Colonial Cooking

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Colonial Cooking

• Its Time to EAT

By Kathy Snyder
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The Colonial Pantry

• Everyone who arrived during the early 1600s had
  to
• become accustomed to three foods available
  in this new
• land. These foods included corn, pumpkins,
  and beans.
• In New England waters, seafood was plentiful--
  especially lobster, clams,
• oysters, and cod fish. A popular soup made
  from seafood was fish chowder.
• The term "vegetable" was not used in the 16th
  century. Edible plants were called "sallets." The
  most widely used sallets included onions,
  artichokes, carrots, turnips, cabbages, and
  beets.
• Some of the animals eaten were deer, duck,
  turkey, rabbit, geese, and pigeon.
• The Colonists found a number of native fruits
  that included blueberries, cranberries,
  blackberries, raspberries, and gooseberries.

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Gardening in the Colonies

• Williamsburg
• Dear Friend,
• Spring is surely upon those of us who
  toil in the Colonial Garden, thus on a rainy day
  I write to share with you the Fruits of our
  labours. While I cannot \send you the Flowers,
  Vegetables or other Products from our cultivation
  of the Plants, it is my hope to interest you with
  some of the Knowledge we have gleaned.

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Gardening in the Colonies-Continued

• have again had a lesson of the
  importance not to defer one task in favor of
  another. Wesley Greene worked mightily through
  January and dunged the upper vegetable bed in a
  timely manner. I began the lower bed in March,
  exhausted our supply of Dung and now must finish
  the bed with leaf Mold while trying to plant
  spring seeds. Next year I must complete the
  spading of the vegetable beds in January and
  February.

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Gardening in the Colonies

• Despite my procrastination we are
  posssessed of Peas planted from March first,
  along with Onions begun from bulblets and
  transplanted Brassicas nurtured under glass.
  Tender Seedlings of Broad Windsor Beans and
  Salsify planted on March 17th stretch heavenward.
  Of course we still impress visitors to our garden
  by sharing a taste of the Peas and Lettuce
  planted in the Hotframe at the start of last
  December. The second hotframe is currently
  occupied with seedling Melons and Cucumbers
  growing in Pots or Baskets for transplanting to
  the garden in a few days.

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Gardening in the Colonies-Continued

• We are near the middle of the Spring
  flowers. The Crocuses, Daffodils, and Narcissus
  have nearly left us for this year, but the Tulips
  are near their peak. Many of the smaller bulbs
  still reveal their glory, such as the Spanish
  Squill, the Anemone and the Grape Hyacinth. The
  early perennials such as the Cowslip, Candytuft,
  along with natives such as Green- and-Gold,
  Spring Beauty, and Foamflower are spreading
  carpets of color.

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Gardening in the Colonies Continued

• The Flower Stall vendors find it
  easy to interest visitors in their goods when the
  plants are busy displaying their qualities. A
  Dogwood, Lilac, or Redbud is worthwhile to buy as
  a young whip when its more mature brother or
  sister is grandly draped across the fence.
  Further, I impress upon you Friend, the flower
  merchants have expanded their wares this year
  with many new plants to sell, along with Seeds,
  dried flowers, and an assortment of garden
  Utensils.

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Gardening in the Colonies

• Wesley and I renewed acquaintance
  with a family from the Upper Chesapeake this
  week. They had visited our garden last September
  and returned to share the culmination of that
  encounter. While they were here we had given the
  children a Chrysalis attached to one of the
  plants. They took it home, kept it warm until the
  Butterfly emerged, and brought it back to release
  it in the garden. 'Tis a wonder indeed how such
  a small act on our part can encourage others to
  admire Nature.
• I hope to be able to inform you of
  the progress of our economy in the future. Much
  More I have to say but I will tire you no Longer
  but only to assure you that I am Your sincere
  Friend
• Terrance Yemm, Gardener

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Mixing the New and Old

• There were native foods available to the
  early American colonists game, fish, berries and
  Indian crops (corn, squash, pumpkin). It took
  some time for the colonists to change their old
  eating habits and adapt to the new foods
  available. Settlers brought wheat and rye seeds
  with them to grow in America but found these
  crops were difficult to grow in the soil along
  the coast. Corn, a Native American crop, was
  easier to grow. They adapted their bread and
  pudding recipes to use corn instead of wheat and
  rye flour

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Help From A Cookbook

• The first cookbook printed in the colonies, The
  Compleat Housewife contains popular recipes, as
  well as directions for painting rooms and
  removing mildew. In addition, Smith includes home
  remedies for treating several different ailments,
  such as smallpox and consumption.
• The Compleat Housewife was a massive undertaking
  for Williamsburg printer, William Parks, who,
  aside from his government and newspaper work, had
  previously only produced small pamphlets. He
  printed and sold this 228-page cookbook, then in
  its fifth London edition, believing that there
  was a strong market for it with Virginia
  housewives who wished to be current with the
  London fashion. Advertisements for The Compleat
  Housewife appeared in The Virginia Almanack and
  in The Virginia Gazette, the weekly newspaper for
  the colony. Twenty-four years later, this
  cookbook was still popular in the colony. There
  are six known copies of the Williamsburg edition
  of The Compleat Housewife.

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Meat Recipes
12
Dessert Anyone?
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Turning Up the Heat

• Hot water was heated in a pot hanging from the
  pot hook and some other cooking was conducted
  from a hanging pot as well. However, Plimoth
  settles also had three-legged pots, and frying
  pans, and grills. All of these were used in front
  of the fire. Food was either cooked from side
  heat -- the heat falling on the side of the pot
  from the fire -- and or from embers shoveled out
  of the fireplace under, and even on top of a pot
  lid.

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Setting the Table

• Many Plimoth homes had richly detailed
  interiors. Here, a carpet covers a table, and
  dishes are kept on a simple open shelf.

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Family Time