Ben Franklin May Be Responsible for Bringing Tofu to America
How a letter of 1770 may have ushered the Chinese staple into the New World
By Ryan P. Smith
smithsonian.com
March 15, 2018
When you picture Benjamin Franklin, what do you see? A lovable mad scientist flying a kite in the rain, perhaps, or a shrewd political strategist haggling at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Maybe you imagine Franklin schmoozing with the French, brokering deals, or hurriedly setting type in the offices of the Pennsylvania Gazette. What you likely do not envision is Franklin the gardening whiz and gourmet, writing excitedly from London on the subject of a mysterious Chinese “cheese†called “tau-fu.â€
The letter in question, preserved for posterity by The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, dates to January 1770, and was addressed to Franklin’s Philadelphia bosom buddy John Bartram. “I send some dried Pease, highly esteemed here as the best for making pease soup,†Franklin wrote, “and also some Chinese Garavances, with Father Navaretta’s account of the universal use of a cheese made of them, in China…†This unassuming letter, one of countless thousands to make its way across the Atlantic in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, is the earliest known description of tofu—the Chinese “cheese†in question—to reach American soil.
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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ben-franklin-may-be-responsible-bringing-tofu-america-180968495/#bpZCLF0Djcj0varh.99
