The cuisine of the antebellum United States characterizes American eating and cooking habits from about 1776 to 1861. During this period different regions of the United States adapted to their surroundings and cultural backgrounds to create specific regional cuisines, modernization of technology led to changes in food consumption, and evolution of taverns into hotels led to the beginnings of an American temperance movement. By the beginning of the Civil War, the United States cuisine and food culture could define itself separately from that of the rest of the world.
Background
Meals Breakfast was the second largest meal of the day, usually a substantial meat or fish portion, shared with the family. Dinner was the largest meal and could be served between noon and three. (The custom of evening dinner did not arise until men in the city began to eat their mid-day meals away from home.) Afternoon teas, attended only by women, were usually served around 4 PM, and could last up to two hours. The 6 o'clock supper or high tea was a full meal shared by the entire family.
Restaurants Before restaurants became established in the social culture of the United States, formal dinners were held in private homes for family and friends. These could be elaborate affairs, with one meal held in 1830 in celebration for the 200th anniversary of the settlement of Salem consisting of no less than 14 selections for the first course, followed by 11 varieties of roast bird and meats for the second course. French influenced dishes like chicken fricassee and vol au vent au boeuf were still commonplace at such gatherings well into the 19th century.
Influences
Antebellum American cuisine was heavily influenced by British and Western European cuisines. Savory puddings and pies from British cuisine were more common in those days, but preferences for sweet pudding and pie continued to evolve during the 19th century, until these dishes became standard desserts instead of savory courses. West African dishes, ingredients and cooking techniques were part of the culinary traditions of this era as well, and the cooking for slave-owning families was usually done by skilled slaves.
By the eve of the Revolution, the average American soldier stood 5 feet, 8 inches, several inches taller than the average British soldier.Whitman, Sylvia. What's Cooking?: the History of American Food. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 2001. Print, page 14
French chefs first arrived at New Orleans in the early 1800s, deeply influencing the cuisine of that city. There were other sources of French influence too; the travels of Thomas Jefferson and other Americans who brought back a taste for French food, and the French chefs hired by New York City luxury hotels in the first half of the 19th century. French chefs travelled as far as the San Francisco Bay Area during the California Gold Rush, catering to miners who coveted the rich lifestyle that French cuisine came to symbolize.
However, the attraction to French food was not the mainstream of American society. The disdain for "fancy French cooking" in American society was significant enough to influence the Presidential campaign in the 1840 election in which the Whig candidate William Henry Harrison was touted as living on "raw beef and salt" while a simultaneous smear campaign was launched against Martin Van Buren who was known to have a taste for French cuisine. The French custom of a la carte meal service was viewed as undemocratic in comparison to sharing meals between guests. When the New York Hotel opened in 1844, the hotel's decision to serve meals a la carte was answered by criticism by local newspapers. Offering people different food at different prices, the papers argued, was an attack on the foundations of the Republic. Nat P. Willis of the Weekly Mirror wrote, "The public table is the tangible republic – the only thing palpable and agreeable that we have to show, in common life, as republican."Barr, Andrew. Drink: a Social History of America. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1999. Print, page 90
French influence on American cuisine grew more exaggerated in the Gilded Age that followed the Civil War. American national cuisine in the Antebellum era reflected the tastes of "Republican virtue" as a culinary ethos in contrast with European and post-war extravagance, which was more ostentatious and decadent than the foodways of the Antebellum age.
Foods
Game and other meats Most roasted meats were cooked over a hearth, but fresh meat was a luxury, and usually only available for special occasions. Preserved meats were the standard, usually salted or smoked lamb, beef or pork.
The main game meats found in the American diet during the antebellum era were rabbit, squirrel, venison, buffalo and bear. Game was common in rural areas, especially among the poor and those living along the frontier, and some slaves who were permitted to carry firearms. Widespread hunting of wild turkey and other game led to the passage of game laws. General Winfield Scott, regarded as the best known gourmet of the era, identified Maryland terrapin and canvasbacks as the "supreme native delicacies" of the age.
Cows and pigs were the most common domesticated animals raised for their meat. Mutton and lamb were also eaten, used in dishes like Irish stew, but mostly in the Northeast and Southwest regions of the country.
Pigs were utilized throughout all regions of the United States, due to the ease of breeding and the many ways Americans were able to consume their meat. Dr. John S. Wilson of Columbus, Georgia, mentioned that the United States should "properly be called the great Hog-eating federacy or the Republic of Porkdom".Taylor, Joe Gray. Eating, Drinking, and Visiting in the South: An Informal History. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2008. Print, page 22 Pork was in such abundance that it was noted by a French traveler that even the poor southerners of the antebellum U.S. were "better fed and clad here than in any other country".Taylor, Joe Gray. Eating, Drinking, and Visiting in the South: An Informal History. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2008. Print, page 22 One traveler described a meal in Columbus, Georgia where "pigs feet pickled in vinegar" were served with bacon and molasses.
Pigs were kept largely due to their ability to fend for themselves; they were able to feed off leftover scraps and forage for themselves in the wild. In the South, Americans cooked pork with corn, while Northeasterners preferred bacon.Whitman, Sylvia. What's Cooking?: the History of American Food. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 2001. Print, page 17 They all used pork in a variety of ways, notably the working class throughout America consuming blood pudding, a mixture of pork blood and chopped pork.Smith, Andrew F. The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. New York: Oxford UP, 2007. Print, page 284
Dairy Dairy-based foods and products like cheese were more common in the North, where the weather was cooler, than in hot Southern states. Ice and iceboxes were a common household item by the 1850s contributing to the increasing popularity of ice cream.
Fish and shellfish Fish was a staple of the antebellum era. Difficult to transport, and very perishable, fresh fish was eaten close to the coast where it was caught. Wild fish from the nation's rivers, lakes and streams were abundant, and could be salted for storage and sale. Canned salmon and lobster were shipped to inland markets by railroad, and big cities like New York and Philadelphia received shipments of ice-packed fresh fish from Massachusetts. The most common fish in antebellum cuisine were catfish, salmon, perch, mackerel, bass, cod, flounder, haddock, trout, whitefish, sturgeon, snapper, and shad. Eels and sea turtles were also standard features of the cuisine, along with assorted varieties of locally available shellfish. Fish chowder was a staple of the cuisine of New England, made with assorted fish, vegetables and shellfish. Any firm, white fish could be used, and early recipes don't specify a type of fish.
Fruits Typically fruits in the era were seasonal and locally produced. Fruits were preserved or cooked in sugar syrup to make pie filling. Depending on the region apples, cherries, grapes, pears, strawberry, and peaches could be found.
Grains
Like fruits, the availability of grains depended on the region. In the South, corn and rice were staples, while wheat was more common in the upper Mississippi Valley.
Poultry
Turkey consumption was widespread in antebellum America. The wild turkey was hunted throughout the country, to the point that they almost disappeared on the East Coast by the Civil War. Virginian Joseph Doddridge noted that "the wild Turkeys, which used to be so abundant as to supply no inconsiderable portion of provision for the first settlers, are now rarely seen."Smith, Andrew F. The Turkey: An American Story. Chicago: University of Illinois, 2006. Print, page 50
Englishman Adam Hodgson noted in 1819 that he "did not recollect to have dined a single day without a turkey on the table."Adam Hodgson, Remarks During a Journey Through North America in the Years 1819, 1820, and 1821, New York: Samuel Whiting, 1823 Recipes for turkey became an early divergence from British cuisine, with the first American cookbook, Amelia Simmons's American Cookery (1796), containing five recipes for turkey.Smith, Andrew F. The Turkey: An American Story. Chicago: University of Illinois, 2006. Print, page 58
The concept of specifically serving turkey for Thanksgiving also began during the antebellum period. William Bentley of Salem, Massachusetts, noted in 1806 that "a Thanksgiving is not complete without a turkey."Smith, Andrew F. The Turkey: An American Story. Chicago: University of Illinois, 2006. Print, page 69
In addition to Turkey, Americans also consumed chicken, goose, duck, guinea fowl, pigeons, quail and grouse.
Puddings Most puddings, whether sweet or savory, were boiled in pudding bags. These bags could be made of cloth or animal intestine.
Vegetables
Americans had access to a diverse array of vegetables. The most common were beans, beets, asparagus, rhubarb, corn, radishes, tomatoes, turnips and others. Vegetables were often preserved by pickling, or were boiled thoroughly, and would not have been eaten fresh.
Soul food
Slaves in the Southern United States relied mainly on cornbread and beef, as beef was considered less nutritious than pork. A slave's pork ration on plantations was around three pounds per week; however, the beef ration was often two pounds per day.Taylor, Joe Gray. Eating, Drinking, and Visiting in the South: An Informal History. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2008. Print, page 85 Slaves often accessed other meats, such as ducks and turkeys, in various ways (e.g., hunting) or from their masters or neighbors. Unlike meat, vegetables, such as turnips, cabbage, and peas, were abundant for slaves.Taylor, Joe Gray. Eating, Drinking, and Visiting in the South: An Informal History. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2008. Print, page 87
Slaves were generally well-fed with native African plant foods, most notably peanut and sesame, to keep them alive on the long sea voyage to North America. Some plants of African origin were said to be grown at the homes of Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, possibly with know-how from enslaved Africans.
Slave gardens were planted with "beans, cabbage, squashes, tatoes, raos-en ears, sweet tatos, collards, turnips..." Rabbits, squirrels, and deer were often hunted for meat. Fish, frogs, crawfish, turtles, shellfish, and crab were often collected from fresh waters, salt waters, and marshes.
According to the Federal Writers' Project of Georgia's slave narratives: