Some Trivial Info

[Joe Di Cola]

I remember seeing rolls of head cheese sold in country stores when I was a child. Do you suppose that Abraham Lincoln ever ate any of these concoctions? Donna, this is probably your territory.

Springfield had a fairly diverse population, but I am unclear to what extent it had a large German population. I suppose Grant might have eaten head cheese since there was a large contingent of Germans in St. Louis and Cincinnati (Julia's parents were from the St. Louis area and Grant's parents were Ohioans and lived for a time in Covington across the Ohio River from Cincinnati (which had a sizeable German population).
Head cheese is not a comestble I am drawn to--although I have tried the foods I do not like. THat was the rule at the table when I had my formative years. Dad: "Try it; if you don't like it you never have to have it again." What I really wish the North had, were some opportunities to have Southern cuisine--a uniquely American cuisine which, although there are influences from Africa and Europe, is markedly different from what we usually see as immigrant-influenced (aka European) cuisine. Grits, greens (collards, mustard, turnip, etc.), bisquits-to-die-for, gumbo, jambalaya, pulled pork and other forms of barbecue, catfish, crayfish, anything etouffe, fried chicken, remoulade sauce, raw oysters, oysters baked in a variety of ways, saefood dishes that transport one into another realm...WOW!