“If it wasn’t for Benjamin Franklin, Americans wouldn’t have found out about tofu until much later,” said Staib on “A Taste of History” as he cooked curried tofu & shrimp at Bartram’s Gardens.
Staib, who says Franklin “stole” the recipe for tofu, referring to it as “early on international espionage,” is surprised by how popular the fried tofu dish is on his menu.
“It’s a big eye opener for people,” who are surprised when they find out there was very little animal protein consumed in the 18(th) century, he said. “We serve tofu and everyone second guesses us, and then you show them the history and they go, ‘Wow.’”
City Tavern, still a faithful recreation of an original 18(th)-century tavern, was the watering hole for Franklin and other Revolutionary figures.
Today, Staib serves Franklin’s tofu to honor its place in American culinary history.
In a “60 Minutes” segment that aired last November, author/historian David McCullough and Morley Safer dined at City Tavern, where they sampled the fried tofu, “first introduced here by that early hippie, Ben Franklin,” Safer pronounced. In the segment (transcript), McCullough spoke about the importance of younger generations learning about America’s history.
“I say bring back dinner if you want to improve how children get to know history,” McCullough said.
“It’s amazing how little people know about how food has traveled around the world,” Staib said. “I salute Ben Franklin for inspiring that.”