Mark Twain is often hailed as one of America’s greatest writers, partly due to his deep love for his homeland. His life was spent in various regions of the United States; he grew up in Missouri, piloted steamboats along the Mississippi, mined in Nevada, wrote in California, and even ventured as far as the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii). Much of Twain’s writing draws from these real-life experiences. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, for instance, are rooted in his boyhood along the Mississippi River. But his lesser-known travel memoir, A Tramp Abroad (1880), also draws directly from his experiences, both at home and overseas.
A Tramp Abroad is the sequel to The Innocents Abroad, a satirical travelogue describing the experiences of a group of Americans touring Europe and the Middle East. The Innocents Abroad made Twain famous for his humor and post-Civil War American confidence, featuring the enthusiastic voice of a young American exploring the world. Over a decade later, A Tramp Abroad is a humorous, sentimental account of an older Twain musing on what it means to be an American after seeing the world.
In A Tramp Abroad, Twain included an extensive list of some simple home dishes and delicacies he missed while traveling through central and southern Europe. His delightfully long list is a kind of love letter to the homely comforts of American food. His list sources items from across the United States and names many specific places where the food should be harvested or prepared. From Baltimore canvasback duck to Lake Tahoe trout to Virginia bacon, Twain proves why he is one of the greatest American writers.
Here’s Twain’s full list:
- Radishes
- Baked apples, with cream
- Fried oysters
- Stewed oysters
- Frogs
- American coffee, with real cream
- American butter
- Fried chicken, Southern style
- Porter-house steak
- Saratoga potatoes
- Broiled chicken, American style
- Hot biscuits, Southern style
- Hot wheat bread, Southern style
- Hot buckwheat cakes
- American toast. Clear maple syrup
- Virginia bacon, broiled
- Blue points, on the half shell
- Cherry-stone clams
- San Francisco mussels, steamed
- Oyster soup
- Clam soup
- Philadelphia Terapin soup
- Oysters roasted in shell-Northern style
- Soft-shell crabs
- Connecticut shad
- Baltimore perch.
- Brook trout, from Sierra Nevadas
- Lake trout, from Tahoe
- Sheep-head and croakers, from New Orleans
- Black bass from the Mississippi
- American roast beef
- Roast turkey, Thanksgiving style
- Cranberry sauce
- Celery
- Roast wild turkey
- Woodcock
- Canvas-back-duck, from Baltimore
- Prairie liens, from Illinois
- Missouri partridges, broiled
- ‘Possum
- Coon
- Boston bacon and beans
- Bacon and greens, Southern style
- Hominy
- Boiled onions
- Turnips
- Pumpkin
- Squash
- Asparagus
- Butter beans
- Sweet potatoes
- Lettuce
- Succotash
- String beans
- Mashed potatoes
- Catsup
- Boiled potatoes, in their skins
- New potatoes, minus the skins
- Early rose potatoes, roasted in the ashes, Southern style, served hot
- Sliced tomatoes, with sugar or vinegar
- Stewed tomatoes
- Green corn, cut from the ear and served with butter and pepper
- Green corn, on the ear
- Hot corn-pone, with chitlings, Southern style
- Hot hoe-cake, Southern style
- Hot egg-bread, Southern style
- Hot light-bread, Southern style
- Buttermilk
- Iced sweet milk
- Apple dumplings, with real cream
- Apple pie
- Apple fritters
- Apple puffs, Southern style
- Peach cobbler, Southern style
- Peach pie
- American mince pie
- Pumpkin pie. Squash pie
- All sorts of American pastry
Mark Twain’s early life, spent growing up across America, shaped his writing and defined him as a true voice of the nation.
Through The Innocents Abroad and A Tramp Abroad, Twain cemented his writing style with both his humor and his American patriotism.
While traveling Europe to write A Tramp Abroad, Twain’s humor carried a touch of nostalgia, reflecting his persisting love for the home he left behind.
His mouthwatering list of favorite foods became a warm homage to the landscapes and kitchens that made him who he was.
Source: Mark Twain Makes a List of 60 American Comfort Foods He Missed While Traveling Abroad (1880)
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