from shanks makes a huge difference in a beef n barley soup. My "bougie" touch is a good dab of tomato paste from a tube

[@jceepf]

In Canadian French, we still call the lunch the "diner" and the dinner is the "supper" (Souper). The French call the lunch the breakfast (dejeuner) and the breafast is "petit dejeuner", little breakfast. Dinner is more accurate but archaic.

[@ingram81]

In no offense; but based on my travels in France I find the French to be more like the Hobbits in Tolkien. 1st and 2nd breakfast followed by 1st and 2nd lunch/dinner...lol. They eat smaller meals but much more frequently. I was deathly ill in Paris with walking pneumonia and fever and even though I knew no French I was well taken care of (but I may have also looked close to death) by the doctor with little English and the pharmacist with no English.

[@_oaktree_]

Why is it more “accurate”?

[@jceepf]

​@@_oaktree_ Dinner or dîner comes from Latin desiunare which meant to break the fast as in déjeuner..... So obviously, it could not mean originally the last meal of the day! For some reasons, the meaning of this word evolved....

[@jodidavis6595]

Tapioca pudding and bread pudding (with raisins of course) are my favorite puddings. Love your content. Thank you.

[@CaptHollister]

Max patriotically dressed in red, white, and blue.

[@sadiemeyers6758]

Actually...my great grandma from Greece had her name changed on Ellis Island. She arrived sometime after WW1 but before 1921. She couldn't read or write in Greek and didn't speak English. They changed her name from Aglaia Andonopoulou to Gladys Antonoplis. She didn't understand anything they said to her. She was very confused and had issues confirming who she was. They couldn't say her name back to her correctly. The person who signed her in got irritated, wrote down a new version of her name, handed her a piece of paper that had it and sent her on her way. Her original first name had meant "shining one" and was Greek, but her new first name was Welsh and meant "princess". She didn't take the exam to become an American citizen until maybe the 70s or 80s (I forgot) since it's really hard to learn to read and write in another language when you never learned to read or write in your native language. She died when I was about 5 or 6, but I still remember her very clearly and miss her even 28 years later. My yiaya raised 9 kids on her own during the Great Depression and worked very hard to learn English. Some things she never got right (she had to speak to me a little in Greek when I was tiny and she always thought people were saying "Happy bird-day" instead of "Happy birthday"), but she loved her family and was a very determined woman. I spent a lot of weekends between her apartment and my paternal grandparents' home. Good memories.

[@voidmstr]

Props for debunking the Ellis Island name change myth. ✊🏼

[@CharleneCTX]

It's a myth that just won't die.

[@Nyx_2142]

Except he didn't. All he said was "Nuh uh, that isn't true." When it is. Happened in my family when my many times great-grandfather came over from Hanover, and the immigration documents and his journal complaining about the forced Anglicization of his name are proof enough to my family. I unfortunately don't have access to the journal but the immigration documents survived to be scanned. But I'm not doxxing myself for yet another dumbass in these comments that is too lazy to look up a phenomenon that actually happened. Better to just parrot a KZbinr that can and does make mistakes.

[@milesedgeworth132]

​@@Nyx_2142 So your argument is "Yuh uh, it happened". My grandfather said he saw Bigfoot guess he was right too.

[@keolas6916]

I just read a comment that said their name was anglicized in that no extra symbols denoting pronunciation were allowed. I can imagine many changes like that happening to spelling but not really the change of name. There is a book I've read that she says the immigration person changed their name from Plumarri to Plum. I think that is probably more of what Max is referring to. But since there was very much racism and probably very harried immigration clerks then, some probably did summarily change names. But it seems that wasn't the common practice.

[@craigsmith4436]

It happened on BOTH sides of my family. I heard it firsthand on my mom's side when my grandfather fleeing the Russian army in Finland came here. My grandfather in his 80s in the 1980s, me in my teens, I heard how the name was Groon, or Gruun. Was changed to a more common name which I will not say here for obvious security reasons. My great grandmother on my dad's side had the Norse name Smedman, was changed to Smith NOT BY CHOICE.

[@mrmelo7084]

In 1964 I was 4 years old and an immigrant from Cuba. We stayed in The Freedom Tower near downtown Miami. Can not recall food or wonders of time.

[@kelborhal2576]

Babish and Mr. Miller. What a lovely day.

[@katmandoo223]

I love this video. My grandma came to the US through Ellis Island when she was a little girl. I love thinking that this soup and tapioca were her very first hot meals in America. Thank you for this video.❤

[@alin-mihai]

The soup is something that you would still find in most traditional central/eastern european cuisine. Only thing missing is the borș/borsch or other souring agent

[@Ramoniia]

What an engaging and informative episode! Appreciate all the hard work that went into this!!

[@DavidPetrovich108]

This is by far one of your most enjoyable videos. By the end of the video, I really felt that you took us on... Damn, can't put it into words...You are indeed a great teller of stories. You brought us right in with a perfect ending to the rich tale. Thank you, my friend.

[@jwilliams3269]

This channel with Max Miller is the best thing that came out of the Covid era, at least for me. Got me through the craziness of it all. Thank you Max and Jose, you are amazing! ❤

[@fbelard]

I love these videos about what regular people ate. I think it's partly because there's lots of boiling and you spend way more time telling anecdotes and talking about history. 5⭐, will visit again.

[@jess53nz]

Having a crappy day but a hard tack *clack clack * can still bring a smile to my face

[@tamijoiskewl]

I translated letters of my significant others father's family who came from Czech Slovakia. It had info about their journey including the ship. We researched the shop and found out it had been torpedoed and sunk on its return journey. Lives were lost but not nearly the numbers of it had been going the other way!

[@admiralradish]

I dont know what you did to KZbin but your videos rarely show up now in my feed. These are always Great. Food and History makes a good wind down evening watch.

[@karenryan6842]

My grandfather snatched the pen out of the immigration agent's hand and changed the misspelling of "Yeager" to the correct Jäger. He was told there would be no diacritical marks allowed, so the ä became "ae" (Jaeger) as was the German way to write ä without an umlaut. If it happened to him, I imagine it happened to other people.

[@AmyC531]

It definitely happened to other people! Though many also voluntarily changed the spellings of their last names to make them less 'foreign'.

[@m2heavyindustries378]

I'd imagine snatching a pen out of a border agent's hand is a good way to get sent straight back home, back then, as well as today. Also, did you miss that part about there being no corrections at the island or did you conveniently ignore it? So no, I don't believe you.

[@sherriianiro747]

​@@m2heavyindustries378That's what they are saying now -

[@avashnea]

It DID happen, and you disbelieving it doesn't change the facts.@@m2heavyindustries378

[@chloebutler8438]

@@m2heavyindustries378 idk i kinda doubt they were sending people back for being a little rude

[@gyorgytoth9316]

Thanks

[@TastingHistory]

Thank you so much!

[@funkowop3573]

17:31 I baked you a pie. Oh boy, what flavor? PIE FLAVOR

[@SarahGreen523]

The bit where you smack two hard tack biscuits together always gets me laughing. The look on your face is hilarious. Loved all the history of Ellis Island!

[@pjmtrmcjm]

I admire and appreciate your commitment to the Hardtack bit.

[@RuSosan]

What bit? That just happens automatically when anyone ever, anywhere says _"hardtack"_ *CLACK CLACK* See?

[@redbaronsnoopy2346]

As always, Thank you Max & Jose.

[@NothingXemnas]

It is very interesting that "beef shank" is "hard to find". It is a VERY common meat for soups and stews in Brazil (interestingly where cassava can be natively found, in the northern regions) alongside ox tail, and any butcher can provide it to you, here. Perhaps the very presence of tapioca pudding itself is a nudge that the menu is largely from northern South America (Caribbean islands and the Amazon Forest).

[@mrdanforth3744]

I live in Canada and it used to be easy to get stew or soup meats like ox tail, ham hocks, beef shank at the butcher shop but today, the old fashioned butcher shops seems to be all gone and the supermarkets do not sell such cheap cuts.

[@raerohan4241]

​@@mrdanforth3744 Try a halal butcher shop. They still exist, and are excellent places to get shank, particularly if the owners are Pakistani (owing to the fact that there is a famous beef stew called nihari from there)

[@NicoleMeyer-x9e]

I had family come from Lithuania 🇱🇹 and Yugoslavia. They entered through Ellis Island. Kind of cool to watch this video.

[@JackElles]

Liberty pudding was a dessert popular in the early 20th century, particularly during World War I and World War II. It was essentially a type of steamed pudding made with ingredients such as suet, flour, sugar, breadcrumbs, and dried fruits like raisins or currants. The name "Liberty pudding" likely originated during wartime when ingredients were rationed, and people had to make do with what they had available. Chat gpt answer. Apparently it's basically just a bread pudding

[@vane909090]

It's always interesting to see how different the world was back then. I love these old photos.

[@ironox8480]

My Great Grandparents came to America through Ellis Island from Russia, Thank you for a further look into what they went through amidst their first steps in their new home.

[@MyLifeIsGood33]

OMG Max!! I don't know how I missed this video. It was the best I've seen from you yet and I've been watching you quite awhile! Thank you for the history, and the historical recipes!!!❤❤❤❤❤

[@dotcorbeil6266]

Liberty pudding is the first jello bland and with out coloring flavored with fruit.

[@RMwangi37]

This is one of my favourite videos yet Max and that's saying a lot since I've been watching for years! Thank you from Kenya 🇰🇪

[@marcseventeen4100]

For my family, Germans (or equivalent) coming over in the mid-1800's, the name changed happened before leaving. My cousin lives in Germany now and found their departure records with the old and new names with the y being changed to an i.

[@Nyx_2142]

In mine it happened during the immigration process. Arrived in the US with the correct Belgian spelling and left the island with a new, useless letter in his name because the border agent claimed his name was spelled wrong and "fixed" it. Its not even an exotic name. Just Anglicized a name that already wasn't all that foreign to the US because he felt like it. Goes to show that border agents have a long history of being dumbasses. "B..But that's a myth!" It isn't. Max and others should put a bit more effort into their research.

[@andrewjones7126]

Thank ypu Max your show keeps me positive.

[@999Giustina]

That stew is identical to the one from my childhood. Interesting.