Next, one of our nation's greatest writers... a cornerstone of American literature... the author of classics... wrote about diet, exercise... and jotted down some recipes, too?

- If he was alive today, he'd be a food blogger.

You know the canon, but did you know Walt Whitman also wrote about food?

Find out what America's poet had to say about America's cuisine.

Also, a delicious 19th Century dish popular at the New York City hotspot where Walt Whitman liked to dine.

- I have a recipe inspired by a favorite place of Walt Whitman's... um...it was called Pfaff's.

Then, the secrets behind the succulence.

Chef Anthony makes a Walt Whitman-style meal.

- Mmm, I can smell it caramelizing there - It's delicious, yeah.

And, one of the sweet treats Whitman not only made for himself, but also as gifts for friends.

That's next on Drive By History...Eats.

- Mmm [Sound Effect] [Music] Made possible by: Sun Basket.

[Music] Organic carrots... purple potatoes... steaks for the grill... all ingredients from the kitchens of Chef Justine at Sun Basket.

Ready to heat meals and meal kits.

Sun Basket meal delivery.

Information at Sunbasket.com [Music] Every day thousands of motorists pass by countless history markers and say to themselves, One of these days, I'm gonna stop and read that.

If you watch Drive By History you know that's how every episode begins.

I start with a history marker, then go on an investigation to find out what happened and why it mattered.

[Sound Effect] What you don't know is that the food...or the eats often plays into that part of the history, but there's just not enough time to chew on that part of the past.

And that got me thinking... why not revisit that history, but with a focus on the food.

This is Drive By History: Eats.

[Sound Effect] [Music] The investigation we're revisiting today begins in Brooklyn, New York, the stomping grounds of Walt Whitman -- also known as America's Poet.

When Whitman lived here, Brooklyn was its own city, a blossoming metropolis where daily events were chronicled by local Brooklyn newspapers, some of which employed Whitman as a reporter and editor.

This is where Whitman did some of his earliest writing, and where Drive By History Researcher Anthony Bernard and I met with Whitman scholar Karen Karbiener.

We talked of Whitman, and why his work is celebrated to this day.

He comes out from nowhere, and he... doesn't have any rules... ...in fact, he breaks a lot of the rules...and in addition to being known as America's Poet, he's also called the Father of Free Verse, meaning he's really the first American poet to just explode the idea of rhyme and meter.

[Music] Whitman, however, is not only significant in literary circles.

Historians study Whitman, too.

He took a great interest in humanity, and put pen to paper, making a record of all that was important.

- Writing notes in tiny hand- made notebooks... of last requests of soldiers, and also writing hundreds upon hundreds of letters for Civil War soldiers to their families.

[Music] Whitman's diaries and journals detail some of the most dramatic moments of his era.

However, during my investigation I discovered that Whitman was not only interested in the extraordinary... he wrote with similar enthusiasm about the ordinary as well.

Now, whether from Brooklyn, or his home here in New Jersey or elsewhere, one of those very ordinary things that he liked to write about was food.

Food and Culture Historian Dr. Libby O'Connell, author of The American Plate, picks up the story from her home in Lloyd Harbor, New York.

- OK, Libby, we certainly know a lot about Walt's writing, but what do we know about Walt Whitman and food?

- We know a ton about Walt Whitman and food.

- Oh yeah?

- If he was alive today, he'd be a food blogger.

- OK, I'm curious -- tell me how we know this?

[laughter] - Well, in his letters he mentions food... - Yeah?

- but he also wrote a whole series of articles in 1858 - before the Civil War - Yeah - New York Atlas - and recently it has been uncovered because he wrote under a pseudonym using his mother's maiden name and so it's just been discovered really just a few years ago.

- But we know that this can be attributed to him?

- Definitely.

- Wow.

OK. - It's definitely him.

As we head to the table, Libby tells me we also know that Walt Whitman regularly ate out... and that she sifted through menus from the 1850s and found a few dishes she thinks Walt Whitman might have ordered.

The first comes off the menu of a popular hotel and restaurant from the era.

I found a suggestion of... for some recipes from a... on a menu called Stetson Steakhouse - OK - They had some items called vegetable fritters, and I thought, let's have some fun with that and see... - Hmm.

- so I developed a recipe for Cabbage Parsley Fritters.

Now, cabbage was a very important vegetable in the 19th century, and it had been up, - OK - really up until modern day because it keeps so well.

- Right.

- It's highly nutritious, pretty easy to grow... people ate a lot of cabbage.

- Hmm.

- So, this is a fritter based with shredded cabbage and some... parsley, a little bit of vinegar, some eggs and, um, just a little bit of bread crumb.

- Good, and what else?

- Well, along with the cabbage fritters you might have pork chops.

- I have a recipe - Yeah... - inspired by a favorite place of Walt Whitman's... - Yeah?

- um, it was called Pfaff's.

It was German... rathskeller type place - Mmhmm - underground...you walked downstairs.

A rathskeller is a pub or bar located in a building's basement Derived from the German word for cellar, a rathskeller, such as Pfaff's, typically served German- inspired cuisine.

- And we know he ate there regularly, and this was an item on the menu, and I... developed the recipe to go with that.

- That looks delicious.

- Braised Pork Chops with Apple Cider and Turnips.

- I love everything on that.

- I do, too -- I do, too.

[laughter] - So, we put this together, and it's a good example of the type of food he liked.

And remember that this was a time when German culture was very influential all over America.

And German food was highly regarded.

- So, I'm curious, how do these recipes really inform us about history at this time?

- Well, food provides a great lens on the past... - you hear me say that a lot.

- Yeah, I agree.

- Um, so you learn about the whole time period, but in this case we're learning about the individual, Such an interesting guy, so many facets to his personality.

And he loved food.

So, I think when you start studying the food that he ate or that was popular at the time that he was writing, you get a sense for the era.

You also get a sense of him, because he writes with such enthusiasm about the ice cream he gave to the wounded Civil War soldiers when he was working as a nurse in Washington.

He writes about cakes that he made for his friends.

He had a big heart.

And it's really, um, discernible when he talks about food.

- Wow, a window into his humanity.

- That's exactly right.

Today, there's a great appetite for Walt Whitman's prose.

But what about his philosophy of food?

Will we enjoy Whitman nearly as much on the table as we do on the page?

To find out, I turn to Chef Anthony Murgola - OK, Anthony, I'm fascinated by these cabbage and parsley fritters.

- Yeah, me too.

- Now, you know people make fritters out of all sorts of things.

- Mmhmm.

- But we chose cabbage specifically today.

- Yeah.

- Because it was so incredibly popular in the 19th century.

- Mmhmm.

- People then knew that it had such a high nutritional value - Yeah - that they're...making things like fritters out of it, you were actually getting a nutritious meal - Yeah...yeah...you know the early explorers actually had cabbage on their boats to ward off scurvy.

- Ah - because it had so much vitamin C. - Right...that's great, yeah.

- Alright, it looks like our water's ready to boil.

- Yep...so we have some water and cider vinegar here - Perfect.

- And we're just going to boil our cabbage for 2 minutes.

- Excellent, yeah, I can smell the cider vinegar in there.

- It smells delicious.

- Oh yeah, me, too.

[Music] - So we're going to cook down the cabbage a little bit so we make sure that we get the water out of it?

-Yep.

- That was one of my concerns with using cabbage in a dish like this.

Cabbage has such a high water content - Yeah.

- that if you just throw it in to something and cook it you're going to be leaching water out, so this - Mmhmm - will take care of that.

- This solves that problem.

- Plus, flavor it.

- Yeah, absolutely.

[ Music] - Alright, boiling away... is the cabbage done?

- It's ready.

- Excellent.

- OK, what do we do next?

- Alright, so I'm going to turn it off and I'm just going to strain it.

- OK - Oh, that's a little hot, huh?

- It's a little hot... - Alright.

- Let me get this bowl.

[Music] - Very good.

[Sound of metal on glass bowl] [Music] - Mmm.

- Oh yeah...

...I can smell it already... alright.

- OK, so it looks like it's drained quite a bit of the liquid out of there.

- Yep, it is ready.

- Alright.

- Alright.

- Now I'm just going to... press it down a little bit... - OK and lay it out on a towel.

- So you want to make sure you dry it as much as possible.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Gotcha.

- And we also want to let it cool so we mix it with our eggs we don't get scrambled eggs.

- Oh yeah, good idea.

- Alright, so let's see how you lay this out here.

- Like that.

- So just on a towel.

- Mmhmm.

- Yep, and you can even press some of the liquid out, - OK - and lay another towel over it.

- Is it important to have it completely dry... or is it um... - Yeah, you want to have it dry so that the other ingredients really stick to it... - Gotcha and there's...there's oil in it.

- OK - What's next?

- We're ready to assemble our fritters.

- Perfect.

Let's get the base together here.

- So we're going to start with some egg yolks... - OK. - in this bowl - Right, and I'm just going to whip these up a little bit.

- Just the yolks?

- Just the yolks.

- So the whites we pulled out - Mmhmm - and whipped them separately - OK - and we'll get to those later.

- OK, and to the egg yolks we're going to add...?

- I'm going to whip these up a little bit - OK - and then our...and then our cooled cabbage goes right in here.

- Excellent.

- Good.

- Here, let me take that.

- Here, our blanket.

[Music] - You wanna grab that tray right there?

- Sure.

- I'll get that out of your way.

[Sound of stacking trays] - There we go -- if you'll take that.

- Perfect.

- Thank you.

Alright.

- Alright.

So we are ready to add in some other ingredients.

- OK. - You want to hand me that mace right there?

- Sure.

- Sprinkle that right in.

- You got it.

- Alright, next one down -- parsley.

- Mmhmm.

- Very good, thank you.

- You got it.

- The German mustard.

- OK - Ah, it'll be easier for you to get that out.

- Excellent.

Thank you.

- You got it.

- Celery salt -- right there.

- OK. - Thank you.

- The nutmeg.

- Mmhmm.

- And...uh, how about that sour cream right there... - Sure.

- Ah, that's good.

- So, we have some cider vinegar going in.

- OK. [Music] - Some raw sugar...right there.

- Oh, interesting... - some sugar to brighten it up a little bit.

- Yeah.

- Just a little sweetness, yeah.

- OK. - And... - What do we have left here?

- We have basically just our bread crumbs.

- OK. - That's gonna be our binder and bring it together.

- You can dump those in.

- OK. [Sound of clearing glass bowls] - Then a nice stirring.

- Mmm.

- And then the last thing that's gonna go in... is our egg whites.

- OK. - So we whipped up our egg whites so that we can keep these nice and light.

- I was wondering how you were gonna use these.

- Yeah.

- So, are you gonna take them in pieces, or are you gonna take do it all?

- I'm gonna fold them right in.

- OK. - I'll grab that from you.

- Alright, you got it.

- But tell us about folding.

- So basically we're just scooping from underneath, keeping the air in there, that's all.

- Gotcha.

- Keep it nice and light.

- Alright.

So, the goal here is to incorporate the egg whites completely?

- Uh, just so you don't see any chunks of white.

- OK. - Yeah, and that's it.

- Good.

- We're just about there.

- Gives it a little volume and.. - Alright.

- Helps it hold together.

- Yep.

- So it looks like we're ready to get on to the next step.

- We're ready to fry.

- OK. - Let's do it.

- OK.

The butter looks like it's nice and hot... - I'm gonna step back a little bit here so it doesn't splash me - We are hot and ready.

- Alright.

- So I'm just going to drop these in here by the spoonful.

- Perfect - Press them down a little bit.

- Ah, yeah... - And there's...one... [Sizzling Sound] - ...two... [Sizzling Sound] - Mmm... - There you go.

- It smells so good.

- Yes, thank you -- so we're just gonna let them cook... - Yeah.

- and then we're gonna flip them - OK, sounds good.

[Sizzling Sound] - Alright, so they are ready to go... - OK. - You wanna grab that pan - Absolutely.

- And we will drain these... - so we can drain them and... - Yep.

- So, look at these beauties, oh yeah...alright.

- You know what's interesting to me...so, you're cooking cabbage here... - Yeah.

but it doesn't smell like that typical very strong acrid... - Yeah.

- cook...cabbage smell... - Well, you know, there's so much flavor in it... it's got the mustard and the vinegar and the parsley, it just kind of cuts that funky cabbage-ness - Yeah, it smells really good.

- They are tasty.

- Yeah.

So, you want to pass me that salt?

- Sure, absolutely.

- You want to get some salt on these when they are hot out of the oil - OK. - Oh yeah, nice and crispy.

- Nice, alright.

- So it looks like we're ready to plate.

- We are ready.

- Excellent.

- Looks like you've got some sour cream there as well.

- I do.

Yeah, these are great with sour cream.

- Ah... [Music] - Beautiful.

- There it is.

- Can't wait to try it.

- Well, we're clearly set up for a really meat heavy lunch, - A feast.

- Yeah, I mean this is amazing.

Whitman would be proud.

- Yeah.

- So let's go ahead and get started with this.

- Alright, very good.

Get our pan hot.

- So we've got some bacon fat already to go in here - Yeah.

- And we're gonna get our... - Pork chops and bacon fat?

- ...pork chops going.

- Yep.

- Wow.

- And the pork chops are salted and ready.

[Sizzle] - There you go.

- Listen to that sizzle.

- That's the sound that you want - Oh yeah.

[Sizzle] - So I know that in Whitman's Manifesto he talked about the fact that a man's diet should be lots of meat.

Now, clearly we're looking at... what are these...1, 1 1/2 inch pork chops?

- Yeah, bone in pork chops.

- Amazing.

- Hearty.

- But that's a lot of meat for one person.

- It is a lot of meat.

- Yep.

- Yeah.

- It's about a pound.

[Laughter] - Oh, that's amazing.

- So, how long are we going to sear this?

What's our... - what's our plan here?

- So we'll sear them for a few minutes on each side - OK - just get a nice crust.

- Great.

- Yeah.

[Sizzling Sound] - So you've got a nice sear on these pork chops.

- Yeah, beautiful.

- OK, what's going on next?

- So now the pork chops are coming out.

- OK. - Let's get them out.

- Look at those beauties.

- Oh, yeah.

- Oh, yeah.

- Just like that.

- Mmm.

- Very nice...now... - OK, and what goes in next?

- Our shallots go in.

- OK. [Sizzle] - Alright.

- So you're going to sweat out the shallots - Yep.

And we're going to deglaze with some cider... ...some hard cider.

- Nice.

- and chicken stock.

- Nice.

- Interesting combination of flavors then.

- So you've got the chicken with the pork - Mmhmm.

- But you also have the cider - Yeah.

- so you get that richness - Yeah - from it and a little tartness.

- Yeah, very heavy, yep... - Yeah.

- the acid...yeah, really delicious.

- Can I help you?

- Yep.

- Alright.

- You wanna pour that right in there?

- All of it?

- All of it.

- You got it.

- Alright.

- Good job.

- Now all the kids into the pool.

[Laughter] - Everything in, we're good to go.

- We've got our sweet potato, - Ah... - I love sweet potatoes, too.

- Yeah -- thank you.

- Mmhmm.

- Alright.

- Some sage...dried sage.

- Ah...OK - Dried thyme.

- Mmm - Some good German mustard, whole grain mustard...yeah.

- Oh, yeah.

- Oh yeah.

- That's the real deal...Mmm - It really is.

- OK. - Alright, a little cayenne.

- for some kick, a little... - a little spice, a kick - a little heat.

- I like that.

- To cut all that richness, and some cider vinegar.

- OK. - So you have apple cider and cider vinegar in there.

- Alright, and then... - I see we have something else left there... - We do...just a little salt.

[Music] - Alright, and all our vegetables... so we have carrot, celery, some granny smith apple and some turnips.

- Nice.

- Everybody in.

- So this makes me think exactly of the rathskeller restaurants - Mmhmm where you had this huge German influence - Yeah - very hearty meals.

- Very hearty... lots of root vegetables.

heavy meat... - Oh yeah... - But flavored - Absolutely.

- And so, that's what you've basically got here, so this is amazing.

- Yep.

- I'm gonna cover it up - OK. and we'll let it go for about 10 minutes.

- Perfect.

- I promise I won't peek.

[Laughter] [Sound of metal lid) - Great, so we're right about 12 minutes... - Yep.

- Shall we check and see if we're ready to go?

- Our pork chops are ready.

- Yeah, awesome.

- Ah, look at that...beautiful.

- Oh, that's looks delicious.

- Amazing...and look, I've got a plate right here.

- Oh, very good.

- So you're good to go.

- Excellent...thank you.

- So, what I find fascinating about this,.. - it's a one pot dish.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So, pretty easy to make.

- Pretty simple, really.

- Yeah, it's easy.

- Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of - chopping involved, - Mmhmm - a lot of prep work that goes into it, - but it's pretty simple to make.

- Yep.

- And this is actually - reminiscent of, I'm sure, how Walt Whitman would have - enjoyed this dish.

- Yeah, this is a very old method.

- Yeah, cooked in a dutch oven so you've gotta... - you've got an old style of cooking there.

- Mmhmm.

- Oh, it smells so amazing.

- Beautiful.

- And so good.

- And those vegetables, mmm.

- Yes.

- Delicious.

- Walt Whitman, as interpreted by Chef Anthony, certainly gave us some food for thought.

Libby O'Connell, however, has more for us to chew on.

- So then we still have one course left -- dessert.

- Well, I'm not sure if this qualifies as dessert, - OK. - or as something you have - with a cup of tea or coffee.

- But I do know that Walt Whitman would - eat this at any time of the day.

[laughter] - It's one of his favorites.

- OK. - It's a coffee cake.

- Mmhmm.

- And what's interesting to me about the recipe... - because we have his recipe - Mmhmm.

- um, is that it was made actually with coffee.

- So it was coffee-flavored cake - Got it, OK - So, was that unusual for the period?

- Honestly, I hadn't heard of it before, - Really?

- and I found a reference to the - 1876 Centenary of America Cookbook - Mmhmm.

- And in there are a lot of - recipes...and the only recipe for coffee cake - is a coffee cake made with coffee.

This is one of only a few recipes that Walt Whitman took the time to write down.

However, his instructions were a little vague.

What you see here has been interpreted by Libby.

When I saw the recipe, I thought let's develop something that would be easy for... America's home cooks today - Right.

- But we know he was making this.

- And he made it... - He was making it at home?

- He gave it as gifts when he went to somebody's house... - he would bring a coffee cake.

- Wow.

- There...you know, was he gonna stay with them - as a houseguest, or maybe have dinner... - he'd bring his home-made coffee cake.

- OK, Anthony, now we're up to my favorite part of the meal.

- Mmhmm -- dessert.

- Dessert!

- I know, it doesn't get better than that.

- So, Libby sent us a wonderful recipe - Mmhmm.

- for coffee cake.

- Yep.

- Yeah.

- It's a good one.

- I'm excited to see us get... - put this together.

- Yeah, me, too.

- So, we're gonna start by creaming together our - butter and sugar, right.

- Mmhmm.

- So, the butter goes in.

[Music] - Nice soft butter -- you want room temperature butter.

- OK. - For sure.

- So that it incorporates across the whole... - Yep.

- dough -- got it.

- Yep.

- And the sugar is gonna help to...uh... - to lighten up the butter a little bit.

- It's gonna whip some air into there, - OK - making it a little bit lighter - Sugar in.

- Looks like you've got a raw sugar there.

- Yep, raw sugar, turbinado.

- Perfect.

- Excellent.

- Alright, you wanna crank that up for me in the back?

- Sure, absolutely.

- There you go.

- Alright, and we'll start it on low so nothing flies.

- Yep.

[Sound of Mixer] - OK, so this has been going for about 5 minutes now, - Yep.

- what's our next step?

- So, we're ready to add our other ingredients.

- OK. - We've got an egg that's gonna go in.

- Great.

- So, you wanna just turn this down... - OK. - so our egg doesn't splatter [Laughter] - make scrambled eggs.

- I don't wanna be wearing egg today.

- No, you don't.

- Alright, now our molasses is going to go in.

- OK. [Sound of Mixer] - This is good stuff.

- Yeah.

- A little sticky... - Yeah, but it's full of flavor.

- It is full of great depth.

- It's got that richness that - we'll bring right into the coffee cake.

- Yeah, really good.

[Sound of Mixer] - Alright, oh yeah.

- Wow, the smell of that molasses is amazing.

- Now, our coffee.

- OK. [Sound of Mixer] - So this cake is unique because it actually has coffee - in the cake.

- As opposed to... - Whereas coffee cakes today - are made to have with coffee.

- Right.

- Yeah, this is actually flavored with coffee.

- Wonderful.

[Sound of Mixer] - Alright.

- OK. - I'll turn it up a little bit.

- I'm gonna back up just a little bit - It looks like it's... - Yeah, try not to splatter ourselves.

- Yeah.

[Sound of Mixer] - OK, it looks like we've got it pretty well scraped down there.

- Yep.

- Where do we go next?

- We're ready to move on to our dry ingredients.

- Perfect.

- Yep.

- So, we're gonna sift our flour - and all these flavors and spices into this bowl.

- Alright.

- Good.

- Flour in.

- OK. - Alright.

- And then we have our baking soda.

- OK. - Salt.

- Cinnamon.

- Cream of tartar.

- Nutmeg.

- And cloves.

- All stuff that you should have at home.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So it's pretty easy to make.

- And great warm spices.

- And we're just gonna tap...and sift.

- Ah, that looks good, - Alright, very good.

- and I can smell the cinnamon - Oh yeah, yeah.

- and the nutmeg, yeah.

- It's delicious.

- Super warm.

- Alright, what next?

- Alright, so you wanna hang on to this?

- Yeah.

- Alright.

- And I'll turn on the mixer - on low speed.

- OK. [Sound of Mixer] - Alright.

- And then if you just angle that towards the bowl - Sure.

- I'm gonna get a spoon right here.

- Yep.

- and just...gradually... - a little bit of flour... - OK. - And then we're gonna alternate with the milk.

- Excellent.

- So you make sure it gets incorporated really well.

- Yeah.

- little by little.

- Mmm.

[Sound of Mixer] - Wow.

- Flour, milk, flour.

[Sound of Mixer] - Alright, looks like it's fully incorporated now.

- Yeah, let's get it out.

- Should I turn it off - Yep.

- Please - OK. - And down -- you wanna get that beater out of there.

- Let me see if I can do this.

- You got it -- little twist.

- There we go.

- Alright...get the batter off there.

- Right.

- OK, I'm gonna put this here.

- Yep.

- You wanna grab that cake pan for me?

- Sure.

- Alright.

- Here you go.

- Very good, thank you.

[Music] - Alright.

- So we're just gonna scrape this out right into our cake pan - ...we don't want to lose a drop.

- No.

- That smells amazing -- I can't wait for it cook.

- Yeah.

- It's a delicious batter.

- So imagine getting one of these as a gift... - Yeah - All the work that goes into it - I know.

- Just amazing.

- Excellent.

- Alright, I'll take that.

- Thank you.

- Alright.

- Now we're ready to bake.

- Now we're ready to bake.

- OK, Anthony, so our coffee cake has cooked - for about 35 minutes at 350, - we let it cool for about 15 minutes... - come on, I'm smelling this thing... - can we take it out of the mold?

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Alright, how can I help you?

- Let's release it.

- Alright, so I'm going to just cut around the outside.

- OK. - Yep, release it from the edges - Alright.

- Good.

- Alright.

- Uh, let me grab that.

- Thank you very much.

- Oh yeah, it's still warm.

- Yeah.

- Oh, that looks beautiful.

- Alright.

And we're just gonna dust it with some powdered sugar - Ah, OK. - This is the fun part.

[Music] - It's snowing.

- Wonderful.

- Yeah.

- Look at that.

- That is beautiful.

- Beautiful.

- Ah, wonderful.

- Alright, let's move it over.

- Put it on our presentation plate.

- Now that is a thing of beauty.

- Yeah.

- So, Anthony, after smelling all these incredible dishes all day, we finally get a chance to taste them.

- And I am excited.

- Now I'm really curious - to see how they came together - Yeah - Some of the recipes were a little unusual.

- Me, too -- yeah.

- So, let's start with the fritters.

- Alright.

- You know, this is something - that would have been on a menu in the 1850s.

- Yep.

- This is something that - Walt himself probably could have enjoyed.

- Yeah.

- Mmm.

- Oh, that's really good.

- Mmmm... - Nice and crunchy.

- Mmhmm... - Nice and bright with the vinegar and the mustard.

- That is delicious.

- Very good.

- That is really good.

- You know I was hesitant with the cabbage.

- Mmhmm.

- It's actually delicious in there.

- Very good.

- So now on to our braised pork chop with root vegetables - Mmhmm - Now, I can't wait to try this.

- Now, Walt Whitman himself - in his Manifesto talked about - how healthy it was to be eating fresh meat.

- We have a fresh pork chop here -- let's dig in.

- Alright.

- Alright, you first.

- Mmmm... - Oh, man.

- It really takes on the flavor of the liquid... - Mmhmm - ...the braising liquid.

- What I'm really getting is...

I...I taste the mustard... - I taste the vinegar - I taste the...the salt... - There's a little bit of...it tastes incredibly German to me - Mmhmm, it does.

- I don't know how else to describe it - Very hearty and rich and bold flavor.

- Very hearty.

- Now, just like in any good meal, - we get the sweet ending here.

- I'm excited.

- Alright, so I'm gonna cut into this cake - Please do.

- Walt Whitman loved this.

- Wow.

- Mmm... - Wow.

- I can taste the coffee.

- Yep.

- There's a little overtone of coffee - Mmhmm.

- And I taste the cinnamon.

- Yep.

- Mmm.

- Nutmeg - Nutmeg - This is delicious, mmhmm - Yeah, the molasses, yeah - It is a delicious cake.

- And it's not dry.

- Mmhmm.

- This is a very good cake.

- Wow.

- If you're like me, you already knew that Walt Whitman was a great writer, the scribe behind such iconic works as I Hear America Singing.

But today, I discovered that he was a food enthusiast as well.

So, what's our takeaway?

Well, I think it's that he was a humanitarian to his very core, a poet who sought to nourish both mind and body.

See you next time.

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Information at Sunbasket.com Interested in trying what might have been on the table had you broken bread with Walt Whitman?

All of today's recipes are available on our website, DriveByHistoryEats.TV