Mark Twain's Favorite Foods and How It influenced Food Culture
- jr81568
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Mark Twain the author loved food and often wrote about what he liked when traveling through the United States and Europe. He was known as what we call a foodie today.
Oysters One of Mark Twain's Favorite Appetizers
Mark Twain loved oysters stewed, fried, or raw on the half shell over ice. In 1864 when he stayed at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, he enjoyed eating Olympia oysters. Oysters during this time were considered a poor man's meal and not very expensive. They were popular with miners and during the Gold Rush.
Mark Twain worked as a reporter and eventually lived at the Occidental Hotel ins San Francisco, CA. There he ate oysters most day on the half shell and other foods until midnight. Twain ate oysters in soup, stuffed in poultry, and roasted.
He like Oyster Rockefeller a recipe that used butter, oysters, breadcrumbs, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, parsley, shallots, spinach and Pernod a liquor with anise and fennel. In fact Mark Twain often included his favorite foods in the books he wrote. His writing influenced food trends and consumers and what they ate.
In his book, "A Tramp Abroad" he wrote about oysters served in soup, fried, oyster stew, and roasted in a shell Northern style. His love of oysters influenced culture how people ate due to his writing..
Twain Missed US Comfort Food Traveling Through Europe
When he traveled through Europe for a few month he said the food was a variety of monotonous dishes that were not impressive. He meant filling but not very flavorful. He came up with a long list of foods in different part of the United State he missed and wanted to eat when he came returned.
The foods on his long list were:
American coffee with real cream
Southern fried chicken
Porter house steak
Virginia bacon broiled
Cherry stone clams
Trout
Oysters
roast turkey
roast beef
butter
chicken
bacon and beans
baked apples with cream
apple pie
peach cobbler
ice water
beer or ale
whiskey cocktail
Mark Twain And His Wife Oliva Langdon Clemens
Mark Twain married Oliva Landon Clemens and they lived in Hartford in a large house from 1874 to 1891 called Nook Farm located in Hartford CT. It was a large contemporary house connected to the literary community. There his wife planned and cooked many meals with the family and hired help entertaining writers, publishers, and member of the business community. She edited his books and helped him get published.
Although Oliva did not like Mark Twain when she first met him he eventually won her over and they married. He said it was love at first sight when he saw her photo. They had 4 children a son and three daughters. . They were described as a devoted couple.
When they first arrived at Nook Farm they ate simple meals of fried fish, greens, and corn poke. Later when they entertained, she went grocery shopping and planned more elaborate meals with the help of family and staff. On one of the first Thanksgivings one daughter researched how to set the table with fine China and linens. The other daughter made cranberry sauce.
Oliva prepared a roasted turkey, red potatoes, pearl onions, celery, carrots, greens. and rolls. That day Mark Twain carved the turkey and later they visited his new office and later had leftovers, hot chocolate and played music on their guitars. This was the way they ate and how they shaped food culture because they entertained quite often.
References :
Getting to Know Mark Twain Through Food, How We Eat Website, July 25, 2019
Mark Twain A Little Bill of Fare Showcases His Favorite Foods, by Tory Avery, PBS TV Food, November 24, 2014
The Seafood Mark Twain Like to Have Prepared For Him by Lauren Christian Allen, Takeout January 27, 2026
Mark Twain Make A List of 60 American Foods He Missed While Traveling Abroad, by Open Culture, Open Culture, October 8, 2025
The Decade Long Comeback of Mark Twain's Favorite Food by Andy Beahrs, Smithsonian Magazine. June 2012
On the Extravagance of Mark Twain's Family Dishes, by Melissa Scholes Young, Literary Hub, November 24, 2025
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