Transcript Colonial Cooking & Baking - Mark Twain IS 239 / Mark Twain IS 239

Colonial Cooking
A Social Studies Presentation
By Jake Montagnino of ID2
 Obviously, the concept of cooking was very
different back in the 13 colonies than it is now.
Given, cooking is cooking, and it is pretty much a
uniform process, but the ‘earlier people’ couldn’t
go about it the same way.
 People in colonial times didn’t have the technology
that we do today. They didn’t have the things that
now bring the element of convenience to cooking,
like microwaves, non-stick pans, spatulas, tongs,
and convection ovens, to mention a few.

In the colonies, the role of the cook
usually went to the mother/wife/woman
of the house. It is that way still in many
cultures. While the men went out and did
the more ‘dirty work,’ the women stayed
home, cleaned, raised the children, and
cooked. However, in wealthy families,
there can be slaves. In these situations,
the slaves would probably do the cooking
and the baking for the family.
Cooking: The duty of WHOM?

In a colonial home, the fireplace had to be
in the kitchen because it was how the
food was cooked. They didn’t have ovens
back then, so the food would be cooked
only by the warmth of the fire. Since the
fireplace took on such a big role, it had to
be big and it usually took up a lot of
kitchen space. The fireplace was also the
main source of heat in a colonial home.
The colonial oven:
THE FIREPLACE

Even in colonial times, forms of pots and
pans were used to cook food. Since homes
didn’t have much storage space and
cabinets/drawers like we do today, the pots
and pans were either hung from the top of
the fireplace or were placed on the floor
near the fireplace, but out of the way so
family members wouldn’t trip over them.
Most tools were iron so they wouldn’t be
damaged by the fireplace’s heat. You can
see this in the picture below.
Pots & Pans!

See Notebook™ File
MORE KITCHEN TOOLS!
HOW DID THE COLONISTS GET FOOD TO EAT?
 The following few pages will talk about
how the colonists got their food to eat.
There are 3 main ways. These methods are
quite the same as our methods today. In
these slides, however, you will learn how
the colonists learned these techniques and
how they can be used.

Hunting was not a new idea to the
colonists. After all, how would they have
gotten food before? They needed to,
however, adjust to the ‘zone’ they are in
and the animals that are native to that
area. These were the animals the
colonists hunted. After all, a colonist
living in Georgia probably couldn’t find
an animal that is native to the north.

Fishing and fish species were VERY
LOCAL. The area has to be suitable for
fishing. Suitability deals with temperature
and other climactic properties of the
area. Also, it depends on the current
season. For example, fishing was
essential in the New England colonies in
the winter because things like farming
weren’t possible in such cold weather.
There is a lot to say about farming.
Farming was done throughout the
colonies, but different crops were grown
in different areas.
 In the heart of the slave trade, slaves
were used to help with farming,
especially in the south, where there were
many plantations, which were giant
farms used to grow a lot of one crop.
 The growth of some crops, such as corn,
was introduced to the colonists by the
local American Indians.

Another factor was the soil type. Some
soil wasn’t very good for farming, like in
some New England colonies.
 Also, growing season lengths need to be
taken into account. The length ratios of
the different seasons could mean that
there could be either a very long, very
short, or moderate time for the colonists
to grow all of their crops they need. For
examples, the New England colonies
had rather short growing seasons, while
the middle colonies had very long
growing seasons.


These are a few of the different crops that
were able to be grown in the colonies.
New England (North)
Squash
Beans
Corn
Potatoes
Middle
Southern
Tobacco
Grains
Fruit
Rice
Indigo
Vegetables
[^Cash Crops^]
NOTE: The recipe we will focus
on in the pages to come wasn’t
always as easy as it is portrayed
to be today. As you will see,
even
acquiring
More
detailsthe
to ingredients
follow.
was a bit more of an
inconvenience than it is now for
us. It just goes to show exactly
how convenient life is today.

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
 2 cups cornmeal
 4 eggs
 4 tbsp of flour.


Directions:
 Mix all ingredients
together.
 Cook on griddle
over medium
heat.
 Flip when bubbles
show on top.
 Cook until both
sides are browned.
SLAPJACKS
EGGS
The colonial people got eggs from
the chickens, who laid them. The
colonists raised the chickens for
primarily this purpose.
MILK
The colonists also raised cows.
When their udders are squeezed,
milk comes out and you must
catch it in a container to then
use it for consumption.
INGRE
CORNMEAL D I E N T S
Grown by farmers on
corn stalks. It was then
scraped from the cob and
pounded until fine. Then the
result was strained, so only the
powder remained. Cornmeal
was the leftover product.
Flour
Flour comes from wheat,
which is a grain grown by
farmers. It was ground
by a quern-stone.
SOURCES

The First American Cookbook

http://www.1771.org

http://www.adobetutorialz.com/content_images/AdobePhotoshop/MICKM/Spotlights/1.jpg

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2711766/2/istockphoto_2711766chocolate-milk-carton.jpg

Food In Colonial America, By Mark Thomas

http://images.oldhouseweb.com/stories/bitmaps/10262/kitchentoday.jpg

http://www.finecooking.com/assets/uploads/posts/5890/ING-cornmeal_sql.jpg

Microsoft PowerPoint Tools

Thesaurus

http://www.ssdsbergen.org/Colonial/food.htm

Smart Notebook Graphics

http://67pics.com/pictures-flour.html

http://www.engr.psu.edu/mtah/projects/images/clay_oven10.jpg

Office Online

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/13coloniesfarm.htm