Foods

Contributors: Ava Gantenbein

Abstract:

Before the men and boys came to the Virginia Colony in the New World, from England, they had to consider an important question: how would they survive in this unfamiliar land? One of these things was food. How would they get food? Long after the English first settled in America, there were cooks and different tools to make cooking convenient. Food was important in Colonial America, because it was essential to their survival.

Here are the main points of my paper:

-The settlers cooked in kitchens that varied depending on the weather, and who cooked in the household (if someone cooked for them, or if they cooked for themselves)

-Mostly women cooked, but daughters often helped. Also, slaves (who cooked without being paid) and indentured servants (who signed a contract to work without being paid) helped out too.

-The cooks long hours (often all day) preparing meals for their family (or someone else's family).

-Food was preserved many different ways: meat was smoked and spiced, dairy and crops were stored in a cellar underground (to keep it cool).

-Although English settler cooking differed from Native American cooking, the two cultures did influence eachother many times; the settlers brought to the New World a variety of tools that changed Native American cooking. The Native Americans also taught the setters how to cultivate their crops.

Food wasn’t something people overlooked in the 1700s. It was an important matter that had a lot of thought put into it in order to get a meal on the table. Food worked its way into everyone’s lives, whether they cooked themselves, or someone cooked for them, inside or outside. As long as we can remember, food has been a part of our lives, and much needed, as it still is today. Today, there are many different kinds of foods and meals in America and around the world. People continue to cook traditional (and non-traditional) recipes. Like in Colonial times, there are many different cultures living in America today, as there are different foods being made. Food has been a part of bringing different cultures together over the years (in Colonial times too). Will food continue to play this important role around the world in the years ahead?

Interviews:

Susan, the cook in Williamsburg, at the Randolph House, on October 25, 2007.

Images and Resources:

Click on these websites to see pictures of cooking in Colonial kitchens:

http://www.shadyoaksfarmbnb.com/images/kitchen%20mag..jpg

http://www.garrisonhouse.org/applepie.jpg

http://bryanandjean.tripod.com/2005_xmas_gram/dinner.jpg

Bibliography:

Brown, Ellen & Bobbie Kalman, The Colonial Cook. New York, Canada, United Kingdom: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2002

Brownscombe. (The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth.) Online. www.pilgrimhall.org/f_thanks.htm

Cox, Beverly & Martin Jacobs, Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking. New York: Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, 1991

Erdosh, George. Food and Recipes for the Revolutionary War, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 1997

Perl, Lila. Slumps, Grunts, and Snickerdoodles. New York: Clarion Books, 1975

Susan, the cook in Williamsburg. Personal Interview. 25 October 2007. The Randolph House.

(Indian Food Recipes.) Online. www.indians.org/articles/indian-food-recipes.html

(Native American Food.) Online. www.indians.org/articles/native-american-food.html