FOREWORD
What did the American Colonists eat? Surprisingly enough，
many of their favorite dishes may be found on American tables
today， particularly in New England and Tidewater Virginia，
where it all started.
The settlers who landed on New World shores were raised on
the food of Olde England， the mother country， and of course
brought these tastes with them. The English diet featured
roasted meats and birds， pies and pottage， gravies and sauces，
boiled suety puddings， fish， cabbage， turnips， carrots， onions，
parsnips and peas， cheeses and other dairy products， apples，
peaches， cherries， currants， gooseberries， pears， greengage and
damson plums， quinces， breads and ale or beer. Although the
emigrants ships carried seeds or cuttings of their English fruits
and vegetables， and agricultural grains such as wheat， oats， rye，
and barley， the early harvests were a disaster， and the colonists
turned to the Indians for help and tutelage in utilizing plants and
animals native to America. From the Indians， they learned to
cook， eat， and cultivate crops unknown in England -- corn， na-
tive beans， squash -- and how to seek out edible wild plants and
game. New shipments from England in time reinforced supplies
of seed， farm and draft animals and tools， but meanwhile， the
settlers eagerly adopted the fruits， nuts， vegetables， fish and
flesh so plentiful in their wild new home. So， from the outset，
colonial cooking impressed the stamp of the New World on its
English inheritance.
Today， more than 200 years later， the American cuisine， like
the American people， has roots from all over the world and
represents many， many different cultures: French， Italian，
Polish， Russian， Jewish， German， Scandinavian， Spanish，
Chinese and dozens of others. But in the seventeenth and eigh-
teenth centuries these influences were absent; food was British
or Indian or a little of both. The first foreign gastronomic in-
fluence of any weight came in with the French alliance during
the Revolution. The first American to employ a French chef was
Thomas Jefferson!
Here are seven chapters of what our research and the files of
the Old Farmer s Almanac (first published in 1792) show to be
authentic colonial foods， adapted for preparation in the modern
American kitchen.
Clarissa Silitch， Editor
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