While many of us will be at a Fourth of July barbecue, have you ever wondered what was on the menu 250 years ago? Obviously not hamburgers and hotdogs, as those dishes weren’t invented yet, nor was refrigeration. Slaughtering and butchering an animal in the summer was not feasible due to flies and faster rates of spoilage. Meat was dependent on whatever wild game or livestock was available, but animals were typically slaughtered in the fall so they could then be salted or smoked to preserve it throughout the winter. By the summer, after eating the same thing for so many months, fresh and pickled vegetables were preferred, according to WBUR News. Similar to the present day, it was common to have alcohol and desserts at gatherings 250 years ago. Dessert was usually a cornmeal flatbread, molasses cookies or an apple-based dessert.
And of course, by 1776, coffee became the preferred hot beverage. Tea was favored until 1770, when the British Parliament refused to repeal the tea tax. In retaliation, the colonists boycotted tea, and it was seen as unpatriotic and controversial to drink it. As a result, they replaced it with coffee, and it’s been woven into American culture ever since. To think, if they had just done away with the tea tax, all of these coffee shops today could have been tea shops.
The diets of colonists were also dependent on region (New England, Middle Colonies or Southern Colonies), as well as race and class, while the cuisine was heavily influenced by the British, French, Africans and Native Americans.
The Native Americans taught the colonists their farming practices so they could grow the “three sisters” crops: corn, squash and beans. They quickly became staples in the American diet, as the colonists learned how these crops grow well together in close proximity, from retaining soil moisture to suppressing weeds.
The Southern Colonies (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia) grew a lot of rice, sweet potatoes, peas and corn. Pork was the predominant meat for the affluent, while the poor and enslaved mostly ate squirrel, rabbit and opossum. The region’s cuisine had a lot of influence by Africa, the Caribbean, English and Native Americans. The enslaved introduced okra and black-eyed peas.
The Middle Colonies (Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania) were known as the “breadbasket” and grew large amounts of grain such as wheat, barley and rye thanks to their fertile soil. Cornbread, porridge, bread and cereal were common back then. Food was influenced by the Dutch, English and Germans that immigrated there.
The New England colonies (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire) had rocky soil that made farming more challenging. They consumed more seafood, dairy and maple syrup.
Even though our barbecues may not have pigeon or rabbit, some parts of the American diet from 250 years ago are still seen today. Of course, diet-related illnesses had more to do with foodborne illness or vitamin deficiencies back then and less to do with metabolic diseases, but the core parts of the diet are still the same: produce, grains, protein and dairy, while indulging in dessert, alcohol and coffee.
Shari Bresin is the Family & Consumer Science Agent for the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension Pasco County, An Equal Opportunity Institution.
