Food and Recipes in the Thirte

Describes some of the foods prepared in the various areas of what would become the United States during the colonial period. Includes recipes.

Gr 2-4--A superficial overview of food eaten in colonial times. After a brief contextual sketch of the establishment of the 13 colonies and the inevitable blend of traditional European and Native American foods that became traditional cuisine, Erdosh glances at the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies, with a recipe from each area. He also mentions the influence of African culture. Recipes included are for hasty pudding, flat jacks, Dutch walnut-cinnamon squares, southern succotash, and hoppin' John. Cooking methods and traditions are mentioned as well. However, most recipes do not include the precautions that usually accompany recipes for young cooks The text is straightforward and concise, but very skimpy on detail. Full-page, full-color reproductions of historic paintings or border photographs of children preparing the recipes appear on each double-page spread. Felicity's Cookbook (Pleasant Co., 1994) has more general information and specific instructions and packs a wealth of facts into interesting sidebars and captions. Lucille Recht Penner's The Colonial Cookbook (Hastings House, 1976) is much more complete, if not as visually appealing.

Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS

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