The Great Molasses Flood | Boston Brown Bread
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ม.ค. 2023
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And make sure you baking can says BPA FREE!
How you managed to get through this video without making a joke about squidward's love for canned bread, i will never know.
Great recipe Mack Mildew!
Keep up the great work here to a hover stew someday
I love this channel. However, I have to chide you for advertising for NordVPN. It is one of the worst VPN services out there. It has been hacked multitude of times. It keeps records of all activities so governments and hackers can get a hold of those records, and it is extremely overpriced. You should follow the over 90% of TH-camrs and stop advertising for this terrible VPN service. Automatic downvote for your terrible decision.
Haha...Do people not realize your name is right there in the title?😆
This Marty MacMillan guy sure knows how to make a good historical recipe video! I hope he does well for himself.
🤣😂🤣
Marty after heaving about the Great Molasses Incident : "Doc... that's heavy..."
Doc : "There's that word again Marty... heavy"
@@cocodojo It does explain the guy's life preserver. Dork thinks he's gonna drown in a wave of molasses.
Good old Marty!
Pure Gold! Well done, sir!
Finally! Something about the Boston Molassacre.
At least it was a sweet death.
Do I have permission to say this in day to day life?
Molassacre. *chef kiss*
I’m going to hell for laughing at this
@@hiramulyssesgrant2966 Of course! In fact, I implore you to.
I love Molasses Mixer's videos! The history and cooking combination is such a good idea.
😅😅
I have to say, I usually have no patience for long videos, but you really do capture and keep the attention of your viewers well. Keep up the good work, Mill Maxer!
Actually thank you for this. I’ve always heard of the molasses flood but it never made sense. I mean, how can you drown in molasses, that’d take an insane amount of…oh near a million gallons? 15 foot high wave?! It was HOT?! This turned what has been a chuckle eliciting history note into a horrifying recap of gross negligence that we couldn’t fathom today.
Trapped in amber like a mosquito.
Pulled a man’s arm off, god.
And it was rather fast, too. About 35mph. So "slow as molasses in January" isn't really all that slow. If you don't mind some silliness and gallows humor, "Puppet History" on the Watcher TH-cam channel did an episode on this a while back.
I was out in public listening to this. I'm so glad I didn't burst out laughing at the thought of the flood before he gave us the description.
Similar things happen today. Just look at how one ship getting stuck cost the entire world 60 billion dollars. In 50 years, kids will be talking about how silly that is. Big events only seem big with hindsight or seem more ridiculous the further out you get from them. Like when America almost accidentally nuked North Carolina. It seems funny now but no one was laughing when the bomb fell and two out of three safety mechanisms failed. Just look at how many comedies have been made about horrific events.
@@astreaward6651 Rather fast is right! 35 mph is about seven miles per hour faster than the world record speed for a 100 meter dash!
@@astreaward6651 ahahaha! I watched that. Professor was on point. 😂
Hey Mickey, Bostonian here. I was raised primarily just over the bridge from the North End and grew up eating this. I’d actually advise against adding more of the baking soda. A modern recipe might call for more, but this isn’t a modern recipe. This was (and still is) intended to be eaten largely as a meal, a couple slices for breakfast as an example. It’s something you’d have as a bedtime snack too. This bread is supposed to be quite dense. You heat before serving and butter is a common topping but cream cheese is equally popular. If you’re doing cream cheese let the butter melt, then add the cream cheese on top. It’s a dense bread so you don’t want to eat it dry, best to add the butter and lots of it.
Do you have a preferred recipe that’s pretty authentic
Great tips, thanks! 👍
That’s how I Remember it
I grew up eating this with cream cheese too! We also had it buttered with pork and beans.
Yes! It's supposed to be dense so it doesn't fall apart when you use it to scoop up the sauce from baked beans..mmm!
Being one of the “grittier” people 😎 we had baked beans, hot dogs and brown bread for most Saturday night suppers in my childhood. Haven’t had it in years but you’ve got me hungry for some right now. Thank you, Max.
I'm not from Boston, but as a kid, we ate the same meal, and it has me wanting it again now too.
🌸 Go on Frankie make some soon, prep something the day before cooking
You can do it 🎉😊
SO glad I found you! My Dad used to make this bread for me all the time when I was young, it was my absolute favourite and unfortunately he passed so I had no idea what it was called or how to make it. I only knew he made it in a can and I remembered the molasses being out every time he made it.
You’re a blessing, thank you so very much from Ontario 🇨🇦❣️💋💖🦋
It's always like finding hidden treasure when you find a lost recipe from your past. The smell and taste are like reliving a piece of your past....
@@tsugima6317 Agreed!! 😊🥹
foodismemories
I had never heard of the molasses flood. What a sticky mess. My favorite bread in NYS as a child. Can't find it in NC. Have try your recipe. Thanks
I've always appreciated Mac Millers ability to cook and explore history. :)
Nononono. It's Mark Keller
@@lovelyhumanbeing261 Google what Mac Miller looks like lol.
Ah yes, Mac
It’s Ronald “Mac” McDonald
Maximus!
Every once in a while I watch Tasting history with Maximus Millery, I always get reminded that Macks Millen always lives up to his name as Maximilian Maller. But at the end of the day, Mark Smiller is just simply himself, simply known as Marx Myllor
Yup, that Marco McMurdo sure knows his cookery and his history.
Hope he doesn't get reassigned to Antarctica!
Hilarious. Awright awright, do Max right, he's trying to make a living here.
@@jeannerogers7085 (psst, we're poking fun at all the incorrect variations of Max's name that have come up)
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Most of my immediate relatives are from CHelsea, Massachusetts, where some random corners of the town still smell of molasses on a hot summer day. And they stockpile of molasses was meant to be used to make rum for the "triangular trade". (slaves, sugarcane, rum, slaves). And molasses is not only a key ingredient in Boston brown bread, but also in Boston baked beans, which my great-grandmother was famous for. (You're supposed to eat brown bread with baked beans.) And many other "colonial" recipes rely on molasses and baking soda for sweetness and leavening.)
As a Massachusetts native and someone born in Boston, we had this to try in history class while learning about the molasses incident but it was also common, though a fading tradition to have this style of bread at a seasonal meal usually during the colder months. I myself have not had this in ages but I would love to try this again especially with a historical recipe such as this. I've been loving the content that you've been making for some time now, keep it up!
In my neighborhood, in the 60's we had hot dogs, baked beans and brown bread, every Saturday night. Everyone did. Usually B and M baked beans and brown bread. Which was just fine, they are both good examples of the real thing. But it was unwavering, inflexible. I used to imagine that it was some kind of State law.
As a resident of the Boston area, I love it when history people mention the Molassacre. The phrase "slower than molasses in January" was coined after the incident, though I bet most people who use it don't know how fast it was actually traveling.
I once said "deadly as molasses in January" and the person I said it to walked right into learning a bit of history! First encountered the story in an old Uncle John's Bathroom Reader many moons ago.
We always said - slower than frozen molasses.
Funny thing is. Molasses were one of the commodities that their then British overlords unfairly taxed the residents of the colony on in one of the "Intolerable Acts" that eventually led to the revolution.
It's amazing to see how deep Boston's history is stuck to molasses.
The Molassacre...
I wonder if the horror Movie "the Blob" from 1958 was inspired by this incident 🤔
My great-grandmother lived in the North End as a child. She and her sister would have been walking right by the tank on the way home from school for lunch when the tank let go. She always told the story that her younger sister got in to some sort of trouble that morning and if it wasn't for the teacher keeping her sister after they got let out to speak to her, they would most likely have been killed. She also told stories about them collecting molasses from the leaks and how the city would smell of molasses on hot days. I also loved watching in fascination as my mother would open the can of B & M Brown bread as a kid! You just don't expect to see bread when you open a can! Wicked good recounting of the events and thanks for all you do!
Wow! God definitely had his hand on your great grandmother and her sister that day!
Wicked good - Well-said! Happy your ancestors lived to tell the tale. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Damn, that's gnarly. I love stories where a little mishap saves people from big disasters. That's so cool that you got to go through this and witness a part of your countries history.
I've seen several historical references and stories regarding the molasses tank disaster. Of all of those, this was the most complete story of the failure I've seen. Well done, Marvin! Oh...Max!
0:20 *Squidward:* _heavy breathing_
Michael does such good and subtle accents on single selective words and it’s amazing to hear him say “war” in an old-timey voice. Great work Mark!
Nice! Two different names in one post.
😂😅
Poor Matt, no one gets his name right!
Mex Miners name isn't that hard to remember.
@@annakareninacamara6580who’s Matt?
When I was a kid we would occasionally eat "brown dinner" which was canned bread, baked beans and bacon. We would first slice the bread, toast it on my Mom's cast iron pan and smother it in butter. Honestly I think we loved it so much for the silliness of bread being in a can and the amounts of butter we were able to get away with eating 😅
Honestly, sounds pretty good and fun to boot! I might try that on a rainy evening
OMG I grew up eating this too! My mom was from Rhode Island and she said it's a regional thing. LOL I love this bread and cannot find it anywhere in Washington.
ok cool and all. but the name brown dinner just sounds kinda interesting XD
Toss in some hot dogs and it sounds like Thursday dinner at my grandparents house lol
Actually sounds really good.
I just want to say that not only do I appreciate the high quality of your videos, but also the enthusiasm and care you have in sharing your sponsors- it’s a kind and respectable gesture that just adds to the overall warmth and value of the clips. Thank you, Max Miller!!!
I watch youtube CONSTANTLY. And this is one of the very best cooking channels out there. You could be on the history channel with that voice and writing ability. Well done MAX! Keep em coming
It's probably worth pointing out that modern cans (at least in the UK) tend to have a plastic coating on the inside to prevent metallic flavours. You probably want to check before using a random can for baking!
You are correct to caution others. Modern cans are lined with epoxies that contain BPA and other harmful chemicals that will be released when heated. The pasteurization process commercially used is below that dangerous temperature.
Better to purchase a modern springform pan for aking or cooking.
Mmm melted plastic.
Yeah that crossed my mind too.
Just used a can
Thank You! this was my first thought when he said his can held beans. At least it wasn't tomatoes? (which are ALL in BPA cans thanks to the high acid content) but now I'm wondering if a wide mouth glass mason jar would work? Since spring form pans would need a lid and have multiple leak points...
This Mike Miller guy really knows his history about Boston, great video!
What are you talking about, that's clearly Marcus Jenkowski.
@@padmanabhanvaidyanathan7182 No, Mark Kellerman.
I thought his name is mac Miller?
@@AllisterCaine Rip
Max Mohler. Come on.
My mum has made this for years -usually with walnuts and dates. We called it date-nut bread and would eat it in the mornings, refrigerated, with a cold slab of butter on it. My wife thought this sounded really offputting, but was open to try it since I made the case for it really cutting the sticky sweetness of the dates -now I can't keep the stuff in the house.
We had it with cream cheese and baked beans. My grandmother did not cover the cans and sliced the loaf with a looped string! She also substituted buttermilk with “sour milk”, ie milk with a little vinegar to curdle it.
My mom used to make this. She kept a couple large apple juice cans on hand just for this purpose. We'd have it with homemade baked beans. I'm not from Boston, but my grandparents lived there in the 1920's, which is how I ended up inheriting the 1924 edition of Fannie Farmer's cookbook. Thanks for sparking my memories, Max 😊
Nice you have that book. I found a 1921 edition a few years ago. Prized possession.
canned brown bread and baked beans are like a staple here in maine. stuffs deviously good but most people from out of state get turned off at the idea of canned bread and never want to try it. ive invited many out of state friends to a traditional bean hole cookout(regional way of cooking baked beans adapted from native american bean cooking methods). they love the baked beans but never go within 20 feet of the brown bread.
@@imlastinline Their loss
@@imlastinline I've never heard of this way to cook beans. I hope Max does a video on it, as that sounds super interesting!
@@AngelavengerL its something that needs to be done outside and takes a full night and most of the following day. while i would love to see him try its not exactly the best method of cooking for a youtube video. its basically slow cooking them in a large buried pot over smoldering coals and it takes a bit of practice to make the hole and bury the beans in a way that does not smother the coals out completely.
I’ve lived in Boston for 20-ish years and I’ve heard the story of the Molasses flood 100 different ways- but I LOVE the way you tell it. Thanks for repping my adopted home & my favorite city. There’s HEAPS of weird history here!
ive always wondered if the harbor tastes like tea so i was wondering if you have ever tried the boston harbor water
@@swampfire6600 I'd imagine it would taste like gross polluted sea water. Even right after the tea was thrown in it would still just be sea water. The ocean is huge and the water moves around a lot. Any tea that was thrown in was likely ruined by the saltwater in minutes. In the 250 years since I'd be surprised if any of the wood boxes even remain. Apparently only 2 boxes were ever recovered and they were found a day or so after the Tea Party.
@@kx2174 oh wow only 2 boxes were found?!
@@swampfire6600 don’t listen to Kx, Boston Harbor actually tastes like a refined Earl Grey with a little pinch of salt. Personally I think the fish poo helps with the flavor
Yes indeed!! Lots of weird history. I lived in Beverly, MA and my dad lived in Beverly. He was young, but recalled it all. We took the train to do errands in Boston.He show3d me where the tank was and you could smell molasses back in the early sixties!!!
I grew up eating brown bread from the can you showed....great with cream chese. Not easy to find in stores as it once was. My mother loved it and it brings back great memories...it often was in my lunch bag growing up. I will look for it again!❤
I buy it buy the case from Amazon. Same good stuff. Not too, too pricey.
I really appreciate this channel. As one who loves history and cooking, i love learning these stories. The boston mollasses flood is insane
My mom told me once that when she was little (1950s), her grandmother (born about 1900) used to buy bread in a can that was dense and sweet. I had a hard time believing her! Turns out, they were eating brown bread. Old new England family, from Bangor, Maine. I bet my great grandmother knew about the Boston molasses flood. Thanks for yet another excellent food history lesson!
still available from B&M beans
They still sell it.
If anybody wants it I’m happy to ship to you! 😂
I have a can of it in my pantry right now. XD
I grew up with it. We shipped cases of it to my grandparents in Florida as well as their baked beans because it wasn't available in their area.
OH MY GOD This is VERY close to what my grandmother used to make at Christmas and I had NO IDEA what it was called until this video! My family used to just call it Nana's Christmas loaf and I don't think I was googling the right terms to find it. Wow, I'm really excited to make this! Thank you!
Considering the time of year maybe your grandmother was making Christmas pudding? That can also use molasses and be steamed in a can.
Marmot Mueller makes some good bread.
"nana's christmas loaf" I see you're a person of culture also. I called mine "nana bread" My grandma near the end of her life didn't like to make it not because of the work but the cans were harder to find as a lot of places are moving to plastic. Mom shares the same issue.
I always had brown bread when I was a kid (1960s) but hardly anyone I know even remembers it. It was always served with Boston Baked Beans poured on top.
The other canned product we made was plum pudding. (It used raisins, not plums.) That seems to be making a comeback, sometimes called Christmas pudding.
This recipe gives me nostalgia of my childhood.When I was a teenager, I had a a way of enjoying this bread. I used to buy them in mini loaves shape wrap in cellophane at a shop nearby.
I consumed them with maple fudge or chocolate fudge and pecan butter.
In the fall and around Christmas time i'd drink spiced apple cider to wash it down.
My grandfather was born in Boston in 1932 and would tell us frequently about the North End smelling of molasses on hot days. He also made damn good brown bread. No raisins or walnuts, and it was SO good the next day toasted. I inherited his bean pot; I feel as though I should make Boston baked beans this weekend now.
My mother who was born in Boston in 1931 told me the same thing. She worked for an insurance company in the north end in the late 40's and 50's. Because the building didn't have air conditioning they would leave the windows open and she would complain about the sickening sweet smell all summer. Sadly my mother just passed on December 13, 2022 at the age of 91 after a short illness. Bless her.
My great grandfather (who i never got to meet) apparently would talk about the smell all the time since he went into the city for work. I feel like most families who have lived in mass for a few generations all have at least one story about the flood
The molasses flood is one of my favorite historical disasters. Absolutely horrifying, but also absurd in concept and circumstance. Glad you covered this event, and I just might try the brown bread recipe too.
I never heard about it before (but, to be fair, I'm not north american.) Pretty amazing - and kind of scary - incident!!
@@Guidje I am a North American and until I watched a mini dog about this on TH-cam about a year ago, I had NEVER heard about the great Monastery flood. We weren't taught that in school, that I remember.
You'll love the Erfurt latrine disaster then
One of the ways bakers added more sweetness was by mixing moistened raisins into the batter. I loved eating brown bread with raisins as a child, on its own or as part of a meal, i.e., baked beans with ham or bacon, and squash or carrots on the side. Very economical, too.
I love this! Not only did we have canned brown bread every Saturday with frankfurters and beans, my mom had a Fannie Farmer's cookbook (updated edition I'm sure) Gonna have to keep an eye out for your videos - a history lesson with a snack.
Wonderful job Marcus Kellerman! I always love new episodes of Testing History!!! And loved family framer sweets as a little one.
Check out Mr Townsand, she reminded me of you, like taste mysterious.
The square lollipops !
@@zeening that's like getting mad at somebody for cheering when watching sports at home.
I hate sports but go touch some grass
Seamless ad transition I say.
As always Malcolm you give us quality videos and we thank you for it
My Aunt Dorothy would routinely bring cans of her brown bread to our family gatherings. She would add raisins to bring a little more sweetness, and lots of Philadelphia Cream Cheese as a spread. This, and my Aunt Beverly 's green rice were always my favorite parts of our holiday meals.
@jerryboyle92. Ok. I'll bite!! What's green rice??😊
max-thanks for covering brown bread. i grew up on the stuff. sometimes made with dates, usually currants or raisins. i’ve seen it with some honey added. we always ate it with fish cakes and beans, but also always had it in the house. i loved to butter it and grill it in a skillet, then spread with some cream cheese.
Who the heck is Max???
I must say I had a bit of a chuckle when you said that the molasses may have sweetened the tea in Boston Harbour. I can't imagine how terrible this disaster was and how horrifying it was for the people and animals caught up in it. The cleanup must have been like an endless, grueling task.
Can you imagine? Sticky for weeks! Hopefully it rained soon after.
You could say it was a sticky situation
Many people actually went into the streets to try licking up the molasses, similarly to the flood of alcohol that occurred around the same time period.
If you want more on the molasses flood Puppet History did a great video on this! I've been hoping that Max would take it on since I saw their video on it. And Max never disappoints!
I instantly thought of Puppet History too!
Me too, I had the Horse song in my head all the time. And wouldn't Max make the most amazing guest at Puppet History? He's already a History Master to begin with.
Have thought so many times about them collaborating!
one of my favorite episodes by far lol
I'm a History Guy guy
Max, I am enthralled with your channel. You combine 2 of my great loves; history and cooking! I have even showed your videos to my 13-year old son who loves to cook, as well. We really enjoy snuggling up and watching your videos (thanks for keeping them G rated!) hey, if you’re ever looking for a series idea, I always thought it would be fascinating to explore depression-era recipes. My grandma lived through the depression and she had some odd recipes!
In the late 70s my dad was a truck driver for a company in southern California named holly sugar. The area we lived in was where my mom grew up in imperial county. It was a town named brawley down by salton sea. Well that area was huge on three things. Agriculture,cattle culture and off roading culture. They grew lots of sugar beets there. Well one of the things the company made from their sugar refining process was molasses. That's what my dad hauled. Big tanks of molasses. It was sent to animal feed companies as an additive. But the weird part was it was awesome molasses that could have easily been sold in stores. Very pure and tasty. There were times my pops would jump on the tank and scoop out a few jars to bring home. Nothing the company would miss. Maybe a gallon at most. We used it for baking on pancakes and waffles.my uncle put it in his coffee. My aunt used to also make molasses chew candy. It was so good. I've had brown bread and it's good. My mom made it but she'd add raisins for a bit more sweetness and nutritional value for me bro and sis. A slice of brown bread with butter, yummy.
THANK YOU FOR COVERING THE GREAT MOLASSES FLOOD! As a Massachusetts native, this is one of my favorite local histories to tell people who’ve never heard about it. Always get gasps of horror when people learn that they painted the structure brown to hide the leaks. Thank you for taking the time to honor this history and make some delicious bread in a can!
The days before OSHA were wild.
We learned about it in my 3rd grade class, but we were in Florida, and of course it was kiddified a bit so we read the children's book. My teacher even had molasses for us to try. For years I just thought it was fiction lol. |D;;
Certainly a sticky situation
I can't imagine the smell even before it broke!
My grandmother was a kindergarten teacher and part of her activities curriculum was setting up a sand table with little houses and pouring molasses from a hill in the sand to teach about viscosity. She was so brilliant when it came to making science projects palatable for small children.
We need teachers like her!!! ❤️
These fun experiments that kids will enjoy and remember are an importart part of childhood science education. You need to get kids hooked on how much fun science can be, before you get them bogged down in physics equations.
I remember an early teacher like your grandmother (maybe year 4 or 5, I was about 9/10 years old) bringing a canister of liquid nitrogen and a couple of bouquets of roses into class.
We froze the roses (1 at a time, with her standing right next to the person doing it), and we each got one to take home until it defrosted.
We also smashed a few. They become incredibly brittle once flash frozen.
She also told us about the panspermia theory of life spreading from one world to another. She kindled my fascination with science, and I ended up studying physics in college.
Took a career change, and I'm now a butcher, but I am still in love with science, and keep learning more in my own time just for fun.
@@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human Yes. People want kids (especially girls) to show interest in STEM fields, but instead of making the subjects interesting and *fun,* they mostly seem to try appealing to prestige and income. And that's when they're trying to appeal to *anything* instead of just talking about how kids should show more interest in STEM fields.
I am from Boston, and I have always wondered about The Great Molasses Flood. There is so little written about it. Thank you for this tidbit.
I’ve heard the molasses flood story a lot over the years, having family ties to the Boston area. Max, your telling of the story is by far my favorite version to listen to! 😄
as someone who hates being sticky more than anything in the world , this sounds like my worst nightmare.
Sounds like you may be a proponent of artificial Xmas trees. Wouldn't blame you, that's a sticky I can do without.
As someone who hates being killed by gross corporate neglect, same.
@@TheDownrankTrain And there it is !
🤣
I was about to say "I also like being alive and uninjured," but I see that joke has already been made, haha! I totally get it though, being sticky is awful.
Fun fact: aluminum cans are lined with plastic to keep the metal from reacting with the food. Most plastic lining contains BPA as a plasticizer (expensive organic brands may use BPA-free liner, and always brag about it on thr label). BPA leeches into fat more effectively than water, and does so most effectively when heated. So putting this recipe in that type of can with butter against the plastic and steaming for hours is a great way to get some really nasty stuff into your food. Using a mould, tin or pan designed for baking is by far the safest way to go. Just wanted to put this here for anyone considering making this recipe.
I watched a science experiment video where the guy literally proved this. It was pretty amazing and indeed disintegrate the aluminum and show the plastic.
Thanks, was just going to post similar comment but not nearly as thorough!
It's not plastic... And it's sprayed in.
True but the cans he's using are steel, not aluminum
@@christanice well, to be fair it depends on what the can will eventually hold, there are lacquer, polymer, and boa based polymers that I guess you could call plastic. But they are all sprayed in. The cans are also cleaned with some pretty nasty chemicals (then rinsed) to remove all impurities before they are coated and printed. Tin cans (steel or tin coated steel) have a wider variety of coatings internally and externally with epoxy resin being the most common
My grandmother was originally from Boston and she used to make this brown bread all the time for us, she must have added sugar, and i know she added rasins, cause the bread was sweet, and the rasins were like little hidden treasures inside...I just loved this bread as a little girl...haven't had it since...So, thank u for this recipe...anyone who hasn't tried it, should, its fantastic, moist and sweet...has a flavor of its own.. .for me, its the memories too.
I thought Canned Bread was just a Spongebob joke.
You have no idea! th-cam.com/video/xaI3s5pAMHA/w-d-xo.html
"Every Bostonian thinks that their version of brown bread is the real version of brown bread."
And every Bostonian is full of it, because we all get it out of the B&M can. Don't let any Bostonian tell you different. It's wicked good and as Boston as franks, beans, candlepin bowling, and Red Sox games on the radio on a Saturday afternoon.
Yep. This is it.
😂
As a Bostonian, I wanted to be mad at this comment until I realized you’re 100% right 😂
Same with Maine-iacs.
Well said! I grew up in Portsmouth NH but these are true for us to your North😃 My first time Candlepin bowling, I was on a first date. I threw the ball which caused me to spin around and fall on my tush. I really miss New England 💞
As a nephew of a survivor. I've heard the story atleast once a year for 30ish years until he passed. I first thought it was a story he told but found out it's true and respected the next time more for it. Unfortunately years later my grandma would perish at the cocoanut grove fire not far from the molasses flood. r.i.p. love u guys
How sad. May they rest in peace.💜
@@mrc0201 thank you. I pray they do. Now that's the real miracle praying for the past I wasn't even born yet
My mother's former babysitter, one of a pair of twins, died in the fire. It was a terrible, terrible thing, and I am so sorry that it took your family member.
@@mrc0201 scariest part was uncle Joe died in the vendome fire as firefighter decades later. I'm convinced of the 3s principle. Thanks for the best wishes
Bro you can not be serious "My grandma died from the coconut grover fire right next to where the molasses flood was, it was awful"
My Nana used to bake bread in a can and yes, she used walnuts and raisins. I'm not sure if she used sugar because Pop couldn't have too much sugar. She was also extremely frugal because people from her generation had to pinch pennies to survive, so she wouldn't have added any extra baking soda, or powder either. Really good warmed up with lots of fresh butter, either way!
The original "Laurels Kitchen" cookbook, a vegetarian staple from the '70s recommended baking bread in cans because it would allow you to bake 4 loaves at once in a regular oven. They used the large cans that fruit juices come in. In the new edition that came out in the early '90s, they mention that they no longer did this because the solder in the seam of these cans can contain lead.
My great Grandmother used to make her pumpkin bread in coffee cans with a bunch of molasses, walnuts and raisins in it. This must be where she learned that. I always wondered about it, cause I'd never seen anyone else do it that way.. it was super dense and moist. What a tragic story about the molasses flood. Yikes! I love Tasting History. Its one my teenage daughter and I watch together often. ❤️
My Grandmother use to make banana nut bread in one pound coffee cans, but I think she cooked them in her oven.
Boston didn't have a monopoly on methods to make bread. A more logical explanation is that many families didn't have the money to buy dedicated cake pans during the depression. They used what they had on hand, which was a can. They did it down south, too and families that I know for a fact that never stepped foot anywhere in the northern half of the country and long before Ellis Island existed.
@@Swearengen1980
My Grandmother was from Arkansas.
My mother made persimmon bread in 1 pound coffee cans.
I grew up pretty poor in the Missouri Ozarks. 🙂
As someone who grew up eating canned Boston brown bread (and molasses on everything) because of how close we were to Boston, I cannot tell you the levels of nostalgic joy I got from this video. The fact that you reused a can instead of a traditional mold! Great little Easter egg.
Yes, we saved cans for a month or two before Xmas for making my Mom's Date Nut Bread.
Your comment on the molasses sweetening the remainder of the Boston tea, I nearly fell from my chair laughing! That was a hot one!!
The way you edit, and draw people in is incredible. I have been trying to take little notes from you for my upcoming gardening channel. THANK YOU SIR, for the information, inspiration, education, and entertainment!!
Thanks for the upload, Mark.
It was very interesting, Matt.
I look forward to your future videos, Mike.
😄🤣
@@zeening Try watching the video first.
Your silly💙🤭
did you forgor 💀
My grandmother just saved From the flood. She was on her way to the North End and was on Copps Hill. Wouldn't be here if she had been a little earlier
My dad who is in his 90s tells me as a kid you could still small the Molasses.
Steve Puleo's book Dark Tide is terrific
(Frankly, all his books are meticulously researched and well written)
Wow!
I heard about people smelling the molasses for years afterward. I thought it was crazy, but I guess with the amount that was expelled a good amount seeped into the ground.
Thank you for the book/author recommendation.
@@daniellemhall1358 The stuff is real tough once it dries in so if it gets into some cranny which nobody knew to clean, it's not going anywhere soon, and when it gets warm enough in summer it'll let off some fumes.
God, they must have had so many ants.
I love you for putting music over your chewing.
Man I love watching eating records with Mill Maxer
Max, this was great. All of my childhood from the late 40-s to 1960 we had Boston baked beans (with a chunk of salt pork and molasses) baked in a brown pot and brown bread every Saturday night dinner. My mother, who cooked almost everything from scratch actually did buy the brown bread in a can as shown. I'm guessing she didn't like it, but she did make Indian Pudding which might make a good episode. I found a recipe in my 1953 edition of Joy of Cooking. It has 3/4 c molasses and 3 T of sugar; her note says you can use 1 c of molasses and no sugar.
My dad was born and brought up in Haverhill, MA. He was born in 1905 so surely he must have heard about this and I don't recall him ever mentioning it.
Please Max do an Indian pudding episode, the two have some of the same ingredients. Julia Child and Jeff Smith (The frugal gourmet) cookbooks are a good place to start with for receipts (recipes) ... With love from a homesick Massachusetts resident living in the desert South West.
If you're going to make Indian pudding you need to follow the durgin-park recipe. It gets its name from the corn which folks called Indian corn, not because it was a native American dish.
Your dad may have skipped mentioning it because it was such a horror. I read a first-person account of it a few years ago, and it was a punch to the heart. 😭
@@HarryHawk - I went to Durgin Park once. Fun & tasty!
There used to be a take-out place in Wellfleet MA on Cape Cod that made simple, but good, non-greasy shore fare. Each take-away box had watermelon and Indian pudding on the side. (It is now a delicious French bakery owned by a baker who actually came from France. So, lose-win?)
Bean Supper! A great New England tradition that's been dying out, just like our dropped 'r.' Some of my favorite memories are having a bean supper in the American Legion Hall.
I love your videos Marcus McMillan. You're such a food history nerd and it's the gosh darn best thing to watch. But really, you can't ever stop making these.
Thanks heaps Matty Millard for yet another awesome video and recipe. 😊
Being born and raised in New England I have a recipe for baked beans in the crock pot. Now I have a recipe for brown bread to go with it!
In finland we have Setsuuri bread. Setsuuri's name comes from the Swedish words söt and sur, sour and sweet. It usually had both equal part of rye and wheat flour. In sugar it uses dark syryp.
the old days, bakeries were valued according to the kind of setsuri they baked. The amounts of cumin, anise, fennel and seville orange peel in the bread were closely guarded secrets.
The spices sound delicious!
Sisu
This sounds exactly like the sort of recipe that would be up Max's alley.
As an engineer from the Boston area, I find it so amusing and satisfying that I learned so much about the Boston molasses incident from your channel! You'd think I would have learned more about it before now, but no! Thank you!
I just discovered this Martin Müller's channel yesterday and it's GREAT! Milton Masters does a solid job of researching every topic and his delivery is top notch!
Maximilian Millerillian,
Just hope you're well and wanted to say I've been following you since your first video and am SO proud of how far you have come. You have such a bright light. Thank you for living your dream and sharing with us 💕
Also Max, a similar round bread you might want to investigate the history of is Blackpool milk roll - it's baked in a special ridged mould which creates ridges indicating where to slice the bread for sandwiches. It was created for landladies of boarding houses in Blackpool for feeding holidaymakers staying there for their annual week's holiday - in working-class parts of the UK entire factories and other workplaces would all go on holiday at the same time and go to the same resorts, with Blackpool being popular with workers from NW England and Glasgow. Special trains would be put on to take the workers to and from the resorts.
Interesting @newcamomile. I'm from England and hear that for the first time.
fun facts
My father was 11 years old when the molasses flood happened - he was living in Revere at the time. He said the neighborhood looked like a bomb had gone off. He remarked that the smell lasted for years and that people in the neighborhood were pretty traumatized by the whole thing. Now nobody remembers anything about it because it was so long ago.
In certain parts of the city you can still smell it and taste it in the air.
My grandfather went down there to help out, I grew up on Boston Brown Bread, Thanks Max Miller. I’m looking forward to your book. Great Channel.
I love when your closed captions show you biting into things with the legend
This Mack fella is one helluva TH-camr and really makes history sing.
Sing? No, that is MITCH Miller (and His Gang)!!
You mean “MAX” Miller? Who is “Mack”?
My mom's people were New Englanders, and she often made this. It's basically a British pudding -- which is my dad's culture, so this met his approval. The smell of them steaming infused the entire house on winter days. I still remember those tin cans; very unique. When I got my first apartment I too made them from time to time, but it's been decades now. Too many, now I think of it...
Thanks for the video!
It's time to make them again. 🍞..
ooooh yes! Born n raised New Englander! Molasses was a staple growing up. Boston Brown Bread, Boston Baked Beans, Grammy's Molasses cookies, molasses sweetened coffee...SO good!!
The bread looks appetising with the chunk of butter! It reminds me of Soreen malt loaf. Thank you for the history behind this recipe, I never heard of it before.
I grew up Irish Catholic with parents from New England, and in those days we didn't eat meat on Fridays. B & M baked beans and brown bread featured frequently, with cod fish cakes or fish sticks on the side. My Dad would put a slice of bread down on his plate, and put the beans on top of it, and eat it with a knife and fork. And I still have my Mother's copy of The Boston Cooking School cookbook. Thanks, Max.
You grew up American. The Irish don't eat it. The closest you got was beans on toast and that is wrong and British anyway.
@@handlesarefeckinstupid, well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine.
I am a young Orthodox Christian in America, and we fast from meat and dairy on Wednesdays and Fridays, in reverence of Christ's betrayal and Crucifixion. Ajd that isn't counting the Christmas and Easter Lenten fasts! I know Irish Orthodox converts too.
I grew up in Boston in the 60's and early 70's. We weren't even middle class. Every Saturday was hot dogs, baked beans and canned brown bread for dinner. The brown bread was sliced and fried in a cast iron pan with butter. Not the healthiest but crispy on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside. I get warm fuzzies remembering that. Haven't had any in decades.
Yes!!! Still bake my own beans.....only on a saturday!!!!!
My father was born & raised in Boston & the food was always a treat at grandmas house so the baked beans and brown bread was one of our favorite s. I had heard this story but I cracked up at your telling it ! I have to forward it to my daughter in law she’s a NYC Architect she will appreciate the safety description as you explained the tank not needing any permits .
I'm gonna add onto this by suggesting you make sure there is no adhesive or glue from labels on the outside of the cans. It leaves a residue on your pot (the glue melting and being dispersed by the boiling water) that takes a bit to get off. It does come off, but saves the mess.
My cousin told a story about a mutual friend who drove for a molasses company. He, the story goes, was running double books and was as tight as a banjo string. When he went across the weigh station scales, they told him he was overweight. His response was to go around to the spigot, open it wide, and say "Let me know when I'm legal."
I could never get him to confirm or deny the story.
As a native Bostonian who grew up eating brown bread in a can, I feel so seen and validated right now! 😂 Although nobody I knew growing up made it homemade, we usually got it at the grocery store. I think the brand is called B&M! And its not a super common thing people eat anymore. I grew up in Boston in the late 90s/early 2000s and my family was pretty low income. Brown bread in a can was part of our weekly meal rotation because it was so cheap. My parents would make boiled hotdogs with baked beans and brown bread from a can because we couldn't afford much else growing up. Thankfully their income and cooking skills increased as I got older and I'm lucky enough as an adult to be considered middle class but I'm still pretty fond of the brown bread myself! I should go buy some.
Yes! B&M beans and brown bread(NO raisins!) is one of my favorite meals
It's actually not easy to find. A few years ago, we always had it on store shelves and then suddenly it was gone.
It's good to keep in a cupboard for a lazy day! Grill it up, fry it in some butter, toast it and top with cream cheese...
We would have knockwurst with our baked beans and brown bread...but hot dogs would do in a pinch. That's still one of my favorite meals.
You can get it on line. Be prepared for increased prices! Muchly increased prices.
I read a book about the Great Molasses Flood when I was little and no one had ever heard of it before so I thought I made it up for 15 years when I heard it mentioned in a random podcast my roommate was listening to and now (7 years later) I feel soooo justified every time someone mentions it
These stories that go along with the recipes are so interesting!
I grew up in New England and the elders always used to talk about how sweet the air smelled in Boston especially during the Summer because of this very tragedy. I also grew up on brown bread and always reach for it on Thanksgiving when everyone is reaching for their floury dinner rolls. Molasses has always been a staple in my childhood home, supposedly for it's health benefits and also because it was cheap and could be added to just about anything. Like stuffed acorn squash, which is also a Thanksgiving treat. =)
My family loves having brown bread for Thanksgiving.
I also make steamed brown bread using wide-mouth pint canning jars.......it really must include raisins; it really must.
I grew up in Boston, and we ate brown bread (from a can):weekly growing up, often as a side with franks and beans. Haven’t tasted it in at least 35 years
If you don't want to worry about the plastic coatings they sometimes put in cans you can do what I did, go to your local restaurant supply store and buy a couple of the seamless stainless steel cylinders they sell for holding cutlery on a food service line. Easier to clean too, and they make bigger loaves.
Thanks for that suggestion. We used to bake a brown bread variety in cans until plastic appeared. Regular loaf pans just don’t do it.
@Thomas Miller - (Any relation?) Great suggestion .^_^.
Thank you Maximum McMillum !! I'm from New England, never knew this story! I do love brown bread! I'm motivated to make my own following this recipe.
On hot, humid summer days, you can still smell the molasses.....in 2023....no joke. Thanks man...
I really appreciate the amount of effort Matt Myers and Joey put into this channel. It's so interesting and entertaining. I miss seeing Jammy and Cerise though. What foods has Jammy stolen recently? Keep up the good work, Matt and Joey! ❤️😁😆
Poor baby Jaime has been sick a few days, rushed to urgent care, but back home now and on the mend.
@@TastingHistory oh no! Did he eat something he shouldn't have? Feel better soon Jaime!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
@@VeryCherryCherry we don’t know, but the X-rays didn’t show any obstruction so that’s good. He will hopefully be back to his chipper self soon.
@@TastingHistory Aw. I'm sure he'll feel better soon.
@@TastingHistory Sending my best wishes to Jamie’s very speedy recovery! It’s so scary when your babies are ill ☹️
Excellent video Mark. You've earned a sub, Matt. Look forward to future videos like this one, Mike.
I also enjoyed the recipe and the story itself, and I have subscribed.
Love your shows! My late beloved mother was a Bostonian and so am I having been born there! You're good to use Fannie Farmer's cookbook and another great classic one is Ruth Wakefield's who first created the Toll house chocolate chip cookie, the original one that I grew up on! Great cooks and bakers in my family! Both my grandmothers born in the late 1800s would have been successful owners of bakeries had women had their own businesses back then! If someone is too lazy to make homemade brown bread, B & M brand is the closest to the homemade one along with B & M baked beans! The famous molasses flood happened when my mother was eleven and way before I was born in 1948. Talk about a sticky icky mess! Thanks for more interesting content both culinary and historically!
Some of the best things I remember was that my Aunt made Different kinds of cake in a can through the mall. Still has a way to bring tears to well up. Nice video, glad I saw it Happy You made it.👍😉🇺🇲
Learning the story of the Great Molasses Flood has the same energy as when people learn the full story of the woman who sued McDonald's for spilling hot coffee on herself.
Sounds silly out of context; actually tragic IN context.
Like the London Beer Flood of 1814, sounds fun it was actually horrifying.
I wish more people knew that the coffee was so hot it literally melted parts of her skin together, and all she wanted was her hospital bills paid.
@@Una_Ridlow the slander campaign against her orchestrated by McDonald's was infuriating to read about.
@@Una_Ridlow Just studied about this in the class, both the injuries and McDonald's actions afterward are painful to hear.
All hail Fanny Farmer! Fanny is an interesting historical character: She is the "Mother of the Level Tablespoon." Her cookbook, The Boston School of Cooking, was the first US cookbook to use "American Freedom Units." She is the reason why we use cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons instead of the metric system. 😃
Teaspoons and tablespoons are used in Europe too, we’ve just standardised the measurements to mean 5 ml and 15 ml respectively.
American Freedom Units
@ragnkja Australia uses cup and spoon measures too, metric ones, where one cup is 250mls. I am not sure the exact measure of teaspoons and tablespoons, but I am glad you mentioned them.
You say that like it's a good thing ^^
Fun fact: Stuff You Missed In History did a podcast on her in either 2021 or 2022.
Dear Mr. McFly: I adore your show.