the united states its food and its people where it all began
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Our American Heritage
Food is a reflection of who we are & where we came from. The foods eaten in a given area will tell about geography, climate, history, and culture.
American Cuisine
• Dynamic• Diverse• Constantly changing• Carved out of layers of the past with each
generation keeping some traditions of the past while adding new tastes and flavors
• Uniqueness of each region is beginning to disappear
True American Regional Cooking Shaped by:
• History—who settled in the region; what traditions did they bring
• Climate---determined growing season: type of food that could be grown (wheat did not grow well in the NE
• Terrain---determined type of food that could grow; cranberries in the NE, rice in the south, etc.
• Availability of ingredients---seafood vs. beef
American Indians
• Excellent farmers (most were)
• Cultivated 50% of the world’s plant including: potatoes, pineapples, corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, tapioca, avocados, tomatoes, chili peppers and more
Early Settlers
• Poor farmers, sought Indians for advice
• Corn---how to use it.
• Grew corn & beans together then cooked them together (succotash)
• Substituted cornmeal for oatmeal & wheat creating new dishes.
The First Immigrants• The English settled in the
northeastern mid-south parts of what is now the U.S.
More Immigrants
• English, Dutch, German, French settled in the northeast.
• English, French, Spanish settled in the Deep South
• Most immigrants settled with individuals of similar culture.
• African slaves were part of all of the colonies
Reason for Immigration
• Reasons varied
• Religious freedom
• Slavery
• Opportunity to own property
• Economic opportunity
Unique Characteristics of Early American Food
• High protein base , high fat base
• Corn very important early; now wheat based
• Good bakers
Food Meant Hospitality
• First Presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Madison) established tradition of good food and dining.
• President Jefferson is considered the country’s first gourmet.
America Today
• Cornucopia of people
• More cultures, ethnic groups are found in the United States than anywhere else in the world
• Total of the minority population is close to exceeding the majority population
• Latinos are the fastest growing group
American Food
• Cuisine of the U.S. is a combination of all of these cultures and ethnic groups
• Each group tried to incorporate its cuisine into its new life in the United States
• We love to snack and love snack foods. It is believed to be a habit dating back to the 1800’s with free lunch in bars to encourage drinking
Holidays and Foods
• Holiday traditions are closely associated with food in North America
• Immigrants brought many of these traditions plus we have added many of our own
Example of Ethnic Based Holidays
• Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday)– Cajun Foods– King Cake (baked with a tiny plastic doll---
person getting it is supposed to throw the next Mardi Gras party)
– Rich colors of purple & gold– Big time party
• Cinco de Mayo– Observed by the Mexican Americans– Means fifth of May– Marks the victory of Mexican troops over the
French– Foods include sweet breads coffee & cinnamon
flavored hot chocolate
• Kwanzaa– Relatively new holiday– African American– Focus on African cultural heritage– Between Christmas & New Year’s Day– Karamu---a ritual feast held on the next to last
night of the week long festival
• Chanukah– Eight day Jewish festival held in December– Also called Festival of Lights– Commemorates regaining of the temple of
Jerusalem– Light one candle each day (menorah)– Eat latkes (potato pancakes) & sufganiyah---
potato doughnuts among other things
New England Cuisine Influenced by:
• Location---abundance of seafood
• Short growing season---– Food had to be sensible– Crops had to be suited to the short season– Food needed to be hardy
Foods Made From Corn
Johnny Cakes: type of bread or pancake, consisting of corn meal, boiling water & salt. Dates back to 1621. (1st Thanksgiving)
Corn Mush: (Hasty Pudding) Cornmeal boiled in water
Fried Mush: Mush that is cooled, sliced, fried in lard and served as a pancake.
Indian Pudding: Milk flavored with molasses & thickened with cornmeal. It may have eggs, sugar, butter, etc.
• Brown Bread: Cornmeal, wheat flour, sour milk, molasses. It was often prepared by steaming.
• Corn Chowder: Green corn kernels, mild, potatoes, onions and salt pork.
Beans
• Unknown food to the Europeans
• Quality source of protein
• Often planted together with corn
Dishes Prepared with Beans• New England Baked Beans (Boston Baked
Beans): the most important bean dish. An acceptable food for the Sabbath because it could be prepared the day before. – Any type of bean cooked with salt pork,
molasses, and sometimes sugar. Tomato was seldom used.
• Succotash: Corn and beans cooked together; sometimes prepared like a chowder.– Hominy is often the form of corn used today.
Other New England Dishes
• New England Boiled Dinner: Dates back to the days when the only cooking utensil was a large kettle. Combination of meat (often corned beef) cooked with potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, cabbage.
• Red Flannel Hash: made from the leftovers of a New England Boiled Dinner. The leftovers, including beets were ground & fried in an iron skillet. Name comes from the appearance the beets gave the food.
• Chowder: cream soup made from thickened milk. Clam Chowder is one of the more popular forms today. (Our potato soup is a form of chowder.)
• Lobster• Clam Bakes• Cranberries• Maple Syrup
– Sugar in the snow: maple syrup poured over bowls of clean snow where it hardens like taffy.
New York (New Netherlands)
• Farmers and bakers
• Bread Basket of the Colonies
• Brought animals from Europe
• Preserved foods
Dutch Foods
• Koekjes---cookies
• Olykoeks---doughnuts
• Molasses cakes
• Gingerbread men
• Waffles
• Cole slaw
• Cottage cheese
Pennsylvania DutchFeinschmecker Country
• Feinschmecker: those who know how good food tastes and eat plenty of it.
• Dutch---actually Deutsch• PA Dutch country is located between Lancaster &
Allentown, PA• Settled there in search of religious freedom
Religious Groups
• Mennonites---most important group
• Crefeblers
• Dunkards
• 7th. Day Adventists
• Amish
• Moravians
Main Religious Groups Today
• Plain People: Amish, Mennonites
• Gay Dutch: Lutherans & reformed churches
Two Common Bonds
• Common language: German dialect interlaced with English and own idioms.
• Huge appetites---believed that if you were not hungry it was because you were not working hard enough.
Foods Created by PN Dutch
• Pickled pigs feet
• Blood pudding
• Scrapple: pork with cornmeal
• Smoked beef tongue
• Hog Maw: cleaned pig’s stomach stuffed with sausage, diced vegetables and baked.
Seven Sweets and Seven Sours
• Believed in serving a balance at each meal
• Mixture of sweet and sour relishes, dried fruits, salads
Big Time Bakers
• Kuchen: yeast dough coffee cake
• Lebkuchen: Xmas Cookies
• Sticky buns
• Funnel cakes
• Crumb cakes
• Pretzels & pretzel soup
• Pies at every meal: shoofly, green tomato, vinegar, funeral pie (raisin), Amish half-moon pies
Other PN Dutch Foods
• Chicken corn soup• Dishes made with cabbage• Starchy foods---dumplings, potatoes, pies, noodles• Anything with apples• Sauerbraten: beef roast marinated in vinegar• Schnitz & knepp: ham butt, dumplings, & dried
apples