Cuisine of My Ancestors: Early European American
Continued from Holiday Series: The Cuisine of My Ancestors
My early American ancestors were English and migrated to Massachusetts in the 1600s. That gives me a time period spanning some 400 years for choosing recipes. That’s a long time to cover! The time period I focused on is the 1700s, because there are many good sources for recipes. Many old cookbooks are now public domain and available free online. Plus, there are a number of websites keen on preserving early American history, skills, traditions, and recipes.
- 2 lbs salt pork*, rinsed and cut into small chunks
- 4 cups water (or enough to cover the pork in the pot)
- 2 cups dried peas*, soaked overnight and drained
- 4 large potatoes, *peeled and quartered
- 1 large onion, chopped
- Salt* (if needed, depending on the saltiness of the pork)
- pepper to taste
- Put the pork in a large pot and add water until covered.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 1 hour.
- Add the soaked and drained peas, potatoes, and onion.
- Return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender and the peas have broken down slightly (45 min to 1 hour).
- Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Serve hot.
- I couldn’t find salt pork so I used fresh pork. But I think using fresh instead of salt pork likely changed the texture of the stew, because salt pork is drier and saltier. So I’m not satisfied that our eating experience was truly “authentic.”
- I substituted split peas for whole dried peas
- I didn’t peel the potatoes and chopped them to the same size as the meat chunks
- I added 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.
- Next time I would use bone broth for the liquid instead of water.
- It was what I’d call plain, hearty fare. Easy to make, very tasty, and very filling. Our kind of winter food.
- It’s a recipe I’d like to experiment with. Maybe substitute lentils for the peas and ground pork for cut up chunks. If I can ever find salt pork, I’d like to try it with that.
- 4+ cups flour
- 2 teaspoons ale yeast
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp melted butter
- 3 eggs
- enough warm milk or water to make a soft dough
- Make the sponge
- Stir warm water into about half the flour. The mixture should resemble pancake batter.
- Cover with a cotton towel and set aside for 12 to 16 hours until the yeast is active and bubbly
- The Townsend’s video uses a slightly different recipe, but gives a good idea of dough handling and texture. It’s meant to be a soft dough with minimal kneading to not develop the glutin.
- Flour. My questions was, what type of flour? Almost all modern versions of this recipe call for all-purpose or unbleached flour. They did have unbleached white flour during this time period, so I ended up using that, even though it was mostly used by the wealthier class of people (which wouldn’t have been us!)
- Yeast. Originally barm was used for baking leavened breads. Barm is the yeasty foam that forms on ale and beer as it’s fermenting. Ale barm is preferred for bread because beer contains hops which imparts a bitter flavor to the bread. I don’t brew so I substituted ale yeast. Bread yeast could be used, but ale yeast imparts a more traditional flavor to historical breads like this one.
- Because ale yeast isn’t formulated to rise bread, the rolls were heavier than typical. But they rose well enough and were perfect with the stew. Ale yeast isn’t something I usually buy, so next time I’d make them with baker’s yeast.
- It could have used a little more salt.
A modern version can be found at ColonialWilliamsburg.org. They halved the original recipe and I halved theirs.
- 3 cups unbleached flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup. butter, softened
- 1 tbsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 tbsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 2 tbsp cream
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C)
- In a large mixing bowl, blend dry ingredients thoroughly.
- Warm the molasses and cream together in a small saucepan, stirring to blend.
- Work the butter into the flour mixture with your hands until evenly mixed.
- Add the molasses and cream mixture and work it up into a stiff dough. If too dry, add a little more cream to it. The dough should be stiff but not dry.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface about ¼ inch thick and cut into whatever shape you please.
- Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes. They should still be soft to the touch before they come from the oven, not hard.
- No leavening, not even eggs. So I was curious how the baked texture would turn out. I was pleasantly surprised. The cookies were soft and tasty.
- The ingredient amounts were perfect. The dough is very stiff. The warmed molasses made it pliable for the first batch, but I needed to add a spoonful of milk after that so the dough would be workable for rolling out.
- The flavor was just a bit different from the Ginger Cookies I usually make (recipe here). The texture was different because that recipe has eggs and baking soda. But it was also the spices. My ginger cookies contain cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. But this old-fashioned recipe used only ginger and nutmeg. Lots of nutmeg. So they were different but good!
- This would be the perfect recipe for gingerbread men.
Next up, our Native American meal.
Source: https://www.5acresandadream.com/2025/11/cuisine-of-my-ancestors-early-european.html
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world. Anyone can join. Anyone can contribute. Anyone can become informed about their world. "United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
LION'S MANE PRODUCT
Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules
Mushrooms are having a moment. One fabulous fungus in particular, lion’s mane, may help improve memory, depression and anxiety symptoms. They are also an excellent source of nutrients that show promise as a therapy for dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases. If you’re living with anxiety or depression, you may be curious about all the therapy options out there — including the natural ones.Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend has been formulated to utilize the potency of Lion’s mane but also include the benefits of four other Highly Beneficial Mushrooms. Synergistically, they work together to Build your health through improving cognitive function and immunity regardless of your age. Our Nootropic not only improves your Cognitive Function and Activates your Immune System, but it benefits growth of Essential Gut Flora, further enhancing your Vitality.
Our Formula includes: Lion’s Mane Mushrooms which Increase Brain Power through nerve growth, lessen anxiety, reduce depression, and improve concentration. Its an excellent adaptogen, promotes sleep and improves immunity. Shiitake Mushrooms which Fight cancer cells and infectious disease, boost the immune system, promotes brain function, and serves as a source of B vitamins. Maitake Mushrooms which regulate blood sugar levels of diabetics, reduce hypertension and boosts the immune system. Reishi Mushrooms which Fight inflammation, liver disease, fatigue, tumor growth and cancer. They Improve skin disorders and soothes digestive problems, stomach ulcers and leaky gut syndrome. Chaga Mushrooms which have anti-aging effects, boost immune function, improve stamina and athletic performance, even act as a natural aphrodisiac, fighting diabetes and improving liver function. Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules Today. Be 100% Satisfied or Receive a Full Money Back Guarantee. Order Yours Today by Following This Link.
| Visits: | 1,752,111,395 |
| Stories: | 8,539,261 |
Whistler Blowers, Insiders
