Reel Or Real Frontier Fare

Another helping for Hoss.

- Sherry Monahan

If you’re reading this then you’ve likely seen a Western. So, does the food on the big screen compare to the real West? Let’s digest some food scenes from TV and film.

In John Ford’s The Searchers, Ward Bond’s reverend character enters a house where they’re serving doughnuts and coffee. He says, “Oh, doughnuts. Thank you, sister. I’m sure fond of them doughnuts.” While this scene does not seem extraordinary because doughnuts were commonly made by pioneers, doughnuts are rarely depicted as frontier fare in Westerns. In Ford’s My Darling Clementine