what foods would you serve a person from 1840 if they traveled to Modern day 2020?

I would take them to my local for a burger, fries and a brew. Then the next day for a pizza.

 

I would recommend the person to travel back and bring some of the unpolluted food he/she/div. is used to.

 

I would make them a chicken curry or a boeuf Bourguignon (but made with a Bordeaux not a Bourguignon wine) & for dessert, an apple & blackberry crumble. Just typical 2020 fare.
I would then show them the internet so they could have a good laugh when they discover how we think they lived in their time & if I felt they were up for it I might let them surf internet porn for a while.

 

I'd hand them a bag of Cheetos, just to watch their reaction.

 

I'm not sure what I'd give them to eat, but given that as a whole we're generally bigger and healthier than our forebears, I can only imagine them saying, a la Yoda to Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, "How do you get so big eating food of this kind?"

 

Sushi rolls followed by banana & kiwi

 

Cheeseburger, fries and chocolate shake.

 

Grits!

 

Nutritious Pepperoni Hot Pockets & Jalapeno Poppers. Maybe fried Spam.

 

Necco Wafers. Hey, somebody's gotta eat 'em, or they'll just be taking up space in landfills.

 

If the fellow from 1840 waited just a couple of years or so, he would be familiar with Necco Wafers. They've been making them since the 1840s.

 

And those they made in the 1840s are just reaching their "Sell By" date.

 

Steak & Eggs

 

I think a time traveler from that period would be more interested in the variety and convenience rather than the actual food. Plus, it would depend on that person. A city dweller would have access to finer foods and nice restaurants (Antoine's in the French Quarter opened in 1840 as an example).

So to show them supermarkets (as somebody else above mentioned), the variety of takeout we have, and the general accessibility to that food that they never had would likely leave them in awe.

Then I'd take them to Skyline for a 4-way.

 

Bigamy was legal in the US in 1840.

 

A Chicago style hot dog, which wouldn't make its first appearance for 50 years at the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893!