The United States & Canada

NEW ENGLAND

One-dish meals were very popular, allowing more time for other tasks. – New England boiled dinner-combination of meat (usually corned beef), potatoes, and vegetables. These were cooked together slowly until tender. Chowders are also very common – Chowders are creamy soups usually with potatoes and clams

New England has many sugar maple trees, making maple syrup found in several foods. – Cakes, candies, sauces, and puddings, flavored baked beans, squash, etc. Blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, and other fruits were another important food source.

MID-ATLANTIC

Pennsylvania Dutch: German immigrants who settled in the southeast section on Pennsylvania to farm. – Wasted no parts of animals and created many new dishes. Pickled pigs’ feet, blood pudding, smoked beef tongue, stuffed heart, sausages, and bologna – Soup was very popular since many had gardens. – Sauerbraten, sauerkraut, liverwurst, and pork were mainstays. Noodles, dumplings, and potato pancakes were served as accompaniments.

Each meal included seven sweets and seven sours. – Pickled veggies and fruits, relishes, jams, preserves, salads, and apple butter. Known as excellent bakers. – Coffee cakes, sticky buns, funnel cakes, crumb cakes, and shoofly pie (pastry filled w/ molasses and brown sugar) were some of their specialties.

Amish and Mennonites are very common in this area as well. – They choose to live in isolated groups. This has helped preserve their hearty home-style cooking and native crafts.

SOUTH

Mild climate made production of sugarcane, rice, and peanuts possible. Wild game was abundant in the many forests. Biscuits, shortnin’ bread, pork, chicken, ham, corn, fish, and seafood are also very common in the South.

Soul Food Combines the food customs of African slaves with food customs of Native Americans and European sharecroppers. – Slaves had few foods available to them, but they were creative with the foods they were given. Hush puppies and corn bread were popular dishes. – Slaves used discarded parts of hogs and cattles. Chitterlings-intestines of the hog Hogs feet, tails, snouts and ears were picked or boiled in soups.

Corn, squash, black-eyed peas, okra, and greens were used in soul foods. – Okra is a green, pod-shaped vegetable that was brought to the US from Africa. – Greens, such as spinach, mustard, sorrel, beet tops, collards, turnip, kale, dock, and dandelion grew wild, therefore making them easily accessible to slaves. – Yams are sweet potatoes that have moist, orange flesh. These are used to make sweet potato pie.

Creole Cuisine New Orleans is the home of Creole cuisine. – Combines the cooking techniques of the French with ingredients of the Africans, Caribbean, Spanish, and Native Americans. – Gumbo is a soup with varying meats, poultry, seafood, okra, and other vegetables. – Jambalaya a rice dish with shellfish, poultry, and/or sausage – Red beans and rice

Cajun Cuisine Includes Acadians (French speaking immigrants from Nova Scotia), French, Native Americans, Africans, and Spanish. Includes gumbos and jambalayas. Usually seasoned with hot peppers and other spicy seasonings. Crawfish, okra, rice, pecans, beans, seafood, and pork usually appear in Cajun recipes.

MIDWEST

Midwest is often called the “bread basket” of the nation. – One of the world’s most agriculturally productive regions producing corn, wheat, and soybeans. Known for buffet dinners and potlucks. – Potlucks get their name from a tradition of hospitality in which a prepared meal would be shared with an unexpected guest. Since the cook did not know the guest was coming, the guest would have to take “the luck of the pot.”

Midwestern cooking is hearty and uncomplicated. – Broiled steak, roast beef, baked and hash brown potatoes, and corn on the cob are staples of the Midwestern diet. Coleslaw, fresh tomatoes, home baked rolls, apple pie, brownies, fruit, hot cereal or cornmeal mush, pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee are all common in the Midwest. – Swedish meatballs, Greek moussaka, German bratwurst, Polish sausage, and Italian lasagna have become almost as common as steak and potatoes.

WEST & SOUTHWEST

Game meat, homemade bread and biscuits, and locally grown fruits and vegetables are common foods. Beef is commonly grilled, cooked over a barbecue spit, or in a barbecue pit. Sometimes a whole steer will be cooked at once. Lamb, chili, and Mexican foods are also common.

PACIFIC COAST

The ocean and inland lakes provide a bounty of fish and shellfish. Many fruits including peaches, apples, apricots, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and boysenberries grow well in this region. Sourdough was brought to the region by gold miners.

Alaskans eat caribou sausage, reindeer steak, rabbit, bear, Alaskan king crab, salmon, and trout. Blueberries, huckleberries, and cranberries grow in the wild, and are often used in cooking.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

Pineapple, sugarcane, and tourism are the largest industries bringing money into Hawaii. The Hawaiian diet was not highly varied. It mainly consisted of poi, a smooth paste made from the starchy room of the taro plant. They also ate limu, or seaweed as a relish. Numerous varieties of fish served as their protein source.

Early Hawaiian Customs Men and women were not permitted to eat at the same table. Their foods were not allowed to be prepared in the same oven.

Papayas, mangoes, and pineapples are among the many locally grown fruits. Lobsters, crabs, oysters, shrimp, tuna, and salmon are very common. There are many Japanese that have migrated to Hawaii, bringing many Japanese foods.

Luaus are elaborate outdoor feasts that are still popular in the island today. At these feasts they have kalua puaa, which is a whole, young pig that is dressed, stuffed, and cooked in a pit called an imu for several hours. The imu is lined with hot rocks covered with banana leaves.

CANADA

Main dishes include meat, poultry, and fish. Apples, gooseberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries and rhubarb are grown in Canada. Canadian dishes seldom include pasta products. However, rice is commonly used.