Hasty Pudding, Johnny Cakes and Other Good Stuff: Cooking in Colonial America

by Loretta Frances Ichord

Presents colonial food preparation with a look at the influences of available ingredients, cooking methods, and equipment

Genres: Cookbooks, History, Childrens, Juvenile

63 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What is our American culinary history? How did cooking begin in America?"

This is a lovely historical cookbook focusing on recipes common in Colonial America - specifically between 1607 and 1783.

It begins with a brief introduction and from there, we delve into the nine sections - each one focusing on a different aspect of colonial cooking and providing one to three recipes.

Fireplace Cooking -- The book talks about how the fireplace was maintained throughout the day and how it was modified for cooking and the dangers surrounding fireplace cooking. Additionally, we learn baking was often done in an alcove built into the chimney that functioned as an oven.

Recipe
--Maple Wheaten Bread (a yeasted bread, sweetened with maple syrup)

Preserving and Storing Food -- This section teaches us about drying food, pickling, and making fruit preserves. Additionally, things were kept cold using springhouses or icehouses.

Recipe
--Leather Britches (dried string beans, includes instructions for how to use them)

Regional Cooking -- We learn about some of the specific recipes that were popular in the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies as well as region habits, manners, and food pairings.

Recipes
--New England Clam Chowder
--Potato Cakes with Rosemary (fried seasoned mashed potatoes)
--Beaten Biscuits (beat dough with hammer for 20 minutes)

Hot, Cold - Even Nine Days Old -- We dive into soups for this section! It was a very important to early colonists - it was simple, let you use up the hard vegetables, and was very versatile!

Recipes
--Pumpkin Soup (with a little sugar and a lot of milk)
--Spring Vegetable and Herb Soup (using leeks, zucchini, celery, and plenty more vegetables!)

Corn: An Agreeable Grain - America and corn go hand-in-hand. Here we learn about the first few years where American Settlers were able to survive, often due to the presence of corn. We get to know a bit about popcorn and cornmeal's various uses as well!

Recipes
--Johnnycakes (made on a skillet, serve with maple sugar)
--Hasty Pudding (a dessert made with cornmeal and cooked in a coffee tin, in a pot of boiling water)

Soul Cooking -- This section focuses on the recipes that African slaves were able to eat. The slaves were given the scraps and undesirable food items, but also created their own cuisine from their supplies.

Recipes
--Peanut Soup (a savory soup using roasted peanuts, chicken broth and bit of milk)
--Hoppin' John (a good luck recipe made to welcome the new year using black-eyed peas)

Things to Drink -- We learn that watered down beer was common at the breakfast table - and often that beer was brewed using pumpkins and maple sugar! Hard ciders, brandy, rum, and whiskey were all enjoyed by settlers. There's also special drinks like syllabub for Christmas and eventually the tea/coffee that most adults enjoy today.

Recipe
--Liberty Tea (using raspberry leaves)

Feeding the Sweet Tooth -- While colonists tended to focus on hearty meals that would allow for long days working in the fields...that didn't stop them from craving something sweet. Here we learn about how maple sugar was introduced to the settlers and why white sugar was so desirable back in the day.

Recipes
--Wax Sugar (made from maple syrup poured over ice to harden it)
--Blueberry Flummery (an early form of jello)

Mannerly Eating -- This last section teaches about how foods were served, what dishes/cutlery people used, what was considered proper etiquette, and what special rules children were expected to follow

Overall Thoughts -- I thought this was such a well-researched peek into how cooking has changed over the years.

One of the coolest thing about this book was that at the end of each recipe was a little section that talked about the differences between the recipes provided and how they actually would have been made during the colonial times. I was fascinated by both the ingredient and the equipment differences!

I do wish they provided a bit more recipes - right now this book leans much more towards history rather than cookbook. It would have been nice to get at least three recipes per section, which would allow for more meal planning if someone wants to make multiple colonial meals.

But overall, this was a wonderful book!

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

what was it like to cook in the 1600s and 1700s? just pop the can of the pillsbury bisquits from the fridge, put them in the oven for ten minutes, this put them on your own plates and dig into them w/a fork full of...

for starters they didn't have forks and until the revolution a husband and wife might share one plate, the kids another (assuming they weren't standing behind the parents waiting to be given food), the whole fridge and pre-made dough? no. you put the dough on a tree stump and hit w/a hammer 500 times then put in the oven. that much work, well there were slaves to do things like that (if you had money).

amazing what people went through, i was only on my grandparents farm once and remember churning butter, but thats all.

the art and writing are terrific, instructions on how to make the enclosed recipes for classroomsize groups as well as families.

[Nikki Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It is a great way to incorporate some colonial lessons and recipes in an easy to use format.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been such a joy to read this with my son, and to spark talks about history with him. Now we will have to try some of the recipes! I love that the book explains how people did things without benefit of electricity or modern appliances. I also love that the book credits Native Americans for teaching early colonists how to survive in this “new” land.

[Fenixbird SandS]

http://www.boston.com/travel/exploren... Rhode Island http://www.burtwolf.com/pdf/bahamas.pdf