BOOK REVIEW

FOOD IN COLONIAL AND FEDERAL AMERICA

Sandra L. Oliver

(Greenwood Press - 2005)

Food in Colonial and Federal America is the second book in the "Food in American History" series published by Greenwood Press.  The first book in the series is American Indian Food and the third book is Food in the United States 1820s-1890.

In elementary school, when studying American history, one probably learned that the early American settlers ate beans, squash and corn; foods that they learned how to grow from the Native Americans.  Then we learned that the Pilgrims and the Native Americans joined together one day in the late fall and had a feast, serving dishes like turkey, cranberries and pumpkin and it became an annual tradition known as Thanksgiving Day.

Often our knowledge of the food consumed in early America stopped right there in the first or second grade.  Although we continue to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on the fourth Thursday of every November, one may give little thought about what those early settlers really ate and how that food actually came to be on their table.

This book provides an easily readable, fairly in-depth look at what the American settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries really had to eat and how important their food supply was to the success of their early survival in the New World.  As the nation developed, so did their food supply and food sources.  Ms. Oliver covers roughly the period between the early 1600s through the first quarter of the 1800s in her story of food history during the Colonial and Federal periods of American history.

The author tells of where the first colonists came from and the food habits they brought along with them and how those habits, combined with their new living circumstances, evolved into the dishes that we are familiar with today.

The available foodstuffs of the time period are carefully examined.  These include grains, both wild and domestic meat and fowl, fish, shellfish, dairy, fruits, vegetables, spices and seasonings, nuts, condiments, spirits, beverages, sugars and other sweeteners.  She also discusses how each food was prepared and what some of its uses were, as well as where the foods came from.  It's interesting to learn that now-familiar names for some foods were called something entirely different in the earlier days.  This might help clear up any earlier confusion when reading the recipes of yesteryear and comparing them to the ingredients we use today.

Where and how the food was cooked, as well as who cooked it, is also examined.  A look at early American kitchens and the colonists' methods of food storage and food preservation reveals a stark contrast to the kitchens and methodology that we are used to today.

The section on eating habits is substantial and covers the regional and cultural habits of the Native Americans and  the habits of those who immigrated to this country and brought their ways with them.

Eating healthy is a major concern to Americans today, so it shouldn't be surprising to find out that the Colonial and Federal era Americans were concerned about this same topic.  The last section of the book covers their views on diet and nutrition.

There are no recipes included in this volume, not even the short, confusing ones that we are accustomed to seeing from this time period.  The book is illustrated with a few black and white photographs.

All in all, I liked this book because it summarized handily in one place information culled from many different resources and compiled it neatly into one place.  It is a good reference for discovering more about the food and eating habits of the American people from this time period.

If you want to learn more about the food consumed in 17th and 18th century America, order your own copy of Food in Colonial and Federal America.  The bibliography and notes about the sources used by the author will be useful too, if you desire additional reading on this subject.