America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking

by Keith Stavely, Kathleen Fitzgerald

From baked beans to apple cider, from clam chowder to pumpkin pie, Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald's culinary history reveals the complex and colorful origins of New England foods and cookery. Featuring hosts of stories and recipes derived from generations of New Englanders of diverse backgrounds, America's Founding Food chronicles the region's cuisine, from the English settlers' first encounter with Indian corn in the early seventeenth century to the nostalgic marketing of New England dishes in the first half of the twentieth century.

Focusing on the traditional foods of the region--including beans, pumpkins, seafood, meats, baked goods, and beverages such as cider and rum--the authors show how New Englanders procured, preserved, and prepared their sustaining dishes. Placing the New England culinary experience in the broader context of British and American history and culture, Stavely and Fitzgerald demonstrate the importance of New England's foods to the formation of American identity, while dispelling some of the myths arising from patriotic sentiment.

At once a sharp assessment and a savory recollection, America's Founding Food sets out the rich story of the American dinner table and provides a new way to appreciate American history.

Genres: Cooking, Food, Food History, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Cookbooks

408 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2004

About the author

Stavely is a writer and scholar whose interest in the Puritan influence on American and English culture has resulted in a number of critically-esteemed books and articles. He has been a Guggenheim and American Council of Learned Societies fellow and a winner of the Modern Language Association Prize for Independent Scholars. He holds a B. A. and a Ph. D. in English Literature from Yale University and a Master of Library Science from Simmons College. He taught at Boston University, Boston College, and Ohio State University and worked for many years as a librarian in Massachusetts public libraries, retiring in 2008 as director of the Fall River Public Library. His earlier published works include The Politics of Milton’s Prose Style (Yale University Press, 1975), Family Man (Contemporary Books, 1978), and Puritan Legacies: Paradise Lost and the New England Tradition (Cornell University Press, 1987, pbk. 1990).

Reviews

[J. Lee Hazlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars. If you have any interest at all in the foodways or the broader sociology of colonial New England, this book is everything you could possibly want it to be. Well written (except for a few strange repetitions and stumblings at the very beginning, which knocked a quarter star off the ranking), thoroughly argued and evidenced, and at moments mouthwatering, this is a rare example of a perfect food history. This book strikes an attractive middle tone between popular and academic history, which allows it to be accessible to a wider audience without boring the pants off of more formally trained readers. A much greater triumph than I expected when I picked it up, and the sort of work I'd like to see more of.

[Row Hauk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun read about a quirky cuisine. Lots of great stories about the big New England foods--beans, corn, cod, chowder, and such--and there's good analysis. And you'll find out why Boston's called Beantown.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched and written with respect for tradition tempered with a good deal of wit.

Stavely and Fitzgerald write a history of New England food that explores both the history of the food items themselves and the reason for their veneration. How New Englanders came to identify their food with their lifestyle had as much to do with how they wanted to be regarded as it did with how they viewed themselves: as hardworking, independent people of the land. It's an interesting look into evolving society through its changing food and preparation technology.

[June Baer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved reading how the myth of New England cooking started.
I found the writing a little uneven. Sometimes the writing flowed and "told the story" very well. A lot of the time it was more just writing about the reseach. Wasn't dry and academic writing, just wasn't consistent.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish this book. Very long and detailed, and somewhat interesting but rather dry. I'd like to pick it up again later.

[Avis Black]

Contains basic information you can get from other sources. If you've already learned something about the history of Amercain cooking, you'll find rather dull.